"We explored every corner of the plant-based space."
February 11, 2023 2:13 PM Subscribe
Chick-fil-A (PR Newswire release) is testing a fried-cauliflower sandwich (Southern Living and USA Today reviews) in certain markets. Conservatives are pissed (Gizmodo tweet roundup), and not because it isn't vegan (VeggL).
Checking my "Outrage Bingo" card now...
mmmhm, ... yep ... aha BINGO!
posted by not_on_display at 2:19 PM on February 11, 2023 [8 favorites]
mmmhm, ... yep ... aha BINGO!
posted by not_on_display at 2:19 PM on February 11, 2023 [8 favorites]
Bet you that the fried cauliflower is fried in the same oil as the meat stuff.
posted by njohnson23 at 2:41 PM on February 11, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by njohnson23 at 2:41 PM on February 11, 2023 [5 favorites]
(edited..)
Yeah, I'm not going to be interested in anything Chick-Fil-A is offering until it's apologies.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:47 PM on February 11, 2023 [21 favorites]
Yeah, I'm not going to be interested in anything Chick-Fil-A is offering until it's apologies.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:47 PM on February 11, 2023 [21 favorites]
In addition to the typical right-wing grifters and zealots, this seems like a prime opportunity for astroturfing by beef/cattle industry groups and competing fast food chains.
posted by Riki tiki at 2:52 PM on February 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Riki tiki at 2:52 PM on February 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
(acknowledging that the venn diagram of those groups is practically non-euclidean)
posted by Riki tiki at 2:56 PM on February 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by Riki tiki at 2:56 PM on February 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
That Gizmodo link is a bit of a parody of itself. I guess all the tweets it might have quoted following "Here are some highlights:" are now locked off and so aren't available for the article to quote? Or maybe the article is itself a victim of the API lockout by Twitter?
Anyway, I have no idea what's going on, and don't care. Fuck Chik-Fi-A. I haven't eaten there in decades and have never been to a Cracker Barrel and never will go to either one.
posted by hippybear at 3:09 PM on February 11, 2023 [11 favorites]
Anyway, I have no idea what's going on, and don't care. Fuck Chik-Fi-A. I haven't eaten there in decades and have never been to a Cracker Barrel and never will go to either one.
posted by hippybear at 3:09 PM on February 11, 2023 [11 favorites]
I really wish they'd ask themselves what cauliflower could have to do with potentially combating racial injustice.
posted by Selena777 at 3:18 PM on February 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by Selena777 at 3:18 PM on February 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
If they wanna get pissed … fine by me. May their veins explode in a fit of apoplexy.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 3:20 PM on February 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 3:20 PM on February 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
Honestly, if conservatives were to join in my decades-long boycott of Chik-Fil-A, regardless of their reason, I welcome their company.
posted by hippybear at 3:22 PM on February 11, 2023 [24 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 3:22 PM on February 11, 2023 [24 favorites]
Not sure what's going on with the tweets in the Gizmodo thing, I can see them fine. For posterity, they are (reordered by your humble correspondent):
The yankees have infiltrated
In case you weren't clear, we're fucked
CFA is caving to the vegans
PATHETIC NO MORE CHICK FIL A!
I actually like cauliflower crust pizza, but this is stupid and gross. Chick fil A better not go woke.
Chick Fil A is woke. Avoid at all costs.
I thought the Cathey family was Christian.
They poisoned Jesus chicken too
Cuck-fil-a
posted by box at 3:26 PM on February 11, 2023 [13 favorites]
The yankees have infiltrated
In case you weren't clear, we're fucked
CFA is caving to the vegans
PATHETIC NO MORE CHICK FIL A!
I actually like cauliflower crust pizza, but this is stupid and gross. Chick fil A better not go woke.
Chick Fil A is woke. Avoid at all costs.
I thought the Cathey family was Christian.
They poisoned Jesus chicken too
Cuck-fil-a
posted by box at 3:26 PM on February 11, 2023 [13 favorites]
"We explored every corner of the plant-based space."
You'd think they'd go with a more plant-based analogy like "explored every branch" or "root" or something, given that corners are less easy to come by in the Plantae kingdom. Totally beside the point of the topic at hand (twig?), but it just caught my eye.
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:32 PM on February 11, 2023 [8 favorites]
You'd think they'd go with a more plant-based analogy like "explored every branch" or "root" or something, given that corners are less easy to come by in the Plantae kingdom. Totally beside the point of the topic at hand (twig?), but it just caught my eye.
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:32 PM on February 11, 2023 [8 favorites]
I keep expecting this political movement to start to fade as people become exhausted from being outraged all the time of such trivial things.
posted by interogative mood at 3:40 PM on February 11, 2023 [14 favorites]
posted by interogative mood at 3:40 PM on February 11, 2023 [14 favorites]
I keep expecting this political movement to start to fade as people become exhausted from being outraged all the time of such trivial things.
That's all they live for anymore.
posted by Ickster at 4:03 PM on February 11, 2023 [18 favorites]
That's all they live for anymore.
posted by Ickster at 4:03 PM on February 11, 2023 [18 favorites]
If the left were as clever and evil as the right says it is, we’d already be focus-grouping “liberals say, ‘don’t drink arsenic’” messaging and letting the predictable consequences fall out.
posted by gauche at 4:05 PM on February 11, 2023 [53 favorites]
posted by gauche at 4:05 PM on February 11, 2023 [53 favorites]
"We explored every corner of the plant-based space."
You'd think they'd go with a more plant-based analogy like "explored every branch" or "root" or something, given that corners are less easy to come by in the Plantae kingdom.
they pointedly avoided closet.
posted by Clowder of bats at 4:09 PM on February 11, 2023 [5 favorites]
You'd think they'd go with a more plant-based analogy like "explored every branch" or "root" or something, given that corners are less easy to come by in the Plantae kingdom.
they pointedly avoided closet.
posted by Clowder of bats at 4:09 PM on February 11, 2023 [5 favorites]
CFA is caving to the vegans
Look, we're all intimidated by the vegans. Their swagger. Their hair-trigger tempers. Their clear, powerful aortas. The vegan goon squads taking over the streets (and if you've ever used the term "vee-goons," you're not funny—you're just part of the problem). But that's just what they want. We have to stand up to them. Those maniacs can smell fear. And to them, it smells like sweet, sweet tofu.
posted by PlusDistance at 4:14 PM on February 11, 2023 [69 favorites]
Look, we're all intimidated by the vegans. Their swagger. Their hair-trigger tempers. Their clear, powerful aortas. The vegan goon squads taking over the streets (and if you've ever used the term "vee-goons," you're not funny—you're just part of the problem). But that's just what they want. We have to stand up to them. Those maniacs can smell fear. And to them, it smells like sweet, sweet tofu.
posted by PlusDistance at 4:14 PM on February 11, 2023 [69 favorites]
OMG, most of those tweet picks of meat look ridiculously terrible.
And I am a meat eater.
posted by Windopaene at 4:36 PM on February 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
And I am a meat eater.
posted by Windopaene at 4:36 PM on February 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
If the left were as clever and evil as the right says it is, we’d already be focus-grouping “liberals say, ‘don’t drink arsenic’” messaging and letting the predictable consequences fall out.
If news about asbestos came out now, they'd be smoking "freedom cigarettes" of pure asbestos in a week. This is all they have—no policy, just a white-hot sphere of rage that must be fed constantly.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 4:44 PM on February 11, 2023 [33 favorites]
If news about asbestos came out now, they'd be smoking "freedom cigarettes" of pure asbestos in a week. This is all they have—no policy, just a white-hot sphere of rage that must be fed constantly.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 4:44 PM on February 11, 2023 [33 favorites]
I’m getting a little tired of the “some randos on Twitter reacted badly” news story. Yes, selected quotes can be hilarious, but aren’t people quoting the internet comments section and then reporting “conservatives are outraged” when there’s no indication that’s true? Twitter isn’t real life.
posted by lemonshush at 4:50 PM on February 11, 2023 [27 favorites]
posted by lemonshush at 4:50 PM on February 11, 2023 [27 favorites]
So is cauliflower owned by Disney? Must be a connection.
posted by Ideefixe at 4:54 PM on February 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Ideefixe at 4:54 PM on February 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
I’m getting a little tired of the “some randos on Twitter reacted badly” news story.
