#hububaboutgrub

[hububaboutgrub]

70's Global-localization

McDonald’s offers an easy example of globalization, but also demonstrates localization through the different specifications that McDonald’s presents in unique cultures. I visited McDonald’s Japan website and though I couldn’t read the language, there were a few apparent differences I did not need to read to understand. First I noticed, at the top of their screen, was a promotional for their American Vintage 70’s burgers. The commercial starts off with people continuing about their every day mediocre lives, then comes three disco dancers who bust out of the McDonald’s singing a song from the 70’s and shaking their hips. You notice people smiling as they watch the dancers and kids become excited. I personally don’t see a McDonald’s and think I should hop into some platform shoes and go to McDonald’s- maybe that’s just me. However, this pushes the point, made by Yan in his “Of Hamburger and Social Space” that eating the food creates an “American” experience, or at least what is perceived to be. I think this type of experience could be compared to that of when Americans go to a restaurant that claims to have a different ethnic culture. We have an expectation of what it should be like and that kind of restaurant is here in the United States. However, if one visits a local restaurant serving cultural food, it most likely would not be exactly like the American restaurant due to localization. This ties into the American Vintage 70’s promotion, which may not be as exciting to American’s because it’s not an abnormal or special experience.

            Another difference I noticed was the drinks they served. They are coke products, but some I do not recognize. This makes me wonder if Coca-Cola is localizing drinks for McDonald’s and also selling them through McDonald’s too.  Coca-Cola and McDonald’s are both globally recognized and working to appeal to different cultural tastes and needs. 

[hububaboutgrub]

A Captured Lunch- Instagram your lunch

We eat food to gain nutrients and sustain ourselves throughout the day, or do we? After taking a photo of two meals, attending my first cooking up culture, and reading Salad Days by Melissa Salazar, Gail Feenstra, and Jeri Ohmart, I reevaluated what the food I eat on a normal basis means to my identity and how it is influenced by outside side “rules”.

            Before reading the guidelines to the assignment, I took a picture at a “special occasion dinner”.  My friend was holding their birthday dinner at Miyabi’s, a nice hibachi grill that is on the expensive side (for me at least). Feeling excited, I snapped a picture of the $25 meal, feeling almost proud that I had a reason to upload it. After realizing that the assignment was to capture an everyday meal, it made me take a moment to reassess why I felt the way I did. I had bypassed any embarrassment and went straight to feeling like the cool kid who had the chance to eat at Miyabi’s. Then I realized I cared that people see what I eat.  Does this meal identify me as a typical undergraduate college student? No, it identified me as someone who wanted to be looked at in a different way that maybe I thought could be perceived as better.

            The second picture fulfills the typical day requirement. It stays true to what some may believe as the average American dorm living college student. This image reflects what may be socially acceptable as well as suggests the cultural norms within my living environment. The college dorm meal presents little prep work in addition to being quick to eat.

            My typical meal can be found in grocery stores nationwide though. Our society says that packaged foods are normal and so is orange juice during December. Stores continue to make economic progress through these specific societal standards. The economic progress increases with the help of the government rules and guidelines that make it possible for these companies to sell their goods.

The economic progress may be the most influential factor of what people eat in America. Our government, as well as our food suppliers, creates rules based on costs. For example: in Salad Days, an idea that may have proved to be a positive influence affect for health was shut down due to costs.  It is a reflection on our society of how much more money means to us than overall health.

If people took pictures of their lunch every day, as in Salad Days, I wonder how it would influence our dietary decisions. It could awaken our entire culture and influence the ourselves and the outside rules in a different way.