Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
psychological factors. A brief review of some of the staple foods used in cuisines
throughout the world is provided. The cultural forces that make people choose or
refuse certain foods are addressed. Religion is also a factor, and it is further dis-
cussed in Chapter 3.
IntRoductIon
“We are who we are today because of you who came before us.”
—Zulu proverb
The combined influences of the environment and other factors on cultural food
choices are summarized in Figure 4.1. The quality and quantity of food available to
humans and humans' food choices have changed over the course of human history.
They have been influenced by several cultural factors, as mentioned throughout the
chapter. In the past, humans wandered for food to obtain the nutrients needed for
survival. Culture represented the means for identifying foods that were appropriate
to eat. As the human population grew, environmental constraints affected the means
of food acquisition, ultimately affecting food choices. Humans further adapted to
their surrounding environments and began to cultivate plants and domesticate ani-
mals instead of relying on hunting and gathering. This Neolithic transition provided
a stable and reliable food supply that eventually allowed for the development of
civilizations. Over time, as human cultures began to have more contact with each
other, additional factors—economical, political, and psychological—developed that
enabled humans to further discern between foods that were “for me and my family”
and foods that were “for you or strangers.” Human survival depends on the acquisi-
tion of food from an ever-changing, and often hostile, natural environment. For most
of recorded history, food was scarce, thus affecting human activity and food choices.
N
ATURAL
E
NVIRONMENT
Social
Politics
Economics
Technology
Culture and Customs
Foodways
Cuisine
Intake
Senses
Psychological
Biology
Religion
fIguRe 4.1
Factors affecting the cultural and customary influences on human food
selection.
