On the "punching bag" episode of the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, they discussed the hatred directed towards the pumpkin spice latte, tying it to sexism and classism in interesting ways. At the end of the discussion, one of the panelists said: "... on the west coast, you do not know it is fall for any reason other than the offering of pumpkin spice at Starbucks. It is my only connection to the season."
Ouch.
So maybe wherever they are on the west coast (California?), there isn't much of an autumn, but it did make me think about the way in which my wheel of the year is sometimes landmarked by commercial products and the marketing of corporations, such as pumpkin spice everything and chestnut ale in the fall. Superficially, these things seem seasonal, and I love eating seasonal foods as part of my faith, but since the syrup that makes a pumpkin spice latte could be available year around (and is, if you find the right coffee shop), the seasonality is artificial.
I love pumpkin spice lattes, and eggnog, and Cream Eggs, and raspberry ale... all the artificially restricted treats that come to symbolize their time of the year. I just don't want my faith to be dependent on Starbucks. I want to have both my pumpkin spice latte and a slice of the pie made fresh baked, locally grown, pumpkin.
