Importancia del contenido de la ingesta en el impacto postprandial

In developed countries many have come to associate the word ‘culture’ more with

its contemporary meaning, where it has been used to describe lifestyles – the way

we choose to live, both ideologically and materially in a rapidly modernising world (Pearson, 1995, p. 9). For example contemporary theorists now refer to the term “late modern culture” or “high culture” as the reference set for the elitist (Bennett, 2004, p. 170; Halle, 2002, p. 334). Culture in this contemporary sense has its roots in the Bourdieuian perspective of a dominant class and prodigious living (Di

Maggio & Mukhutar, 2004, p. 170; Halle, 2002, p. 334) where stylishness has become the measure, gained from education, enlightenment or sophistication and reflected in elements like fine dining, poetry, art, music, fashion and even for

connoisseurs of good coffee and wine (Pearson, 1995, p. 6). However, the lifestyle or livelihood connotations to culture go deeper when sourcing the sociological origins of culture, as shared beliefs and values, customs, language, practices and social behaviour, most typical of a particular group of people (Park, 2005, p18). In that sense ‘culture’ is defined well by Gill (1983) as:

[Culture is] what holds a community together, giving a common framework of meaning. It is preserved in language, thought patterns, ways of life, attitudes, symbols and presuppositions and is celebrated in art, music, drama. … It constitutes the collective memory of the people and the collective heritage which will be handed down to generations still to come (in, Tuwere, 2002, p. 99).

This definition describes key elements that constitute what culture is: Shared history, custom, symbols, rituals, material and social goods. They also underline the importance of social groups in shaping human behaviour and thus our way of living. According to Ratuva (2002a) group membership extends from one’s family affiliations, to cultural affinities and friendship associations too (p. 12). The

importance of cultural influences on the material and ideological needs involved in shaping identity is determined by Stavenhagen (2003) in this way, stating: “Human

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needs are fulfilled in these collective human environments: food, shelter, security, education, work, leisure, participation, creativity, spirituality …all conditioned by culture” (p. 10). Thus, culture is operationalised as an entity external to the individual that can be described, captured, and quantified (Hand, 2006, p. 37).

In Pacific Island indigenous cultures the concept of group or community identity is one of a strong sense of communalism with its origins in tribal affiliations and rural villages where life consists of relatively simple tasks and processes. In these

settings, social structures reinforce the collective, connectivity and spirituality of the people within their environment. Cultural practices form the sets of socially

accepted norms that bind a community and with that provide a sense of security for those individuals that belong.

Indigenous Cultural Influences on Identity

In many Pacific Island cultures, land holds an important place. Its intrinsic value is highlighted through customs and spirituality and in its vital links to the Pacific way of life, and thus becomes part of identity, as Pond (1997) describes:

In Cook Islands Maori, ‘enua’ means ‘land, country territory afterbirth’; in Futuna (Wallace) ‘fanua’ means ‘country, land, the people of a place’; in Tonga, ‘fonua’ means ‘island, territory, estate, the people of the estate… in [other] Polynesian languages, proto-fanua is both the people and the territory that nourishes them, as a placenta nourishes a baby (In Batibasaqa, Overton & Horsley, 1999, p. 100).

Similarly, in Fijian indigenous society the concept of vanua encompasses the

kinship and sharing nature of physical resources within a community’s collective lifestyle. It also includes aspects of societal hierarchy, authority, customary

practices, links to ancestry and connection with the land and sea and what natural

resources they hold. When referring to the vanua“the use of the word

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dialect, history and cultural icons” (Batibasaqa et al., 1999, p. 101).19 This one term is, for many Fijians’, at the core of their cultural identity and provides the

boundaries that determine “how people interact with each other and the land and also the social structure through which these are carried out” (Batibasaqa et al.,1999, p. 101).

Cultural influences can also be operationalised through rituals paired with symbolic materials that are valued thus integral to a people’s way of living (Ratuva, 2002a, p. 12). Cultural influences also provide the sets of protocols for group behaviours and guide how they might associate with other people(s) from outside. For

example, the Fijian practice of kava drinking20 used to formally welcome guests to the village or for reconciliation purposes is a symbol of authentic Fijian culture (Hermann & Kempf, 2005, Section 4, para’s 2 & 5).

The importance of cultural influences on group identities and community relations in the context of this research is clear: Community relations in urban squatter settlements necessitates cultural bonding between the two main Fijian ethnicities, not normally encountered in such intimate circumstances compared to the rural setting from whence these people have originated. This urban assimilation for two predominantly diverse cultures in Fiji has been aptly captured in the following statement of former Vice President Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi, “While our cultures give us our identity, globalisation will not allow them to be the sole defining elements to our being” (Madraiwiwi, 2008, p. 27). In this statement Madraiwiwi is pointing out that while culture forms part of our identity, it is not the only force that defines Fijians and their place in a global world.

19

Refer Section 4.4.2 for Tuware’s (2002) concept of the vanua being one of three strands upon which Fijian social structure is built. For an authoritative discussion of the concept of vanua and in relation to intracommunal land conflict in Fiji, see Ratuva’s (2002b) account, Anatomising the Vanua Complex: Intra-Communal Land Disputes and Implications on the Fijian Community.

20

For an explanation of the various uses and practice of sharing this beverage, derived from the root of the yanqonaplant and called Kava (or ‘grog’) refer to Section 4.4.2 also.

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