I can help but notice that so many pictures of people have food in them and frequently with the person eating the food, holding the food next to their face, both hands holding fork and spoon close to mouth, a huge piece of fruit next to the head, people pointing at the food, etc.
And then the other pictures with some type of indecipherable hand signal.
Is this suppose to signify happiness or joy… appear flattering or perhaps some underlying cultural idiom of which I must be aware so I can also add food to my own pictures?
most people i know put it down to the food-centric nature of Taiwanese culture. Food is pretty integral to many aspects of life here and is also why so many idioms are food related. Taiwanese love food. Can’t blame em for that. Lots of other cultures do too. But it does get weird when you see vacation snapshots, etc. and like half of them are not of the interesting sights but of a buncha nerdy dudes doing the “peace” sign and holding up some food.
[quote=“tango42”]I can help but notice that so many pictures of people have food in them and frequently with the person eating the food, holding the food next to their face, both hands holding fork and spoon close to mouth, a huge piece of fruit next to the head, people pointing at the food, etc.
And then the other pictures with some type of indecipherable hand signal.
[/quote]
Guilty!
Other great props for pictures include: beverages, animals, and little children. By the way, beware if you get 914 in front of a camara. He’ll start doing lots of crazy things and nobody will know what’s going on.
Might be because food is a sign of prosperity. Used to be that being overweight was a good thing, because it was an indication that the person must be very wealthy and have the means to eat to his fill. Just think about how people greet each other: Ever been asked if you’ve eaten? Ni chr bau le ma? Ni chr fan le mai? It’s a pretty prominent aspect of the culture here. Anyhow, that’s how it was explained to me.
I dont know, I thought asians really cares about wheather or not someone is overweight. Seems as if in asia being overweight is subject to discriminations… But I guess the food in the culture explains why they’re so cheap here…
A Taiwanese friend and his fiancee had me out for dim sum the other day. By the end they were pleased that I ate so much, and one mentioned the proverb “neng2 chi1 shi4 fu2” 能吃是福 – that would mean, “Being able to eat is a blessing.” There ensued a discussion of how in Taiwanese culture, it’s considered lucky/fortunate if you are able to pack in a lot of food, so people would be impressed with me eating, etc.
I pointed out to them that this may’ve originally, earlier, meant that “If you have enough food to eat, you’re blessed/fortunate”. They thought about it for a while and were pretty well convinced – and the fiancee said “Oh, yes, it can have that meaning too” – but my friend said that while he thought “Oh yeah, that probably is what it means” it had also never occurred to him to think about that before.
One additional point is that Chinese will associate certain places of the world with certain food. Go to France and get a picture of the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and you with a long French bread. Go to Italy and get a picture of the Colliseum, the Cistine Chapel, and you eating lasagne. Go to Tainan and get a picture of Cunfucius’s Temple and you with Guan Cai Ban. Go to Hualien and get picture of Tai Ru Ge National Park and you eating aboriginal food.
That’s in addition to the previous posts about food signifying health and happiness.
Well, I, for one, think it is wonderful. Taiwanese people like to eat, and they enjoy taking some photos of themselves enjoying some great food. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. Food should be celebrated.
But this food fetishism isn’t limited just to Taiwan. Heck, in the US of A there are at least two whole cable networks devoted just to food–the Food Network, to name one. Twenty-four hours of programs dedicated to making food, talking about food, learning about food, traveling to different countries to eat their food, filming the hosts making and eating food.
