>It's fine to invoke stereotypes about Berkeley and the like, but the
>politics of food strikes me as serious business.
these aren't empty stereotypes. they exist as part of the class divisions that accompany capitalism--as expressions of class divisions into "lifestyle" issues. the problem is that some lefties don't have a political economic analysis and never offer one. as such, it ends up being a way of battering others for their lifestyle choices in a sort of blame game. the enlightenerati horrified by the unenlightened, blaming them rather than looking at the political-economy within which those lifestyle choices are made.
i'm not accusing you, kendall, of not being aware of these issues. i am pointing out, though, that denying that a lifestyle left does exist is part of the problem.
kelley