Abstract
The study sought to develop an understanding of identities related to eating patterns between eating at home and school. The study showed different cases to see if religion had an impact on if individuals eat differently at home than in school. The main source of information used in this study was gathered on the campus of Northeastern Illinois University in 2005. Ninety one students were asked questions pertaining to their nationality, religion, ethnicity, work, family generation / family background, living situations, and regular eating habits. Open ended and snowball sampling interviews were conducted. Individuals involved in the interviews were analyzed by eating habits. Participants were reported to be both stable and
…show more content…
Mintz, DuBois (2002) concluded that a great deal remains to be prepared in exploring food ways. Anthropologists are in a good position to make useful contributions to the development of policy in regard to health and nutrition, food inspection, the relation of food to specific cultures, world hunger, and other subjects. However, the researchers have not taken advantage of this opportunity.
Methodology
This study was conducted using ninety one open ended and snowball sampling interviews. The main source of information used in this study was gathered on the campus of Northeastern Illinois University in 2005. Students were asked questions pertaining to their nationality, religion, ethnicity, work, family generation / family background, living situations, and regular eating habits.
The selection of the participants leads to a certain bias due to the fact that the participants were chosen based on non-probability sampling. This leads to a misrepresentation of the student body at Northeastern Illinois University. NEIU is a diverse campus that has many different types of minorities attending the university. Figure 1 shows the diversity that was conducted within our data. The graph shows that Western Anglo or Northern Europeans were the largest group interviewed, however respondents from the Africa, Middle East or South Asia were following them. There is a potential threat to validity because the
Is it ok for students to express religious beliefs in class discussions, or through assignments? If you were Brittany Settle you would probably answer “No”. Settle v. Dickson County School Board, 53 F. 3d 152 (6th Cir. 1995), Brittany’s assignment was a research paper and her topic was drama approved by her teacher, which she later changed, without approval, to “The Life of Jesus”. The teacher refused her paper and Brittany received a zero. The teacher gave six reasons why she refused Brittany’s paper. Court ruled that Brittany’s free speech was not violated, by having to abide by a teacher's curriculum, and the teacher has control over the curriculum and classroom.
Eating Right in America: The Cultural Politics of Food & Health. (2013). Publishers Weekly, 260(30), 56.
There were 427 participants for the study: 308 women and 115 men. All participants attended a large, urban, faith-based university. The participants were from many different ethnic backgrounds, however, the majority (75.3%) were Caucasian. A majority of the participants were either freshmen or sophomores. Also, a majority of the participants were involved in
“By participating in a meal, we participate in a moment, an experience, a sliver of life." (Horton, 2012). When people think about a certain culture, they initially think of the food associated with it. Food is a part of a culture’s identity, and because of that, it is a part of the individual’s identity as well. For example, the US is associated with hamburgers, Italy with pasta, and Mexico with tacos. This cultural association to the food we eat helps us to figure out who we are. Over time, food has become more of a spiritual act, rather than one of survival. We eat food for the feelings it elicits and the experiences it gives us. In a way, we really are what we eat.
We make assumptions of people based on where they live, what they eat, where they grew up and what occupation they have. Instead of forcing integration on people, personal interaction with cultural diversity could be more effective, which is illustrated by author Jessica Harris. In The Culinary Season of My Childhood, Harris describes her experiences in learning cultural diversity through food. She states, “…and these seasons of my personal and yet very New York childhood gave me the foods of the world on my plate,” (119) Her article discusses the different cuisines that played important parts in her childhood as well as developing her understanding of diversity.