Particularly now that Twitter is self-selecting for racist outrage these days.
posted by mhoye at 4:58 PM on February 11, 2023 [9 favorites]
Particularly now that Twitter is self-selecting for racist outrage these days.
posted by mhoye at 4:58 PM on February 11, 2023 [9 favorites]
I'd better not catch any of these knuckleheads eating battered and fried okra...
posted by jim in austin at 5:23 PM on February 11, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by jim in austin at 5:23 PM on February 11, 2023 [7 favorites]
Well if cauliflower is woke, it won't be long til grits is too.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 5:26 PM on February 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 5:26 PM on February 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
CFA never really stopped donating to anti-queer hate orgs
there's a CFA franchise in metro Atlanta in an ostensibly heavily gentrified, very white, very liberal city named Decatur, a franchise that also has a record of being very transphobic, whose owner told a trans woman that they 'should feel honored to be catcalled [by their preferred gender identity]' when she complained about the working condition. the location is still immensely popular and has a long car line each time I've driven/walked past
it's fun to believe in the dismissive heuristic 'there's no ethical consumption under capitalism' even though Marxist analysis is really much more concerned about the capital the capitalist class owns (ie stocks/land/generational wealth - your 401k/Roth IRA would probably be a much better target for that phrase) but boycotts have been a fundamental part of labor organizing strategy since forever so fuck that idea
posted by paimapi at 5:59 PM on February 11, 2023 [17 favorites]
there's a CFA franchise in metro Atlanta in an ostensibly heavily gentrified, very white, very liberal city named Decatur, a franchise that also has a record of being very transphobic, whose owner told a trans woman that they 'should feel honored to be catcalled [by their preferred gender identity]' when she complained about the working condition. the location is still immensely popular and has a long car line each time I've driven/walked past
it's fun to believe in the dismissive heuristic 'there's no ethical consumption under capitalism' even though Marxist analysis is really much more concerned about the capital the capitalist class owns (ie stocks/land/generational wealth - your 401k/Roth IRA would probably be a much better target for that phrase) but boycotts have been a fundamental part of labor organizing strategy since forever so fuck that idea
posted by paimapi at 5:59 PM on February 11, 2023 [17 favorites]
CFA could replace its entire menu with vegetarian-friendly options and I wouldn't eat there. I don't support bigots or their enterprises if I can avoid it, and when it comes to crappy fast food? I can avoid it.
posted by 1adam12 at 6:01 PM on February 11, 2023 [12 favorites]
posted by 1adam12 at 6:01 PM on February 11, 2023 [12 favorites]
Metafilter: clear, powerful aortas
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:06 PM on February 11, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:06 PM on February 11, 2023 [5 favorites]
"Explore the Space..."
Has CFA become Bruce Dickinson?
Conservatives need MORE COW
posted by Windopaene at 6:19 PM on February 11, 2023 [5 favorites]
Has CFA become Bruce Dickinson?
Conservatives need MORE COW
posted by Windopaene at 6:19 PM on February 11, 2023 [5 favorites]
My reaction to this at first was "That sounds tasty. Let me know when it's not CFA."
Can't stand cauliflower typically, but a deli near where I used to work had deep fried and spiced cauliflower pita wraps, and they were delicious. A chicken-fried slab of cauliflower? Yes, please! From CFA? Next.
posted by indexy at 6:24 PM on February 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
Can't stand cauliflower typically, but a deli near where I used to work had deep fried and spiced cauliflower pita wraps, and they were delicious. A chicken-fried slab of cauliflower? Yes, please! From CFA? Next.
posted by indexy at 6:24 PM on February 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
Tangentially: When I was a vegetarian in the 70's/80's, it was fine, but on the road I would sometimes go to McDonald's and get a cheeseburger without the burger. Turns out the fries were cooked in a tub of tallow, so I was not really a vegetarian after all. Oh well.
posted by kozad at 6:35 PM on February 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by kozad at 6:35 PM on February 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'm boggling a bit reading this thread because to me, CFA is the Country Fire Authority
posted by freethefeet at 6:44 PM on February 11, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by freethefeet at 6:44 PM on February 11, 2023 [7 favorites]
Fuck Chic-fil-A. But I do find the abbreviation CFA odd, because I guess the A stands for A?
posted by snofoam at 7:11 PM on February 11, 2023 [12 favorites]
posted by snofoam at 7:11 PM on February 11, 2023 [12 favorites]
I mean, plant patty alternatives to meat sandwiches are not a new thing. Restaurants will return to them simply because the profit margin is that much higher.
So, it is interesting/scary to think about what their marketing push will be, given that their brand is "screw you, we're bigots. Murica."
posted by eustatic at 7:16 PM on February 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
So, it is interesting/scary to think about what their marketing push will be, given that their brand is "screw you, we're bigots. Murica."
posted by eustatic at 7:16 PM on February 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
That people can still muster up an opinion about this shit in 2023 is really the ultimate downer.
posted by Stonestock Relentless at 7:19 PM on February 11, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by Stonestock Relentless at 7:19 PM on February 11, 2023 [5 favorites]
If the left were as clever and evil as the right says it is, we’d already be focus-grouping “liberals say, ‘don’t drink arsenic’” messaging and letting the predictable consequences fall out.
We already did that.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:22 PM on February 11, 2023 [6 favorites]
We already did that.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:22 PM on February 11, 2023 [6 favorites]
This political movement will not start to fade away, because they are fighting for white supremacy, male domination, heteronormativity, a rigid gender binary, and violent suppression of anyone who disagrees. They see cauliflower as the thin end of the wedge to total loss of power.
posted by medusa at 7:44 PM on February 11, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by medusa at 7:44 PM on February 11, 2023 [6 favorites]
I guess the A stands for A?
Unless you're The Fonz.
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:46 PM on February 11, 2023 [5 favorites]
Unless you're The Fonz.
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:46 PM on February 11, 2023 [5 favorites]
They poisoned Jesus chicken too
I have been staring at these words for five minutes now, trying to get them to make sense. The closest I came at any point was when I thought "Well, maybe they confused Socrates with Jesus (both bearded men with sandals killed by the Establishment) and confused hemlock with "Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius." Somehow, I don't think that's the case.
posted by dannyboybell at 7:52 PM on February 11, 2023 [13 favorites]
I have been staring at these words for five minutes now, trying to get them to make sense. The closest I came at any point was when I thought "Well, maybe they confused Socrates with Jesus (both bearded men with sandals killed by the Establishment) and confused hemlock with "Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius." Somehow, I don't think that's the case.
posted by dannyboybell at 7:52 PM on February 11, 2023 [13 favorites]
Fuck Chick-fil-A.
posted by AlSweigart at 7:54 PM on February 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by AlSweigart at 7:54 PM on February 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
>> They poisoned Jesus chicken too
> I have been staring at these words for five minutes now, trying to get them to make sense.
Shorthand for "My imagined enemies have infiltrated and ruined the fast food chicken sandwich shop I pretended to enjoy because it supported religious beliefs I use as a substitute for authentic identity but never really bothered to learn."
posted by pwnguin at 7:58 PM on February 11, 2023 [19 favorites]
> I have been staring at these words for five minutes now, trying to get them to make sense.
Shorthand for "My imagined enemies have infiltrated and ruined the fast food chicken sandwich shop I pretended to enjoy because it supported religious beliefs I use as a substitute for authentic identity but never really bothered to learn."
posted by pwnguin at 7:58 PM on February 11, 2023 [19 favorites]
Find an Indian restaurant with gobi Manchurian (Manchurian cauliflower). It’s vegan, breaded, deep fried, and slathered in a sugary Chinese Indian sauce. It hits those meaty, satisfying, artery-clogging fast food notes I crave.
posted by Headfullofair at 7:59 PM on February 11, 2023 [23 favorites]
posted by Headfullofair at 7:59 PM on February 11, 2023 [23 favorites]
Chick-fil-a’s chicken isn’t dairy free, why would I trust them to make something vegan?
posted by sleeping bear at 8:17 PM on February 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by sleeping bear at 8:17 PM on February 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
I still can't quite come to terms with how fragile modern conservative types are. They can mock us about being "snowflakes" who are "triggered" and need"safe spaces" and yet they're freaking out about an item being ADDED to a menu. It's not as if CF-A is discontinuing their bigot chicken line in favor of bigot cauliflower and there will be no choice.
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 8:21 PM on February 11, 2023 [26 favorites]
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 8:21 PM on February 11, 2023 [26 favorites]
there's a CFA franchise in metro Atlanta in an ostensibly heavily gentrified, very white, very liberal city named Decatur, a franchise that also has a record of being very transphobic, whose owner told a trans woman that they 'should feel honored to be catcalled [by their preferred gender identity]' when she complained about the working condition. the location is still immensely popular and has a long car line each time I've driven/walked past
I worked in Atlanta for a while & was shocked that my younger left-leaning/queer/trans co-workers all ate Chick-fil-A as though the company had never done anything wrong in that department; dunno how pervasive that attitude is in metro Atlanta as a whole but this doesn't surprise me
posted by taquito sunrise at 8:29 PM on February 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
I worked in Atlanta for a while & was shocked that my younger left-leaning/queer/trans co-workers all ate Chick-fil-A as though the company had never done anything wrong in that department; dunno how pervasive that attitude is in metro Atlanta as a whole but this doesn't surprise me
posted by taquito sunrise at 8:29 PM on February 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
I thought the Cathey family was Christian
Christ is well know for having hang ups about cruciferous things.
posted by Panjandrum at 8:40 PM on February 11, 2023 [52 favorites]
Christ is well know for having hang ups about cruciferous things.
posted by Panjandrum at 8:40 PM on February 11, 2023 [52 favorites]
I'm boggling a bit reading this thread because to me, CFA is the Country Fire Authority
It clearly stands for calcium fluorapatite
posted by cubeb at 9:06 PM on February 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
It clearly stands for calcium fluorapatite
posted by cubeb at 9:06 PM on February 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
I feel sorry for dictionary writers who have to write a definition of the word 'woke'. It feels like we're speaking two languages and it's a false friend.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 9:20 PM on February 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 9:20 PM on February 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
Find an Indian restaurant with gobi Manchurian (Manchurian cauliflower). It’s vegan, breaded, deep fried, and slathered in a sugary Chinese Indian sauce. It hits those meaty, satisfying, artery-clogging fast food notes I crave.
