Chapter 1: Food and Culture

Learning Objectives

1. List the fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States.

2. Define the “omnivore’s paradox.”
3. State the various symbolic meanings that can be assigned to food.
4. Discuss food choices as cultural identity.
5. Define etiquette and manners.
6. Distinguish among acculturation, enculturation, and assimilation.
7. List the components of the core and complementary foods model.
8. Define what is meant by flavor principles.
9. List the components of the developmental perspective of food culture.

Chapter Summary

America continues to be a changing demographic. Defining “American food” and resolving the
question “What is an American diet?” elude simple answers. The population of America includes
immigrants from Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, China, and other Asian countries
representing more than seventy-five different ancestry groups as reported in 2007. In that year,
the fastest and largest growing ethnic groups in America were from Latin America, but more
recently Asians became the fastest growing race or ethnic group. Each American ethnic,
religious, or regional group has its own culturally based food habits. The new immigrants
interact with the overlying American culture—with each changing the other.

Food is any substance that provides the nutrients necessary to maintain life and growth when
ingested. But humans eat meals, and we have developed culturally significant ways of using
these foods in cooking and other cultural practices. These food habits become defined and
codified within a culture. Food habits constitute all the ways in which humans use food—
including everything from how it is selected, obtained, and distributed to who prepares it, serves
it, and eats it, to how it is shared and consumed.

“The omnivore’s paradox” refers to the instinct in humans to experiment with and sample new
foods that occurs alongside a need for caution and a preference for the familiar and safe. The
ability to use a wide range of edible foods from all of the climates of the world gives us an
advantage as a species. We also maintain food choices within a culture through ritual and
repetition. This conservative approach may help us to avoid poisoning ourselves on new, toxic
foods through communal caution.

Food can also be used as a form of self-identity. What foods we eat have a special significance
because eating involves a personal reflection of who we are. We assign characteristics to people
who eat in certain ways. We tend to rate foods as being “good” or “bad” and often assign moral
implications to food choices. We adopt the same food preferences as the trusted or valued others
within our group. We demonstrate belongingness, status, and self-realization through food
choices based on what we have learned from our culture.
Food also has symbolic meanings based on association with other meaningful experiences. For
example, bread can have a variety of meanings: bread as the staff of life, breaking bread with
friends, white bread indicating upper class status, whole-wheat bread reflecting health as a value.
These symbolic meanings are associated with a cultural identity. It is the symbolic use of a food
that is valued most by people, not its nutritional value. Some food choices are based on group
affiliation—for example, not eating pork as part of religious affiliation. Other symbolic meanings
are learned in childhood when we form associations that lead to relying on certain food choices
as “comfort food.” Diet may also help identify persons who are not a member of a certain group
or be the basis for food stereotyping.
Manners and etiquette are examples of having an “appropriate use of food” as defined by our
cultural affiliation. Manners vary between eating at home and in public or dining in a business
situation. Cultures vary regarding how food is shared and how food relates to status and
establishing class relationships.

“Culture” is the values, beliefs, attitudes, and practices accepted by members of a group or
community. Culture is learned—not inherited. “Enculturation” is the process by which culturally
specific language and socialization practices are passed from generation to generation.
“Ethnicity” is the term for a cultural and social identity that includes shared behaviors, food
habits, dress, language, family structure, and often includes a religious affiliation with a common
history or location.

Acculturation is a dynamic process by which an ethnic group moves into a new majority society
and begins adopting the new society’s values and habits. An individual becomes “bicultural”
when the new culture is seen as a complement to the original culture of origin. “Assimilation” is
the process by which people from one cultural group shed their ethnic identity and fully merge
into the majority culture. The term “ethnocentric” refers to a person using his or her own values
to evaluate the behavior of others, regarding his or her own culture as superior to others.

As we look at how different cultural groups categorize foods, we can better understand the
process of assigning values to food. In America, we use five food groups (as in the MyPlate
icon) to demonstrate the value of science and nutritional content. Numerous models are used to
identify and understand the role of food within a culture.

