ABSTRACT
Consumerism is a cultural pattern that orients people’s meaning, contentment, and acceptance primarily around the consumption of goods and services. As cultural beings, much of what humans take for being “natural” is actually cultural in nature. Dietary choices (whether we prefer tea or soda, insects or meat); what we live in (a yurt vs. a multi-thousand-square-foot house); how we dress (fast fashion or durable well-crafted clothing); how we spend our leisure time (gardening or shopping); even which animals we perceive as companions rather than food – all of these are primarily shaped by the cultures we are born and live in.
