Dear all,
Please read the article linked on the right hand side of the page called "Why Take Food Seriously?" by Bittman. After reading the article, please respond to the following question:
In what ways do you think (argue) that food affects culture in America? (You can discuss gender, age, physicality, socioeconomic class, etc., just be sure to try and articulate a solid answer.)
Best.
JMN
15 comments:
In America, food can be considered to be a stimulus which results in the transformation of people’s life style. For instance, the appearance of the concept of fast food causes a great influence on the traditional opinion towards food of most people. Fast food is so convenient that it allows people to have their meals without cooking themselves. People don’t need to spend a lot of time on preparing lunch or dinner and they can use time more efficiently. According to some specific statistics, %45 of the people living in America prefers going out to eat instead of cooking meals at home. The effect is not only about changing life style itself. The tendency is the fact that people cooks less and eat out more and more, which leads to an unprecedented rise of obesity and diseases in America.
On the other hand, the awareness of food also compels the development of some intermediate such as food television. Nowadays the advertisements of food are everywhere when you switch the button of your TV controller. More and more production including books, magazines, and even films provide people with different aspects that food can contain. In today’s America, food is defined as more than simply consumption. It’s not surprise now for a 6-year-old child to tell that his dream is to become a chef. Food has become a specific field for study. The culture of food itself is also embraced and serves as a part of the American Culture.
What’s more, the issue of food makes an increasing number of people to think about some serious problems. They are wondering more about where the food comes from and whether the production of the food is related to the direct reduction of some wild animals rather than how to get food. The single word “food” can be associated with many other insights and people in America are instilled with the different perspectives to view food.
I always relate to my mom when someone brings up the concepts of food. She had a huge impact on me in terms of nutrition, diet and eating habits in that she really takes food seriously and the attitude helps me to develop a healthy diet. Mark Bittman mentions the rapid growth of fast food restaurants during the 19th century America; it is interesting to think back that when I was about 9 or 10 years old, KFC and McDonald’s were also fairly popular among young children in China. In fact, I was able to eat far more fried chickens and French Fries than any other home-made food by my mom; these fast food restaurants used to be my favorite place to go over the weekend. But my mom kept me from going there and told me these foods were not healthy. Until now she is still a fan of home cooking—she doesn’t like eating in the restaurants even in those are making Chinese food. I think she is right. According to the article,people are forced to learn cook and bake after discovering the harms junk food brought to us, in this case my mom is way ahead of those people. Presently I still keep the diet she told me: drinking more water than soft drinks, having more fruits and vegetables than meat and I feel pretty healthy.
Food is no doubt a part of our culture in America, whatever that culture may be. Food has as much influence on us as any other cultural aspect: art, music, television shows, etc. Let’s take for example, music. Imagine what would be blasting on the radio of an Alabama native… country. How about the radio of an inner city boy from Michigan? You may have imagined hip-hop or rap. The same associative principles are applicable to food. What do you imagine on the plate of that same Alabama native listening to country music? I imagine a juicy piece of fried chicken and mashed potatoes with gravy. We associate food with groups of people. Whether these groups stem from their origin, social class, age, or race, there is nearly always a food, or a type of food, that we associate with them. This is because food is a part of our culture.
i think food affects america's culture because anytime someone thinks about america they usually think McDonalds, KFC, and burger are all generalizations of america to other countries. Most modern families in america are not even turning on there stoves to cook. they are eating pre cooked meals that just need to be heated in the microwave. or they are getting fast food on the way home from work. Families need to slow down and realize what they are doing because if they knew the long term effect of fast food or pre cooked meals i dont think they would be eating them. the sterotype is that americans are so busy they cant even take 30 minutes to make a simple home cooked meal.
American food has a very negative stereotype around the world. Like the author stated, Americans have had very poor eating habits and we are just now starting to realize it. We are known as the fattest country on earth and there are studies to prove this. Sometimes when i playfully hassle with my foreign friends about their country their first response is "Go eat a hamburger." That is surely a stereotype i don't want to be apart of but it does make sense. I may not travel to other nations often but i observed a large amount of obese people living in our society. On the other hand, one thing i do like about the American culture is the variety of food. Countries like Italy and China are known for more specific dishes and they specialize making them. In America so many cultures are mixed giving us a variety of many foods. America is getting a greater awareness on food health and every year we make a step in the right direction.
