In 1943, Abraham Maslow proposed a theory called “Maslow’s hierarchy of needs” in psychology field. Food, placed at the bottom level of the hierarchy, represents one of the primary human physiological needs for survival. In my point of view, food is a carrier that holds all the meanings from other levels and passes on along with the transmission of cultural. In Sheila Ferguson, Martha Stewart and Julia Child’s books, it seems that they all state the cuisine of a particular type of food as while as the enjoyment. In fact they really convey an idea that food is not just about food itself, it is about people, who sculptured a unique personality by the particular social status his/she has, and the different meaning they endow with food. Refer to Fernadez-Armesto, “… which we eat not because we need them to stay alive but because we want them to change us for the better: we want them to give us a share of their virtue.” (27)The “virtue”, I think, is indicating the meaning that people endowed previously and we want to share the ancestors’ wisdom of the significance of food. Thus cooking in a certain way represents an altitude of insists one’s own lifestyle; it will be transmitted generation by generation. These three authors each describes a different type of food cooking, fancy art-like French cuisine, thoughtful black family soul food and dainty while hostess cooking, these distinctions are created by the different social status of the person who invented and cooked. As an old imperialist country, France, the trend of luxury embodies on the extravagant meals. Because those meals were served to hedonic lords or aristocracies, who is picky and vain, therefore French cuisine should be able to show the higher social status and the powe... ... middle of paper ... ...sed 23 May 2012. < https://resources.oncourse.iu.edu/access/content/group/SU12-BL-ENG-W350-1974/Primary%20Sources%20for%20Critical%20Essay/Julia%20Child%2C%20Mastering%20the%20Art%20of%20French%20Cooking.pdf > Martha Stewart, Entertaining, 1982. Accessed 23 May 2012. Sheila Ferguson, Soul Food, 1994. Accessed 23 May 2012. < https://resources.oncourse.iu.edu/access/content/group/SU12-BL-ENG-W350-1974/Primary%20Sources%20for%20Critical%20Essay/Sheila%20Ferguson%2C%20Soul%20Food.pdf> Abraham Maslow, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, 1943. Accessed 23 May 2012. < http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Maslow%27s_Hierarchy_of_Needs.svg> Tom Standage, A history of the world in six glasses, 2005.
Neither life nor culture can be sustained without food. On a very basic level, food is fundamentally essential for life, not simply to exist, but also to thrive. A means by which carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, nutrients, and calories are introduced into the body, food is a mechanism of survival. However, on a more abstract level, food is also fundamentally essential for culture by establishing its perimeters and dimensions and in shaping its authenticity and character. Food becomes the carbohydrates and calories that maintain any culture. Food offers a dynamic cross-section of man's tendencies. "Nourishment, a basic biological need," argues anthropologist Sidney Mintz, "becomes something else because we humans transform it symbolically into a system of meaning for much more than itself" (7). By examining food consumption and preparation, much is discoverd regarding the intricacies of culture. The preparation and consumption of food in Puritan society are reflected in Mary Rowlandson's The Sovereignty and Goodness of God. Rowlandson's view of food and admissions of hunger in the infancy of her captivity cast a revealing light upon the roots of her conceptions and ideas about food and, more generally, about her culture's conceptions and ideas about food. As the conflict between her soul and her stomach raged over food, Rowlandson's attitudes toward the Native Americans' preparation and consumption of food reflect the socialization of the Puritans to believe that every meal ...
In Michael Pollan’s “The End of Cooking” shares the message of what we are losing something important in this day and age because of all our pre-made and processed foods. This can be compared with Kothari’s “If You Are What You Eat, What Am I?” and her argument that food is part of one’s own identity. By using the examples from these two texts you can analyze the state of food and culture in the United States today. All of the processed and pre-made foods are causing people all across America to lose their sense of Culture. We no longer know what it’s like to make one of our cultures specialty dishes from scratch which can help people identify with their culture. This process helped newer generations see what it was like for those before them to cook on a daily basis and could help them identify your sense of culture.
The phrase, “We are what we eat” holds some essential validity and truth to it. Food is a constituent feature of our environmental ties to where we subside. It is a part of our daily lives. It can act as a form of communication with other individuals. Food can be an indicator of the nutrition idiosyncratic cultural groups are practicing. Notably, which ingredients hold higher placement of emphasis in consumption from a day to day basis. The way food is assembled or arranged has specific meanings in certain locations. From humble beginnings to global acknowledgment, the diffusion of Hispanic cuisine and some of it’s signature dishes will be analyzed under domestic and foreign context.
In The Hungry Soul we find an interesting blend of subjects, methods, and traditions. This book is a fascinating exploration of the cultural and natural act of eating. Kass intensely reveals how the various aspects of this phenomenon, restrictions, customs, and rituals surrounding it, relate to collective and philosophical truths about the human being and its deepest pleasures. Kass argues throughout the book that eating (dining) is something that can either cultivate us or moralize us. My question is, does Kass succeed in arguing for the fact that eating is something that can moralize us as human beings? Although I agree with some of the things that Kass discussed in the book, in this paper I will argue mainly against some of his claims.
