Cultural colonialism is the interference of a particular culture by another in terms of communication, lifestyle, and food. With the increased levels of cuisine fusion, there have been arguments, mainly from critics that it is a danger to cultural colonialism. This opinion is not the case whatsoever. Cuisine fusion is not related to cultural colonialism in anyway and neither is influenced by it. National cuisines of most countries are not isolated and that is an excellent platform for interaction between chefs as well as an open field for a test of creativity. The food industry itself is still evolving with a lot of adaptation and assimilation of cuisines from different cultures. The only significant thing is for chefs to understand what exactly what they through blending and balancing various textures, flavors as well as bits and pieces of foods that they may know about (Kraig & Sen, 2015).
Cuisine fusion is the best way of promoting a culture especially if the fusion has a lasting impression on people. People will always have a desire to get into the grass root of a good meal. There have been many instances where people become victims of cultural shocks because of the frustration they meet when served with a meal from different countries. From the above explanation, the cultural activists' role in cultural compulsion is not diluted in any way with the fusion of cuisine from other countries or cultures. Instead, it should be taken as a positive drive toward cultural promotion and representation (Kraig & Sen, 2015).
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Qn. 2
Gramsci's Theory of Cultural Hegemony
Culture hegemony refers to a lifestyle or a rule achieved through cultural means. In the late twenties and thirties, Gramsci was very much concerned with the revolutionary that had threatened to cause fascism. He defines culture as a social process used by men and women to shape their lives. According to Gramsci, class struggle must always involve ideas and for an economic change, hegemony is mandatory. Human agencies have the power to influence economic as well as cultural change in the society. His theory has a significant focus on recognizing autonomy, independence and the importance of culture. Gramsci further argues that groups of people often adopt other people's ideas, values, and leadership because of their personal reasons best known to them but not because of they are physically induced, mentally compelled, or because they are ideologically indoctrinated (Gauntlett, 2008).
Chef Samuel’s fusion of international cuisine has a positive impact on the cultural integrity, and there is no threat of Swedish people losing their cultural food. Basing on facts from this theory, Chef Samuelson is at liberty of influencing the change in the culture he was brought up in without judgment or prejudice. His decision does not dilute his primary culture. As a matter of fact, every culture is recognized as independent in its way whether when fused with another one or not. Chef Samuelson's knowledge on International Fusion Cuisine carries a significant impact on his career as an excellent chef. The fusion takes into account the interest of his other group of customers. It is the perfect way of tapping into a broad extended market through the combination of different interests of people. The less dominant culture in the fusion does not disappear, but its practices are changed and developed for the better. The assimilation was as a result of consensual control where people from both cultural groups merged voluntarily without the coercion of the dominant Swedish culture.
Qn. 3
Overweight and Obesity
Flegal (2013) defines overweight as the weight of a body exceeding the average threshold of a standard value or reference value. The reference value is calculated from the observed distribution of the population while the standard value is based on the relationship between weight and morbidity or mortality outcomes. Obesity is the measure if the amount of body fat which is expressed in kilograms or as a percentage of the total body mass. Other measures of obesity and overweight may include the circumference of the waist as well as the body mass index of an individual.
In America, obesity is defined as a disease by the most medical associations and groups. It is considered as a national epidemic which can result severe effects on physical metabolic and psychological health. Most people in a number of countries link obesity to poor body image and bad body shape. However, surprisingly this is not always the case in America. Obesity is taken, as usual, manageable body illness like any other, and there is no big deal on the appearance of victims. Plus, sized people are those with bodies considerably bigger than ordinary people. From the fashion industry, most fashion industries identify plus sized people to wearing sizes 14W-24W while others wear up to size 25W upwards for both men and women (Flegal, 2013).
Plus-sized people are portrayed negatively in the media especially about fashion. They lack representation in most media houses, and they are stereotyped into demanding roles that require more energy. The fashion industry does not recognize them, and sometimes they are victims of Shaming due to their body sizes. Advertisement pictures are always displaying thinner people, and this, therefore, creates an impression that the fat women and men are the most unappealing types of people for commercials. The media too has created a perception by attributing body sizes of plus-sized people to bad eating habits, laziness and self-negligence which is not always the case (Flegal, 2013).
