culture and food essay

Food as Culture: Cuisine, Food Customs, and Cultural Identity

Posted July 19, 2023 by Savannah Evans

Food is an essential part of every culture. It’s more than just a means of sustenance, but a way of expressing oneself, connecting with others, and passing on rich cultural heritage. Food is deeply ingrained in our cultural identity and serves as a representation of our heritage, history, and values. Here’s an in-depth look at food as culture .

Intangible Cultural Heritage

Food is considered a part of intangible cultural heritage, a way of life that is passed down from generation to generation. Traditional recipes, cooking techniques, and dining etiquette can reflect the values and beliefs of different communities and are all vital parts of cultural heritage. The UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list includes many dishes and food-related customs and traditions, including:

Al-Mansaf, a festive banquet in Jordan
Harissa from Tunisia
Traditional tea processing techniques and social practices in China
Culture of Ukrainian borscht cooking
Palov culture and tradition in Uzbekistan
Arabic coffee, a symbol of generosity in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and the UAE

Traditional Food and Local Cuisine

Traditional food is an integral part of cultural identity. The food itself and the associated preparation techniques and social customs serve as a reminder of the past and provide a connection to historic and cultural roots.

In Italy, for example, food is not just about sustenance, but also about family, community, and tradition. Italians have a rich culinary history that dates back to ancient times, with important traditional dishes such as pasta and pizza. The Italian food experience centers not only on taste, but on sharing meals with loved ones, the pleasure of cooking, and pride in their culinary heritage.

Similarly, in Japan, food and cultural identity are closely tied. Japanese cuisine is known for its simplicity, elegance, and attention to detail. The preparation and presentation of traditional Japanese dishes like sushi, tempura, and ramen are considered an art form. Japanese food culture pays attention to the aesthetics and symbolism of food, and honors culturally rooted respect for nature and tradition.

Countries may also find their culture defined by a certain food— a national dish. A national dish is a culinary dish that is widely considered to be a country’s most representative or iconic food. It’s strongly associated with a particular country and its culture, and often has a long history and deep cultural significance. National dishes may have regional variations, but are generally recognized and enjoyed throughout the country. Examples of national dishes include sushi in Japan, paella in Spain, pizza in Italy, and hamburgers in the United States.

In these ways, food can define and perpetuate culture. Yet food customs and dining etiquette are not only important for preserving cultural identity, but also for promoting cultural diversity and understanding. Food can serve as a bridge between different cultures, allowing people to learn about and appreciate other ways of life.

In the US, immigrants have brought their traditional dishes and culinary practices with them, enriching American cuisine and creating a cultural melting pot. Foods such as pizza, tacos, and sushi have become staples of American cuisine, reflecting the diverse backgrounds of its citizens. This cultural blending can also lead to unique local cuisine and traditions, like the Cajun and Creole cuisines of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Dining Etiquette and Sharing Meals

Food also plays a significant role in social interactions and rituals. It is often the centerpiece of celebrations and gatherings, such as weddings, birthdays, and holidays. Traditional dishes are passed down from generation to generation, and family recipes are cherished and kept secret. The preparation and sharing of food can bring people together and create a sense of community and belonging.

In addition to fostering cultural preservation and belonging, cultural foods and traditional food customs can also promote good nutrition and health. Traditional foods are often made with fresh, locally sourced ingredients and prepared using traditional cooking methods that have been passed down for generations. As a result, they tend to be healthier and more nutrient-dense than processed or fast foods. Traditional diets are also typically rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats, which can help lower the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers.

To keep traditional food and dining etiquette alive, it is important to educate and pass down these practices to future generations. Schools and cultural organizations can offer cooking classes and workshops to teach traditional recipes and techniques. Families can share their recipes and cooking traditions with their children and grandchildren, ensuring that they are passed down to future generations. Traditional restaurants and markets can also play a role in preserving cultural heritage by promoting traditional dishes and ingredients.

Honoring Cultural Foods and Heritage Through Food Bank Services

Food Banks should pay special attention to the link between food and culture to ensure that everyone has access to fresh, healthy, and culturally significant food. Traditional foods and customs are an essential part of cultural identity and heritage, and should be accessible to keep cultural heritage alive and create a more diverse and inclusive society.

While traditionally viewed as providers of emergency sustenance, food banks like the SLO Food Bank are increasingly embracing the role of preserving and honoring cultural foods and heritage. Recognizing the vital role that food plays in cultural identity and comfort, many food banks now source a diverse range of culturally specific foods from different global cuisines.

This shift is not just about hunger alleviation; it’s about providing food that nourishes the body and the soul, acknowledging and respecting the cultural diversity of our communities. By doing so, food banks affirm the importance of cultural foods and heritage, fostering a sense of community and belonging among the recipients.

Here at the SLO Food Bank, we:

Source fresh foods from a variety of sources: We source food from wholesalers, USDA commodities, and more, while also rescuing food from local farms, households, and grocery stores. This wide network allows us to bring in the greatest variety of food so that we can offer food choice whenever possible.
Encourage choice-based services with Agency Partners: We work with our Agency Partners and Hunger Relief Network to encourage programs, meals, and pantries to offer a variety of choices, if possible, for neighbors to pick up foods that work best for their lifestyle and culture.
Share recipes and educational resources to support nutrition across global cuisines: Our seasonal recipes include a range of cultural dishes, such as Rice and Beans With Carnitas , Canned Salmon Sushi Rolls , and Shakshuka . We also offer information for nutrition education, including Spanish language resources . These offerings help us reach the breadth of our community and foster principles of inclusion and food justice.
Connect people with vital financial resources for food: We aim to connect our community with essential resources like CalFresh, which can support food budgets and empower people to partake in the meals and foods that connect them to their culture, heritage, and identity.

The accessibility of culturally specific foods plays a key role in the preservation of heritage and the expression of identity. Food is often deeply intertwined with traditions, customs, and memories, and can serve as an important touchstone for individuals navigating multicultural landscapes. Food access is not just a matter of nutrition and physical health, but also a vital component of cultural continuity, community belonging, and personal identity. Here at the SLO Food Bank, we are committed to providing that access and supporting the rich cultural diversity and health of the community we all call home.

About the SLO Food Bank

We at the SLO Food Bank believe that everyone has the right to nutritious food. That’s why we work hard to ensure access to fresh food for everyone in our community. We structure our programs in a few different ways to make fresh produce more accessible and affordable for those who need it. We also promote food assistance programs like CalFresh , while also hosting food distributions in the most rural areas of our county, where a grocery store may be more than 50 miles away.

With our network of community partners in San Luis Obispo, we strive to alleviate hunger and to build a healthier community. If you’re in the area, check out our Food Locator to find food sources near you, or support our cause through volunteer opportunities or donations , if you are able to give. With reliable access to wholesome food, we are all healthier, happier, and more productive members of our communities. Donate today to help us bring health and happiness to San Luis Obispo County!

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Int J Environ Res Public Health

Why We Eat the Way We Do: A Call to Consider Food Culture in Public Health Initiatives

Edwina mingay.

1 School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia; ua.ude.niws@gnooys (S.Y.); [email protected] (A.H.)

2 Hunter Medical Research Institute, New Lambton Heights, Newcastle, NSW 2305, Australia

Melissa Hart

3 School of Health Sciences, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia; [email protected]

4 Hunter New England Mental Health Service, Waratah, Newcastle, NSW 2298, Australia

Serene Yoong

5 Hunter New England Population Health, Wallsend, Newcastle, NSW 2287, Australia

6 School of Health Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Melbourne, VIC 3122, Australia

Alexis Hure

The way we eat has changed dramatically in only a few decades. While definitions of food culture have previously existed, a clear description of modern food culture that can be used for health promotion is lacking. In this paper, we propose a concept of food culture for application within public health, what a positive food culture looks like compared to negative elements that have dominated in developed countries and the consequences for physical and mental health and wellbeing. We support calls to action from the international community to reconsider the way we eat. All segments of society have a role to play in building a positive food culture, and it is critical that macro (policy and systems) and meso (community) level environmental factors align and provide supportive environments that promote health-enhancing behaviours. Defining food culture is a necessary step towards articulating the complexities that influence food behaviours and impact health. The ultimate goal is collective action to enable population-wide and sustained improvements to the way we eat, and how we think and feel about food.

