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

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