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Journal article
Similar or different? Comparing food cultures with regard to traditional and modern eating across ten countries
Food research international, v 157, 111106
Jul 2022
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
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•We found nine distinct clusters of food cultures.•For seven of the ten investigated countries, nation boundaries united food cultures.•Ethnic groups within the USA did not form a national food culture cluster.•Food cultures varied more in traditional than in modern eating practices.
Food cultures can play a role in health and well-being. This raises the questions of whether nation boundaries unite the food cultures of different regions and ethnic groups, what characterises food cultures from very different parts of the world, and what similarities and differences exist. The present study aimed to investigate these questions with regard to eating traditions and modern eating practices. In this cross-sectional study, we recruited 3722 participants from ten countries – Brazil, China, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Japan, Mexico, Turkey, and the USA. Participants represented 25 regional and ethnic groups. They were queried about 86 traditional and modern facets of their food cultures in interviews, paper–pencil and online questionnaires. First, hierarchical cluster analysis suggested nine distinct clusters of food cultures – the food cultures of the Brazilian, Chinese, Ghanaian, Indian, Japanese, Mexican, Turkish, African and Latin US American samples, and of European descendants. Interestingly, for seven of the ten investigated countries, nation boundaries united food cultures. Second, each of the nine food culture clusters was characterised by a unique pattern of traditional and modern eating practices. Third, the nine food culture clusters varied more in their traditional eating practices than their modern eating practices. These results might promote a better understanding of the link between food cultures and health and well-being that goes beyond nutrients. For instance, food cultures might be linked to well-being via strengthening people’s sense of cultural identity. Moreover, the present results contribute to a better understanding of the complex interplay between food and culture, and could help in developing culturally competent interventions to improve diet and reduce the risk of eating-related diseases.
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Details
- Title
- Similar or different? Comparing food cultures with regard to traditional and modern eating across ten countries
- Creators
- Gudrun Sproesser - University of KonstanzMatthew B. Ruby - La Trobe UniversityNaomi Arbit - Columbia UniversityCharity S. Akotia - University of GhanaMarle dos Santos Alvarenga - Public Health Nutrition Postgraduation Program, School of Public Health, University of São Paulo, BrazilRachana Bhangaokar - Maharaja Sayajirao University of BarodaIsato Furumitsu - Hiroshima Shudo UniversityXiaomeng Hu - Renmin University of ChinaSumio Imada - Hiroshima Shudo UniversityGülbanu Kaptan - University of LeedsMartha Kaufer-Horwitz - Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador ZubiránUsha Menon - Drexel UniversityClaude Fischler - IIAC, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, FrancePaul Rozin - University of PennsylvaniaHarald T. Schupp - University of KonstanzBritta Renner - University of Konstanz
- Publication Details
- Food research international, v 157, 111106
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Global Studies and Modern Languages
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000809624300008
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85129463483
- Other Identifier
- 991019167699204721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Food Science & Technology