1. Introduction

The way we engage with and consume food has changed dramatically in only a few decades with changes to food systems and environments that have exacerbated poor eating patterns and food choices [ 1 ]. The negative impact of these changes on physical and mental health and wellbeing at a population level is a global priority [ 2 ]. Dietary risk factors are driving the global burden of disease, including mental health, which have escalated in both developed and developing nations [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. In 2016, more than 2.2 billion people worldwide were overweight or obese [ 7 ], and it has been projected that without change to current policies, global levels could increase to 3.28 billion people by 2030 (from 1.33 billion in 2005) which represents one third of the projected global population and increased burden of disease [ 2 ]. Globally in 2017, 11 million deaths and 255 million disability adjusted life years were attributable to dietary risk factors, in particular diets high in sodium, and low in fruit, wholegrains, nuts and seeds, vegetables, and seafood omega-3 fatty acids [ 8 ]. These findings provide a stark reminder of the significant relationship between diet quality and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) which has been examined extensively and is well recognised [ 8 , 9 , 10 ]. For example, diet is a primary risk factor for type 2 diabetes, which ranked as the ninth leading cause of mortality worldwide in 2017 (from eighteenth in 1990) and affected 462 million people (6.28% of the population); a prevalence rate of 6059 per 100,000 that is projected to rise to 7079 per 100,000 by 2030 [ 11 ]. Importantly, diet is a preventable risk factor, highlighting the need to improve dietary practices, with contributions from all segments of society [ 8 ]. Peak authoritative bodies, including the World Health Organization, are calling for a shift in, or at least a share of, focus from treating disease to promoting health and more sustainable food systems that deliver healthy diets for all and promote lasting health-enhancing behaviours [ 2 , 10 , 12 , 13 ].

In response to this, we call for an approach that directs focus towards a positive food culture that extends beyond individual level factors to include the influence of social, economic, technological and political factors that have re-shaped our foodways and changed habitual behaviours and beliefs (cultural considerations) around food and eating [ 14 ]. To date, efforts to improve healthy eating have largely focused on strategies in isolation that target behaviour change at an individual level [ 15 , 16 ]. However, without strategies that incorporate and target environmental, behavioural and cultural determinants to influence habitual food behaviours, values and beliefs, it is unsurprising that most of these strategies on their own show limited effects for health gains and longer-term efficacy [ 17 , 18 ]. The promise of current nutrition interventions in achieving population wide health gains is clearly not being achieved. It is time to act with vision and leadership, challenging traditional ways of improving public health nutrition and investing in strategies that are likely to benefit many, over time, and for future generations. We join Hedegaard (2016) and support the need to define and understand the vast and complex components that influence eating patterns and subsequently shape food culture [ 14 ], and Block et al. (2011) who propose a shift in paradigm towards ‘food as wellbeing’ to capture social and cultural considerations for our understanding of the role of food in our lives [ 19 ]. Food culture has always existed but has not been consistently defined. In this manuscript, we seek to define food culture to fill this gap, and in doing so, highlight its significance, and call for its application within public health. We explore the detrimental changes to food culture among developed countries, and highlight opportunities and examples where understanding what a positive food culture looks like can help improve the design and longer-term efficacy of nutrition-related health promotion efforts to ultimately improve habitual food behaviours, values and beliefs going forward.

2. Food Culture Explained

Culture within social anthropology has been described by Wolcott (2008) as “the various ways different groups go about their lives and to the belief systems associated with that behaviour” [ 20 ]. Applying this concept, here within, we refer to food culture as what we do, think and feel around food as an individual or group, within the social and environmental constructs at that time. Our food culture is influenced by food-related drivers that extend beyond individual factors to include our surrounding environments, food socialisation and cultural practices (people, place, policy and time) that interact (directly and indirectly), are highly influential for food choice, and shape the way we eat. Importantly, it encompasses cultivated and shared knowledge and behaviours through inherited ideas, and learning and accumulated experience throughout our lives that mould our beliefs and values around, and relationship with, food and eating. Food culture drivers include:

Our social milieu : close relationships and extended influencers from the media; our interactions, behaviours, ways of thinking and understanding of food, that create social norms through exposure and accumulated experience [ 21 ].
Place : physical settings within the home, workplace, neighbourhood, educational settings that we occupy to engage with and consume food.
Guidelines : rules, expectations and instructions within a society that guide people around food-related behaviour [ 21 ].
Food literacy : cultivated and transmitted food literacy across generations, influenced by temporal (perception of time) and spatial (perception of physical space) dimensions, cultural practices, economic resources, and habitual behaviours linked to global and traditional changes to food procurement, selection, preparation and consumption [ 22 , 23 ].
Food systems : the activities that encompass paddock to plate to disposal practices, shaped by policy, economics, and health, ethical and sustainability concerns [ 2 , 24 ].

Food culture expresses identity and meaning, links to dietary patterns, and therefore impacts health and wellbeing. It has always existed, and elements have been explored and described; particularly within sociology, public health literature and recent dietary guidelines [ 21 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. Parallel influences can be drawn from the health promotion and public health literature, including policy and ecological frameworks [ 1 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ], and principles from the Ottawa Charter [ 31 ] and the Constitution of the World Health Organization [ 32 ] that remain firmly relevant today.

Our food culture is closely linked to our surrounding food environments. We argue for the application of food culture within public health to expand the lens and consider cultural and symbolic meanings around food and eating within our food environments. Applying a food culture lens forces the opportunity to question how food culture is represented within each environment where we engage with and consume food. Is it one that considers and promotes a positive and supportive approach to food behaviours, and contributes to moulding positive values and beliefs around food and eating for individuals and communities? Or is it one that diminishes the vital contribution food plays in our lives that encompasses a broad umbrella over health, wellbeing, socialisation, knowledge and skills, access and availability, values and beliefs.

Exploring food culture in the way we approach nutrition interventions enables a holistic picture of the complexities that shape our food behaviours within society, the structure that provides organisation for people. This includes characteristics of all segments of society (individuals, families, communities, businesses, industries, organisations, governments) to build our understanding of why we eat the way we do. Food behaviours “are not universal, natural or inevitable” [ 21 ], nor are they static. This challenges us to think about the whole of food culture being greater than the sum of its parts.

3. Detrimental Changes to Food Culture

The way we engage with and consume food has changed. Globalisation of food, urbanisation, information technology, social and lifestyle changes all contribute to moulding the environment in which we live. It is suggested that these changes have played a significant role in shaping the population’s eating behaviours, and therefore the risk and burden of non-communicable conditions, including mental health [ 5 , 14 , 27 , 33 ].

The globalisation of food has impacts on food choices, habitual food behaviours and nutrient intake. Our modern food systems are characterised by inequitable availability and accessibility to safe and nutritionally adequate food [ 2 ]. More foods than before have been manufactured, refined, repackaged and branded. Choice has expanded with increased imports, abundant convenience and ultra-processed foods [ 5 , 34 ]. For the most part, this has led to poorer nutritional quality alternatives than the original wholefoods [ 5 , 35 , 36 ]. In supermarkets and convenience stores, low-nutritional quality food at low cost is readily available and heavily marketed, often targeting vulnerable groups [ 37 , 38 ]. Super-sized portions, portable foods and beverages, and take-away meals have displaced social and cultural functions of the home-prepared meals that were typically shared around the dining table [ 5 ].

Urbanisation and increased parental workforce hours have increased time away from home and changed the way lives are structured [ 39 ]. Time constraints faced as a result demand time-saving food sourcing and preparation towards convenience foods that are associated with poorer nutritional quality [ 36 , 40 ]. Population level evidence indicates urban populations consume more meals away from the home environment [ 39 ]. We hypothesise such social changes have decreased the transfer of food knowledge and skills from family and carers to younger generations, including a loss of skills, value, celebration and ritual around food.

The information age brings information overload and quickly spread exposure to socio-cultural influence (norms and values) and Western ideals. Competing nutrition messages and body misrepresentations through all forms of media is commonplace, creating confusion about food choices and body image, and increasing the risk of disordered eating patterns [ 41 , 42 ]. This includes idealised body shapes with unrealistic body fat composition or muscular physique. Body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviour are now common across social class, age and gender [ 43 , 44 , 45 ]. At the same time, there is increasing noise about ‘diets’, ‘obesity’ and the ‘thin ideal’. There has been an explosion of weight loss, or fad diets and products that are often commercially driven. They promise a quick fix without supporting evidence, and may compromise essential nutrient intake, organ function and ongoing health [ 46 , 47 ]. Without adequate media and food literacy, this poses challenges for younger generations to navigate, develop and practice health-promoting behaviours. The voice of reason, founded on scientific evidence, and positive values around food and eating gets lost amongst the noise of sensationalised media and marketing.

4. Health Promotion, Not Disease Deficit

The detrimental changes to food culture highlight a need for public health initiatives to focus on promoting healthy food-related behaviours, as a whole, to predominate, and change the way we think and feel about food and eating. The financial cost and intangibility of outcomes, has often led to a lack of investment in health promotion that facilitates a positive food culture, while significant investment in curative approaches continue [ 48 ]. Authorities are urging for greater investment, arguing initiatives that promote health-enhancing behaviours is offset by the reduced cost in treating disease [ 48 ].

