Food and Traditions

In both "Reclaiming True Grits” by Bryant Terry and "Eating the Hyphen” by Lily Wong, readers are given a small taste of how food affects a person and their culture. In both pieces, the authors focus on a "traditional" food from their different cultures (grits and dumplings, respectively) and discuss the different ways these foods are perceived. Both authors challenge a part of their different cultures by questioning the "traditional" ways. In Terry's piece, it's obvious that the author grew up with grits done a certain way. He, however, has a problem with how the grits are seen more than the grits themselves. He believes that people see the food of his culture as "soul food", but in reality it's just what they ate. The idea of what soul food should be has shaped it into a fatter, greasier, less organic version. Terry is complaining that people do not know what the food really signifies, and shouldn't go around using the term "soul food" lightly. While Terry is challenging the ideas of his culture in words, Wong is using her actions to defy cultural norms. Wong describes how she eats a dumpling in her story, the process of which is 100% not traditional (using a fork/knife and ketchup). It makes one wonder why the authors became a symbol against the traditions they grew up with. It makes one wonder how traditions are formed in the first place. What makes something a tradition, and not just the way things are? Why does it need to have a label as "expected" or "right"? It is easy to notice that the authors each have a different relationship with food, too. Terry has a professional relationship, in which there is mutual respect and trust. Wong, however, seems to think of food as a source of entertainment, or a way to feel good. While neither is necessarily right or wrong, they are very different and for a reason. This reason, though, is hard to read. What is important to take away from these pieces is not only the different authors tones and thoughts, but also the idea that things need to be a certain way. Question everything.

How College Food Affects Me

Unpopular opinion: I really enjoy school food. I have ever since I was in elementary school. From the square pizzas to the healthier options provided by Michelle Obama, I have eaten it all with open arms. College food has been no exception. I love all the choices, and the availability, and it ALL tastes good. I have, however, had a rough relationship with food. I LOVE food, don't get me wrong, but a lot of foods don't like me back. I am lactose intolerant, which means that any food with lactose in it makes me feel very nauseous. This is a huge problem for me, being that my favorite foods are almost exclusively cheese or cream based. I have had to be careful of what I eat for a while now, and making that same type of transition to college food hasn't been as difficult as for me as some of my peers. Personally, the biggest problem I forsee is NOT eating enough. In the past, when I was too busy to eat or didnt plan a time out, I would just go without eating. I didn't think anything of that until someone I work with commented on how fast I was losing weight. This shocked me. I see myself everyday and I couldn't see the change in my body. I feel I have done a good job at combating this bad habit, but I know I still have to actually plan to eat for it to get done. As well as being lactose intolerant, I have had a life-long discomfort with eating meat. Don't get me wrong, I eat meat everyday. I have just always wished that I was not as reliant on it as I am. I know how the animals are raised before they are slaughtered, because I worked on a farm since I was 9. Similar to Barbara Kingsolver in her piece "You Can’t Run Away on Harvest Day", I have a problem with not knowing where my eat is coming from or how its life was lived. I wish that all animals were treated like a small farm owner can treat them, but that is simply not the case. I also felt connected to her daughter Camille's piece "Taking Local on the Road" in that I see the impact of food on the people around me, and wish it could be more meaningful for them. I am not worried about the freshman fifteen, because I know myself and the limits I can take. While gaining that fifteen would not really be a big deal, I know I can do better in my choices to prevent it.

How Food Can Affect People

Food affects every part of a person's life. Whether it is the literal act of preparing/eating food, or the way we percieve ourselves in the mirror, food will always play a role. For some, these constant reminders of food play a much bigger role than the average person. When talking about an eating disorder, most people picture a white girl who sees an overweight person in the mirror when she is almost dying of starvation. Unfortunately, this is a real and true picture painted by today's society. But it is important to remember that not everyone who has an eating disorder is a female, white, skinny, or even unhappy with their body. As said in Susan Bordo's Not Just "a White Girl's Thing", "...many young college women , of all races and ethnicities, who looked just fine, but were privately throwing up and abusing laxatives..." (266). Though the stigma is around white girls, that is quickly becoming untrue. It is easy to notice the personal effect food stigma has on Bordo as she discusses what her young daughter says and notices. What takes a little bit more thought, however, is the personal guilt Bordo feels. It is impossible to 100% avoid the insecurites that big companies play with (unless you can avoid TV, radio, magazines, and billboards). Bordo seems to feel guilty that her daughter has already felt the impact that the "ideal" body has on people. It's interesting and makes one think about whether it really is the fault of parents, or the big businesses that prey on young girls and innocence. It also makes one wonder whether, based off of the rhetoric, Bordo herself has ever had a life threatening eating disorder that she feels guilty about. Bordo touches on the topic of compulsive eating, and while this is definetly an eating disorder, its not looked at as a serious problem. As Jill McKorkle says in Her Chee-To Heart, "I need oral participation, oral gratification". People who have compulsive eating are suffering with an eating disorder in that any and all available food will be eaten. In fact, I will admit that I am a compulsive eater. I eat when I'm bored, or if there is good food in front of me but I already ate. Compulsive eaters need constant stimulation, and when the stimulation dies down, food is there to pick it back up. The rhetoric of McCorkle's piece makes me wonder whether or not they have ever had a life threatening eating disorder ever as well. While the tones of the two pieces are very different, they both seem uncomfortable in their eating habits. These pieces are prime examples of what being proud of yourself looks like VS being insecure in your eating habits, a trait that is unfortunately too prevalent in the world.

