It refers to the practices, attitudes, and beliefs as well as the networks and institutions surrounding the production, distribution, and consumption of food
2. Factors Influencing Food Selection
• Many factors influence what you eat, such as:
• Flavor
• Other aspects of food(such as cost, convenience,
availability, nutrition)
• Demographics
• Culture and religion
• Health
• Social and emotional influences
• Food industry and the media
• Environmental concerns
3. Flavor
• An attribute of a food that includes its
appearance, smell, taste, feel in the mouth,
texture and even temperature.
• It is the most important consideration.
4. Other aspects of food
• Food cost - major consideration. Cost is a
factor in many purchasing decisions.
• Convenience – is more of concern now than at
any time in the past because of the lack of
time to prepare meals. Convenience foods are
more expensive.
5. Other aspects of food
• Food availability – food choices are affected
by availability. The availability is very much
influenced by the way food is produced and
distributed. Fresh fruits and vegetables are
the perfect examples of foods that are most
available.
• Nutrition – important factor in deciding what
to eat. People read nutritional labels on a food
package.
6. Demographics
• Demographic factors that influence food choices
include
– Age
– Gender
– Educational level
– Income
– Cultural back ground
• Women and older adults consider nutrition more often
than do men or young adults.
• People with higher incomes and educational levels
tend to think about nutrition more often when
choosing what to eat.
7. Culture and Religion
• Culture can be defined as behaviors and beliefs of a certain
social, ethnic, or age group.
• A culture strongly influence food choices.
• Each culture has its own norms about
• Which foods are edible
– Which foods have high or low status
– How often foods are consumed
– What foods are eaten together
– When foods are eaten
– And what foods are served at special occasions
• Example: French people eat horse meat, but Americans do
not consider acceptable to eat.
8. Culture and religion
• Religion – affects day-to-day food choices.
• Example:
– Jewish do not eat meat and dairy products
together.
– Muslims do not eat pork. Their religion also
prohibits drinking alcoholic beverages.
9. Health
• Most people try to lose weight or keep from
gaining it as obesity increase the risk of heart
diseases, diabetes, cancer and other health
problem.
• Knowledge of nutrition and positive attitude
toward nutrition may translate into nutritious
eating practices.
10. Social and emotional influences
• Our food choices are influenced by the social
situations we find ourselves in.
• Example - social influence are involved when
several members of a group of college friends are
vegetarian.
• Peer pressure influences food choices.
• Food is often used to convey social status.
• Emotions are closely tied to some of our food
selections. As a child, you may have given
something sweet and as an adult, you may
gravitate that comfort foods when under stress.
11. Food industry and the media
• Food industry – influence very much what you
choose to eat.
• They decide what foods to produce and whereto
sell them.
• They use advertising, product labeling and
displays, information provided by their consumer
services departments, and websites to sell their
products.
• Media also report frequently on new studies
related to food, nutrition, and health topics.
Media may influence which foods people eat.
12. Environmental concerns
• Some people have environmental concerns,
such as the use of chemical pesticides, so they
choose organically grown foods.
• Many vegetarians wont eat meat because
livestock and poultry require so much land,
energy, water and plant food, which they
consider wasteful.
