Post 4: Cate and O'Donnell

In most societies food is much more than strictly sustenance. Cate and O’Donnell both wrote fascinating articles concerning the social value of food. Cate wrote about “spread” in the prison culture while O’Donnell discussed the culture of food in China. Prison spread is a delicacy in prison and not only valued for the change in taste from the typical prison food, but for the social aspect of “spreading.” Spreading is the process used to make spread and inmates say it is an enjoyable part of their otherwise mundane lives. The inmates interviewed in the article discuss how spreading brings friends closer together. This seems to be the magic of food. Dates are usually located at restaurant, business meetings usually involve a lunch, and holidays and celebrations are centered around food. O’Donnell also expressed the sentiment of the social cohesion that food promotes in her article “The Cultural Politics of Eating in Shenzhen.” While she expressed a similar sentiment about the social cohesion that food provides various communities she discussed the differences between regions that show the differences around the world. The world has an incredibly diverse population in terms of people, customs, and foods. These differences are shown by her explanation of the differences between the north and south of China. In Guangdong, the south, seafood is the major food source and according to the article this requires a sneaky and cunning person to be able to catch the quick seafood. While in the north, near Shenzhen, cows and other mammalian livestock are the major food source. This food source is much slower and less cunning. According to O’Donnell the difference in food sources is a direct correlation to the type of people that live in these different regions. While people differ all around the world, this point seems unrealistic to generalize that all people who catch fish are so cunning when catching their food that this bleeds over to their life and are known to be liars. From the fascinating prison spread culture to the variation in peoples ideals due to the difference in regional Chinese food sources these two articles expand my interest in the social implications of food. The social implications of food are extensive and the culture of bringing prisoners together over a handcrafted meal is an amazing example of how food is a social congealer.