In his first month of living in Provence, Mayle experiences his first Provencal meal, in which he appears to enjoy significantly. He describes it as “a meal that [he] shall never forget; more accurately, it was several meals that [he] shall never forget, because it went beyond gastronomic frontiers of anything [he] had ever experienced, both in quantity and length” (14). The vivid phrases and non colloquial words Mayle uses to recall his first cuisine experience indicates the overall powerful influence that the food had over him. As he later finds out, the men and women of Provence have an “interest in food [that] verges on obsession” (15) and that the “French are as passionate about food as other nationalities are about sport and politics” (16). Also, Mayle notices that “the Chez Michel is [...] not sufficiently pompous to attract too much attention from the Guide Michelin” (60). In fact, the “clients of the restaurant eat very well in the back, [...] the owner cooks, [...] members of the family help at table and kitchens, [and has] no
To better understand how these three contributors interact with and influence one another, it is beneficial to examine Abraham Maslow’s well-known Hierarchy of Needs. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, there are certain aspects of an individual’s life that must be maintained before that person can begin fulfilling their higher or more complex needs. But for the purposes of this paper, we will evaluate societies as a whole instead of just focusing on individuals. The end goal in this theory is to eventually reach self-actualization and fulfillment: the state of being where creativity and innovation are able to flourish. But before a slight hope can be given to that end goal of being achieved, the Maslow’s first sets of needs must be met and maintained. These are categorized as the physiological, meaning that they represent an individual’s need for “air, water, and sufficient calories and nutrients to live.” Hunting and gathering societies and food producing societies approach fulfilling these needs in distinct ways.
In order to get a greater sense of the food personality attributes, three episodes from each show’s current season were analyzed to examine the personalities’ mannerisms and culinary identity. These attributes and characteristics were coded and analyzed (see Table 2). Content analysis started with cursory examination of the television episodes. I posed two questions during my initial examinations: how do these culinary personalities present themselves as experts in either the domestic or public spheres, and how do these presentations adhere or diverge from the earlier outlined gender culinary stereotypes. This meant looking at the theme of the shows, setting, the appearance and mannerisms of the culinary personalities, and how well these shows convey the tone of the network. While watching, I took note of any personal anecdotes or memories given while the food was being
He trained in his Uncle François’ restaurant, Le Restaurant François in Nice. Here he learned the basics of French cuisine and tried to take in as much knowledge as he could as an adolescent. Restaurant François attracted the very wealthy from near and far, “rich invalids and they brought friends.” A particular group of Russian naval officers often wintered in the Villenfranche harbor and dined at the restaurant (James 4). Chef François preferred to serve the food that would best relate to his customers. For example, whenever the Russian officers dined, he tried to incorporate an aspect of Russian cuisine into the menu (James 5). This principle of catering to the customer became very prominent in Escoffier’s
Scholliers P (2001) Meals, Food Narratives and Sentiments of Belonging in Past and Present and Chapter Two Commensality and Social Morphology: An Essay of Typology Claude Grignon in Food, Drink and Identity Cooking, Eating and Drinking in Europe since the middle Ages by Berg in New York, America
In her book Semiotics and Communication: Signs, Codes, Cultures, Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz describes the wide use of food as signs, and also as social codes. The reason foods are so useful as signs and social codes is because they are separable, easily adaptive to new environments, and it is not difficult to cook, or eat for that matter. Food is a major part of our daily lives, Not only for survival, but it plays a substantial social role in our lives. We will look deeper into the semiotics of food, how food is used as identity markers, and also the role that foods play in social change in our lives. First let us start with the semiotics of food.
Food categorizes individuals into social classes. Many upper-class individuals strive to maintain a diverse, healthy, and complex appetite while the working-class tend to gravitate to food that is convenient, cheap and available. A person’s food choice can be directly related to their identity, it can bring groups together or tear people apart. As Claude Fischler states in his article Food, Self and Identity, “Incorporation is also the basis of collective identity and, by the same token, of otherness. Food and cuisine are a quite central component of the sense of collective belonging.” (Fischler 1988:4). Fischler discusses the impact that cultural food rituals have. These rituals are extremely diverse around the world and this is what can create barriers between cultures. In a North American culture, like Canada, food is very diverse due to multiculturalism. Our culture tends to have an overly commercialized setting that encourages over indulgence in food. This is a part of our values and gives people a topic to relate on, forming a sense of community and belongingness. However this will not be the case for other cultures around the
Human survival can be broken down into a hierarchy of needs according to Abraham Maslow . His theory states that our five basic needs in order to survive are breathing, food, water, sleep, and homeostasis. The needs to survive can solely rely on these needs, when practiced correctly. Food being a major part of survival, the human race should consider the benefits of the foods that they consume daily. The educational system plays a major role in children development, departments in schools worldwide are in charge of what students learn and eat while in school. The school system should prove students with healthy meals, to promote a healthy lifestyle.
The movie “The Hundred Foot Journey” is a great representation of different cultures interacting as well as the different food habits. The movie is based on an Indian family who moves to Italy and wants to open an Indian restaurant across street from a famous Italian restaurant in the small town. The Kadam family wants to bring the Indian cuisine to a new culture and share some of their values. They have trouble expanding their culinary delights to the public because Marquerite the sous-chef doesn’t want any competition. Throughout the movie, secrets on certain dishes are shared and tricks to improve the certain style of food is greatly appreciated by both restaurant chefs.
foods. Assess the levels of Maslow’s hierarchy that may be motivating consumption behaviors related to this cultural
Not only is food indispensable for survival, it is also a subject that is important to the construction of cultures. Indeed, from the sociological perspective, there is a direct relationship between food and culture.