Affordance

It has taken me a while to understand what affordance means within my topic of cooking. However, after discussing this further in class today i feel that i have a better understanding of it. As a way to understand it i was asked to think about the last thing i cooked and relate it to the areas within affordance. This is what is came up with:

My understanding of affordance is that it is something that comes out of an activity, in my case cooking. Hagedorn (2000) describes it in more detail, stating that it is "anything which the environment can offer the individual which is pertinent to role challenge and can facilitate role competence" (p. 51).

The last time i cooked was last night when i made dinner with my flatmate. This meal took a lot of preparation and planning, but it was a lot of fun.
Communication was a large part of what was involved with cooking this meal. My flat mate and i discussed what we felt like cooking, joked that we didn't have enough money to pay for the meal, and had to motivate each other to go the the supermarket to get the main ingredient of falafel. The preparation of this meal - which involved walking to and from the supermarket, buying added ingredients and cutting up the ingredients - was the largest stage for communication as it involved jokes, sharing interests, talking about what to do in the weekend etc. The actual task of cooking the meal was more structured as we discussed how to cut things up and how long to cook the ingredients for. This involved learning new techniques, respecting each others choices, non verbal communication and negotiating with one another. I find that working with someone else, especially with cooking, it is crucial that you can communicate well as this not only makes the experience easier but also more enjoyable.
Health was also a large part of cooking this meal. Myself and my flatmate have an understanding of preparing a meal with fresh ingredients, on a clean and clear surface, using clean tools. This is something that we automatically are aware of or do as we know that not being aware of these can cause injuries, illness and can make the task stressful.
Other areas that are important to consider when looking at the task of cooking and affordance are Connections - gathering and borrowing tools and ingredients, using the task as a way to express my creative side, and ensuring that i meet the expectations that i or others have as this causes a greater sense of achievement once the meal is completed,
Spirituality - taking into account my values involving cooking, acknowledging that when i cook i am relaxed, enjoying the experience and that it has a sense of meaning to me.

Looking back at what i have write about this particular cooking experience, and that i have identified that communication was the key area that come from this activity, i can see how this may be different in other cooking situations. For example, when i am baking i enjoy doing this alone and find it very peaceful and it tends to connect with someone because i am uses a recipe that has been passed down, cooking for someone, or using what i have learnt from my mother. Therefore, i found these experiences tend to be more spiritually involved. I know see that affordance is a very important area to consider when cooking.

Hagedorn, R. (2000). Tools for practice in occupational therapy: A structures approach to core skills and processes. London: Churchill Livingstone.

Labour

The main focus of our lecture today was on labour. I found this lecture to be very useful as a lot of it related to my activity of cooking. Cooking is found under the heading of labour instead of work or play because the end result is for eating which is a necessity in life. It took me while to comprehend this as i considered cooking to be play as i enjoy it so much and use it as a way to be creative and to express myself. However, at the end of the day it is crucial for survival and i can see this more obviously on my off days when i am tired and unmotivated and would prefer others to cook for me. Green (1968), describes the relationship between labour and food as "the gathering of nourishment, however, is not only necessary; it is also endless. Once done, it must be done again. Answering as it does to the requirements of life itself, it can end only with the end of life. The purpose of this activity  is to provide for the seeds of consumption: food is taken from the earth, after all, in order to be consumed". Although this quote is decades old, i believe it is still very relevant today. When i am not in Dunedin i live on a farm and have an understanding of how much labour is involved with the production of foods including, fruit, vegetables, grains, milk and meats. It is very time consuming and is both mentally and physically challenging. However, this has caused both my family and myself to be more appreciative of food and the process of cooking. My up bringing has taught me to enjoy labour, especially cooking, as it is an important part of my life, not just for survival.

Green, T. F. (1968). Work, leisure and the American schools. New York: Random House.

Cooking influences

In our lecture on work there were discussions about what references would be appropriate to the activity that we were doing. It was suggested that the film Julie and Julia would be a good reference for cooking. I had watched this film not long ago and afterwards i had decided to make a meal based on a recipe from mastering the art of french cooking. In this film, Julie is influenced by Julia Child's passion for cooking. After watching this film some may believe that Julie seems obsessed with Julia stating "I wish i was more like her" (Ephron, 2009), but i believe that she sees Julia's love for cooking and wants this for herself. Julie's own life was heavily influenced by one person, Julia, whereas i believe that my decisions around cooking are influenced by many people and many things. When i decide to cook and what i do cook is normally influenced by what i have recently seen. This works the same when choosing a recipe. I will always choose a recipe that involves a picture that i consider to be appealing. I am more influenced to try a new recipe based on what it looks like rather than what ingredients are in it or what others comments are about it. I think that i am most influenced when i comes to cooking than any other areas of my life. Although i still make the decision of what and when to cook i believe that what i have seen my mum cook in the past and what i see in recipe books influence me the most.

