This picture shows that the man on the right might be looked down upon becuase of his eating habits as they are unsophisticated, while the woman shows proper manners.
During this week, we talked about cultures and norms of America and had a debate on Euthanasia. This article has to do with what people eat and what influences how and what they eat. Food is a huge part of culture. Today we were watching Do You Speak American. It is about how language is related to culture, but food has almost as much influence on cultures as languages. There are so many countries in the world, and all of them have their unique foods and ways of eating them. It is very interesting to see just how many things go into deciding our eating habits.
How We Eat talked about norms of America. It talked about the rule that women never order spaghetti on a date because it makes them seem less attractive. This shows us that food means different things to people at different times. It is not only a source of energy and enjoyment, but it now is used to show social class, and attractiveness among other things. Just fifty years ago we would have thought of food as something to keep our body running, but it is so much more than that.
On the show What Would You Do I saw an episode where a man went up to an obese woman with an obese child filled with a cart full of junk food. The man started scolding the obese woman for buying food that was bad for herself and her daughter. The woman took offense, but I sided with the rude man. I believed that the woman was influencing her child’s eating habits, and not only making her obese, but that could lead to medical problems and bad eating habits. The obese woman started talking about how eating healthy is expensive compared to eating cheap. I had never even thought of that. A one dollar cheeseburger at McDonalds is much cheaper compared to buying a salmon for nine dollars from Jewel. My mother always buys the four dollar pack of dozen eggs and the Oberweis milk when we get groceries because they don’t have preservatives, but a low income family might not be able to afford to eat healthy.
I also find it interesting how certain foods have a connotation with a type of people. The wealthy eat steak, while lower income people and college kids eat mac and cheese and Ramen noodles. The article states “food is a judgment of social class”. This shows that we are constantly judging others not only by their house/car but also what they eat. When my parents go to parties they buy expensive name brand chocolates for the hosts. It’s always Godiva, and never Kirkland chocolate. This once again shows that name brand food is also an important aspect of our culture. Location also has a lot to do with what we eat. For example, in my household we eat rice often. This is because in southern Asia people grow rice and it is a part of our culture to eat it with many other foods. Back in Pakistan, mangoes are plentiful in every household and everyone loves them. This is because they are easily grown, and people get used to eating them when they are in their households all the time.
The determination of social class is also contributes to the food you eat. Shopping at whole foods as I was talking about earlier and having a lobster dinner is looked at as a sign of wealth compared to eating at Burger King. The article states “People may also start buying their groceries at specialty shops in order to move to a higher social class”. They way you eat also has implications of your class. People who use a fork and knife while eating their pizza might be looked at as sophisticated whether or not it is true. Eating a hotdog with a fork and knife however is just looked at as unusual. The article also talks about how on “Monday morning, people talk about a great meal they had at a restaurant.” This shows “a sophisticated culture.” Medical conditions also cause a change in appetite. I have watched numerous ads for a depressant that show a loss of appetite as an effect of depression. Many types of foods also advertise that they can help you lose weight. Yoplait advertises for losing weight as well as making your heart healthier. Other foods advertise similar products. A few articles I was looking at a couple days ago talk about foods that stop your hunger and foods that help you fall asleep. Among the foods that fight hunger included bananas, and smoothies. Popcorn, pretzels, and potatoes were a few of the foods that helped you fall asleep. It is amazing how we have certain types of food designed for certain things. For example during track season we aren’t supposed to eat sugary things and eat more vegetables instead. Even thought I do not follow that guideline, certain foods are just better for your body.
The article also talked about how “taste preferences start before birth.” America clearly has a lot of taste preferences, with a thousand different flavors of everything, but what would have happened if mothers weren’t exposed to certain foods? Would the child not have a particular like or dislike to certain foods? Since the U.S. is the melting pot, we have foods from all different types of cultures. The article talks about how people who ate tacos were made fun of and now Americans love tacos. It’s funny to see how things change over time and how American now has foods from everywhere. We went from ethnocentric to cultural relativistic. This is evident by our panda express, taco bell, and numerous other restaurants. I never knew that so many things could influence the food we eat, and how food we eat could influence other about who we are.
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