Poverty and Affluence from the Perspective of the Development of Eating: Beyond Hunger and Obesity at Micro and Macro Levels.

This paper examined the current circumstances of eating from an ecological perspective, and discussed poverty and overabundance of eating. At the macro level, it discussed poverty and obesity by describing global levels of poverty and hunger, and the over-abundance of food and obesity resulting from the dominance of food production and supply by multi-national organizations. A micro level discussion was concerned with a psychological perspective of poor Japanese eating habits and poor interactions among Japanese family members. Finally, this paper defined affluence of eating from macro and micro levels. The macro level described the democratization of food producers and consumers, the ability of consumers to select food while understanding the mechanisms of the food production system, and the creation of a new food culture. The micro level described not only children being able to eat with family or friends as an intimate member of the group, but also their experience of the delight of cooking to produce their own food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]