Sociologists believed that a formal meal does indeed represent the uniqueness of one’s culture. However, as time passes, the sociology of food and eating was shifted to other fields, where sociologists now focused more on studying food and eating in fields such as medical and family sociology. During this time, sociologists started to address many social issues that related to foods, including eating habits, nutrition, and hunger. With sociologists’ help, the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization was able to understand more about social factors that affected hunger. In addition, by applying various sociology theories and concepts, sociologists were able to understand more about the aspects of food and eating. For example, sociologist Joanne Finkelstein was able to analyze dining behavior in restaurants using the symbolic interactionist framework, in which the restaurant represent the convergence of personal and the social. . This is due to food preparation and consumption have provided sociologists the opportunities to gain insights into the various modes of production, political rule, social health issues, image and class, and intergenerational
In the United States the population of racial/ethnic minorities is growing. 34% of the American Population is persons of color according to the United States Census Bureau. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007). 32% of students enrolled in institutions of higher education were minority students in 2004 (NCES, 2007). The culture of a majority of campuses is changing because of the increased presence of minority students. Traditionally universities enrolled mainly
Often times Americans do not think about what they eat, as long as they get the energy from it to help them continue on their day. As food changes, it impacts the culture because it changes its meaning for people. Back in the days, food was treated with more respect and it meant more than just a source of energy. For example, some people had a spiritual relationship with food. They would not eat certain food because of their religious beliefs. According to an book by Caroline Walker Bynum, “To religious women food was a way of controlling as well as renouncing both self and environment. But it was more. Food was flesh, and flesh was suffering and fertility” . In other words, food had a spiritual relationship for religious women because they believed that when they are carrying a baby in them, the baby
This essay seeks to critically evaluate Delaney's (2010: 259) assertion that "food categories also correlate with social categories." In order to evaluate this claim, it is therefore necessary to explain what it means. In addition, the evaluation of this claim, in an anthropological context, needs be conducted through the research method of an ethnography of a meal. My argument will use the ethnographic experience of a Shabbat meal with David Horowitz's family to assess this assertion and whether it could be applied and verified through the interactions which occurred around food at this meal.
I grew up in Ethiopia in a family of six children and two adults until I became 16. When I was 16, I came to the U.S. since then I could see how my ethnic, culture, geography, and/or religion background affects my diet. I would say my diet was/still affected by my tradition or ethnic, and culture. For instance, when I grew up, my mother was a housewife and my father the only person was working and bringing food on the table because they believe women should stay home and raised children. Because of this reason we haven’t had sufficient income to buy verity of foods (fruits and vegetables) for the entire family. I haven’t had “healthy” or “nutritious” meals often, I may have three to four times in a month or sometimes none. When I was in
Should religion be taught in government run public schools? Though the question has been asked for centuries, the answer is constantly changing. At the start of the 1700’s it would be hard to find a school that once based off of a specific religion. This led into the public schools that were built only to shut religion out during the 1800’s and the ones that heavily avoided religion in the 1900’s. However here in 2016, the technological age, religion is once again on the rise and education about it needs to do the same. Students with accurate information about the beliefs around them, both alive and dead, can better mesh with other societal groups conflict free. These students can also learn more about the history of the world in which they
You are what you eat, is a common phrase characterizing the idea of food and identity. Several questions that discuss the notion of using food as a cultural clue will be addressed, such as: What do food choices represent? How do food choices represent cultural identity? Is it important to recognize the difference between what you eat representing what you are and what you eat constructing who you are? Our identity
According to Delaney (2004) suggests that food is not biological, it is cultural. The food that is consumed shapes culture and culture shapes food and intern shapes our identity (Delaney, 2004). Counihan (1999) agrees and suggests that food is a “product and mirror of the organisation of society…it is connected to behaviours and meanings” (p. 6). The way in which food is produced, distributed and consumed illustrates power relations, gender and sex within societies (Counihan, 1999). She explains that each society has a distinct food way which structures the community, personalities and families within the society (Counihan, 1999).
Discussion: The objective of this study was to examine the effect of the Food Bank of New York City’s CookShop Program on educating nutritional awareness. By using photography, before and after pictures of meals were taken in order to measure the consumption and choosing of various food groups such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, milk, and protein. The lunch trays of the sample were examined and have shown that children have selected a high percentage of healthy foods in the categories. However, the study has shown that the consumption of the foods is much lower. Therefore, children are subject to choosing a wide variety of healthy food, but do not eat it accordingly.
A close examination of the food diary allowed people to see that our family tended to have large meals to together only on Sundays and sporadic, smaller meals on other days. This was partially due to culture and the socialization of food. Keeping up with the fast pace lifestyle created a different schedule types for the family members, hence, different eating patterns. Many people of the North American society still try to enforce family time where they eat together. They cling to the ideal that families eating together fixes personal and societal ills (smoking, obesity, children's vulnerability to drugs, etc.) and that it is a way to kindle children's success in school (Ochs, Elinor, and Beck 2013:49). During the week, snack items and small meals made up my diet. This was quick and easy food preparation was one of the issues, apart from schedules, that stopped our family from eating together. When families are at home other reasons stop them from eating together. Reasons such as convenient snacks in home creating individualized meals or snacks for family members and family dinnertime giving way to