Salem Aldhaheri

Prof. Filbeck
Eng113A
12 March 2015
Food and Human factors
Food is the core for human survival. It is a daily endeavor, being both that of fun and
necessity. In any culture, it is celebrated and incorporated in cultural acts such as ceremonies
and sacrifices. The latter opens a doorway for exploitation by people willing to venture into
the food provision business. Being an element that is so diversified, a different people will
embrace food in their manner that is unique and unlike people in a different place with
contrary ways of life. Food defies cultural bounds and gets influences humans by way of
beliefs and gender. Food is a fundamental element in human development and also it change
due several things.
For a company providing food for its consumers, they need to be convincing. Due to
the role of food in humans, eating is a crucial session in any persons day. They must feel
satisfied and happy about what they have taken. This is a profit for restaurants and businesses
like that make significance a part of their operation. In the menus and ads, these companies
will include attractive titles featuring tasty meals. This is the first step in holding hostage, the
customers attention. Once they are convinced to at least have a look at the menu, another
trick is dropped on them. The people running these food outlets are informed of the manner
in which people tend to like certain meals. They will combine words that, describe a more
pleasing view than they mean. For instance, when the word fresh is used to describe a meal,
the meaning may not always be accurately placed, but rather for marketing purposes
(Melillo). Other weapons used by these food companies are words like healthy, light,
crispy, etc. Luckily, they serve their purpose as the motive to keep the clients buying and

coming for more though via deception, proves useful. I feel the method is important as
humans will typically choose what is more appealing. However, it is pretty sad when this
deception exceeds certain limits. Some food companies will claim to make a fresh meal that
is natural, but the truth being that inorganic elements are evident in the product.
When an individual is brought up by ways of a distinct culture, they are destined to
inspire their lifestyle, principles and delightfully their diet (Lamb). There always is a good
number of dishes individuals are familiar to; that could be attributed to the culture from
which they have sprung. Different cultures reveal adoration for some foods, unlike others.
The latter spreads like a plague, into the respective members. It becomes quite a challenge to
make people abandon this, regardless of health concerns. At times, due to migration, cultures
will embrace new ways of life, between them and feeding habits. The mentions before results
in production of new meals in these peoples menus, as some old diets are abandoned. As the
diversification is taking place, not all food is accepted by all cultures. Formerly, Latino meals
included healthy ingredients, but since embracing an American diet that is characterized by
high-fat content, obesity and related health risks has hence risen amongst Latinos (Lamb). It
is advisable to break the cultural bound once in a while, but for a good cause. For instance,
Mediterranean meals are actually healthy since they are more often than not, natural as
opposed to being processed. In recent times, it is pretty ignorant of any individual to continue
practicing health threatening feeding habits when they are well aware of the risks involved.
When gender is put to question, it is unlikely that one would expect gender-propelled
dieting. It is complicated when one has to come to terms with the awareness that some meals
are masculine, others feminine (Wiseman). A good number of men, if not all, will prefer steak
to a Quiche and vice versa. Due to hormonal factors in the human bodies, different hormones
in the respective sexes will trigger different responses, of liking and disgust to a particular
dish. Women are more attracted to chocolate whereas, you will often find a man fail to resist

the pleasures of a bar of chocolate. The knowledge of diet preferences between genders has
led to the creation of Markets within Markets whereby a food company will create two
versions of a meal, one for the males, and another for the females as in the case of Snickers
and Galaxy by Cadbury respectively (Wiseman). Moreover, amongst women, the attachment
with their food tends to get emotional. Media outlets lead them shunning high-fat meals due
to the compulsion that implants a guilty conscience in them. One should not be rigid when it
comes to gender-oriented meals. They should not feel guilty for tasting their counterparts
meals once in a while, but only once in a while.
Many theories are formulated regarding human feeding habits, when rhetorical and
cultural stimuli are put to question. The influence of these two factors cannot be foregone.
Both play a significant role in defining the diet to which an individual is accustomed.
Though, with all the speculations and myths, the latter are quite necessary for giving
individuals an identity. Rhetorical stimuli are majorly employed by business minded entities.
Despite how ridiculous it may sound, it works wonders in tagging clients to a food outlet.
Though mostly, dishonesty is a major element in its success. Likewise, culture is an equally
critical factor. People will stick to certain diets as part of their tradition. Others may do so due
to religious restrictions. Either way, humans tend to be deeply rooted in their way of
upbringing and will less often abandon this, sometimes compromising their health.

Work Cited
Lamb, Linda. "How Culture Affects Diet." LIVESTRONG.COM.
LIVESTRONG.COM, 18 Feb.

2015. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.

Melillo, Julie. "Food Rhetoric in Restaurant Menus." Prezi.com. 5 Dec. 2012. Web. 12
Mar.

2015.
Wiseman, Eva. "The Truth about Men, Women and Food." The Guardian. 17 Oct.

2010. Web.

12 Mar. 2015.