Another model identifies some foods as “core foods”: staples eaten on a daily basis. Secondary
foods are widely eaten but not daily. Peripheral foods are eaten only now and then and are more
characteristic of individual preference rather than cultural habit. One hypothesis suggests the
pairing of core and secondary foods serves to provide adequate nutritional balance.

“Flavor principles” are the signature flavors that are associated with food preparation within a
culture. Central to a cultural cuisine are the combinations of foods and the significance of flavor.
Flavor is imparted by geography and climate but primarily by preparation methods and
seasoning. Listed in the text are many very specific flavor principles associated with individual
cultures.

We also look at the meal patterns and meal cycles within a culture to analyze daily, weekly, and
yearly use of food. Decoding these patterns and cycles begins by understanding how different
cultures distinguish a “meal” from a “snack” and how “correct” sequencing within a meal is
dictated. Other cultural practices determine who serves the meal, what eating utensils are used,
and how much is appropriate to eat at what time.

The developmental perspective of food culture suggests how social dynamics are paralleled by
global trends in food, eating, and nutrition. With globalization comes food consumerization.
Modernization and technological advances lead to food commoditization. As populations
become more urban, the previous connections are broken between what food is produced locally
and what is eaten in that region. As populations migrate, food habits are in flux, as part of
acculturation.

Personal preferences are influenced by food availability. Personal choices also identify what is
edible or inedible, which is one of the earliest ways to describe diet. “Diet” is what a culture
regards as what can be eaten and what cannot or should not be eaten. The consumer food choice
model includes many interrelated factors influencing how and why an individual makes a food
selection at a given time. Taste is an important consideration as well as cost, convenience, self-
expression, self identity, gender, advertising, life stage, state of health, and variety.

In a multicultural environment, it is imperative that we understand the relationships between

ethnic food choices and ethnic health disparities. Research results regarding the effects of
ethnicity and race on health status can be misleading if other factors such as acculturation and
socioeconomic status are not sufficiently separated. Ethnicity can be a significant factor in how
certain diseases are developed, experienced, and ultimately resolved. There are differences in
rates of disease and death in cultural groups.

The United States of America is better described as a “tossed salad” rather than a melting pot—
different ingredients each still present but in a delicious, complementary blend. The American
omnivore’s paradox may be an even more accurate description. Because we live in a country
settled by immigrants, perhaps we have a propensity towards variety and trying new cuisines.
Yet we also have a drive towards keeping our original cultural food traditions intact.

Chapter Outline

I. What Do Americans Eat?

A. America is a changing demographic—and has always been so

1. Defining “American food” and resolving “Who is an American?”: there is no simple
answer
a. U.S. Census and other demographic data show that close to 40 percent of
Americans are not white, 13 percent are foreign born, 11 percent have one parent
who was foreign born, and one in five people in the United States are first or
second generation; > 75 ancestries reported in 2007
b. Latin Americans were the fastest and largest growing ethnic groups in U.S. in
2007, but more recently Asian became the fastest growing race or ethnic group
2. Each American ethnic, religious, or regional group has its own culturally based food
habits
 a. Interaction between new immigrants and overlying American culture
b. Each changes the other

