Food: A Global Phenomenon That Unites Us All - Essay Sample

Introduction

Human beings are increasingly becoming wary of what they eat. Food plays a huge role in not only being filling for hunger and nutrition needs but also defining people personally and socially. Social media have seen a new group of culinary fanatics emerge. YouTube has an unending list of daily diet programs. A search on the Instagram hashtag "food" will yield over three hundred million posts. A weekend search on Twitter threads on food yields a never-ending list of threads on foods and diets. Dieting is not only presently regarded as a means to seek good health and an ideal body image but also a means to give identity. This paper will be discussing the correlation between food and identity, social media and dietary identity, and the dangers of dietary identity in social media. Social media influencers cause the growth of harmful dietary identity among their audience.

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Food And Identity

Food has gained favor in defining the identities of humans and creating a feeling of togetherness in groups. Diets disregarded in disgust by some ethnic groups can be shamelessly and innocently highly valued by other ethnicities (Mintzs and Du Bois 101 ). In western cultures, insects, snails, and snakes are not consumable, whereas, in eastern and some African cultures, they are considered food (Lacirignola 2). It is incredible how different ethnic groups can be so diverse in their food choices and yet be so innocently okay about it. Food can identify ethnicity, religion, hierarchy in a social group, and gender. Food also identifies different lifestyles, such as body building. Theoretical research showcased that the dining of meat is considered masculine, whereas the dining of vegetables and fruits is considered feminine (Nelson et al. 142). Having a food diet regarded or disregarded in some ethnicities and religions gives the groups an aspect of uniqueness and oneness. Identity is divided into personal and social identities (Chuck et al. 427). Personal identity is how an individual perceives oneself, whereas social identity is how an individual is perceived to a social group (Fischler 275). As stated in this paragraph, the type of food one consumes can be used to identify their religion, ethnicity, culture, and gender, among other aspects of human characters.

Consumption habits influence an individual's identity, both externally and internally. Self-identities are strengthened with the types of food an individual chooses to or not to devour. Some consumption habits, especially those about religions and ethnicities, are boosted by the subconscious need to belong. Human beings have an inherent need to belong, a need to be of a particular class or group. The foods they choose to consume are in conjunction with where they want to belong (Chuck et al. 427). Pork is restricted in the Islamic religion because it is regarded as impure, a choice to not consume pork is, however, made voluntarily by individuals concerning the religion (Mintzs and Du Bois 109). Observing specific consumption habits can be validated both externally and internally as self-realization. Medical or family backgrounds motivate food choices; for instance, lactose-intolerant individuals do not take milk and milk products; some people avoid animal or plant proteins because of allergies (Lacirignola 2). The realization of being lactose intolerant or allergic to specific proteins and, therefore, not taking such foods is in the know on oneself. Such a food choice shapes the identity of someone (Fischler 276). The simple utterance of being "lactose intolerant" or "allergic to some proteins" is an influence on identity to oneself and others.

According to the Vegetarian Resource Group, the rate of vegans has been increasing over the years in the United States of America and the United Kingdom (Nelson et al. 142). Veganism is a voluntary choice not to consume any animal products. Nobody is born with the decision of what to consume. For example, some people decide to become vegans as they continue with life due to various personal reasons. In this case, the two outstanding motives are the need to protect animal life and the need to fulfill the so-known belief that human beings are inherently and characteristically omnivorous. Veganism henceforth becomes a lifestyle motivated by the value of animal life. Veganism gives an individual the social identity of belonging to the vegan group (Nelson et al. 143). Therefore, food restricted or embrased by certain group, such as religious groups and veganism, can determine once affiliation to specific identities.

Dietary Identity And Social Media Interference

Dietary identity has been growing over the years with introduction of more social media sharing avenues. A study on adolescent presentation of food in social media concluded that adolescents and young people, in general, have heightened their affinity to post the food they got to dine to impress or conform to salient peer groups (Holmberg et al. 122). The same research hypothesized how food is presented on Instagram and concluded that there are two ways, one presenting the aesthetical appeal or homemade feature of the food posted and another presenting food with a keen focus on the brand name to showcase a lifestyle (Holmberg et al. 122). Another study on Gender differences in diet explored that women have a higher tendency to post healthy diets as opposed to men (Nelson et al. 142). The outward perception of an individual's identity can change when they change their diet. Non-white United States Immigrants change diets once they migrated to the United States to fit in the American Identity. There has been an increase in obesity in the United States of America, and the non-white immigrants have claimed a percentage (Guendelman et al. 960). Research on social identity threat depicted that having one's societal membership questioned can trigger a response designed to resolve the threat. In the case of the non-white United States immigrants, they decided to adapt to the high-calorie fast food and soda lifestyle of the west (Guendelman et al. 960).

