Patel emphasises the power of large
corporations in affecting what society sees. He said “Guided by the profit motive, the corporations that sell our food, shape
and constrain how we eat and how we think about food.” (2007). Corporations
thereby promote their foods a particular way so that it is appealing to the
consumers. The food needs to be appealing and desirous to the consumer
so that the corporation will make a profit. This is a form of control however.
How the corporation presents something, will affect how society sees it. If
they presented something negatively, then society will have negative thoughts
or feelings about it, either consciously or unconsciously.
I consider YouTube to be one of the most
controversial facilitators of corporate control. I say this because they don’t
discriminate against anything. They even allow for commercials to play while
the actual desired video loads. YouTube is the residency of TV programs that
encourages the adventure, history, competition, and creativity of food; this
includes such programs as Cake Boss, Master Chef, and Man vs Food.
YouTube also has a wide range of self made
videos that critique, compliment, and suggest facts about food and good or bad
restaurants of food or food experiences. Some videos simply showcase a person’s
like or dislike of certain types of food.
In a way, YouTube allows for its members to
be the ‘corporate’ and its videos to be the ‘product.’ The members are able to
edit the videos in such a way as to spin a positive or negative approach on a
specific topic. Members are also able to ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ a video, which
will in turn affect how someone will view a video.
Kuttainen stated that “food is not just
food” (2013). I agree. Food is so much more. It’s a way of persuading,
controlling, empowering, and weakening society. It’s an identity and a lifestyle. It’s how we
see ourselves and others see us. Food can bring people together in times
laughter and enjoy, and in times or sorrow and heartache. Food is our ever
constant companion.
To finish up, I thought I'd share this new recipe I found on YouTube that I tried
and loved. I recommend it for any Nutella loving people. It’s easy to
understand and taste is delicious. It’s a ‘Nutella Brownie in a Mug’ http://youtu.be/lpzorAti11k
Reference:
Kuttainen, V. (2013). BA1002:
Our Space: Networks, Narrratives and The Making Of Place, Lecture 7: Food
Networks. [Lecture]
Retrieved from: http://learnjcu.edu.au
Patel, R. 2007. Stuffed and Starved:
Markets, Power and the Hidden Battle for the world Food System.Great Britain
Image Credit:
Hello!
ReplyDeleteWhile I think you have made a good point with youtube wielding corporate control I find it ironic that the recipe you have used and shared involves nutella - whose ingredients include palm oil - the oil responsible for incredible and devastating amounts of deforestation in South-East Asia, Central America and Africa. The forests used for oil palm plantations are often sold to wealthy companies who clear the land for the oil palm plantations which only last generally up to 50 years before the soil is completely drained of nutrients. Thousands of animals including endangered orangutans, tigers and sun bears are displaced and killed in this process. You can read more about that here http://www.saynotopalmoil.com/
Nutella has also been linked with the biotech giant Monsanto which uses GMO's and herbicides for agricultural purposes...the very food we eat. This links directly to the lecture about food and both readings by Atkins & Bowler (2001) and Patel (2007) in regards to how corporations dictate and produce the foods we eat and in the case of items such as nutella (and there are many many more as you can imagine) effect the environment in extremely negative ways often unknown to consumers.
I'm sorry I had to rant about this but it's an issue that not enough people are aware of and I believe it's always important to investigate what we consume and so very important to know where our food comes from.
References:
Atkins, P. & Bowler, I. (2001). The origins of taste. In Food in society: economy, culture, geography. Great Britain, Arnold Publishers.
Patel, R. 2007. Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power and the Hidden Battle for the world Food System.Great Britain; Portobello Books Ltd
Kuttainen, V. (2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narrratives and The Making Of Place, Lecture 7: Food Networks. [Lecture] Retrieved from: http://learnjcu.edu.au
http://www.monsanto.com/global/au/Pages/default.aspx