Ugh, this stuff (and several other fried Indian cauliflower variants I’ve had) is great but my digestive system literally cannot with cauliflower anymore, it’s like someone pushed the emergency alarm. Somehow so much worse than other cruciferous vegetables for reasons I have yet to work out.
So I guess I won’t be tempted by the fake Jesus chicken.
posted by deludingmyself at 9:21 PM on February 11, 2023
Ugh, this stuff (and several other fried Indian cauliflower variants I’ve had) is great but my digestive system literally cannot with cauliflower anymore, it’s like someone pushed the emergency alarm. Somehow so much worse than other cruciferous vegetables for reasons I have yet to work out.
So I guess I won’t be tempted by the fake Jesus chicken.
posted by deludingmyself at 9:21 PM on February 11, 2023
CFA = Cauliflower Frying A-holes
If there’s one thing I detest more than cauliflower, it’s bigotry. Anyway, there’s a local hot wings place with vegan and vegetarian options, and they’re made of things that actually make the indigestion worth it.
That said, if the same people who were clutching their truck-nuts about the soy sausage at Cracker Barrel want to boycott over this, so be it. The drive-thru here in town spills over onto a busy surface road, and I wouldn’t mind seeing the congestion thin out a little.
posted by armeowda at 9:31 PM on February 11, 2023 [7 favorites]
If there’s one thing I detest more than cauliflower, it’s bigotry. Anyway, there’s a local hot wings place with vegan and vegetarian options, and they’re made of things that actually make the indigestion worth it.
That said, if the same people who were clutching their truck-nuts about the soy sausage at Cracker Barrel want to boycott over this, so be it. The drive-thru here in town spills over onto a busy surface road, and I wouldn’t mind seeing the congestion thin out a little.
posted by armeowda at 9:31 PM on February 11, 2023 [7 favorites]
Christ is well know for having hang ups about cruciferous things.
Panjandrum
Nailed it!
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 4:09 AM on February 12, 2023 [33 favorites]
Panjandrum
Nailed it!
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 4:09 AM on February 12, 2023 [33 favorites]
I worked in Atlanta for a while & was shocked that my younger left-leaning/queer/trans co-workers all ate Chick-fil-A as though the company had never done anything wrong in that department; dunno how pervasive that attitude is in metro Atlanta as a whole but this doesn't surprise me
I'm probably the only MeFite who works in a building with a Chik-Fil-A in it, and this is absolutely true. My queer students eat Chik-Fil-A regularly. When Stacey Abrams visited our campus, she came to the food court with the Chik-Fil-A, and all the workers there piled out to get hugs and pictures (much to chagrin of their white male manager who clearly was pissed that she was distracting from the 2 pm lag). I used to live just up the street from the Decatur Chik-Fil-A, and the lesbian moms of Decatur will defend it to the death, talking about how that store does great fundraisers for the city schools and their kids really love the waffle fries. And if this cauliflower becomes nationwide (it's not being piloted here), they will use that to pretend like Chik-Fil-A is healthy. I promise, not eating Chik-Fil-A is not actually difficult, but people in Atlanta pretend like it's impossible.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:19 AM on February 12, 2023 [11 favorites]
I'm probably the only MeFite who works in a building with a Chik-Fil-A in it, and this is absolutely true. My queer students eat Chik-Fil-A regularly. When Stacey Abrams visited our campus, she came to the food court with the Chik-Fil-A, and all the workers there piled out to get hugs and pictures (much to chagrin of their white male manager who clearly was pissed that she was distracting from the 2 pm lag). I used to live just up the street from the Decatur Chik-Fil-A, and the lesbian moms of Decatur will defend it to the death, talking about how that store does great fundraisers for the city schools and their kids really love the waffle fries. And if this cauliflower becomes nationwide (it's not being piloted here), they will use that to pretend like Chik-Fil-A is healthy. I promise, not eating Chik-Fil-A is not actually difficult, but people in Atlanta pretend like it's impossible.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:19 AM on February 12, 2023 [11 favorites]
This is all they have—no policy, just a white-hot sphere of rage that must be fed constantly.Funny you should say that, The Onion's video team called it SO right over 10 years ago.
posted by revmitcz at 4:39 AM on February 12, 2023 [9 favorites]
Chic Fil A is great quality, their food is delicious. That’s why anyone eats there, even the gays!
posted by waving at 5:31 AM on February 12, 2023
posted by waving at 5:31 AM on February 12, 2023
No fast food is great quality.
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:33 AM on February 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:33 AM on February 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
I still can't quite come to terms with how fragile modern conservative types are. They can mock us about being "snowflakes" who are "triggered" and need"safe spaces" and yet they're freaking out about an item being ADDED to a menu.
When you project long into the abyss, the abyss projects also into you.
posted by flabdablet at 5:36 AM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
When you project long into the abyss, the abyss projects also into you.
posted by flabdablet at 5:36 AM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Find an Indian restaurant with gobi Manchurian (Manchurian cauliflower). It’s vegan, breaded, deep fried, and slathered in a sugary Chinese Indian sauce. It hits those meaty, satisfying, artery-clogging fast food notes I crave.
At least around here, a lot of sort of pub-ish, pizza-ish places are starting to serve variants on this - one nearby has this sort of choose your own adventure style where you can have them plain, plain with one of about five external sauces or with your choice of both different batters and different sauces. It took me several tries to understand that you are supposed to pick not one but two flavors per order. And you get this huge, absurd serving that's really more of an entree for two. Get the cauliflower and a bavarian pretzel and you can completely defeat the purpose of ordering from a pizza restaurant. (I mean, I always get the cauliflower; cauliflower is my favorite vegetable.)
As far as Chick-fil-A and boycotts and consumption under capitalism goes, I have an aesthetic distaste for things when I know that they're produced by proud bigots, frankly. Maybe withholding my dollar doesn't do much, maybe if I had a god's eye view of the world I'd just know that proud bigots were also frying my cauliflower, but I can't unsee stuff that I do see.
I think that just shrugging one's shoulders and saying "well, all things are equally shitty, why not buy the product that I know is made by the person who would march me and my loved ones to a death camp if he had his druthers" eviscerates the feelings. Refusing at least some things is good for you, it's a way of claiming a little bit of autonomy even if it isn't a way to win. They may be able to spout their hatred and promote their violence, but I don't have to like it - and we all know that the right desperately wants us to like being ground down.
posted by Frowner at 5:42 AM on February 12, 2023 [10 favorites]
At least around here, a lot of sort of pub-ish, pizza-ish places are starting to serve variants on this - one nearby has this sort of choose your own adventure style where you can have them plain, plain with one of about five external sauces or with your choice of both different batters and different sauces. It took me several tries to understand that you are supposed to pick not one but two flavors per order. And you get this huge, absurd serving that's really more of an entree for two. Get the cauliflower and a bavarian pretzel and you can completely defeat the purpose of ordering from a pizza restaurant. (I mean, I always get the cauliflower; cauliflower is my favorite vegetable.)
As far as Chick-fil-A and boycotts and consumption under capitalism goes, I have an aesthetic distaste for things when I know that they're produced by proud bigots, frankly. Maybe withholding my dollar doesn't do much, maybe if I had a god's eye view of the world I'd just know that proud bigots were also frying my cauliflower, but I can't unsee stuff that I do see.
I think that just shrugging one's shoulders and saying "well, all things are equally shitty, why not buy the product that I know is made by the person who would march me and my loved ones to a death camp if he had his druthers" eviscerates the feelings. Refusing at least some things is good for you, it's a way of claiming a little bit of autonomy even if it isn't a way to win. They may be able to spout their hatred and promote their violence, but I don't have to like it - and we all know that the right desperately wants us to like being ground down.
posted by Frowner at 5:42 AM on February 12, 2023 [10 favorites]
Chuck Fila is my rapper name.
posted by slogger at 5:54 AM on February 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by slogger at 5:54 AM on February 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Always nice to have more vegetarian options for those times when I'm on an endless roadtrip through the midwest and contemplating whether I'm going to have to make do with one of those awful gas station egg salad sandwiches.
However, it's Chik-Fil-A, so I'll probably go with the awful gas station egg salad sandwich.
posted by Jeanne at 6:22 AM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
However, it's Chik-Fil-A, so I'll probably go with the awful gas station egg salad sandwich.
posted by Jeanne at 6:22 AM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
why not buy the product that I know is made by the person who would march me and my loved ones to a death camp if he had his druthers
Do y'all feel the same about a cashier at Publix?
posted by achrise at 6:36 AM on February 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Do y'all feel the same about a cashier at Publix?
posted by achrise at 6:36 AM on February 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
and the lesbian moms of Decatur will defend it to the death, talking about how that store does great fundraisers for the city schools and their kids really love the waffle fries.
