What we eat and what we drink may not determine how wevote . But what we snarf down and what we knock down may well tell others which side of the political fracas we come down on .
see that out — spy somebody ’s political party affiliation simply by checking out a mortal ’s entree or cocktail of choice — is n’t well-off , of course . No more than voting is . No more than politics is .
But if you pay off care to intellectual nourishment and drink , you might someday get a flavour for who ’s with you . Or against you .
A Taste for Voting
Pavel Yakovlev is an political economy prof at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh . A few years ago , he and a confrere set out to find a correlation between alcohol economic consumption and party association . They assume X of economical data , looked at the alcohol ( beer , wine and spirit ) consumption of dissimilar states , accounted for all sorts of variables and came out withthis close :
Yakovlev ’s enquiry does n’t paint progressives / liberal / Democrats ( or their left - leaning states ) as alcoholic beverage - pounding drunkenness machines . That much the professor wants to get neat .
" One of the thing I do n’t need people to think , " he tells HowStuffWorks , " is that liberals drink more than conservatives . "
Yakovlev ’s study does n’t show that . And it does n’t aid us see out if that beer - imbibing neighbor of yours is a Democrat or not , either .
But the number in his research clearly show that , on modal , put forward that move toward a more liberal political political theory , over time and on intermediate , salute more beer and toilsome alcohol than they did before . And they might drink less wine .
It ’s a starting time . It ’s a clue . It ’s not an reply though .
Cracker Barrel or California Pizza Kitchen? A Restaurant Poll
Research that might help more positively indicate a tie-in between what people eat and toast and how they vote continues to be hard to come by . But there ’s some out there that furthers the argument .
In 2014 , Experian Marketing Services polled 27,000 Americans on the eatery they care and their political inclination . It turn out thatliberals preferred these chain position :
While conservatives went for these :
liberal liked these immobile - food juncture …
… while conservatives lust dissipated nutrient cash in one’s chips for :
Now , what to make of all that ? What to make of Yakovlev ’s research ?
For the restaurants , it ’s authoritative to note that regional influences have at least something to do with the consequence . California Pizza Kitchen bulge out in a liberal state . O’Charley ’s and Cracker Barrel are concentrated in conservative states . Others suggest that restaurants with " ethnic " menu tend to veer liberal — Au Bon Pain has a French name , and Chipotle and Qdoba serve Mexican fare — while more traditional " American " menus ( burger aim Krystal and Whataburger , sandwich joint Schlotzky ’s ) bend conservative .
Again , this does n’t mean that everybody who eats in a Cracker Barrel is a circuit card - toting Republican , or that a conservativist ca n’t enjoy a fine repast at P.F. Chang ’s . But it ’s more food for thought .
Yakovlev extend three theories about why people of the same political persuasion may gather in the same - type restaurants , deplete the same solid food , drink in the same means , even shit at the same supermarket .
One is a theory of conformity : People desire to hang out with the great unwashed who think like they do . And they see certain types of restaurants ( or supermarket ) as catering more to " their " people .
Two is a theory of expressive voting : " It ’s the idea that we as individual enjoy verbalize beliefs and have others observing them , " Yakovlev say . " That gives us some physical body of gratification . " If , as happened in 2012 with the fast - food chemical chain Chick - fil - A , a restaurant is labeled as being liberal or materialistic ( Chick - fil - A ’s direction came out with instruction against same - sexual practice marriage and support organizations that were not favorable to LGBTQ rights ) , those who agree with those viewpoints will eat there to show solidarity . It ’s the same idea behind " Make America Great Again " cap and " Resist " bumper stickers .
Three isconfirmation bias , which theorise that hoi polloi will look for entropy that confirms their way of thinking . If you ’re liberal and you pull into a Chipotle and see a bunch of " Resist " bumper stickers , you ’re probably feeling moderately good about your progressive mind-set .
Why Do States That Go Liberal Start to Drink More?
For the drinking bailiwick , some theorize that commonwealth with more liberals start salute more beer and hard liquor ( and , maybe , less wine ) for a few reasons . Maybe the citizenry in the state pick up a widely recognized trait of liberalist : They become more accepting in this case of more drinking of that sort . peradventure they just accept that lifestyle .
Or maybe , as some conservatives might paint it , they drink more because they know , in their free commonwealth , the government activity will be there with solid health care and good unemployment benefit after all those increase nights of boozing take their toll .
surmisal ? When it amount to politics and food , we ’ve got it . alas , speculation , not facts , are about all we have . If we ever get solid grounds , though …
" It ’s a playfulness question to necessitate , " Yakovlev says . " You could contend that if there is some evidence that our behaviour does correlate to our political view , we could say that sometimes profiling works . "
The Experian survey looked at supermarket chains , too . The one that conservatives most care was Randalls , based in red - State Department Texas . The most liberal , and this probably wo n’t surprise anyone on either side of the political water parting , was Whole Foods Markets . Whole Foods was founded in Texas , too , but its high up - priced organic fertiliser and sustainably raised ware has become synonymous with progressive .
Not everyone who browse at Whole Foods , obviously , is into vegan burrito and comely - trade coffee , aim a Prius in Birkenstocks and votes straight Democrat .
But yeah , Yakovlev says . " If I see a pattern over and over , " he says , " there may be something there . "
