Some food choices may be made for multiple reasons, or reasons that don’t fit into simple categories. Most people in the West won’t eat dogs. Is this for philosophical or psychological reasons? Dogs are our friends, so we should not eat them — philosophical / beliefs. Yeuch, how could anyone eat a dog? — psychological / gut feelings.
People may be vegetarian for multiple reasons. Philosophical — you shouldn’t harm creatures, or the environment; or my religion tells me not to eat meat. Psychological — yeuch, that steak was a living animal not long ago. Physical/health — they might believe it’s healthier not to eat saturated fats / too much protein / some other aspect of meat; we’re not designed to eat meat; it’s healthier not to.
If you eat or avoid certain foods because you’re part of a group, you may be doing so partly for philosophical reasons (it’s my belief that I should / should not eat this). But it may also be for psychological reasons (I want to fit in to this group, so I need to do what they do)
Speaking of fitting in: Weight loss, or sometimes weight gain, can be desired both for physical / health and psychological reasons. It may be healthier to be a “normal ” weight, and some people will also try to get there to avoid feeling socially ostracized.
A person might minimize the amount of fish they eat for the philosophical reason that they are concerned about the overfishing of the world’s oceans, and also because they have the physical / health issue that they’ve had food poisoning from fish a few times.
Where do you think this one fits? Some people will not choose foods because they’re more expensive than they think they’re worth.
Are there any foods that you eat or avoid for multiple reasons?
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