Colour, as important visual information and indicators, affect every moment of our lives, from interior design to clothes to the appeal of food that we eat. Brightly coloured foods seem to taste better than plain foods, and there have been research studies that confirm this. Artificial food colouring has facilitated and encouraged, with the advent of the commercialisation and commoditisation of foods in the consumer revolution, an appreciation of food through their colours.
This documented change is almost antithetical to how food colouring sparked the commoditisation of food. This strand of inquiry works opposite to the modern industrialisation of food through mass production and fast food that de-aestheticises aspects of food by encouraging standardisation. Food industrialisation reduces the subtle variations that hand-made artistically-oriented foods provide.
However, food colouring has provided the impetus for the tide to resist the de-aestheticising and mass commoditisation of foods. From gourmet food plating and professional food photography to rainbow macarons and Instagram foodies, the arrangement and assortment of colours for food has never been more important. Food colouring has facilitated our ability to enjoy food as a hobby, as a lifestyle, as an art, and as an aesthetic adventure.
This documented change is almost antithetical to how food colouring sparked the commoditisation of food. This strand of inquiry works opposite to the modern industrialisation of food through mass production and fast food that de-aestheticises aspects of food by encouraging standardisation. Food industrialisation reduces the subtle variations that hand-made artistically-oriented foods provide.
However, food colouring has provided the impetus for the tide to resist the de-aestheticising and mass commoditisation of foods. From gourmet food plating and professional food photography to rainbow macarons and Instagram foodies, the arrangement and assortment of colours for food has never been more important. Food colouring has facilitated our ability to enjoy food as a hobby, as a lifestyle, as an art, and as an aesthetic adventure.
Benefits
1) To enhance the enjoyment and happiness derived by food photographers, enthusiasts and bloggers;
2) To complement the appreciation of the food experience by visually representing, simulating and stimulating taste through colours; and
3) To render greater aesthetic experiences in daily life through food (Kuehn, 2005).
2) To complement the appreciation of the food experience by visually representing, simulating and stimulating taste through colours; and
3) To render greater aesthetic experiences in daily life through food (Kuehn, 2005).
USes
Food as Hobby and lifestyle
Food colouring has facilitated the ability of food enthusiasts to enjoy food through colours and this has encouraged the growth of a whole swathe of people who enjoy food as a hobby and lifestyle through colours: food photographers, foodies on Instagram who can accumulate thousands of followers on the social media platform for their daily food shots, food bloggers as well as bakers who enjoy making pretty foods. From rainbow cakes to the plating of food for gourmet purposes, food colouring has allowed our generation to enjoy and perceive food beyond a mere means of survival and source of sustenance.
Food as an everyday aesthetic Experience
Can food be art? Kuehn (2005) argues that the meaning of food as art lies in the organic interaction between its "production, presentation, and manner of appreciation". Everyday aesthetics is a recent field of philosophical aesthetics that focuses on everyday activities and environments.
Food colouring has contributed to the appreciation of food as an everyday aesthetic experience when the everyday consumer can appreciate food both visually and through his tastebuds, culminating in a complementary emotional reaction, and an overarching social phenomenon. Food has been socially re-positioned as a lifestyle and a sensory aesthetic experience that embraces notions such as harmony and arrangement. Cuisine and gourmet food appreciation and critique is almost an art now, and food culture can form a big part of a national identity as any other aspects of culture.
Food colouring has contributed to the appreciation of food as an everyday aesthetic experience when the everyday consumer can appreciate food both visually and through his tastebuds, culminating in a complementary emotional reaction, and an overarching social phenomenon. Food has been socially re-positioned as a lifestyle and a sensory aesthetic experience that embraces notions such as harmony and arrangement. Cuisine and gourmet food appreciation and critique is almost an art now, and food culture can form a big part of a national identity as any other aspects of culture.
Implications
Certain negative outcomes have been observed from this change though:
1) An unhealthy obsession with food photography on social media platforms such as Instagram; which leads to
2) A reduction in social face-to-face interaction that accompanies this obsession; as well as;
3) Possible cases of misrepresentation in terms of styling of food.
As an aesthetic adventure, the enjoyment of food through colours has been enhanced with food colouring technology. However, with the advent of other digital technologies, when taken to an extreme it can become a problematic distraction and obsession.
1) An unhealthy obsession with food photography on social media platforms such as Instagram; which leads to
2) A reduction in social face-to-face interaction that accompanies this obsession; as well as;
3) Possible cases of misrepresentation in terms of styling of food.
As an aesthetic adventure, the enjoyment of food through colours has been enhanced with food colouring technology. However, with the advent of other digital technologies, when taken to an extreme it can become a problematic distraction and obsession.