#yum

Social media allows for both society to share with others what foods they are eating and companies to advertise their menus’. In most situations you will come across pictures of delicious looking food, both healthy and not. Often these foods that others post subconsciously affect your daily diets. If we see a post where someone has brought him or herself a delicious chocolate treat we find ourselves craving something sweet, or we see a post where the person has updated us on their healthy alternative, which can motivate us to eat healthy and exercise. Or a company may promote that the hottest celebrity eats their food, so we feel as if we should be eating there too. We as humans are greatly impacted by society, whether we realise it or not. Agreeing with this belief, Atkins stated in the weekly readings, “food messages are received even when there is no advertisement”.  Our surrounding society plays a massive roll in our daily food intake, as our surroundings impact our choices. Kuttainen mentioned within this weeks lecture that our identity is impacted by our diets, as who we are as individuals is portrayed in all aspects of our lives, especially our diets. This statement could not be more true, if you eat unhealthy constantly, your wellbeing and daily activities will be affected by that choice, where as if you eat healthy and exercise your life will positively be affected by that. The more money one has the more they can spend on food, you will find that it is often cheaper, and less time consuming to by fast food every day of the week, when compared to having to buy groceries and cook for each meal. Our population is growing, and our obesity rate is dramatically increasing, as our society is becoming more susceptible to these lifestyle choices. We are more accepting of this change due to the fact that it is so natural, and we are able to access more unhealthy foods than in the past, as we can see an advertisement pop up on our social media at any time of the day.

Atkins, P. Bowler, I. (2001). Food in society: economy, culture, geography. New York, United States of America: oxford university press Inc.
Kuttainen. V. (2015). BA1002; Lecture week eight. [PowerPoint slide]. Retrieved from: http://:www.learnjcu.edu.au

Image http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/food/aussies-share-the-food-love-by-posting-pictures-of-meals-on-social-media/story-fneuz8wn-1226637885462

social media and food

Blog 6

communitymediaworkshop.org

It’s crazy to think that social media can change the way we see ourselves or the world. But believe it or not it can also change the way we look as well as what we eat. Every day I scroll through Instagram and see people post pictures of their meals. Usually these meals consist of yoghurt, fruits, seeds and other healthy foods. It’s very interesting how seeing things like this can influence our daily lives. Within the readings for this week it stated that “food messages are received even when there is no advertisement”. I found this fascinating because it is right in front of our faces yet we do not see it. Advertisement plays such an important part in our lives and is the reason why we choose or have certain things. When we see healthy pictures posted on Instagram we automatically get that motivation and drive to try and change our lifestyle by working out or changing what we eat. Every day without even noticing it we get persuaded to buy these items that are posted on social media or in our favourite tv shows. Within this week’s lecture kuttainen said that what we eat is a representation of our identity. No doubt that is the honest truth. And when you think about it our culture, religion and economic status really define what our choices are and what we can eat. Whatever we see on social media relates to our status in life, for example if we have less income weekly than others we are no doubt going to have more cheap meal recipes on our pages or if we choose to live a healthy lifestyle we will have more nutritious foods.

Atkins, P. Bowler, I. (2001). Food in society: economy, culture, geography. New York, United States of America: oxford university press Inc.
Kuttainen. V. (2015). BA1002; Lecture week eight. [PowerPoint slide]. Retrieved from: http://:www.learnjcu.edu.au

Bad apples

This week’s theme in the lecture was food and the networks surrounding it such as foodways. In the online social network I have been using for my case study it’s not uncommon for people to post pictures of the meals they have either made or bought. Whether this is to show how affluent they are or how they have exceptional taste is unknown to me as I have never felt the need to show what I was eating unless I had cooked the meal myself. The thing that stood out to me in the lecture was the theories of choice in foods and how while you may think you choose to eat what you want to eat, the power over what you eat is kept by large corporations that choose foods which are the most palatable to a wide range of people.