II. What Is Food?

A. Food: any substance that provides the nutrients necessary to maintain life and growth
when ingested
1. We raise crops and livestock, leading to consistent supply of similar foods
2. We use these foods in cooking and other culturally specific ways
a. Examples: meals, rules on utensils, manners, sharing of food
b. Food habits = food culture = food ways: the multiplicity of ways in which humans
use food
B. The Omnivore’s Paradox
1. We are a flexible but cautious species; attraction to new but preference for familiar
2. Need to experiment combined with need for conservatism
3. Conserve safe food choices within a culture through ritual and repletion
C. Self-Identity
1. Consumption of food means a personal incorporation → personal reflection of who
we are
a. Not only physical but associative; “you are what you eat”
b. We assign characteristics to people who eat in certain ways; Vegetarians are
considered pacifists and likely to drive foreign cars
c. Foods rated as being “good” or “bad” contain a moral implication
2. We learn food preferences from trusted or valued others (peers, teachers, valued
social groups)
a. Dining out is a good demonstration of how food may reflect belongingness,
status, and self-realization
b. Examples: Japanese restaurants provide a venue for the host to entertain in a
personal manner; trendiest restaurant can convey high status; the ethnic restaurant
conveys authenticity
3. These meanings are culturally dependent
D. Symbolic Use of Food
1. Meanings from relationship, association, or convention—not nutrient content
2. Example: associations with bread: staff of life, breaking bread with friends, white
bread as upper class status, whole wheat as valuing health
E. Cultural Identity: A collective identity with food habits associated with religious beliefs
or ethnic behaviors
1. Example: not eating pork as part of religious affiliation in Muslim or Jewish faith
2. Special worth of foods built up from childhood associated with security or good
memories – “comfort foods”
3. Exclusion from group: cultural slurs often are the name of food identified with a
group
4. Food Etiquette: appropriate use of food
a. Defined by our cultural affiliation
b. Manners at home versus those used in public or in a business situation
5. Food symbolism defines status
 a. Champagne, Kobe beef, and truffles suggest wealth
b. Beans and potatoes are traditionally associated with the poor
5. Commensalism (who can dine together) regulated within cultures
a. Relates to status issues and establishing class relationships
b. Example: men eating separate from women, servants from employers, castes in
India

III. What Is Culture?

A. Culture: values, beliefs, attitudes, and practices accepted by members of a group or

community
1. Learned not inherited
2. Enculturation: the process by which culturally specific language and socialization
uses are passed from generation to generation
3. When a group is isolated by geography or other factors cultural behavior patterns are
reinforced
4. Changes over time
5. Ethnicity: the term for cultural membership, a social identity
a. Shared behaviors, food habits, dress, language, family structure, often religious
affiliation
b. Common history or location
c. Intra-ethnic variations
B. The Acculturation Process
1. Acculturation is process by which an ethnic group moves into another new majority
society and begins to adopt the new society’s cultural values and habits
a. Fluid continuum, dynamic between traditional practices and behaviors
b. Adopt some values while maintaining old ties of friendship and family
2. Immigrants become bicultural when new majority culture is seen as a complement to
the original culture of origin
3. Assimilation: people from one cultural group shed their ethnic identity and fully
merge into the majority culture
a. Not usual for first generation; more typical of later generations
4. Ethnocentric: person uses his or her own values to evaluate the behavior of others
while regarding own culture as superior to others
C. Acculturation of Food Habits
1. Food habits are one of the last traditions to change during the process of acculturation
2. Adopting new foods or dropping traditional fools affected by available ingredients,
cost, convenience, desirability
3. Foods most closely associated with ethnic identity are the last to change
4. Tasty foods are easily accepted—fast food, pastries, candies, and soft drinks;
conversely, unpopular traditional foods may be the first to go