Recurring themes resonate throughout calls to action from the international community to drive commitment towards food-related action to improve population-wide health. This includes calls for policy action, a multi-sectoral approach, creation of health-enhancing environments, regulatory action, investment, education and information, community awareness, early intervention, a life course approach and targeted efforts for priority populations [ 3 , 13 , 49 , 50 ]. In addition, climate change and the greenhouse gas contributions from farming practices and food production, demand a new approach to foodways and our attitudes around food and eating [ 12 ]. The United Nations (UN) Decade of Action on Nutrition 2016–2025 [ 13 ], and more recently, the EAT-Lancet Commission on Healthy Diets from Sustainable Sources [ 3 ] are important initiatives that align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and call for healthier, more sustainable dietary intakes that are accessible for all.

Advances in dietary guidelines reflect the need for a fresh approach, highlighting the importance of environmental and policy interventions that promote and direct people and populations towards knowledge building, and practicing health-enhancing behaviours. The recently updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020–2025, provides a public health framework that promotes continuity of healthy eating patterns (as a whole rather than isolating foods and nutrients) across different life stages, recognising the benefits of developing healthy habits for life course disease prevention. The guidelines focus on nutrient-dense options across food groups to meet nutritional needs, which can be customised to reflect personal preferences, cultural traditions, and budgets; the focus is on health promotion across multiple settings, not disease deficit [ 51 ]. The guidelines have been said to fall short in addressing the link between dietary practices and planetary health [ 52 ], though they do recognise the important contribution from all segments of society to support healthy choices.

Other examples include the Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population which adapts a social-ecological model to illustrate the need for collective action; recognising everyone has a role to play to promote healthy eating practices. The principles focus on fresh or minimally processed foods, social and cultural dimensions of food choice, modes of eating (time, focus, place and company), environmental sustainability and the right to adequate and healthy food; the overall emphasis is the participation of all [ 26 ]. The Canadian Dietary Guidelines 2019 extends healthy eating recommendations beyond the numbers on the plate to include consideration to food behaviours (where, when, why and how we eat). This includes mindful eating, cooking more often, enjoying your food, eating with others, and the benefits of learned and shared skills from others [ 25 ]. This is consistent with our description of food culture above.

5. Opportunities and Potential Solutions to the Current Challenges

A positive food culture aims to preserve and nurture good health and wellbeing, and promotes positive food behaviours, values and beliefs through both collective and independent efforts from each segment of society. Producing sustained change to the way we think and feel about food and eating is indeed challenging and ambitious. Multi-strategy opportunities and potential solutions are sought to achieve incremental gains across multiple levels, that are interconnected. To this effect, the World Cancer Research Fund developed the NOURISHING Framework which is an example of a viable tool to guide action across multiple levels to improve dietary behaviours and prevent obesity and NCDs. The framework identifies three domains (food environment, food system, behaviour change communication) and ten accompanying policy areas that can be adopted to suit populations’ varying community and national contexts [ 53 ]. In addition, it is a valuable resource that includes a database of initiatives that have been implemented around the world.

The aim of building a positive food culture is to consolidate the incremental gains, generate momentum and ultimately impact habitual change across communities, households and individuals alike. Opportunities and potential solutions include, but are not limited to:

Government and peak authoritative bodies : policy, priorities and dietary guidelines to align around positive food culture, promoting a common goal [ 54 ]. A positive food culture could be placed at the forefront as a key construct in dietary guidelines and policy development; importantly, to foster public trust and provide supportive environments that promote health-enhancing behaviours and sustainable practices [ 5 , 52 ].
Educators : to align teaching material with consistent, evidence-based food and nutrition recommendations in conjunction with environmental impacts and promotion of healthy body image. Schools provide an ideal platform to promote positive food behaviours among young people, and build knowledge, skills, confidence and media literacy [ 55 , 56 , 57 ]. For example, Australian initiatives targeting schools include the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program which delivers interactive and hands-on food education with the aim to build positive and pleasurable food habits for life [ 58 , 59 ], and the recently launched Butterfly Body Bright promoting positive attitudes and behaviours around eating and our bodies [ 60 ]. Both initiatives endeavour to influence values and beliefs around food and eating.
Physical settings that provide a food service : settings such as schools, childcare, workplace, recreational facilities, community programs, retail, restaurants, and catering to offer appealing dining spaces or environments that encourage positive food-related behaviours. For example, table displays, presentation and layout of food, and health-promoting menus and messaging. These are examples of behavioural economics principles that have been implemented in a range of dining settings that ‘nudge’ people towards healthier food selection and consumption [ 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 ]. In particular, health promoting schools have the opportunity to reach large numbers of students, provide health-enhancing environments, and reduce disparities [ 67 ]. For example, adopting behavioural economics principles in the United States, the Smarter Lunchroom Movement offers schools a suite of low or no-cost evidence-based strategies to promote healthy school lunch options and reduce food waste [ 68 , 69 ]. School meal programs around the world contribute to social cohesion, and aim to improve school attendance and provide access to nutritionally balanced meals [ 70 ].
Food systems : to prioritise the accessibility and affordability of safe and nutritionally adequate food for all people, with consideration to environmental impacts, cultural and traditional practices, and prioritising wholefoods over processed foods [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 36 ]. We can turn to the multi-layered nature of the Mediterranean Diet and the extensive literature that has exposed health benefits, enhanced quality of life, low environmental impacts and positive food values and behaviours [ 71 , 72 ]. The development of the Med Diet 4.0 framework and an updated Mediterranean Diet Pyramid have ensued, incorporating sustainability and environmental food system considerations alongside nutrition and health needs of populations and individuals [ 71 , 73 ].
Food literacy : programs across a range of settings (for example, local communities, families and schools) to be promoted and evaluated with the goal to improve food and nutrition knowledge, hands-on skills, confidence and decision making around food selection and preparation. Longitudinal studies of cooking skills have indicated sustained skills, and positive outcomes around confidence and eating behaviours [ 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 ].
Marketing and media : to prioritise the promotion of healthy body image, food choices and eating behaviours using appropriate language and messaging; an important medium for promoting positive attitudes around healthy eating and body image. Exposure to ideal body images, prescriptive dieting, and manipulative food marketing for general populations should be minimised. For example, an intervention designed to target adolescent values (autonomy from adult control and desire for social justice) and reframe food marketing to reject junk food in favour of healthy alternatives, found sustained change in dietary attitudes and food choices [ 37 ]. Without socio-cultural changes to what is portrayed in the media, realistic and positive body image representations and longer-term healthy eating behaviours will be difficult to achieve.
Home environment : positive food behaviours in the home to be demonstrated and encouraged. The home environment plays a significant role in developing food literacy and habitual behaviours [ 78 ]. Importantly, behaviours can track from childhood and adolescence to adulthood [ 79 , 80 , 81 ], and across generations [ 82 ]. The need for a healthy start to life and the first 1000 days is well recognised [ 83 ]; and the subsequent 7000 days should not be underserved, but rather early gains secured with continued focus on building healthy behaviours during the transition to adulthood [ 84 ]. Raising children and adolescents within a positive food culture is one component of this.
Organisations and community groups : continued efforts from groups to combat the degradation of wholefoods. For example, the Slow Food Movement, local farmers markets, community gardens and food festivals [ 85 , 86 , 87 ]. While these initiatives are considered niche rather than mainstream, they promote a hands-on approach where wholefoods and socialisation around food is celebrated. They build knowledge, skills and confidence, and empower people and communities to connect with food and expand their exposure and experience. However, it is recognised there are economic and physical determinants that influence affordability, availability, and accessibility to such opportunities. Barriers may include low income and food literacy, availability of food assistance programs in different countries, geographical locations where people live and associated neighbourhood food environments, transport links, environmental conditions, and seasonality of food. An example of efforts to overcome access and improve food culture for those on low income, in the United States it is recommended that farmers markets are expanded to multiple settings, and food assistance programs such as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) extend benefits to farmers markets purchases and offer related nutrition education [ 88 ].

Cultural considerations in the public health nutrition sphere requires changing beliefs, values and attitudes towards healthy eating patterns, which are vital for the longevity, and transfer of shared and learned food behaviours across generations; “to exist with some permanency through time and across space” [ 89 ]. The suggestions above aim to influence our belief systems and behaviour patterns towards sustained change and a positive food culture. There remains heavy work towards disseminating the importance and practice of sustainable diets alongside healthy food choices and behaviours, which reinforces the significance of food culture within population and planetary health for further consideration.

6. Conclusions

Understanding our current food culture is necessary to articulate the complexities that influence our food behaviours, values and beliefs, and have important implications for physical and mental health and wellbeing. Food culture provides the rationale to target multi-strategy multi-level nutrition interventions that incorporate environmental, behavioural and cultural elements to influence habitual food behaviours, values and beliefs. What is clear is that at a population level we need to foster health-promoting and supportive environments to enable population-wide improvements to the way we eat, and how we think and feel about food and our bodies.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, E.M., M.H., S.Y. and A.H.; writing-original draft preparation, E.M.; writing-review and editing, E.M., M.H., S.Y. and A.H.; supervision, M.H., S.Y. and A.H. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

This research received no external funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Conflicts of interest.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

14.3 Food and Cultural Identity

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Describe the relationship between food and cultural identity.
Contrast food prescriptions with food proscriptions.
Illustrate the connection between food and gender.

