Question

2. American foodways are considered to be the result of five influences. Define foodways, and provide the list of all five influences. Further, provide an example of each of these influences.

Answer 1

In social science domain, ‘foodways’ are the social, cultural & economic practices as regards the production & the consumption of foodstuffs.

The main driver for eating is certainly hunger but what we select to eat isn’t determined merely by physiological / nutritional needs. Some of the other influences which impact food choice include-

1. Biological elements - hunger, appetite,& taste
2. Economic elements- income, cost & availability
3. Physical elements- accessibility, education, skills (for example-cooking) & time
4. Social elements- culture, peers, family & meal patterns
5. Psychological elements- stress, mood & guilt
6. Beliefs, attitudes & knowhow about food

The complexity of food selection is evident from this list, which is by itself not exhaustive. Food selection factors also vary in keeping with life stage & the power of one factor will differ from one person/ group of persons to the next. Hence, one kind of intervention to alter food choice conduct won’t suit all populace groups. Instead , interventions need to be aimed at various clusters of the populace with consideration to the several factors impacting their decisions on food selection.