Eating & Drinking

Thursday, 04 January 2018 10:43

The Bolsheviks and alcohol: policy and practice

Written by Keith Flett

in Eating & Drinking

Keith Flett offers a brief survey of Bolshevik policy and practice towards alcohol consumption. Drink and the left has been an issue since the labour movement was born or made in the 1820s and 1830s. The left, trade unions and political groups often met in pubs for want of other venues,…

Monday, 02 October 2017 18:39

The Moral Economy of the Price of a Pint: For the Many, not the Few?

Written by Keith Flett

in Eating & Drinking

Keith Flett outlines how market capitalism undermined the principle of a fair price for a pint of beer. The price of a pint of beer, or perhaps as accurately the price of a half or third of a pint of beer, has been the source of considerable controversy in recent…

Thursday, 31 August 2017 21:17

Fast Food Fury: time to overhaul our takeaway culture

Written by Sarah Alderton

in Eating & Drinking

Sarah Alderton gives a clear and detailed account of how the profit motive affects our culture of eating and drinking. Fat, salt and sugar are used to make low quality food and drink products taste and feel better than they otherwise would, so that they can be produced at minimal cost and…

Fast food Obesity Good Food Bradford

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Saturday, 29 July 2017 14:25

‘London Murky’, Mrs. T., and the politics of the haze craze

in Eating & Drinking

Written by Keith Flett

Keith Flett gets the round in again, tracing the political impact of Mrs. T on bright fined beer with his usal wit and clarity (geddit?). It’s not often talked about but there is the issue of what Mrs Thatcher did to your glass of beer. The ‘free choice’ capitalism where…

CAMRA London Murky Mrs Thatcher fish bladders

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Saturday, 27 May 2017 15:55

Beer and the General Election

in Eating & Drinking

Written by Keith Flett

Keith Flett gives us a judiciously balanced, impartial and fair article on why beer drinkers should vote Labour on June 8th. The days are long past, one hopes, when candidates on election days paid for free drink for those who voted for them - not least because the secret ballot…

Vote Labour

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Wednesday, 03 May 2017 21:30

The price of a pint, the Assize of Ale & the moral economy of beer

in Eating & Drinking

Written by Keith Flett

Keith Flett continues his series with an article on the price of a pint in the capitalist marketplace. The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) pressed Chancellor Philip Hammond to cut duty on beer by 1p a pint in his March Budget in a further bid to keep the price of…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 12 December 2016 16:41

A Culture of Overconsumption: Portion Control

in Eating & Drinking

Written by Emma Boyland

It seems apt, in the midst of the festive season – a holiday typified by consumption to excess of all sorts of goods, after all – to put forward a new topic in this series ‘A Culture of Overconsumption’. In this article, I will be considering the concept of ‘portion…

Monday, 12 December 2016 14:09

The Pub

Written by Keith Flett

in Eating & Drinking

Keith Flett samples some beer and ponders the pub. Having written on the current state of beer and brewing, together with some historical context, it is perhaps time to take a brief stop to actually sample some beer. This can be done in numerous places but the traditional British venue is…

Monday, 24 October 2016 15:00

Craft beer and competition

Written by Keith Flett

in Eating & Drinking

Keith Flett continues his selfless quest at beer festivals to identify the economics of producing craft beer in a competitive, capitalist market - and what tastes nice. Further to my earlier thoughts on craft beer I travelled to Manchester in early October to attend the Independent Manchester Beer Convention (IndyManBeerCon). …

Wednesday, 05 October 2016 14:38

Marketing a culture of overconsumption

Written by Emma Boyland

in Eating & Drinking

Dr. Emma Boyland continues her series with a look at marketing strategies by Big Food to promote overconsumption. A drum-playing gorilla. An orange tiger saying “grrrreat!”. Even the simplicity of a jingle and “I’m loving it!”. What do all of these things have in common? They’re all television adverts that…

Wednesday, 28 September 2016 14:26

Class, CAMRA, craft ale and the contexts of consumption

Written by Keith Flett

in Eating & Drinking

Keith Flett continues his series with a question: is there a link between class and what you drink? The upper classes are supposed to drink fine wines and champagne but these days both are available at prudent prices in supermarkets. Besides, as Nye Bevan famously proclaimed, nothing is too good…