Being an American, I can say that food definitely affects culture here in the United States especially with fast food. Fast food is quick, tasty and cheap. This is the perfect fit for busy Americans always on the go 24/7. Different foods are related to different age group. For instance sugary foods are more popular among the younger crowd, whereas healthier foods are associated with older people. Since America is like one big melting pot, many different cultures bring their own famous entrees and share them with others. I think that this makes America neat and affects the culture drastically.
Food is very essential, no matter the cultural background. Food has definitely transformed America in many ways. In the, "Why Take Food Seriously," article, Bittman states how in American history, women move from the typical "house wife" and join the work force, which led to men having to learn how to turn on a stove. This passage in the article shows how the importance of food promoted men to learn their way around the kitchen, which helped to allow women to continue to work and gradually move away from the typical role of women.
Also with food, it helps define who we are and we tend to associate food with cultural backgrounds. Some food makes us happy, or comfort us, and that food would be what we associate ourselves with. For example, I grew up eating white rice and whenever I have white rice it makes me happy and it comforts me because it brings the memories I had of growing up eating this food. Now, if i would have said I grew up eating chorizos or tacos, then I'm sure that people would assume that I'm Mexican or have some Latin cultural background in order for that to be my comfort food. That is how we associate food with different ethnic groups. Besides the stereotypical views that comes with certain food, food also has a negative impact as well. Without food we die, and there are people people dying due to lack of food.
Although food is changing the world, positively or negatively, one thing that will stay the same is the importance of food.
In my opinion, it is not the food effect the culture of American, but the American culter effent the way of cooking food. The food that amercan eat abstract the national American’s hobby. For example: the turkey, potatoes become a very important part of the American culture. But the apple pie and the humbugger is from Europe. Because American come from many part of the world, their food gain the ideas from the other countries. For example the Mexican burritos and tacos. Also when some American were still slave, they bring the Soul food to America. And it becomes a very popular food. Now, the most popular food are mostly comes from American, may be the reason that cause this situation is because America is a very powerful country. So I think the food can not affect the culture, because the culture builds the food system.
Food affects culture in America as well as cultures in other nations around the world. Especially, in cultural perspectives, food has strong power that brings people together. Wherever people go, food will be always there. For example, at the funeral, wedding, birthday parties, receptions, and even at the formal meetings, people always have food or at least they have desserts. Also, thanksgiving holiday is a good example that brings people together. By eating food, people share common interests and more importantly, food makes people happy. Since thanksgiving dinner makes even far relatives get together by having dinner together, now it is firm that people think about ‘food’ first when they think of thanksgiving. So when I picture about food culture in America, eating means more than just the term. Eating not only functions as physical eating, but also as emotional eating. Maybe what we eat can be little different based on our gender, age, and socioeconomic class. However, to majority of people, food brings diverse people together and gives them joy and chance to socialize.
The foods eaten in America change the way that people think about eating. Tastiness and deliciousness has been associated with fats and unhealthy substances in foods, and now healthy choices are seen as disgusting or lacking in taste. This has also originated a significant increase in the number of people who follow a vegetarian diet. This way of eating started as an act of morality, but now it is a choice for better health because a large part of the foods eating today are heavily processed. However, there is an upside to these new types of foods. People now are more careful about what is in their plates because avoiding non-organic foods has become a challenge. Around 40 years ago, processed foods weren’t as common as they are now, so people ate careless of the origin of their meals. Today, some people read the labels of their food packages to make sure that they are taking the right nutrients and not consuming any harmful substances.
