Global Trends and Local Choices: A Comparison of Young Italian and American Food Practices

Food choice is most commonly discussed as a product of culture and market
structures. These influences do exist, but they also disregard the individual decisionmaking process and discount the formulation of personal food lifestyles. Given the
global spread of food trends—diets, dishes, and industry processes—are Italian and
American food habits really that distinct? This project compares the food practices
of young Italian and American individuals, and searches for the influencing factors
behind these practices. Graduate students in Tuscany and the California Bay Area
were surveyed and interviewed about their food habits and gastronomic
preferences in order to comparatively analyze typical food practices and receptivity
to global food trends. Students of both nationalities were observed to be highly
aware of global food trends. Despite the high levels of awareness, however, neither
population has made significant efforts to adjust individual habits to line up with
movement goals surrounding sustainability, ethics, or aesthetics. In terms of the
comparison, certain aspects of young adult food culture—namely grocery shopping
practices and attitude towards food movement ideals—were found to be consistent
across divisions of nationality. Pronounced differences still appear, however, in the
amount of time spent on food, the prioritization of food as a social endeavor, and the
origins of current food practices and attitudes.