Midwestern dad checking in, and during my time in our school PTA the local Chik-Fil-A would constantly be in contact asking if we wanted anything. You're doing a 5K run fundraiser and need a contribution? Here's a mountain of hot sandwiches at 7am on a Saturday morning with cookies and drinks and we sent over a kid in the cow costume.
The franchisee (although with CFA it's more like 'authorized store operator') explained that they have a corporate mandate to give away a huge chunk of donations every year and they're in trouble if they don't. Is it greenwashing to water down attention about the awful groups they also donate to? Most likely. But it seems to work.
posted by JoeZydeco at 6:52 AM on February 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
Midwestern dad checking in, and during my time in our school PTA the local Chik-Fil-A would constantly be in contact asking if we wanted anything. You're doing a 5K run fundraiser and need a contribution? Here's a mountain of hot sandwiches at 7am on a Saturday morning with cookies and drinks and we sent over a kid in the cow costume.
The franchisee (although with CFA it's more like 'authorized store operator') explained that they have a corporate mandate to give away a huge chunk of donations every year and they're in trouble if they don't. Is it greenwashing to water down attention about the awful groups they also donate to? Most likely. But it seems to work.
posted by JoeZydeco at 6:52 AM on February 12, 2023 [4 favorites]
The cashier at Publix has the power to, I don't know, say something mean to me about my rainbow T-shirt. Dan Cathy has the power to donate millions of dollars to anti-gay organizations. Dan Cathy might in fact be at least a little bit personally responsible for the fact that my own state is very probably going to make it illegal for public school teachers to use trans students' correct names and pronouns. The cashier at Hy-Vee... well, he might have voted for Kim Reynolds, but inexplicably, so did 709,159 other Iowans.
Plus, it is quite difficult to quiz all of the Hy-Vee cashiers about how they feel about gay rights, climate change, and the prison industrial complex, and quite easy to get one's fast-food sandwiches elsewhere.
posted by Jeanne at 6:57 AM on February 12, 2023 [17 favorites]
Plus, it is quite difficult to quiz all of the Hy-Vee cashiers about how they feel about gay rights, climate change, and the prison industrial complex, and quite easy to get one's fast-food sandwiches elsewhere.
posted by Jeanne at 6:57 AM on February 12, 2023 [17 favorites]
I mean, if I went to the grocery store and the cashier insulted me to my face for being visibly queer or was telling customers that we needed to kill the gays (or the immigrants, or that George Floyd deserved to be murdered, etc) I would take some kind of action, however trivial. Depending on my sense of the situation I might confront the cashier, I might actually complain to the manager, I might avoid that cashier in particular or I might stop shopping at the store. I stopped going to a convenient bike shop because I observed several staff members being really misogynist, for instance, and I don't go to the bar where the owner is a nazi symp. (Not that I'm going to bars because of covid anyway, but I stopped beforehand.)
Again, I can't unknow what I know, and if I have the power to choose, I like to choose. It's capitalism, so if you literally don't have a reasonably decent alternative, sure, whatever, but while you can choose I think it's good to do so.
Is everyone else just....going to the grocery store where the cashiers all wear "helicopter the gays" buttons and waffenSS patches or something?
posted by Frowner at 8:10 AM on February 12, 2023 [15 favorites]
Again, I can't unknow what I know, and if I have the power to choose, I like to choose. It's capitalism, so if you literally don't have a reasonably decent alternative, sure, whatever, but while you can choose I think it's good to do so.
Is everyone else just....going to the grocery store where the cashiers all wear "helicopter the gays" buttons and waffenSS patches or something?
posted by Frowner at 8:10 AM on February 12, 2023 [15 favorites]
However, it's Chik-Fil-A, so I'll probably go with the awful gas station egg salad sandwich.
If your in the Midwest eating food from a gas station you’re almost certainly supporting a Trump lover. If you can get into an urban area you’re likely safer.
posted by waving at 8:41 AM on February 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
If your in the Midwest eating food from a gas station you’re almost certainly supporting a Trump lover. If you can get into an urban area you’re likely safer.
posted by waving at 8:41 AM on February 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
nice to have more vegetarian options for those times when I'm on an endless roadtrip through the midwest
This offering isn't vegetarian. The cauliflower is coated in egg and milk and no steps are taken to separate chicken and cauliflower preparation. Hence the marketing speak "plant-forward entrée".
posted by Mitheral at 8:42 AM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
This offering isn't vegetarian. The cauliflower is coated in egg and milk and no steps are taken to separate chicken and cauliflower preparation. Hence the marketing speak "plant-forward entrée".
posted by Mitheral at 8:42 AM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Find an Indian restaurant with gobi Manchurian
Also keep an eye out for Gobi 65. Not at a lot of Indian restaurants in the US, but definitely worth a try if you see it on the menu. It's like flavorful (and often spicy) popcorn chicken made out of cauliflower.
posted by msbrauer at 9:02 AM on February 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
Also keep an eye out for Gobi 65. Not at a lot of Indian restaurants in the US, but definitely worth a try if you see it on the menu. It's like flavorful (and often spicy) popcorn chicken made out of cauliflower.
posted by msbrauer at 9:02 AM on February 12, 2023 [6 favorites]
Chic Fil A is great quality, their food is delicious.
Eh, the chicken sammiches at McDonald's or Wendy's are just as good if different styles. If your Mickey's has the southern-style chicken sandwich, that's a chikfila sammich that's just as good as chikfila.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:33 AM on February 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Eh, the chicken sammiches at McDonald's or Wendy's are just as good if different styles. If your Mickey's has the southern-style chicken sandwich, that's a chikfila sammich that's just as good as chikfila.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:33 AM on February 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Chic Fil A is great quality, their food is delicious.
Not sure if you're serious, but I've eaten there a few times (due to lack of alternatives) and don't see the hype. I mean it's fine, it does in a pinch, but I just really don't understand why so many people line up in insanely long drive-through lines for it. No doubt the lack of good fast food options besides Chic FIL A in this area is part of it (McDonald's, Wendy's, etc are almost nonexistent here), despite being in a semi-urban area.
posted by photo guy at 10:06 AM on February 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Not sure if you're serious, but I've eaten there a few times (due to lack of alternatives) and don't see the hype. I mean it's fine, it does in a pinch, but I just really don't understand why so many people line up in insanely long drive-through lines for it. No doubt the lack of good fast food options besides Chic FIL A in this area is part of it (McDonald's, Wendy's, etc are almost nonexistent here), despite being in a semi-urban area.
posted by photo guy at 10:06 AM on February 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
I thought most vegetarians were ovo-lacto, Mitheral. Is this inaccurate?
posted by Selena777 at 10:26 AM on February 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Selena777 at 10:26 AM on February 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Chic Fil A is great quality, their food is delicious.
I wouldn't say it's delicious, but it's great quality. Chick-fil-A is a very well-run fast-food restaurant chain, which is a big part of why they've been so successful.
The company leases everything to the franchisees, so the stores are mostly pretty new, and you don't see many broken soft-serve machines. The menu is deliberately small and tightly focused. They're highly selective about who they'll give a franchise to, so the owners are generally pretty invested (and, unlike e.g. McDonald's or Burger King, most have only one or two stores). They emphasize customer service, and are very kid- and family-friendly.
I don't eat there, for a lot of reasons, but they're good at what they do.
posted by box at 10:33 AM on February 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
I wouldn't say it's delicious, but it's great quality. Chick-fil-A is a very well-run fast-food restaurant chain, which is a big part of why they've been so successful.
The company leases everything to the franchisees, so the stores are mostly pretty new, and you don't see many broken soft-serve machines. The menu is deliberately small and tightly focused. They're highly selective about who they'll give a franchise to, so the owners are generally pretty invested (and, unlike e.g. McDonald's or Burger King, most have only one or two stores). They emphasize customer service, and are very kid- and family-friendly.
I don't eat there, for a lot of reasons, but they're good at what they do.
posted by box at 10:33 AM on February 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Chic Fil A is great quality, their food is delicious.
I've heard this a lot and I know taste is subjective, but... I don't get it. Long before I was aware of any controversy related to CFA I tried their wares on the recommendation of several co-workers.
If CFA had no build-up I probably would've been like "not bad." But after all the build-up it was a real disappointment. I never felt the need to go there regularly after that. Then, of course, I learned about their support of anti-gay organizations and definitely wasn't going to eat there after that even if it was the best food ever.
I'd try a cauliflower sandwich elsewhere, though. Local place had some great "orange glazed" cauliflower dish where the cauliflower replaced chicken and I thought it was fantastic. I'm not a vegan or vegetarian but those were the bomb. Obviously the cauliflower (or chicken) were just a vehicle for the coating and sauce, but it worked.
