User:Alice/Thesis outline

1. Topic: The reinterpretation of food culture through technology.

2. Argument: Tech culture is appropriating food culture and changing its nature.

Question: How could food be approached from a technological point of view without falling into techno-idealism?

Sub-questions: What is gained and what is lost through this association? How can one positively inform the other?

Introduction

Background

Food conversations are becoming more prevalent in technology contexts. This association could be a representation of tech culture appropriating food culture, stripping it of its basic values and putting less emphasis on the past struggles associated with the oppression of women forced into domestic labour, and the community aspects related to collective memory and cooking, and more on technical experimentation. The disconnection between humans and the food they eat has never been greater, and new food technologies are not helping to decrease it. In my view, there is a need to critically reimagine food in technology to include all aspects, be more self aware and less elitist. I've always been accustomed to food being considered either a trivial subject (food=sustenance or food=entertainment), or extremely elitist (fine dining). The fact that food related discussions and events are increasingly associated with tech culture and organized in hackerspaces is striking to me, and I would like to critically reflect on this phenomenon.

Thesis statement

Tech culture is appropriating food culture, stripping it of its basic values, using its terms and further increasing the disconnection between humans and the source of their food. The past struggles associated with the oppression of women forced into domestic labour are often overlooked, as well as the cultural and community-related values of food, and instead the focus is on playful experimentation and a display of a skillset.

The fact that more attention is being given to reflections on food is a positive step forward, but how critical are the current approaches?

Body

First topic

There is a theory that says the following: the development of the brain in Homo Sapiens happened mainly due to the discovery of fire, and subsequently cooking. By using less energy to hunt constantly for fresh food, and spending less time chewing raw materials, the human brain had increasingly more space and time to develop new activities, ponder upon its surroundings and physically grow. (reference needed) Throughout the years, cooking has maintained its crucial role in all parts of the world, as fundamental part of culture and society. However, the roles associated with food production have been extremely imbalanced.

Point A: Gender roles in food production have been very strictly defined for centuries. In recent years, cooking has received a new role of entertainment, in which men are the most prominently seen.

• Women have always been pushed towards domestic work, deemed too unimportant for men, women's role in the family is secondary in terms of power structure

• Cooking as caregiving, for health benefits - identified more with women, cooking as entertainment, skill display - men

Point B: Cooking as political act - How can humans become more self-reliant, less dependent on corporations in the food industry to provide every single thing they ingest?

• Disconnection between humans and their food has led to an increasing lack of cooking in people's lives. Now, there is an increasing trend in meal replacements, that have gone from medicinal use to status symbol, first in Silicon Valley, then in the home of a human you might know.

• A manifesto for being less of a consumer, more involved in the process of production

• Cooking as labour, taken over by food industry. People are encouraged to spend less time doing unproductive things. Humans are considered purely for production and profit purposes, and anything that slows them down or reminds them of their human nature and bodily needs should be eliminated. (Entreprecariat)

Second topic

A bridge between cooking and technology

Point A: The recipe is often used as metaphor for computer programs (needs expanding)

• Appropriated terminology

• Explaining one through the other, sometimes in a patronizing way

Point B: Food technologies, future of food, issues that are rather dystopian

• The rise of food startups, meal substitutes, 'historical food', engineered/personalized nutrition

Point C: Mutual contributions from FLOSS culture and food culture

• Community aspect is beneficial for both and can be used as a starting point

• Collaborative cooking/programming

• Reflecting on histories/methods/tools/biases/prior assumptions

Third topic

Imagining a concept for mindful cooking experiments

Point A: Food is becoming an important topic discussed in hackerspaces

• Background, notable members

• How they work/how can they be improved

Point B: Tech and cooking can work together in harmony

• How tech can improve people's relationship with food, by making them more aware of its sources, methods, etc

• How food can improve tech culture, by making it more inclusive, open, positive.

• Bringing the body back in the equation - hands on work, eating for the body and for the mind

Conclusion

TBA