Eating as cultural practice: An indigenous Australian case study

Abstract Through exploring what people eat and why, we pay attention to how Indigenous children in remote communities in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands of Western Australia are socialised into eating practices and food preferences. We look at how food practices have changed since first contact with settler‐colonial Australia, from ‘bush’ foods, to a frugal mission‐introduced damper, tea and sugar diet, to the consumption of ultra‐processed foods despite known health risks. We discuss how food practices are cultural practices and how these are transmitted intergenerationally, leading to cultural preferences for certain foods. We look at food purchasing and consumption behaviours and consider how these are driven not only by affordability, but also by social, cultural and environmental factors. We argue that to change children's diets and nutrition requires addressing these elements. Furthermore, efforts to improve food security must also recognise poverty as a contributing factor to be remedied.