fionalmaberry-blog

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Introduction

The night is hot, its Friday. The summer sun has gone down and the lights from all the fast food joints are about to turn on. The cars in the streets are waiting for the red lights to turn, whilst playing loud music blaring from the speakers. We pull up to a burger joint and wait in the line for our turn to talk to the mystic voice behind it. The order screen lights up with bright white lights with options in florescent reds, blues and yellows, enticing us to buy the latest offers. Menu options flash in our faces with the big a square intercom taking our order. We drive round to the collection window; the attendant opens the window. And then it smacks us that deep fried crispy smell seeps into our noses, hot fries and burgers being cooked. My journey with food started with my father. He would take me out every Saturday for breakfast lunch or dinner.

 The path into different surrounding and feelings of self-identity through consumption of food is part of everyone’s daily lives and culture. It is what connects us together by feeding us the nutrition that we need to survive. Bell, D. and Valentine, G. (1997) By focusing on the theory that self-identity is effected by consumption of consumerism in today’s society. I will reflect on my journey and apply my ideas and information though research which will give me an understanding of how humans see food and why it creates an identity surrounding us through consumerism.

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Theory Conceptual art

My piece will infer a message which may not be explicit and what you see isn’t the art, it’s the message behind it. By using this method of conceptual art, I can utilize all my thoughts into one idea and create an art piece that will express myself. And my views on a political platform. This will showcase my representation of political art with the concept of consumerism. Alberro, A. and Stimson, B. (1999)

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Rational

   The Final Lunch             Fiona Maberry

California’s summers are the hottest; the dry heat smells like sugar cubes seeping up your nostrils. It’s 1992, and I’m in the 4th grade, I am that one lucky kid that lives across the street from my school. Rolling out of bed in the mornings is a piece of cake. It’s almost lunch time, and I am sitting in my classroom after morning lessons, waiting for the clock to tick on “gosh my tummy’s grumbling, I shouldn’t have skipped breakfast” I think to myself. The bell rings like a blast from a ship, and I jump from my desk and make a run for my lunch box, dodging through my friends to be first in line. As my class walks to the cafeteria, I am hoping my mom has put cool snacks in my lunch pail. Granola bars, apples, caramel dip, oatmeal cookies…that would be so cool! As we arrive at the cafeteria hall, the class splits. The kids for hot food get in line to collect their lunch and myself, and a couple of others go and sit down at a table, racing to open our lunches. As I look into my bag, all I had was some bread and butter with Bologna, a lousy orange and 50 cents for a chocolate milk. THAT’S ALL?! I thought to myself, now my mom’s not the best cook, but come on! As I am looking around, all I can see is kids opening up brightly coloured chip bags, cookies, cakes and treats…even leftover pizza! What was my mom thinking?! I am going to look like a fool in front of my friends! It’s not the first time either. As I eat my boring sandwich and peel my cruddy orange the only thing I can look forward to is my chocolate milk- it’s so darn good!

I grew up in an environment that had fast food restaurants on every corner of the block. In my neighbourhood alone we had Jack in the Box, Mc Donald’s, Taco Bell, Burger King, Popeye’s, Wienerschnitzel and plenty more. The fast food culture in America is not only popular across the states but is influential worldwide. It’s a part of who we are. And apart of who I am. Do you know how hard it is not to go to a fast food joint?? It’s hard, there is a temptation on every block. I always asked my mom why didn’t she give me snacks like the other kids, my mother’s response? “It’s not healthy for you! It’s better to eat an apple than an apple to been frozen diced sliced dipped and munched up into a granola bar or any other way”.  At that time I didn’t realise how much crap was inside foods that are used to sweeten and preserve food.         Did you know the McDonalds French fries are made from a particular potato called the Russet, they put chemicals on these potatoes that are so toxic that they have to be placed in a warehouse for 6 months before being processed into fries? It’s shocking, as a fast food consumer I use to not care what’s in my food, Ah the good old days. Don’t get me wrong, I love my new awareness of what I put in my body, and I love having the knowledge about what is actually healthy and not just branded as ‘healthy’. I feel like I am able to take control of what I eat and stop being an unhealthy robot of consumerism.                    I’ve been battling the ‘Sugar Monster’ as I called it, all of my life and trying to change is damn hard, especially when you're around it all the time. Sugar is a part of my identity, and I wanted to know the truths about it; this led me to ask myself why my mom only gave me healthy options at lunchtime, why couldn't I have junk food like all the other kids and became my motive to look into the food industry. The more searching I did, the more I found about the controversial issues with hidden sugars. I wanted to play with the idea that even though you think you're giving healthy options to your children in their lunches at school. In most cases, you're not. The amount of sugar that is in a jelly pot could be up to 14 grams. A granola bar can be even more. No wonder your kid is bouncing off the walls and can't focus in class. All these hidden sugars come in many names and forms. And it's shocking. The average child in a day gets 21 teaspoons of sugar. However, the daily allowance that is recommended at 6 to 9 teaspoons a day.

