Week Seven: Please Sir, May I Have Some More?

One of the biggest networks in the world is the food network. Food is made, grown and processed in one place, then somehow ends up on our plate after passing through a systematic network of workers. Coffee, for example, is grown and harvested in many places throughout the world. One example is in Uganda, where coffee is grown and sold to a local middle man, which is then sold to a mill. The coffee is then sent to an exporter who sends it to a big producer such as Nestle or Starbuck's (Patel, 2007).
The food network is not just physical, but virtual. Tumblr has entire blogs dedicated to food, recipes and anything yummy. The network is used especially with recipes. If I wanted to cook something that I didn't really know how to, I could go onto a blog such as this.
The lecturer told the class that food is more than just a physical edible item. It is a representation of its country of origin. Curry is seen as an Indian food just as pasta is seen as an Italian food. It is a symbol of the culture (Kuttainen, 2013).
In the same way, the food on a blog can be a symbol of of the blogger. In the example blog, the person appears to be into sweet foods and desserts, which has a lot of "sweet" connotations about the person who runs the blog.

References:

Patel, R. (2007). Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World's Food System. Canada: Portobello Books Ltd.

Kuttainen, V. (2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, Lecture 7: Food Networks.

Image From: http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/food

Food, food glorious food

Food, food glorious food! Chocolate, popcorn, steak and chicken  is what pops into ones head when it appears through their mind. From the all you can eat cheap chilli on a Tuesday, to the special sandwiches mum would pack for school, food is involved in our lives daily, and sometimes without even realizing food is a major aspect of it. Personally if I skip a meal or become hungry a side effect that I develop is I become extremely angry. This clearly shows how food controls my life in the smallest amount. However food is not just about recipes and meals, it also has a taste of social meaning  (Atkins & Bowler (2001). This aspect is further examined in this weeks readings.

 Facebook very much so feeds off the idea of  food and social meaning. Food plays a very important role within the Facebook timeline. Thousands of posts a day are uploaded of the 'awesome' meal someone had just prepared, the 'crazy' birthday cake for their child, or the 'delicious' breakfast they had just cooked. Through the sharing of their creations a relative online identity is formed. A friend of mine on Facebook shares her cook book daily over posts and which recipe she chooses to make that day. This is a clear example on the assumption on how Facebook users hold food as an important role in their social networking lives. 

During our Monday lecture, Dr Victoria Kuttainen (2013) described rum as a social network symbolizing Facebook. this idolizes food not only as something to consume but a network through technology.  The idea of constantly uploading photos of famous food and drinks such as alcohol is not only for the benefit of the up-loader looking 'cool' but also is a way to make the food popular or noticeable  The society that we live in which involves over 800 million  (Patel (2007) starving people also involves many civilians which take food for granted. This relates to the reading  'Stuffed and starved' (2007). 

In conclusion, food has much more meaning then the consumption of it which many people have no idea about. The idea of food can be a unbelievable truth to many without the realization of its origin. 

Bibliography 

Atkins, P., & Bowler, I. (2001). The origins of taste. In Food in society: Economy, culture, geography (pp. 272-293). 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

Atkins, P., & Bowler, I. (2001). The origins of taste. In Food in society: Economy, culture, geography (pp. 272-293). London, England: Arnold.

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

A

Blog Five: The 'Shocking' Origin of Food

Blog Five: The ‘Shocking’ Origin of Food

By Hollie Gill

What do you think of when someone says food? Breakfast and dinner? Or perhaps the grocery store? In this week’s lecture Dr Kuttainen (2013) spoke about the history of rum and Blackbirding in Australia. Blackbirding was the use of Islanders who were known as ‘Aliens’ or a ‘necessary evil’ in late nineteenth century Australia, for tropical and subtropical agricultural development (Mercer, 1995), or rather the development of sugarcane . Together with pictures such as the one shown here, this story would be a classic example of the type of content that would be seen in my virtual network, the Facebook page Stories That Shocked The World, as it fits with the historical, shocking, and educational theme of the group. This sort of shocking history is not something that is openly disclosed by corporations to consumers, I for one will never be able to buy a bottle of rum again without remembering the history of Blackbirding here in Australia.

Today, when it comes to large corporations that control the food market, the effects of production go much further than what people see and what they buy off the supermarket shelf (Patel, 2007). For instance, Atkins & Bowler (2001) discuss the market for exotic foreign food in ‘rich countries’, and that although many business opportunities have been established, it has resulted in poor work conditions and low rates of pay for the overseas factory workers. The corporations controlling the food market are certainly not going to reveal ramifications such as this.

The narratives of food are evidently hidden to a large degree in society and if known, could potentially deter buyers and lose large food corporations a great deal of profit. If I ask you now, what do you think of when someone says food, would you still think of what you see on the grocery store shelf or would you see beyond and think where does this food come from? The origin of food can certainly be a shocking truth. What price are we really paying for food?

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

Mercer, P. (1995). Putting down roots. In White australia defied: Pacific islander settlement in north queensland (pp. 40-73).  Retrieved from http://masterfile.jcu.edu.au.elibrary.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

Image Credits:

Maproom: Blackbirding in the pacific. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.britishempire.co.uk/maproom/blackbirding.htm

Blog Six - Week Seven

Foodbook

Image retrived from http://internal3m.com

Food is something that we fortunately encounter from day to day. From those sandwiches made by mum for school lunches to those full scale Christmas roasts with the entire family, food shapes so many aspects of our lives in ways that we may never have even noticed. Pierre Bourdieu (1984) argues that "The distinction between social groups, especially classes, in their tastes for food and other commodities may become a badge of their identity."  and this is further explained through this week's readings about 'Food in Society'  by Peter Atkins and Ian Bowler (2001).

