2Fer #7 - Food in Culture

When asked what an important part of culture is, one might say the language, the music, or the history. While all of these are indeed necessary elements to a culture, they lack the ability to be easily shared with others. Music has the capability of being shared with everyone, however, messages and meanings within the words of the songs can be lost due to language barriers. On the other hand, food does not require language or words to be understood. Food is one of the most important aspects of a culture because of how it represents that culture and its traditions.

Within a culture, food can represent its history. Amy Choi, an author at TED, wrote, “American cuisine is shaped by the natural wealth of the country. Having never faced agricultural hardship, Americans had the luxury of not relying on rotating crops…” Often, traditions that have carried on into modern times started because of food availability and the method of preparing it. Cultural dishes that are still made now were influenced by what the world was like when it first came into creation. For example, many dishes in the Jewish culture are based on where people lived and what food became available during specific times. During the Diaspora, when the Jews were being forced to move around a lot, they had to assimilate into the cultures of the areas they lived in. This resulted in many of those cultural dishes being shaped and incorporated into Jewish tradition. What started as a necessity to live became part of the culture and got passed down through the generations.

Food can also display status and respect. In many cultures, the type of food and way it is prepared is a symbol of one’s status. In an article written by PMC, it is stated, “Food also plays an important role with respect to an individual’s place in society. As Counihan observed, ‘One’s place in the social system is revealed by what, how much, and with whom one eats.’” Expensive foods are commonly used to display one’s wealth and status in society. Because of this, food is used to show one’s respect to another person. Expensive food, or food someone usually would not eat, would often be prepared in order to honor guests. Another way to show respect is how food is positioned on the table. In Chinese culture, when eating fish, the head is positioned towards the most respected member at the table and should not be moved from that location. Similarly, only after the most respected member has started eating can everyone else also begin.

One of the most important sides of food in culture is the symbolism. Food can have different meanings based on what it is made of and how it is prepared and presented. An article by Guansheng Ma at ScienceDirect says, “Food has many symbolic meanings; it not only expresses but also establishes the relationship between people and their environment as well as between people and what they believe.” A good example of this is the Jewish holiday, Passover, where almost everything in the meal represents something. The meal itself is a ceremony of remembrance to what happened to the Jews before and after they fled Egypt. A staple food of the holiday is matzah, an unleavened bread, which the Jews eat to remember their hasty exodus out of Egypt. During a Seder, this is typically eaten with horseradish and charoset to represent the bitterness of slavery and the mortar Jews used to build while enslaved. Another example of symbolism is found in foods eaten during Chinese New Year. When celebrating the New Year, the type of food and how it is prepared symbolizes the desires for that year. Dishes such as fish and dumplings represent prosperity and wealth, and are considered to foresee an auspicious year.    

In every culture, food means more than just nourishment. It can hold the culture’s history, struggles, and hopes within one dish. However, it does not have to be constrained to just those in the culture. When people who are not part of a certain culture eat a traditional dish, they get to experience a piece of that culture and possibly gain a newfound appreciation for the people and their history.  

Works Cited

Choi, Amy. "What Americans Can Learn From Other Food Cultures." ideas.ted.com. N. p., 2014. Web. 23 Apr. 2018. https://ideas.ted.com/what-americans-can-learn-from-other-food-cultures/

Ma, Guansheng. "Food, Eating Behavior, And Culture In Chinese Society." Journal of Ethnic Foods 2.4 (2015): 195-199. Web. 23 Apr. 2018.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352618115000657

Nordström, Karin et al. "Food And Health: Individual, Cultural, Or Scientific Matters?." Genes & Nutrition 8.4 (2013): 357-363. Web. 23 Apr. 2018.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3689889/