Black oxford apples Retrieved from https://outonalimbcsa.wordpress.com/apple-varieties/black-oxford/

Raj Patel(2007) in his book “stuffed and starved” talks about the ways there are only certain types of apple available to consumers as they are the varieties that travel well, are pleasant in taste for a wide variety of people and take well to waxing techniques to make them appealing for sale. Looking at the pictures of apples for sale on the Woolworths website is a good example, how many apple have you seen that were as shiny as these. On Facebook people re-enforce this majority rules, with people taking photos of meals they think will impress their friends. Even if this food is terrible so long as it looks good there is no problem. It’s an example of how “taste is constructed” (Kuttain, 2015) that people only seem to post photos of food they know will be well received by their friends, whether this is because of how healthy it is, how classy, how decadent or how adventurous it is.

References

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

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

Image credit
Black Oxford Apples, Unknown author. Retrieved from https://outonalimbcsa.wordpress.com/apple-varieties/black-oxford/

Social drinking

It is can be deemed a stereotype or fact; yet alcohol still remains a prominent feature within our culture. Among social networking sites there is considerable evidence to support this notion, but how does this influence our behaviour towards alcohol and whether or not social media becomes recognised (Kuttainen, 2015) for drinking?

image from: https://geekfallout.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/social-media-drinking/

Within cyber-space there is a constant stream of exchange between different brands, products and information that we are exposed to on a daily basis, alcohol been one of them. Research has shown that there are a number of factors that have lowered drinking among teenagers; while raising greater awareness and understanding surround health, jobs, relationships and other risks associated. On the social networking site of Facebook, there are a number of memes, videos and posts about drinking. However, against the normal conception, not all of these ‘advertisements’ are presented within a negative perspective. Within the past week, there has been videos posted promoting helpful and respectful behaviour towards those who are under the influence of the alcohol. Albeit there is still ‘light-hearted’ attitude towards alcohol, which can be identified through various memes that are shared https://www.facebook.com/DOSVEC/videos/855016414539933/.

Living in an age of enhanced technology and exchange of communication our understanding of alcohol and its effects are foregrounded into education and social conversations. Research has shown that by re-shaping the perception of the level of alcohol consumed by our friends, can significantly impact our attitude (University of Sydney, 2015).  Furthermore, it is clear that alcohol remains a key feature within our society, and social media is becoming a more predominant place for users to share advice, information and experiences.

References:

Kuttainen, V. (2015). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives, and the making of place, week 8: Networked Narratives: Food. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au

University of Sydney (2015). Research reveals social media skews drinking habits. Retrieved from http://sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=15032

Image from: https://geekfallout.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/social-media-drinking/

Major Corporations and Facebook

Major Corporations and Facebook

By Jason O'Neill

Image From: twentytwowords.com pnMMj.jpg

As emphasised by Patel, it is the power of large corporations that control the consumer’s food choice. Take apples for example, there are about seven thousand varieties of apples and yet the most common seen on your local store shelves will amount to about five different sorts. This is because major corporations will only put the ‘healthiest’ looking produce on the shelves. This being the apples with the most colour or harder to bruise. Guided by profit motive, the corporations that sell our food shape and constrain how we eat (Patel, 2007).

Social media is also controlled in the same way by similar major corporations. Certain groups and pages are funded by these corporations for social media networks like Facebook to advertise. The more people who become a part of these groups and pages add to the popularity of these sites. And on social media networks, popularity means power. Therefore it is important for major corporations to get as much advertisement possible to gain popularity as it is their means or profit.

Taste is culturally constructed (Kuttaiten, 2015) and taste in the sense of social media perspective would be considered our interests. So the phrase “you have good taste in …” applies to the interests of that individual. These interests could also act as an expression of our identity. Thus when we join a group or page that is seen as popular we are also seen as popular. Because being popular is seen as high status many people will see their only choice being to conform to these corporations and join their pages and groups to keep up with the current trend.

References:

Kuttainen, V. (2015). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place, Week 8: Networked Narratives: Food. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/

Patel, R. (2007). Stuffed & starved. Black Inc.

