Log in Free trial  Food and Culture  Food is defined as a
substance consisting essentially of protein, carbohydrate and
fat taken into the body to sustain growth, repair and vital
processes and to furnish energy. Culture is the total range of
activities, ideas, beliefs, values, knowledge, shared traditions
which characterize social groups.  Food habits refer to the way
humans use food, including everything from how it is selected,
obtained and distributed to who prepares it, serves and eats it.
Humans are omnivorous, meaning they can consume and digest a
wide selection of plants and animals. This makes humans
adaptable to many environments although no single food group
provides the essential ingredients necessary for survival.
Different groups have a variety of food habits. It can be argued
that food potentially can build, define or separate communities.
Humans have contradictory psychological impulses regarding diet.
First, humans have a desire to try new foods and secondly, they
often have a preference for