This document summarizes factors that influence food habits and culture. It discusses both internal factors like individual preferences and values, as well as external factors including geography, religion, social and economic conditions. Geography influences food culture as different locations are better suited to growing certain foods. Religion also plays a role, as some prohibit foods like pork or meat. Social and economic conditions impact food access and choices. Overall, food is deeply tied to culture and both internal and external influences shape what and how people eat.

1. Food and Nutrition Essay
Proper nutrition is one of the most essential elements to being healthy and living a long life.
People deal with food every day, and food has been a part of life since the beginning of
civilization. What we eat becomes our diet, and our diet plays a major role in deciding how
healthy we are and how well our body functions. Without proper diet, our body cannot carry out the
functions it needs to perform. Most people have some common knowledge on what is good and
what is bad for the human body to consume. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains are some common
items people think of when they think of healthy foods. However, it is not enough just to know
what foods are good for your body, it is also important to understand why certain foods are...show
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These include obesity, diabetes, and several heart conditions. Obesity is the term used for
someone who qualifies as significantly overweight. A BMI (Body Mass Index) records weight in
relation to height. A BMI of 25 is overweight and a BMI of 30 is obese. Obesity is not a disease in
its self but it can lead to different health issues, some fatal. Obesity can be related to eighty
percent of type two diabetes, seventy percent of cardiovascular disease, thirty percent to gall
bladder surgeries, and forty two percent to breast and colon cancer. Unfortunately, obesity rates
in people are rising rapidly. The United States alone had an obesity rate of twenty six percent in
2007. Some cases of obesity are gene related, but most other cases are a result of improper dieting
and exercise among the individual ("Why Is Proper Nutrition Important?", Case Western Reserve
University). Type II diabetes is another major effect from improper diet and nutrition. When
someone is a type II diabetic, their body either produces too little of an amount of insulin, or their
body's cells ignore the insulin. Insulin is important in helping your body use sugar for Kavanaugh 3
energy. When a person consumes food with sugar, the sugar is broken down into glucose. Glucose
is used as an energy source for the body and is transported throughout your blood into the cells by
insulin. Without proper amounts of insulin, your body is unable to use the glucose as
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2. Food Waste Essay
Food Waste Position/Proposal
By Natalie Parisi
An Introduction to the Problem
Food waste is something that affects us all. It happens anywhere food has a presence; the grocery
store, restaurants, in our homes, at schools, on farms, in production and even in transportation. It
affects people everywhere; those living oceans away and those that share our boarders, people living
across America and throughout Utah, businesses and households alike.
Being Aware is a Personal Responsibility
So is the problem food waste itself, or that food is being thrown out when there are alternative
options? Or is it that we just don't stop to consider there is a problem? My concern is that it's not a
priority for most people. In addition, there are...show more content...
(Sklamberg, par.3)
Claiming Ownership
In our homes waste caused because we don't pay attention; we are inattentive and ignorant. For some
of us, it just isn't important. (Jones, Dive!)
Wasting food is a bad habit that affects all of society and we continue to implicate ourselves in
the problem. Of the total of food loss that is going on about 40 percent is in the household. Overall a
typical household of four loses about 600 dollars in food a year. (Jones 11)
Like many things, we just don't bother or we don't feel that we have the time. We aren't realizing
how much it affects each of us. Have you ever taken the time to stop and think about it?
Thinking about it, I realize that every day I throw something away that could be saved and eaten
later. When I take the trash out there are a number of food items that don't need to be there. After
we finish dinner I am wiping food off of plates and realizing that I've made too much. Every time I
clean out the fridge there is food going into the garbage because I waited too long to use it.
Whatever the reason, I realize that it does affect me in many ways and it's constantly happening in
my home.
Looking at the Impacts of Food Waste
Food Waste affects our pocket book because we are essentially throwing out money. At the same
time it is impacting us financially it's also playing a huge role in the problems we see happening to
our environment.
The US Environment Protection Agency said, "Generating food waste
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3. Essay about Food Miles
Food Miles A food mile is the distance food travels from the farm to the store where you buy it, and
these miles are costly to the environment. They are among the fastest–growing sources of
greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. The concept of food miles started in the early 1990's in the
United Kingdom .The more the food miles that are attached to a particular food, the less sustainable
and the less environmentally the food is desired. Professor Tim Lang at the Sustainable Agriculture
Food and Environment (SAFE) was the person behind conceiving the food miles, which appeared in
a report 'The food miles report'. The report consisted of the highlights of the hidden ecological, social
and economic consequences of food production to consumers...show more content...
It has been stated that if people suggested buying food originating from within a 20km radius from
our locality, the country would save over two billion pounds in congestion and environmental
costs. Food grown locally is more environmentally friendly. The reason usually given for this is
that imported food e.g. New Zealand lamb, require a lot of fossil fuels and produce a lot of
carbon emission to get it to the market. Locally grown food, require less fossil fuel and therefore
put out less carbon emissions and is better on a global scale. The media have surfaced a huge
image regarding the New Zealand apples that are transported to the UK .The issue is how the
produce is carried by air. Air transport is a very high producer of greenhouse gases and the
concept of produce being flown from one side of the world to the other is repellent to many
environmentally aware people. However, products like the New Zealand lamb going to the UK are
not transported by air, but are freighted by ship, which uses less fossil fuel and has less emission
per kg of produce. The amount of fossil fuel used to import produce pales beside the amount of fossil
fuel consumed taking the produce from the point of entry into the country to the depot, to the
supermarket and then to the consumer's home. In conclusion food miles does not take into account
the wider economic benefits that trade provides to
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4. Food Culture Essay
Factors Influencing Food Habits and Culture Eating food is essential for all of us, it keep us alive
and also gives us enjoyment at the same time. Food can be defined as any substance that can be
metabolized by an animal to give energy and build tissue. (ilearn) In ancient time, when people feel
hungry, they eat. However, as human history keep developing and evolving, we have a higher
standard on choosing food that we like to eat nowadays. In this paper, we are going to evaluate
factors that are influencing our food habits and food culture. Those factors can be divided into two
main categories, internal factors (individual preference and values) and external factors
(geographical, religion, social, economic and political). Internal...show more content...
Another example would be Chinese like to eat hot pot in winter to keep them warm. In the
northern part of China, there are more spicy dishes than the southern part of China. This is
because eating spicy food will keep people warm. In costal region, there is more seafood than the
inland region. The reason is because it is easier to get fresh seafood in costal region than in the
inland region. Japan is an island surrounded by sea, and that is why eating seafood is famous in
Japan. Some locations are better for growing specific food, for example China have the climate
advantage in growing tea, and France have the advantage in growing wine. Religion is another
external factors influencing food habits and food culture. Different culture has different religion,
different religion has different custom and food is an important part of a religion. Some religion
such as Muslims, consider eating pork as a dirty food, and people should not eat them. Buddhism
do not recommend members to eat meat, because they think that is cruel to kill an animal and that
we should respect them so we should not eat them. Therefore, a lot of Buddhism followers are
vegetarians. Hinduism followers do not eat cow because they think that cows are scarce. People
who believe in a religion will follow the rules of the religion, so this will influence their food habit.
Some religions do not have rules about food, but they have specific food to eat.
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