Differences in Cultural Eating Habits

652 Words3 Pages
With so many different regions where people learn to adapt and survive, it is no mystery why some cultures are appalled at another culture because of their eating practices. The thought of eating toasted ants, fried frog legs, monkey brains, puppies and kittens seems disturbing in the culture that Americans are accustomed to. The majority of American people are used to a fast paced life, leaving little time for one to enjoy home-cooked meals. We live for fast food restaurants, the classic boxed dinners, pre-mixed salads, and just about any quick fix-it meals, such as tuna in a can. This type of food is not appetizing to other cultures where they are used to enjoying their freshly prepared meals. By looking at a person’s diet from a narrow minded view or by our diet being too influenced by our own cultural relativism, one could say we need to break away from our usual beliefs, in order to better understand the world. In doing this, the traditional American ethnocentrism could be modeled into a broader view. Cultural relativism is the view that individual beliefs and values systems are culturally relative. That is, no one ethnic group is wrong in utilizing their particular system of beliefs of values, but not one is better than another’s culture. There is no absolute standard of right and wrong by which to compare and contrast morally conflicting cultural values. We cannot possibly understand the actions of other groups including their eating habits. If we analyze them in terms of our own motives, and values, we must interpret their behavior in the light of their motives, and values if we are to understand them. Functionalism or the Functionalist Theory is a system used by cultures which concentrates on and emphasizes the functional interactions of cultures and societies, for example, why and how certain rituals, daily chores, et cetera, are performed

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