When choosing which eggs to buy we browse through the numerous
brands available, skipping over Caged Eggs and Extra Hormones until we finally
pick up Organic Fresh and place it in the trolley. We think we have made a decision but really the choice was never ours. All the eggs came from the same farmer,
then sent to different factories to be packaged. But we continue on shopping
completely unaware of this fact. In the lecture Dr Roger Wilkinson highlighted the
similarities between this example and the unseen power large corporations wield
over us in the virtual world (Wilkinson, 2013). Facebook is constantly
subjected to corporate control. There are even websites to assist the small
business owner in taking advantage of the influence available to be exerted. Advertisements,
tagging, liking suggested pages and the where are you functions of Facebook are
undetected ways companies promote themselves and control us.
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| Advertisement for Applebee's On Facebook (Constine, 2013) |
This concealed power is particularly evident in the food
industry. Facebook users are unaware they are promoting different brands and
foods by constantly taking photos of what they eat, advertising where they had
lunch and posting recipes. In the literary source Food in Society Atkins and Bowler suggest food is a transformer of
culture (Atkins & Bowler, 2001, p.279). Society is now obsessed with oversharing everything, with food as the catalyst for this change. The over sharing of everything on Facebook has created a sense of community maintained by the ever constant updates from users.
Atkins, P., & Bowler, I. (2001). The origins of taste, in Food in Society: Economy, culture, geography (pp.272-293). London, England: Arnold.
Constine, J.
(2013). Study: 20% Of Ad Spend On Facebook Now Goes To Mobile Ads. Retrieved from Tech Crunch:
http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/07/facebook-mobile-ad-spend/
Hines, K. (2013). Everything You Need to Know to Promote Your Business with Facebook Offers. Retrieved from the Daily Egg: http://blog.crazyegg.com/2013/04/15/facebook-offers/
Wilkinsen, R. (2013). BA1002 - Food: A Case of Rum.
Hi Melanie,
ReplyDeleteI was a little horrified to read your opening argument that all eggs, regardless of labelling, are from the same farmer but simply packaged in different factories. Are you saying that the eggs I buy labelled as being from the local Tablelands Free-range Farm are actually from the same place as the NSW factory where caged hens eggs are packaged up to supply Coles home-brand? I really hope this is not the case! I do understand the point that you are making though, that despite thinking we have choice in who and what to company to support, there is rarely an option that does not cause us to in some way be supporting a large corporation that may for example knowingly abuse the rights of its farm workers for the sake of a profit as discussed by Rodger Wilkinson (2013) in the week eight lecture when he spoke about corporate control dictating what food farmers grow. I guess I would like to hope that corporate power recognising free-range eggs are desired will not cause caged eggs to be falsely labelled but instead for more free-range egg farms to be financed. We can only hope!
Meg