Hello everyone! Just updating on my progress for the second project, and I’ve decided that I want to focus on the 6 points that focus on social issues, because it’s a subject I feel quite strongly about, and I feel it will string my ideas together better if they’re related in this way. I also hope that my work will be able to bring across poignant or thought provoking messages in terms of its tone, in an underlying manner that isn’t too direct.
The 6 points are:
- Food from the point of view of starvation is a luxury.
- Food from the point of view of a model is calories.
- Food from the point of view of farmers is income.
- Food from the point of view of the homeless is survival.
- Food from the point of view of obesity is diabetes.
- Food from the point of view of Instagram is popularity.
Before beginning my thought process on how and what I will use to go about this project, my first step is to pen down how I feel about each point. I’m hoping this will help me consolidate and categorise, so I know what exactly it is about each subject that I want to bring across to the audience, and how to stimulate the related thoughts and emotions.
Food from the point of view of starvation is a luxury
I’ve travelled to places like India and Cambodia because I find it is a beautiful thing to immerse in another’s culture, and these trips are real eye openers. Starvation is a sad thing that affects 795 million people in the world – and that’s almost 13% of the world’s population. It’s also attributed to almost half of the deaths of children in the world.
I think what strikes me most about starvation is the cruelty of the situation, yet it is something that links to the political and economical success (or lack of) of a country. Therefore, I feel food is a luxury to those suffering from starvation, because it isn’t something that can be easily solved, and although there are humanitarian movements that aim to alleviate this matter, there isn’t a solution that will easily change things.
Food from the point of view of a model is calories
And yet, there is an irony in this situation. There are so many models (regular people as well, not just women) who are fixated on being a size 0 so they can walk the runway for high end brands, or simply, just to look good. I personally feel that this is because of society’s standards of beauty, and how the media portrays them, seeing how it’s been modified for centuries. Anorexia and bulimia are very tangible issues right now, and it’s so unhealthy for the body.
I believe it is each individual’s choice on how they want to live their life, so it’s really up to them to define their eating habits, but people should not be easily influenced. Instead, they should think for themselves, and live the kind of lifestyle they want. In this case, I always feel healthiness is the most important aspect to take into consideration.
Food from the point of view of farmers is income
Farmers are the ones who begin the cycle of harvesting and growing crops to give us food in it’s raw form, and I feel that it’s a commendable act. However, in less developed countries, the time and effort to monetary ratio is not something that is in favour of the farmers.
The point I hope to bring across: what’s most severe for farmers is that they may spend hours labouring in fields or factories, and they do not earn very much profit or income, as most of it goes to the middlemen, or distributors, who earn a lot more from us, who in turn, purchase the produce from supermarkets and stores.
Food from the point of view of the homeless is survival
Many social issues affect the homeless, which turns the lack of available housing for people into a social issue itself. Problems would include substance abuse, deinstitutionalisation, urbanisation, lack of family support and economic downturn. The homeless then find themselves trapped in this predicament that is incredible difficult to break out of, and this in turn, affects their children as well. The saying goes, ‘The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.’
However, I think a large part of how the homeless survive is through food drives or food donations that people participate in. In Singapore, we may not have many homeless people, but we do have organisations like The Food Bank or Food From The Heart that contributes to delivering food to the less privileged. In this sense, when they do not own materialistic things like fancy clothes or houses, food is more or less a major part of what the homeless need for survival.
Food from the point of view of obesity is diabetes
Society is very focused on image – how a person looks and behaves. It’s sad, but in a way, it is also very true that generally larger sized people are subject to more prejudgment from people. It affects body image and is stressful as well. They may become introverted and lose confidence. Another issue is that health issues like diabetes is a very real threat to people of all ages (Singapore has the second highest proportion of diabetics amongst developed nations).
My personal stance on this is that too much food is capable of causing body image issues, but on a more serious note, it can endanger lives through diseases like diabetes, and the latter is something that people should be more conscious about, because sometimes diabetes is dormant and only acts up in later years.
Food from the point of view of Instagram is popularity
Social media is a platform for people to connect, expand businesses, create awareness, and share moments or opinions. However, it can be also used in an unhealthy way. I’ve decided to focus on Instagram because I think it’s one of the platforms that is currently in the spotlight, and many people are still on it.
I feel it can be unhealthy when users take to it to gain validation to a point of obsession. For example, if they are on it simply to attain popularity because it temporarily satisfies them. It is not a permanent solution, and is a social issue because so many people are using Instagram, and that leaves a lot of room for users to be susceptible to this, especially those growing up in the digital age.
