Social Hierarchies

Food, without a doubt, is a necessity for all living creatures, therefore it remains one of the most potent items within human and animal societies. What differentiates human animals, from other animal societies is the fact that human societies establish overall cultural and personal identities around what they eat. Therefore distinguishing themselves from peers and other human-based civilisations. In order to understand such concepts in depth, it’s important to examine the interplay surrounding food and hierarchies.

Social hierarchies, within a European context, were never more prevalent than that of 11th to 15th century medieval Britain. This era saw the populace, especially subordinated social groups, enduring strict cultural rules applied

Yet within contemporary society ‘taste’ is an ideological-based dietary habit rather than ‘refinement’. Not forgetting that, society is grouped into stratums based on taste i.e. vulgar tastes considered lower-class, refined tastes considered higher-class and middle-class linger somewhere between the two – who by trying to ascend remain reminded by the upper-class, of their lower value, as a consequence resulting in a levelling of the economical and influential-based playing field. A desire to imitate the upper-class serve to utilise particular members within a culture, specifically the middle-class. In return the middle-class encourage subordinated groups i.e. lower-classes (stratum) to also alter their habits, because this gives the middle-class the access to power they associate with upper-class sentimentalities. The lower-classes, if not openly encouraged to change, become indirectly oppressed by the actions of the middle-classes. Who want to do the “right” or “noble” thing in order to appear moral, or who aspire to imitate those they admire. Because of this, they become the unaware propagators and pawns of trickle-down and trend-based distinctions. Developments such as these are not entirely the fault of the middle-class, and cannot be directly pinpointed to a particular social class. What’s important is to understand how people, within particular social groups, become utilised by marketers - who in turn are funded by political and financial elites, as a means of coercing the above-mentioned classes into surrendering access to variety through moral, identity and trend-based politics. Policies arising which, without the knowledge of particular social-groups, adversely modify access to food choice of the subordinated groups, i.e. lower and middle-class standards of living, who should always ensure they