Food and Culture

Packed with important information and strategies, this text and resource offers one-stop coverage of culturally related food and nutrition topics. Authors Pamela Goyan Kittler and Kathryn P. Sucher include comprehensive overviews of key ethnic, religious, and regional groups, including Native Americans, Northern Europeans, Southern Europeans, Central Europeans, Africans, Mexicans, Central Americans, Caribbean Islanders, South Americans, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Southeast Asians, Pacific Islanders, Greeks, Middle Easterners, Asian Indians, and Regional Americans. Each culture-specific chapter explores the highlighted group's perspective -- as well as traditional food habits and contemporary American food habits acquired by the group. These chapters feature discussion of ingredients and common foods, meal composition and cycle, therapeutic uses of foods, nutritional status, counseling suggestions, and more. A valuable chapter on intercultural communication covers such essential topics as intercultural communication skills, intercultural counseling, and culturally relevant program preparation and implementation strategies. A fascinating chapter on traditional health beliefs and practices discusses cultural definitions of health and includes healing practices and botanical remedies employed.