My kiddo won't eat them, though, under the objection that cauliflower is (and I quote) "ghost broccoli."
posted by jzb at 10:38 AM on February 12, 2023 [11 favorites]
I've heard this a lot and I know taste is subjective, but... I don't get it. Long before I was aware of any controversy related to CFA I tried their wares on the recommendation of several co-workers.
If CFA had no build-up I probably would've been like "not bad." But after all the build-up it was a real disappointment. I never felt the need to go there regularly after that. Then, of course, I learned about their support of anti-gay organizations and definitely wasn't going to eat there after that even if it was the best food ever.
I'd try a cauliflower sandwich elsewhere, though. Local place had some great "orange glazed" cauliflower dish where the cauliflower replaced chicken and I thought it was fantastic. I'm not a vegan or vegetarian but those were the bomb. Obviously the cauliflower (or chicken) were just a vehicle for the coating and sauce, but it worked.
My kiddo won't eat them, though, under the objection that cauliflower is (and I quote) "ghost broccoli."
posted by jzb at 10:38 AM on February 12, 2023 [11 favorites]
I worked in Atlanta for a while & was shocked that my younger left-leaning/queer/trans co-workers all ate Chick-fil-A as though the company had never done anything wrong in that department; dunno how pervasive that attitude is in metro Atlanta as a whole but this doesn't surprise me
A lot of people choose not to participate in boycotts as a form of political activism, even if they are otherwise politically active. For other people, it can be confusing to understand why one business is being boycotted and another is not. I have, over the years, had friends boycott Chik-Fil-A and Hobby Lobby, but also Target (for reasons I don't remember now), and SodaStream because, if I remember correctly, they built their machines in occupied Palestine. And so many others. I rarely participate in consumer boycotts for something like this reason: I'm not sure any given company is better or worse than any other company that I haven't heard about.
I also have friends and relations who make their living working at Hobby Lobby, Wal-mart, or Chik-Fil-A. That makes boycotting complicated for me.
Finally, I don't eat out or shop a lot, so I never feel like boycotting a certain company is meaningfully different from what I normally do. When friends were boycotting Target, I wasn't boycotting it, but I hadn't been there in years. I could have said, "Oh, I'm boycotting Target, too," but the power of a boycott is that you are giving up a thing you might otherwise like to have in your life, like grapes during the grape boycott decades ago, but I'm not boycotting Chik-Fil-A. I just don't happen to eat there, and I'm not going to claim I am to get some kind of fake cred for a thing I'm just doing anyway.
It's easy, if you do a thing, to wonder why all the other people don't do this thing that is, to you, obviously a good. I have friends, also, who do volunteer work with the homeless; who engage in letter-writing campaigns every time a Black person is killed by the police; who spend a lot of time and money keeping a Little Free Pantry stocked. I don't do any of these things, but I do have a habit of taking in homeless queer and trans teenagers, or teens who are otherwise unable to remain with their parents, for periods of time ranging from a few months to "legally adopted." One of my best friends, childfree herself (I have four, absolutely love kids of all ages from newborns to 25-year-olds, and love being surrounded by lots of them, so me taking in extras is kind of no big deal, but it is a big deal for her), currently has taken in a 16-year-old trans kid who was couch-surfing for quite awhile before she invited him to stay with her. She is a bisexual hospice chaplain who eats Chik-Fil-A sometimes because she likes it, and fuck you if you think that means she somehow doesn't care about queer issues or isn't doing enough for people.
My point is, a person can't know what goes into someone's decision-making process or what factors they're dealing with in their lives, so judging on a single data point like this is a bit rash.
posted by Well I never at 10:48 AM on February 12, 2023 [8 favorites]
A lot of people choose not to participate in boycotts as a form of political activism, even if they are otherwise politically active. For other people, it can be confusing to understand why one business is being boycotted and another is not. I have, over the years, had friends boycott Chik-Fil-A and Hobby Lobby, but also Target (for reasons I don't remember now), and SodaStream because, if I remember correctly, they built their machines in occupied Palestine. And so many others. I rarely participate in consumer boycotts for something like this reason: I'm not sure any given company is better or worse than any other company that I haven't heard about.
I also have friends and relations who make their living working at Hobby Lobby, Wal-mart, or Chik-Fil-A. That makes boycotting complicated for me.
Finally, I don't eat out or shop a lot, so I never feel like boycotting a certain company is meaningfully different from what I normally do. When friends were boycotting Target, I wasn't boycotting it, but I hadn't been there in years. I could have said, "Oh, I'm boycotting Target, too," but the power of a boycott is that you are giving up a thing you might otherwise like to have in your life, like grapes during the grape boycott decades ago, but I'm not boycotting Chik-Fil-A. I just don't happen to eat there, and I'm not going to claim I am to get some kind of fake cred for a thing I'm just doing anyway.
It's easy, if you do a thing, to wonder why all the other people don't do this thing that is, to you, obviously a good. I have friends, also, who do volunteer work with the homeless; who engage in letter-writing campaigns every time a Black person is killed by the police; who spend a lot of time and money keeping a Little Free Pantry stocked. I don't do any of these things, but I do have a habit of taking in homeless queer and trans teenagers, or teens who are otherwise unable to remain with their parents, for periods of time ranging from a few months to "legally adopted." One of my best friends, childfree herself (I have four, absolutely love kids of all ages from newborns to 25-year-olds, and love being surrounded by lots of them, so me taking in extras is kind of no big deal, but it is a big deal for her), currently has taken in a 16-year-old trans kid who was couch-surfing for quite awhile before she invited him to stay with her. She is a bisexual hospice chaplain who eats Chik-Fil-A sometimes because she likes it, and fuck you if you think that means she somehow doesn't care about queer issues or isn't doing enough for people.
My point is, a person can't know what goes into someone's decision-making process or what factors they're dealing with in their lives, so judging on a single data point like this is a bit rash.
posted by Well I never at 10:48 AM on February 12, 2023 [8 favorites]
more reasons to avoid, from really unhealthy food to discrimination
posted by tiny frying pan at 10:52 AM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by tiny frying pan at 10:52 AM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
don't see the hype.
I don't get it.
Concur. I got dragged there on a road trip one time and the sandwich was... Ew? Overfried soddenpaper wads of white meat on insipid to the point of dissolving under gentle fingerpressure whitebread with nothing--zero--condiments. What was it supposed to be? That was what it was supposed to be? Okay...?
posted by Don Pepino at 10:52 AM on February 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
I don't get it.
Concur. I got dragged there on a road trip one time and the sandwich was... Ew? Overfried soddenpaper wads of white meat on insipid to the point of dissolving under gentle fingerpressure whitebread with nothing--zero--condiments. What was it supposed to be? That was what it was supposed to be? Okay...?
posted by Don Pepino at 10:52 AM on February 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
I do take Frowner's point up-thread that they take action where they can. They will boycott the business they know is bad, even if they also know that there are equally-bad options out there they don't know about. I want to acknowledge that this is a totally valid approach to the decision to boycott or not.
posted by Well I never at 11:01 AM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Well I never at 11:01 AM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
With all the misspellings in the comments here (myself included), I have started pondering Chic-fil-A (chic pronounced sheek) as a fashion-forward chicken chain run by drag queens.
posted by snofoam at 11:25 AM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by snofoam at 11:25 AM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Trader Joe's has offered Tempura Cauliflower bites for a while now. The Just Bare company puts out frozen chicken breasts, strips and nuggets that are pretty close to CFA-with-the-serial-numbers-filed-off, found by me at Wegmans but substantially cheaper at Costco.
There are people who go to Chick-Fil-A because it's the Openly Christian Option. There are those who go there because they're generally clean, are serving less obvious grease bombs than fast-food burgers, and they go out of their way to seem pleasant. I knew a guy who worked at one near me, who'd been the cashier at our corporate cafeteria before that. Each time we went out to eat there, the guy would come over at least twice and be like, "Is there anything I can do for you? Is your meal enjoyable? Have a great evening," and my father would give him massive side-eye. I explained, no, the guy's not Ned Flanders in real life, this is what they pay him to be like here.
'Course, when I used to eat there, it was because I'd look around the mall's food court and it was the most appealing option of what was available. That was back when we had malls, or when I shopped at them.
posted by delfin at 12:04 PM on February 12, 2023
There are people who go to Chick-Fil-A because it's the Openly Christian Option. There are those who go there because they're generally clean, are serving less obvious grease bombs than fast-food burgers, and they go out of their way to seem pleasant. I knew a guy who worked at one near me, who'd been the cashier at our corporate cafeteria before that. Each time we went out to eat there, the guy would come over at least twice and be like, "Is there anything I can do for you? Is your meal enjoyable? Have a great evening," and my father would give him massive side-eye. I explained, no, the guy's not Ned Flanders in real life, this is what they pay him to be like here.
