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In praise of … chopping In praise of … chopping
(7 months later)
The basket of goods used to gauge inflation is an instructive marker of our decline, from proud primates to subalterns in the kingdom of consumerism. In 2010 the statisticians signalled that we could no longer wash without the aid of a factory-made pump, when they decreed that the bar of soap was no longer material to the cost of living, and turned instead to those overpriced dribbling dispensers of goo. Yesterday round lettuces rolled off the official shopping list, and pre-chopped stir-fries took their place. Bulky packaging, early "use by" dates and excessive exposed vegetable surface all make ready-cut veg retrogressive from the point of view of ecology, diet and economy. From every point of view, in fact, except that of the time-pressed rich. But stressed execs would surely be soothed by cubing an onion or slicing a courgette into discs with their own hands. What is this life if, compelled to shop, we have no time to stand and chop?The basket of goods used to gauge inflation is an instructive marker of our decline, from proud primates to subalterns in the kingdom of consumerism. In 2010 the statisticians signalled that we could no longer wash without the aid of a factory-made pump, when they decreed that the bar of soap was no longer material to the cost of living, and turned instead to those overpriced dribbling dispensers of goo. Yesterday round lettuces rolled off the official shopping list, and pre-chopped stir-fries took their place. Bulky packaging, early "use by" dates and excessive exposed vegetable surface all make ready-cut veg retrogressive from the point of view of ecology, diet and economy. From every point of view, in fact, except that of the time-pressed rich. But stressed execs would surely be soothed by cubing an onion or slicing a courgette into discs with their own hands. What is this life if, compelled to shop, we have no time to stand and chop?
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