Should the humble Ploughman’s lunch become gender neutral?
A ‘woke’ Devon pub has been criticised after taking the Ploughman’s lunch off the menu and rebranding it ‘ploughperson’s’.
It is a meal that served as a staple of the English labourer’s diet for centuries and has grown to be considered among the most quintessential of pub food.
But although the devilishly simple combination of bread, cheese and onion has helped the ploughman’s lunch survive the generations, it is now, finally, being forced to adapt to the modern world.
And so it is that the traditional dish has been given a rebranding to make it more befitting of a gender-neutral age, at a pub in the Dartmoor village of Belstone, Devon, much to the bemusement of some social media users.
The Tors pub now offers what it has described on its menu as the “ploughperson’s” lunch.
It still contains all the ingredients associated with the conventional ploughman’s lunch – cheese, ham, pickled onions, chutney and sourdough bread – suggesting nothing was thought to be wrong with the original dish itself.
Dicky Harrison, the landlord of The Tors pub, said on Sunday that he had been startled to see how much attention the renamed dish had received.
He told The Telegraph: “The menu item was just meant as a bit of tongue in cheek. We live in a farming community with amazing women and men farming the land. It’s just a bit of fun and a nod to the amazing ladies who work the land here. I didn’t think it would cause offence, but in reality, women plough too!”
Primark also recently came under fire for changing its maternity section to a ‘parenthood collection’.
The high street retailer was accused of bowing to ‘woke’ ideals after it promoted the collection in a post that did not explicitly mention maternity, women or mothers.
The post read: ‘Introducing our A/W parenthood collection. From floaty frocks to simple jersey staples, say hello to our hero pieces you need to curate your capsule pregnancy wardrobe.’
What are your views? Do you think this popular pub dish should become gender-neutral?
