Call me a bigot, but I do not dig this.
Okay, since when has poop become a way to market food? I mean seriously, how long has this been going on? Why have I not heard of it? Was I happier before I discovered this niche underworld of feces inspired food?
Well, I was certainly less creeped out by humanity, that’s for sure.
I get it. Really, I do. Humanity has begun progressing and it’s acceptable to question why we do certain things purely based on tradition.
In the world of food and health, this means asking why it’s necessary to add copious amounts of butter to everything or deep-fry potatoes (which are actually an amazing source of potassium, copper, vitamin C, manganese, phosphorus, niacin, dietary fiber, and pantothenic acid– if baked, instead of fried in oil).
We have also started to debunk social taboos. We talk openly about things like sex…or even bowel movements…maybe?
But when I learned there is a new cafe in Toronto, The Poop Café Dessert Bar, that entices diners with poop themed desserts and snacks, I was utterly blown away. Upon further investigation, I learned the owner, Lien Nguyen, wants “to make poop cute” because, “[It’s] considered very disgusting, [something] you can’t talk about when you’re eating.”
Funny enough, Nguyen isn’t even the innovator of poop themed food. In fact, Disney World serves poop themed desserts in their Animal Kingdom. Their “elephant poop” is a combo of oats and peanut butter and looks like…it looks like sh!t.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s “elephant poop.”
There are also a number of poop themed food establishments in South Korea. If this sounds absurd, you’ll probably be more flabbergasted by the fact that “…the ‘cute poop’ theme is very popular throughout Asia,” according to British expat Ken Kum Lee.
I’m not one of those incredibly well traveled people who can tell you about their experience with hunter-gatherer societies in Papua New Guinea or the local delicacies of Siberia, but I’ve been to Asia and I’ve seen a good amount of the non-Western world. I still think this is all weird.
Culturally and socially, people are beginning to open up their minds and accept others’ ways of life. I’m a hip, young liberal, so I love it. But poop themed food? I think I’ll go ahead and flush that concept out of my mind.
Yep, I just ended with a pun
