Germany is considered the land of poets and thinkers, but its largest federal state is not. Bavaria has probably produced more well-known butchers than philosophers. In Gerhard Polt, probably the most important living thinker of the Free State, both areas merge in the most delightful way. The inventor of “Leberkäs Hawaii” grew up in a butcher’s shop as a child, and he considered this a privilege: “In contrast to hotbeds of desolate insipidity such as kindergartens, a butcher’s shop is an event paradise,” Polt once explained.
Oh well. Apparently the appeal of this sausage paradise, which was once so crunchy, has waned considerably. The fact that a butcher’s shop in Garching is closing this week, ending a family tradition that has lasted for more than five decades, has to do with a long-lasting development: owner Hermann Karl has not found a successor, as fewer and fewer people want to deal with slaughter and sausage production. In addition to a shortage of skilled workers and high energy prices, the fact that people prefer to buy their salami or neck steak pre-packaged in the supermarket also plays a role. A questionable culinary development.
It is safe to say that the witticism of Heimito von Doderer, according to which Bavaria was divided into two parts of the population (“the first are the butchers, the second are those who only look like it”), no longer applies. In addition, eating habits are changing for moral and ecological reasons. The liaison between the old Bavarian palate and roast pork has lost its identity-forming character. The number of vegetarians, vegans and flexitarians is also growing in the Munich commuter belt. “You are what you eat” – this saying by the philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach, who was also born in Bavaria, is ethically charged.
A special treat in the moral-culinary discourse this week was the announcement of a discontinued advertising campaign by the US food company Mars Wrigley. Right-wing TV presenter Tucker Carlson accused the company, whose German headquarters are in Unterhaching, of designing the M&M mascots – talking chocolate lenses – too “woke”. The Trump sympathizer specifically complained that the green female character now wears sneakers instead of high heels, which has robbed her of her sex appeal. A new purple figure also created a candy storm: Conservative critics complained that Mars politicizes sweets because the color stands for the LGBT+ community. Rumors that Mars Wrigley on Biberger Strasse is developing a “woker” chewing gum that climate activists can use to cling to the streets have not been confirmed so far.