anthro of food

Food rarely is what it is. That is, aside from the nutrients it provides, food is a powerful analytical tool that serves to explain the various social, political, economic, environmental, and identity factors that exist around the cuisine and its consumption. Additionally, cuisines serve as a reflection of the changes that inevitably occur in the aforementioned areas. When a major change happens, especially a socio-economic one, food is certainly going to be affected. Therefore, what, when, and how one eats is not frivolous or by accident; rather, what one eats is a direct result of the environment he is in. Cuisine, for the most part, is going to be charged with some type of message.
In the book Cheap Meat, Frederick Errington and Deborah Gewertz provide an account of mutton flap distribution from Australia and New Zealand to nations in the Pacific Islands. Mutton flaps, which are sheep bellies, are an extremely fatty cut of meat that is constituted of fifty percent fat (Errington and Gewertz, 1). The high fat of the meat is important as the authors argue that the selling of mutton flaps to the peoples of the Pacific Islands “involves political, ethical, and health issues of important to us all (Errington and Gewertz, 1). Whenever the “other” (non White) is involved in the less than admirable aspects of food production or trade, it is usually in the role of underprivileged farm workers or illegal immigrants (Errington and Gewertz, 2). This is one of the areas where mutton flap production and consumption differs from that of other higher quality cuts of meat. Mutton flaps are produced on regulated farms by (White) Australians and New Zealanders, where the working conditions are sensible (Errington and Gewertz, 4). After the mutton flaps are processed, however, they are sent away to be consumed by the (Brown) people of the Pacific Islands (Errington and Gewertz). The authors also describe this trade as First World to Third World. The fact that mutton flaps are