Characteristics of Overweight People
Most overweight people exhibit personal characteristic traits like sociability, talkative, indifference, carelessness and enthusiastic. The personality characteristics are however variable to the social environment and the level of acceptability within the society. The physical characteristic includes having a large quantity of arm fat and belly fat and having a large weight circumference of above 94 centimeters. Overweight people also have a high level of oxygen consumption, high glucose metabolism, and high energy expenditure. Most of them are discriminated and stigmatized because of their physical body fats. This treatment lowers their self-esteem and makes them stressed (Flegal, 2013).
Qn. 4
Hypothesis to Explain Patterns of People Eating Insects and Other people
According to Harris's research, the most unexplainable questions on why some people's preferences of some foods to others are wrongfully answered when people say that they follow their religions or because of they don’t like the food. People eating other people and insects is an example of the behavior Harris explains as a way to account for cultural differences and cultural materialism. Human beings have evolved and adapted themselves to different habits as a way of preserving their culture. With a solid support of opinion from the Optimal Foraging Theory, he emphasizes that human beings choose food that they believe has the best nutritional value for them.
Eating people and insects is only done in a particular group of people while others don't because they have never tasted them and not because of their religion or because it sounds horrible. The fear of eating people and insects has evolved, and eventually, it has appeared as a taboo in most communities. Some people may not find nutritional value in them, or they might see collecting insects to be costly, and they cannot afford (Harris & Jones, 2005). In a separate study done by Ma, the requirements of energy and nutritional content depend on race, age, sex and the level of energy used for physical activity. People living in different places take different types of food. Therefore, the habit of eating snakes and feeding on other people's bodies is purely due to cultural reasons rather than physiological and biochemical process (Harris & Jones, 2005).
Qn. 5
Better Health for the Well
The argument is right; the rich have more risks of illnesses due to their lifestyle compared to the poor people. The most common health problems that can perfectly fit into his debate are asthma, cholera, heart conditions hearing problems digestive disorders and high blood lead levels. The underlying reasons behind the situation are that the poor do not afford much protection needed like ear protective gadgets, and they are very much exposed due to their housing and work environments. Reduced access to health facilities for frequent checkups could also be the reason because they lack enough finances. Some socio-economic conditions like education level, family structures, neighborhood, and culture are what describe wealth and the financial status of individuals. The poor are the most disadvantaged people of these socio-economic factors making them to be exposed more to health issues. Inability to have the right nutritional knowledge or lacking adequate exposure to a healthy lifestyle is a common thing among the low-income earners. This condition also makes them to be at high risk of contracting some diseases and conditions (Wolf et al., 2005).
To address the issue, policy makers in areas of education, jobs, wages, economic opportunities housing, taxes and areas of economic development have a role to play to ensure equal population health. There is a need for more financial activities that improve self-sufficiency among different classes of people. The needy families need to be linked to the required departments for support. Health education and neighborhood strengthening programs should also be enhanced to enlighten the poor who are illiterate and not well exposed (Wolf et.al., 2005).
References
Flegal, R. J. (2013). Criteria for definition of overweight in transition: background and recommendations for the United States. The Clinical Journal of Clinical Nuitrition Volume 72, issue 5 , 1074-1081.
Gauntlett, D. (2008). Media,Gender and Identity . Retrieved from Antonio Gramsci: http://www.theoryhead.com/gender/
Harris, M., & Jones, R. (2005). Good to eat: riddles of food and culture. London: Royal National Institute of the Blind.
Kraig, B., & Sen, C. T. (2015, December). Street food around the world :an encycopidia of food and culture. Boston ,Massachusetts: Credo Reference.
woolf, S. H., Aron, L., Simon, L. D., Zimmerman, E., & Luk, K. X. (2005). Income and Health Initiative: Brief one. How are Income and Wealth Linked to Health and Longevity .
