The Last Lecture 2015

Blog 6: Hunger for Being Noticed

 

( https://www.google.com/search?q=food+porn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAWoVChMIyoOWqOSJyAIVxBemCh26AQvV&biw=1920&bih=946#imgrc=BNEXHJJ4EZ-RKM%3A )

In this week’s class, we have been focusing on food and what role it plays in our virtual network. Personally I believe that is does have an influence and strangely, probably more often than what Facebook intended it to have. Foods presence is mostly prominent in photos being uploaded of friends who are impressed by a meal they have prepared or have had prepared for; feeling the necessity to upload it so the online society can all witness the marvellous creation they had the pleasure of indulging in.

The term ‘food porn’ has been trending on Facebook for a couple of years now and is described as photos of delicious foods that make viewers envious. This was especially common when users were going out to a fancy restaurant or were impressed with their own cooking skills and wanted to display it to the online world.  In terms of ‘self’, I believe it takes a certain type of person to upload their food.  A group of people who send each other photos of their food might do so in situations where their intentions are too show off or to make others jealous. Personally I believe it’s similar to body image shots and I would dare to link it with self-esteem issues and public acceptance needs.

Your community identity can determine what types of foods you upload, for example;  body builders will show off how much protein they are eating, or people who want to be perceived as wealthy might upload exquisite meals that have been prepared for them. Personally, uploading food to social media seems quite pointless to me and if an individual really wanted to see nice foods they will search for it on the internet, they do not need it shoved in their face through their news feeds begging for likes.

References:

Atkins, P and Bowler.I (2001). Food in Society: Economy, culture, geography. London, United Kingdom: Hodder Headline Group.
Kuttainen, V. (2015). BA1002: Food Networks [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from learnjcu.jcu.edu.au

Food, Glorious Food

Psychologist Maslow introduced the world to the hierarchy of human needs in 1943 with the five stages. Your core stage being biological and physiological, which included you air, food, water, shelter, warmth, sleep, and sex (McLeod, 2007). Maslow described it as a way to reach your maximum potential and happiness you had to complete the hierarchy step by step (McLeod, 2007). Food plays a large part in developing an identity for a culture, or a particular place (Atkins & Bowler, 2001). It can give power to particular people, for those that can afford lavish foods and always remain full, to those who can’t and are constantly hungry. But food does much more than give a community identity or a person power, it contains all six key concepts that are the basis of this subject. Power, space and place, self and community identity, reality/virtual, communication, and finally exchange (Kuttainen, 2015). Each culture that has had to migrate creates its own place in their new space, by attaching to old traditions, they exchange food with each other to bring family and friends together. You can communicate through food to show various emotions or skill sets. Such as a big family dinner representing unity and love for one another. And lastly the concept of food holding a sense of reality and virtuality in its history and stories (Kuttainen, 2015).

Food is a basic concept that many people take for granted as a daily routine of our lives; it isn’t until we’re stripped of it and left to starve do we note its true value to our survival. But still there are many out there who can’t afford food and are stripped of essential life sustaining factors, yet we turn a blind eye. Why worry about something that doesn’t affect you or your family personally. The human race can be selfish, but no one should be denied the basic humanistic needs when they can no longer afford them. Granted you shouldn’t rape someone due to sex being a primal need.

References

Atkins, P. & Bowler, I. (2001) Foods in society: Economy, culture, geography. London, England. Arnold Publishers

Kuttainen, V. (2015). BA1002: Space: Networks, narratives, and the making of place, week 8 notes [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au

McLeod, S. (2007) Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Retrieved from: http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

Image Reference:

McLeod, S. (2007) Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Retrieved from: http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

Blog VI: Food and the Impact on Culture

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/images/images_2/lara/818_images/eat_love_exhibition/eat_Love_03.jpg

Food is not only a vital part of life - in terms of actually having to eat to survive - it is also an important part of social life. To bring it closer to home, we will take a look at the Greek culture. Now of course it goes far beyond just food, but a big part of what makes culture important is food. It brings people together, and encourages conversation. The influx of Greek migrants to Australia brought with them their wonderful and vibrant food culture. From honey puffs to souvlaki, Australians swallowed it up whole! As Kuttainen (2015) said; "food is not just food", it is the social fuel which ignites the flames of conversation and passion. In the very first sentence of The Origins of Taste, Atkins & Bowler (2001) wrote that next to a biological necessity for food, there is equally a socio-culutral necessity for food. 

What is it about food that sparks conversation? Perhaps because it usually exists in a place of communal gathering, and as social beasts, we do what is natural to us, talk. Perhaps it is because we feel at ease when eating, something to occupy our hands, and reduce the anxiety of  the situation. To tie this in with the digital realm; look at Instagram, the phone application which allows you to upload pictures of things you have taken during your day and display them to your friends. A lot of people use this application to upload photos of meals they have consumed during the day, much to the ire of many people, but it just goes to show that people are interested in food in ways more than just a pure biological form. To add to this point, the reality TV show revolution is in full swing, and cooking shows are the big craze of the day too. People love food, in more ways than just eating it. It gives us a forum to talk and to interact with each other, and that is what we love to do.