During this week's lecture, Victoria Kuttainen (2013)  made reference to rum, it's origins, and how it is now being globally networked to form many kinds of stereotypes and symbolic identities.
Within my chosen social networking site, Facebook, food also plays a very important role. As mentioned in previous blogs, the Facebook timeline of each person tracks their lives, and I believe it forms their relative online identity. When people post a photo of their beautifully prepared dinner, their birthday cake, or a meal they ate out a restaurant, their identity is being further developed as a result of the inclusion of food. And if this posting of food is a common occurrence, for example, a conclusion could then be drawn that said Facebook user holds food in a very important position in their lives. 

This importance of food in the online world is certainly not only relative to Facebook. Another aspect is within the hundreds of online blogs written about food across the world from day to day. An example of this is in an online blogging website called The Food Blog. This website contains several blogs outlining recipes, food reviews, restaurant reviews etc. covering all types of food from one side of the world to the other.

Overall, I guess it's safe to say that there's much more than meets the mouth when it comes to food.

References

(2010). Retrieved 2013, from The Food Blog: http://thefoodblog.com.au/

Aitkens, P., & Bowler, I. (2001). Food in Society: Economy, Culture, Geography. London: Oxford University Press Inc.

Kuttainen, V. (2013). Week 7 Lecture.

The Love of Food

Food plays a major role in our lives. We all love to eat food, watch cooking shows and reading cookbooks. Could you have ever imagined that chefs would end up being so famous…not me! Our love of food has made us become a food-obsessed nation. People are taking photos of their meals and posting them to Facebook or Instagram. They are also travelling to other countries to discover what “real” Italian or Chinese food tastes like.  As Kuttainen (2013) mentions food is a tactile, ingestible substance. Something that is needed to keep us alive, it is a necessity not some new fangled toy that we can show off. But it is a market, which is become increasing popular. 

With our obsession on food and the new trend of eating ‘super-foods’ and organic grown foods, it is amazing to see the number of obese people. As Patel (2007) states there are one billion people on this planet who are overweight (p. 1). That is such an astronomical amount of people, for me it’s so hard to fathom. 

On Goodreads there are hundreds and hundreds of cookbook blogs. People are commenting on the cookbook’s more then any other genre. They have very strong opinions on the cookbooks. Most of the opinions are based around weather the book was worth purchasing and if they found the recipes easy to follow. Some on the other hand were odd. The comments were telling readers their opinions on foods and diets, which they state, are different to the books. Cannot tell if they are experts on food and diets, as their profiles do not say. I feel they shouldn’t be commenting like that, as us the readers may take it for been correct. 

Overall food is something that should be enjoyed by all with family and friends, as it creates great memories.  

Image

http://www.bettycrocker.com/cookbooks-and-magazines/betty-crocker-cookbook

Reference

Patel, R. (2007). Stuffed and Starved: Markets, power and the hidden battle for the world food systems. Melbourne, Australia: Black Inc.

Kuttainen, V. (Lecturer). BA1002 Our Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place, Lecture 7: Food Networks (Lecture). Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au

Week 7: The social life of food

The social life of food

By Tasman Murch

 

Within most cultures food is seen as a social time with meals happening at special events, in your lunch hour at school and at family dinners. Atkins & Bowler (2001) also believes that "Taste has social meaning" (pg. 273).

 

On many social networks such as Facebook, we are constantly seeing pictures of our friends food that they have either had for dinner or a cake that they had baked and decided to share a photo with the 'world'. Facebook is known to be a way of expressing our identity and getting our ideas and thoughts out to the world and to share with our friends and as annoying as it is, this is what this 'photo taking' is achieving. As Atkins & Bowler (2001) said " One factor in origin and persistence of foodways is they often represent an important expression in our identity" (pg. 273).

In our Monday lecture, Dr Victoria Kuttainen (2013) talked about Rum as a network. At the end of this class she showed us a picture from Facebook with a guy holding and drinking a bottle of rum. This got me thinking. Since grade 9 when girls thought they were 'cool' putting up pictures of them holding alcohol we have been open to this concept that food is all around us and is a network even through technology. The idea of pictures of food and drinks, such as alcohol being on Facebook is a way that food is made social, as Facebook is a social
network and a way to communicate with everyone.  

 

This culture that we live in, where we can eat and afford any food we like, waste food that we have made and the fact that we are able to take photos of food like it means nothing relates back to the reading, 'Stuffed and starved' (2007). I speak for all of us when I say  that we take these aspects of food for granted. There are 800 million people in the world starving (Patel (2007) and we are lucky enough to be able to take photos of our food and share our food identity to the social network world.

 

 

References:

 

Atkins, P., & Bowler, I. (2001). The origins of taste. In Food in society: Economy, culture, geography (pp. 272-293). London, England: Arnold.

 

Kuttainen, V. (2013). BA1002: Networks, narratives and the making of place, week 7 notes. [Power Point]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au

 

Patel, R. (2007). Introduction. Stuffed and starved: The hidden battle for the world's food systems (pp. 1-19). Toronto, Canada: Harper Perennial

 

Image credits:

 

Jew/- Poor people [Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=https://7chan.org/jew/src