My Art piece can show all the cool foods, I would have loved to have in my lunch if I were still a kid. The lunch box represents the invisible residue of hidden sugars that parents feed children over the years. The items consist of a juice box, jelly, dairly dippers, and cheese and crackers Lunchables. Each piece shows its own individual process by layers and layers of crystallisation representing hidden sugars you might not have known that is in your child's lunch. To explain my ideas, this was a hard thing to accomplish, I had many fails as I did success with my materials. The liquid processing of crystallisation is a hard thing to achieve being new to the procedure. By experimenting with chemical compounds, I aimed to create something so sweet to look at, but so poisonous to consume. Thus creating a metaphor of the food culture children are brought up in. Upon finishing my work, I came to the realisation that my Mom was right all those years ago in giving me a ‘uncool’ lunch’ So I guess this is it, my final unhealthy sugar infested lunch.���d1

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 I have a food addiction 

The term "sweet tooth" has been coined to describe the preferences of a person who "likes" sweets, but it is less clear whether simply liking sweets can predict the tendency to consume more sweets. Our actual behaviour toward choosing to consume sweet foods is harder to decipher and may stem both from our liking and desire for their taste and from the environment and culture in which we live. Furthermore, our behaviours toward sweets have consequences for our health, and these consequences provide feedback that could serve to either reinforce or alter our future behaviours toward their consumption.

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The term "sweet tooth" has been coined to describe the preferences of a person who "likes" sweets, but it is less clear whether simply liking sweets can predict the tendency to consume more sweets. Our actual behaviour toward choosing to consume sweet foods is harder to decipher and may stem both from our liking and desire for their taste and from the environment and culture in which we live. Furthermore, our behaviours toward sweets have consequences for our health, and these consequences provide feedback that could serve to either reinforce or alter our future behaviours toward their consumption.

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Behaviours toward sweets may also be formed by our psychological need for the rewarding properties of sugars. Sweets may alleviate depression and premenstrual symptoms and provide relief from the cravings for other drugs because sweet taste releases opiates into the blood. The pacification provided by sugar and sweets has been demonstrated to increase the liking of sweets and may also translate into a behavioural tendency to consume more sweets. Studies that have examined the intake of sweets in women with psychiatric problems have reported that their consumption is increased compared with those without reported psychiatric problems.  Overall, sugar is consumed because of its pleasant taste, ease of digestion and positive effect on mood and these three reasons are not mutually exclusive; each probably makes a contribution to overall behaviour.

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People's behaviours toward sweets are also biased by circumstance and by their beliefs about the food or drink they taste. If people are told they are drinking a particular brand of soft drink, they will have a different pattern of brain activation compared with the activation seen when they drink the same drink but are not told the brand name, or if they are told the beverage is a different brand name. Although the chemical stimulation from the beverage is the same, previous experience and the person's beliefs about a particular brand alter the response of the brain as the beverage is tasted. A humorous example of the power of learning and experience comes from a study of newly married women from Oaxaca, Mexico, who reported a change in their sweet preference after marriage that brought them closer to the preference of their mother-in-law. Thus, learning from our families and culture whether sweets are either acceptable or unacceptable may influence our behaviour toward liking and consuming them and may have consequences for our health.

