Research on Food As Power

Across the globe, power has been accumulating around food production based on the supply and demand of its key components, such as the inputs, the raw agricultural produce, and even the processed products found in groceries (Hendrickson et al., 2008). Regarding power and food relationships, culture tends to serve a great purpose. It portrays itself through community members’ beliefs regarding particular foods, and it incorporates other factors like the structure of families, their interests, and practical knowledge to determine the general perception people have towards power-food relationships. One particular example of foods that can be used to further expound on this topic is the hakeria and koroko foods for the Hua people of Papua New Guinea. This article will focus on these particular foods and their power relations in terms of gender roles and their purpose in their society.

One of the power relations that can be identified with these particular foods is the beliefs around them and their consumption based on gender. For the people in New Guinea, history shows that they have often associated koroko foods with the female gender based on their physical properties of growing fast, being soft, cold, and wet. The hakeria foods were associated with masculinity because they were often harvested while hot and dry, and they take a long time to mature (Sharma, 2020). In this community, males were considered to dislike koroko foods because their cultural beliefs dictated that they should be strong and be able to endure harsh conditions, unlike the females. Therefore, the consumption of hakeria foods helped them to fulfill this purpose in the sense that they believed it helped build the required level of masculinity and power in them, while the koroko foods made their female population considered more subordinated within the community (Sharma, 2020). Even though either of the genders did not need to consume a particular food only, most people preferred sticking with the above belief even though it was believed that some people secretly consume the opposite foods concerning their genders.

Another reason that demonstrates that these particular foods were linked to power relationships is that in some scenarios, women would be seen taking hakeria foods as they believed that it helps to curb their menstrual flows (Sharma, 2020). Men were publicly portraying how they disliked the koroko foods. Ideally, one would deduct that the power relationships between these foods were associated with the roles that each gender was playing in the community. That is, since the men in most countries in Africa and across the world were associated with leadership and strength, they would instead consume the foods that resembled the character they wanted to play, while the women who were primarily associated with taking care of children and their husbands, the soft and fast growing foods were recommended for them.

There are various reasons for choosing this particular food-power relationship. It helps demonstrate how people across history have used cultural foods to influence others in their consumption and food exchange. As indicated by the culture of the people of New Guinea in the 19^th century, both the male and female genders took particular foods based on their beliefs regarding the influence they might create in their bodies and the general level of masculinity and femininity (Sharma, 2020). Particularly during those times, beliefs were rooted in the roles and responsibilities of each individual within the community and their family structures. Concerning this point, it is essential to consider that women also had the power to prepare and collect food for their husbands and children. On many occasions in different communities, the type of food women prepared for their husbands and families showcased their level of diligence. Also, it gave them respect among other women since it showed they knew how to care for their families (Spears, 2020).

Another reason is that from this particular food-power relationship, one can relate to the different culinary definitions of civilization experienced by various global communities. A typical example that can be used is the way the Romans and the barbarians in history were sometimes segregated based on the kinds of foods they ate. In this case, the former were associated with consuming lots of bread and wine, while the latter were known to consume lots of meat (Pilcher, 2023). Ideally, one would have regarded the Romans as more educated and engineered in their activities, while the barbarians were more wild or uncivilized. Therefore, when it comes to power, the same implication applied in the sense that the Romans demonstrated power simply through the choice of foods they consumed despite contradictions in the food preferences of other cultures.

Therefore, as indicated at the beginning of this article, this research was based on investigating the food-power relationships considering the meals consumed by the Hua people of Papua New Guinea, especially around the 18^th and 19^th centuries. From the analysis of the culture of these people, one can ascertain that hakeria foods were mainly associated with masculinity, power, strength, and leadership, while the koroko foods were primarily associated with femininity, subordination, and caregiving, and that is why they were primarily consumed by men and women respectively. As a result, deductions that can be made from this situation are that, throughout history, food has always been used as a powerful tool to influence other people’s behaviors and preferences. It has also been used to demonstrate power, respect, and a sense of civilization across various other cases, such as that of the Romans and barbarians.

References

Hendrickson, M., Wilkinson, J., Heffernan, W. D., & Gronski, R. (2008). The global food system and nodes of power. Available at SSRN 1337273.

Pilcher, J. M. (2023). Food in world history.

Sharma, D. (2020). FOOD, POWER AND GENDER: A Sociological Overview. SOCIOLOGY OF WOMEN’S WORLD, 23–34.

Spears, R. S. (2020). Arkansas Aprons: Food Power and Women in Arkansas, 1857 to 1891. University of Arkansas.