The Sociology of Food

Food plays a significant role in human life on a daily basis because it is both required and comforting. In addition to serving nutritional functions, it is crucial for a person's physical and mental growth. People communicate over meals by exchanging food recipes on trending subjects and participating in cooking competitions, which frequently gather people together to demonstrate their culinary prowess. Every nation has at least one television program dedicated to teaching viewers how to prepare meals using a certain style of cooking that their communities are proud of and knowledgeable about (Coveney, 2014). Thus, the home viewers are encouraged to try and conduct some experiments in order to come up with recipes which turn out to be innovative ventures. Food can, therefore, be defined as an art created by cooks in various geographical locations which uphold the culture of the people.

An Example of a Typical Meal

Asian Tuna is one of the typical meals which is usually prepared in fifteen minutes by a quick broil procedure. The dish is the shiitake mushrooms which together with the food seasonings create an Asian flavor which is healthy for an individual. The ingredients include tuna steaks, unsullied lemon juice, minced ginger, pressed garlic cloves, sliced shiitake mushrooms, chicken broth, soya sauce, orange juice, chopped cilantro, which is combined with salt and white pepper in order to produce a pleasant taste. During the procedure, the latter commences with the preheating of broiler by placing it on a skillet which is stainless or alternatively a pan can be used for heating which takes about 10 up to 15 minutes. Garlic is then pressed and left for around 5 minutes in order to preserve the essential health benefits. Tuna is then sprinkled with lemon juice, rubbed with white pepper and some salt and finally set aside. The broth is heated in a separate skillet whereby garlic, scallion, mushrooms, ginger and healthy sauté are left on medium heat for around 2 minutes while being constantly stirred. Orange juice is then added and remained to cook for further 2 minutes, thus adding soy sauce together with cilantro. The next step is to pull out and heat the broiler pan, then place tuna in it and return the dish in the broiler. The two broilers cook for around 5 minutes and later removed, thus the dish is ready to be served (Swift, 2015).

The meal is of Asian origin due to the ingredients which are required to bring out the good taste as well as the nutritional benefits. For the product to reach the cook, it undergoes various procedures which include the fishing and packaging in the cans so as to be sold to consumers in the food stall. Also, the farmers play a great role in the provision of food substance ingredients such as the garlic and lemon by ensuring that the crops contain the essential nutrients, derived from farm supplements with the support of workers (Coveney, 2014). The government is involved in the provision of quality goods to the consumer through the setting of bureau standards which are to guarantee that the producing firms offer goods that meet the required levels of quality.

Food Industry

The food production is a complex, universal collection of different businesses which supplies nutriments to be consumed by the global population. Subsistence farmers as well as the hunters who produce goods for personal consumption are not involved in the modern scope of the food industry. The manufacturing of nutriments covers a wide range of activities which begin right from production, processing as well as its distribution among the respective target groups. Agriculture dwells on crops, seafood and the livestock production (Oosterveer, 2012)., There are some food substances which can be consumed directly after being produced, while the others require further processing in order to increase the nutrients content as well as the purification procedure.

The food industry also entails the manufacturing sector which focuses on agrichemicals, farm machinery, seeds supply as well as the agricultural construction processes. In this segment, the farmers are usually supplied with the essential farm inputs whereby they are additionally advised on the quality surplus which produce the desired type of foods, thus fetching good prices in the market. The other sector in the nourishing substances manufacturing is usually concerned with the marketing of the produced goods which is usually realized through the promotion of new goods in the market, generic product advertising, marketing campaigns which can be in the form of trade fairs in addition to other publicities in various mediums. In the food industry, wholesale distribution of goods is a major segment which usually involves logistics, warehousing and the storage services as well as the transportation from the farm to the market centers. Catering and hotel services are among the assistances offered in the food industry whereby the meal is prepared for commercial purposes (Haguen, 2013).

Groceries, public as well as the farmers’ markets play an important role in the food industry whereby a major objective concerning the availing of food to the consumers is enhanced. The regulatory institutions which can be regional, international or the nationally based help in the setting of rules with regard to the food manufacturing, thus ensuring quality production, food security, lobbying activities in the industry, food safety and the marketing procedures. The sector is to determine that only the services of high quality are offered to the consumers in the food industry. Research together with development which leads to the creation of the efficient food technology is yet another segment in the nourishing substances industry which is maily focused on innovations in food production together with its genetic modification. Education sector plays a crucial role whereby consultations, vocational training as well as the academic enrichment is usually done with the focus being placed on food production and consumption (Oosterveer, 2012). Finally, the financial service segment is also an important part which is usually involved in the farmers’, processors’ and the distributors’ insurance policies together with the credit services offered to various departments in the food industry.

The food industry offers a variety of opportunities in ensuring that nutritious substances have economic and business opportunity benefits. In the above mentioned sectors, food has brought people from various backgrounds together in that the farmers have been able to create opportunities by employing workers on their farms. Processing together with the manufacturing industries has played a crucial role in ensuring that food security is upheld in addition to the contributions in the world economy. Business favourable moments have been realized, since an increase in production calls for efficient marketing, thus creating jobs for the marketers, retail sellers, transportation activities as well as the growth of the small and large scale banking services (Philips, 2012). Various institutions have been established to provide agricultural studies, thus improving the production of food substances in order to attract reasonable payments in the market. This has given an opportunity to the nutritionist, catering services, agricultural officer who initially had little impact on the food manufacturing. The industry in question has resulted in the improvement of people’s living conditions, since the workers employed in various sectors are able to generate some income that is essential for their upkeep.

