From 90ba179f9d11b0cf98d00fec550ebf3171fd2431 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: alicestrt The way we eat and think of food today is bound to change. The increasing demand for food, especially meat and dairy, combined with the damaging effects of climate change on agriculture (Cho, 2018), has the potential to push the food industry
in new directions, and consumers to reconsider their choices. Within this context, technology companies, the new actors on the food industry stage, are putting forward a solution which regards food as being archaic and inefficient,
- and the practices around food preparation as time- wasters. Their solution, materialized in products dubbed as ‘complete foods’ or ‘meal replacements’, which allegedly contain all the essential nutrients for the human body, is backed
- up by huge financial support from venture capital, and presented as the future of food. However, besides that fact that it does not offer a real solution to the problems we are facing, this interpretation of food does not reflect its
+ and the practices around food preparation as time-wasters. Their solution, materialized in products dubbed as ‘complete foods’ or ‘meal replacements’, which allegedly contain all the essential nutrients for the human body, is backed
+ up by huge financial support from venture capital, and presented as the future of food. However, besides that fact that it does not offer a real solution to the problems we are facing, this interpretation of food does not reflect its
historical importance. The cultural role of food, gender representation, or collective values associated with sharing food, are largely disregarded. Instead, the emphasis is on the continuous quest to improve food products, within
the value system of techno-solutionism. In his book To Save Everything, Click Here, Evgeny Morozov critically describes this value system, explaining that “this never-ending quest to ameliorate [. . . ] is shortsighted and only perfunctorily
- interested in the activity for which improvement is sought” (Morozov, 2013). This critique applies to the development of meal replacements, the materialization of techno-solutionism in food, which are promoted as an universal response
+ interested in the activity for which improvement is sought” (Morozov, 2013). This critique applies to the development of meal replacements, the materialization of techno-solutionism in food, which are promoted as an universal response
to anything from time management, nutritional dilemmas, food waste and sustainability. Throughout this work, I will look at the development and implications of the meal replacement phenomenon, and, through the lens of food, provide
an outlook on tech industry’s influence on Western culture.
The rise of products branded as innovative foods has largely happened in the last decade, originating from Silicon Valley. The latest innovations, such as meal replacements, make promises for an empowered self, with full control over what one puts in
one’s body. Companies place a lot of emphasis on a scientific approach to selecting ingredients for a particular product, and brand their products as technologically advanced food items. But the process of producing or sourcing the
- ingredients is almost never exposed, thus further obscuring the processes involved in food production. One notable example is the company Huel, which created a video on YouTube titled How Huel Is Made, but failed to actually show their
- process. Instead, the video described its packaging and delivery system, a fact that was quickly noted in the comments section as disingenuous.
The celebration of not having time to tend to your bodily needs properly, together with the emphasis on giving the body personalized nutrition in the most pleasureless way is, of course, a paradoxical incongruity. At the same time, the - idea that you are solely responsible for your well-being, and that you can control your health and efficiency with the right consumer habits is another heavily promoted concept. Trying to reconcile and adopt all these suggestions for + idea that you are solely responsible for your well-being, and that you can control your health and efficiency with the right consumer habits is another heavily promoted concept. Trying to reconcile and adopt all these suggestions for how one should live their life is almost impossible, and leads to burnout. However, startups in Silicon Valley and all over the world are more than ready to provide products to any imaginable issue that can be identified, in order to achieve their prescribed quality of life. This is problematic in many ways, because it completely ignores other factors that influence our lives, such as social class, income, education, access etc, while promoting efficiency and production as the main goals to be achieved by humans.
@@ -61,8 +61,14 @@ export default { data: function() { return { - techno_solutionism: '', - lot_2046: 'LOT is a subscription-based service which distributes a basic set of clothing, footwear, essential self-care products, accessories, and media content.' + techno_solutionism: '', + lot_2046: 'LOT is a subscription-based service which distributes a basic set of clothing, footwear, essential self-care products, accessories, and media content.', + solution_timetoeat: '', + humans_timetoeat: '', + comment: '', + how_its_made: '', + funding: '', + benefits: '', } }, diff --git a/src/components/SplashPage.vue b/src/components/SplashPage.vue index 5abe81a..9cb7bd7 100644 --- a/src/components/SplashPage.vue +++ b/src/components/SplashPage.vue @@ -49,6 +49,8 @@ p { margin-top: 20px; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; color: #212322; + + } #read_full { @@ -56,24 +58,52 @@ p { color: #212322; } +#subtitle { + background-color: #212322; + color: white; + margin-top: 20px; + font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; + font-size: 16px; + margin-bottom: 20px; +} + +#review_title { + font-family: 'Open sans', sans-serif; + font-size: 30px; + font-weight: 800; + text-align: center; +} + .router-link { text-decoration: none; color: black; } +.signs { + margin-bottom: 20px; +} + + +A critical resource for the meal-replacement curious
Throughout this past year, I’ve become fascinated with meal replacements. From their surprising form and aspiration to replace normal food, to the entire growing culture and community base around them, I’ve delved deep into the rabbit hole. I have now @@ -90,6 +120,7 @@ p {
@@ -134,7 +166,7 @@ p {
Alice says: @@ -155,8 +187,8 @@ p {
The main goal of these services it to convince users to separate important decisions from meaningless ones, and focus their time on paid labour. Deciding how to dress and what to eat can be outsourced to a corporation, which uses this as its selling point. - This form of convenient consumption limits the need to think about your choices, and becomes an automated form of comfort. Within this mindset, cooking is being presented as a chore rather than an activity that can be done as leisure. + This form of convenient consumption limits the need to think about your choices, and becomes an automated form of comfort. Within this mindset, cooking is being presented as a chore rather than an activity that can be done as leisure. Entrepreneurs are encouraged, or rather pressured, to find solutions to problems they are facing themselves, and monetize every aspect of life. For many, the problem they face is becoming an adult with too much money to spend, and too little time outside of work. Keeping a constant high level of performance at work does not allow much time and mind space for dealing with the practicalities of adult life, especially when they are framed as low-value, time-consuming activities, and the latest consumer products reflect this reality.
The post-mom economy reflects embedded preconceptions on gender roles within the home. When the main provider of these services is not available, startups offer the option to replace her with a techno-solutionist product, that brings convenience for those who can afford it, while pushing others into low-wage gig work. Instead of reflecting on the value of maintaining a home and caregiving, or on the struggles of those who are pushed into these roles, the tasks are simply delegated to - strangers. This further increases the infiltration of corporations into our lives under the pretense of earning more freedom (Pollan, 2014), while continuing to devalue what is regarded as women’s work. Unless it is done for the purpose - of entertainment, cooking is framed as an archaic chore, subjected to the specialization of labour, and awarded with a low wage.
+ strangers. This further increases the infiltration of corporations into our lives under the pretense of earning more freedom (Pollan, 2014), while continuing to devalue what is regarded as women’s work. Unless it is done for the purpose + of entertainment, cooking is framed as an archaic chore, subjected to the specialization of labour, and awarded with a low wage.