6. Conclusion
From the foregoing, we can safely reach the consensus that food is a significant carrier of culture, which means that it reflects the cultural values of different countries, as social class, ethnicity, as well as individual identity can all be presented by the food (Anderson 125). More specifically, the eating habits are greatly determined by people’s cultural identity, and the individual food habits have further constructed the common food culture shared by a group of people who have the same or similar cultural background, which exactly corresponds with what Kittler and Sucher suggest that “What one eats defines who one is, culturally speaking, and conversely, who one is not (qtd. in 4).” Taking the food culture of Chinese Americans as an example, it is clear that even Chinese immigrants have lived in American society and have been deeply influenced by American culture and traditions, because of their
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At the meantime, culture has affected and changed the food culture. In terms of the cultural influence, for one thing, we illustrate in this thesis that American cuisine has been influenced by Native American and African American cultural heritage, as ever since European settlers arrived the land of America, they have begun to adopt the cooking techniques and food ingredients utilized by native people (See Section 5.1.2). For the other thing, American culture has also changed Chinese American’s eating habits. For example, recently, millions of Chinese people are living in the United States, and they have established a great number of Chinese restaurants or food markets in American metropolises, especially in New York City and California (McLean 102). However, the more they contact with American culture, the more their eating habits are closer to American style, for instance, the second generation of Chinese immigrants are prone to choose food with more fat, sugar, or cholesterol, and they dine out more in traditional American restaurants