Food Systems: Connecting Food, Gender and Culture - Essay Sample

Introduction

One priority outcomes for Canada's new food policy is increased connections within food systems. The policy expects to increase partnerships and governance spaces that will be useful in connecting multiple actors and sectors within the food system. The two topics that interested me under this priority are food and gender topic as well as food and culture topics. In this paper, I will discuss how these topics influence the outcome of increased connection within food systems.

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I will begin by reviewing how culture influences our food systems. The Canadian food system today is greatly influenced by the capitalist consumer culture. Purchasing of certain commodities today fulfills our needs and desires. The capitalist consumer culture emphasizes convenience, predictability, consistency, cost-effectiveness, and variety is important in our food shopping (Livingston, 2018). Society identification and the presence of societal and religious taboos influence our food system. The food taboos present in the Canadian culture, Jewish religion, and Muslim religion shape the food systems for the participants of these cultures. The connection between culture and food system does not specifically rely on how culture influences how we live, but also on how our food choices can influence culture too. With the presence of the opponents of the capitalist consumer culture, we can explore how our choices can influence culture, the opponents of the capitalist consumer culture argue that it is responsible for the social, health, and environmental damages present today (Post, 2016). As a result, these activists propose the adoption of ways and choices that counter such culture.

Another fascinating topic is the connection between gender and food work. I will evaluate how gender identities influence food choices and also how food choices impact on gender identities in our households. The dominant discourse held in most of our communities associate women to a large chunk of roles relating to household food work. The adoption of this notion has been explained by the time constraints theory and the gender construction theory. The time constraint theory hold that women should do more food work because they work less than men (Kettering University, 2016). Gender construction theory argues that food works are a way of identifying women (Hankivsky, 2017). Other food habits are used in describing what gender ought to do in food systems.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there exists a connection between food systems and gender and culture. The diverse cultural values, as well as the gender identities, shape the connection within our food systems.

References

Hankivsky, O. (2017). Gender mainstreaming in Canada and Australia: A comparative analysis. Policy and Society, 27(1), 69-81. doi:10.1016/j.polsoc.2008.07.006

Kettering University. (2016, July 25). 5 Steps to Understanding and Applying the Theory of Constraints. Retrieved November 25, 2019, from https://online.kettering.edu/news/2016/07/25/5-steps-understanding-and-applying-theory-constraints

Livingston, S. (2018, April 30). On Consumerism, Capitalism, and Ecosocialism - The Bullet. Retrieved November 25, 2019, from https://socialistproject.ca/2018/04/on-consumerism-capitalism-and-ecosocialism/

Post, G. (2016, December 19). The Ultimate Peace, Adventure, and Hedonism on a Budget. Retrieved from https://youngandthrifty.ca/the-ultimate-peace-adventure-and-hedonism-on-a-budget/