Kraft or Craft: It it worth to censor food?

06/11/2012

Nerissa Magol

100215010

    Its the era of foodies, gluttons and young celebrities who cook, competition is at a high stake. Creativity is shared in different ways such as craft, art or food. A generation of young creators are drawn to food over art. They recognize the power that food has over us, it’s transgressed potential that we are compelled to eat, to feel guilty and then to go out and do it again. Creativity has taken many creators to an all-new level. There have been pictures, tutorials about being creative in the food industry. Sometimes boundaries for some have been crossed, where they think it's simply inappropriate to share vulgar ideas. What's the first emotion that you have when you see the picture below?

Credit: Hot food laid

   Would you call this image sexual or simply call it a plate of potato cake displayed creatively on a bed of lettuce leaves. Some might burst into laughter, whereas some might say very creative, yet naught and surely not appropriate for kids. When they say not appropriate for kids? What age are we specifically talking about? a ten year old or a twenty year old, who are still kids for their parents. Censoring images of food is not going to eliminate censorship from movies or media texts. True meaning of censorship according to Kay Vandergrift is  'the need to "protect" children from dangerous or disturbing ideas and information'.  How is this picture dangerous or disturbing? There are thousands of cake pictures used in celebrating various fun and exciting occasions today, that are much more vulgar and nude than it has been in the past.

 Credit:Sexy Birthday by Cake decor

   This is a surprise birthday cake for a friend who turned 21. She is overweight due to an illness in our friend’s circle. She loves wearing clothes that slimmer girls than her wear. This cake was designed for to her to make her feel beautiful and tell her she could still make her wish come true, no matter of the weight issue. At first when she saw the cake she was surprised and loved it. She was not ready to cut the cake because of the effort put in it. The creativity and hard work kept in this cake was outstanding.  Friends like to be naughty but nice. Close friends like to be creative and share their love in various ways for a new couple, or a new mum or helping guy friends to propose to their girlfriends by a cake. Sometimes it is difficult to express love by words, but a cake can surely pass on the message.

Credit: Icing-on-the-cake

   If parents feel pictures like these on the internet are going to rot their children's thinking than, parents have the right to limit the use of internet for their children. Not only pictures of cake or other food pictures have nudity in them but there are thousands of ponography in movies, books and music videos that children have access to today. 

Credit: In the Raw

Bottom line, it is how one perceives an image. Do u treat a cherry cupcake as a cupcake with caramel on top or a sexual image? As adults, we need to understand intellectual freedom that conflict with values. There is no objective "right" or "wrong". It all depends on how individuals overlook some times at times for fun, entertainment and excitement. 



Related Links:

Kraft or Craft: In the Raw
Kraft or Craft : Icing on the cake
Kraft or Craft : Cake decor
Kraft or Craft : Hot food laid

Nourouz- The Spring Festival

10/02/2012
Nerissa Magol
100215010

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Welcoming spring with warmth by saying goodbyes to cold breezy winters is what majority of us look after. Goodbyes to gloves and mufflers and hellos to shorts and tank tops is my favourite slogan. Along with the spring season we welcome the Naurouz festival which is a spring festival, celebrated in Persia and Middle Eastern countries.  Nourouz is made up of two Persian words, Nou meaning New and Rouz meaning Day, Says a Persian Philosopher, Fariborz Rahnamoon. Naurouz falls on the 21^st of March each year and is celebrated by Zoroastrians and other Persians around the world. Nourouz heralds the beginning of Spring, the day of Spring Equinox, when day and night stands equal in length, space and time as the Sun shines directly over the Equator, entering the Zodiac Sign of ‘Aries’ Says, Fariborz Rahnamoon. Customs and traditions have been an important aspect for the Zoroastrians, right from the heart of Iran’s ancestral history and spreading as a gift for the entire humanity. Spring is the time when Nature blooms into a festive season, a fusion orchestrated to Natural endeavours. It’s also the time for grooming our body, life and soul with humanitarian values and morals. It’s an opportunity and the right time to better ourselves and our surroundings, to revive, re-grow and re-start so that we can live with positivity, happiness and success.



Credit:  Fatemeh Keshavarz



            Nourouz is well known for laying food ‘Tables’. Seven items are laid on the table, starting with the letter ‘S’ or ‘SH’ in Persian dialect. Why seven? This is because it represents the seven Archangels of Zoroastrianism. The tables have Sabzeh (wheat sprouts, signifying rebirth), Samanu (a wheat germ pudding, signifying affluence), Senjed (dried fruit, signifying love), Sir (garlic, signifying medicine), Sib (apples, signifying beauty and health), Somaq (berries, signifying sunrise) and Serkeh (vinegar signifying, age and patience).  Today, along with the food on the table, some other important elements are also kept on a Haft sheen table are Sheeshah (mirror), Sharab (wine), Shilooneh (jujube), Shiir (milk), Shirini (sweets such as white and pink fondants), Sharbat (juice) and Shaanin (candles).  It is said to believe that at the exact time of the vernal equinox, the pomegranate that is placed on the table moves and the mirror catches its movement. It is also believed that if you look into the mirror which has already reflected Nouroze, you will have good vibrations throughout the year!



