New Generations and Axiologies of Food in Cinema and New Media

Abstract

Until recently the foodsphere was an exclusive domain of the adult world. Except in rare cases, parents’ or caretakers’ beliefs largely determined children’s and adolescents’ nutrition. It was with the Millennials, and later with the so-called Generation Z, that the theme of food first gained prominence in the media, with the multiplication of texts on the subject, and with progressive attention being paid to environmental crises, began to involve young people. Today, food is one of the favourite amusements of younger generations, who enjoy cooking, shopping, watching movies, documentaries, online videos where the most disparate value systems are articulated, framing food inside a discourse regarding its nutritional and ethical value, and on the systems of production that underlie it. Food is now far from being mere nutrition for young people, but more and more a linguistic element (think of the metaphor of “binge watching”), an identity, a community, something aesthetic (in various senses), valuable, semiotic. The aim of this paper is to investigate this vast territory, trying to map and shape the main axiologies (or value assets) in the postmodern foodsphere of and for the new generations.