Ephron, N. (Director). (2009). Julie and Julia [Motion picture]. United States: Columbia Pictures.

Ergonomics

I think that ergonomics is important when considering my activity of cooking. From past experiences i know how difficult it is to cook in a kitchen that has unfamiliar set up or uses different cooking tools. This can make the task at hand both awkward and time consuming. This issue is often seen when carrying out a kitchen assessment. In my past placements there have been many discussions around whether in ward kitchen assessments provide an accurate overview of the clients level of ability. This is because not only may the client be in a new environment but they also may be asked to carry out a task that they are not familiar with or a task they complete in a different way to what is considered 'normal'. As Caulton and Dickson (2007) discuss, activities need to be constantly adjusted to meet the needs of those involved with the particular activity as this will ensure that activities intended purpose is met. I believe this to very important, not just when cooking but when completing all tasks.

So far i have been involved with my activity of cooking most days. I have either felt the need to experiment and cook something new and exciting or i have cooked dinner with my flatmates. Most meals that i have made has involved different ingredients and methods of cooking. As i am more familiar with my environment than earlier in the year, i find it easier to adjust and take notice of certain cues to cook a meal. Cooking normally begins with a verbal cue of someone stating that they are hungry but this can normally be due to another cue such as an advert on TV about food, a rumbling stomach or smells from others cooking. The activity of cooking means a lot more to me know that i think about it in more detail. I have used what i have learnt in my course so far to evaluate each time i am involved in cooking. An example of this is the Person, Occupation and Environment framework. After making pasta the other night i was considering these three components:

Person - i was very relaxed as my flatmate and i were making the pasta together (which meant a smaller work load) and we had made this meal before several times so it was very familiar.
Occupation - the steps that we used to cook this meal were semi structured as we allocated tasks to each other, but we did not follow a recipe. We also tended to swap tasks every now and then such as cutting up onions.
Environment - this activity was made slightly more difficult as our kitchen was not clean. this meant that space was restricted and our first choice of equipment to make the meal was not available. However, the main components of our environment such as our oven, were not effected by this so the meal didn't take too much longer than normal to make.

These three areas are very helpful to use to think about before, during and after completing a task. I may consider them more in the future before starting to make a meal as it may mean the task is completed in a more effective way.

Participation in Occupation 2

Welcome to the second part to my Participation in Occupation paper. Participation in Occupation 2 focuses on my reflections of experiences involved with an activity of my choice. In our tutorial this week we discussed what activities are meaningful to us, what activities we do each day and what area these activities fit into. After discussing these points I have decided to focus on the activity of cooking!

Cooking

From a young age i have always been interested in cooking. I grew up with my mum cooking every meal from scratch, normally with fresh ingredients from her garden and off our farm. I always enjoyed helping mum with preparing meals and she has taught me just about everything i know about cooking. I believe that cooking is great example of teaching and learning as it can be done in many different ways, as everyone learns, teaches, and cooks differently. I have especially been aware of this when travelling as traditions are a big part of cooking. In cooking, measurements, methods, ingredients and recipes  can vary from country to country and from family to family. From my experiences, i believe that recipes can easily be adapted to suit the consumer. My mum has taught me what ingredients can substitute others, to slowly introduce flavours that are new to those eating it and that if something doesn't seem right, change it so you are happy with it. Growing up i was very fortunate to be able to experience seasonally fresh ingredients. This has lead me to finding cooking as something that is very expressive. I believe that you can tell a lot about a person by what colors, tastes, and textures they use. I chose the topic of cooking most importantly as i find it very relaxing. I cook almost everyday and find that after cooking something, no matter how simple it is, it is very rewarding. I have decided that i am going to cook 5 nights a week in my flat. This will sometimes be alongside my flat mates. I find it a challenge to prepare meals in my flat as not all ingredients are available due to cost. Cooking and OT link as cooking can be used as a way to grade someones level of independence and also give others a greater understanding of ones culture, belief and traditions. I am looking forward to furthering my skills as i believe cooking is a very important area of occupational therapy.