Food and Cultural Identity

Food travels across cultures perhaps more often and with more ease than any other tradition. Sometimes food carries with it related culinary practices (such as the use of chopsticks), and sometimes foods mix with existing culinary traditions to form new syncretic cuisines (such as Tex-Mex food, which evolved from a combination of Mexican and US Southwest food traditions). Like culture itself, foods are shared within and move between communities, adapting to changing circumstances and settings. Although it is adaptable, food is also tightly linked to people’s cultural identities , or the ways they define and distinguish themselves from other groups of people. As part of these cultural identities, the term cuisine is used to refer to specific cultural traditions of cooking, preparing, and consuming food. While urban areas tend to shift and adapt cuisine more frequently than rural areas, those aspects of cuisine most tightly linked to identity tend to change slowly in all settings.

In her research on Japanese food and identity, cultural anthropologist, and Japanese scholar Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney (1993, 1995) explores the sociocultural construction of rice as a dominant metaphor for the Japanese people. Using evidence from official decrees, taxation documents, myths, rituals, woodblock prints, and poetry, Ohnuki-Tierney traces the long history of rice cultivation in Japan. Introduced from China, rice agriculture began during the Yamato period (250–710 CE). While the Chinese preferred long-grain rice, the Japanese cultivated short-grain rice, which they considered the only pure form of rice. During this period, a series of myths connecting short-grain rice to Japanese deities emerged in folktales and historical documents—evidence of Japanese efforts to distinguish themselves from the Chinese, who also relied on rice as an important source of calories. Over the years, rice developed into a staple crop that Japanese landowners used as a form of tax payment, indicating strong connections between Japanese land, Japanese short-grain rice, and the Japanese landowning elite. By the early modern period (1603–1868), as Japan became increasingly urban and eventually industrialized, agricultural life declined. People moved off the land and into cities, and rice began to take on new meanings. Symptomatic of a cultural identity strongly rooted in national history, rice became an increasingly sacred symbol of Japanese identity—a cultural memory with a long history that consistently tied being Japanese to eating domestic Japanese rice. As Japan opened to interactions with Western nations, the Japanese continued to use rice as a metaphor for national identity: while the Japanese referred to themselves as “rice-eaters,” they referred to Western peoples as “meat-eaters.”

For years, Japan has had a ban on importing any foreign-grown rice, even California export rice, which is primarily the Japanese short-grain variety and available at a significantly lower price. In 1993, Japan suffered a growing season that was colder and wetter than normal and had a low-producing rice harvest. US rice exporters were able to negotiate a trade deal allowing some limited rice exports to Japan. Yet most of this rice remained in warehouses, untouched. Japanese people complained that it was full of impurities and did not taste good. Today, on average, Japanese people consume only about 160 grams of rice daily, half of what they consumed 40 years ago (Coleman 2017). Yet their cultural and symbolic connection with domestic Japanese rice remains strong. Japanese short-grain rice is still referred to as shushoku , “the main dish” (Ohnuki-Tierney 1993, 16)—the symbolic centerpiece, even though it is now more frequently a small side dish in a more diverse cuisine. Ohnuki-Tierney notes that rice plays a particularly important role in the Japanese sense of community:

Not only during ritual occasions, but also in the day-to-day lives of the Japanese, rice and rice products play a crucial role in commensal activities. Cooked white rice is offered daily to the family ancestral alcove. Also, rice is the only food shared at meals, served by the female head of the household, while other dishes are placed in individual containers. Rice stands for “we,” i.e., whatever social group one belongs to, as in a common expression, “to eat from the same rice-cooking pan,” which connotes a strong sense of fellowship arising from sharing meals. (1995, 229)

Although the meaning of rice has shifted during different historical periods—from a comparison between short-grain Japanese and long-grain Chinese rice to a way to distinguish rice-eating Japanese from meat-eating Westerners, then to a measure of the quality of what is grown in Japanese versus less desirable imported rice—the Japanese continue to hold a cultural identity closely connected with rice. Being Japanese means eating Japanese rice still today.

The relationship between food and cultural identity is readily apparent in Western societies. Most grocery stores have aisles containing goods labeled as “international foods” or “ethnic foods,” and large urban areas often include neighborhoods featuring a conglomeration of restaurants serving diverse cuisines. In Washington, DC, the neighborhood of Adams Morgan is famous for its ethnic restaurants. Walking down the street, one might smell the mouthwatering aroma of injera , a sour, fermented flatbread from Ethiopia, or bún bò hu? , spicy lemongrass beef soup from Vietnam. Think about your own town and nearby urban areas. Where do you go to try new foods and dishes from other cultures?

Food Prescriptions and Proscriptions

As with all cultural institutions, there are various rules and customs surrounding food and eating. Many of these can be classified as either food prescriptions , foods that one should eat and are considered culturally appropriate, or food proscriptions , foods that are prohibited and not considered proper. These food regulations are social norms that connect production and consumption with the maintenance of cultural identity through food.

In the previous section, you read about the importance of Japanese short-grain rice as a symbol of Japanese identity. For many Japanese people, short-grain rice is a food prescription, something that they feel they should eat. Food prescriptions are common across cultures and nation-states, especially in regard to special holidays. There are many examples: turkey on Thanksgiving in the United States, corned beef on St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland, special breads, and candy figurines on Día de los Muertos in Mexico, saffron bread and ginger biscuits on St. Lucia Day in Sweden, or mutton curry and rice on Eid al-Fitr in Muslim countries. Food prescriptions are also common in the celebration of commemorative events, such as the cakes eaten at birthday parties and weddings, or the enchiladas and tamales prepared for a quinceañera celebrating a young Latin American woman’s 15th birthday. Most of these occasions involve feasts , which are elaborate meals shared among a large group of people and featuring symbolically meaningful foods.

One interesting example is the food eaten to mark the Dragon Boat Festival (Dragon Boat Festival, also called Duanwu), held in China on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar year. There are various origin stories for the Dragon Boat Festival. In one of them, the festival commemorates a beloved Chinese poet and government minister named Qu Yuan (ca. 340–206 BCE), who fell out of imperial favor and died by suicide, drowning himself. According to the story, people threw sticky rice dumplings into the river where he had drowned himself in order to distract the fish so that they could retrieve his body and give him a proper burial. The most important Dragon Boat food is zongzi , a sticky rice dumpling with different fillings, but the feast also traditionally includes eel, sticky rice cakes, boiled eggs, jiandui (a wheat ball covered in sesame seeds), pancakes with fillings, and wine.

Food proscriptions, also called food taboos , are also common across cultures and contribute to establishing and maintaining a group’s identity. Often, these rules and regulations about what not to eat originate in religious beliefs. Two examples are the vegetarianism practiced by many Hindus, which is grounded in the spiritual principle of ahimsa (nonviolence in relation to all living things), and kashrut , a Jewish principle that forbids mixing meat and dairy foods or eating pork or shellfish. Sometimes food proscriptions are active for limited periods of time. For many Christians, especially Catholics, the 40 days of Lent, a period of religious reflection commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert, are a time when people give up certain foods or drinks to make a symbolic sacrifice. For many Catholics, this means fasting (withholding a measure of food) throughout the period and/or totally abstaining from meat on the special days of Ash Wednesday and Good Friday:

For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onwards. (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops n.d.)

Muslims observe Ramadan , a month-long commemoration of the prophet Muhammad receiving the revelations of the Quran, by fasting every day from sunup to sundown. The Islamic fast entails a prohibition on food and drink, including water. Every evening after sundown, Muslims eat a large meal that include fruits, vegetables, and dates to rehydrate for the next day’s fast.

Some food prohibitions are customary and tied more to ancient cultural traditions than religion. Many food prohibitions pertain to meat. Among several East African groups, there is a prohibition against eating fish of any kind. This is called the Cushitic fish taboo because the prohibitions are found among many, but not all, cultural groups whose languages are part of the Cushite family, such as the Somali, Masaai, and Bantu peoples. Horsemeat was historically consumed infrequently in the United States until it was outlawed in 2005, primarily because of toxins in the meat related to the butchering process. Even before then, horsemeat in mainstream US society was a food prohibition. However, it is consumed throughout Europe, where there are butchers solely devoted to handling horsemeat.

An interesting case of food rules and regulations across cultures is cannibalism , the act of eating an individual of one’s own species. Although we do not usually think of human flesh as a menu item, in some cultures it is considered a kind of food, typically eaten as symbolic nutrition and identity. U.S. cultural and medical anthropologist Beth Conklin (1995) and Brazilian cultural anthropologist Aparecida Vilaça (2002) conducted research among the Wari’ of western Amazonia in Brazil and found that prior to evangelization by Christian missionaries in the 1960s, the Wari’ practiced two different types of cannibalism: endocannibalism , or eating members of one’s own cultural group, and exocannibalism , or eating those who are “foreign” or outside of one’s cultural group. Each form of cannibalism was associated with its own beliefs, practices, and symbolism.

