exam ch8

Question 1

Q1. diet as an evolutionary force for cooperation

Answer 1

need for food variety formed an ecological selection pressure that led to highly cooperative behaviors

COOPERATION TO:
1. acquire (group coordination needed for meat + cooperation as labor division for food variety)*
2.exchange/redistribute (here: kin selection, reciprocal altruism, tolerated scrouching** and costly signaling***)
3.exchange knowledge on whats edible - DISGUST: 1.disease-related, acquired during childhool and very easily transmitted
+social imitation of food as adaptive strategy (young children generalize infos ab edibility - experiment of plants on 18 months old)

*excursus on the fact that also women hunted in neolithic period

**if cost of food is too high you let the others have it

***food for status

sharing not only for hunger but for social bonds +meat in large amounts led to social norms regardinf fairness and reciprocity (moral emotions)

Question 2

Q2. food as a function to communicate

Answer 2

first function of food is survival through nourishment, FOOD DOES NOT COMMUNICATE SHIT

Question 3

food’s effect as communicator

Answer 3

a choice you make ab your food is a social marker (mental mechanism for coalitionship - us them)

social marker in:
1.what we eat (comunicative effects culturally constructed - barthes: natural food has no meaning)
EXCLUSION DIETS
2.who we share food with (individual and colelctive identities, us w similar foods vs them w difefrent foods - group memberships)
FAMILY MEALS BEING WEIRD
3.our knowledge ab food
CULINARY CAPITAL

Question 4

cuisine

Answer 4

guidelines ab whats bsafeto eat and how tro prepare food;
symbolic system x identity, values, worldviews

+cookinfg as a core symbol of human culture

Question 5

Q3. culinary capital

Answer 5

food reflecting our upbringing, education and social circles; capital is never just economical, is also cultural.

hence culinary capital is a form of cultural capital that you carry with you. composed by food knowledge, taste, cooking habits and preferences it’s an indicator of your social class, background or status

!leads to forms of social exclusion and reinforces existing inequalities!
+no fixed hierarchies for “better” and “worse” foods
- intersects w broader systems of oppression and deals with gender, size and lifestyle choices (+prejudices and judgements)
+dietary choices=social choices

collegamento con habitus di bordieau because he also says that our taste reflects our social class - symbol of power e status (+he also gives importance to cultural capital)

Question 6

CULINARY (AND NOT FOOD) DIPLOMACY

Answer 6

=soft diplomacy, where u spread ur culinary capital around the world

(food diplomacy is the fight of hunger)

Question 7

Q4 family meal as weird

Answer 7

commensality= sign of closeness
!is possile also in absence of others!
(ghana community in london: you dont ever eat the food alone if the food was made by someone else in teh community; the one who prepared lunch eats w u. if u thik u’ìre eating alone you’re not acknowledging who prepared ur food)

also eating together is not the same as sharing food:
-jealousy attached
-sharing plates and cutlery
“contaminated and uncontaminated”
-our food vs my food

Question 8

Q5 five masculine meat identities di elina

Answer 8

1. The Traditional Meat Eater
   • Sees meat as essential to masculinity and strength
   • Often rejects plant-based diets as “unmanly”
   • Symbolizes dominance, physical power, and tradition
   🧠 Masculinity = eating big, heavy, animal-based meals

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2. The Everyday Family Man
   • Values meat for practical, family-centered reasons
   • May cook meat for kids/partner; less about status, more about care
   • Doesn’t obsess over meat identity but still follows norms
   🧠 Masculinity = responsibility, providing, care through food

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3. The Athlete
   • Frames meat consumption around protein, fitness, and performance
   • May use meat to justify body-building or health goals
   • Often intersects with gym/health culture rather than gender ideology
   🧠 Masculinity = physical mastery, discipline, muscle-building

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4. The Green Man
   • Adopts vegetarian or reduced-meat diets for ecological/ethical reasons
   • Challenges traditional meat masculinity but still identifies as masculine
   • Can struggle to be seen as “serious” or “manly” in traditional circles
   🧠 Masculinity = ethics, care for the planet, progressive values

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5. The Struggler
   • Feels caught between expectations
   • May reduce meat intake for ethical or health reasons, but feels judged
   • Navigates identity tension (e.g., teased for going vegetarian)
   🧠 Masculinity = under negotiation, identity is unstable