In yet another unrelated theory, change of diets to a healthier cuisine can increase the self-esteem of an individual. Healthy dieting means being in control of one's life, and has been known to trigger a feeling of happiness, especially when it is a lifetime resolution. Change of diets triggers feelings of being in charge of one's life, therefore, increasing the individual's self-esteem. Even so, healthy diets might become addictive. People are social beings, and they tend to value activities done in packs more than those done in solitude. Daily observations of healthy diet posts in social media can trigger personal resolutions to engage in the same diet tendencies, especially if an iconic figure in their eyes is conducting the healthy diet programs. Research shows that an individual is likely to consume a diet or food product that is posted in the social media to conform to peer or social movements (Fardouly et al. 39). The likelihood of consumption increases with an increase in positive reception, that is, an increase in the likes or comments about a certain food or diet programs. Such observation can trigger intense urges to diet more to conform and make healthy dieting more of an obsession and less of a positive life resolution (Fardouly et al. 39). As mentioned earlier in diet and identity, different lifestyles have an effect on social media, relating to food. They include modelling, body building, and more.

Social media have an influence on an individual's body image and choices on food. Research has hypothesized and concluded that the influence is felt more by women than men (Nelson et al. 142). Women are more proactive in social media, have a higher tendency to search posts on healthy diets, and ideal body images (Nelson et al. 142). Social media trigger individual comparisons with peers. A theory on social comparison stated that individuals have a motive to evaluate their progress by assessing their lives in comparison to an objective and relative standard. In the absence of such a standard, they compare themselves to their peers in social media (Fardouly et al. 39). Comparisons cause body dissatisfaction and body image concerns.

Dangers Of Social Media And Dietary Identity

Vid. 1. What I Eat In A Day | Healthy & Realistic, Renee Amberg, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8vD40jZC6U&t=106s.

Vid. 2. Start Eating a Cucumber a Day, See What Happens to Your Body, BRIGHT SIDE, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW78YV1JVEg.

The first YouTube video is about what the narrator eats in a day. the narrator also describes her daily health eating routine. She describes how easy it is for an individual to maintain a healthy diet. The second video is about the health advantage acquired from eating a cucumber every day. Just by watching this video could make any health-minded individual incorporate cucumbers in their daily diet. Individuals are more likely to dine foods posted on social media as opposed to those not. The likelihood of dining increases as more information about the food is provided.

Fig. 1. Person and ProfilePage. "Diet Tips on Instagram: ". #Healthydiettips . Lose Possibly 5-10 Lbs in the First Week Alone with Keto , Join 'The 28 Day Keto Challenge'. LINK IN BIO..."." Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/p/BuO1tyHFbIA/.

Fig. 2. Person, and ProfilePage. "Healthy Foods on Instagram: 'Peanut Butter Avocado Kiwi Banana Spinach Perfect Smoothie . By @Thesmoothieguy . . #Detoxdrink #Smoothieoftheday..."." Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/p/B4F7oTFpBHB/.

Research conducted in neuroscience indicated that observation of images of food in social media triggers the part of the brain that arouses appetite through the release of dopamine (Holmberg et al. 122). The two Instagram images (see fig. 1 and fig. 2) are oriented to losing weight. They have an aesthetic appeal that would arouse cravings. These are only two of the 70 million posts sourced from the hashtag healthy diets. The internet showcases many appropriate ways of eating and specifies amounts of calories or pounds that should be consumed in a day for a healthy diet designated to lose weight and get that longed-for body image (Nelson et al. 142).

Dietary identity in social media has possible negative effects that would affect an individual psychologically more than physically. The first negative effect that could result from obsessive dieting could be Anorexia. Anorexia is an eating disorder that is majorly diagnosed by loss of appetite. Anorexia can be deliberate or caused by disease (Leipamaa-Leskinen and Hanna 370). Deliberate anorexia occurs when an individual deliberately avoids eating or taking certain salient diets, thus making it a chronic habit. It can be caused by fear of obesity, especially if obesity runs in the family or a chronic desire to lose weight. Anorexia eventually becomes addictive when the appeal of diets is lost, and at times, it might be followed by binge eating. Neuroscience research explains that the brain is like a muscle; it can wear out when individuals attempt to suppress or resist desires (Nelson et al. 142). Eventually, the urges grow stronger, and once acted on, become difficult to stop. Anorexia is not an exception. The suppression of an urge to consume desirable lifestyle meals without a proper diet plan could eventually result in binge eating. Binge eating is immediately followed by a feeling of loss of self-control, and possibly depression.

Diet identity in social media focuses solely on loss of body weight and healthy living by incorporating standard nutritional requirements. Nutritional needs are different among individuals. A diet plan that works on one individual will not necessarily be beneficial to another in...