How are devices changing our relationship with food? Do they help us to orient ourselves in a world where the production and circulation of commodities bring our certainties into question? In this paper I discuss food insecurity and develop on ethnographic research conducted in Tuscany (Italy) in a period running from 2016 to 2017. The aim of this research is to reflect on two aspects: first, the growing fear, insecurity and diffidence with regard to food in Italian society determined by the rise of global agribusiness, and the role devices play in mediating this relationship through self-tracking; and second, the analysis of these devices stemming from the idea of the orthorexic society, signs of which have been found in beliefs and policies regarding food throughout Italy for more than 30 years, often summarized in the famous Slow Food slogan “good, clean and fair.” I studied how relationships with food are changing via the use of devices and digital technologies, and I assert that apparatuses and devices have become mediators between us and food. My research paints a picture in which people are produced as subjects through a series of devices that determine choices and behaviors, changing their perception of food.
On Food Apparatuses. Orthorexia and digital technologies in Central Italy
Pietro Meloni
2021
Abstract
How are devices changing our relationship with food? Do they help us to orient ourselves in a world where the production and circulation of commodities bring our certainties into question? In this paper I discuss food insecurity and develop on ethnographic research conducted in Tuscany (Italy) in a period running from 2016 to 2017. The aim of this research is to reflect on two aspects: first, the growing fear, insecurity and diffidence with regard to food in Italian society determined by the rise of global agribusiness, and the role devices play in mediating this relationship through self-tracking; and second, the analysis of these devices stemming from the idea of the orthorexic society, signs of which have been found in beliefs and policies regarding food throughout Italy for more than 30 years, often summarized in the famous Slow Food slogan “good, clean and fair.” I studied how relationships with food are changing via the use of devices and digital technologies, and I assert that apparatuses and devices have become mediators between us and food. My research paints a picture in which people are produced as subjects through a series of devices that determine choices and behaviors, changing their perception of food.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
