Cuisine is defined by how and why foods are acquired, prepared, and eaten, as well as people's beliefs around these activities. Cuisine is shaped by various influences including geography, climate, economics, politics, religion, and culture. It encompasses basic foods, cooking techniques, flavor principles, and rules of etiquette. Regional cuisines can develop from necessity based on available foods but may lack nutritional adequacy. Cuisine and food choices are also influenced by factors like gender, social situations, celebrations, socioeconomic status, and beliefs.
2. What Lies Beneath
War Natural disaster
Climate
Politics
Technology
Dietary
Religion composition
Trade
Preference/ taste
Economics
Culture
3. Cuisine is defined by how &
why foods are acquired,
prepared and eaten and
what people believe and
understand about these
activities.
4. Five Main Elements of
Cuisine
Cuisine
Basic foods Distinctive cooking Flavour principles
techniques
Rules/Codes of etiquette
Food chain that moves from
farm to fork
5. Cuisines & Nutrition
Regional food cultures can develop
from necessity (using foods that will
grow well within a region)
May be nutritionally inadequate
E.g. Use of corn as staple crop – Niacnin
(Vitamin B3) deficiency
Major disaster if one food becomes
unavailable
e.g. Irish potato famine – potatoes
developed disease, became unavailable
Millions died or emigrated
Population has still not recovered to pre-
famine levels
6. Cuisines & Nutrition
Particular regional diets may have many
beneficial components, including:
nutrient profile, selection of foods, style of choosing,
preparing & eating food, family & social structure
Adoption of both diet AND other lifestyle
components to achieve benefits
e.g. Mediterranean diet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml277yeFyZw
7. Influences on food choices within
cuisine
Beliefs
Age Gender
Social situation
Day of the week
Cuisine
Who is home Who cooks
Socioeconomic Celebrations
status
8. Beliefs
Largely influenced by culture and
religion
Lent
Halal vs Haram
Kosher
Forbidden foods
We will discuss these later on in the
semester!
9.
10. Cuisine & food choices
shaped by gender
Work involved in feeding household mostly
undertaken by women
~8 hours food prep per week by women; ~3 hours food
prep by men
Women’s interests should be used to shape
nutrition policies and interventions – this will ensure
realistic policies and desirable consequences
Particularly important in developing countries
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S0eHdHDo6U
12. Meal Structure
Previously Now
availability no discrete meal times
religious rules more fast food
fixed no. of meals eating not so social,
specific food for more individual
specific people no set definition of the
‘proper’ was term ‘meal’
considered to be ‘proper’ depends on
meat & 3 vegetables location & occasion
13. Social stratification
Social class well-recognised factor in dietary
differences and inequality
Social disadvantaged/ lower-social class
associated with dietary intakes less
consistent with recommendations and
poor health
Reverse association: obesity increased
social disadvantage
15. Food Security
Food security is defined as the state in which all
persons obtain a nutritionally adequate, culturally-
appropriate diet at all times through local non-
emergency services.
Food insecurity can cause:
physical impairment
capacity to work or learn
nutritional inadequacies
higher rates of depressive illness
social isolation or exclusion
in the developed world, obesity
16. Food security
In the 1995, 2001 & 2004 NHS surveys, ~5% of
the adults reported that in the previous 12 mths
they had, at times, run out of food & could not
afford to buy more
Those at particular risk of food insecurity include:
homeless people/unstable living arrangements
newly arrived refugees
low income earners/welfare recipients
the elderly
those living in rural & remote areas
those with a disability
17. Why is food security
important?
Because people who are unable
to obtain enough to eat are
unlikely to pay attention to
educational message about
health food consumption!
18.
19. Why is the consumption of
convenience and snack
foods increasing?
