Foodways - Notes
"The social cultural & economic practices realting to the production and consumption of food. Foodways refers to the intersection of food in culture, traditions and history"
Foodways are engrained in the idenity of a culture, and as a part of what defines an individual or groups "identity, race, ethnicity, gender, class, ideology, and social relations" (Man Kong Lum, de Ferrière le Vayer 1) foodways are an intangible cultural heritage past down from generation to generation, representing cultural diversity and tradition.
"Culture exists and manifests itself in and through the process of human communication over time"(Man Kong Lum, de Ferrière le Vayer 2).
"intergenera-tional communication or, put differently, the transmission over time of distinct food-related practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, and skills that members of a community, large or small, consider to be vital or significant to their cultural well-being or uniqueness." (Man Kong Lum, de Ferrière le Vayer 4).
Foodways are one of the most defining markers of a cultures identity. Globalisation, urbanisation and international imigration have had a huge impact on foodways, as they function as a form of communication both within a group and between groups. For immigrants foodways can play an important role in their identity and sense of security. Bring their own practices, recipes and ingredients can help to maintain a sence of "cultural continuity" (Man Kong Lum, de Ferrière le Vayer 12) in a time of adjustment. This fusion of culture and place has also in many cases lead to "localised ethnic or immigrant foodways ... such as the Jewish foodways in the United States" (Man Kong Lum, de Ferrière le Vayer12).
International tourism has also influenced another form of Foodways as culturally unique cusines are adapted to be marketed towards tourists. Many tourists experiences revolve around food, however it is important to consider how "marketing communication-driven adaptation and representation foster what kind of intercultural mis/understandings of local urban foodways?" (Man Kong Lum, de Ferrière le Vayer 12). Tourists will recreate their own versions of food they ate while travelling, again creating a fuson of foodways according to availablility of ingredients and memory. This adaption of recipes is also influenced through social media. The strong repesentation of food on these platforms can change peoples expectations of local foodways as they look through the tourist lens.
"Urban foodways is a site of intergroup communication whereby members from diverse communities can interact." (Man Kong Lum, de Ferrière le Vayer 6).
Urban populations are commonly made up of many culture that have migrated to one area. This amalgamation of cultures results in both "distinctly identifi-able human groups or communities as per their respective ethnic or re-gional origins" (Man Kong Lum, de Ferrière le Vayer 8), as well as a hybridisation or fusion of foodways when culinary practices are bought together.
Urban foodways are changing over time due to standardisation in food production and packaging, as well as the influence of food giants such as McDonalds and Coca Cola we can see traditional foodways dissapearing.
Man Kong Lum, Casey, and Marc de Ferrière le Vayer. Urban Foodway and Communication: Ethnographic Studies in Intangible Cultural Food Heritages Around the World. Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, 2016. EBSCOhost. Web. 4 Mar 2018
Thoughts
Connection and belong through food
Emphathy for other cultures through a familiar form of communication - Food/cooking
Authentic information about what other cultures eat - not thorugh the tourist lens.
Refugees sharing foodways - "foodways is viewed as one of the most
Man Kong Lum, Casey, and Marc de Ferrière le Vayer. Urban Foodway and Communication: Ethnographic Studies in Intangible Cultural Food Heritages Around the World. Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, 2016. EBSCOhost. Web. 4 Mar 2018
Thoughts
Connection and belong through food
Emphathy for other cultures through a familiar form of communication - Food/cooking
Authentic information about what other cultures eat - not thorugh the tourist lens.
Refugees sharing foodways - "foodways is viewed as one of the most
significant community identity markers, particularly during a time when
the people are being uprooted or have uprooted themselves from their
home culture while settling and reconstituting their group identity in the
host country" (Man Kong Lum, de Ferrière le Vayer 8).
New Zealanders recreate foreign food to deal with geographical isolation.
Is the transformation of foodways due to fusion of culture good or bad?
Eating as a cultural performance in early 21st Century New Zealand - Notes
New Zealanders have a huge variety of multicultural food available to them, and by eating exotic or foreign food we are engaging our interest in diverse cultures, therefore gaining cultural capital.
"Cultural capital engenders a degree of prestige, as we are judged by others on out performance of consumption" (Markwick 1).
New Zealand Geographically is isolated, therefore the ability to go on a "gastronomic journey" (Markwick 1) perhaps helps to fullfill our dersire of travel which is not as accessible for us as many other contries. Food can allow the individual to "transcend the here and now and exsist for a moment in an exotic place where they may rather be (Markwick 46).
Food can also act as a reminder of past travel expereinces, when re-creating food that has been eated while travelling. Media portrays food and travel as one.
Globalisation, the democratisation of jet travel, media, immigration and tourism are contributor to the vast variety of food now available to New Zealanders.
Food can a strong memory jogger or help construct memories, this is due to the rich sentual qualies of food smell, texture and taste. "Food based nostelgia is also a persistent theme amoungst diasporic or expatriate populations" (Markwick 46) for diasporic communities this nostelgia is often evoked by the feelinf of displacement and the smells and tastes of home can evoke memories into their homes and pasts.
Food choices can be an indicator of social status, for example lower classes traditionally eat food for nessesity and will often go for quantity over quality. Whereas middle class choices tend to go for the healthy more expensive options and are more focused of health and calories. However this changes over time as foods that were once considered luxury become everyday foods due to availability. Immigration also effects this be making 'exotic' food available and commonly eaten.
Womans identity is engrained in foodways as there is a global history of women being in charge of food production. "The connection between food preparation and women was so deeply ingrained in most societies throughout history that it remained essentially unchallenged before the 20th century" (Markwick 39). In New Zealand pakeha women inparticular associated themsleves with food, this is because of the long history of womens sucess being defined by their ability to care and nuture their familes which revolved around providing food. These expectationas of pakeha women can be dated back to their anglo-saxon heritage. For many pakeha women when the time comes that they cannot provide for their family and act as the nuturer because of age , illness etc this can cause huge anxiety as part of their indentity is lost (Markwick 40).
Food choices can be an indicator of social status, for example lower classes traditionally eat food for nessesity and will often go for quantity over quality. Whereas middle class choices tend to go for the healthy more expensive options and are more focused of health and calories. However this changes over time as foods that were once considered luxury become everyday foods due to availability. Immigration also effects this be making 'exotic' food available and commonly eaten.
Womans identity is engrained in foodways as there is a global history of women being in charge of food production. "The connection between food preparation and women was so deeply ingrained in most societies throughout history that it remained essentially unchallenged before the 20th century" (Markwick 39). In New Zealand pakeha women inparticular associated themsleves with food, this is because of the long history of womens sucess being defined by their ability to care and nuture their familes which revolved around providing food. These expectationas of pakeha women can be dated back to their anglo-saxon heritage. For many pakeha women when the time comes that they cannot provide for their family and act as the nuturer because of age , illness etc this can cause huge anxiety as part of their indentity is lost (Markwick 40).
Food functions not only as fuel to survive, but there are many meaning and traditions behind the consumption of food are influences by "religous beliefs, rituals, etiquette, social organisation and group unity"(Markwick 48). Food is commonly eated together and is ritualised to celebrate, the job of hosting is also very sgnificant for status and social etiquette. Eating is the foundation for much of our social connection, and is a way to define intimacy, inclusion, exclusion and heirarcy. Sharing drinks is a more casual form of communitcation which is often shared with aquantanced, whereas sharing a meal is more intimate and meaningfull, a rejaction of this is a rejection of the relationship invloved.
Comments
Post a Comment