Foodways facts for kids

Foodways are all about how people, cultures, and economies connect with food. It's more than just eating! Foodways look at how food fits into our traditions, history, and daily life. It helps us understand why we eat what we eat.

What Are Foodways?

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary says foodways are "the eating habits and cooking styles of a group of people, a place, or a time period."

The word 'foodways' was first used in 1942. Three students from the University of Chicago – John W. Bennett, Harvey L. Smith, and Herbert Passin – came up with it. In the 1920s and 1930s, experts studied how poor people in the countryside ate. They wanted to help them eat better. During World War II, these efforts grew. People with information about different food habits were asked to contact anthropologist Margaret Mead.

Bennett and his friends studied people in southern Illinois. They looked at Anglo-Americans, German-Americans, and African-Americans. These groups mostly ate white bread, pork, and potatoes. The researchers found it strange that people didn't eat healthy foods like fish, even when there was plenty. They realized that people's food choices are shaped by their culture and neighbors, not just by what's cheapest or healthiest.

They likely chose 'foodways' because it sounded like 'folkways'. Folkways are traditions that people follow because they're used to them, not because they're logical. Just like folkways, foodways are hard to change. People don't easily switch their eating habits, even if new ways seem better for their money or health.

The term 'foodways' wasn't used much until the late 1960s and early 1970s. This was when more research into folklife began, like the Smithsonian Folklife Festival which started in 1967. As the study of foodways grew, experts offered their own definitions:

Today, experts define foodways as studying what we eat, and also how, why, and when we eat it. As folklorist Jay Anderson said in 1971, foodways includes "the whole connected system of how food is thought about, found, kept, cooked, eaten, and how it gives us energy. This is shared by everyone in a certain society." This wide definition covers differences over time and in different places. It also shows how important food events are (like barbecues or oyster roasts), food processes (like curing ham or canning beans), and even art connected to food (like songs about food or quilts at fish fries).

Foodways in Social Science

Experts in different fields, like anthropologists and historians, use 'foodways' to study why we eat what we eat and what it means. This goes deeper than just needing food or liking a recipe. It includes how food communicates messages. As some researchers explain: "Everything about eating – what we eat, how we get it, who cooks it, and who we eat with – is a way of communicating. It's full of meaning. Our attitudes and traditions around food show our most basic beliefs about the world and ourselves."

Food can also show who is included or excluded in a group. It can even show power. For example, politicians might use terms like "latte liberal" or "Joe Six Pack." These phrases use food to suggest ideas about social class and community. This is based on what people are thought to eat. Even former President Trump used fast food when hosting guests. This was a way to connect with what his team saw as "truly American" food. How food shapes and is shaped by social groups is key to understanding foodways. Since our food choices are often learned from our culture, cultural studies are a big part of foodways.

Anthropologist Mary Douglas explains this well: "Imagine if we didn't have different foods for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Or if Sunday meals were the same as weekdays. And if we never had special food when friends came over, or for Christmas Day. How would we show all the different things we want to say, even to our families, about different events and times?"

While studying food has always been important in understanding cultures, the term 'foodways' in popular culture is a way to look at food practices. It helps people understand and talk about current social practices related to food, as well as its health and cooking aspects.

Regional Foodways

The term 'foodways' can describe the food traditions of a specific place. Here are some examples:

• The Foodways Section of the American Folklore Society and Bowling Green State University publish a yearly magazine. It's called Digest: An Interdisciplinary Study of Food and Foodways. It has articles, photo essays, and reviews about foodways.
• The website Michigan Foodways focuses on Michigan's special food traditions. It shows how Michigan has added to the country's cooking history.
• The Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut published a book called Saltwater Foodways. This book looks at the food of people in New England, both when they were at sea and on land.
• Colonial Williamsburg has a special team that studies and recreates the foodways of the upper class in historical Williamsburg. They prepare dishes served to wealthy people because there's a lot of information about their cooking. Historians know less about the food of poorer people. But cookbooks, old papers, and digs help them learn about how the rich people ate.
• The Southern Foodways Alliance explores the foodways of the Southern United States. They do this through recorded interviews, films, sharing recipes, and teaching about the foods and cultures of the region.

Foodways of people who have moved to a new country are also important in America. For example, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth shares recipes from the Cape Verdean islands. This helps describe the foodways of the large Cape Verdean population in Southeastern Massachusetts.

Studying Foodways

Unlike some older studies of food, the term 'foodways' encourages many different fields to work together. For example, the journal Food and Foodways publishes articles on the history and culture of human eating. It explores how food affects our lives socially, economically, politically, mentally, and morally. Because food is everywhere in society, it needs to be looked at by many different types of experts.

In studies about what people buy and use, modern foodways are a big topic. Some researchers look at today's cookbooks. They find that fancy recipes can create a strong desire for food, even if it's just a picture.

Studying historical foodways helps scientists and scholars understand past cultures. For example, the book Pre-Columbian Foodways by John Staller and Michael Carrasco looks at the meaning of food and cooking, and the importance of feasts in old and new societies. Books like this help people learn more about foodways.