I initially thought that baking and gift giving would be perceived as "good"activities in a moral sense. But, my flatmate has asked me not to make too much baking for him, as he has been talking about diets and slimming down. Perhaps he views baking to have "bad" attributes. As Johnston (2008) states, when discussing how eccentric baking can be perceived these days "Worst still, most baking begins with creaming together butter and sugar, probably the most feared items in our Western diet; we are trained to feel guilty just at the thought of eating them" (p. 7).
Michael Pollan also explores ideas of 'good' and 'bad' food in his book "The Omnivore's Dilemma". This book is centred around the dilemma that faces all
omnivores today: what to eat? Although based in an American culture,
I could identify with the demonisation of certain foods and people taking their
food advice from governments, and experts, rather than deciding for
themselves.
This reference helped
me think about baking as being part of a tradition, of recipes handed from
person to person, often within families.
Pollan also made me think about loss of tradition, how knowledge about something as simple as eating food has become
divorced from our psyche and has become the domain of experts. We are no longer allowed to enjoy food,
but have to analyse each choice.
Baking doesn’t fit into this modern paradigm, echoing Johnston's sentiments.
When offering my biscuits to my classmates, there were a few who seemed conflicted about having a second, even though I was saying I needed to get rid of them. This meant I had to be a bit of a bully and appeal to their inner child, who really wanted a biscuit, I could tell!
Pollan, M. (2006). The
omnivore’s dilemma. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
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