Eating habits are a part of what is largely understood by food culture and they are based on availability of food in the region. Eating habits differ in different parts of the world and are not necessarily good nor bad nor is there any kind of hierarchy. Food is intimately connected to culture identity and this connection evolves and manifest into popular imagination in form of styles, “status symbols”, “ a must have”. Hence by understanding eating habits one can have a fairer idea about a society and its cultural ways.
When one speaks of the West or Western World, one cannot homegenize in sociological sense as one world. Western world does not comprises of only American or French or British! Each represents multiple traditions of cooking and different phases of evolution of cuisine in society. For example in 20th century France, there was a evolution from classical cuisine to Nouvelle Cuisine which defined the changing attitudes towards food as well as eating habits. Similarly, in UK, given the immigration after 1960s from South Asia, Punjabi Food became very popular. Chicken Tikka is most popular national dish in UK!! Now if one looks at the USA, there was a major change in the society after the World War II. More suburbs came into being, there was economic boom, car ownership was high and rapid industrialization occurred. All this made an impact on the society and its eating habit. One of the key thing that emerge out of this is the fast food as we understand today. People did not have enought time, and were always on a go. Similarly, there was an impact on the traditional way of eating habits in form of “family dinners’ / family meal. There was an increased tendency to go out and eat.
Eating habits are determined by the geographical locations where they reside. Delicacy in one of the world could be a taboo in the other.
However, over the last few decades these dynamics have changed due to technological developments, industrialization etc. The world has become a small global village and this has affected the eating habits of all the people. Invention of different modes of transport have enabled people to travel and explore new variety of food items. There has been no consensus research which can specify what comes under or what constitutes western diet but overall it includes starchy food, meat which is a central element during meals, dairy products and processed foods whereas the of south Asian or of Indians consists of wide range of choice from meat or vegetarian dishes which can be accompaniment to rice or breads that are eaten along with relishes, chutneys and dals.
But there is another side to this story. With the globalization, many of the eating habits had an impact on the world especially growing economies. This is known as the cultural homogenization of food and its consumption because of globalization. Fast food became a status symbol or representation of West. Coffee shops became representation of the Western identity. So what we see in India is that these symbols of Western eating habits simply became a style or status symbol rather than organically it becoming a part of indian society.
The changes in eating habits have both good and bad impact on the demography of the region. There has been a change in eating habits of people in India over last few years. People have realized the benefits of eating sprouts, spices etc. At the same time they have also taken up the habit of eating processed / fast food items which have adversely affected the health. Introduction of fast food joints namely McDonalds and Pizza joints have contributed a major in the change of eating habits in India. First people used to have meals at home and having food outside was considered as bad thing. But now due to globalization people eating regularly outside. Globalization lead to the introduction of McDonalds in India and was also considered as an American fast food joint. People having meal at McDonalds was considered as a status symbol. Similar example can be found in French cuisine where first Classical cuisine was replaced Haut cuisine which was then replaced by Nouvelle Cuisine (New Age Cuisine) which is more about presentation and taste. Individual eating habits can be influenced by social influences and environmental factors. These ranges widely and depends fully on the individual environment, culture and relationships and can have a significant impact on our own eating habits and food consumption pattern. There are many social influences which affects our eating habits such as peer pressure, religion, culture, morals and ethics, location, income and profession. Peer pressure can have a massive impact on eating habits particularly long term eating habits. Religion plays a crucial part in what we eat. In Muslim culture they eat only Halal meat which have been prepared with religious beliefs and practices and cannot eat certain meats. Ethics also play an important role in day-to-day choices of food which we eat. There is a great thing about food that is there are plenty of varieties to choose from, so we can eat according to our own morals and ethics.
The major factors influencing the eating habits can be shortlisted as:
• Location
• Social Surrounding
• Availability of food items in the region
• Technological advancement in the food processing industry
• Mode of transport in the region
• Mix of people and their individual taste preferences
• Earnings of the people in the region
The changes in eating habits of the people also influences the economic development of the region. The food items which are not produced in the region are imported and likewise food items are exported to different regions. This has direct effect on the economy of the region, thereby influencing the life style of the people which again has influence on the eating habits. It can be said the demography of the region, eating habits and economic development are inter dependent. One triggers the other and thereby leading to cyclical process.