A Study of the Role of Custom in the Diets of One Hundred Negro Families

This research is designed to find the food habits and customs of one hundred families and to determine the effect of these customs on the diet. An attempt will be made to show how custom affects the diets of families. From the examination of previous investigations on the subject the writer has arrived at the opinion that there might be food habits based on custom in the diets of families to be studied. These food habits may be traditional or they might have come from current fallacies concerning food. The investigation will he built around the answers to two basic questions. The first of the two is: What are the food habits and customs of the families to be studied? To answer the first basic question, it is necessary to find the answer to three subsidiary questions which are as follows: What foods do these people like because they have them and have eaten them for a long time and what foods do they eat because they think they are nutritious? What factors seem to influence or develop certain customs related to food in certain areas? Does custom seem to influence food habits? The second basic question to be asked will be: What physiological and sociological factors seem to affect food habits and customs? The subordinate questions that may help to find plausible answers to the above inquiry are: To what extent does location of family, whether urban or rural influence food habits and customs? What influence does age level have on the food habits and customs of the families studied? Once the questions are answered the writer will be able to list some customs and habits prevalent in the group, if these exist. Having found the attitudes, the writer will be in a better position to make generalizations concerning some of the factors affecting diet of the family groups