Keeping the Plate Clean

 

Gwyneth Paltrow is a celebrity that is well known for the importance she places in “clean eating.” As seen on the cover of her cookbook, she places importance on cleanses and other forms of eating that “reset” the body (presumably from past consumption of processed foods). The food she puts on the cover of her book all look fresh and natural. One of her suggested meals, called a “rainbow salad,” consists of all raw ingredients, including avocado, beets, tomatoes, cabbage, and more that are only seasoned with salt and pepper.  

  

The extreme diet Paltrow advertises on this book cover and with recipes like the one above demonstrate the ideas expressed by Douglas in “Purity and Danger.” To clean up dirt is described by Douglas as “a positive effort to organize the environment” (2002: 2) As dirt “exists in the eye of the beholder,” Paltrow presumably defines it as the majority of foods eaten by U.S. citizens (Douglas 2002: 2). Cleansing the body in the way that Palrow’s book advertises is then a means of maintaining order within the body. The phrasing of “The Clean Plate” on the cover of her book directly evokes this notion of cleaning dirt, asserting that it is necessary for humans to clean themselves through what they eat just like hygienic practices. 

Furthermore, the body is seen by Douglas as a “symbol of society” and concepts of cleanliness and purity reflect greater social concerns (2002: 142). As Paltrow highlights some foods as pure, suggesting that the rest are impure, it is important to reflect on the message she is trying to convey. Those who eat a “clean” diet in the way that she does are raised and seen as superior, disregarding the fact that most of her recipes would be very expensive and time-consuming. Paltrow and others who have the means and willingness to restrict their diets are raised up, while those who eat more accessible, processed goods are implied to be dirty.