'Course, when I used to eat there, it was because I'd look around the mall's food court and it was the most appealing option of what was available. That was back when we had malls, or when I shopped at them.
posted by delfin at 12:04 PM on February 12, 2023
m not sure any given company is better or worse than any other company that I haven't heard about.
saying this in a world where shit like opensecrets.org exists is a level of apathy that I hope to be able to capture in one of those really depressing short stories about small, incomprehensible delusions that have been in vogue since forever
posted by paimapi at 12:49 PM on February 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
saying this in a world where shit like opensecrets.org exists is a level of apathy that I hope to be able to capture in one of those really depressing short stories about small, incomprehensible delusions that have been in vogue since forever
posted by paimapi at 12:49 PM on February 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Popeye's does fried chicken and pickles between two bun halves better than every other chain, but Chick-fil-A has the lunchtime drive-through rush routine down pat, at least at the place closest to me. Multiple lanes, employees standing outside with handheld POS dealies. I don't see it much anymore, but in earlier COVID times the employees outside would wear these protective bubble suits.
posted by emelenjr at 2:08 PM on February 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by emelenjr at 2:08 PM on February 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
A boycott is an organized collective action with the aim of pressuring a business to take (or stop taking) specific actions. An individual choice not organized collectively is an individual consumer choice, which some of us apply ethical factors toward, but not a boycott. “We’re never going to patronize this company again no matter what” is, similarly, not a boycott (though boycotts can last years, eg. boycotts against businesses linked with South Africa’s apartheid regime).
posted by eviemath at 2:15 PM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by eviemath at 2:15 PM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
I thought these folks were supposed to be super into capitalism, but I guess not.
I didn't know deep-fried cauliflower wasn't commonly served everywhere in the US. It was a happy-hour staple in the bar attached to the restaurant where I worked in high school. Like everything else in Western New York, it was served with hot sauce and bleu cheese dressing.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 2:15 PM on February 12, 2023
I didn't know deep-fried cauliflower wasn't commonly served everywhere in the US. It was a happy-hour staple in the bar attached to the restaurant where I worked in high school. Like everything else in Western New York, it was served with hot sauce and bleu cheese dressing.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 2:15 PM on February 12, 2023
Anyway, part of why you should boycott some specific companies even though, yes, other companies are bad is that you would be aiding a specific campaign aimed at getting that specific company to change some specific policy or practice, which would improve specific people’s lives. And often contribute to changing industry-wide standards, when the company being boycotted has a large proportion of market share. But sometimes the effective thing to do is to focus on one company at a time. Once you get McDonald’s to take sexual harassment of workers seriously, for example, then you can move on to other fast food chains with similar problems but slightly lower profile.
posted by eviemath at 2:18 PM on February 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by eviemath at 2:18 PM on February 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Man, a lot of y’all are gonna have aneurisms when you find out about queer folk who still shop at Hobby Lobby.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:22 PM on February 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Thorzdad at 2:22 PM on February 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Oh, I already know about them. I don't run into them often, but many of them may be closet HL shoppers and I don't know it.
I have a list of places that simply don't exist for me. Some of these are big deals, some of them are personal slights (I will never go back to a Carl's Jr after I went to one on a blood sugar crash and drove away before discovering I had been given a bun with ketchup and mustard), all of them are lifelong I just don't even see them anymore.
Chik-Fil-A annoys me because they used to ONLY be in malls, and then suddenly they've had standalone buildings happening along fast food row locations, so it's new and I haven't screened it out yet. There also aren't any in this area, so I only see them when traveling.
So I'm counting on eventual exposure therapy to render them invisible, too.
posted by hippybear at 2:27 PM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
I have a list of places that simply don't exist for me. Some of these are big deals, some of them are personal slights (I will never go back to a Carl's Jr after I went to one on a blood sugar crash and drove away before discovering I had been given a bun with ketchup and mustard), all of them are lifelong I just don't even see them anymore.
Chik-Fil-A annoys me because they used to ONLY be in malls, and then suddenly they've had standalone buildings happening along fast food row locations, so it's new and I haven't screened it out yet. There also aren't any in this area, so I only see them when traveling.
So I'm counting on eventual exposure therapy to render them invisible, too.
posted by hippybear at 2:27 PM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
The company leases everything to the franchisees, so the stores are mostly pretty new, and you don't see many broken soft-serve machines.
I think the "broken" machines you're referring to are the Taylor C602 models used in McDonald's stores. Those are the self-cleaning self-pasturing heat treatment machines and the problems with those have been discussed elsewhere. The C602 was exclusive to MCD stores and CFA couldn't buy one if they wanted.
CFA is using old-school Taylor 793s, which are still being made and are rock-solid performers. However they need to be cleaned manually.
I briefly worked on the code for the 793's control system so I know more about this than I should. The source listings I saw for that system go back over 40 years. It's a workhorse.
posted by JoeZydeco at 2:29 PM on February 12, 2023 [11 favorites]
I think the "broken" machines you're referring to are the Taylor C602 models used in McDonald's stores. Those are the self-cleaning self-pasturing heat treatment machines and the problems with those have been discussed elsewhere. The C602 was exclusive to MCD stores and CFA couldn't buy one if they wanted.
CFA is using old-school Taylor 793s, which are still being made and are rock-solid performers. However they need to be cleaned manually.
I briefly worked on the code for the 793's control system so I know more about this than I should. The source listings I saw for that system go back over 40 years. It's a workhorse.
posted by JoeZydeco at 2:29 PM on February 12, 2023 [11 favorites]
I love solidly made machines that work and aren't all full of bells and whistles that end up crippling the thing. I'm not even a mechanic but my old Gold Duster's engine compartment made sense to me, and I could buy a book which told me how to fix every part of it. Today's cars, I open them up and it's like knowing German but hearing Dutch. It kind of translates, but you have no confidence in your understanding and no ability to even begin to respond to what you're finding.
I wish we had more 793's in all kinds of life these days. Sadly, we're going the other direction.
posted by hippybear at 2:33 PM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
I wish we had more 793's in all kinds of life these days. Sadly, we're going the other direction.
posted by hippybear at 2:33 PM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
It's a double-edge sword. MCD commissioned the self cleaning machines because, correctly, they are very complicated things that needs to be taken apart and disinfected every night or else they are walking health code violations. And if not reassembled correctly they will spray pressurized dairy product all over the room.
CFA actually beats MCD in certain areas when it comes to tech so they're not all old-school. Their group in Atlanta had a blog showing off how they're trying to integrate some more recent tech into their store operations. (Why it's gone now is a mystery)
posted by JoeZydeco at 2:42 PM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
CFA actually beats MCD in certain areas when it comes to tech so they're not all old-school. Their group in Atlanta had a blog showing off how they're trying to integrate some more recent tech into their store operations. (Why it's gone now is a mystery)
posted by JoeZydeco at 2:42 PM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Is it more ethical to purchase from a McDonald's that is franchised out to some LLC two states away that grinds their employees to dust or from a chain that is loudly anti gay but enforces actual minimum standards on their franchise owners?
posted by kzin602 at 4:58 PM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by kzin602 at 4:58 PM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Remember the Goya beans boycott in 2020? It led to a temporary increase in sales for the brand.
posted by meowzilla at 5:14 PM on February 12, 2023
posted by meowzilla at 5:14 PM on February 12, 2023
Deffo didn't have the spelling challenged chicken fillet place cluckolding conservatives with cauliflower on my bingo card.
posted by srboisvert at 7:27 PM on February 12, 2023
posted by srboisvert at 7:27 PM on February 12, 2023
She is a bisexual hospice chaplain who eats Chik-Fil-A sometimes because she likes it, and fuck you if you think that means she somehow doesn't care about queer issues or isn't doing enough for people.
My point is, a person can't know what goes into someone's decision-making process or what factors they're dealing with in their lives, so judging on a single data point like this is a bit rash.
this feels like kind of a lot to put on what I said? it just surprised me that everywhere else I have lived, the queer/trans people I knew either made a point to boycott Chick-Fil-A over their anti-gay donations/policies, or they'd make a point to say "yeah I know they're terrible but I love those sandwiches," and in Atlanta they all happily ate there without ever once mentioning it
I'm from the Midwest so I took it as a "things are culturally different in the South & possibly also with queer people ~15 years younger than me in ways that I haven't lived here long enough to understand"
I love all my queer/trans coworkers from Atlanta and I don't think they're bad people for eating Chick-Fil-A?? I don't think your friend is a bad person & I'm sure she is in fact doing more for queer people than I am?? like it's super admirable to be a hospice chaplain, your friend sounds great, I genuinely don't care if any individual person gets a Chick-Fil-A sandwich sometimes and I'm not sure where you got from my statement that I was judging people solely based on them eating at Chick-Fil-A???
like maybe "shocked" implies some pearl-clutching on my behalf but what I meant was it was Real Different To Me Personally
posted by taquito sunrise at 8:46 PM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
My point is, a person can't know what goes into someone's decision-making process or what factors they're dealing with in their lives, so judging on a single data point like this is a bit rash.
