Theee end

Well that brings me to the end of my blogging career but definitely not the end of my cooking. I hope to continue with this special activity and build my skills to use in the future.This activity has increased my awareness of the meaning cooking has to me and all that it affords me to do. I hope you have enjoyed reading about my activity of cooking and the related areas. goodbye for now :)

My comments on other blogs

Hi Rachel,
i really like how you have considered how the links between cooking and culture might be relevant to Occupational Therapy and clients we might work with in the future. one thing i would suggest is maybe choose a font that's easier to read next time, other than that great job! :)


http://rachelmareethomas.blogspot.com/2011/10/connecting-with-culture-through-cooking.html#comment-form




Hi Jess,
i like how you have used the example of cooking in an unfamiliar environment to clearly explain ergonomics in relation to cooking. i would have liked to see you expand more under the person, occupation, environment in a broader sense but the specific example was very easy to follow and understand your point.
good job :)


http://jessica-ot.blogspot.com/2011/09/ergonomics.html#comment-form




Hi Leigh,
I enjoyed reading this blog as i hold many of the same views around cooking and it was really easy to follow. the only suggestion i would make would be to add some photos to liven up the page a little.
good work :)


http://leighmillward.blogspot.com/2011/10/affordances-continued.html#comment-form




Hi Tim,
I think you have linked the quote to cooking and how having an understanding of ergonomics is relevant to us as training OT's. I enjoyed reading your take on how ergonomics is specific to your life as i hold a lot of the same opinions.
good job :)


http://timsotblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/ergonomics.html#comment-form

My References

• Caulton, R. & Dickson, R. (2007). What’s going on? Finding an explanation for what we do. In J. Creek & A. Lawson-Porter (Eds.), Contemporary issues in occupational therapy (pp. 87-114). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
• Sunderland, J (2010). Adaptive living and occupation: food and culture. Unpublished, cited with the permission of the author. Otago Polytechnic School of Occupational Therapy, Dunedin.
• Sheldrake, P. (2007). A Brief History of Spirituality.  New Jersey: Wiley – Blackwell

• Green, T. (1968). Work, leisure,and the American schools. New York: Random House.
• McGowan, J. (1998). Hannah Arendt: an introduction. USA: University of Minnesota press.
• Visser, M. (1991).The Rituals of Dinner. New York: Grove Wiedenfield.

The need for cooking

The need for cooking

In class this week we discussed the need for our chosen activity although the need for cooking/eating is very much a human need for nutrients and energy, the need goes beyond this for me. A quote that describes how I feel about what we get from cooking is that of Visser (1991) who said “We turn the consumption of food, a biological necessity, into a carefully cultured phenomenon. We use eating as a medium for social relationships: satisfaction of the most individual of needs becomes the means of creating community.” For me the need for cooking mainly comes under two categories:

·         The need for nutrients and survival

·         The need for social interaction and spirituality.

As all humans need food to survive one of the reasons I eat it to be able to survive and have the energy to carry out daily activities. Not only do we need to eat, but we need to eat the things which will enable our bodies to work at a good standard. The main meal I cook is at dinner where I try to include a variety of veggies and make it as flavoursome as possible. Always making sure I have a meal with lot of vegetables is not the easiest of tasks, being a student I don’t often have the money to eat the things I’d like to which can be very frustrating.

Not only do I need food for my health I feel it has almost become a need for social interaction and connection with people. In my earlier posts I have talked about the personal significance cooking has to me and this activity has really solidified those feelings. Cooking and what it affords definitely reflects values held by my family and the person I see myself being.

Reference

Visser, M. (1991).The Rituals of Dinner. New York: Grove Wiedenfield.

Cooking and Labour...

Cooking and labour...

‘Labour is the effort required to secure the necessities of life”. (McGowan, 1998. p. 42)

Every person, no matter what their age, race, beliefs etc. is required to take part in some form of labour in order to obtain the necessities of life, in this case the form of labour being around food. Not only do we have to eat to survive, this biological necessity is the starting point for a number of other forms of labour such as a source of income, a source of socialisation and an expression of self. Whether it is through simply sustaining nutrients in our body or meeting our needs as social beings the act of cooking and eating is very much a form of labour. Although the act of cooking and what it personally affords to me is not necessarily a biological need, I believe what we as humans have manipulated from this form of labour is a pure example of what it is to be human. Green stated “the man is not free whose life is totally absorbed in labour.” I believe this is a good contrasting statement and example of what we have created from the labour of sourcing and eating food. Although we as living beings need labour to survive, we as humans demand more from the experience.

Reference

McGowan, J. (1998). Hannah Arendt: an introduction. USA: University of Minnesota press.

Green, T. (1968). Work, leisure,and the American schools. New York: Random House.

Affordances continued

Affordance continued

Aesthetics

My take on aesthetics is the potential that an activity possesses to express beauty. This can be a very personal and subjective experience. For me the beauty cooking affords is the togetherness it brings. One of the things I miss most from home is the Sunday roast that my family shares every week. The whole family gathers at my nanas house where a roast cooked to perfection is guaranteed, along with hours of fun, conversation and laughter (usually at my expense). This is the best example, personally, of the beauty that cooking affords. The beauty that I can see from this activity is very much subjective, being built by the experiences I personally have had. Along with this the presentation of fresh veggies of all colours is satisfying to me and is something I think I have taken on and is reflected in my own cooking. No matter what the dish is I always find myself putting a little extra effort to make sure the presentation of the dish is up to standard with the appropriate colours in the right spot.

