Trying Food from another Culture

From the ancient times, food has been known as a notable part of all human connections. This paper will briefly discuss how trying food from other cultures drawing an example from a group of Australian people trying American snacks is relevant to the class. The video shows the different reactions the people of Australia have other various snacks such as butterfingers, cinnamon rolls etc. every country and culture have a way they identify with food and as foreigners, it is crucial to familiarize with the food of the country they are in as well as learn to love the different cuisines. Understanding food is very important that most academic fields have encompassed the study of food in the curriculum in that students can now be able to examine the complex relationship of food, beliefs and the people in general from various disciplines in the social sciences, humanities, and sciences (Kittler, Sucher, and Nelms, 2012). 

Trying food from another culture teaches people to see how different individuals relate to food and also it discloses a great deal of information about the people. For example, the food choice is able to give one an impression of the individual’s background, his beliefs, personalities and passion (Hauck-Lawson, 2004). Additionally what we choose to eat or not to eat is a communication of our current state of mind that is not able to be explained by words alone. Eating junk food is mostly associated with happiness or depression. For example in the United States, it is believed that they like to add cinnamon to most of their sweet dishes. Moreover, looking into the reactions people have while they try food from another culture teaches us how to deeply observe the normal eating behaviors and be able to find a deeper understanding of the obvious act thus be able to better understand ourselves as well as other people. This can also demystify stereotypes and bring about acceptance across the different groups of people.

References

Hauck-Lawson, A. (2004). Introduction to special issue on the food voice. Food, Culture, and Society, 7 (1), 24-25. 

Kittler, P.G., Sucher, K.P., & Nelms, M.N. (2012). Food and culture (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth