Food practices of a people is the product of multiple factors. Endogenous as well as exogenous factors influence people’s opinion and preferences about food. In India and its neighbouring countries, food practices are often delimited by economic standing, religion, caste and analogous systems of social ranking of the consumers. State and market forces also influence food behaviour by exercising control over production and trade. Food and Power: Expressions of Food-Politics in South Asia studies power relations between those who eat and those who decide (or at least try to decide) what people should eat. It raises questions pertaining to the politicization of ethnographic tradition in South Asia in relation to the intersection of religion, economy and food. This book explores how traditional food practices have undergone change owing to the influences of migration globalization and popular media to understand how ethos of the powerful affects the foodways of relatively weaker ethnic, religious, occupational and gender groups

Food Culture and Power Relations in Nepali Society: A Case from Chepang Community

Food Culture and Power Relations in Nepali Society: A Case from Chepang Community

Food culture and power relations in nepali society: A case from chepang community
Om Gurung Uddhav Rai

Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.

—J. A. Brillat-Savarin, French lawyer and politician (1755–1826)

Introduction

Food is the most essential element to the survival of all beings. But the concept of food among human communities differs across the cultures and geographical regions. For some communities, food means anything that is edible, but for others, foods are those commodities/materials which consist of utmost social and cultural values. In some communities, foods are cherished, but in others the same foods are tabooed. Similarly, food preparation process and ...

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