Food and culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Food and culture - Essay Example When people eat, they spend time together and tell stories about life and they plan together for the future. It is a big part of people’s lives. It gives families time to share together and build relationships between family members. Eating food allows passing on customs and traditions that are being forgotten. Food also affects culture in other ways. Human societies are groups of people who interact with each other. But some of the things that make people act the way they do are the food cultures that people grow and share all over the world. Most of the plants and animals people eat grow in a farm. Although many of the food people eat have been there for thousands of years, the ways of growing and raising the food have changed. As ways to farm changed, so did the way land was developed. Understanding food and the environment, people see how the connections of plants and animals had an influence on nature. People then search for ways that agricultural methods can be similar to natural ways. More than 10,000 years ago, humans began the change from hunting and gathering to designing and managing the landscape to serve their needs. People began to control characteristics and develop technology to grow crops and raise animals to fit their tastes. In Guanxi Province in China, for instance, farmers built slopes into step-like terraces (Alba 15). By changing the environment of their surroundings, people can grow food in places that otherwise would not support crops. Preserving food makes it less perishable and easier to transport. Similarly, the obento, a Japanese child’s school lunch, gives cultural messages to a person who is not Japanese. The specific foods and how they are prepared symbolize a connection between home and school. The obento thus plays an important part in identifying a culture (Anderson 103). Early food agriculture helped society grow into cities and states. Anywhere one looks in the world, food affects culture. So