Culture is definitely a major component of America because of the different ethnicities represented in here. With this in mind, in the United States you can find any type of food you wish to eat; it goes from eating a hamburger at McDonalds, to eating Chinese food, although this is a way of representing different cultures it is not always the best option when it comes to healthy eating habits. Society is always on the go making people forget about the importance of food. No one cooks for hours meals that can be defrost and ready to eat in less than 30 minutes. Mark Bittman said on the article that since the 1950’s people ate outside their homes, and stopped worrying about the content of their food and the impact fast food restaurant meals would have on their health. Food plays an important role in different socioeconomic classes especially in low income families that cannot afford expensive meals most of the time. In the McDonald’s menus hamburgers cost less than 5 dollars! If you had to feed your family and did not have a lot of money to do so eating at McDonald’s would be your best bet. Going to places like McDonald’s has become part not only of America’s culture, but also of other countries’ cultures as well because of the fact that there is a McDonald’s mostly in every country. As Mark Bitten said, if we continue these unhealthy habits we will resemble the cartoon characters of the movie Wall E. Today, not only women are in charge of the kitchen, men have had some interest in learning how to cook too which is a positive effect on America’s culture since cooking was considered only a “house wife” job. Having the Food Network channel has also influenced America’s food culture because it allows people to find new ways to cook meals that are made at home, are healthy, are easy to prepare, and that give you the liberty to get creative by cooking and trying new meals from different cultures like French, Italian, Mexican, etc. Americans are making progress by paying more attention to what they eat, taking more time to prepare their own meals, choosing natural and organic food items, and changing unhealthy habits which will create a new culture of a healthier society.
I think that in some cases we are beginning to think about food too much, if that is even possible. We have become so wrapped up in what we are eating, where it is from, how it got here, how it was processed, and what is it doing for our bodies. As much as I believe this is key, we must know where things come from and how it is going to affect our bodies - in positive and negative aspects. But I think that this has become a huge problem for young girls in particular, as they conform to fit the guidelines of a “perfect” body. Teenage girls have a picture in their heads of what the ideal body is, and some will do almost anything to get there. A couple years ago, my best friend suffered horribly with an eating disorder and to be honest, you don’t really understand then entire concept until you are put in that exact position. It wasn’t that she wanted to be “thin”, she was already very slim to begin with, to her, she wanted to be healthy. She would read every label on everything she ate, she wouldn’t eat anything on the hot lines in the dining hall, or anything even remotely linked to “junk food.” She soon found that in order to be healthy in the world we live in today - especially at a boarding school; she wasn’t really left too many options. She was stuck in this vicious cycle and she couldn’t break out of it. Was she really overthinking it or do we need to be that cautious about the foods we put into our body? When do we cross the line?
America loves their food. However, just as it was stated in the article, "[M]any americans began applying the word 'cooking' to the act of defrosting and heating mass produced frozen food in a microwave oven." America's food has completely influenced the culture of our society, because we love our food to be fast and efficiently made. This influence could have possibly been influenced by the rapid growth in technology, because tech got faster and faster as time went on. Our life is also deeply intertwined with technology; moreover, since our gadgets that get us through life are quick and efficient we want out food to be quick and efficient. Which could lead to America's stereotypical food, the hamburger, to completely back-up this theory that America's staple foods are fast-food restaurant items. It's cool to see how different cultures approach food from the actual sitting down duration standpoint. The Latin American culture has a whole time in the middle of the day where they have a big lunch and then a nap after words, where here in America we want to go-go-go and get out of the restaurant we are in. That brings up another question as to why our culture is so go-go-go if that mentality is related to the growth of technology, because Latin American countries and other countries around the world have the same technology we have, so whyy is our culture so addicted and reliant on fast food? (I'm not really sure what the answer to that is...that's why I'm asking it haha) Could it have to do with the fake visage and false confidence we Americans give ourselves when identifying ourselves as Americans? Not sure....
I believe that food affects American culture subconsciously much like propaganda and advertising. Food appeals to different aspects in life such as universal standards which are previously established by society. The negative association connecting food with an overweight appearance tends to cause people to shy away from eating altogether. This assumption really connects with the way food affects American culture in the physicality category. People tend to eat certain food to achieve a body type or image deemed good looking by society. We used the example of milk in class and how many people just associate it with assumed nutrients that have been “conditioned” into them over time. Many foods apart from milk are linked with similar benefits that help persuade consumption. Relating to my own life, I know that I only eat certain foods and wander away from others because of advantages I believe they contain. I also know I eat foods I believe provide specific nutrients needed for athletes. An example would be protein powder. I occasionally take extra protein because I think it will enhance my athletic stamina or give me a competitive edge, even though it may be hurting me in the long run. In conclusion, when it comes to the physical aspects of food’s effect on culture, many citizens base their diets on achieving physical goals.
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