In today’s society you can walk through the food precinct in
town and find a wide range of cultural foods and cuisines, all easily
accessible to everyone, whether you are apart of the culture or not. Kuttainen
(2015) notes that taste is not only culturally constructed, but also an
expression of our identity, that is to say that through our personal cultural
experiences with food, we are able to construct a self identity, and also
allows us to create or reinforce a community identity. Food allows people to
experience different cultures and to relish our own cultures, whether we are
living in our traditional homeland or not.
Atkins & Bowler (2001, pp. 273)
acknowledge this sense of identity that is gained through food, stating, “one
factor in the origin and persistence of foodways is that they often represent
an important expression of our identity, both as individuals and in reference
to a broader ethnic, class or religious grouping.” Food enables ethnic groups
to express their identity, and come together as a community, allowing them to
connect and understand others and their cultures. So, when walking through the
food district in town, people are able to share a collective sense of community
identity and belonging, people as strangers coming together through a common
love of food.
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| Image from: http://www.lumosforbusiness.com/ |
Yet it is not necessary for people to go out to restaurants to
experience a taste of different cuisines from different cultures. Tumblr has
many blogs dedicated to specific cultures, or to a multitude of different
cultures, providing recipes, historic information regarding specific dishes, traditional
ingredients and traditional uses for different dishes. Each day the Internet
allows us to create a sense of identity more and more, providing access to
worlds and cultures we thought were out of our reach. Our community and self
identity is deeply ingrained in the food we eat, whether it be trying a new
foreign cuisine or a dish your mother used to cook on special occasions, food
is an much a part of our identity as our own name.
References:
Atkins, P. & Bowler, I. (2001). Food in society: Economy, culture, geography. New York, United
Sates of America: Oxford University Press Inc.
Foodways. (2014). In Wikipedia.
Retrieved September 17th, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foodways.
Kuttainen, V. (2015). BA1002:
Our space: Networks, narratives, and the making of place, Lecture 8: Food
networks. [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from: http://www.jculearn.edu.au.
Image reference:
Lumosforbusiness. (n.d.). The way we eat. [Image]. Retrieved from: http://www.lumosforbusiness.com/uploads/images/image/23/the_way_we_eat.jpeg
It’s very interesting that you mentioned the ability to walk through the food precinct and find a wide range of cultural foods and cuisines. Also that Kuttainen (2015) mentioned that taste is not only culturally constructed, but also an expression of our identity, and likewise to create or reinforce a community identity. Patel (2007) contradicts this seemingly large range, and that in fact power is dominated by large corporations. This is especially evident in supermarket only shelving the most ‘sellable’ products. With profit motive, the corporations that sell our food construct how we eat, cook and represents culture. This is also obvious on social media that only the top companies advertise what is cultural or trending, which is apparent with health foods at the present. Food is definitely a representation of our culture and community but we are not the only influences on this representation of who we are.
ReplyDeleteReference:
Kuttainen, V. (2015). BA1002: Our space: Networks, narratives, and the making of place, Lecture 8: Food networks. [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from: http://www.jcu.learn.edu.au
Patel, R. (2007). Stuffed & starved. Black Inc.