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I think this could be a good moment for us to pause our consumption a bit, and think about buying only what we really need. Not just because of the tariffs but

I think this could be a good moment for us to pause our consumption a bit, and think about buying only what we really need. Not just because of the tariffs but as a signal that we as consumers can pull back when necessary.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
hannasanarion 7y ago
Parmasean isn't an extravagance.
- snagglegaggle 7y ago
  Parmesan cheese from Parma is. That was one of the shocking things to me about European stores: there was only Parmesan (or yes, Parmesan-style) cheese from Italy due to food provenance laws, and yes, it was some of the most expensive cheese in the store.
  - riffraff 7y ago
    You can actually get many kinds of cheese which is similar to parmigiano in Europe. Grana Padano is a much less expensive protected hard cheese, and many producers have similar non-protected cheese (Biraghi is a very large producer, for example). There's usually plenty of mixed pre-grated cheese bags too. The point is: it's not called parmigiano or parmesan, as that would be cheating the consumer.
    - molmalo 7y ago
      > as that would be cheating the consumer. That's the excuse, it's more about pleasing the local producers, as Denomination of origin laws generally are. As a consumer, I care much much more about taste and price for the same type of product. That is, if it tastes the same or better, and is cheaper.... I don't care if it was produced 100 meters from my house outside of Europe, or in the basement of a 1300-year old church in a specific region of Italy. With today's technology, it's perfectly possible to emulate the ambient conditions from the original place in the super controlled food producing facilities. But the local producers in said region might lose competitiveness or would have to stop pricing it as a "premium" product just because of where it was produced. So, in my opinion, the concept of Denomination of Origin ends up being a legalized scam, as it end ups cheating more on the consumer, because in reality it doesn't necessarily mean the product is of better quality (as it's often advertised).
      - deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
      - riffraff 7y ago
        > As a consumer, I care much much more about taste and price for the same type of product. that's great, as you're free to buy any of the things not called "Parmigiano". There's plenty of awesome stuff which is not PDO/PGI. The only reason you would call something unrelated "parmigiano" is if you wanted to attach yourself to the concept of "premium" without having to follow the same rules. You can absolutely make a great succesful product and not give a damn about denomination of origin rules. Bolgheri Sassicaia[0], for example, established itself as a fantastic wine without having an italian DOC(G) classification, until one was defined explicitly for it. > So, in my opinion, the concept of Denomination of Origin ends up being a legalized scam, as it end ups cheating more on the consumer, because in reality it doesn't necessarily mean the product is of better quality (as it's often advertised). But that is true of any advertisement. I agree that the basic denomination of origin does not imply quality, but I don't see how removing it improves things. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenuta_San_Guido https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenuta_San_Guido
        snagglegaggle 7y ago
        My experience is that it's basically impossible to find an equivalent product without allowing the use of the place name as a general adjective. In the US origin is separate and required. So, if you want Parmesan from Parma you can still be sure you'll get it.
- newnewpdro 7y ago
  I think that depends on how you define extravagance. Actual quality aged parmesan-reggiano imported from Italy is of similar cost to filet mignon by weight at the stores I frequent. Growing up in an Italian household, I often got in trouble for sneaking chunks off the expensive cheese to be eaten without grating. It was reserved exclusively for grating, or served sliced thinly on special occasions.
Johnny555 7y ago
You're fighting against human nature - do you really expect people to lock themselves up in their homes and subsist on a few vegtables? My needs are very simple, my wants and expectations are more complicated. I'm not saying that everyone should expect to have what they want, but expecting the world to survive on what they need is unrealistic.
XorNot 7y ago
For a country that spends so much time worrying about government interference in the lives of private citizens the reaction to the government introducing a slew of new taxes on the import and purchases of private citizens has been illuminating.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

hannasanarion 7y ago

Parmasean isn't an extravagance.

snagglegaggle 7y ago
Parmesan cheese from Parma is. That was one of the shocking things to me about European stores: there was only Parmesan (or yes, Parmesan-style) cheese from Italy due to food provenance laws, and yes, it was some of the most expensive cheese in the store.
- riffraff 7y ago
  You can actually get many kinds of cheese which is similar to parmigiano in Europe. Grana Padano is a much less expensive protected hard cheese, and many producers have similar non-protected cheese (Biraghi is a very large producer, for example). There's usually plenty of mixed pre-grated cheese bags too. The point is: it's not called parmigiano or parmesan, as that would be cheating the consumer.
  - molmalo 7y ago
    > as that would be cheating the consumer. That's the excuse, it's more about pleasing the local producers, as Denomination of origin laws generally are. As a consumer, I care much much more about taste and price for the same type of product. That is, if it tastes the same or better, and is cheaper.... I don't care if it was produced 100 meters from my house outside of Europe, or in the basement of a 1300-year old church in a specific region of Italy. With today's technology, it's perfectly possible to emulate the ambient conditions from the original place in the super controlled food producing facilities. But the local producers in said region might lose competitiveness or would have to stop pricing it as a "premium" product just because of where it was produced. So, in my opinion, the concept of Denomination of Origin ends up being a legalized scam, as it end ups cheating more on the consumer, because in reality it doesn't necessarily mean the product is of better quality (as it's often advertised).
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
    - riffraff 7y ago
      > As a consumer, I care much much more about taste and price for the same type of product. that's great, as you're free to buy any of the things not called "Parmigiano". There's plenty of awesome stuff which is not PDO/PGI. The only reason you would call something unrelated "parmigiano" is if you wanted to attach yourself to the concept of "premium" without having to follow the same rules. You can absolutely make a great succesful product and not give a damn about denomination of origin rules. Bolgheri Sassicaia[0], for example, established itself as a fantastic wine without having an italian DOC(G) classification, until one was defined explicitly for it. > So, in my opinion, the concept of Denomination of Origin ends up being a legalized scam, as it end ups cheating more on the consumer, because in reality it doesn't necessarily mean the product is of better quality (as it's often advertised). But that is true of any advertisement. I agree that the basic denomination of origin does not imply quality, but I don't see how removing it improves things. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenuta_San_Guido https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenuta_San_Guido
      - snagglegaggle 7y ago
        My experience is that it's basically impossible to find an equivalent product without allowing the use of the place name as a general adjective. In the US origin is separate and required. So, if you want Parmesan from Parma you can still be sure you'll get it.
newnewpdro 7y ago
I think that depends on how you define extravagance. Actual quality aged parmesan-reggiano imported from Italy is of similar cost to filet mignon by weight at the stores I frequent. Growing up in an Italian household, I often got in trouble for sneaking chunks off the expensive cheese to be eaten without grating. It was reserved exclusively for grating, or served sliced thinly on special occasions.

Johnny555 7y ago

You're fighting against human nature - do you really expect people to lock themselves up in their homes and subsist on a few vegtables? My needs are very simple, my wants and expectations are more complicated. I'm not saying that everyone should expect to have what they want, but expecting the world to survive on what they need is unrealistic.

XorNot 7y ago

For a country that spends so much time worrying about government interference in the lives of private citizens the reaction to the government introducing a slew of new taxes on the import and purchases of private citizens has been illuminating.