Thursday, 2 August 2012

Cultural flows in Australia


The globalisation of food around the world is huge and Australia is certainly no exception. When my family or friends ask me “what we should get for take-away?” The first answer is always an Asian cuisine, if not, something Italian will do.

The diet of Australian’s has considerable changed since the war-era.  Although we still munch away on our vegies and meats, a considerable portion of our food is multicultural. For example, the spike in sushi has been enormous in the past 10 years. For many, sushi has taken over the good old vegemite or ham sandwich in the office, as it’s quick, easy and reasonable cheap – let alone tastes yummy.

A factor of which plays into this is time. In today’s society this is why I believe Japanese and other Asian cuisines have taken Australia and other western countries by storm.
Not only as technology advances, people have less time to wait around for other foods, but with the increasing information about the importance of health are seeing that as a major factor.  

Not unlike George Ritzer’s theory of McDonaldization in which explains “the process whereby the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as the rest of the world.” (Nederveen, 2009, p 51)  Asian cuisine, in particular, Japanese, has the recipe for success in society that is rapidly changing in every aspect of life.




Reference:

Nederveen Pieterse, J, 2009, ‘Globalization and Culture : Global Mélange’, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc,

3 comments:

  1. Great blog! I thought it was a great way of approaching globalisation and illustrating how strong the effects are on our individuals culture; so true also! I think you incorporated your own individual experiences sharply as well and allowed for an easy friendly read. Try and watch your grammar, just so it flows better. All up a great read and I look forward to reading more. Thanks!

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  2. A very intriguing post Amelia, I enjoyed the fact you have related global flows on a basic level such as food. It allows for each individual to reflect on their own personal eating habits and which cultures they favor when its time to dine. You are spot on in your assessment of time in relation to the food we eat. As each of us pack more and more into our days a quick but fulfilling meal such as your example “sushi”, accurately reflects many in today’s society. Clever referencing at the end and all in all an enjoyable read.

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  3. You raised some very interesting points here. The premise that with globalisation comes an introduction of foreign culture (in this case cuisine) internationally is valid. Your example of the wider choice of foods australians can now enjoy may also, in time lead to the loss of foreing cuisine as each nation has foods from every corner of the globe causing the convergence of the varieties available.

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