References

Kuttainen, V. (2015). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place, Week 7 Notes [PowerPoint slides. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au

Atkins, P. and Bowler, I. (2001). Food in Society: Economy, Culture, Geography. London, United Kingdom: Arnold.

Food Can Transform And Create

In this week’s lecture the thought that ‘food can transform culture and culture can transform food’ (Kuttainen, 2015) was discussed. This thought resonated with me as I have had a recent change in my life that had this type of knock-on effect. About a year ago my mother was diagnosed with a disease that disables a large portion of her hearing and can cause her to have large periods of vomiting and dizziness- as in days of this. There wasn’t much information on this disease, and there’s hardly a single permanent fix, but my family and I scoured the internet and any books we could find and we discovered that a diet with low-to-no salt and sugar, raw foods diet could help to at least prevent the dizziness and vomiting. So we implemented this diet and I have noticed a vast change in the way my family approaches meals. We were never very unhealthy but we did all love our salt. Now ever meal we have has zero added salt and its ingredients have low salt content. It’s transformed the culture of our household to one that is more creative with food, especially the use of herb and spices to substitute the salt loss. In this way, I have been able to experience the transformative properties food has on a culture and vice versa.

This concept is also relevant to Tumblr, as is the concept in the reading that ‘food is an expression of identity’ (Atkins & Bowler, 2001). On an individual blog, if there are mainly pictures of ‘healthy’ foods, as in this blog, then the identity of the blogger is seen as a healthy person and from there assumptions are made. Likewise, if someone once posted about mainly fast foods or indulgent foods and then gradually changes their aesthetic to the one previously mentioned, a person following that blog will assume they are endeavouring to change their habits in real life as well.

References

Atkins, P and Bowler.I (2001). Food in Society: Economy, culture, geography. London, United Kingdom: Hodder Headline Group.
Kuttainen, V. (2015). BA1002: Food Networks [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from learnjcu.jcu.edu.au

Essie (2015) NourishingEssie [Blog] Retrieved from http://nourishingessie.tumblr.com/ 

Image credit 

Crossman, V. (2015) Vegan Family Recipes [Screenshot of Blog] retrieved from http://veganfamilyrecipes.tumblr.com/

food online

When thinking of sharing food and culture one often thinks of all senses (sight, smell, touch, sound and taste) coming together in a face to face experience with others. However food and culture can also be expressed in a non-face to face way. Cook books and social networking sites come to mind and both are, usually highly selective in content and discursive in intent (ATKINS and BOWLER, 2001, p. 274-275).

In this week’s lecture Victoria Kuttainen (2015) talks about how food is an expression of our identity. This is an interesting idea when considering social networks. Take Instagram for example, a place to not only post pictures of what you’re eating but what you’re doing, wearing and who your with. One does not simply post pictures of their bacon and egg roll with no bacon, egg or roll (just organic avocado and field mushrooms on a plate) on Instagram without also posting pictures of their berd with flowers in it (hipster Instagram culture). Thus your identity is not solely passed on the food posted but on a variety of different posts. A Tumblr blog on the other hand can have no connection to the posters true identity.

Thus the idea that food is an expression of our identity is more relatable to Tumblr blogs. I place where you can post nothing but pictures of Japanese food and you will receive messages from followers in Japanese. You are judged on nothing but what you post so it’s understandable that people will jump to conclusions when making the connection of who you are and what you like. This can be both an empowering and disempowering experience.

REFFERENCES:

REFERENCES:

Atkins, P and Bowler.I (2001). Food in Society: Economy, culture, geography. London, United Kingdom: Hodder Headline Group.

Kuttainen, V. (2015). BA1002: Food Networks [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from learnjcu.jcu.edu.au

IMAGE CREDITS:

Isaiah Webb (2014) Horn of plenty: Retrieved from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2878840/Artist-Incredibeard-takes-hipster-beard-art-trend-outrageous-new-lengths-amazing-facial-hair-sculptures.html

Food and Culture

Blog 4.

The thought that food can manipulate and transform cultures isn’t new, however the importance of tracking and mapping of it is. As said by Kuttainen (2015) in this weeks lecture, “Food can transform culture and culture can transform food”. So by having the understanding of this lets try to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Food can transform culture? If who controls the food can effect our culture then what ramifications does that have on culture? Personally I work in hospitality and I can see as clear as day, when the chefs change the food so dose the customers and when the people changes so does the food, reaffirming what was said in the weeks lecture. What is surprising tho is how drastic the change is and how by transforming spaces and places we also create new identities of the original place. So when looking at the changes in food and maybe trying to understand its narrative behind it creates a garden on unanswered questions.

