In the next stage of my analysis, I identify these aspects:
1Social Influences
Social tradition
Social structure
Group pressures
Prestige value of food
Functionalism – food habits as satisfying social needs
2 Economic Influences
The market
Transport
Economic availability
Availability of fuel
3 The Consumer himself
Health, work and play habits
Experience
Perception of the nutritional value of the food
4 “Mind and Body” Influences
Physiological – inherited features
Psychological – Maslow
Palatibility
5 Geographical Influences
Environmental factors
Regionalism
Climate
Soil
Seasons
Location
Transport
6 Technical Influences
Food processing:
Ease of preparation
Nutritional value
7 Provider
Who pays?
Who cooks?
8 Food Habits
Food habit research
9 Food Choice
Terminology
Clusters of determinants
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That is enough to indicate the general approach I take to explaining some aspects of why we eat what we eat. It is no more than a summary and a large number of additional dimensions of the why and what of eating are dealt with later.
We now look at the development of the model on this page.