Sometimes healthy eating is regarded as a necessary evil.
On the one hand, it’s necessary for good health, but it also suggests restriction and self-denial rooted in Eurocentrism.
Even in the Caribbean, where I am from, many nutrition programmes are based on the American food pyramid, which then implies to local communities what healthy eating looks like.
Nutrition and healthy eating, on the other hand, are not a one-size-fits-all dietary prescription. Traditional foods and food culture have a place at the table as well.
I’ll explain why cultural foods are important for healthy eating in this article.
What exactly are cultural foods?
Cultural foods, also known as traditional dishes, represent a geographic region, ethnic group, religious body, or cross-cultural community’s traditions, beliefs, and practises.
Cultural foods may include beliefs about how specific foods should be prepared or used. They may also represent the overall culture of a group.
These dishes and customs are passed down through generations.
Pizza, pasta, and tomato sauce from Italy, or kimchi, seaweed, and dim sum from Asia, are examples of cultural foods. Alternatively, they may represent a colonial past, such as the Caribbean’s fusion of West African and East Indian food traditions.
Cultural foods can play a role in religious celebrations and are often central to our identities and familial ties.
Cultural foods must be fully incorporated into the Western paradigm.
Healthy eating includes cultural foods, but that message isn’t prominent and is frequently ignored.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans published by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is considered one of the gold standards for nutrition guidelines in the Western world. It suggests meeting people where they are, which includes their cultural foodways (1Trusted Source).
The Canadian Food Guide also emphasises the significance of culture and food traditions in maintaining a healthy diet (2).
However, there is still much work to be done in the field of dietetics to ensure cultural competence, which is the effective and appropriate treatment of people without bias, prejudice, or stereotypes (3).
Cultural needs and food practises were acknowledged during my dietitian training, but there was little interest or practical application. There were few institutional resources for healthcare professionals in some cases.
What comes next?
We must remember that cultural foods are healthy even if they are not gentrified, popularised on social media, or aligned with the Western paradigm.
For many immigrant and non-immigrant families in the United States, these are comfort foods, ways of life, and important sources of nutrition.
These cultural foods are examples of healthy eating because they combine several food groups and contain a variety of nutrients:
Ugali: a traditional Tanzanian cornmeal dish served with traditional meat and vegetable dishes.
Ema datshi: a spicy Bhutanese stew served with yak cheese and possibly mushrooms, green beans, and potatoes.
Kalua pork: a traditional Hawaiian dish that can be accompanied by grilled fish, eggplant, or taro.
Schäufele: roasted pork basted with German beer, typically served with potato dumplings, sauerkraut, or creamed savoy cabbage
Pelau: a popular Caribbean one-pot dish made with caramelised chicken, parboiled rice, pigeon peas, and a variety of vegetables and green seasonings.
