Final answer:
Gmelch's abstention from pancakes during baseball season highlights food proscriptions or taboos, reflecting the cultural heritage and identity within a group and illustrating the concept of cultural lag.
Step-by-step explanation:
Gmelch's example of refraining from eating pancakes during baseball season illustrates the anthropological concept of food proscriptions or taboos, which contribute to establishing and maintaining a group's identity, often with links to religious or superstitious beliefs.
Such practices, including temporary abstention from specific foods or dietary habits as symbolic sacrifices or as a part of ritual behavior, are examples of how cultural practices and identities are shaped and how they may exhibit cultural lag, a delay in the evolution of cultural norms compared to technological and societal changes. In this context, giving up pancakes during baseball season may serve as a personal or group ritual to foster a sense of identity and unity with the team or the sport.
Ultimately, these food practices, whether shaped by religion, tradition, or personal belief, make up an integral part of cultural heritage and help in understanding the complexities of human cultural behavior and social dynamics.