Sociology of food

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Taipei, Taiwan: The Jiaotse Restaurant in 14th avenue. The owner is preparing her famous handmade Jiaozi. Taipei Taiwan Jiaozi-Restaurant-14th-avenue-01.jpg
Taipei, Taiwan: The Jiaotse Restaurant in 14th avenue. The owner is preparing her famous handmade Jiaozi.

The sociology of food is the study of food as it relates to the history, progression, and future development of society, encompassing its production, preparation, consumption, and distribution, its medical, ritual, spiritual, ethical and cultural applications, and related environmental and labor issues.

The aspect of food distribution in our society can be examined through the analysis of the changes in the food supply chain. Globalization in particular, has significant effects on the food supply chain by enabling scale effect in the food distribution industry. [1]

Food distribution

Impact from scale effects

Scale effects resulting from centralized acquisition purchase centres in the food supply chain favor large players such as big retailers or distributors in the food distribution market. This is due to the fact that they can utilize their strong market power and financial advantage over smaller players. Having both strong market power and greater access to the financial credit market meant that they can impose barriers to entry and cement their position in the food distribution market. This would result in a food distribution chain that is characterized by large players on one end and small players choosing niche markets to operate in on the other end. The existence of smaller players in specialized food distribution markets could be attributed to their shrinking market share and their inability to compete with the larger players due to the scale effects. Through this mechanism, globalization has displaced smaller role players. [2] Another mechanism troubling the specialized food distribution markets is the ability of distribution chains to possess their own brand. Stores with their own brand are able to combat price wars between competitors by lowering the price of their own brand, thus making consumers more likely to purchase goods from them. [3]

Early history and culture

Since the beginning of mankind, food was important simply for the purpose of nourishment. As primates walked the Earth, they solely consumed food for a source of energy as they had to hunt and forage because food was not easily on hand. By early humans fending for themselves, they had figured out that they needed a high energy diet to keep going on a daily basis to survive.

These developments eventually lead to agriculture, which also goes into the labor for food and the economic part of the sociology of food. As the years went on, food become more and more of a way to bring cultures and people together. In many cultures, food is what brings people together. This carried for centuries. From the homo-sapiens hunting and gathering, to the colonists to the New World sharing a feast with the Native Americans (that has been revived as a tradition named Thanksgiving [4] ), to the popularization of restaurants/eating out in the last several decades and the togetherness that comes with eating; these developments now show communication and connectivity relating to food. According to sociologists, there are different groups of food that are divided up by their purpose and meaning. There are cultural super foods, which are the staples for a culture. There are prestige foods, which reflect economic status, and body image food which is mainly consumed for the betterment of the body. Sympathetic foods are eaten for an acclaimed desirable property, like a superstition. Lastly, there are physiological foods, which are consumed for a specific health reason (like what a pregnant woman eats for a healthy pregnancy). These different categories help researchers and sociologists study culture in the perspective of food. It often shows how food grows, molds and changes with society. For example, if someone believes in homeopathy, that would fall under the sympathetic foods or physiologic foods. This is because they are consumed for their properties and beliefs of what it could do. Another example of one of these categories of foods would be caviar or oysters for the prestige foods, because they are often more expensive and those who consume it and purchase it do so to show their socioeconomic status, or SES.

Sociological perspectives

Through the lens of a symbolic interactionist, there are many symbols that have to do with the sociology of food. Food, in many cultures, brings people together and connects them on multiple different levels. For example, the tradition of eating with the family around the table. It represents togetherness with one and another and communication. Food itself could symbolize something greater than what it is. In America, fast food could represent the busy family that needs a quick dinner to some. To others, however, it could display the “McDonaldization Theory” which centers around the idea of, specifically American, consumption. Another example of how the sociology of food can be symbolized would be making the food from scratch. This definitely goes along with the family. With other theories of sociology, conflict theory also pertains to the sociology of food. As mentioned before, food was first and foremost used for nourishment and means of survival. Due to this, that can fall under conflict theory. The roles of the hunter and gather meant that early humans had to fight and forage to survive. The conflict could also display the survival of the fittest, because there was a conflict for getting food and nourishment, the only the ones who were to best for prevail and provide nourishment for themselves and their families. This evolved to what it is today, with people having jobs to make a living for themselves, which goes into food and nourishment. [5]

