(To note another thread, I also dislike the fact that good food and even dandyism are seen as middle-class pursuits. I bought ten suits this year)
A mate of mine is very into
The Chap and all the stuff that goes with that, but has moaned to me about how the 'movement' (if you can call it that) started out with a real situationist, 'anarcho-dandyist' edge to it (the 'Civilise the City' march, for example) but has in some quarters become a sort of Young Tories' club. Shame, although by the look of things they still do cool parties and other events - I went to the Chap Olympics a few years ago and that was a hoot.
But yeah, the idea that it's 'posh' to eat good food is fucking ridiculous and one of the more depressing aspects of British culture. Of course it's perpetuated by advertising, especially by motherfucking M&S - "this isn't just [food], it's [fancy wanky expensive food]", inevitably V/O'd by that woman with the awful gooey, unctuous voice. As others have said, this is a specifically British thing and is not found in (say) many countries in mainland Europe where enjoying good food is seen as a perfectly normal thing that ordinary people do all the time.
On the point of fancy pricey boutique bakers vs. Gregg's...hmm, rock and a hard place. I've never seen anything in a Gregg's that looked even remotely apetising but then I've been spoiled by years of living in Harringay and gorging myself on stuff from Turkish bakeries, which are both delicious and independent (unlike Gregg's) and reasonably priced and unpretentious (unlike your artisanal organic handmade muffin merchants).
Also, any food or drink that claims to be "hand-crafted" can fuck off, on principle. Is the word "made" too plebian these days, or something?