this feels like kind of a lot to put on what I said? it just surprised me that everywhere else I have lived, the queer/trans people I knew either made a point to boycott Chick-Fil-A over their anti-gay donations/policies, or they'd make a point to say "yeah I know they're terrible but I love those sandwiches," and in Atlanta they all happily ate there without ever once mentioning it
I'm from the Midwest so I took it as a "things are culturally different in the South & possibly also with queer people ~15 years younger than me in ways that I haven't lived here long enough to understand"
I love all my queer/trans coworkers from Atlanta and I don't think they're bad people for eating Chick-Fil-A?? I don't think your friend is a bad person & I'm sure she is in fact doing more for queer people than I am?? like it's super admirable to be a hospice chaplain, your friend sounds great, I genuinely don't care if any individual person gets a Chick-Fil-A sandwich sometimes and I'm not sure where you got from my statement that I was judging people solely based on them eating at Chick-Fil-A???
like maybe "shocked" implies some pearl-clutching on my behalf but what I meant was it was Real Different To Me Personally
posted by taquito sunrise at 8:46 PM on February 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Chic a fil is waaaay better than Mc Donald’s or Wendy’s. We also now have a Raising Canes, which has the same spiffy service as CFA. With all of these places, though, you have to eat quickly because it is terrible once it cools down, especially the french fries. I’m generally not into fast food but sometimes I need it, and my teen likes it on occasion. I asked her what she thought about CFAs anti gay practice and she said she doesn’t like it but she likes it enough not to boycott it, however she will never shop at Hobby Lobby. She has solid ideas so I don’t feel the need to question her choices, she’s a caring and thoughtful person.
posted by waving at 11:27 PM on February 12, 2023
posted by waving at 11:27 PM on February 12, 2023
Chick-fil-A? Not today, seitan.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 11:33 PM on February 12, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 11:33 PM on February 12, 2023 [7 favorites]
I really wish they'd ask themselves what cauliflower could have to do with potentially combating racial injustice.
They did choose the whitest of vegetables.
posted by terrapin at 3:34 AM on February 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
They did choose the whitest of vegetables.
posted by terrapin at 3:34 AM on February 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
(Minor quibble: I would argue cauliflower is second-whitest vegetable. The top spot is held by parsnips. But overall point strongly valid.)
posted by eviemath at 3:53 AM on February 13, 2023
posted by eviemath at 3:53 AM on February 13, 2023
Chic a fil is waaaay better than Mc Donald’s or Wendy’s.
I get that this is subjective but hard, hard disagree. Their chicken sandwiches are a different style than the standard chicken sandwiches are McD or Wendy's, less breaded and crispitty-crunchitty, but the others are just as good in their own way. McD's southern chicken sandwich which seems to be on again off again is a chikfila sammich down to the pickle and is just as good. And nicely-done normal fries like McD's just beat the pants off waffle fries.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 4:34 AM on February 13, 2023
I get that this is subjective but hard, hard disagree. Their chicken sandwiches are a different style than the standard chicken sandwiches are McD or Wendy's, less breaded and crispitty-crunchitty, but the others are just as good in their own way. McD's southern chicken sandwich which seems to be on again off again is a chikfila sammich down to the pickle and is just as good. And nicely-done normal fries like McD's just beat the pants off waffle fries.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 4:34 AM on February 13, 2023
McD's southern chicken sandwich which seems to be on again off again is a chikfila sammich down to the pickle and is just as good.
McDonald's also sells hamburgers that taste just like a real hamburger.
posted by Fleebnork at 5:30 AM on February 13, 2023
McDonald's also sells hamburgers that taste just like a real hamburger.
posted by Fleebnork at 5:30 AM on February 13, 2023
"That sounds tasty. Let me know when it's not CFA."
If you happen to have a Yard House near you, they do a good Buffalo Cauliflower with Tahini. The Alamo version isn't as good, but isn't as bad.
I've never understood the obsession over CFA. It's a slightly above average for fast food sandwich but it's still not good. A Popeyes or Bojangles is easily better food, though may treat their workers worse. And I can name several restaurants near me that have substantially better food, treat their employees well, don't support Christian dominionism, and only cost a few dollars more, so I support them.
Similarly, when Chipotle came to my college town, people literally camped out to be the first people to eat there. There were several much better Tex Mex style restaurants in town at a similar price point, but because Chipotle had the zeitgeist in the 2000s, there was a line out the door for mediocre fast casual burritos.
posted by Candleman at 7:26 AM on February 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
If you happen to have a Yard House near you, they do a good Buffalo Cauliflower with Tahini. The Alamo version isn't as good, but isn't as bad.
I've never understood the obsession over CFA. It's a slightly above average for fast food sandwich but it's still not good. A Popeyes or Bojangles is easily better food, though may treat their workers worse. And I can name several restaurants near me that have substantially better food, treat their employees well, don't support Christian dominionism, and only cost a few dollars more, so I support them.
Similarly, when Chipotle came to my college town, people literally camped out to be the first people to eat there. There were several much better Tex Mex style restaurants in town at a similar price point, but because Chipotle had the zeitgeist in the 2000s, there was a line out the door for mediocre fast casual burritos.
posted by Candleman at 7:26 AM on February 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
I have been in a CFA precisely once, when I decided to let it go with a family member who really wanted to go there. We do have some in Toronto I think.
Anyways, what I noticed was the vibe. I think their marketing/brand feel is really bang on point, based on my single experience. I didn't find the food that great so I tried to figure it out. I have narrated to myself that the vibe they are going for is "a great American picnic." The locations feel clean, bright, and kind of red checked picnic table without actual gross tablecloths. If memory serves, the interior walls were plexiglass and the windows were big with a low knee wall. The condiments were near food pickup but not in your face. A family crafts night was being advertised.*
The atmosphere is like Mary and Bob from your Rotary club are getting your order settled.
Even the line up, with the staff outside with iPads, felt like being at the ur-picnic.
If you go to church picnics all the time I suspect you feel at home in a CFA.
It's funny because my impression is that Five Guys goes for the same vibe, but I can't quite get past the stacks of death peanuts, even though I love them and the peanut oil they are flagging super clearly.
* Although I will maintain my personal boycott, there were points in my earlier two-working-parent life that I might have let my kids eat the junk food just to have someone else a) do the craft and b) clean up the glitter, if any. Like to be able to sit and eat fries while my kids were happy at dinnertime for under $x would have been kind of a minor miracle some weeks.
posted by warriorqueen at 8:16 AM on February 13, 2023
Anyways, what I noticed was the vibe. I think their marketing/brand feel is really bang on point, based on my single experience. I didn't find the food that great so I tried to figure it out. I have narrated to myself that the vibe they are going for is "a great American picnic." The locations feel clean, bright, and kind of red checked picnic table without actual gross tablecloths. If memory serves, the interior walls were plexiglass and the windows were big with a low knee wall. The condiments were near food pickup but not in your face. A family crafts night was being advertised.*
The atmosphere is like Mary and Bob from your Rotary club are getting your order settled.
Even the line up, with the staff outside with iPads, felt like being at the ur-picnic.
If you go to church picnics all the time I suspect you feel at home in a CFA.
It's funny because my impression is that Five Guys goes for the same vibe, but I can't quite get past the stacks of death peanuts, even though I love them and the peanut oil they are flagging super clearly.
* Although I will maintain my personal boycott, there were points in my earlier two-working-parent life that I might have let my kids eat the junk food just to have someone else a) do the craft and b) clean up the glitter, if any. Like to be able to sit and eat fries while my kids were happy at dinnertime for under $x would have been kind of a minor miracle some weeks.
posted by warriorqueen at 8:16 AM on February 13, 2023
My husband and I ordered Cheesecake Factory in the other night. Despite it being an oft-mocked jack-of-all-trades chain, they had an appetizer that really impressed me. The Korean fried cauliflower was spicier than you'd expect from a typical chain, and the cauliflower itself had all the water driven out of it, or something, until it was dense and meaty and hearty. I don't hate cauliflower (and used to have my mom fry me some when she made the rest of the family onion rings), but it's not usually something I order out on purpose because its hard to really love. This, on the other hand, is something I'd happily order again.
posted by Night_owl at 8:57 AM on February 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Night_owl at 8:57 AM on February 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
I've been loving me a ham and cauliflower casserole, with a cheesy béchamel sauce. Feels to me so much better to eat than the same thing with, say, mac and cheese. And if you bake it low and slow the cauliflower breaks down until it's almost like nearly melted cheese in your mouth. Goodness! Now my mouth is watering.
posted by hippybear at 10:17 AM on February 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 10:17 AM on February 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
My impression is that Five Guys goes for the same vibe.
There's some overlap, but Five Guys isn't especially kid-forward, and they really, really want you to think of them as a real burger restaurant instead of a fast-food (they would insist on 'fast casual') joint.
They prep fresh ingredients every morning, and the decor in a Five Guys consists largely of what seems like every #1 ranking and best-burger award they've ever received.
Five Guys ordering tips: the regular burgers have two patties on them. You might want a 'little' burger, which just has one but is otherwise regular-sized. Burger toppings are free, and generally very good. Cajun fries are better than regular. Eat the fries first, before they cool off.
posted by box at 11:04 AM on February 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
There's some overlap, but Five Guys isn't especially kid-forward, and they really, really want you to think of them as a real burger restaurant instead of a fast-food (they would insist on 'fast casual') joint.
