Cultural identity essay sample.

1. Running head: FOOD AND CULTURE 1
Food and Culture
Student’s Name
Institution

2. FOOD AND CULTURE 2
Food is a central feature in the ethical, philosophical and religious framework of any
human society. While the actual act of eating is an intensely personal act, Albala (2011),
argues that the food taken, and the eating process adopted by a community is fundamental in
the construction of shared background that leads to individual’s participation in the social
body of belief. Lightly put, food and the eating process communicates peoples’ beliefs, social
backgrounds, experiences and culture, and as Xavier (2013) put it, you are what you eat.
However, when it comes to cultural identities, food and eating habits are often relegated or
overlooked, and emphasis placed on the so called deep structures of cultures, among them
language, religion and history. However, a peoples’ food and eating habits often outlive
vernacular language. While vernacular languages may significantly change over time due to
interactions with other communities, descendants often continue preparing and eating similar
kinds of foods as their ancestors. As such, though the role of food and eating habits has been
neglected as a marker of cultural identity in the academic sphere, it is a better in marking
cultural identity when compared to vernacular language (Civitello, L. (2008). This research
explores the role of food and eating habits as a critical marker of cultural identities and
heritage in different nations and ethnicities.
According to Albala (2011), food habits include not only the ingredients and the
dishes prepared but also the techniques used in the preparation, coking and preservation of
the food, the presentation and array, frequency and timing of different meals, the etiquette
followed while eating the foods including who serves the food and who eats first, as well as
the role of foods in festivals (Claxton, 2008). Preparing food and eating is purely never a
biological activity since the process always imbued with meaning, which is communicated or
understood in various ways. For instance, social preparation and eating of food is an activity
that is conducted for other purposes rather than mere nutrition. Though food preparation and
eating methods are different across different cultures, it is evident that they are not random

3. FOOD AND CULTURE 3
but rather a representation of a peoples’ culture. Unlike language and other markers that
significantly change with time due to interaction, food habits pass the test of time and outlive
several generations. For instance, Civitello (2008) argues that it is common to come across an
American Asian preparing local Asian foods even though the person may not know any
Asian language. The fact that food habits outlive other cultural markers makes it the most
appropriate marker of cultural identities and heritage in different nations and ethnicities
(Civitello, 2008).
According to Albala (2011), the tradition of eating a particular food regularly is
directly related to the geographical location, the quality of the surrounding environment and
most importantly, the ancestral habits of the environment. However, in the long run, the food
taken becomes a vital part of its cultural representation, and a carrier of cultural symbols. As
such, food is in most cases used to flagging the national, regional and local identities of the
people, whereby specific habits are considered to reflect specific cultures. For instance,
eating with chopsticks is largely used to represent Chinese or Asian cultures (Xavier, 2013).
According to Kniazeva and Venkatesh (2007), the earliest comprehensive analysis of
food in relation to the lives of the people and its place among other products offered by Levi
(1981, 1999) in the consumer behaviour discipline. Using interviews Levi (1999) evidenced
that human food habits are highly symbolic, as they are part of the process of searching
meanings based on the analyses of myths told within a culture. This makes foods and food
habits a carrier of a symbol that a culture identifies with. This made different cultures adopt
different food habits, with different cultural subgroups adopting different roles in the various
food habits of their culture. For instance, Kniazeva and Venkatesh (2007) noted that the
female gender in the Indian community was tasked with the preparation and cooking, while
their male counterparts the search for food. This led the conclusion that on the basic, food,
food and eating habits are used to express cultural identities (Kniazeva &Venkatesh, 2007).

4. FOOD AND CULTURE 4
Kniazeva and Venkatesh (2007) research resonated with Xavier (2013), who
postulated that food practices and habits help in creating long-lasting cultural identities in
human. Using South and Southeast Asia as the case study Xavier (2013) evidenced the
important role played by food in establishing or influencing the religion. According to the
research, rice is the staple food in the South and Southeast Asia region thus is held in great
regard among the people. Consequently, the people created the rice goddess, doubles up as
the goddess of fertility. The rice goddess remains a dominant cultural symbol among South
and Southeast Asian religion, and signifies how food influences the religion. Additionally,
rice is used to shower the newly-weds to pray for their fertility, a religious practice that has
since been borrowed by other cultures. The use of food to shape the religion is also analysed
by Claxton, (2008), who argued that food helps to articulate the separateness of one creed
from another using dietary taboos. As such Claxton, (2008) argued that religions declare
certain food types, or food preparation procedures a taboo to distinguish them from others.
Food consumption techniques vary across cultures but have a significant meaning
and influence of the peoples’ ways of life. Kniazeva and Venkatesh (2007) evidenced that the
use of the right hand while taking meals is widespread in South and Southeast Asia and how
this phenomena is still culturally significant in these regions. Even today, children in these
regions are trained to use their right hands while taking their meals, which mark a significant
representation of the peoples' culture in the region. Similar the use of chopsticks are still
commonly used among ethnicities of the South and Southeast Asia, as opposed to cutlery,
which is widely considered to have a European descent. Thus it is a common site to be served
using chopsticks in establishments that serve Chinese or other South and Southeast Asia
foods, since the chopsticks are used a representation of the cultures of these regions (Xavier,
2013).