The Wari’ belief system is based on the principle that only the Wari’ are real people. All non-Wari’ others, people and animals alike, are not humans and thus can be considered meat (Vilaça 2002, 358). When speaking of the practice recognized by anthropologists as exocannibalism, the Wari’ did not consider themselves to be practicing cannibalism at all; they saw non-Wari’ people as not fully human and classified them as a type of prey. Endocannibalism was understood differently. Endocannibalism among the Wari’ was practiced as part of the mourning process and understood as a way of honoring a Wari’ person who had died. Following a death, the immediate family of the deceased arranged for non-kin and relatives by marriage to dress and prepare the body by dismembering, roasting, and eating virtually all of it. Consuming the flesh of the deceased was considered the ultimate act of respect, as the remains were not buried in the ground but in the living bodies of other Wari’. Once eaten by non-family Wari’, the deceased could transform from humans into spirits and eventually return as prey animals to provide food for the living. For Conklin, this practice indicates mutualism , or the relationship between people and animals through the medium of food and eating:

For Wari’, ... the magic of existence lies in the commonality of human and animal identities, in the movements between the human and nonhuman worlds embodied in the recognition through cannibalism of human participation in both poles of the dynamic of eating and being eaten. (Conklin 1995, 95)

Cannibalism has been associated with many cultures, sometimes accompanying warfare or imperial expansion, as in the case of the Aztecs (Isaac 2002), and sometimes as a means of showing respect for and establishing kinship with the deceased (see Lindenbaum 1979 for an example in Papua New Guinea). Although there have been scholarly arguments around the nature and frequency of cannibalism (Arens 1979), there is increasing evidence that this was a practiced norm in many human societies. Some religions also incorporate symbolic cannibalism as a way of identifying with the deity.

Food can be deeply symbolic and plays an important role in every culture. Whether foods are prescribed or prohibited, each culture constructs meanings around what they define as food and the emotional attachments they have to what they eat. Consider your own plate when you next sit down to eat. What meanings are attached to the different foods that you choose? What memories do different foods evoke?

Food and Gender

While food itself is a material substance, humans classify and categorize foods differently based on cultural differences and family traditions. In many cultures, food is gendered, meaning some foods or dishes are associated with one gender more than with the other. Think about your own culture. If you were cooking a meal for only women or only men, would that influence the foods you chose to prepare? Although gender-specific food choices are stereotypes of male and female dietary preferences and every person has their own individual preferences, many social institutions and entertainment venues cater to gendered diets.

When the television show Man v. Food , a show devoted to “big food” and eating challenges, premiered on the Travel Channel in 2008, it had some of the highest ratings of any show on that channel. Many of the foods showcased are those stereotypically associated with men (burgers, potatoes, ribs, fried chicken), and the host participates in local food-eating competitions, highlighting regional cuisines around the United States. In this show, food functions as a sporting activity under extreme conditions.
Food delivery business GrubHub did a study of male and female ordering preferences in 2013–2014 at some 30,000 different restaurants in more than 700 US cities to “better understand takeout and delivery” (GrubHub 2018). In their results, they noted some significant differences between men’s and women’s ordering habits. Pizza was the most popular item for both men and women, but among other selections, women tended to order more healthy options, such as salads, sushi, and vegetable dishes, and men ordered more meat and chicken, with the most popular choices being General Tso’s chicken, chicken parmesan, and bacon.

Food historian Paul Freedman traced the emergence of gendered foods and gendered food stereotypes in the United States back to the 1870s, when “shifting social norms—like the entry of women into the workplace—gave women more opportunities to dine without men” (2019b). Freedman notes that there was a rapid development of restaurants meant to appeal to women. Many of these featured lighter fare, such as sandwiches and salads, and some were referred to as “ice cream saloons,” playing on a distinction between them and the more traditional type of saloon primarily associated with men (Freedman 2015). There was also growth in the recipe industry to provide women with home cooking options that allowed for quicker meal preparation.

Gendering foods, a practice often associated with specific life stages and rituals, is found across cultures and across time. In his study of marriage customs in the chiefdom of Batié in Cameroon, social anthropologist Emile Tsékénis notes that the marriage is formalized by an exchange of gendered foods between the couple’s polygamous families:

The groom offers raw “male” products (palm oil, plantain, and raffia wine) to the co-wives of the girl’s mother, while the co-wives hand over the palm oil to the girl’s father, and the girl’s side offers “female” products (yams, potatoes, and/or taro) to the husband’s side. (2017, 134)

This exchange of gendered foods between families mirrors the marriage ceremony and symbolically binds the couple’s families together.

Gendered foods are also common during puberty rituals in many cultures, especially for young women, as female puberty is marked by the beginning of menstruation, an obvious and observable bodily change. In the Kinaaldá , the Navajo puberty ceremony for young girls that takes place shortly after the first menstruation, the girl and female members of her family together cook a corn cake in a special underground oven. The corn cake, called an alkaan , is understood as a re-creation of the first corn cake baked by the Navajo deity Changing Woman. After baking this first corn cake, Changing Woman offered a piece of it to the sun in gratitude for food and life. By reenacting this ritual, the young girl marks her own journey toward the creation of life, as she is now capable of becoming a mother.

As we saw in Chapter 12, Gender & Sexuality, cultures may also celebrate foods that enhance sexuality. In some regions of Vietnam, there are restaurants that serve dog to male customers only, as dog meat is believed to enhance masculinity (Avieli 2011). Food contains and conveys many cultural beliefs. This can be compared to the joys attributed to chocolate in the United States, especially during the celebration of Valentine’s Day. Do you have similar beliefs about food and sexuality?

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FOOD: IDENTITY OF CULTURE AND RELIGION

September 2018

St. Andrew’s College of Arts, Science and Commerce

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Preserving Family Culinary Traditions: a Connection to My Cultural Roots

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Family history, childhood memories, cultural significance, personal reflection.

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Food And Culture - Free Essay Examples and Topic Ideas

Food and culture are two interrelated aspects that shape each other. Food is an expression of cultural identity and heritage, reflecting the social, economic, and historical experiences of a particular community. The cuisine of every culture is distinct, with unique flavors, ingredients, and cooking techniques. Food plays a significant role in social and religious events, family gatherings, and celebrations, acting as a way to connect individuals to their cultural roots. Food also fosters cross-cultural understanding and appreciation by allowing people to experience and explore different culinary traditions. In short, food is an integral part of culture as it reflects and preserves the values, customs, and traditions of a community.

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Introduction

Culture is defined as a set of attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors shared by a group of people, communicated from one generation to the next through language or other forms of communication (Ward, 2005).Culture affects all aspects of one’s life. Culture can determine where one lives, what type of job one has, attitude towards education, how one dress, and even what one eats. Both historical and ethnic influences can affect ones culture and food choices. Many people in North America have cultures that stem from other places, like Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America. When the settles arrived in North America from these various places they brought along with them foods and customs. Culture can be learned and transformed by society (Ward, 2005). Culture affects each person’s life in different ways by dictating one’s behavior, personality, and values; thus culture is the main determinant one’s food choice.

Religious Beliefs

Different cultures encourage and discourage the consumption of various types of foods. Likewise, a person’s religion has a great affect on the type of food they may or may not eat. Most cultures disapprove of the consumption of alcohol during pregnancy or breast-feeding. A person’s religious beliefs are a part of their culture. One’s religion may be one of the most influential components of food choice. In Hindu and Buddhist religions, pork and beef is a forbidden food because it is considered to be a unclean meat. There are even ancient scriptures that prohibit the consumption of these animals. As a result, more than 90 percent of people who practice this religion have excluded these meats from their diets (Ward, 2005). All other meats consumed by people practicing this religion most be kosher or halal. This means that prayers by appointed people must be prayed over these animals before they will be fit for consumption by people of this religion. However, in contrast to these strict guidelines, Christians and Catholics are allowed to consume any type of meat they desire.

Growing up in a distinctive culture will affect one choice of food. Some food traditions are healthy and others are not. Most female grow and prepare foods for their families similar to the food their mothers prepared when they were young. Evidence supports that people from certain cultures are more apt to have various health risks. For example, southern African Americans are known for soul food. Using foods like ham hocks, dressing, and fat meat are often the culprits behind heart disease (DeSoucey, 2010). Nonetheless, these types of foods are comfort foods that remind people of family and home. People of African American descent often remind each other that their parents ate foods like those because they could not afford or did not have access to any other food.

