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Abstract
Food is an essential part of people's lives, and as such is much more than just a means of survival. It is also the main factor in how we view ourselves and others. It plays a big role in all social and political issues, and is a bastion of popular media. Over the past few decades, we have witnessed a rise in food-focused media and culture. A "food explosion" surrounds us everywhere we look, from TV shows such as 24 Kitchen, Kitchen Confidential, Floyd On, and Jamie Oliver to organic products, healthy diet magazines and food festivals. There is an increased awareness of food's significance within contemporary society and culture, and therefore there is a need to explore it.
Keywords: communication, culture, Japanese food, Serbian cuisine.
With our gastronomical growth will come, inevitably, knowledge and perception of a hundred other things, but mainly ourselves.
M.F.K. Fisher
The role of food in everyday life was until recently more that of a necessity rather than the subject of observation and academic interest. It was not until the twentieth century that food industry arose. The new-found interest and enchantment with food has created an entirely new meaning to food culture. The myriad of published cookbooks and food magazines, culinary festivals, TV shows, celebrity chefs, blogs has completely changed the meaning of food.
The Meaning of Food is an exploration of culture through food. What we consume, how we acquire it, who prepares it, who's at the table, and who eats first is a form of communication that is rich with meaning. Beyond merely nourishing the body, what we eat and with whom we eat can inspire and strengthen the bonds between individuals, communities, and even countries. There is no closer relationship than the one with the family, and food plays a large part in defining family roles, rules, and traditions. It helps us to discover attitudes, practices, and rituals surrounding food, it sheds light on our most basic beliefs about ourselves and others.
The aim of this paper is to try to give answers to the questions of what food communication is, and how we understand food communication. Firstly, some examples of communication and the relationship between communication and culture will be given. Secondly, the different...