Abstract
A meal is usually defined as the consumption of two or more foods in a structured setting at a set time. Snacks consist of a small amount of food or beverage eaten between meals. A common eating pattern is three meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) per day, with snacks between meals. The components of a meal vary across cultures, but generally include grains, such as rice or noodles, meat or a meat substitute, such as fish or beans and accompaniments, such as vegetables. Various food guides provide suggestions on foods to eat, portion sizes, and daily intake. However, personal preferences, habits, family customs, and social setting largely determine what a person consumes.
Over the last century, eating habits in the world have changed dramatically. Our diets have been influenced by all kinds of factors such as the technologies in our kitchens, the modes of transport supplying our shops, the media and the governments and by trade and migration. The eating habits of our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents would be completely unrecognizable to many of us today. Our experiences of shopping and cooking have been transformed as have our attitudes towards health, table manners, 'foreign' foods, waste and choice.