Personal Factors

Personal factors can affect one’s food choices as well. People who are living with low socio-economic status often have limited food choices. These people tend to buy only the necessities or food that can provide quantity. Unfortunately, these foods are not the best health choice. Cost can be a primary determinant for food choices in low income individual. Low-income groups have a greater tendency to consume unbalanced diets and in particular have low intakes of fruit and vegetables (Harris & Gerkin, 1997). Nonetheless, having adequate financial means does not automatically equate to better eating habits. One’s educational level can also influence diets. Higher levels of education and nutrition knowledge are strongly correlated (Harris & Gerkin, 1997). Finally, social status also determines food choices. One’s social status determines the type of job they work, television shows they watch, and even the type of music they listen to. People are influenced in the food choices they make. Television and radio commercials are often geared towards influencing people to consume certain foods. For example, more fast food commercials are aired at night than during the day (Harris & 1997). People who watch at least three hours of television a day are exposed to more than 10,000 food advertisements per year. Ninety-five percent of these commercials are for fast food, sodas, cereal, and candy (Harris & 1997).

Social Life

The company one keeps can also affect food choices, as well as geographical location. Often people may eat foods that they don’t normally eat while in a social setting or eat even when they are not hungry. Many people use dinner or luncheons as social gatherings (Darmon & Drenowski, 2008). Consequently, people who live in urban areas are more likely to eat fast food more often than people who live in rural areas. Fast food is a convenience for people who are busy and do not have time to prepare meals at home. Yet, urban areas have more variety to choose from when purchasing food. Urban areas have larger super markets and many farmers’ markets to choose from. They have access to fresh food, but many chose quick fast food. Contrarily, people in rural areas do not have as many choices when it comes to purchasing food. They usually have small grocery stores and limited fast food chains. However, a great deal of people in rural areas farm and raise animals to slaughter. They have access to fresh fruits and vegetables. People in rural areas have chicken farms that produce meat and eggs that can be used for their consumption (Darmon & Drenowski, 2008).

Many factors impact the type of foods a person may choose to consume. Culture directly affects the types of food a person eats because culture dictates all parts of one’s life. When choosing something to eat, one never really thinks about what is driving that decision. Education, social-status, environment, and geographic location play a dominant role in deciding what one will eat. Nonetheless, culture is something that can be adjusted and changed to fit the needs of a people. Many people in the United States are suffering from obesity, diabetes, and other diseases that are linked to poor diet. As a result, Americans are adjusting the way they eat, the amount, and how often they eat.

Darmon, N & Drenowski, A. (2008). Does social class predict diet quality? The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 87(1).

DeSoucey, M. (2010). Gastronationalism: Food traditions and authenticity. American Sociological Review, 75 (3).

Harris, C. E., & Gerkin, R. E. (1997). The effects of a multimedia system in supermarkets to alter shoppers’ food purchases. Journal of Health Psychology, 2 , 209–223.

Ward, A (2005). Consumption and theories in practice. Journal of Consumer Culture, 5 (2).

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Food, culture, and identity in multicultural societies: Insights from Singapore

• Food practices enable construction and maintenance of cultural, racial, and ethnic identities.
• Some traditional foods are perceived to have medicinal qualities and are consumed regularly.
• Traditional beliefs about the importance of foods for hot-cold balance and health affect daily food practices.
• Cross-cultural food practices (both cross-Asian cuisines and Western) are common and adopted for a variety of reasons.
• Everyday multiculturalism, and multicultural social policies influence food practices in Singapore.
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Food and Culture: The Interconnection

As commonly stated that we are what we eat, this statement is very true to the fact that food and our culture are interconnected. People of different cultures consume a diverse variety of foodstuffs, and this is because most of the foods are indigenous and were introduced to us by our families who acquired them from the immediate family. For this matter, food goes with culture, for instance, those in Asia like the Chinese and Japanese consume some reptiles and even dogs that are weird delicacies in some continents. The act of food consumption goes with identity and conformity to cultural customs. In my case, I think culture plays an influential role in what we consume on a daily basis. The essay supports the argument that food has many effects on our culture and shapes our future. The outcomes of culture on food can be seen in the eating habits of Africans, Europeans, Asians, and the Americans with diverse cultures and so are the foods that they eat.

Personal Connections to Food and Identity

On a personal level, we grow up feeding on meals belonging to our cultures. That act becomes part of our identity and defines who we are. I sometimes connect food that I used to consume when young to pleasant memories and warm feelings tying me to my family, holding personal and special value for me. The family food has become the meal that acts as comfort food that I try to find during my low times due to stress and frustrations. For instance, when I was young and fell sick, I could not eat foods such as rice, and so my mother would prepare soups that were easy to consume on my bed. With time, I became familiar with the taste and smell of the soup. So today whenever I feel sick or exhausted due to daily stressors I find myself in dire need of the soup my mother used to give and from the back of my mind, I feel convinced that it is the only thing that can bring comfort at that particular time.

The Role of Food in Cultural Identity

On a larger level, food has got different meanings and plays a critical role in our culture. Traditional food is passed down from one offspring to another. The generation-to-generation passing of food is a means of expressing cultural identity. In African tradition, different cultures determined what was to be eaten on the many occasions. Like during circumcision and dowry, a few selected dishes were to be eaten (Anderson, 28). Today, these practices still take place on occasions. Also in most western states, foods such as chocolate act as valuable gifts to a person and the individual offered the gift would portray a different reaction from a gift of rice or cabbage (Anderson, 31).

Food and Culture on a National Level

Continents and nations are mostly associated with various diverse foods. For instance, a country like Italy is known for pasta and pizza (Paul, 82). However, this does not say that Italians do not eat other dishes, but food plays a significant role in Italian culture. Also in nations, food varies depending on the method of preparation and the food types. For example, in the United States, some citizens prefer to consume potatoes and beef, which are not eaten regularly in the country. In the southern part of The US, boiled corn is a delicacy for most families (Paul, 84). Such meals are not national delicacies and would not be preferred by many but just a few individuals that identify with the taste.

The Influence of Food on Cultural Change

Food has its role deeply embedded in the culture with the existence of local food eating habits. These habits may sometimes change with time as immigrants come with various eating cultures and somehow influence the inhabitants to alter their feeding patterns. The similarity in the food pattern fosters the connection of individuals with a similar ethnic origin. For instance, most immigrants use food as their identity. Thus, this enables them to blend easily with people of the same origin in the foreign country and helps in retaining their cultural identity and pride. With this kind of migration, food practices and eating patterns also migrate as food is always exported and at the same time imported. The imported food may have a positive influence on the inhabitants of the new country, and they may consider adopting the pattern if it is a good one, and as such food plays a role in culture change. Food has greatly influenced the eating culture of most citizens in the developing world to the extent that they have now shifted to consumption of what was earlier considered to be Western meals and culture. Since people and food are mobile, I find it difficult to characterize a nation by the food it consumes.

Cultural Beliefs and Symbols Associated with Food

Notwithstanding, products that are edible in one country or continent might be inedible in another state or continent. Even though the food is always selected based on its nutritional or the physical need, what most families eat have cultural beliefs that the given society attaches to it. A good example is whereby both the animal and plant sources contain sufficient nutritional requirements for proteins, beef, beans, dog meat, lizard, and caterpillars are all protein sources for the body. Due to the societal beliefs and symbols attached to these sources, they are not available for consumption in many families and societies. It is another proof that food plays a vital role in our culture.

Food and Religious Beliefs

Food effects on the culture of Muslims and Jews are widespread and can be based on their religious beliefs. Worldwide Muslims desist from eating during Ramadhan, a period that Muslims believe that the Qur'an was brought to Mohamed, the founder of the religion. Muslims, at this moment, fast during the day and eat before and after sunset (Anderson, 44). On the other hand, the Jews also have some Jewish traditional rules called the "Kosher" diet where they follow some procedures in the preparation of animal products according to spiritual health purposes (Anderson, 44). Many other religions also have their food effects on the religious culture like the Hindus, Buddhists, and the Jainists who are mainly vegetarians (Anderson, 44). Desisting from taking meat serves the purpose of honoring the law, which requires one not to harm other living beings.

Food, Culture, and Mealtime Habits

Food plays a crucial role in the world as far as culture is concerned. Even amidst the society with the similar origin and similar food habits, the feeding pattern is not the same. Conversations at the time of meals have variations depending on the place. While some families consider mealtime the best time to converse and have a pleasant time chatting together, some families outlaw the act of engaging in conversation, arguing that table manners need to be observed during meal times, which involves no talking.

The Significance of Food in Cultural Celebrations

Food effects on culture have different degrees of importance. For instance, in Samoa, various family cultural celebrations center on eating. When performing celebrations, the wealth and prosperity of the host family depend on the amount of food offered during the ceremony. This act is also evident in many African cultures where the riches of a given family are measured by the many cows slaughtered during ceremonies such burial, weddings, and even during the rite of passage (Paul, 92). Food goes hand in hand with traditions, which vary from one place to another. It is different even in a society sharing same cultural origins; feeding patterns are not similar. Families have variations in the daily routines on traveling, holidays, and the presence of guests. Women eat differently from men. Meals are taken according to age groups (Paul, 93). However, in many places, food is associated mostly with friendship gratitude and hospitality.

