ERHMAHGERD, FOOD!

Food! Glorious, food! It is a little sad to admit this, but the majority on my time that I spend on Tumblr; I am constantly perusing food blogs. This whole community is dedicated to make you hate your life because you can’t that amazing cheese pizza, or fried Chicken. But not only is there junk food blogs like this, but yes, there is also the “Fitspo” food blogs that contain lovely images of salad…

Basically, food is a big deal on Tumblr. You can learn about different foods and recipes just like you would on the thousands of website that you can type into Google. But one thing I found interesting when look at the ‘Food’ tag, was that there are hundreds on blogs that are dedicated in sharing foods that are associated with their culture. For example, there was Indian, African and plenty of Mexican food blogs that post recipes of their traditional food dishes full of flavors and spices, which made me realise just how boring the Australian palate is for food.

Same here, Homer.

However, in this weeks lecture, it was discussed that food was more than just physically consumed (Kuttainen, 2013). In the reading by Akins and Blower, it stated that “food is represented an important expression of our identity, both as individuals and in reference to a broader ethnic, class or religious grouping.” (Akins & Blower, 2001, p. 273). The sense of ethic communities are not only sharing their traditional recipes, but sharing their culture on Tumblr.

With this in mind, many of these countries that I’ve stated are third world. It’s hard to believe that with such a diverse culture can be so flawed in the sense of community food systems. Many ingredients that are in these recipes are cheap and easily accessible within those countries, which can be related back to the lecture of how food is not just physically consumed, it’s in many ways a system. In the reading by Petal, it was stated, “the food system is shaped by farming communities, corporations, governments, consumers, activists and movements” (Petal, 2007, p. 19). The sense of sharing ones traditional culture through food does not only affect the individual and those around, but it can be extended to a much wider community through some impacts such as farming or businesses.

Reference list

 Atkins, P., & Bowler, I. (2001). The origins of taste. In Food in society: Economy, culture, geography (pp. 272-295). London, England: Arnold.

Kuttainen, V. (2013). BA1002: Our space: network, narrative and the making of place, week 6 notes. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au

Patel, R. (2007). Introduction. In Stuffed and starved: Markets, power and the hidden battle for the world food system (pp. 1-19). Melbourne, Australia: Black Inc

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