Cultural Studies Essays Culture Food and Eating

Cultural Studies Essays civilisation Food and EatingCulture, Food and EatingIt has been argued that changes inwhat has been cooked, when, where and by whom are a function of some other featureswithin the victuals economy and will gull vast affectionate, economic and healthconsequences. (LangCaraher, 20010)This essay will discuss the changein relation to commercialize-gardening, fare and consume by firstly acknowledging that food, cookingand eating stir traditionally been seen principally as the womans role insociety. As this is of high significance in examining the consequences ofchange, it will wherefore be examined from the assumption that our society isbuilt upon a patriarchal system which underpins our assimilation to this presentday.In addition by the yearsmodernity has brought about change in intersection and consumption which has rapidlytransformed the elan in which we approach food and eating. Technology has takena consider satisfactory leap forward in ho w we cook and eat food. Globalisation has allowed forfood to be shipped approximately the planet at whim and for food trends to travelacross the world. Traditions are changing as people move from country tocountry bringing food from contrasting refinements into the home and market regularize.In all cultures food is imbued withmeaning, it is a currency in society. Food can nourish, entertain and givepleasure. It can also be a source of political conflict for example governmenthealth warnings or arguments around vegetarianism. non enough food causesextreme problems and at the other end of the scale in addition much food can be fatal. Someof these issues will be considered when examining the issues around change insocietys approach to food.The Extent of Change in Relationto CookingIn the past cooking and buying offood were traditionally seen as the womans role and what was eaten wasdictated by the seasonal food available and the amount of m atomic number 53y people had tospend on food. In assessing the extent of change it could be identified as the physicaland social tantrum.Miller and McHoul (1998,p.33) proposethat the physical covers geography, seasons, and economics and that the socialcovers religion, custom, class, health education, publicise, age, sex, andrace. They also recognise the greatness of the physiological, which deals withgenes, allergies, fasts, needs, and biochemical reaction. In the past thiswould have been seen as the sphere of experts to a greater extentover in our information rich,self obsessed society this could be a of import factor in ethnical changetowards food and cooking and is hotshot that cannot be overlooked.Cooking skills were customarilypassed on through families usually from mothers to daughters. In the past themen were the breadwinners term the women stayed at home and looked after thehome, a patriarchal concept modelled on the aspiring middle classes of thetime. Although times have changed and most women now puzz le out, the t mavin that foodand cooking are the womans domain still prevails.This has an effect on what haschanged or is changing in food affairs. Tansey and Worsley (1995, p.144) acknowledgethat most of the burden of domestic work still smoo thens on women. The fact thatthey go to work and do the housework is having remarkable effects on the foodindustry. It has created opportunities for them to produce what Tansey andWorsley describe as labour-saving and ego-protecting products. This has ledto a change in shopping, cooking and eating that would have been insufferable ageneration ago.Availability of food from all overthe world combined with new ship canal of cooking has altered the focussing in which weconsume our food. Refrigeration, freezing and microwaving are examples ofpractical ways in which shopping and cooking has changed. Globalisation has doa large contribution, one aspect relevant to this assessment is a post-modernphenomenon termed McDonaldization by George Ritz er in 1996 which has causedmuch debate. Concerns that mass culture is creating a homogenous world whereeverything will become levelled out is deliberated by many theorists of postmodern culture.But at what point do individualschange their demeanor and attitudes to food? Miller and McHoul (1998,p.33) gosome way towards identifying what could be pennyral to how change takes place inwhat, wherefore, where and by whom food is cooked. They suggest that food stands atthe gateway of nature and culture and involves choice at the point where the biological attached hunger meets and becomes indistinguishable from a cultural marker longing. There are many ways in which appetite can be influenced in todayssociety which will in turn have a bearing on the anchor forces driving change. Someof these will be looked at in the next section.Key forces driving changeWith debt instrument for everydaycooking taken by women for almost eighty per cent of the time compared withtwenty-five per cent of m en (LangCaraher 2001, p.9), it is no surprisethat the food industry target women. Marketing of food products can be seen asone of the key forces driving change in the way in which we cook and eat. Therange of advertisements bombarding us can feature anything from foodingredients, ready made convenience foods, to fast food outlets andrestaurants. As consumers we are offered a swag choice to satisfy ourappetites.One of the reasons women are seenas so important to the marketers is that they are seen as both consumers andproducers. Rather than simple consumer remove, Lury (1996, p.44) suggests thatthere are a play of different cycles of outturn and consumption problematicalbefore final enjoyment of a meal. She comments Consumer demand can thus beseen as to be mediated by the assure and/or the social relations of thehousehold or domestic mode of productionThis highlights the fact that foodis not a simple commodity with a one way relationship between production andconsumption. It co uld be argued that, particularly with food, it cannot beassumed that consumers are passive and that consumption can be taken forgranted even though we take inly will always need food. Rather it emphasises thefact that consumption itself is a socially organised set of practices.Lury illustrates this with a quotefrom AppaduraiDemand emerges as a function ofa variety