In Conclusion

We must embrace origin through our cultural cousins and also be aware and stay informed of other traditions by further tasting what they offer regarding food. It is very basic to put in mind that every dish possesses distinctive attention from its culture of origin and is very important to those preparing the cuisine. Food and culture are deeply connected, and we should treat them as such.

Works Cited

Anderson, Eugene Newton. Everyone eats: understanding food and culture. NYU Press, 2014.

Fieldhouse, Paul. Food and nutrition: customs and culture. Springer, 2013.

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Comida y convivencia: Building community through food and food stories

Reflexiones Pedagogicas
Published: 23 September 2024

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Student Opinion

Which Food Is the Most Underrated?

A guest essay argues that anchovies (yes, anchovies!) deserve more love. What underappreciated food would you make the case for?

An abstract illustration of pink anchovies floating above a bowl of food.

By Jeremy Engle

What are your favorite foods and flavors? Are there any that you think deserve more love and respect?

In “ Anchovies Are Always a Good Idea ,” Christopher Beckman writes about the underappreciated value of this small, saltwater fish:

To understand anchovies, you need to understand umami. For most of history, just four tastes were recognized: sweet, sour, bitter and salty. They were probably singled out around the fifth century B.C.E. by the Greek philosopher Democritus. The mantra of four tastes was repeated — with a few notable exceptions — until a Japanese chemist named Kikunae Ikeda posited in the early 1900s that there might be an unidentified fifth. Mr. Ikeda had noticed that seemingly unrelated foods such as asparagus, tomatoes, cheese, cooked meats and dashi, a traditional broth in Japanese cuisine made from kombu seaweed and dried fish flakes, had something in common that did not align with any of the four recognized tastes. He set about analyzing kombu to tease out the chemical foundation of this unique flavor. After months of painstaking chemical reductions, the seaweed yielded the source — a tiny amount of glutamate, which exploded with flavor when combined with sodium and sprinkled on food. He named the taste umami, after the Japanese word “umai,” which translates — very roughly — as savory taste. Preserved anchovies — whether salted, packed in oil or transformed into fish sauce — have extraordinarily high levels of umami . Adding even half an anchovy or a small splash of fish sauce to an otherwise simple dish can turbocharge it to a new realm of flavor. Despite this ability, in some Western cultures anchovies are notoriously polarizing. (No such divide seems to exist in many parts of Asia, however, where they are regularly consumed fresh, dried or in fish sauce.) But it’s time for the leery to give anchovies another chance. These are times in which we’re rethinking how we eat. We know that red meat and animal fats are hard on our bodies and the planet. We know we need to be eating more whole foods, more plants, more good fats, more grains and pulses. The beauty of the anchovy is that it’s a small, fast-growing fish that can be sustainably caught , is good for us and is very good at making other things that are good for us taste great. We know that because it’s been doing so for millenniums: It enlivened lamb and black-eyed peas in ancient Rome, spiked the sauces of French haute cuisine and had a starring role in hors d’oeuvres at fancy New York restaurants.

Mr. Beckman notes that anchovies are having a moment, with chefs and foodies alike declaring their love and calling the fish the “bacon of the sea” and an “affordable luxury”:

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BYU hosts second annual Bopsim festival, celebrating Korean culture, food and unity

On Sept. 14, BYU celebrated Korean culture by hosting second annual Bopsim Korean Festival .

The event was sponsored by Cupbop and invited everyone to enjoy Korean food and culture.

According to event organizers, Bopsim is the first Korean festival held in Provo. Hundreds of people attended to explore Korean food, dance, sports, cosmetics and culture.

The festival was planned around Chuseok — a Korean holiday, similar to Thanksgiving, celebrated from Sept. 16-18.

In 2023, the event was held at the University of Utah, and this time, with the help of Brad Taylor, the BYU Office of Belonging, BYU Athletics and the BYU Marriott School of Business, BYU had the opportunity to host it. All proceeds went toward educational initiatives.

Cupbop, headquartered in Salt Lake City, is a fast-casual street food company serving Korean BBQ in a cup. They were the main sponsors of the Bopsim event.

Roy Park, an attendee, shared his thoughts on Korean culture.

“It’s becoming globalized; everyone is a fan of K-dramas, and a bunch of people like everything about Korean culture, like Korean food or Korean BBQ,” Park said.

Jin Han, a volunteer for the event, expressed her enthusiasm.

“I love how it’s not just Cupbop, but they’ve brought in other Korean companies," Han said. "I love seeing it all come together in one event, so people can experience not just Cupbop, but other parts of Korean culture as well."

Many Korean organizations participated in the festival by running various booths showcasing their products and services. Cupbop, Lotte, Nutricost, Kosme, Suhyup, Binggrae, SPC Samlip, Wang Korea, Ottogi, Nongshim, Sejong Institute and Imagine Your Korea are organizations that are well-known in South Korea, as well as recognized globally.

Another major festival sponsor was the Korean Cultural Center of Los Angeles. They are an organization run by the South Korean Government's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism that focuses on fostering cultural exchange between Korea and the U.S. through cultural and educational activities.

Brad Taylor helped bring Bopsim — pronounced "bop-sheem" — to BYU. He served as a mission president in Seoul, South Korea, and returned to continue working at BYU. Taylor explained the meaning behind Bopsim.

“'Bop,' specifically, means rice, but they use it in a broader context as a word for food. ‘Sim’ means strength or power, so they put it together. It’s a made-up word that means strength, power, and energy through good food. Because the main sponsor is Cupbop, they came up with Bopsim, and it’s about Korean food, culture, music, dancing, K-pop, K-dramas — everything.”

Taylor described how the two-year journey of organizing the event began.

“I was making a film with Elder Holland when I met the two founders of Cupbop, and they said, ‘We’ve had a Korean cultural event at the University of Utah, but we’ve never been able to crack into BYU. It’s harder than Fort Knox.’

Inspired, Taylor promised to navigate a way for them to bring the Korean culture to BYU.

Brilynn Bentz, a UVU student and member of HER’d — a Random Play Dance team — shared her favorite part of participating in a K-pop imitation group.

“Being able to do the choreography to the songs I love is so much fun, especially when I care a lot about the group. It’s fun to put myself in the idols' shoes and dance as them,” Bentz said. “I get a sense of pride when I feel good about a dance, and it’s just a lot of fun.”

Many groups and individuals performed, ranging from a local Taekwondo group to buchaechum — traditional Korean fan dancing — performers who flew in from Korea.

Taylor also expressed his appreciation for the BYU Office of Belonging, who had a major hand in getting BYU to host the event.

“One of the major sponsors that made this happen was the Office of Belonging," Taylor said. "It wouldn’t have happened without them, and their interest was in helping BYU students engage in other cultures, grow understanding and appreciate and love other cultures."

According to volunteers, Bopsim was created to spread love for Korean culture while also fostering a sense of belonging. At the start of the event, there was a line out the BYU ballroom doors, with people of all ages and backgrounds wanting to participate.

Taylor described the festival as an "amazing cultural program that shares another country’s culture in a way that creates understanding, connection and love.”

Bites, beats and boardwalk treats: A foodie’s guide to Oceans Calling Festival

Music festivals are obviously great for the performances, but there’s always another unspoken hero: the food. At the Oceans Calling Festival in Ocean City this weekend, the food scene will be every bit as mouth-watering as the beats. Whether you’re wandering the boardwalk for favorite seaside bites or diving into festival vendor creations, the flavors are sure to hit all the right notes. As you take in performances by Blink-182, O.A.R., The Killers, The Beach Boys, Dave Matthews Band, Boyz II Men and many, many more, here’s a breakdown of some of the best bites you’ll find there.

Boardwalk businesses

Dumser’s Dairyland

Dumser’s Dairyland is an Ocean City staple, serving up some of the best homemade ice cream since 1939. Nothing is better than grabbing a vanilla soft-serve dipped in warm chocolate and strolling to your favorite stage. Their nostalgic flavors, like the orange and vanilla twist, transport you back to the good old days of beachside fun.

The Dough Roller

The Dough Roller has been serving up its pizza and pancakes to hungry beachgoers for decades. This family-owned spot is perfect for festival attendees looking for a quick beverage or bite to fuel the dance marathon ahead. Whether you’re craving their cheesy, gooey pizza or a hearty breakfast before the show, this Ocean City classic is here to satisfy. Grab a slice, a beer and hit the sand to catch the next band without missing a beat.

Thrasher’s French Fries

Thrasher’s French Fries is a legendary boardwalk stop known for their perfectly crispy fries and a line that’s well worth the wait. The smell of freshly fried potatoes will guide you from any corner of the festival grounds, so follow your nose between sets for a tasty snack that’s as much a part of the Ocean City experience as the live music. Festival hack: If you’re a vinegar fan, double up on your cups so the bottom doesn’t get soggy and tear through, causing you to lose your fries to the boardwalk below.

The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.

