Food habits and their origins
All people have their likes and dislikes and their beliefs about food, and many people are conservative in their food habits. They tend to like what their mothers cooked for them when they were young, the foods that are served on festive occasions or those eaten with friends and family away from home during their childhood. The foods that adults ate without a second thought in childhood are seldom totally disagreeable to them in later life.
What one society regards as normal or even highly desirable, however, another society may consider revolting or totally inedible. Animal milk is commonly consumed and liked by many people in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, but in China it is rarely taken. Lobsters, crabs and shrimps are considered delicacies and prized foods by many people in Europe and North America, but are revolting to many people in Africa and Asia, especially those who live far from the sea. The French eat horse meat; the English generally do not. Many people will delightedly consume the flesh of monkeys, snakes, dogs and rats or will eat certain insects, yet many others find these foods most unappealing. Religion may have an important role in forbidding the consumption of certain foods. For example, neither the Muslim nor the Jewish peoples consume pork, and Hindus do not eat beef and are frequently vegetarians.
Food habits differ most widely in regard to which foods of animal origin are liked, disliked, eaten or not eaten in a society. The foods in question comprise many of those that are rich in good-quality protein and that contain haem iron, both of which are important nutrients. People who do not consume these foods are deprived of the opportunity of obtaining these nutrients easily. On the other hand, those who overconsume animal flesh, some seafoods, eggs and other foods of animal origin will have undesirable