Facebook + Food =
Facefood?
In the lecture this week, Kuttainen stated
that “food is not just food… food can be a repository of culture (a mirror) and
a transformer of culture.” Food associates with one’s culture, and often we
recognize countries through their food, like, when thinking of pizza and pasta,
one might think of Italy, or when thinking of snails and frogs legs, we might
think of France. Food has a way of bringing cultures together, as types of food
are not restricted to one part of the world.
Food is quite present on Facebook, as it can be
seen quite often, such as, when people post pictures of the
food they have made, when people write statuses about restaurants whether they
are recommending or critiquing a business, businesses can advertise their
products on Facebook, posting recipes on Facebook, making group pages related
to food, or when people use food in videos, such as Vines. Clearly, there are
many situations where food can be involved on Facebook.
“Guided by the
profit motive, the corporations that sell our food shape and constrain how we
eat and how we think about food.” (Patel, R. 2007). This is similar to
Facebook. We read what other people write about restaurants, which can shape
the way we think about the food at that particular place, and could impact our
decisions to go to that restaurant. This is much like Tuan (1991) who states,
“language is a force that all of us use everyday, to build, sustain and
destroy.” It is not so much the corporations that impact of views of food on
Facebook, but more of our peers.
The image used in this blog was the image used in an article called “Facebook examines Facefood juice bar
sign in Cardiff
REFERENCES:
Kuttainen, V. 2013. BA1002:
Our Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place, Week 7 Notes (PowerPoint). Retrieved
from: https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au
Patel, R.
2007. Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power and the Hidden Battle for the world
Food System. Great Britain
Tuan,
Y. (1991). Annals of the Association of American Geographers. Taylor
IMAGE CREDITS:
‘Facefood’ image retrieved at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-20325784
Hi Summer,
ReplyDeleteYou identified clearly in your blog how food is involved in numerous ways on Facebook. I specifically like how you discuss how we as individuals base a lot of our opinions on food choices based on others opinions. We definitely would be more inclined to attend to a restaurant that our friends had raved about on Facebook and avoid places and food with bad reviews. This aligns with what Atkins & Bowler (2001) state with taste having both “physical and social meanings” (p.272). They go on discuss our taste being socially-derived from our desire “for our consumption habits to show us in the best possible light” (Atkins & Bowler, 2001, p.272).
References
Atkins, P., & Bowler, I. (2001).The origins of taste. In Food in Society: Economy, Culture, Geography (pp. 272-293). London, England: Arnold.
Hi Summer,
ReplyDeleteI like how you have described the way in which food represents people. I believe that Kuttainen (2013) was correct in her statement that “food is not just food… food can be a repository of culture (a mirror) and a transformer of culture.” This view is also supported by Atkins & Bowler (2001) who stated that “the distinction between social groups... their taste for food and other commodities may become a badge of their identity” (p.272) In my time as a Facebook user, I have noticed the way that people connect through food over Facebook. Facebook helps us with this, in the way that it encourages us to share our interests and preferences in food choice. By doing this they are able to screen our likes and dislikes and advertise appropriate material, such as food Facebook pages and sites on our newsfeed. Then through these pages and sites we are able to connect with others that have similar taste.
Good luck with your last blog!
Reference:
Atkins, P., & Bowler, I. (2001). Food in Society: Economy, Culture, Geography. London, England: Arnold. a member of the Hodder Headline Group
Kuttainen, V. (2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narrratives and The Making Of Place, Lecture 7: Food Networks. [Lecture] Retrieved from: http://learnjcu.edu.au