Food And Culture Essay

Culture is broadly defined as the beliefs, attitudes, values, customs, and habits accepted by a community of someones. Cultural behavior patterns are reinforced when a group is isolated by geography or segregated by socioeconomic status. Culture is learned, not inherited it is passed from generation to generation. The term fare habits refers to the ways in which humans hold regimen, including how nutrition is obtained and stored, how it is prepared, how it is served and to whom, and how it is consumed. A. H. Maslows supposition of human maturation as applied to intellectual nourishment habits explains how food single-valued function progresses from take in for existence to eating for self-actualization.1.Physical inevitably for survival Daily needs for nutrients must be met before more complex food use plunder occur.2.Social needs for security Once the immediate need for food is convenient, future needs can be and are considered. The storage of food, in a pantry or in a r efrigerator, may pay off security.3.Belongingness This use of food shows that an individual belongs to a group. The need to belong is satisfied by consuming the foods that are eaten by the accessible group as a whole. These foods represent comfort and happiness for many good deal during periods of accent or illness, mint often want the foods they ate during childhood.Sometimes people adopt a special diet to demonstrate belongingness. For example, African Americans who racy outside the South, may choose to eat what is called soul food (such as pork ribs and greens) on certain occasions as an expression of ethnical identity.Etiquette, the appropriate use of food, is also a way of demonstrating belongingness. Entirely unalike manners are required when lunching with business associates at an dear(predicate) restaurant, when attending a tea, when eating in a school cafeteria, when insobriety with friends at a bar, or whenpicnicking with a significant other.4.Status Food can be u sed to define social position. Champagne and caviar think of wealth, beans and potatoes are traditionally associated with the poor. Status foods are used for social interaction. When a man picks up his date, he brings her chocolates, not broccoli. Wine is considered an appropriate devote to the hostess, a gallon of milk is not.In general, eating with someone connotes social equality with that person. Many societies regulate who can dine together as a means of establishing class relationships. Women and children may eat separately from men, or servants may eat in the kitchen, away from their employers. This attempted separation by class was also seen in the U.S. restaurants that excluded African Americans before the civil rights ordinance of the 1960s.5.Self-realization This stage of food use occurs when all previous stages have been achieved to the individuals satisfaction. Personal preference takes precedence, and the individual may experiment with the foods of contrastive ethn ic or economic groups.Food and Culture in America. A Nutrition Handbook, 2nd Edition. Pamela Kittler & Kathryn P. Sucher. Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1998.Cultural PaperComplete a three to five page paper on the nutritional habits/customs, wellness beliefs and practices of a specific culture. As you prepare this paper, think about the issues address in the previous pages and how these influences shape a cultures eating habits. As your paper takes shape, you may want to include some of the interest points History of the specific cultureCommon food ritualsFood beliefs is food used symbolically, spiritually or does the culture use specific food/foods for therapeutic purposes? Are there any traditional or raw material foods used regularly in their diet. What is the meaning of this food? Do the people of the culture follow a specific daily pattern relate to diet and meals? Does the culture change their nutritional beliefs or have diametrical food customs throughout the lifecycle, fr om infancy to adult years, during pregnancy and nursling or during sickness and health? What did you learn about this culture? go through free to include personal experiences and any recipes to share with the class from this culture. divert include a minimum of two references published within the knightly five years from a reputable health/nutrition tie in journal and/or book. Suggestions include journal of the American Dietetic Association, diary of Nutrition Education, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition or Journal of the American Medical Association.