Psychology and disorders

Eating disorders are symbolic of the sociology of food. [6] They represent how much forced control (or the lack thereof) someone can have over themselves about something so essential for survival. [7] [8] Eating disorders do not limit themselves to Anorexia. These disorders include bulimia and Binge Eating Disorder (binge eating) as well. [9] People with such disorders often use food as a reward. [10] In other cases they see food as something to avoid, even though they need it for survival. [11] The relationship that people share with their food is always varied and is a very complex topic. [12] From a sociological standpoint, media has a lot to do with this. [13] [14] Not only does this have to with the sociology of food, but it has to do with how media represents society as a whole. Both men and women, (but majorly women) [15] see targeted and inaccurate representations of "the perfect body", [16] leading them to want to have a body more like the one considered normal. In disorders like Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia Nervosa/Bulimia, patients have an intense fear of gaining weight and consuming calories. These disorders go on to represent the damaged relationship people share with their food and their weight, and how it is always attached to negativity in popular media. Inaccurate representation leads people to focus more and more on their external appearance as opposed to them taking into consideration their absolute need for nourishment. The false image shown publicly of what a perfect body looks like and how it is affected by consuming as many calories as a person normally might, has led to Anorexia Nervosa being the mental health disorder with the highest mortality rate. [17] Many people in society and the way society is developing have what is called body dysmorphia. Body dysmorphia disorder is a mental health condition where a person spends a lot of time worrying about flaws in their appearance. [18] Body image has become a problem surrounding this topic as social media can show unrealistic standards related to eating issues/disorders and the sociology based on food consumption.

Dieting

The fad of diets have been around for centuries, [19] but the obsession with being thin and slim only really began trending in mainstream media in the 1990s, [20] for example, through trends, such as heroin chic. [21] [22] Historically, if a woman was large and plump, it showed that she was getting taken care of. It showed her wealth because she could afford to eat, as opposed to a peasant who did not have the luxury to readily available meals. [23] The desired woman was not stick thin. The notable change began in the 1920s era were the “boyish” figure became the most desired for a woman. [24] Later, going into the 1960s, models like Twiggy made headlines about how thin she was, and many women strived to be like her body type. [25] This carried on to the 1980s where dieting (like the South Beach Diet and Weight Watchers) grew in popularity, along with the popularization of working out and work out videos. [26] [27] This was the start of mainstream dieting fads. [28] Among these, others like the Atkins diet, Jenny Craig, and paleo began to take popularity. [29] [30] As of early-mid-2010s, other diets became mainstream. This included vegetarianism, dairy-free, veganism, raw diets, and gluten-free. [31] [32] There are many reasons why someone would choose a certain type of diet: moral reasons, digestive issues, outside influence, or religious influence. [33] [34] The similarities and changes in the modern diet or communities and the effect of globalization on food production and supply. An important factor mentioned states, from the effect of globalization on food production and supply to evolving cultural responses to food – including cooking and eating practices, the management of consumer anxieties, and concerns over obesity and the medicalization of food – the first part examines how changing food practices have shaped and are shaped by wider social trends. [35]

Obesity

The evolution of the American diet and the resulting rise in obesity is a clear example on how food shapes society and daily life. [36] Due to the fast paced lives that many Americans have, fast food and prepackaged foods with higher caloric density have grown in popularity. [37] The environment in which people with certain socioeconomic backgrounds live also heavily affect the type of food they consume, [38] as high calorie and low nutritional food tend to be cheaper and easier to find. [39] Lack of physical fitness is also a crucial aspect that is adding to the obesity epidemic. [40] [41] Studies have found that a neighborhood's walkability and access to recreation activities is correlated with increased exercise [42] and decreased risk of obesity. [43] There has been progress on combating America's obesity problem, with programs being put in place to help promote healthy eating and fitness. [44] [45] [46]

The effects of obesity. Medical complications of obesity.png
The effects of obesity.

