Blog 3 Food/Labor

Blog 3: Food/Labor

This week we looked at Food as a process of labor.

Labour is the activity which corresponds to the biological process of the human body, whose spontaneous growth, metabolism, and eventual decay are bound to the vital necessities produced and fed into the life process by labour. The human condition of labour is life itself” (Arendt, 1958, p. 7). 

Labor is an activity that is necessary to be performed repeatedly by human beings in order to stay alive. It is a continuous cycle that stops only during the time of death. The progression of labor can either be painful or pleasurable depending on how the individual perceives the meaning of the activity. For example I enjoy cooking because I can choose to create a variety of dishes that I enjoy to eat. On some days however I am exhausted and rather get takeaways however due to financial constraints have to resort to cooking. At this very moment the activity of cooking is considered by me as labor. It is an activity I have to do in order to reduce hunger pangs. 

The sole purpose of baking is for food consumption hence relevant link to labor which has been defined (in the reference above) as essential for human survival. However I don’t bake because I have to but only because I want to. Baking to me is labor of joy which I engage in either to bake a cake for a friend’s birthday, contribute as dessert towards flat dinner or store away as snack for afternoon tea. The activity of baking creates a connection to people during a social situation. It can be used as a conversation starter to discuss the ingredients used and the process involved. In my opinion the consumption of eating sweet baking products evokes the feeling of happiness which is a thoughtful offering during a sad period such as funerals, or relationship problems hence making the task of baking worth while. I am rewarded by positive feedbacks from friends and families with whom I share my baking with. This reinforces my behavior to bake again not only to receive more positive feedbacks but to fine tune my baking skills. I enjoy challenging myself by attempting new baking recipes without on most occasions thinking about the time and energy that is require of me to participate in this activity. 

References:

Arendt, H. (1958). The human condition. Chicago: Chicago University Press.