HW #4: My Family's Foodways

           
The foodways of my family vary from generation to generation. However, each generation shares aspects of the way they approach, buy, and prepare food.  In my opinion, our foodways are very connected to our culture and society. Transformations in our foodways are caused by cultural changes, which correspond to technological and economic changes. For example, as American advertising antics, taxes, and job opportunities have progressed, so have the choices of Americans based on their individual wealth.  As the economy shifted out of the Great Depression, the perspectives that  people had regarding money and daily necessities also shifted. Technology has doubtlessly developed over time; and thus has our ability to research food’s production and effect on our health. 

In many ways, my mother and I share aspects of our childhoods, specifically when pertaining to food. On a typical day, her father or mother cooked dinner, which often included meatloaf, tuna casserole, steak, chicken, and according to her, “boring American cuisine.” They sat down together and ate it.  My family is similar, albeit the fact that my older sister cooks more often than my dad does. Because we live in New York City, we have more variety of options: we can sample the culinary arts of many cultures and countries. My family also eats differently than my grandparents did because now our society is quite dependent on the technology that enables food to be pre-packaged, cooked, and prepared before purchase. My mother took these meals for granted as a child, and was ill–prepared for the independence of college life. I like to think that I will not have that problem, because I can cook a variety of dishes with ease, and I realize that my dinners do not magically appear before me. Her family’s backyard contained a raspberry bush, apple tree, and vegetable garden, from which they feasted often. Because of my family’s inability to afford a garden, and the change in culture from my mother’s childhood to my own, I do not have the privilege of eating from my own garden or shrubbery.

My father had a similarly “American” childhood. His mother always shopped for and cooked meals, attempting to make them balanced and hearty. A typical meal would have been roast beef with potatoes, carrots, greens, biscuits, and gravy. She prepared lots of chicken dishes, because that was considered to be healthy at the time. My father’s family always ate together at a table, and prayed before they ate. My family also values healthy and flavorful meals, which we eat together at a table after praying.  My father is a fine cook, but does not have the opportunity to exercise his culinary skills often because we try to eat dinner upon his arrival home from work in the late evening.  He also took his mother’s cooking for granted. I think that my siblings and I are more exposed to different cultures and more independent than my father and his siblings, which corresponds to a more open and grateful outlook on food. 

            The foodways of my mom’s mom (grandma) were similar to my great-grandma’s. The only difference that I know of is that my great-grandma was more frugal, because she lived through the Great Depression. Her economy affected how she viewed food, and she never lost the habits she developed because of it. The differences between my father’s parents and their parents were also caused by technology and the economy. His grandparents were also very frugal because of their experiences in the Great Depression. Because his great-grandma was uneducated in the health risks of certain food and had not yet been exposed to pre-prepared food, she prepared more greasy food from many ingredients. A typical morning could be characterized by fresh, warm biscuits made from scratch.

           

The foodways of my parents and me differ in that I do not eat animal products when I can avoid them; whereas they daily serve and consume meat, milk, and eggs. This sometimes causes conflict at the dinner table, despite the effort to accommodate the nutritional needs of everyone in the family. The progression of the economy, research, and common knowledge about food has affected the differences between my great-grandparents, my grand-parents, my parents, and me.  They have affected how much food is wasted, and how it is perceived by respective family members. Technological development has led to the availability of packaged food, which in turn affects how much thought the different generations put into food. Because my mother’s and father’s families originated in America for many past generations, the changes my family’s foodways have undergone are probably not as drastic as those of a family that immigrated from another country within the past century. However, these differences are worth noting and exploring.

The two pictures above are of my refrigerator and freezer. Some visible items in the fridge (that are hard to identify) are milk, almond milk, fat free half and half, hummus, yogurt, salad dressings, bread, a container of vegetable soup, whole grain bread, apple sauce, jam, cheese, mayonnaise, syrup, sprite, rice, water, egg whites, eggs, pickles, snap peas, cream cheese, etc.
In the freezer, one can see ice, bread, veggie burgers, coffee grinds, vegetables, frozen beef, popsicles, etc.