5. FOOD AND CULTURE 5
Food habits are strongly associated with collectively shared and in most cases well-
articulated meanings and images. In most cases, the type of food prepared has a cultural
meaning and represent a specific occasion festivals, age bracket or gender, and rarely are the
types of food used for alternative use besides their cultural importance (Xavier, 2013). For
instance, Matta (2015) found out that turkey is the most common source of meat in many
European and American families during the Christmas and thanks giving holidays. Other
foods that have a cultural significance of the festivity period include gingerbread biscuits and
liqueur chocolates in Germany, black and white pudding of France, and chicken with a
stuffing made from a range of fruits and vegetables in Nicaragua. Additionally, Matta (2015)
showed that fondue is considered by many Americans a fun meal, and the hamburger
symbolically a teenage food. In an extensive study on Thanksgiving rituals Kniazeva and
Venkatesh (2007), evidenced that Jell-O, one of the popular foods of the time is used to
symbolize traditions and a bonded family, where the vegetables and the roots representing the
common agrarian roots of American people, while the extensive use of butter instead of
margarine conveys the message of triumph nature of agriculture over commerce (Wallach,
2013).
Food preparation, serving and consumption techniques which evidently vary with
cultures, has a significant influence on familial relationships. In a study to evaluate why food
is an important part of culture, Sweden (2012), evidenced that the type of food, preparation
methods, as well as service and consumption methods reflects the peoples’ way of s life, thus
can determine the Geert Hofstede cultural dimension. For instance, Civitello (2008), found
out that Japanese work colleagues eat together after the work day, thus the conclusion that
Japan has a collectivistic culture that puts group welfare before personal interests.
Conversely, the study found Italy scores high on Femininity versus Masculinity score owing
to the procedures followed in preparing their foods. This research corresponds with Wallach

6. FOOD AND CULTURE 6
(2013) research, which explained that the fact that America culture is individualistic is
attributed to the fact they consume fast foods. According to this study, consuming fast foods
make Americans spend less time on the table taking their meals and conversing with their
families over dinner tables, thus their individualistic nature (Wallach, 2013).
Evidently, food habits and practices have had a significant impact on the peoples'
cultures, but what is the use of a culture if it cannot be preserved and passed on to the
successive generation? Civitello (2008) argues that food preparation practices, most notably
social eating provides a platform on which cultures are shared, thus passed on to successive.
However, modern families are less likely to prepare their cultural meals. Factors such as
convenience, price, nutrients, fat levels, calories among other factors are often considered
while preparing foods. Additionally, the eating practice is increasingly becoming an
individual affair owing to the changing tides of the time. Eating together in majority of
modern families is almost impossible due to work and schools. Even when together, this
noble practice is faced with numerous distractions such as televisions and other electronic
devices. Kniazeva and Venkatesh (2007), argues that a peoples culture was often revealed
and passed on during meal time, thus concludes that peoples culture is likely to be forgotten
and completely lost owing to the fact that family meals are less common owing to the busy
lifestyles of the people. Consequently, Civitello (2008) advises that we need to make social
eating a priority in our eating habits to preserve the peoples culture.
In retrospection, food is a food is a central feature in the ethical, philosophical and
religious framework of any human society, and though the actual practice of eating is purely
an individual affair, it is pivotal reflection of the people’s culture. The food practices, which
include the process and technique used to prepare the food, the way the food is served and
consumed, communicates the peoples’ culture. The food taken is directly related to the
peoples' culture, where taboo foods are used to distinguish religions. Foods may also be

7. FOOD AND CULTURE 7
mould objects of worship such as the rice goddess of Asia. Food is also culturally significant
thus there are foods used for specific functions, foods for specific ages and genders. The food
preparation and consumption procedures are equally significant as they help to shape the
peoples culture; thus, eating practices may be used to determine cultural identity of a
community. Food eating practices such as social eating is specifically important in passing
peoples culture to successive generation thus should be protected. Thus, though sometimes
relegated or overlooked, food habits are more appropriate measure and identifiers of the
peoples culture as compared to the so-called called deep structures of cultures, among them
language, religion and history, since lightly put it, you are what you eat.
References
Albala, K. (2011). Food cultures of the world encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, Calif:
Greenwood.
Civitello, L. (2008). Cuisine and culture: A history of food and people. Hoboken, N.J: John
Wiley.
Claxton, M., (2008). Culture, food and identity. Culture and development.
www.normangirvan.info/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/culturefood-and-identity-6.pdf
Kniazeva, M., and Venkatesh, A., (2007). Food for thought: A study of food consumption in
postmodern US culture. A Journal of Consumer Behaviour.
Matta, Raúl, (2015). Edible Identities: Food as Cultural Heritage. In Anthropology of food.
Brulotte, L.and Di Giovine. Retrieved from https://aof.revues.org/7824
Wallach, J. J. (2013). How America eats: A social history of U.S. food and culture. Lanham:
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Xavier Romero-Frias, (2013). On the Role of Food Habits in the Context of the Identity and
Cultural Heritage of South and South East Asia. Cultural Heritage and Identity
International Symposium 2013. Retrieved from

8. FOOD AND CULTURE 8
https://www.academia.edu/6002651/On_the_Role_of_Food_Habits_in_the_Context_
of_the_Identity_and_Cultural_Heritage_of_South_and_South_East_Asia