Credit:  Sedreh Pushi



            In Zoroastrianism, it is taught from a child is born until death to be united within the community, offer help to the needy people in form of charity and follow on the path of ‘Good thoughts’, ‘Good words’ and ‘Good deeds’. Celebrating the Nourouz festival every year brings togetherness within families and relatives. The day starts of by family visiting the fire temple together, where offerings are made for our wellness and later the family visits at home to see the decor of the table followed by lunch and exchanging of gifts. The layout of the table is arranged four days prior to Nourouz start and kept until three days later, which adds up to seven days of offering which signifies offerings for seven days to the angels on Earth and the Archangels around us.

“My greenness (spring) to you, my yellowness (fall) to me,” which means “I wish the best for you in Persian.”

Related Links:

 Nourouz- The Spring Festival: Fariborz Rahnamoon.

 Nourouz- The Spring Festival: Fatemeh Keshavarz 

Nourouz- The Spring Festival: Sedreh Pushi

 

Psychological Impressions on Food

9/24/2012
Nerissa Magol
100215010

Hungry? Thinking about food?

Credit: Nerissa Magol

Out of 24hrs in a day, how many times a day do you think of food? It is a hunger/ urge about thinking what your next meal is going to be or is it a negative psychological thought that others think is an undesirable trait in you? For me, when I think about the word food, a delicious chocolate cupcake appears in front of my eyes. What about you, it could be a roast chicken with mashed potatoes and veggies, or a platter of sushi that draws an image in your mind.



Credit: Maggie 

       What does food mean to you? Isn’t food just food? Or is food a fuel for our bodies? When did food become more than just nutrition’s? Doesn't healthy eating mean eating the essential food groups in an enjoyable way to keep a normal, maintained weight? People with healthy eating habits use food for energy, and sometimes as a source of pleasure. They may be motivated by health and beauty, or their desires for weight loss or keeping it maintained, and live a life that replicates Hippocrates' advice "Let food be thy medicine, and medicine shall be thy food." Spoken By an ancient Greek physician.

 

Credit: Nerissa Magol, at Chillis Restaurant.

Psychologically healthy eating means, "eating without meaning."  It is important to remember that what we eat affects how we feel, and how we feel and think affects how and what we eat. Unfortunately in today's world, what and how we eat is influenced by various dynamics, such as the culture we are brought up in, the environment around us, social stresses in our daily lives, and family issues. This causes us to irrationally see food as a coping tool, while the truth is that using food to deal with stress, hopelessness, boredom, anger, or anxiety will only make us feel worse in our future. Many of us have forgotten the meaning of nutritional food intake. Fast food chains are competing with their psychological pricing to “up-size” their “value meals”. Common slogans such as “just $1 for any size”, are seen everywhere around us today.  It’s a way of fooling us into believing that bigger is better, and not only better, but normal since majority of the people are following this daily so why don’t you. Think you can resist the "Buy one, Get a Two Free" offer? You can't, and in fact, you'll probably buy more than you would normally buy. This is all a prank or a myth as some say towards psychologically arrangements in supermarket’s or restaurants that try to confuse our minds.

Everyone day has different views about what is good and what is not good. Chocolates are supposed to be bad; but recent studies have shown, having chocolate in moderate amounts could be beneficial. For example, dark chocolate lowers blood pressure, says Dr. Dirk Taubert, MD, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Cologne, Germany. Having a balanced diet by including all the food groups satisfies our body needs as well as our psychological wants. I personally believe, one should eat for the taste and not just because they have to. Enjoying the first three bites of your cupcake or your roast chicken with mashed potatoes, brings the satisfaction in our minds and on our pallets; which further decides if we want to continue eating for its tastes or for the sake of finishing our food.

Want to end with a small story that I would like to share with my readers, that I heard couple of months ago regarding a seventy-five year old man, who loves having sweet dumplings daily. He eats at least one kilogram of sweet dumplings and does not gain weight. I was wondering how is it possible to not gain weight with a food that contains tons and tons of sugar and cooked in litres and litres of oil. Later, I was told to guess what could be a possible reason for this gentleman not to gain weight by eating something greasy and fattening every day. Finally the answer was revealed that he does not swallow the sweet dumplings he eats daily. He simply, chews the dumplings, enjoys the taste of the dumplings and spits out the substance of the sweet dumplings. He experimented this ideology by himself and found himself not gaining weight. He asked his doctor, and the doctor said, " You are just swallowing the juices of the sweet dumplings, not the actual mass of the product. Therefore, liquids are easy to digest, compared to the mass substances we swallow".

                             So who's up for a weight maintaining food challenge?