IV. Cultural Food Habits

A. By looking at how different cultural groups categorize foods, we can perceive what is
valued
 1. Example: the American My Plate icon (or five food groups) may demonstrate our
culture’s valuing of science and nutritional content
2. Food choices are not necessarily based on nutritional values
3. Classifications such as cultural “superfoods,” body image foods, prestige foods,
sympathetic magic foods, physiologic group (during pregnancy or age-specific) foods
may be used
4. Numerous models are used to identify and understand the role of food within a
culture
B. Core and Complementary Foods Model
1. Core foods are the staples eaten on a daily basis
2. Secondary foods are widely eaten but not daily
3. Peripheral foods are eaten only sporadically
4. Combinations of core and peripheral foods or other combinations may improve taste,
palatability, and nutrient values of total diet
5. Changes in food behaviors more likely in peripheral than in core foods
C. Flavor Principles
1. Preparation combinations & seasoning of foods to match flavor principles
2. Transformation of feeding into eating—the significance of flavors are central to a
cultural cuisine
3. Flavor is imparted by geography, latitude and longitude, climate
4. How foods are prepared for cooking, how they are cooked, and how they are
preserved all contribute to signature flavors
5. Herbs and spices
a. Help palatability, enjoyment
b. Produce physiological responses
c. Disguise spoiled food flavors
d. Preserve food as antimicrobial agents
e. Unique seasoning combinations typify ethnic flavor principle
f. Many very specific flavor principles associated with individual cultures (see list
in text)
g. Serve as a marker for a culture’s cuisine, not a doctrine
D. Meal Patterns and Meal Cycles
1. All cultures dine on at least one meal a day
2. Patterns within the culture define “meal” versus “snack”
3. Cultural practices influence:
a. Which foods are eaten when
b. Who prepares the meal and who serves it/preparation rules
c. What constitutes an appropriate portion size
4. Feasting or fasting as meal cycle components
a. Why is the feast being held? Religious or secular occasions
b. Fasting as partial or total abstention from food
E. Developmental Perspective of Food Culture
1. Social dynamics are paralleled by trends in food, eating, and nutrition
2. Globalization leads to food consumerization—we buy mass-produced food rather
than produce for ourselves what we eat
3. Modernization and technological advances lead to food commoditization
 4. Urbanization of populations leads to disconnecting what food is produced locally
from what is eaten in that region (delocalization)
5. Migration of populations leads to the flux of food habits seen in acculturation
6. Deliberate efforts to reverse these trends; farmer’s markets, slow food movement,
seed banks

V. Individual Food Habits

A. Food Availability
1. What foods are regionally available depends on a network of national and
international issues:
a. Political, economic, and social factors
b. Food production, storage, and distribution systems
c. Commodity markets
d. International trade
B. Edible or Inedible?
1. One of the earliest ways to describe – establishes the available, appropriate, personal
food sphere
2. Categorized into levels:
a. Inedible
b. Edible by animals, but not by me
c. Edible by humans, but not by my kind
d. Edible by humans, but not by me
e. Edible by me
C. Consumer Food Choice Model
1. Many interrelated factors influence an individual making a food selection at a given
time
2. Food selection primarily determined by taste:
a. Color, aroma, texture, flavor; sugar and fats preferred
b. Combining core and peripheral foods, flavor principles, meal elements
c. What is expected is preferred
3. Cost often the second most important influence
4. Convenience—how much time for food preparation and eating
5. Religious beliefs (see Chapter 4)
6. Self-expression/self-identity
7. Advertising
8. Physical and spiritual well-being
9. Life stage: teen years, elderly, growth, maturity
a. Developmental issues and perception of appropriate foods
10. Gender
11. State of health—from physical ability to eat certain foods to choosing certain foods
based on perceived medicinal values
12. Variety: the omnivore’s paradox comes in to play—humans are motivated to try new
foods
VI. Nutrition and Food Habits

A. The Need for Cultural Competency

1. Need to develop competencies in areas of nutrition research, assessment, counseling,
and education
2. Diversity in the U.S. population; evidenced by demographic trends
3. Diversity in the Canadian population; census conducted differently than in U.S.
4. Ethnicity and health; disparities in mortality rates, chronic disease incidence, and
access to care
B. Intercultural Nutrition
1. Study of food habits has specific applications in determining nutritional status and
implementing dietary change
2. Stereotyping is a pitfall in culturally sensitive nutrition applications
3. Diet should be carefully evaluated within the context of culture

VII. The American Paradox

A. Metaphors for America: “melting pot” → “tossed Salad”: separate components, each still
present but in a delicious, complementary blend; more accurate even is the “omnivore’s
paradox”
1. Settled by immigrants, therefore a propensity towards variety and trying new cuisines
2. Drive towards conservation and consistency of food traditions
3. Ethnic foods adapted to America’s varied tastes—less spice, less seasoning, more
protein to the ratios of starch and vegetables
4. American cooking adaptive; losing original content and context