Related Research Articles

Dieting is the practice of eating food in a regulated way to decrease, maintain, or increase body weight, or to prevent and treat diseases such as diabetes and obesity. As weight loss depends on calorie intake, different kinds of calorie-reduced diets, such as those emphasising particular macronutrients, have been shown to be no more effective than one another. As weight regain is common, diet success is best predicted by long-term adherence. Regardless, the outcome of a diet can vary widely depending on the individual.

An eating disorder is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating behaviors that adversely affect a person's physical or mental health. Types of eating disorders include binge eating disorder, where the patient eats a large amount in a short period of time; anorexia nervosa, where the person has an intense fear of gaining weight and restricts food or overexercises to manage this fear; bulimia nervosa, where individuals eat a large quantity (binging) then try to rid themselves of the food (purging); pica, where the patient eats non-food items; rumination syndrome, where the patient regurgitates undigested or minimally digested food; avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), where people have a reduced or selective food intake due to some psychological reasons; and a group of other specified feeding or eating disorders. Anxiety disorders, depression and substance abuse are common among people with eating disorders. These disorders do not include obesity. People often experience comorbidity between an eating disorder and OCD. It is estimated 20–60% of patients with an ED have a history of OCD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bulimia nervosa</span> Type of eating disorder

Bulimia nervosa, also known as simply bulimia, is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by purging or fasting, and excessive concern with body shape and weight. This activity aims to expel the body of calories eaten from the binging phase of the process. Binge eating refers to eating a large amount of food in a short amount of time. Purging refers to the attempts to get rid of the food consumed. This may be done by vomiting or taking laxatives.

Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight, or to the metabolic state achieved after complete digestion and absorption of a meal. Metabolic changes in the fasting state begin after absorption of a meal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel Fuhrman</span> American celebrity doctor (born 1953)

Joel Fuhrman is an American celebrity doctor who advocates a plant-based diet termed the "nutritarian" diet which emphasizes nutrient-dense foods. His practice is based on his nutrition-based approach to obesity and chronic disease, as well as promoting his products and books. He has written books promoting his dietary approaches including the bestsellers Eat to Live, Super Immunity, The Eat to Live Cookbook, The End of Dieting (2016) and The End of Heart Disease (2016). He sells a related line of nutrition-related products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eating</span> Ingestion of food

Eating is the ingestion of food. In biology, this is typically done to provide a heterotrophic organism with energy and nutrients and to allow for growth. Animals and other heterotrophs must eat in order to survive — carnivores eat other animals, herbivores eat plants, omnivores consume a mixture of both plant and animal matter, and detritivores eat detritus. Fungi digest organic matter outside their bodies as opposed to animals that digest their food inside their bodies.

Orthorexia nervosa is a proposed eating disorder characterized by an excessive preoccupation with eating healthy food. The term was introduced in 1997 by American physician Steven Bratman, who suggested that some people's dietary restrictions intended to promote health may paradoxically lead to unhealthy consequences, such as social isolation, anxiety, loss of ability to eat in a natural, intuitive manner, reduced interest in the full range of other healthy human activities, and, in rare cases, severe malnutrition or even death.

Binge eating disorder (BED) is an eating disorder characterized by frequent and recurrent binge eating episodes with associated negative psychological and social problems, but without the compensatory behaviors common to bulimia nervosa, OSFED, or the binge-purge subtype of anorexia nervosa.

Binge eating is a pattern of disordered eating which consists of episodes of uncontrollable eating. It is a common symptom of eating disorders such as binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa. During such binges, a person rapidly consumes an excessive quantity of food. A diagnosis of binge eating is associated with feelings of loss of control. Binge eating disorder is also linked with being overweight and obesity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fad diet</span> Popular diet with claims not supported by science

A fad diet is a diet that is popular, generally only for a short time, similar to fads in fashion, without being a standard scientific dietary recommendation, and often making unreasonable claims for fast weight loss or health improvements; as such it is often considered a type of pseudoscientific diet. Fad diets are usually not supported by clinical research and their health recommendations are not peer-reviewed, thus they often make unsubstantiated statements about health and disease.

