The Importance of Food
FACS I
Food Affects Life
 Food has different meanings to different people
 Starving = survival
 Culture food = part of heritage
 Faith = religious symbols
 Entertaining guests = hospitality
 Food meets more than a physical need. It meets
emotional, social, and psychological needs as well.
Food Meets Physical Needs
 Food is one of our most basic physical needs.
 Your body needs food to provide the energy required
to maintain vital functions such as keeping your
heart beating.
 Food relieves hunger
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Hunger = physical need for food
Appetite = psychological desire to eat
Appetite tends to have a greater influence on food choices
 Food improves wellness
 Wellness = state of being in overall good health
Cultural Influences on Food Choices
 Culture = traditions and beliefs of a racial, religious, or
social group
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U.S. is a “tossed salad” of cultures
 Customs = typical ways of behaving
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China—must leave a small amount of food on your plate, if you eat it
all it insults the hosts implying they didn’t offer enough food
Egypt—a loud belch after a meal is a way of expressing your
satisfaction and complimenting the cook
America—people go to restaurants with arches and goofy clowns,
speak their order into a speaker from their car, pick up their food at a
window of the restaurant while still in their car, and eat strange,
tasteless food like substances that make them hopelessly obese while
playing Monopoly games they are less likely to win than to be struck
on the head by an asteroid.
Culture Influences cont.
 National origin—immigrants brought their dishes
with them
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French brought chowders with them to the U.S.
 Religion
 Hindus cannot use beef because it is considered sacred
 Bread/wine for Christians as it is symbolic of Christ’s body and
blood
 Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset each day during Ramadan
 Holidays
 Heart shaped chocolates on Valentine’s Day
 Hot cross buns for Easter
Social Influences
 Family
 Eating at the dinner table
 Lifestyle
 Environment (buying locally)
 Friends
 Peer pressure
 Mass Media—TV, radio, magazines
 Bandwagon technique—makes you think everyone is using the product and you
should too (“jump on the bandwagon”)
 Humor technique—using humor to make you feel happy so you’ll want to buy the
product
 Nostalgia technique—advertising a product’s “wholesomeness” or “goodness”
(most common with food products)
 Transfer technique—using a celebrity to endorse a product
 Testimonial technique—having a professional say they use the product or
recommend people to use it
 Advertising icons—using a recognizable icon to relate to food (ex: Ronald
McDonald, Pillsbury dough boy)
Commercials
 What techniques are being used?
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7RCrnQDh_I
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8jEwmkvJLU
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuu19ux51wA
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2nAnHqN6DA
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruK8hnpKWDA
Food Fads & Fallacies
 Fallacy = mistaken belief
 Ex: eating strawberries will prevent you from getting cancer
 Difference: Strawberries can help lower the risk of developing
cancer
 Fads = practices that are very popular for a short
time
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Dr. Oz-raspberry ketones
Ex: Acai berries
Assignment!
 You are to find an advertising technique, fad, or fallacy in
any mass media format you’d like. (There needs to be
proof it exists!)
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Provide a link, magazine clipping, etc.
 You cannot use any of the ones I showed you in class.
 Identify which advertising technique, fad, or fallacy it is
an example of.
 Describe how it is an example of said term/definition.
One paragraph (5-7 complete sentences) is plenty.
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Talk about how the commercial/advertisement made you feel
Would you buy the product based off the technique they used?