Looking at an overall
framework of the human condition there are different aspects of the labour
of food. These include the ergonomics and affordances of cooking.
Ergonomics:
At this current stage in my life as a tertiary student living in a flatting
situation where I cook for myself there are several social and
environmental factors that influence and press on my cooking. The
main environmental factors for me are that I have limited time and money to
spend on food. This interacts with personal factors such as my values of eating
healthy, eating vegetarian and being resourceful. The key social factors for me
are that I am generally only cooking for myself and this removes the social
pressures to impress others or to cook to their tastes.
These ergonomics are what allows me
the affordances of being creative and resourceful in my cooking. They simultaneously press
and afford. I see it as challenge to be met to take the limited groceries I
have in the cupboard into something tasty, to be in a way forced to make
something new I have never tried before. To see the empty cupboard as an opportunity
and not as a limitation. For this reason I enjoy going to the supermarket only
fortnightly and I am given a sense of self satisfaction from the challenge I
set myself. I feel the same sense of satisfaction preparing something nutritious
rather than buying fish and chips and this adds to my sense of wellbeing.
In this sense there is an element of spirituality in that “you are what
you eat”. What I eat represents my values. I feel wholesome and good when
I eat good healthy food that I have made myself.
My need is to be resourceful
in making something good for me. This is why I do not reach for a packet of
instant noodles. This creates a dynamic of moving from alienation or
disengagement to being engaged in the occupation of cooking.
No comments:
Post a Comment