20. Marketing & Advertising
Advertising, esp. TV advertising crucial to
manufacturing companies
Manufacturers spend large amounts of money
on advertising
Strong influence on food choice
Subtle and pervasive – may not be aware of
it’s effect on our food choices
21. Children and Advertising
Controversial issue – children are especially
vulnerable due to:
Long TV viewing hours
Fast food and confectionary most common product
advertised during children tv viewing hours
Not able to critically interpret advertising
~ 30% of non-programme content in Children’s
viewing hours in Aust and NZ is food (Wilson et al,
1999; Hill et al 1997 in Nut Aust Position Statement 2009)
Children in the United States who view television
as a normal part of their meal routine have poorer
dietary habits than those who do not (Coon et al in
Nut Aust Position Statement 2009)
22. REFERENCES
Wahlqvist (2011) Food and Nutrition, Allen & Unwin
Gallegos, Chapter 3, Social approaches to understanding food, eating and
nutrition
Baines & Rutishauser, Chapter 13, Contemporary food use: Food supply
and food consumption
Wahlqvist, Chapter 5, Food security, nutrition in transition & sustainable
environments, p59 to 63
Chapman et al (2006) How much food advertising is there on
Australian television? Health Promotion International, Vol. 21 No. 3
Nutrition Australia Position Statement Food Advertising Directed at
Children (2009). Available at
http://www.nutritionaustralia.org/sites/www.nutritionaustralia.org/files/
Nutrition_Australia_position_on_food_advertising_to_children_feb20
09.pdf
DAA Submission on Food Advertising to Children (2007) Available
at http://daa.asn.au/for-the-media/hot-topics-in-nutrition/food-
advertising-to-children/
Editor's Notes
The composition of diets is influenced by a wide range of factors, includingclimate & the physical environ, social & cultural influences, technologies, trade, personal & community wealth & political influences.
Particular regional diets may have beneficial components – thus are subjects of interest. In particular, the Mediterranean dietParticular components of the Mediterranean diet that may promote health include: Nutrient profile – low in saturated fat, high in antioxidants, high in MUFSelection of foods – low in meat, high in F & V & cereals, high in olive oil, wine consumption with mealsStyle of choosing, preparing & eating food – i.e. a cuisineCuisine must be understood from bother social and medical perspective to gain advantages. Culinary culture and cuisine come as a complex package – to create similar morbidity and mortality patterns among non-Mediterranean countries required not only a particular diet, but attention to other lifestyle components and relationships.Family & social structure – gender roles, family meals, food exchange amongst family & friends pleasure
So cuisine is essentially A framework within which people choose food, influenced by:day of the weekwho is cookingwho is home for dinnerdifferent social situations/occasionssocio-economic statusGenderAge Not all people who adhere to a cuisine will follow the same diet – variation is significant within food cultures. Adherence to food traditions may be affected by reality of every day life e.g. person responsible for cooking may be home late, children may be participating in sport etc Meals may also be influenced by the experiences and preferences of the individual (social class, standing, festive occasion, religious belief)Cuisine as a product of culture is that it is constantly changing (health care workers would avoid stereotyping individual or family choices based on ethnicity – but rather use cuisine as a general guide only)
Food beliefs will be discussed later in the semester:Important to note however that various beliefs do exist and will affect food choices (and recommendations to clients).
Gender preferences/ expectations. Stereotype? Or true?Are men hard-wired to eat meat? Do women have an innate need for cupcakes? Interesting research has been emerging suggesting that each gender may have a predisposition for different types of foods. Indeed, it has been hypothesised that women are also likely to form more emotional relationships with food, which may result in very different food choices compared to men.
Social situations will also impact on the types of foods eaten at particular times. Inregards to nutrition, days are divided into eating occasions in which foods are combined to constitute a meal – where that meal is eaten and with whom all constitute important factors in both determining and influencing health outcomes. Social context will affect food choices and cuisine, whether one is eating at home or dining out – what is chosen is appropriate for the location.Also – different social contexts have different codes of etiquette (ie. What is appropriate in a fast-food restaurant may not be in a more formal restaurant.Family meal (meal eaten at the table with all family members present) is deemed to be the gold standards of proper meals. Research suggests that participation in family meals improves socialisation among children and adolescents, leading to decreases in risk of obesity, eating disorders and substance abuse and increases in fruit and veg consumption.- trends indicate increase in take-away consumption and convenience food
Meals are structured occasions that follow rules about where, when and in what sequence particular food could or should be served. Rules vary according to culture, class and location (e.g. Rules that apply to a meal in a house differ to those that apply in a fine dining restaurant).Previously, food consumption was controlled by (see slide ‘previously ’). Most of these rules no longer exist due to a decline in discrete meal times leading to. As a result, the term meal is now broader and what is chosen is appropriate for the location.
