Food for Lesbians

Chatting with Hayley Yates of Lesbian Food Account

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“Still Life With Fruit and Vegetables” (1625-1635), by Frans Snyders. (The Norton Simon Foundation)

Today, I’m excited to bring you an interview with Hayley Yates, the writer behind the newsletter Lesbian Food Account. As Hayley puts it, her newsletter contains “lesbian writing (that’s when a lesbian does some writing) on all things consumption,” including, of course, food. Though I’m a huge foodie, I’ve never had the pleasure of writing about it, and I wanted to ask Hayley about the intersections of queerness and food and what it can mean to have a “lesbian perspective” on something. Hope you enjoy!

What inspired you to start your newsletter?

I love writing. I think a special part of @lesbianfoodaccount in its original form (Instagram) was/is the tone of voice in writing. I would get a lot of positive feedback about the way I was breaking down educational info (where something is from, how something is made) or the way I was delivering info (in a dry-humor sense). I find that Substack is a great platform, one that I would go as far as saying is disrupting the landscape of social media right now. By democratizing access to "having a platform" of writing, Substack really empowers people to write just for the sake of writing. Which is exactly what I wanted to do!

What voices do you think are missing from food writing?

Due to powers beyond us (big business-like powers) we are seeing less money/resources put into food reporting, and more money put into food writing - mainly quick reads like lists, maps, guides, etc. Food industry reporting is something we don't get as much of because it doesn't sell (doesn't drive traffic to make publishers money) as well as something like, "Brooklyn's 10 Best Onion Rings". Which, btw, I still find valuable. I just think reporting, in a larger sense, has been deprioritized. Outside of that, like all mainstream media, the food media landscape prioritizes race (whiteness), class (rich people), sexuality/gender (straight people/cis people) and body (skinny people). It's so boring.

How would you describe a – or your – lesbian perspective on food?

For one, I think a lesbian perspective, in any arena, can be the most radical paradigm shift because it is one that de-centers men/patriarchy/that whole mess. I don't derive sexual or social power from men, which is completely antithetical to...well...basically every structure our world has. And more specifically for me, my lesbian identity and my food identity are pieces that orbit each other closely. Both identities speak to my desire to nourish (emotionally, physically, etc). My perspective on food is influenced by my ability to nourish beyond the physical: to anticipate needs, to act with forethought, to care about emotional experiences. And I think that makes my food identity (and skillset) stronger.

I loved your piece “Glory and gore go hand in hand.” I wanted to ask you about food and pleasure. Do you think, culturally (as you noted in regard to the TikTok), we’re moving away from food/eating as pleasurable?

Yes, and it's hell. But I get it. Everything is so out of control, the future is unpromised, and I get that people want to take extreme and unpleasurable measures to try and guarantee personal longevity. The Huberman bio-hack-y bros and the GF/DF/Keto chicas of the world just want to live longer and operate better, but they're treating their bodies like a computer system. And computers are built to perform tasks. Humans are much more than that. Operational efficiency should not be the goal of a human body. I hate to use often trite/empty phrases like "act of resistance" but I think enjoying yourself is just that. I understand it's hard to unlearn everything around you, and everything that built you. But it's possible.

Do you think there is a connection between the pleasure of eating and lesbian/queer pleasure? Either in the experience or the cultural attitudes about it?

Hmmm it is interesting to think about because I find myself personally intertwining them, but that is totally subjective. But in terms of cultural attitudes, it's interesting that both of these things (eating for pleasure, lesbian pleasure) are basically taboo. Culture teaches us, at large (and in an extreme and generalizing sense), that these things are wrong. There's something there...

What do you enjoy most about working in the restaurant industry?

I love working with my hands and my body (I also resent it at times). I love feeling exausted after a long day's work and melting into bed knowing I worked fucking hard. I love not using a computer, not sitting, not staring at a screen. I love my coworkers and the silly, the intense, the passionate, and the delicious world we make together. But mostly? I love to eat.

Do you think restaurants are notably lesbian or queer spaces? I've always wondered this, but maybe I've just watched too many episodes of Top Chef, haha.

I don't think so. I think restaurant kitchens are still "boys clubs" and laden with big egos and male energy (derogatory). I am so lucky to experience the opposite: a kitchen run by lesbians, filled with women, etc. But I think I have the anomaly. That being said, if I went as far as gendering the kitchen space as masculine, I think it is fair to say that attracts a certain... butch-ness. It's unglamorous, stinky, dirty, exhausting work. I think that can entice a dyke from a mile away.

You can find Hayley’s writing here.

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