Overeating occurs when an individual consumes more calories in relation to the energy that is expended via physical activity or expelled via excretion, leading to weight gain and often obesity. Overeating is the defining characteristic of binge eating disorder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diet (nutrition)</span> Sum of food consumed by an organism

In nutrition, diet is the sum of food consumed by a person or other organism. The word diet often implies the use of specific intake of nutrition for health or weight-management reasons. Although humans are omnivores, each culture and each person holds some food preferences or some food taboos. This may be due to personal tastes or ethical reasons. Individual dietary choices may be more or less healthy.

A food addiction or eating addiction is any behavioral addiction characterized primarily by the compulsive consumption of palatable and hyperpalatable food items. Such foods often have high sugar, fat, and salt contents, and markedly activate the reward system in humans and other animals. Those with eating addictions often overconsume such foods despite the adverse consequences associated with their overconsumption.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Healthy diet</span> Type of diet

A healthy diet is a diet that maintains or improves overall health. A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, macronutrients such as protein, micronutrients such as vitamins, and adequate fibre and food energy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sociology of the body</span> Branch of sociology studying the human body

Sociology of the body is a branch of sociology studying the representations and social uses of the human body in modern societies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juice fasting</span> Fad diet in which only fruit and vegetable juices are consumed

Juice fasting, also known as juice cleansing, is a fad diet in which a person consumes only fruit and vegetable juices while abstaining from solid food consumption. It is used for detoxification, an alternative medicine treatment, and is often part of detox diets. The diet can typically last from one to seven days and involve a number of fruits and vegetables and even spices that are not among the juices typically sold or consumed in the average Western diet. The diet is sometimes promoted with implausible and unsubstantiated claims about its health benefits.

Intermittent fasting is any of various meal timing schedules that cycle between voluntary fasting and non-fasting over a given period. Methods of intermittent fasting include alternate-day fasting, periodic fasting, such as the 5:2 diet, and daily time-restricted eating.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criticism of fast food</span> Overview about the criticism of fast food

Criticism of fast food includes claims of negative health effects, animal cruelty, cases of worker exploitation, children-targeted marketing and claims of cultural degradation via shifts in people's eating patterns away from traditional foods. Fast food chains have come under fire from consumer groups, such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a longtime fast food critic over issues such as caloric content, trans fats and portion sizes. Social scientists have highlighted how the prominence of fast food narratives in popular urban legends suggests that modern consumers have an ambivalent relationship with fast food, particularly in relation to children.

Nutrition psychology (NP) is the psychological study of the relationship between dietary intake and different aspects of psychological health. It is an applied field that uses an interdisciplinary approach to examine the influence of diet on mental health. Nutrition psychology seeks to understand the relationship between nutritional behavior and mental health/well-being NP is a sub-field of psychology and more specifically of health psychology. It may be applied to numerous different fields including: psychology, dietetics, nutrition, and marketing. NP is a fairly new field with a brief history that has already started to contribute information and knowledge to psychology. There are two main areas of controversy within nutrition psychology. The first area of controversy is that the topic can be viewed in two different ways. It can be viewed as nutrition affecting psychological functions, or psychological choices and behavior influencing nutrition and health. The second controversy is the defining of what is "healthy" or "normal" as related to nutrition.