Candy Kitchen

Since 1937, Candy Kitchen has been Ocean City’s sweet retreat, serving up homemade fudge, saltwater taffy and other beachy confections. Strolling down the boardwalk with a pound of homemade fudge or a bag of taffy is a perfect way to indulge in the festival atmosphere. And don’t forget to grab some extra treats to boost your post-show blues.

Bull on the Beach

Bull on the Beach brings the heat with their Maryland-style open pit beef and smoked meats, including brisket and pork. For over 40 years, they’ve been dishing out hearty BBQ to boardwalk crowds, making it a filling choice for festivalgoers who need some serious fuel. With a savory sandwich in hand, you’ll be ready to rock all night long.

7 things to do in Howard County: Chappell Roan, dozens more to perform at All Things Go

The only spot in maryland to make the new york times’ best restaurant list, heading to cfg bank arena here’s where to eat within a 10-minute walk..

Fisher’s Popcorn

A whiff of caramel popcorn in the salty ocean air can only mean one thing: Fisher’s Popcorn is near. Their signature, handcrafted caramel corn is a perfect festival companion, easy to munch while looking up the next band. With 11 flavors to choose from, you can satisfy any popcorn craving, whether it’s your first taste or a childhood favorite.

Festival vendors

Mac n' Me serves extravagant macaroni dishes.

Mac n’ Me is your go-to for both comfort and dietary inclusivity. Whether you’re diving into their four-cheese cavatappi, gluten-free penne or vegan mac, their festival-friendly toppings are guaranteed to keep you rocking. Their signature Chicken Bacon Jam Ranch, made with maple-sweetened bacon jam, is a showstopper, while the smoked carrot “bacon” on the Sounds Crunchy offers a deliciously inventive vegan option.

WookieDogs delivers a concert-worthy twist on corn dogs, blending the savory and cheesy into one epic bite. The Korean-style dish has a crispy yeast batter and gooey cheese filling, making them the perfect hand-held, oceanside snack. Bite into the cheese-filled top half and it’s like a mozzarella stick that’s been turned up to 11. The vendor has already toured some of the biggest festivals, and now they’re ready to bring their flavorful creations to Oceans Calling.

Pizza Nova brings festival food to the next level, with their fresh, wood-fired pizza offerings. While walking between stages, snag a slice of their classic cheese or pepperoni, or venture beyond the norm with their creative “Eat a Peach” pizza, featuring goat cheese, peach slices, candied bacon and balsamic drizzle. With options for gluten-free and vegan fans, everyone can get in on the action.

The local specialty from Get Baked is a pretzel stuffed with crab, cheese and Old Bay.

Get Baked puts a new spin on the classic pretzel with their stuffed footlong pretzel rolls. Imagine a paper-thin pretzel dough, stuffed with top-quality ingredients and baked fresh right before your eyes. Their local specialty? A pretzel packed with fresh Maryland blue crab claw meat, cheese and Old Bay Seasoning. It’s the perfect snack for catching the East Coast vibes while the bands are playing. Look out for their ’90s-themed trolley car and glowing tent, grab a stuffed pretzel, and let the good times roll.

And there’s more than just great food to eat at Oceans Calling. Be sure to check out live cooking demonstrations from world-renowned chefs like Robert Irvine, Amanda Freitag and Marc Murphy. These kitchen rock stars will be sharing their tips and tricks, giving you a behind-the-scenes peek into how they celebrate the flavors of the region. It’s a rare chance to elevate your cooking skills while jamming out to your favorite bands.

Chris Franzoni

[email protected]

Chris Franzoni is a Baltimore native, food fanatic, blogger and “Eater-in-Chief” of @EatMoreBeMore, which he started nine years ago with two goals — eating his way through the city and shining a positive light on the Baltimore-area restaurant and hospitality scene.

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Food and Culture Links Essay

To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
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Although many people argue that culture, which is people’s way of life, is the main determinant of people’s diet, I believe that most instances do not always present this as the case because, based on my observation of people’s dietary methods, I have found a differing relationship between people’s culture and their food preference. For a long time, people’s cultural background has been thought to influence the type of food they eat, as well as the tastes they have for certain foods.

Many publications have tried to convince people that the food they eat is a product of their culture and that culture defines the different tastes they have for foods. One question persists, is culture a factor to consider when analyzing people’s eating habits? This essay tries to explain that, even though people claim that culture influences dietary habits, as some people argue, the claim is misleading, as culture is of little significance in people’s dietary decision-making.

As a counter-argument, different cultures have a variety of foods with which they often relate themselves. Some foods are found in only one region of the world and worse off in one ethnic or racial group, which more often has the same culture. This observation has made people conclude that the culture of people delineates the foods available to them, their dietary habits, and their taste preferences.

In fact, MacClancy states, “…an ideologically significant part of a culture may well be its distinctive cuisine” (66). Some rules also exist in these cultures about how to cook their foods, as well as the meal combinations that are expected. These resemble the current cookbooks. They restrict the particular cultural group into following these set standards. Some cultures have even gone a step ahead to define the food they eat as their identity. These findings have led researchers and anthropologists to conclude that culture is the main determinant of foods eaten.

Contrary to the belief that culture is the main influence on foods, the availability of food and its constant supply in a region are also key factors to take into account. People have often taken food that is indigenous to their region. This is supported by the fact that, in most cultures, the staple food is the one that is grown locally in that area and not the food that is imported from other regions. Corn, for example, is a staple food in most African countries.

Meals made from it, though different, are identified as their cultural foods. There are few areas in the world where people establish with a certain type of food that they have no idea of how it is grown or prepared. In the study on frozen TV Dinners, Jerome states that the type of foods preferred to depend on “…accessibility to a large range of readily available foods” (Jerome 152). This, therefore, means that the accessibility of a meal is more important in determining the diet or food taken than culture is.

The other reason why people show a preference for a certain type of food is convenience. In his study, Jerome also found out, “…the concept of the concept of convenience is salient to use” (152). Irrespective of a person’s culture, the convenience of food to people determine the availability of such foods to them. This means that a person who is busy at work or is hungry and needs easy-to-prepare food is less likely to follow culture in food preparation.

Instead, he/she will opt for foods that are easy to prepare. Jerome clearly demonstrates this in his work when he states, “For many people, the exigencies of daily life demand that meals which make little additional demands on personal time and other resources…” (155). Even though some societies claim that certain foods belong to their culture, most investigations would reveal that the original groups of people preferred them because they fitted their daily lives. It was, therefore, not because of a cultural doctrine.

The other reason why people take foods is due to the perceived good taste or rather their taste preference and or pleasure that they derive from them. In some regions, culture defines some foods as a staple, yet most people in the same culture prefer different foods due to their tastes or pleasure. This is a popular method of determining which foods are eaten. A good example is the indulgence of people in alcoholism, which, despite many cultures defining it as a social ill, there is a clear preference for alcoholic beverages. This has existed in many cultures. It dates back to Roman times and biblical times.

In her literature, Tlusty describes how alcoholism was considered a sin in the Christian culture (73). She, however, demonstrates how prominent Christians would also engage in alcoholism. In fact, “…visitation records reveal that drunkenness among the Catholic clergy was a common concern of Catholic reformers” (Tlusty 74). The main reason why most people engage in alcoholism is the pleasure they derive. There is little that culture, which cannot influence the drinking habits or the taking of sweet foods. However, the taste is relative to individuals. This may explain the difference in the taking of some foods. Gladwell explains that spaghetti is a common food in most western countries, as it is considered sweet (Gladwell 1).

Another reason why people take certain foods is due to the pricing. Some cultures have defined some foods as their staple foods with no consideration of the price attached to making a single plate of the food. Culturally accepted food may be too expensive for most people to afford. It ends up being taken like a luxurious thing rather than the basic desire for food. Some foods, which are very popular in some cultures, are only available in big hotels and restaurants.

These are often highly-priced locking out the people who identify with them. This proves that culture has a little to play in the selection of foods and diet. Its role is, therefore, secondary to people’s economic power. This is effectively highlighted in MacClancy’s book when he claims that some meals in cookbooks are restricted there and only available in upper-class places (66). Culture is, therefore, not important today in determining the types of food taken.

Most people state that the culture of a group determines the types of food they eat, as well as the diet they maintain. As pointed out, there are various factors influencing the eating habits of people. These are of significant importance compared to people’s culture. Food availability is very important in food selection, as the most available food is selected at the expense of cultural foods. The other factors ranking higher than culture are convenience, taste, and the price of the food.

Gladwell, Malcom. What can we Learn from Spaghetti Sauce? , 2012. Web.

Jerome, Norge. “Frozen (TV) Dinners – The Staple Emergency Meals of a Changing Modern Society.” Food in perspective 1.1(2001): 145-156. Print.

MacClancy, Jeremy. Food, Identity, Identification. London: Routledge, 2004. Print.

Tlusty, Ann. The Drunken Spirit . New York: Longman Publishers, 2002. Print.

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