Arthur
Heaton
EE1:
How we eat now
Food is a very
interesting thing to us as humans. We need only a minimal portion to survive,
but our bodies can physically take in much more than just that. There are only
a few basic elements in food that are useful to us, but it is often the part
that is unhealthy or simply not valuable that appeals to our taste the most.
Our eating defines us, whether it is the quantity, quality, or frequency with
which we eat, it varies based on geographical location, social/economic status,
and whoever may be around us. Why is it that something which is so basic, yet
remains a necessity, can have such an impact on us beyond merely filling our
stomachs? I would like to look into the role of food as its own being, the
character and personality that we have anthropomorphized into food in a sense.
Food has become its
own character in our lives, like the star of a movie we watch or a part of our
family with which we can share memories and funny experiences. Our tastes don’t
let us discriminate in some ways, maybe your mom overcooked brussel sprouts
once and in addition to hating their taste, you will always remember them
because of the terrible smell that haunted your kitchen for days. Any inanimate
objects can bring back memories, but there is a certain multi-sensual
tangibility that I think food offers in a way that many others cannot. Food can
encompass all five senses (yes, we’ve all heard popcorn popping of chips being
crunched) and any one of them can have an impact on us, even if it isn’t on
your own plate.
This is where the
independent nature of food really comes to light, particularly in the
hyper-commercialized world we live in. Food is no longer just “food”. It is a
social setting, a lifestyle, a fashion good we can show off to our friends, a
means of expression. Have you ever decided to try a restaurant because a friend
recommended it? There was probably another restaurant you had been to before,
and that food did an adequate job of keeping your body functioning. Have you
ever bragged about a kind of food you ate to a friend? They have eaten food
before, your stories don’t dissolve the hunger in their stomach. Have you ever
been bored with a group of friends? What is typically the first suggestion for
an activity? “Let’s go get something to eat!” In all likelihood none of you
were on the verge of death, maybe you weren’t even hungry! Vegetarianism and
veganism are fairly recent cultural trends, and I’m sure we have all
encountered someone who just could not make it clear enough to you how
wonderful it is and how much better they think it is for them and the
environment. There might even be people who care less for their children than
they do about their eating habits.
What is another thing
that in its most basic form is crucial to survival as human beings, but has
become grossly inflated and become a huge cultural topic and its own
hyper-commercialized industry? Maybe it’s not what you think it is. No, you
were right. It’s sex.
We have seen that sex
is one of the most over-used marketing tools in advertising, and even in food
advertising. Carl’s Jr. is probably the most famous of these brands to use sex
appeal with their food, having sexy, oiled up models messily eating their
burgers. While someone thinking logically would first feel sorry that no one
taught that poor, sexy young lady general table etiquette, all the rest of us
are thinking “Woman! Sex! Burger! Carl’s Jr.!” and somewhere in that tidal wave
of emotions we find ourselves holding a burger at Carl’s Jr. Once the emotions
subside, and after a quick mental recap, we realize that we just bought that
burger, and Carl’s Jr.’s marketing department just got a raise.
Then, probably not
quite in a related sense, a journalist from the New York Times made the
following stunning observation:
Now it cannot escape attention that there are curious
parallels between manuals on sexual techniques and manuals on the preparation
of food; the same studious emphasis on leisurely technique, the same apostrophes
to the ultimate, heavenly delights. True gastro-porn heightens the excitement
and also the sense of the unattainable by proffering colored photographs of
various completed recipes.
- Alexander Cockburn
(McBride, 38)
Thus, the term
gastro-porn was born. The more general term “food porn” became more commonly
used but their definition remains the same (McBride). To further analogize the
term, McBride describes “as with sex porn, we enjoy watching what we ourselves
presumably cannot do (ibid).” A bit graphic, but the comparison is stunningly
obvious. Gradually, people began writing more and more cookbooks with bright,
enticing pictures of the food. Full pages were dedicated to the food itself
with the recipe written on the other side (Krishnendu). Never mind that the
food was propped up unseen by toothpicks, or it was covered in wax and touched
up with nail polish (ibid), it was now the main reason that people were cooking
the food. Previously, mother’s bought recipe books that were more like college textbooks
to prepare food for their family (Paxson). Now, hip yuppies and young couples
were making their own meals to entertain guests, picking cookbooks because of
the picture on the cover like a magazine in a grocery store checkout.
This concept exploded
as TV became more and more available and programming got more and more diverse.
There were shows, entire shows, dedicated to one celebrity chef cooking a meal.
Kids in the 50’s wouldn’t have sat at the counter and silently watched their
mother make meatloaf for 30 minutes straight, but now people pay extra to get a
channel with dozens of different chefs cooking different dishes 24 hours a day.
There are even reality shows centered on cooking. Food has been a comfort, a
palate-centered notebook of smells and tastes. Now it is a movie star, but it
will not be signing autographs (Zimmerman).
I personally think
that having food be so glamorous has cheapened some of the ways that food
encompasses our senses. So often we hear people saying that something looks
good that we have become numb to the essence of memories with which food can
provide us. Some say a picture is worth a thousand words, but isn’t a smell,
taste, or touch worth so much more? For example, imagine your grandmother. Yes,
very good. Now imagine her holding a dish she used to make for you. Maybe it is
meatloaf, or just a special salad. Now you have a mental picture of your
grandmother, holding a brown rectangle or a bowl full of green leaves. That is
not particularly appetizing, as best I can tell, nor does it send a flood of
memories through my mind.
So, some genius in
the marketing department decided that we could use pictures to sell food if we
make the food really appetizing. But food always comes out of the oven
differently each time, let’s try to make it look perfect. So, they started
using household items and applicants to make the perfect specimen of a certain
dish. Before you know it, your delicious ice cream sundae on an advertisement
is mostly animal fat, glue, plastic, corn syrup, and sawdust. Now you have the
most picturesque sundae known to man, but what is that actual sundae going to
do for you if it is placed in front of you with a spoon?
If food really is
like its own being, it is unique and has its own personality. Everyone is
unique, no one is perfect, why should our food be any different? When something
appears to be perfect, it is great from a distance but once you get a little
more acquainted with it, it is just more of a disappointment when you find out
that it is not how it appears. Diversity really is the spice of life; monotony
just breeds contempt so if we eat the same thing over and over again, we are
more likely to enjoy it less and less. So we experiment, and look for other
foods that spread our tastes beyond our old standby meal. These experiments
brings their own excitement. A messed up experimental-cooking fiasco might make
a better story than the meal it otherwise could have been.
Perhaps I am
overthinking the human-like attributes of food and its role in our lives, but I
think anything that can remind us of family members, friends, places we have
been, or certain moments in our lives deserves some recognition. Maybe we don’t
remember what neighbor Jimmy gave us for our 10th birthday, but we
will probably remember if that was the year that our Mom made that special cake
she promised she would make years before as soon as you turned 10. I think that
cake is what made that birthday special, and maybe we can even taste it a
little bit today.
Works
Cited
Krishnendu, Ray. “Domesticating
Cuisine: Food and Aesthetics on American Television.” Gastronomica: The Journal Of Food and Culture 7.1 (2007): 50-63.
Web.
McBride, Anne. “Food Porn.” Gastronomica: The Journal Of Food and
Culture 10.1 (2010): 38-46. Web.
Paxson, Heather. “Slow Food in a
Fat Society: Satisfying Ethical Appetites.” Gastronomica:
The Journal Of Food and Culture 5.1 (2005): 14-18. Web.
Zimmerman, Steve. “Food in Films: A
Star is Born.” Gastronomica: The Journal
Of Food and Culture 9.2 (2005): 25-34. Web.
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