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Another well-known consequence of consuming excess sugars is the negative impact on dental health. When sugar is consumed, particularly sucrose, naturally occurring bacteria inside the mouth interact with the sugar and produce acids that demineralize enamel on teeth. This demineralization process creates dental caries (lesions on teeth), which produce pain and, if left untreated, will erode and destroy teeth. The amount and severity of dental caries are positively correlated with sugar intake, and particularly with extrinsic sugars (e.g., sugars that are refined and added to foods).

 For example, foods such as bakery confections, including cookies, candies, and cakes, are much more cariogenic than are foods containing intrinsic sugars, such as milk and fruits. Some have concluded that sugar is no longer a large threat to dental health because of the addition of fluoride (a remineralizing agent) to drinking water and to toothpastes. However, studies have revealed that, even in those receiving treatments of fluoride, a strong positive correlation remains between high sugar consumption and the prevalence of caries. Nevertheless, the combination of fluoride and lowered sugar intake does appear to have a synergistic effect on the reduction of dental caries. Keeping this in mind, it is important to note that dental caries is a progressive chronic disease that, through preventative measures such as lowering sugar intake and brushing with fluoride, can be stopped or at least delayed for long enough to prevent severe complications.

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if you like Sugar you will like this song.

The Human Sweet Tooth

The sense of taste gives us important information about the nature and quality of food, and of all the basic taste qualities, sweetness is the most universally liked. The human appetite for refined sugar and for sweet foods and drinks has been so strong that it has influenced the course of human history, and the recent and sharp rise in the consumption of sugar may be unprecedented. However, although there is a strong desire on the part of humans to seek and ingest sweet foods and drinks, it would be inaccurate to view the liking and enjoyment of sweetness and sweeteners as uniform across people and populations. The reasons for these individual differences are largely unknown, but the explanation for these differences could have important public health consequences. Several variables are good predictors of how well sweets are liked, such as age (e.g., children are more avid consumers than are adults). The term "sweet tooth" has been coined to describe people who "prefer" sweets, implying that these individuals differ from those who "do not prefer" sweets. However, sweet perception varies even in the same individual over time.

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The tricks fast food restaurants use to get you to eat more

A scientific study carried out by Brian Wansink at the University of Illinois investigated the ways people over consume based on the way food is presented to them. A report published has revealed that the obesity epidemic could be far worse than predicted. It blames junk food firms for confusing the public about healthy eating and says ministers and GPs are failing to get a grip of the problem.

From using tempting smells, meal deals and super-sized portions, there are numerous ways the fast food industry is indeed fuelling the crisis by encouraging us to eat more. When it comes to why people decide to eat at fast food restaurants, Wansink refers to a study that found, 'aside from hunger, participants claimed they started eating because of the salience of food ("I saw the food"), the social aspects of eating ("I wanted to be with other people"), or simply because eating provided them with something to do.

Fast food chains all play on these desires in the way they are positioned and marketed. By having restaurants in High Streets, shopping centres and motorway service stations, they can tempt people in to eat when they're shopping or driving somewhere - even when they're not hungry.

They entice people by showing pictures of the food on offer in window display posters and on large, bright boards above the tills.

They play on the 'wanting to be without people' aspect by providing a space for people to sit down around a table and eat together, rather than having long benches of seats where people can't interact with one another or having no seating area at all.

Providing a space for people to sit and eat also means they are more likely to stay longer and eat more courses - returning for dessert or another fizzy drink.

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SOUNDS AND SMELLS

The scent of the restaurant can influence how much people eat too as 'odour can influence food consumption through taste enhancement.'

Thus by piping pleasant scents into their restaurants, fast food chains can encourage people to eat more. They can also do this by making people queue and order at the counter, rather than offering table service. This means the customer has to wait to see the person in front of them being served their food at the counter on a tray. The first customer will then walk back past the waiting customers who will see and smell the food on their tray - again enticing the waiting customer to order more when it's their turn.  

The music fast food restaurants play can also affect how much we eat. Hearing soft music that's not too up-tempo has been proven to encourage diners to stay at a restaurant longer and eat more. Hence, slow songs and easy going pop music are played in fast food restaurants - not drum and bass or techno dance tracks.

    �%H

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CONVENIENCE

Fast food chains have made it easier than ever for people to eat there - from offering drive-throughs so you don't even have to leave the comfort of your own car to be served, to meals deals where you can get a drink, main meal and dessert all in one go.

