I have looked at the blog 'Culinary Backstreets - Istanbul' as I am a very keen foodie and I am going on a trip to Istanbul with the university soon so this is something I am interested in looking at just now. The blogs URL is http://www.culinarybackstreets.com/category/istanbul/. This blog looks at all sorts of food tips for people with a similar passion that are going to be travelling to Istanbul and want to know some insider secrets of where to find the best foods and where to find some different food types people may not of heard of. This blog is very readable; there is a title and a excerpt from each post in chronological order, so you can skip over posts that do not sound of interest to you. There is also a box at the top with the Top stories so you can see what is popular at the minute. There are many pictures which are very pleasing to the eye, these include lots of colours and different foods.
The noun blog originally came from the words 'web log' which started in 1999 where an individual would post his or her views on something that appealed to them (BBC, 2004). Blogs became a way for people to express their voice, and was available for everybody, not just those who could afford to print a book. Social networking has become a huge part of the everyday life for people recently, especially the younger generations who can't go without mobile phones or social networking on a daily basis. Blogs have become essential in modern life for many reasons. Firstly is is totally controlled by you or your group/business so you can add/edit information when and where you need to; a website is often maintained by a admin company so you would have to contact them to make changes. Also, it is an easy way of letting the world into your knowledge and secrets of something they may also have a passion for. For some it is for fun, and for others it is for business/academic reasons.
Blogging can be a expression of identity.
"A person's identity is not to be found in behaviour, nor — important though this is — in the reactions of others, but in the capacity to keep a particular narrative going. The individual's biography, if she is to maintain regular interaction with others in the day-to-day world, cannot be wholly fictive. It must continually integrate events which occur in the external world, and sort them into the ongoing 'story' about the self." (Gauntlet, 2002). Here it shows that blogging could clearly be seen as a way of expressing your identity; a blog is a regular interaction with the world about events which happen or about their interests. These often gain followers by fellow people with similar interests who want to receive updates about their knowledge on a specific topic in common.
Academic blogs are different in terms of the formality of the blog. My earlier example, 'Culinary Backstreets - Istanbul' was easy to read, very informal and had chatty tones, whereas academic blogs such as 'Eduwonk' (http://www.eduwonk.com/) are very formal, with no pictures and just words, and could be considered harder to take in. Blogs are a great academic tool as it is a easy way to log your thoughts and opinions on particular topical issues when you think of them, therefore you can see how your opinions change over time and over further learning. I also believe academic blogging for students is a great way to lessen the pressure which is associated with coursework and exams, while still being a good tool for assessing work.
Monday, 11 February 2013
Monday, 4 February 2013
Autoethnography - Eating habits
Personally, I am not a fussy eater and I have always eaten anything that has been given to me ever since a very young age. I come from a family obsessed with food and trying new food types and flavours, and think that is where my main interest stemmed from.
Food choice is a complex process because it is deeply embedded in culture, is influenced by many factors internal and external to the person, and carries many different meanings (Contento, 2006). Personally, I consider the majority of animals edible, however I would never eat kangaroo after a trip to Australia and falling in love with them, or cat as I have a pet cat. I have eaten many weird foods such as snails and shark. However in some cultures these food types are just the norm, it only seems weird to our culture because it is seen as different. I have eaten many parts of animals: liver, kidney, cheek etc and love haggis and black pudding. I could not, however, eat heart or brain as I just find those parts of an animal a bit too strange; again due to our culture. If there was a serious lack of food I probably would consider eating things I hadn't before, simply for survival.
I eat nearly all vegetables other than celery, it is something I seriously dislike but I have tried.
Many of my friends where I come from do not eat any vegetables, and are very fussy with food, especially fish. I think a lot of this is to do with the fact the city I came from is quite a deprived area and you are deemed 'weird' if you eat foods other than chips, turkey dinosaurs, burgers etc. Also, people eat as their parents eat, as found in a study where the second most common reason for choosing food types, behind taste, was familiarity or habit at 19% (Contento, 2006). This shows that people eat what they are used to, and often don't branch out to try many different things. Often people say they dislike food without even trying it, just because their peers do and they want to be considered 'normal' and 'the same'. Often when I was younger, I would have vegetable sticks in my lunch box and fruit for my break times and I was called 'posh', thus showing the way people perceive that people who eat well are almost better than those who don't eat so healthily/differently. Sometimes I would put my fruit in the bin and not eat it at my break times as I didn't want to be seen as different or estranged from my peers. This has been backed up in research; it has been found that eating with others affects what an individual consumes (de Castro, 1994). However, now I am older this wouldn't bother me and I would eat what I want; suggesting that food choices may change through different ages of life, and may be apparent at different periods of time. "People’s attitudes towards food may form according to the impact of their particular historical era, the cultural and social settings to which they are exposed throughout their lives, and the timing and trajectories of their individual experiences of past and current events" (Bordieu, 1986)
Food choice is a complex process because it is deeply embedded in culture, is influenced by many factors internal and external to the person, and carries many different meanings (Contento, 2006). Personally, I consider the majority of animals edible, however I would never eat kangaroo after a trip to Australia and falling in love with them, or cat as I have a pet cat. I have eaten many weird foods such as snails and shark. However in some cultures these food types are just the norm, it only seems weird to our culture because it is seen as different. I have eaten many parts of animals: liver, kidney, cheek etc and love haggis and black pudding. I could not, however, eat heart or brain as I just find those parts of an animal a bit too strange; again due to our culture. If there was a serious lack of food I probably would consider eating things I hadn't before, simply for survival.
I eat nearly all vegetables other than celery, it is something I seriously dislike but I have tried.
Many of my friends where I come from do not eat any vegetables, and are very fussy with food, especially fish. I think a lot of this is to do with the fact the city I came from is quite a deprived area and you are deemed 'weird' if you eat foods other than chips, turkey dinosaurs, burgers etc. Also, people eat as their parents eat, as found in a study where the second most common reason for choosing food types, behind taste, was familiarity or habit at 19% (Contento, 2006). This shows that people eat what they are used to, and often don't branch out to try many different things. Often people say they dislike food without even trying it, just because their peers do and they want to be considered 'normal' and 'the same'. Often when I was younger, I would have vegetable sticks in my lunch box and fruit for my break times and I was called 'posh', thus showing the way people perceive that people who eat well are almost better than those who don't eat so healthily/differently. Sometimes I would put my fruit in the bin and not eat it at my break times as I didn't want to be seen as different or estranged from my peers. This has been backed up in research; it has been found that eating with others affects what an individual consumes (de Castro, 1994). However, now I am older this wouldn't bother me and I would eat what I want; suggesting that food choices may change through different ages of life, and may be apparent at different periods of time. "People’s attitudes towards food may form according to the impact of their particular historical era, the cultural and social settings to which they are exposed throughout their lives, and the timing and trajectories of their individual experiences of past and current events" (Bordieu, 1986)
- Bordieu, P. (1986) Distinction: a social critique of the judgement of taste. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
- Contento, I., Williams, S., Michela, J. & Franklin, A. (2006) Understanding the food choice process of adolescents in the context of family and friends. Journal of Adolescent Health, Vol 38(5):575-582
- de Castro, J. (1994) Family and friends produce greater social facilitation of food intake than other companions. Ph/siol Behav. Vol 56(3):445-455
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