Spirituality

As I have mentioned in earlier posts cooking has a real sense of spirituality to me and it is mainly to do with my family life. Sheldrake (2007) describes spirituality in relation to ones inner path which leads do the discovery of the essence of his/her being and states that it is shaped by the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” (p. 1-2). For me this is so true as I believe the majority of what makes me who I am has been shaped by the experiences I have had which cooking has afforded over the years. Every celebration, in fact, every gathering we have always involves food, for example whenever I go home for holidays I always get to pick the first meal we have which is usually with the whole family. A couple of days before I return I text my mum with my requests for the meal ranging from the starters right through to the dessert. Although I enjoy this process immensely, it is what follows and is afforded by this which has given me my fondest memories of my home life. My stay is of course followed by meals and drinks out with my mother, aunty, nana and usually a few of their friends where we have a good old catch up filled with all the latest dramas in theirs and everyone else’s lives. This is something I really look forward to doing when I go home and has become an unspoken tradition which I hope will continue.

Ambience

Closely linking to spirituality the ambience of an activity is concerned with a particular feeling which is associated with that activity. The ambience of an activity is very subjective and may never have the same association to another person. For my activity of cooking the ambience is a sense of being a woman and being in touch with my roots. As I have mentioned in other posts there is almost a sense of nostalgia, making me think of my family in the past and all of the times we have shared which have been afforded by this activity. At times I can be a little old fashioned and I feel this is a big part of why I get a real sense of being a woman through cooking as I believe it is a great asset to be able to prepare a meal and bring together groups of people. Not only does the actual activity bring about these feelings but also the activities which are afforded by cooking. The whole process of having a meal, for me, brings about togetherness essentially. This is really special as it reminds me of awesome times I’ve had with pretty much every person I'm close to as having a meal is such a common thing to do, if not for a celebration, then just for a catch up with those I haven’t seen in a while. This sense of togetherness is not limited to just those you know well. An example of this was on placement we ran a cooking group. Groups of four people would be given a budget and they had to work together on what they would cook, how they would do it on a budget, and who would be in charge of each role. This was an example of how complete strangers were afforded through this activity to work as a team and build relationships and talk about things that perhaps they may not have had they not have participated in the activity.

History

I believe I mentioned in my first post how one of the reasons I was so keen to get in to cooking was because of the history in my family. My Mother, Aunty and Nana are all fantastic cooks and even owned a catering business. My mother and aunty were taught how to cook by my nana and my nana taught by her mother, and so on (you know how it goes). I would love to be the one who cooks for them as I know it would be really special as they hold the same views and values as me around cooking and all it affords which I guess makes sense considering I have been exposed to it my whole life. When I cook a meal for others I almost get a sense of nostalgia as I am very aware of my values and the history of cooking in my family. I love to provide for those I care about and cooking gives me a real sense of being a woman. I hope to continue the long line of good cooks and bring the skills I am learning not only to by personal but also professional life in the future.

Reference

Sheldrake, P. (2007). A Brief History of Spirituality.  New Jersey: Wiley – Blackwell.

Affordances

Affordances

In class this week we covered affordances and what our chosen activity affords or leads to us doing focussing under three main areas of communication, connections (action properties) and moral properties. When looking at my chosen activity of cooking I have become much more aware of the affordances that this brings, and what kind of meaning and sense of spirituality this activity has to me. A quote I have found interesting and one that describes how I feel about cooking is that of Nigella Lawson (2004 as cited in Sunderland, 2010) who stated “Cooking has many functions, and only one of them is about feeding people.  When we go into a kitchen, indeed when we even just think about going into a kitchen, we are both creating and responding to an idea we hold about ourselves, about what kind of person we are or wish to be”. I feel this quote is really expressive of what I personally see cooking to be, I love how it brings so much togetherness and a real sense of achievement to me. Cooking has always been a really big part of my family life and there is so much more than just the aspect of eating. In my family it is tradition to have a big meal when we all get together or on special occasions and is a time which I consider really valuable. Working on and increasing my skill level in this activity will enable me to continue this tradition and build on the person I envision myself to be. Below I will explore the three main focus areas in relation to cooking and what it affords me to do.

Communication

With the cooking I do there is a lot of communication needed right from the initial stages of planning to have a meal as I cook both with my flatmate and boyfriend and sometimes all together. This means it is necessary for me to communicate with everyone to ensure no one thinks they need to wait for me and I don’t step on anyone’s toes. When this is sorted there is the need to plan what we will cook, where we will cook and what if we have what is needed. One this is all sorted out we shall begin and furthermore communicate on who will do what tasks.  Asides from the technical components of communication there is a large part of social communication that goes on with the task of cooking. It is a time where we catch up on what we have done in the day and just have a general catch up on what’s new for each of us.

Connections

In regard to connections or action properties I will look at what actions this task leads me to do and for me this is a really important part of the process...EATING! Not only do I get the satisfaction of filling my stomach, the eating leads to more communication and socialising with not only my cooking partner but also the rest of my flat. This is an important part of the process as it is a time where we often will all be socialising which is important to me as with such different schedules this is a time where we all get to be together.  Finally there is the cleanup which once again can afford more conversation and usually bring an end to the activity of cooking until the next day when you do it all over again.

Moral properties

Moral properties are all about the good and the bad which comes with cooking and for me the good outweighs the bad by far. Cooking, along with allowing me the opportunity to socialise with many people gives me a real sense of accomplishment when I’ve completed meals that I didn’t think I would have the skills to do. The bad things that can come about when cooking with other people is that everyone has different preferences and may not like what others do. This can cause me to run in to problems and sometimes arguments over what to have. Another bad side is the clean up can be difficult to be motivated to complete and I know in my flat this has caused a bit of uneasiness around people not cleaning up after themselves. All in all i know that these few small things wont change the passion i now have for cooking and i will continue with.

Reference

Sunderland, J (2010). Adaptive living and occupation: food and culture. Unpublished, cited with the permission of the author. Otago Polytechnic School of Occupational Therapy, Dunedin.