This isn't to make life easier for the time-strapped customer but again to make them consume more. Studies have found that one of the strongest influences on consumption is ease of access.

This refers to the effort it takes to obtain the food and the ease required to eat it. Fast food restaurants solve this by serving food quickly and in a way that's easy to eat. It's wrapped in paper or a box that's easy to open and you don't need to worry about a knife and fork or cutting up the food first - as you can eat the burgers, chips and nuggets with your fingers.

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ALTERING OUR PERCEPTION OF PORTION-SIZES

Meal deals are a further way to get people to eat more. They encourage people to think they are saving money when they could actually be buying more food than they need. Studies have shown that by offering people variety they are more likely to overindulge. So a meal deal where a person gets chips with their burger means they'll eat both - even if they were only actually hungry enough to eat one or the other.

Big issue: When presented with this one, large bucket of chicken, many people would eat the lot. But if the same amount of chicken was given to them in three smaller boxes, they wouldn't eat it all

Big issue: When presented with this one, large bucket of chicken, many people would eat the lot. But if the same amount of chicken was given to them in three smaller boxes, they wouldn't eat it all. The way the portions are served also encourages over-eating. Having one bucket of chicken means people are more likely to eat all the chicken in the bucket as it's perceived as one portion. But if the same number of pieces of chicken were divided into three boxes, people are less likely to eat the contents of all three.

Wansink points out that 'although the physical effort to open the small component packages is minimal, a psychological barrier may prevent individuals from opening another item if they have already opened and eaten several of them.' He added: 'Follow-up lab studies suggest that people tend to eat less when offered multiple small packages than when offered a large package of the same volume. Part of the reason is that the smaller packages provide discrete stopping points for a person to reconsider whether he or she wants to continue eating.'

Fast food chains eliminate these 'stopping points' by serving their foods in one large portion whether that's a big fizzy drink served in a large, wide container rather than a tall, thin one, a bucket of chicken rather than a small box or a burger containing three slices of beef instead of just one.

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section 3

MAKING OVERINDULGING THE NORM

Fast food chains offer their products in a variety of sizes and the largest is often presented as good value. Those buying large sizes are more likely to consume the whole thing, as explained above but are also not always likely to be alarmed by the amount they have consumed.This is another crafty trick of the fast food industry - they have made consuming large portions seem to be 'the norm'.

Wansink explains: 'The more general explanation of why large packages and portions increase consumption may be that they suggest larger consumption norms. They implicitly suggest what might be construed as a 'normal' or 'appropriate' amount to consume. Even if individuals do not clean their plates or finish the package, the larger size gives them liberty to consume beyond the point where they might have stopped with a smaller, but still unconstrained, supply.' He added: 'People can be very impressionable when it comes to how much they will eat. There is a flexible range as to how much food an individual can eat and one can often "make room for more".

'For many individuals, determining how much to eat or drink is a relatively low-involvement behaviour that is a nuisance to monitor continually and accurately, so they instead rely on consumption norms to help them determine how much they should consume.

'Food-related estimation and consumption can be influenced by other norms or cues that are present in the environment. Many seemingly isolated influences of consumption - such as package size, variety, plate size, or the presence of others - may involve or suggest a consumption norm that influences how much individuals will eat or drink.'

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Tom Sachs: The Chanel=Awsome and the Tiffany Value Meal. this is perfect advertising to me. Why not, I mean you get the food and the brand that people are so desperate to have. To me this is the cream of the crop, using the food and the logos for high-end exposure. To me, it's saying that I am condoning unhealthy food, and you are going to listen to me. you know why because you are a consumer and I am a multi-million dollar company and you do as I say.

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Sandra Urbansky took this picture of these two women. how do you think they look? feeling caught off guard? ashamed? supprised? who knows. but if this was a picture of me, I would say, did you know that chips can be harmful to your health? did you know that they taste so damn good, I don't even care what you think? 

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‘Fat Man’ is a piece John Holcroft made as an illustration with a powerful metaphor.Sometimes I can see myself as this person. But realise I can change, this picture made myself determined to find out the truth,  into why i like to eat so much. Most woman has a hard time loving who they are and I am one of them. #selflove #begoodtoyourself