This is the DISCUSSION environment — please discuss here what you’ve learned about food and people as part of the humanities. David Kaplan in the following makes astute observations worth considering.
Food features in our daily lives in innumerable ways. A diet expresses ethnic, cultural, religious, and class association; it establishes gender roles; it is essential in rituals and customs; and it explicates diverse behaviors, aspirations, and ideas of selfhood. Ceremonies and rituals in particular often include food (lamb for Easter, Passover Seder plate, birthday cakes, etc.), representing and expressing significance in a distinctively aesthetic fashion. Food preferences are not fixed at birth; it is possible for our food inclinations to change in a matter of minutes, as the result of sensitive changes in our internal state. Often, we develop love, dislike, or aversion to certain foods just because they are linked to happy or unpleasant experiences. Essentially, our food preferences are flexible and can be altered as we associate them with types of environments and circumstances. An aroma, a whiff, a texture, or a color may offer a glimpse into a moment from the past.
Food and eating, as Sarah Sceats observes, “are essential to self-identity and are instrumental in the definition of family, class, and ethnicity” (1). How do food and culture inform one another? Is it possible to gain greater insight into a culture through its food? As suggested by David M. Kaplan, “food taps pleasure and anxiety, memories and desires, attachment or alienation from our heritage. It does not determine an identity, but it is a marker of identity” (18). Food choices and dietary likings are indeed a part of who we are individually and collectively.
Food features in our daily lives in innumerable ways. A diet expresses ethnic, cultural, religious, and class association; it establishes gender roles; it is essential in rituals and customs; and it explicates diverse behaviors, aspirations, and ideas of selfhood. Ceremonies and rituals in particular often include food (lamb for Easter, Passover seder plate, birthday cakes, etc.), representing and expressing significance in a distinctively aesthetic fashion. Food preferences are not fixed at birth; it is possible for our food inclinations to change in a matter of minutes, as the result of sensitive changes in our internal state. Often, we develop love, dislike, or aversion to certain foods just because they are linked to happy or unpleasant experiences. Essentially, our food preferences are flexible and can be altered as we associate them with types of environments and circumstances. An aroma, a whiff, a texture, or a color may offer a glimpse into a moment from the past.
Food and eating, as Sarah Sceats observes, “are essential to self-identity and are instrumental in the definition of family, class, and ethnicity” (1). How do food and culture inform one another? Is it possible to gain greater insight into a culture through its food? What do we learn by eating foods from a variety of cultures?
Respond fully, based on A) what we’ve learned about food through class activities, links, documents, or readings; and B) your own experiences.
Remember, the purpose of this discussion is to achieve ALL of the yellow highlighted features above in the discussion. Be sure that your initial post is at least 50 words in length, is expressed in complete sentences, includes comments on at least FOUR other students’ posts with each response containing at least FOUR complete sentences before the deadline.
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