Week 2 Reading summaries

Claude Fischler “Food, Self and Identity” (1988)

* Food goes deeper than being a source of nutrition, it is central to our individual identity given that we are constructed, biologically, psychologically and socially by the food we choose to incorporate into our lives.

* Omnivore’s paradox: One of the fundamental components of our identity as omnivores is that we have the autonomy, freedom and adaptability to consume a wide range of food. However this liberty also implies dependence and constraint. Omnivores cannot obtain all the nutrients it needs from one food alone and omnivores must also avoid harmful foods.

* The principle of incorporation dictates that food and cuisine are a central component of the sense of collective belonging.

* Disgust is a socially constructed biological safeguard. The psychology of eating behavior reveals that children have the tendency to accept only a limited range of food they are familiar with. This gives us insight into our natural instinct as humans to put new exotic foods through thorough examination before we consume it.

* Because of how complex identifying a food can be based on its cultural origins, the culinary system provides a pre-fabricated matrix where one can identify a food by understanding its place in the world.

* In today’s society as food is becoming more processed and integrated through globalization our cultural and physiological identity through food is becoming threatened.

Week 2 Reading summaries

Paul Rozin, “Food is Fundamental, Fun , Frightening and Far Reaching” (1999)

* Food is a foundational system that has evolved to deal with problems of food selection and is the source of many general behaviors and mental adaptations.

* Food is one of the most critical components of our lives due to our consistent need of it.

* We