References

See also

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ "Food - Sociology - Oxford Bibliographies - obo". www.oxfordbibliographies.com. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
  2. ↑ MANUEL BELO MOREIRA, Changes in Food Chains in the Context of Globalization, Int. Jrnl. of Soc. of Agr. & Food, Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 134–148
  3. ↑ Vizard, Sarah. "Supermarkets' new price war risks damaging relations with food brands and consumers." Marketing Week Online 24 Apr. 2014. General OneFile. Web. 5 Nov. 2015.
  4. ↑ Siskind, Janet (1992). "The Invention of Thanksgiving". Critique of Anthropology. 12 (2): 167–191. doi:10.1177/0308275X9201200205. S2CID   140389022.
  5. ↑ "Sociology of food - Short Notes for Sociology". www.sociologyguide.com. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
  6. ↑ "How big brands are helping consumers shift to healthier eating options". Reuters Events. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  7. ↑ "Eating Disorders Awareness Week: The Psychology behind Eating Disorders, and How to Treat Them". The Chelsea Psychology Clinic. 2019-02-25. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  8. ↑ Hendriksen, Savvy Psychologist Ellen. "The Mindset of Eating Disorders". Scientific American. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  9. ↑ "Types of Eating Disorder". Beat. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  10. ↑ "Reward". National Eating Disorders Association. 2019-08-22. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
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  14. ↑ Jonk, Hiwot (2021-03-01). "Has Social Media Eroded our Relationship with Food?". Mysite. Archived from the original on 2022-10-21. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
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  16. ↑ d'Amour, Sarah; Harris, Laurence R. (2019). "The Representation of Body Size: Variations with Viewpoint and Sex". Frontiers in Psychology. 10: 2805. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02805 . PMC   6929680 . PMID   31920848.
  17. ↑ "Anorexia Nervosa – Highest Mortality Rate of Any Mental Disorder: Why?".
  18. ↑ "Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD)". nhs.uk. 2021-02-10. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  19. ↑ Saner, Emine. "People Have Been Crash Dieting For Over 2,000 Years". Business Insider. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
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  25. ↑ Hall, Carla (1991-10-11). "THE SKINNY ON TWIGGY". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2022-10-21.
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  27. ↑ "These '70s and '80s Fad Diets Are Too Freaking Hard To Follow". So Yummy. 2019-08-30. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
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  30. ↑ "The 10 Most Famous Fad Diets of All Time". EverydayHealth.com. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  31. ↑ "The biggest (and weirdest) wellness trends we all witnessed in the 2010s". Vogue India. 2019-12-20. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  32. ↑ "Here Are Diet Trends That Ruled Between 2010 To 2020". HerZindagi English. 2020-12-13. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  33. ↑ Capritto, Amanda. "6 common reasons people eat vegan". CNET. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  34. ↑ "Why are so many people going gluten-free?". www.piedmont.org. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  35. ↑ "Introducing The Sociology of Food and Eating by Anne Murcott". Perlego. Bloomsbury Academic. 7 February 2019. ISBN   978-1-350-02204-1 . Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  36. ↑ "The Making of the Obesity Epidemic". The Breakthrough Institute. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  37. ↑ "Fast Food Statistics | October 2022 | The Barbecue Lab". 2020-03-24. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  38. ↑ Zagorsky, Jay L.; Smith, Patricia K. (November 2017). "The association between socioeconomic status and adult fast-food consumption in the U.S". Economics and Human Biology. 27 (Pt A): 12–25. doi:10.1016/j.ehb.2017.04.004. ISSN   1873-6130. PMID   28472714. S2CID   23903624.
  39. ↑ Sanchez, Karlene (2019-02-27). "Fast food accessibility is a public health issue". The Daily Aztec. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
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  42. ↑ Orstad, Stephanie L.; McDonough, Meghan H.; James, Peter; Klenosky, David B.; Laden, Francine; Mattson, Marifran; Troped, Philip J. (November 2018). "Neighborhood walkability and physical activity among older women: Tests of mediation by environmental perceptions and moderation by depressive symptoms". Preventive Medicine. 116: 60–67. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2018.08.008. ISSN   0091-7435. PMC   6260982 . PMID   30092314.
  43. ↑ SALLIS, JAMES F.; GLANZ, KAREN (March 2009). "Physical Activity and Food Environments: Solutions to the Obesity Epidemic". Milbank Quarterly. 87 (1): 123–154. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0009.2009.00550.x. ISSN   0887-378X. PMC   2879180 . PMID   19298418.
  44. ↑ CDC (2022-05-21). "CDC-funded state and local programs". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Archived from the original on 2024-04-28. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  45. ↑ "Obesity Prevention and Healthy Weight Programs". National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  46. ↑ Chriqui, Jamie F. (September 2013). "Obesity Prevention Policies in U.S. States and Localities: Lessons from the Field". Current Obesity Reports. 2 (3): 200–210. doi:10.1007/s13679-013-0063-x. ISSN   2162-4968. PMC   3916087 . PMID   24511455.
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