A discursive essay on social media and food.

 

pic:internet

I’m pretty sure that anyone will instantly agree that food is one word that makes anyone feel good. It makes them crave their favourite food they want. It’s a basic necessity of life. Though not all the food we eat is necessary, it’s an important part of our lives. Is posting images or videos on social media of the food ethical?

Social media has become a major part of our lives. We can hardly imagine one day without our phones and the internet. Sharing an idea, event, achievement, or literally, anything to an unaddressed mass of individuals using social media is now possible with the feature of status/story on these apps. Almost everyone on my contacts posts statuses every day. Their statuses range from travels, birthday wishes, anniversary wishes, food, memes, jokes, news, and the like. Of all the statuses I’ve seen all these years, what I don’t approve of is posting images of food that one is about to eat. Yeah, I can explain.

You might have experienced a situation where you sit to eat something and another person stares at you and your food. I’m sure you must have felt uncomfortable eating it in front of that person without sharing it with him. Even if you share, you might not be doing it with all your heart. Why does eating before that person make you feel uncomfortable? That person might be a total stranger to you and yet, you are terribly uncomfortable. Sometimes you may even wish for someone to join you (to eat) or that that person would go away. I know that we can deliberately blame it on the ethics a culture teaches us. The “don’t say no when someone asks for food,” “don’t tempt others and eat without giving them,” etc. I’m sure you may also have heard some lessons like these. Make sure to put it on the comment section below!  

The updated statistics of the Global Hunger Index (2020) show that nearly 690 million people are undernourished (the share of the population whose caloric intake is insufficient).  In India itself, 14% of the total population is undernourished. India ranks 94 out of 107 countries. In such a country as this, where we know thousands of people are starving (thanks to unemployment), farmers protesting -to make things worse- we should be sensitive about posting food online. Also, when we go out for social service, we generally think of feeding the poor and needy, because they usually don’t get access to the fancy delicacies they crave. Why go far, we teach our children not to waste food because some random people in another continent are starving of these necessary privileges! You can show others what you have, but I feel it suffocating to eat anything that someone else would have an eye on. To me, it’s more of a conscious struggle I face.

However, social media is a great place to get appreciation from others, and posting new things you try is a great way to show the God-given talents one has. Food is happiness for many of us, and seeing delicious stuff makes us happy. Also, as Zephin points, one can’t stop expressing oneself just because others may not like it. India is a democratic country and we all have the right to express ourselves. And if I condemn a person from exercising their freedom, I’m committing a crime. People can show what they own, how happy they are, but not show what they eat is hypocrisy in a way. When we see food as something we own (like clothes, stationery, vehicles, etc), we won’t feel bad to post foodstuff online. What we post online cannot always make everyone happy. Thus, we can’t stop what we do because we cannot make everyone happy. We can attain true happiness through the thoughts we let in our heads. When someone is happy and shares it online, it is open to you how you want to respond- happy with the person, or sad of your deprivation, it’s up to you. So, I’m not going to judge a person for the kind of posts they willfully post.

So, to sum up, what one posts online is a personal subjective choice. Each individual should be able to enjoy this privilege of expressing freely without being subject to criticism, hate, or judgments. Let’s all stay united in our culturally diverse society by appreciating differences -in lifestyle, opinions, and beliefs.  

 

~~Why I wrote on this topic: last week, I was chatting with my friend Zephin about WhatsApp statuses. It was a wonderful eye-opener conversation that got me thinking of the sole purpose of status/story on social media and what actually should a person put and not put. It made me realize how judgmental I was to some status I saw and I decided to change my perspective. I am not going to criticize others on what they post, because it is their freedom of choice and expression that they exercise, while not forgetting the side of the story I stand for. ~~

 

Global Hunger Index [Latest 2020 Report] - Hunger Index - What is It | India's Rank (byjus.com)