With the Biden-Harris victory there should be a new era of kindness rushing in. The problem is it may take a while to get to the food and wine industries. There still will be hatred and harassment of women, and minorities. Can we make it change?
This question comes in light after The New York Times cracked open a case about male sommeliers sexually harassing female contenders for their positions at the Court of Master Sommeliers. Regular contributor Julia Moskin wrote about this in Wednesday's New York Times Food section. Nine men were accused of sexual misconduct towards women considered candidates for the court's top title of master sommelier. These men already hold that title and wield a strong amount of influence for the women to advance. An apology from the twenty -seven women in the 165 member court has been issued.Supposedly relationships between male and female members are common yet those liasons escalating into something bitter are rare. Yet this also extends to the food industry as well. We've seen it with the charges against Mario Batali and Ken Friedman , owner of Greenwich Village's Famed Spotted Pig. It should have been a wake up call for other for other chefs and restauranteurs around the world. Hopefully it will.
With a new administration bent on healing and equality, America could lead the world in treating sexual misconduct and racial inequality in the restaurant and wine industries. It starts with supporting businesses as small as a food truck pushing bulgoki to up and coming wineries and vineyards.It also starts with thoroughly investigating claims about prejudice regarding hiring as well as in house promoting. Luckily , it hasn't hit the supermarkets (unless it has and all the big chains are adept at covering up scandal).Sadly it does occur in the fast food business and whatever problem is usually resolved - mostly with some kind of reparations. However it shouldn't happen in the first place. Another must change is promoting more minorities in the fast food industry. Wendy's, despite some gaffes in recent years (namely the symbol of white supremacy Pepe the Frog in a Wendy's jumper and red braids) has a good reputation of promoting Black and Latinx in more managerial positions. McDonald's does not have this reputation. In fact a few weeks ago Black franchise owners sued the chain for placing their franchises in high crime areas where they had higher operating cost, high employee turnover and lower sales.Burger King is the better of the two this way. They haven't had anything like this happen.
The Biden-Harris administration will bring a sense of freshness and unity in an already torn and shredded world. Hopefully this will apply to the food and drink industry. In the end , kindness will prevail.
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