The new Zingerman’s food mail-order catalog has arrived from Ann Arbor, bringing with it scads of gourmet brownies, aged balsamics and Jewish specialty breads. Far-flung deli lovers, rejoice!
Quality and cost, of course, often go hand-in-hand in the world of eating, and Zingerman’s is no exception. The Zingerman’s Rockin’ Reuben, Corned Beef or Pastrami Sandwich Kit Tote for 2 people goes for $75. Once you factor in the required overnight shipping, you’ve easily vaulted the $100 mark, meaning that each sandwich (plus the included brownies and pickles) clocks in at an ass-kicking $56.
Instead of dropping $112 for two sandwiches, of course, you could go to the Heifer International website and send an entire sheep to a needy family in Africa. Or you could buy a week’s worth of groceries for a family of three. Or you could get this cool LEGO Imperial Star Destroyer.
In other words, the tote bag prompts a question: Is it ever immoral to spend piles of money on luxury food? Where do we draw the line, if anywhere? $12 custard tarts? $56 sandwiches? $500 meals? Is it just whatever the wallet can bear, or is it possible to enter some hazy world of moral uncertainty when we spend like maniacs to eat the things we love?
Of course, if it’s a sin to pay a lot of money for good corned beef, I’ve booked my own ticket to hell several times over. It was worth it.
Ideally, we would be able to do both- send the sheep and enjoy the sandwich.
I watched the young upwardly mobile professionals pile in to Zingermans deli in Ann Arbor one day, and I wondered- is the food this good that it’s worth standing up in a crowded deli for thirty minutes only to place your order for a fifteen dollar sandwich and wait another twenty for it to be filled? “Probably,” I thought. Zingerman’s is really really good.
I have the same thought whenever I spend too much time in the SF Ferry Plaza Market–we’re spending $36 for a bottle of olive oil while there are children in this city going to sleep hungry at night (you don’t need to go as far as Africa to find needy families). It’s something I don’t quite know how to reconcile.
For myself, I make sure the luxury food purchases stay within a reasonable realm and donate money to shelters as well. It’s an important point you bring up–there are huge social justice issues connected to food.