employ a feng shui expert even in the placement of furniture and use of the floor
plan within a home. To the cultural geographer studying these behaviors, it is not
important that they lack a scientific basis. Rather, what is of interest is the fact that
so many people continue to have faith that such practices are beneficial to their
lives. In the age ofglobalization, folk cultures often struggle to maintain their
identity in the face of assimilation by popular culture, and the traditions and values
of folk cultures may appear quaint or old fashioned to those outside the group. Yet
these cultures remind us of the character and context of the human experience, and
offer a spectrum of perspectives on society and the place of humanity in the world
that makes “modern” culture seem uniform and uninspired. By studying and cata-
loging these endangered folk cultures, cultural geographers can help preserve and
promote the richness of human cultural landscapes.Foodways
Foodways is a term that has numerous connotations in modern scholarship. In
general, the concept of foodways identifies specific types of food associated with
certain cultural, ethnic or regional groups, and the manner in which such food
shapes the lives and identity of the people who prepare and consume it. Foodways
are often seen therefore as a component offolk culture, and food as much more than
just a source of nutrition and energy. Rather, the qualities of food represent a distinct
cultural element that contributes to an ethnic, regional, orcultural identity. In the
study of foodways, geographers are primarily interested in the spatial variations of
the way food is produced, prepared, and consumed, and how these in combination
contribute to the notion of place. The cultural geographers Pete and Barbara
Shortridge highlight this spatial approach to foodways in their book,The Taste
of American Place: A Reader on Regional and Ethnic Foods. As they note in the
introduction to this work, “Geographers also integrate information on food habits
with other aspects of cultural variationtocreateamorecompleteprofileofthe
people who live in a given area.”
Patterns of food production and consumption (and for that matter, beverage pro-
duction as well) clearly have a spatial dimension that may be expressed at almost
anyscale. It is not necessarily the case that regions may be distinguished on the
basis ofdistinctivekinds of food or food preparation—spatial differentiation may
occur even within a specific food group or type. Those who are familiar with these
distinctions are able to immediately identify the origin of the food item, or at least
theoriginofthosewhopreparedit.InUzbekistan,non, or flatbread, frequently
shows such distinctions. The bread is traditionally baked in an outdoor oven called128 Foodways