Blog 6 – There once was a time.

People from all over the world are linked by Facebook. Nearly every continent, culture, and nationality is linked through the social network. In the same way that people are linked to sociality via Facebook or similar social networks, nationalities and cultures are linked via food. “One factor in the origin and persistence of foodways is that they often represent an important expression of our identity” (Atkins and Bowler, 2001, p.273).

Many years ago, the various cultures of the world were proud to call their dishes their own, internationally known foods and dishes were held highly as a representation of a person’s heritage and culture. The Italian’s cooked amazing pasta, the French are well known for their frog legs and snails, sushi in Japan, the curries of India. Initially, these dishes were special to their place of origin; a representation of the nation’s or the regions cultural heritage or narrative. Now however, posting your meals or latest culinary creation on Facebook ‘is a way of establishing distinctions between social groups. Demonstrating a knowledge of other cuisines, other cultures, and of culinary authenticity, thus has a status currency in those social groups who are less likely to be able to compare in purely materialistic terms.’ (Aitkins and Bowler, 2001).

These famous dishes are now no longer as special, because they are recreated all over the world by many different people who are capable of attaining the ingredients to do so. The once famous and distinctive dishes of a culture have been transformed, evolved, recreated, and destroyed by our love of food.

Reference List:

Aitkins, P & Bowler, I. (2001). Food In Society: Economy, Culture, Geography. Great Britain: Hodder Headline Group.