Historically

Historically, dietary contents and patterns have to a large extent been determined by local climate, geography and culture.
For example, people living in fertile river planes mostly have farm products as their staple diets. People from coastal areas mostly have sea food included in their diets and people from desert like climates have meat and other animal products in their diets. Also, even within fertile lands people from North of India, where climate is more suitable for wheat production have more of wheat preparations in their diet, whereas, for people in south part of India where rice is produced abundantly have rice products as their staples.
Off late, globalisation, affluence and exposure to various cultures through friends, neighbours and diverse members of our society has also resulted in availability and diversity in our different kinds of cuisines resulting in variations to our eating habits. For example, food items that are not part of my staple diet have also been introduced to my regular diet, such as Dosa, Idli, Sambhar, Pizza, Pasta and Sandwiches (a healthier version).
There have been times when I have exchanged my lunch with friends in school and we have enjoyed eating one another’s food. This experience has helped broaden my horizons in terms of my food preferences and I have incorporated multiple cuisines from different cultures, with different styles of cooking in my daily diet. For instance, coconuts are readily available in Bangalore. Drinking coconut water regularly has become a part of my diet routine.
Variety in our food habits helps us overcome the monotony of regular styles of cooking and gives us a sense of exploration! A shift from our staple diet gives us a sense of new flavours and we evolve as global citizens.