How does the study of food and foodways contribute to understanding human diversity?

Question

How does the study of food and foodways contribute to understanding human diversity?

Answer 1

The way a society obtains food is the basis of anything else the society does. If it is a foraging society (hunters and gatherers) it affects their culture, their roles, and their preceptions of life among other things. Since all societies are different from one another and their subsistence strategies vary, this creates diversification on every level. Once you understand what a particular society goes through to obtain food, you can figure how much leisure time they have and how they use it, whether some members of society can specialize in certain fields, and whether or not the society interacts with others around it on a regular basis.

So you see, food is the basis of human life.

Answer 2

It can determine trade with neighboring cultures by finding anomalous crops in respective regions. Also, within some regions there are specific allergies that develop within the culture, so that sometimes when the culture migrates there's a genetic indicator that could help to determine its origin.