What The World Eats Reflection

Hungry Planet: What the World Eats is a photo collection taken by Peter Menzel and Faith D’Aluisio that highlights the most core thing about families from around the world: what they decide to eat. The collection not only shows what the average family eats, but how certain societal norms shape those choices. The first and most obvious thing that can be seen in the pictures are the differences in amounts of food each family has. It is obvious which families eat for survivial and which families eat for entertainment. It is also worth noting that the families with the highest amount food are not necessarily the ones with the most mouths to feed. In fact, in picture 11 (of the Ahmed family), there are twelve people pictured, but there an average amount of food compared to the other pictures. These people do not look "hungry", nor do they have the physical apperance of needing more nutrition. But how can this be possible, one may wonder. How can a family of twelve eat the same aount as a family of four and not be hungry? That answer lays, once again, in the sociatal norms around food. A family in the USA has, in genenral, more pressure to eat more than a family from Cairo and vise versa. It's hard to think that there is pressure to eat MORE, but picture this. An American family prepares a modest meal for Thanksgiving. At work the next day at work, coworkers are talking about how much they ate. People share stories of how full they were, or how intense their food comas were, or how much was left over. When it comes time for the modest parent to share, their stories are vastly different than their coworkers. Now, this isn't a huge problem. People aren't regularly bullied into eating more food. The main problem with this practice is the assumption that everyone has the same means and thoughts when it comes to food. I challenge people who have access to food to not take that for granted. There are so many people out there who have to fight everyday to get food, while we don't think twice about throwing out milk a day past the expiration. As can be seen from Hungry Planet, food is a precious commodity for some people, and taking your privledge for granted is a disservice to the world. Link to Hungry Planet: http://time.com/8515/hungry-planet-what-the-world-eats/

Should/does food matter?

For all people, food is a necessary tool of survival. This tool, however, is not viewed the same way by everyone. The relationships people have with food depend on their location, their traditions, their economic status, even their gender. No two people have the same thoughts when it comes to food. Some people are able to eat whatever and whenever they want. Food is more of a source of entertainemnt for them than a life source. There are some people whose relationship with food is the exact opposite. No amount of food is taken for granted, because they so rarely get it. This blog will explore the complex role that food serves in our society, why is serves so many different roles for people, and begin to differenceiate the need for food and the NEED for food. Western society has a odd facination with separating non-gendered items or things into feminine and masculine groups. Some are more obvious, such as clothes or colors, but it seems that everything is touched by these classifications in some way. One thing that may be less obvious is food. When a heterosexual couple goes into a restaurant, it is assumed that the woman will order a salald and the man will order something with meat. Where did these classifications come from? When did a salad become the assumed dish for a woman, and meat for a man? How do these align with societies views? It can be assumed that men started to be associated with meat due to the amount of protein in it, and protien coaxes muscle development if used with exercise. But is a salad not also, if not more so, a more healthy post-workout meal? These gender oriented foods say more about society as a whole than the food itself does. Assigning something as arbitrary as genders to food shows the metal state of Western society. Many people have noticed these roles are attepmt to break them, but the thought of a female salad and a male hot dog, lets say, is so engrained in the minds of people that it seems it will be a while before they are in any way shaken. This matters because not only is gendered objects/notions ridiculous, but it shapes how people in society act. Perhaps there is a woman who prefers to not always get a salad, but is made to feel bad about he choices by the people around her. Or, perhaps, there is a vegetarian man who is looked down upon by society for not being the man he is supposed to be. Regardless of the situation, gendered food is alive and well and, unfortunately, an integral part of society.