Image Reference:

Abraham. (2012, April 25). Chart showing the 10 companies that own most of the food products we buy. Retrieved from TwentyTwoWords: http://twentytwowords.com/

Facebook Foodies

Almost everybody with a Facebook account has seen a plate of food posted on the social media site. But why do people feel the need to share their meals with the world? I think it is because of how food can be used as a form of communication, and that people use food as a tool to show their life in a particular light.

People can use food as an interesting narrative tool, to communicate their life to their friends on social media. For example a picture of somebody’s expensive meal in a fancy restaurant can suggest that they have a lot of money and that they have a sophisticated pallet. Somebody could also post a picture of fast food or a simple meal to imply that they are a laid back person, or an obscure foreign dish can be used to imply a sense of being ‘cultured’. Atkins and Bowler (2001, p.285) explain that eating food native to another country creates a social divide between those who are seen as cultured and those that are not.

So effectively food can be used as a narrative to communicate ones, personality, wealth, culture, religion, and social status. This makes food an incredibly strong form of communication. The sheer amount of information that food can convey, can allow somebody to make assumptions about almost every aspect of somebodies personal life. What is not posted can have just as large of an impact on public assumptions as what is posted. For example if somebody never posts nutritious foods then there is no real way of deducing if they are a healthy or nutritious person.

It is safe to say that food is a very powerful tool of communication that can imply many things about somebody, whether they are true or not. People should be wary of what they post on Facebook as they may not realize just powerful of a communication tool food can be, and how it can shape how other people view their lives.

References

Atkins, P., & Bowler, I. (2001) Food in Society: Economy, Culture, Geography. London, England: Hodder Headline Group. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/Conc-camcontent-bb_bb60/items/getitem.jsp?as_course_code=12-BA1002-TSV-INT-SP2&content_id=_768726_1&course_id=_26169_1&doc_id=30459

How Social Media is Changing the Way we Eat (2014) Retieved from https://www.menulog.com.au/blog/social-media-changing-eat/

Image Reference

Taking Photo of Food (2013) Retrieved from http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1371671/images/o-TAKING-PHOTO-OF-FOOD-facebook.jpg

Food Culture

By Jaymi Quincey

Culture is represented by language, fashion, music and food. These key characteristics create a community and self-identity all around the world. Cultural food from many different countries can found almost anywhere there is a market for it. Atkins and Bowler (2001) discuss the misrepresentation of cultural food origin and food labelling. They also mention the false link and labels that allow the traceability of foods to the site of production but also origin (p.277). In terms of food and society Kuttianen (2015) states ‘Taste is culturally constructed, also an expression of our identity’. As mentioned before, cultural food represents culture but the place of origin of a specific taste or food can be labelled elsewhere. For example ‘Brazilian coffee’ can be grown in several different countries but remains as ‘Brazilian coffee’ regardless of the community it comes from. This misrepresentation of a culture based on an origin naming or tastes that doesn’t represent the true authenticity of the culture. Asian take-away is another example, where business owners can ‘westernise’ the menu and tastes of food in order for business to strive. Another misrepresentation of culture through food is from the first Diasporas, migrations or colonization. Culture and food was spread all around the world but with time changing but is almost unnoticeable unless you travel and experience the food in the country of origin.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Chinese_cuisine

Labeling is a major issue in the cultural identity also for instance “If a business claim goods are 'made in' or 'manufactured in' a particular country: 50% or more of the total production or manufacturing costs of the goods must be incurred in that country. These products could contain ingredients from other countries. A product with 'Made in Australia' label won't necessarily contain Australian ingredients” (The Department of Justice, 2014). This creates a false representation of the product and may in fact deny the country of origin recognition.

Reference:

Atkins, P., & Bowler, I. (2001). The origins of taste. In food in society: Economy, culture, geography (pp. 272-295). New York, NY: Oxford University Press Inc.

The espresso guy. (2015). Espresso guy. Retrieved from http://www.espressoguy.com/coffee_beans/buying_coffee_beans

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


The Department of Justice. (2014) Australian Consumer Law. Retrieved from http://www.consumer.tas.gov.au/fair_trading/country_of_origin

Image:

American Chinese Cuisine .(2015). In Wikipedia. [Image]. Retrieved Septemebr 18, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Chinese_cuisine