FOOOOOOOOOOOD

Food on a basic level is relatively easy to define, the dictionary says this: “any nourishing substance that is eaten, drunk, or otherwise taken into the body to sustain life, provide energy, promote growth” I generally agree with this statement, food is about sustaining life and energy. On its most basic level, scientifically that is what food is, and does for all life. Humans however have much stronger connections to food then I think most people realize. Food has so many powerful connections to the human expereince that food defines people, connects people, and it can conversely divide people, but the importance we place on food exhibits itself in our relgions, cultural expereicnes, and our ties to home. So when the dictionary claims that food is a nourshing substance it cannot just mean that food keeps us alive, but it nourshes our spirituality, our sense of community, and our day to day feelings. Food defines our cultures, relgions and religions. For instance the United States is a country made of a large immigrant population, and you can see it reflected plainly in our food. While many restuaurants are dirivatives of the food people brought over from their country and cultures of origin, the United States has a plethera of diverse food and that defines different cultural groups. An outsider would probably recognize that culture more by the type of food they made, then by the flag of the country where that person’ is from. Food is a huge indicator of cultural background an origin.
In today’s modern society people think less about old relgious rules about food, (eating kosher, no meat on fridays, ect) and are focusing more and more on dieting, health food, fast food, organic food, natural food, veggitarian, vegan, and a million other choices for thier personal diets, based on just as many reasons for eating that specific way. Some people choose to the way they eat for political reasons, while others just want to be healthier.