Food and food politics are now, more than ever, digital. There is now an established digital ‘foodscape’ that many interact with, from gathering online recipes, to Tweets of what they have cooked or are eating, to engagements with celebrity chefs through Instagram to the digital politics of NGOs devoted to more sustainable food systems. Digital foodscapes shape the cultural politics of healthy eating, redefining the narratives around healthy eating in spectacular and visual ways. Important ontological questions are raised by digital foodscapes about how we know and understand contemporary food culture and food politics, and indeed the food we consume, cook and share. Tensions exist in these digital foodscapes; fact and fiction, edibility and art, health and indulgence interweave in complex and contentious ways. Promises of ‘better food worlds’ posed through digital foodscapes are alluring but lack the transparency that would allow consumers to make informed choices.

In this seminar, Christine presents on the development of food media and digital foodscapes research, previous work on “Food Fictions,” and current research undertaken with FEAST on the impacts of digital foodscapes on the future food imaginaries of Japan.