Studying foodways--what foods people eat and how they produce, acquire, prepare, and consume them--is the best way to gain deep understanding of a culture.Write an essay in which you take a position on the statement above. In developing and supporting you

A common saying is that one should eat in order to live, rather than living in order to eat. This suggests that while food is an essential part of life, life should not be entirely focused on what is on the dinner plate. Likewise, in order to gain a deep understanding of a culture, studying foodways is not sufficient. Although studying a culture’s eating and growing habits is one valuable way to understand a culture, examining how people live from multiple perspectives gives a deeper and more well-rounded view than only considering food.

One instance when only considering what people eat would hamper our understanding of a culture is when little evidence is available about the foods people consume. For example, there are few, if any, cookbooks and recipe books which have survived from ancient Greece. It would be possible to scrabble some concepts about the food heritage of this lost culture based on what plants thrive in the region and cooking artefacts that can be discovered, but the much knowledge would be shrouded by the passing of time. On the other hand, we have a wealth of literature available from the great thinkers of the day—Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and many others. Furthermore, incredible sculptures, such as Venus de Milo, and arcitechtural achievements, like the Parthenon, have lasted and can provide a glimpse of how people lived, worked, and thought in that culture. Should we ignore this heritage and only try to understand what ancient Greeks ate? Clearly not. In such cases, only seeking to understand people’s relationship with food would weaken our ability to deeply understand a culture.

Second, cultural changes may not necessarily correspond to dietary changes. For example, when America declard independence from England, the American culture underwent a drastic change. Colonists went from thinking of themselves as subjects of the British Crown to an autonomous nation, with its distinct values, ideals, and heritage. However, it is dubious that simultaneously there was an enormous change in what the new citizens of the nascent country ate commensurate with the shift in culture. Since foodways and culture may not change at the same time, various aspects of a culture should be considered to provide the best understanding.

Third, considering other aspects of a culture can help put foodways in context. For example, it may be interesting to note the ubiquity of take-out Chinese restaurants in the modern American cuisine landscape. But what does this say about Americans, and the American experience? Not very much—unless we better understand why these restaurants are common. Chinese restaurants started appearing when Chinese migrants moved to California in the 1800s. Facing institutional discrimination that prevented their access to many jobs, many immigrants opened restaurants—one of the few businesses they were legally allowed to manage. They adapted their native cuisine to suit the palattes of their American customers, and thus Americanized Chinese food was born. In this instance, looking at both foodways and the racist and exclusionary nature of America in its past is needed to gain a deep understanding of the culture of today.

In conclusion, the consumption, production, acquisition, and preparation of food is an important, valuable, and rich part of human life—but, fortunately, it is not the entirety of human life. Therefore, although the examination of foodways provides a valuable and fascinating insight into culture, more aspects of how people live must be studied in order to fully understand a culture.