Food as an Expression of Culture

Food is also a way of expressing various cultural practices due to the power of exhibiting both the biological provisions and the emblematic traditional artifacts which connects people from various levels. Therefore, it acts as a mechanism of portraying some dignity which comes along with the social benefits to the users. The choice and preference of consumers towards certain food supplements symbolize the definition of an individual with regards to social class, religion, ethnic backgrounds among other aspects. The globalization issue has brought people from various geographical locations together, which therefore results in cuisine overlapping, thus making the food and an individual identity unstatic. The circumstances under which different people come to interact in food production and consumption facilitate connections in societies which in turn lead to the formation of alliances that focus on food or other activities (Taormina, 2013). Food is always shared since people get together to have a meal which happen at gatherings of a family or a community. The act of sharing meals is powerful since it involves uncomplicated foods that range from extravagant rituals which in turn create a certain meaning for various cultures globally.

Foods eaten on daily basis vary across societies, thus playing an important role in the definition of any tradition as well as the identity. Specific cultures usually view their daily meals as a commonplace which is not worth any study since the food not only gives a cultural insight, but also attraction of people from the outside to celebrate the tradition. Therefore, culture plays a great role in the shaping of meals taken by individuals in a society which are regarded as staple meals in addition to the influence exerted by external societies on food. Daily meals can be used as an illustration of specific cultural identities which in turn creates an opportunity for individual distinctiveness. The difference in food culture affects the immigrants of a certain area (Norton, 2014). Food consumed in any place influences the expectations and the culture surrounded by these meals, especially in the outsiders’ perspective. Moreover, food can be viewed as a way of identity tracing in a certain society which causes the community to strive to fit in which may vary from one culture to another.

The rituals followed in a certain community with regard to food involve interactions which require the involvement of several individuals so as to properly conduct the procedures. For instance, there are tea ceremonies which are characterized by interplay between the guest and the host, thus performing various roles involving the tea and small food quantities that are included in the event (Klanten, 2015). Therefore, the mastery of conducting the tea ceremony entails a self-realization process which is a very crucial practice in the Zen Buddhism society. The idea of self-realization brings about cultural identity and it is usually witnessed where food is considered a mark of an exceptional experience across the world.

Taking out the initial context of a ritualistic meal leads to manipulation due to the incorporation of fresh interpretations. As a result of the movement, the meals are not only manipulated in terms of meaning and use, but also affects the identity that is supposed to be portrayed. Therefore, food as a cultural representation is usually accrued to economic and business innovations as a cultural representation, thus one can opt to come up with a catering facility that focuses on the identity of a certain tradition. The culture attracts people globally and as a result a country or community is able to fetch reasonable revenues that are gained from the visitors (Taormina, 2013). This also enhances interactions among people and in turn incorporation of various ideas that lead to effective business innovations (Phillips, 2012).

Food Work

There are various tasks that are undertaken in the provision of food in different communities which are meant for business purposes. Workers in the food sector are usually involved in a wide range of activities which include its preparation, provision of customer services, cleaning duties, running of cafeterias or small food outlets. Serving the customers in an outlet provides the assistances which are dependent on the facility’s establishment. The workers usually conduct tasks as a team through helping each other so as to increase the flow of customers. They are delegated the responsibilities which vary regarding the nature of work that a certain individual is well versed with (Oosterveer, 2012).

The food outlet staff executes specific tasks which might be learned from a certain institution or are due to the cultural orientation. For instance, there are people who work in the serving and food preparation departments who are employed to take the customer’s order and forwarding it to the cooks who prepare and hand over the ready meal to the waiter for delivery. The customers are then supposed to provide payments to a cashier. Therefore the whole process is abundant in effective interactions, which uphold the cohesion of people. In this field, most individuals work on a part-time basis whereby tasks are usually reassigned after some time or in other cases, the employees have specific working hours, which also is the option for the high profile workers in this occupation (Coveney, 2014). The individuals employed in an institution food outlet are usually entitled to longer working hours whereby, in some cases, they are supposed to be on duty for around nine months in a year. Business hours in a cafeteria ensure flexible schedules that may be more appealing to teenagers who wish to gain some experience in the industry. The food service segment is normally composed of teenagers aged between 15 up to 19 years, the situation is however different regarding other profession. This may be attributed to the simple tasks that are involved in the profession since a person with a diploma or a certificate in this field will automatically be entitled to a job. In addition, most of the workers are provided with the short-term training which can be completed while someone is already employed.

Therefore, it is evident that food promotes and enhances interactions among people so as to bring out desired productivity that benefits the team working in any food restaurant. In addition, the sector attributes to the economic growth through the creation of job opportunities for people in the community, thus improving their living standards. In conclusion, the food industry plays a great role in ensuring the peaceful cohesion among people through the exchange of cultures which bring people from various parts together (Norton, 2014).



References

Coveney, J. (2014). Food. New York, NY: Routledge.

Haugen, D.M. (2013). The Food Industry in Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation. Detroit, MI: Greenhaven Press.

Klanten, R. (2015). The Delicious: A Companion to New Food Culture. Berlin: Gestalten.

Norton, T. (2014). Sustainable Food Processing. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Oosterveer, P. (2012). Food, Globalization and Sustainability. New York, NY: Earthscan.

Phillips, G.O. (Ed.). (2012). Gums and stabilizers for the food industry. 16 16. Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry.

Swift, C.L. (2015). Teaching food and culture. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.

Taormina, P.J. (2013). Microbiological research and development for the food industry. Boca Raton Fla: CRC Press.