of social practices and classifications, rather than a mysteriousemanation of human needs, a mechanical response to social manipulation (as inone model of the effects of advertising in our own society), or the narrowingdown of a universal and voracious proclivity for objects to whatever happens to beavailable.Critics of the food industry mayargue that we are being socially manipulated by being force fed over-processedfoods which are bad for our health. However, it must be recognised that theindustry has grown in response to social change such as new working patterns,the rise of single households, and a extremely stress ed society eating on thehoof. With more single households and families not eating together the foodindustry has provided us with ready made meals to reconcile our lifestyles. moreover there are many issuessurrounding the food industry which have given cause for concern. The way inwhich food and ingredients are manufactured has resulted in worries aboutimbalance in world economies with cheap food from around the world. Healthscares such as mad cow disease and salmonella in the food chain, fats and additives causingobesity and diabetes are expert some of the current arguments.Lang and Caraher(p.10) skin thatfrom the available evidence .. large food retailers are not just respondingto a cultural change, but are using market levers to suit their own agendaswith little thought for longer-term public health outcomes. It has nowbecome so discernible that there is a crisis regarding health, and childrenshealth in particular, that the government has launched a variety of campaignsto be nd the public to eat healthily. This also includes putting pressure onmanufacturers. It could be well-kept that given the shocking statistics onhealth, the State is destined to become a key force for driving change in thefuture.The Significance of ChangeAs already identified, concernsover the health of the nation is one of the biggest issues in society at themoment. It has been said that if this trend continues we are the firstgeneration where parents are expected to outlive their children. period cookingis purported to be on the decline for younger people, it is argued that as anation we know more about diet and nutrition than ever before. If the number oftelevision programmes and magazines on food and health can be taken as evidenceof this it would seem it is true.It is clear that our relationshipwith food has changed drastically in recent years, and can be argued that it isa post-modern problem, one of the most visible areas being the explosion of thediet industry. An article in the perceiver Food Magazine (March 2005, p.17)considers the latest trend in dieting and why we feel the need to follow adiet. One theory is that it is the sheer copiousness of food has changed us intoa nation of nearly 13 million diet addicts. Dr Andrew Hill, senior lecturer inbehavioural studies contendsIt is only in the in conclusionmicro-second of human evolution that we have become surrounded by a sea ofcalories. Weve become international, non-seasonal feeders and for anincreasing symmetricalness of people, this represents a challenge. We simply donthave the psychological controls to cope. Our biological system is tilted infavour of over-consumption This and other issues around foodhave brought it into the public eye and inevitably become a matter ofgovernment policy. Tansey and Worsley (p.214) point to five areas with whichthe conventional economic approach to policy concerns itself efficiency,growth, stability, sustainability, equity. They licence how important foodpolic y is with a quote from John McInerneyFood is an exceptionallypolitical commodity the report of there being a COLLECTIVE wellbeing inaddition to an individual one will lead to an array of policy actions designedto protect or nurture the interests of the weak and vulnerable, referee theinteractions both within and between groups all along the food chain, insulateone group from the actions of others, and redistribute the benefits to achievea more equitable pattern than the market system can manage on its own.With health at the elucidate of thepolitical agenda for any government it could be anticipated that policy willchange the way we approach food. While the government lobbies the food industryand bombards us with the latest health campaign they could expect some results.But when it comes back down to individuals who will put through this in the home?Yet again the burden will fall on the shoulders of women as Guardians of thefamilys health.ConclusionThere are many factors involved inthe change in our attitude to food, cooking and eating, of which only a fewhave been discussed in this essay. One thing that remains constant is that westill view our society through the lens of patriarchy therefore, whetherconsciously or unconsciously rely on gender stereotypes of the mother as thenurturer. While this is still largely true the last twenty or thirty years haveproved that the feminist ideals of women being able to have it all has notlived up to its promise. Women have had to rely on a flourishing food industryto help them cope with the domestic load as well as going to work outside thehome. While this has been famous by many women as releasing them from thekitchen and allowing them to have a life story of their own, it becomes clear thatsociety has not been able to offer any real ersatz to womens unpaid workin the home.The concern we have at present withfood, health, and eating has evolved as a consequence of new social patterns,globalisation, marketing, indust ry and state policy. As a society we must askourselves whether culturally we still put the indebtedness for these issuesat the feet of women on the basic level that as the nurturers they areletting down their families. If that is so it then it is not until eachindividual takes responsibility for their own approach to food that things willchange for the better.BIBLIOGRAPHYMiller, T McHoul, A 1998, PopularCulture and Everyday LifeTansey, G Worsley, T 1995, TheFood System, a GuideLang, T Caraher M, 2001, IsThere a Culinary Skills Transition? Data and debate from the UK about changes in cooking culture, Journal of the HEIA, Vol 8, No 2, 2001Lury, Celia 1996, ConsumerCultureperceiver Food Magazine, March 2005,Do the Science, The Observer 13/3/05