Three basic approaches that explain the differences in human's consumption patterns

• 1. Internal Explanation:
- identifies the basic human needs: nourishment, reproduction, bodily comforts, safety, growth, health
- emphasizes the dependence of human beings on the physical world to survive and recognizes human's capacities to fulfill their basic needs
- Limitations:
• fails to explain why consumption pattern may vary across cultures
• undermines human agency and cultural differences
• 2. External Explanation:
- identifies ecological variation as the causes of diversified human consumption patterns
- argues that the availability of external resources in the local habitat to which peo-ple must adapt to survive by exploiting these resources
- Limitations:
• undermines human's ability to modify what the environment offers
• 3. Cultural Explanation:
- human beings are able to construct their own niches, sufferings themselves from some kinds of selection pressures while exposing themselves to other kinds
- Strengths:
• recognizes that people have the agency to produce a range of cultural inven-tions