[2012-Oct-25] The Detroit rule

[Sardanapale]

The "Detroit astranged crackhead" definitely sounds more believable/tasty ...

[Lethal Interjection]

This isn't true, though.

First of all, the more local you get, the more exceptions there are. Which is probably why they just start saying 'local' (or sometimes the name of your province/state, i.e, Ontario peaches) when produce/meat comes from quite near.

Secondly, if it's grown/raised/butchered/caught/whatever here, people don't want it from there. There are plenty of people that distrust anything that isn't reasonably local. I've met plenty of people who don't want American beef (and lately Albertan beef, even) or who want to know countries of origin on various different items. I've met people for whom 'California strawberries' is nearly a curse word.

Zach only used raw foods as examples but it is different with prepared foods. They have little to do with the local ingredients and more to do with the preparation, so the name in front does make it sound tastier without the negative connotations the area might have.

[orangeg8]

what is the detroit food then? google didn't show up anything

[PhyterJet]

I'm nor american either and i have no idea what the Detroit *food name* is...
after some googling I assume its the corn-dog, which we don't have in NZ, but they don't look that appetizing on google images

[Steven]

I'm from the US (but not from Michigan), and I have no idea... I would imagine that any food, in general would not have positive connotations if named after Detroit (which is not a pleasant city). Maybe there was something in mind when he wrote the comic.

Detroit trout - from the lake; toxic
Detroit Beef - not actually food - that's the guy mugging you
Detroit Beets - that's how Beef's doing it...

[Kaharz]

Secondly, if it's grown/raised/butchered/caught/whatever here, people don't want it from there. There are plenty of people that distrust anything that isn't reasonably local. I've met plenty of people who don't want American beef (and lately Albertan beef, even) or who want to know countries of origin on various different items. I've met people for whom 'California strawberries' is nearly a curse word.

I've never really cared where my food ingredients originated from. Actual complete dishes are another story. I normally won't get a "Maryland Crab Cake" or whole crabs outside of Maryland because they are usually not made the way they typically are in Maryland and I don't want some terrible fried crab cake or boiled crabs. However, I don't really care if the crabs come from the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland or the Gulf of Mexico.

[Guest]

I can't seem to find any actual references to this "Detroit rule" anywhere.

[laphoque]

Well, as a longtime Michigander & longtime Detroiter: let me assure you that Detroit can be unpleasant, however it can also be quite pleasant. It's like it's a real place and not just the rhetorical black sheep of America's failed urban policies and drug war.

On the other hand, when it comes to food: I would argue that Detroit's food is probably better than yours.

Example 1: http://www.detroiteasternmarket.com Eastern Market is the largest public market distict in the country and runs year round offering excellent produce and meat much of which is from the immediate area (which spans across the river into Canadia of course). Given Detroit's infamous status as the American city that has lost the most population ever (from a peak of 1.85 million down to 710 thousand people as of 2010), besting number two, Chicago, by a bit more than 100 thousand people, there are several areas of concentrated vacancy that have come to make for excellent farm land.

Example 2: http://greeningofdetroit.com/ The premaire organization of the urban agricultural movement in Detroit that tests potential urban farms & gardens for lead and other contamenents and beautifies parks and greens corridors. They also run programs like http://detroitagriculture.net/farms-and ... n-detroit/ which allow small farms and urban gardens to cooperate to sell their Grown in Detroit produce.

Example 3: The question of water. Michigan has the great lakes which is one of the world's most important sources of fresh water. While it is true that industry has long had negative effects on the rouge river which runs through the south of Detroit (meaning downriver) by way of suburbs like Dearborn that use it as a sewage overflow, the city does not get its water from this decimated area but rather much farther up stream where there is not the same environmental devistation. As such the city's water system (which services the sprawl that grew at a fast pace from its inception in the post-war fourties until the early eighties when it stagnated) is among the cleanest and highest quality in the country.

So while Detroit may be known for murder, and failed urban policies (statuses for which we compete with St. Louis for number one), the paradox of this comic is that Detroit is also becoming known as a place where food actually comes from the city and locale instead of being imported from disperate countries like elsewhere in the US.

But the nation does needs its black sheep. Even if the monster you all imagine is not entirely the reality on the ground.

[t-dawg]

I don't think he is referring to an established "Detroit Rule" that existed before this comic. He's making up a new joke! Imagine that.

I also don't think there is any type of food that starts with "Detroit" that he is referring to. I think he's just saying that adding "Detroit" to any food really doesn't make it sound appealing.

[GUTCHUCKER]

I live in Darwin. The food's all shit here.

[Apocalyptus]

But you guys have meat pie floaters, right?

[GUTCHUCKER]

I only know what that is because I read about it in a Terry Pratchett book.

[Apocalyptus]

Me too.

[cherub_daemon]

Recent Michigan emigre here.

There actually is a food which is referred to as "Detroit [X]" -- the Coney dog.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coney_Island_hot_dog

It isn't done to make it sound better, though. It's to differentiate it from a "Flint Coney". Detroit is saucy, Flint is meaty.