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Define Odowa
A stone that is sold to women in Kenya who chew it like a candy. It comes off like an addiction where the women would rather have the Odowa than traditional food. It does provied many necessary minerals like Ca and Fe
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Define Nu
The Hua believe that Nu is a sort of "life essence" that runs through everything. Everything you make or use is given a portion of your Nu which can then be transferred to others who use/ingest these items.
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Define The Hygiene Hypothesis
The belief that the more microorganisms one is exposed to as a child the more healthy they will be as an adult, in our class this is a reference to geophagy.
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Define The Culinary Triangle
Levi Strauss' very abstract view regarding food (structural anthropology), which paired an implied state of food with a method of cooking (raw with roasted, for example) in opposing fashion.
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Define Contagion
The Hua believe in contagion, which is essentially that the properties of a given item will be transferred when consumed. For example a dry/ashy chicken will result in the consumer's skin becoming dry and ashy.
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Define Structuralism
Where does cuisine/cooking fit within society's structure (the cultural aspects of a society)?
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Define Cultural Materialism
Art and food as a reflection of culture (food taboos, and rules within an ecological perspective)
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Define Geophagy
The consumption of dirt as a food product.
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Define Endo-cuisine/exo-cuisine
?
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Define NVP
Nausia and Vomiting during Pregnancy, in our course an article tried to make the case that this was an immune response to rid the body of/prevent ingestion of microorganisms
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Define Pica
Eating of nonfood items, typically associated with obsessive and dangerous actions
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Define Globalization/Cultural homogenization
The spreading of "industrialization" to various areas of the world, which is associated with a sort of "loss" of the culture of an area to assimilate to the standards of the new advances/practices.
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Give examples, from 3 different studies, of ways that people deal with dietary change
- Native Americans - assimilated to large-scale growth factories, lost cultural identities became highly suseptable to diabetis/other deit diseases
- Sardinia - become less reliant on eachother, more reliant on government, more displays of consumerism/opulance
- Chinese - Asian increase in milk (although previously completely against it) due to societies demand for stature
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Bread making for women in the Sardinian village of Bosa was central to their social and marital relationships. What kinds of chnages have resulted in the fabric of community life now that men no longer grow wheat and women no longer bake their own bread?
A breakdown of the social structure. Lack of women's social network that was previously conducted during breadmaking, excessive spending is now normal. People no longer rely on one another. Consumption of other goods/clothes as well.
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Compare the experience of dietary change for Sardinians to dietary change for Hispanic immigrants to the US or Native Americans, or Southeast Asian immigrants to the US.
Much like the Native American's diet change the change for the Sardinians was very quick. A lack of actual development to accompany this transition left purchasing the bulk of their food products their only option. And a lack of any real way to create value in a self-created product left many is financial peril.
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Give some examples of studies that link food and cultural identity
- Sardinia and wheat cultivating/bread growing (women together gossiping, bread shared with close friends, reliance on eachother)
- Native American gathering/food preparation (very difficult work, handed down through generations)
- Hindus/cows
- Chinese/pigs/muslims
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What is a meal, according to Douglas? What are some of the different structures that meals have? Do you agree with her analysis - did she define a meal according to how you view the world?
Douglas created a very complex system to determine a meal which took into account gender, age, and location (with regards to cultural customs). She broke down the meal into several parts and gave food items potential roles in each part, only when the proper combination was reached was a meal created.
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According to Douglas, certain foods reflect specific social situations and they structure social relationships. Give some examples of this.
Douglas specifically cites beverages as being a completely informal situation, something that you would offer a stranger. In contrast she claims that a cooked meal (by you) is reserved for the closest of friends and family.
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"You are what you eat!" can be applied to the Hua (New Guinea Highlands) in very specific ways. List 3 of their food rules/taboos and the consequences of ignoring the taboo.
- Ashy/dry chicken turning a young man's skin dry/ashy
- Pregnant women can't eat "babbling animals" because the child will be dumb
- Eating sharp/scratchy things before a battle will enable you to inflict scratching/cuts on your enemies
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"You are what you eat" can literally be applied to Hua food taboos. Discuss how power relations and social identity are embodied in specific foods for this culture
- Relationship between producer and consumer must be taken into account (posative vs negative Nu)
- Nu must be transfered down the generations (life force)
- Sharp/scratchy things before a battle, corpse/blood of same sex parent, Nu is more powerful from a more direct source
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Explain "Modernization without development"
In reference to Sardinia it is the fact that they became modernized (assimilated into the modern global economy) without actually developing into a society that could provide anything TO that economy, leaving them essentially beggers
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The taboo against eating beef in India is a good example of how economic issues can be intertwined with religious beliefs in modern food systems. How does Harris, a cultural materialist, explain the beef taboo?
Within the Indian society the cattle are used in alternate ways that in the US. Cattle are used as farming equipment, and transportation, as well as using their biproducts for food and their excrement as an energy source. According to Harris this beef taboo, which many have started as a way to separate themselves from the invading muslims, now helps to sustain their economy and their way of life.
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Compared to the US, how is the status of eating McDonald's different in China? How do the Chinese regard McDonald's food?
China views McDonald's as very up-scale and as an insight into Western culture.
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Previously, we read about hypolactasia and the lack of milk use in traditional Chinese diets. Yet more recently, milk and dairy products are being consumed in great quantity by Chinese and other Asians. What accounts for this change?
Milk has successfully marketed itself to be synonymous with growth and height which are valued tremendously in Asian cultures. Because of this milk has begun to be assimilated into the Asian cultures as a way to get a "leg up" on the competition.
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Discuss the Hua notions of the contagious properties of food. Provide examples. How does their cultural construction of food serve to assure the continuance of Hua society and future generations?
- Ashy/dry chicken turning a young man's skin dry/ashy
- Pregnant women can't eat "babbling animals" because the child will be dumb
- Eating sharp/scratchy things before a battle will enable you to inflict scratching/cuts on your enemies
- You must only give food to those younger than you, you cannot eat your best crops, you cannot eat food from someone who is younger than you
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One of the key functions of food is to express social relationships between individuals and groups. How is food used to do this in Hua society? Can you think of other examples among other cultures?
- In Hua society is expresses a kinship (or a lack of kinship) by the postative/negative Nu possibility, and age desparity.
- Italian mother cooking for entire family example
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How does the Muslim prohibition on eating pork affect interactions between the Muslims and the Chinese in Malaysia?
There are state mandated prohibitions of where slaughter houses can be and very specific guidelines on how they can run. Pork products are typically driven extremely far distances to reach consumers across Malaysia. Seems friendly, but is truthfully mandated.
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For the Chinese that have converted to Islam, what problems do they face in their relationships with family members for example?
Pork is such a large part of the Chinese culture and lifestyle that those who do not partake in the eating of pork are looked at with distain for disregarding such a valued piece of the Chinese diet even by friends or close family.
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