Socioeconomic status is also a very important factor impacting on food choice. As practitioners SES will often dictate whether our clients can follow advice or not (i.e. A client with lower incomes may be unlikely to afford 2 fruit and 5 veg per day) The term social class encompasses a broad range of factors, including income, education etc. Differences in diet between social classes relate to both the types of foods accessible and available as well as the food preferences of different groups. Set against background of class distinctions are nutritionists concerns about food security and obesity. It is known that those who are socially disadvantaged have poorer health outcomes the higher the disadvantage the more likely the rates of morbidity and mortality are higher. This is because lower SES groups more likely to engage in risky behaviours and less likely to meet recommendations for fruit and exercise. Objective data collection has revealed that Poorest 10% of the population consume higher amounts of snack foods/ take-away foods, and less lean meats, vegetables, fruits and wholegrains. Whereas their wealthier counterparts consume increased intakes of lean meats, fruit, vegetables, low-fat options, wholegrain options and exhibit lower intakes of take-away/ snack foods. Based on these findings it is no surprise that people from lower socioeconomic groups are significantly more likely to be overweight/obese,. These findings suggests a need for interventions to also focus on social and environmental factors, and not just the individual.In addition to te above relationship, reverse association whereby being overweight or obese results in stigmatisation, reduces social acceptance and increase level of social disadvantage.
Some answers may include: lower incomes, employment status, level of education, type of occupation, household structure (e.g. Single-parent family), poor public transport in low-income areas, lack of shops in low-income areas.
Diagram – factors associated with food insecurity (potential determinants and outcomes)
For class discussion – some possible answers may include:Convenience foods: Changes to female role in society – rather than homemakers many women are in the workforce (decreased time) Increased working hours/ job expectations Loss of skills (food prep and cooking)Increased wealth (purchasing power)Snack foods: Increased wealth (purchasing power) Increased leisure time Increased mobility (personal transport, more time away from home) New technologies Development of large-scale manufacturing (allow for low costs)
Example of soft-drinks: Low cost of production, most of price of drink is made up or marketing costs.Advertising strongly influences food choices, however it’s subtle and pervasive nature mean that we may not be aware of it’s influences on us!Some advertising aims to increase customer base/ profits/ market share by marketing ‘values’ (ie. McDonalds adds targeting family values and the ‘typical’ Aussie family) – see link
Australian children are particularly vulnerable due to longtv viewing hours (watch 2 – 3 hours tv per day) during which ~30% of non-program content during children’s tv viewing hours is food related (majority of these foods are of low-nutritional value) Proportionally more ads for unhealthy foods during TV shows that are most popular with children with Fast food restaurants and confectionery are the two most common categories of food ads shown. Balance of ads for healthy and unhealthy food groups is well out of proportion to healthy eating guidelinesCompanies use Attention grabbing and persuasivepromotional techniques including endorsements by characters and celebrities, ‘premium offers', visuals, jingles and claims which can misrepresent the true nutritional value of the food. However, children under eight years old do not have the critical literacy skills to recognise the persuasive intention of advertising. Thus advertising has a significant impact on children's food preferences - undermines parents' efforts to provide their children with a healthy dietWhilst some regulations around advertising to children do exist, these currently only apply to advertisements screened during children's TV shows, when only around 100,000 children watch television at these times. The peak viewing period for children under 14 years old is 5-9pm when up to 500,000 children watch TV, and when unhealthy food and drink ads are also most frequent.
