Stop Taking Pictures of your Food! Just Eat it!
'These days, the culture surrounding food is that we no longer simply eat out of necessity- we eat to enjoy, to savor, to experience food as an art, and not only an obligation to our bodies' stated Kirsten Alana. Nowadays, the first reflex we have before eating a dish at the restaurant, is to take a photo with our mobile phones and/or tablets and share it on a social network.
We must see Food as part of the symbol system and as a network (Dr. V.Kuttainen. 2013). If you go on any online social network, whenever it is Facebook, instagram... You will note that there is a lot of people sharing photos of food, they recently enjoyed. This creates an Online Food Network. Moreover, there are people who creates a fan page on Facebook, to share their passion for food or to promote their business. Promoting the personal business on online social network is very common nowadays. But why do Chefs or cookers... use online social network to promote what they do in their daily life? Maybe its because, people are constantly connected to online social networks, thus a regular visual update of their latest creation, might encourage their business to flourish, to be well-known and to be the daily gossip/talk of people.
Due to modern society and modernization, exist a wide range and/or variety of food across the world. 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 stated Atkins & Bowler (2001, p. 273). On Facebook you have the little 'thumb-up' icon which allows us to like what we see and/or to comment, thus this enables critics and through critics it is easy to know our likes and dislikes about certain food, online.
To conclude, the Canadian Obesity Network stated that 'People who post pictures of almost every meal they eat to social media may have a deeper medical issue'. So, the question is, taking photos of our food is it a trend or a medical issue that might end up badly?
References:
Alana,
K. (2012). Instagram & Co: The Mobile
Era of Food Photography. Retrieved from http://www.finedininglovers.com/stories/food-photography-tips-mobile/
Dr.
Kuttainen, V. (2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks,
narratives and the making of place, Lecture 7: Food: A case of Rum. [
Powerpoint Slides]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au
Atkins, P., & Bowler, I. (2001). Food in Society:
Economy, Culture, Geography. London, England: Oxford University Press.
CBC
News. (2013). Posting pictures of meals
online? You may have health problems. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/05/01/bc-food-social-media-obesity.html
Image Credits:
CBC
News. (2013). Posting pictures of meals
online? You may have health problems. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/05/01/bc-food-social-media-obesity.html
"Nowadays, the first reflex we have before eating a dish at the restaurant, is to take a photo…"
ReplyDeleteWhen I searched "food fetish" on the internet I got the impression it related only to sexual deviance. Luckily I still have my copy of the OED, which defines a fetish as an "inanimate object irrationally reverenced". Food is almost always inanimate; I qualify "always" because in Japan you might be served a still-flapping fish that’s been quickly seared on both sides. Food fetishism that has always been with us is now being normalised on dozens of TV cooking programs and all over the internet.
Jeremy Rifkin might be described as a food fetishist of a different kind. He wants the world to go vegetarian, and as an idealist naturally he ignores the market forces and economic rationale behind keeping things the way they are. Caring so much about a meal’s appearance and social cachet strikes me as obscene in a world where people are starving.
Rifkin, J. (N/D) Feed the World: Why eating meat is a major cause of world hunger – and going vegetarian is a solution. Retrieved from http://viva.org.uk/guides/feedtheworld.htm