 

This blog I would like to touch on something that show how food can manipulate places and spaces, identities and even communities. I was somewhat being a cyberflaneur the other day when I cam across a video on YouTube that showed a town that was filled with obesity ridden people. When watching all I could remember was thinking to myself that these people have so many fatty food restaurants in the town an the identity of the community started to transform built on the choices of restaurants and eating habits. So as I sat and watched these people describe their lives some mentioned that they seemed powerless and that they felt as if they have nowhere else to eat. So I thought and came to the conclusion that the power struggle between people and corporations will always exists it may just come down to what your narrative is and what identity you choose that will determine the powers and where they lay.

 

Reference:

Kuttainen, V. (2015). BA1002: Our space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, week 8 notes [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu/jcu.edu.au

Patel, R. (2007). Introduction. Stuffed and starved: markets, power and the hidden battle for the world food system (pp.1-19). Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au

 

 

 

Blog Post 6: Advertising Foods on Social Media

Retrieved From https://www.google.com.au/search?q=food+ads+on+social+media&espv=2&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAWoVChMIib3X2aCCyAIVkwSOCh3dQwVU&biw=1366&bih=643#imgrc=4Zr_J_oAICLFnM%3A

“The food system is shaped by farming communities, corporations, governments, consumers, activists and movements.” (Patel, 2007) Society’s opinions of food are susceptible to change, which can be brought about by any of the above groups. Whilst all the social groups stated do influence the way we see food another large shaping aspect of food is the ways in which the individual perceives the various brands and products on offer to them. Whilst the everyday person is slammed with adverts of food from all sides whether it’s online, TV, radio, etc. The decision to purchase and eat the food being advertised is inevitably in the hands of the individual. However, it is very easy for groups to advertise certain foods that that person is known to enjoy based on their social media accounts.

Companies based around food now advertise themselves on social media sites. They do this in order to take advantage of the free advertisement opportunities and to spread awareness about their products. Attempting to entice people to purchase food ingredients or to dine with them. With the use of social media sites a wide variety of groups can influence a consumer’s decision when purchasing food.  

References

Newman, A. (2011). Promoting Products Using Social Media - Advertising. Nytimes.com. Retrieved 19 September 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/04/business/media/promoting-products-using-social-media-advertising.html?_r=0

Victory, G., & Victory, G. (2014). How to Promote Products With Social Media: 4 Examples. Social Media Examiner. Retrieved 19 September 2015, from http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/promote-products-with-social-media/

Blog Post 6: Food network in relation to Hell

In the same fashion that Patel (2007) examines the world food system's reactions to the human influences of necessities for profit, ease of access, the farmers themselves, and activism/social movements, I have been examining the Monster Hunter Hell Facebook group through multiple lenses to show myself different perspectives, and trying to understand different positions on the controversial issues on the group. Patel argues that the act of choosing in this food network has left '...many stuffed and many starved...' (Patel, 2007, pg18). In a metaphorical sense, this applies over to social networks such as Hell, with members of the group's "Network of food" being "stuffed and starved", with group prestige/notoriety being the metaphorical equivalent of food. Members who create the original content can be considered the farmers, the Popular majority, or 'celebrities' of the group, act as a government of sorts, organising through acceptance in this case. This has sometimes left both the creators/farmers and government/popular circles impoverished, as the content creators can become tired of the popular crowds forgetting who made the content, and acting as if they created it themselves, which results in less content, bringing it full circle and showing a metaphorical example of the 'socio-cultural factors' (Atkins & Bowler, 2001, pg 272) of food/content consumption. Atkins and Bowler (2001) also suggest that social groups and classes can be identified by their distinctions of palate, both for food and other items for consumption, such as popular culture and conversation. Monster Hunter Hell has exactly this, with its badge of identity being the more critical, less censored form of monster hunter culture, allowing often the most controversial, or crude content to be associated with the page and group members. In summary, Patel (2007) and Atkins & Bowler (2001) show that food is not just a part of a person's palate, but also can show their cultural identity, and this example of the food networks for the world can be shown also as a network of cultural consumption.









An example of the kinds of culture that can be shared in the group, this specifically being constructive advice. Image taken from: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=966246426766964&set=pcb.1691279441093995&type=1&theater

References

Atkins, P., & Bowler, I. (2001). The origins of taste. In P. Atkins & I. Bowler, Food in society (1st ed., pp. 272-295). London: Arnold.
Patel, R. (2015). Introduction. In R. Patel, Stuffed and starved: Markets, Power and the hidden battle for the world food system (1st ed., pp. 1-18). melbourne: Black Inc Books.