Prestige plays key role in food choices
Prestige plays key role in food choices
JAKARTA (JP): People's choices about food have to do with
prestige as well as traditional beliefs, experts said on Saturday
in a seminar that sought to understand why local food was losing
out to foreign cuisine.
If Indonesia wanted to encourage people to consume "healthy"
local food, they said, there would have to be research on public
eating habits.
The experts -- anthropologists Meutia F. Swasono, Naniek
Kasniah and Koentjaraningrat and nutritionist Suryatini N. Ganie
-- made the comments at a national workshop on traditional food
at the University of Indonesia.
"Eating habits are not easy to change. Any effort to improve
nutrition should be based on a sound understanding of the eating
habits of a given community," said Swasono, who has conducted
research into the eating habits of the Minang people of Sumatra,
the Toraja people of South Sulawesi and people in Java.
Studies show that, apart from taste, both prestige and
traditional beliefs play important roles in determining food
choices.
Among the Minang people, for instance, the level of vegetable
consumption is low because meat is considered to be both more
tasty and more "prestigious" than vegetables.
"The consumption pattern is difficult to change, despite
professionals' advice. Even those suffering from chronic heart
ailments will not change readily," said Swasono, who is of Minang
descent.
Anthropologist Naniek Kasniah also spoke of the relationship
between a community's eating habits and its traditional beliefs
about food.
For example, in West Nusa Tenggara, where the infant mortality
rate is high, parents believe that newly-born babies should be
given food before they are breast-fed.
They also believe that newly-born babies will grow up to be
tender and loving if they are given honey.
Noted nutritionist Suryatini N. Ganie pointed said that local
food was suffering from a relative lack of promotion.
With better promotion, local eateries would be able to compete
with foreign food, she said, citing the popularity of the
Javanese fried chicken restaurant chain, Mbok Berek.
One of the highlights of the workshop was the release of the
results of a study on soybean cake, or tempe, which is widely
looked down upon as "low class" food.
Researchers said their research showed that the nutritious
tempe was good as a cure for diarrhea and slowed the aging
process.
Anthropologist Koentjaraningrat even suggested the
establishment of a national research and development center on
tempe.
When opening the three-day workshop on Friday, President
Soeharto said that local scientists should conduct research on
local traditional food, rather than waiting for a foreign expert
come and do it. (anr)