How Food Habits Are Affected by Chinese Culture

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How Food Habits Are Affected by Chinese Culture

What is food? Food, as defined in Encyclopedia Britannica, is any material consisting essentially of protein, carbohydrate, and fat used in the body of an organism to maintain growth, repair, and life processes and to provide energy. “Food habits” are the ways which humans use food, including how food is obtained and stored, how food is prepared, how food is served and to whom, and how food is consumed (Foyan & Sucher, 1995).

Most animals normally stop eating when they get full, but people enjoy eating even though they are full. The main reason people eat is for survival. However, that is not the only reason for eating. If people ate only to satisfy survival needs, all humans everywhere would eat the same diet consisting of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and calories. But it seems not so easy, people eat variously. Jules Zanger (1996) said that food is not only an absolute necessity for all of us, but also a linkage between individuals and groups. Foods can satisfy our physical needs, but beyond that, eating and drinking are also the things most people like to do together. People of different backgrounds eat very differently, but most of them share the same happiness when they eat with friends or family. Food is life, and life can be understood through food. This is why food plays a very influential role in every society.

Culture is broadly defined in Encyclopedia Britannica as the beliefs, attitudes, values, customs, language, taboos, and habits accepted by a community of individuals. Culture is learned, not inherited; it is passed from generation to generation through learning. When people are young, they can’t decide instinctively by themselves which food they want t...

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Register,U.D.& Sonnenberg, L.M. “The Vegetarian Diet,“ J. Am. Diet. Assoc., 62:253-61,1973

Sheikh, A. A. & Sheikh, K. S. ( Eds.). (1989) Eastern and Western Approaches to Healing: Ancient Wisdom and Modern Knowledge. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Simoons, Frederick J. (1991). .Food in Chinese thought and culture in Simoons Frederick J. Food in China:A Culture and Historical Inquiry. N.W.: CRC Press

Zanger, Jules (1996) Food and beer in an immigrant society. Society, 33 (5), 61-63.

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