They prep fresh ingredients every morning, and the decor in a Five Guys consists largely of what seems like every #1 ranking and best-burger award they've ever received.
Five Guys ordering tips: the regular burgers have two patties on them. You might want a 'little' burger, which just has one but is otherwise regular-sized. Burger toppings are free, and generally very good. Cajun fries are better than regular. Eat the fries first, before they cool off.
posted by box at 11:04 AM on February 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
Wait, Jesus was a chicken?? Wow, turns out all this time they were actually referring to white meat...
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:21 PM on February 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:21 PM on February 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
When transubstantiation goes really wrong...
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 6:53 PM on February 13, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 6:53 PM on February 13, 2023 [3 favorites]
Take, eat. This is my body which was breaded and fried and served on a bun with a pickle for you.
posted by hippybear at 7:31 PM on February 13, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 7:31 PM on February 13, 2023 [7 favorites]
Is it more ethical to purchase from a McDonald's that is franchised out to some LLC two states away that grinds their employees to dust or from a chain that is loudly anti gay but enforces actual minimum standards on their franchise owners?
I was kind of impressed to learn that CFA allows a franchisee to own only one store, they're required to work there, and they can't work another job away from that operation. You want to know why CFAs are clean and fast? There you go.
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:01 PM on February 13, 2023
I was kind of impressed to learn that CFA allows a franchisee to own only one store, they're required to work there, and they can't work another job away from that operation. You want to know why CFAs are clean and fast? There you go.
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:01 PM on February 13, 2023
With a pickle? yt
Clicked the link thinking someone here had finally hit on one of the other big issues this is such a betrayal for conservative Christians... won't somebody think of the Veggie Tales...?!!
posted by Mchelly at 6:16 AM on February 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
Clicked the link thinking someone here had finally hit on one of the other big issues this is such a betrayal for conservative Christians... won't somebody think of the Veggie Tales...?!!
posted by Mchelly at 6:16 AM on February 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
A boycott is an organized collective action with the aim of pressuring a business to take (or stop taking) specific actions. An individual choice not organized collectively is an individual consumer choice, which some of us apply ethical factors toward, but not a boycott. “We’re never going to patronize this company again no matter what” is, similarly, not a boycott (though boycotts can last years, eg. boycotts against businesses linked with South Africa’s apartheid regime).
Lifting up this, from eviemath. A boycott is a solidarity-based campaign, not an individual consumer decision. (I hate to be pedantic and I'm not criticizing individual consumer decisions based on ethics here. I just always feel like it matters to highlight the importance of collectivity wherever we find it, especially in a system and culture where we are guilted into fretting over our individual decisions and discouraged from thinking of ourselves as members of any project bigger than ourselves.)
posted by kensington314 at 10:37 AM on February 14, 2023 [2 favorites]
Lifting up this, from eviemath. A boycott is a solidarity-based campaign, not an individual consumer decision. (I hate to be pedantic and I'm not criticizing individual consumer decisions based on ethics here. I just always feel like it matters to highlight the importance of collectivity wherever we find it, especially in a system and culture where we are guilted into fretting over our individual decisions and discouraged from thinking of ourselves as members of any project bigger than ourselves.)
posted by kensington314 at 10:37 AM on February 14, 2023 [2 favorites]
won't somebody think of the Veggie Tales...?!!
That's a cucumber. They had a pickle in the cast, but his alcoholic ways led to him being kicked out.
posted by hippybear at 3:39 PM on February 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
That's a cucumber. They had a pickle in the cast, but his alcoholic ways led to him being kicked out.
posted by hippybear at 3:39 PM on February 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'm sorry, a boycott is an individual consumer decision which may or may not be focussed in time and effort into a solidarity campaign. But all boycotts are some kind of solidarity campaign, because any individual decision to give or not give a business custom is based on personal choices led by identity politics.
Why do you think I could open a soap company today with Red Background White Text labels saying Make Soap Great Again and get a solid base of customers? Not because my soap is any damn good, but because there is a set-in population that will support anyone who echoes their worldview no matter how shallowly.
In the reverse, it is much more difficult. The whole Pink Lid campaign by whatever yogurt brand makes me crazy (along with every single other similar charity-corporation "drive") because, literally these businesses could give this money to that charity as a bookkeeping rounding error. They're tying it into the buy-in, because it's easy to buy in.
But to buy-out? To stop using a thing, stop purchasing a service or item or whatever, that maybe you want or would make your life easier? That's not easy. That's hard. That means you have to keep making the same anti-choice every time you might choose toward the thing. It doesn't mean you order some coffee or a cap or whatever... it means you excise a thing from your life, making it now not exist for you.
So, many years ago, I forget the exact circumstances why this all played out like it did... but I was staying with my parents, and was already out of the closet. I was likely there for only a short time as I was not a boomerang kid. Anyway, I was there, and my parents said to me one evening "We're going to Cracker Barrel for dinner, do you want to come?" and it was at the height of the whole CB "we fire the queers" thing, and I set it out to them. I wasn't going to go, and this is why, and I hope they wouldn't go and maybe we could go someplace else.
And my parents said, "Well, we're sorry you feel that way, but we're going to eat there. You can find yourself some dinner." And they left. And I felt like a part of myself had been torn off and throw in a gutter, not in a trash can, to be left to the elements and wind.
Yeah, that may not be "a boycott" (although one was organized at the time against the chain, if I remember)... But what's the difference when someone is making a consumer choice of where their money goes, and they are doing it either careless of the political implications or in direct defiance of them? Either way, it tells you what side they care enough about to give thought and energy toward.
All individual consumer decisions are boycotts. If you get enough of a tidal wave for those to crest and create trouble and make a company change, then great. I don't even bother to try to educate myself about All The Things. I have my own causes, and I pay attention when others speak their minds around me. I figure that's enough.
posted by hippybear at 3:52 PM on February 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
Why do you think I could open a soap company today with Red Background White Text labels saying Make Soap Great Again and get a solid base of customers? Not because my soap is any damn good, but because there is a set-in population that will support anyone who echoes their worldview no matter how shallowly.
In the reverse, it is much more difficult. The whole Pink Lid campaign by whatever yogurt brand makes me crazy (along with every single other similar charity-corporation "drive") because, literally these businesses could give this money to that charity as a bookkeeping rounding error. They're tying it into the buy-in, because it's easy to buy in.
But to buy-out? To stop using a thing, stop purchasing a service or item or whatever, that maybe you want or would make your life easier? That's not easy. That's hard. That means you have to keep making the same anti-choice every time you might choose toward the thing. It doesn't mean you order some coffee or a cap or whatever... it means you excise a thing from your life, making it now not exist for you.
So, many years ago, I forget the exact circumstances why this all played out like it did... but I was staying with my parents, and was already out of the closet. I was likely there for only a short time as I was not a boomerang kid. Anyway, I was there, and my parents said to me one evening "We're going to Cracker Barrel for dinner, do you want to come?" and it was at the height of the whole CB "we fire the queers" thing, and I set it out to them. I wasn't going to go, and this is why, and I hope they wouldn't go and maybe we could go someplace else.
And my parents said, "Well, we're sorry you feel that way, but we're going to eat there. You can find yourself some dinner." And they left. And I felt like a part of myself had been torn off and throw in a gutter, not in a trash can, to be left to the elements and wind.
Yeah, that may not be "a boycott" (although one was organized at the time against the chain, if I remember)... But what's the difference when someone is making a consumer choice of where their money goes, and they are doing it either careless of the political implications or in direct defiance of them? Either way, it tells you what side they care enough about to give thought and energy toward.
All individual consumer decisions are boycotts. If you get enough of a tidal wave for those to crest and create trouble and make a company change, then great. I don't even bother to try to educate myself about All The Things. I have my own causes, and I pay attention when others speak their minds around me. I figure that's enough.
posted by hippybear at 3:52 PM on February 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
Boycott. Etymology of boycott. Irish origins of boycott.
It originally bears some commonality with shunning, on the more negative end of things. You can’t shun someone individually - that’s just simply not hanging out or being friends with them. But they can go get other friends. It’s only shunning when the whole community gets involved.
posted by eviemath at 4:56 PM on February 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
It originally bears some commonality with shunning, on the more negative end of things. You can’t shun someone individually - that’s just simply not hanging out or being friends with them. But they can go get other friends. It’s only shunning when the whole community gets involved.
posted by eviemath at 4:56 PM on February 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
And yes, part of the power of an actual boycott, like other tactics that fall more clearly under civil disobedience, is that people often are making some at least small sacrifice. Eg. civil rights era bus boycotts.
posted by eviemath at 5:00 PM on February 14, 2023
posted by eviemath at 5:00 PM on February 14, 2023
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1. As a gay woman, this is irrelevant to me, because Chick-fil-A,
and
2. I worry that all this press is going to draw more people to eat at a terrible company.
posted by Flight Hardware, do not touch at 2:18 PM on February 11, 2023 [55 favorites]