Food

I was discussing this culture of food we talked about in class with my boyfriend because I know he is a total food nerd and I wanted to hear his point of view on the matter. I began by talking about how we were discussing in class that the pressure for cheaper food created lower salary jobs which created more people who could only afford cheaper food and it becomes a terrible cycle downward. We continued discussing how it is a shame how bad it has gotten. When some families pull into McDonald's every night, you know you have a problem. We can now go into Walmart and purchase like a ten gallon container of cheese puffs and five two liters of pop if we wanted to. I'm not denying how awesome cheese puffs and pop are or anything, I am just saying that is gross. Food is a major aspect of every culture, but now it seems like we are respecting ourselves and our food less and less. Eating meals often becomes an extra chore that takes up too much time. So stuffing a hamburger in your face while driving down the interstate has become the norm and standard for nourishing yourself before a big day. Let me just say, I am guilty of all of these things I am discussing but if you really step back and look... we can be so disgusting! In France, meals and food are pretty much some of the most important topics when considering French culture. The French most often eat as a family every single night. A large and complicated meal is planned as a way for the family to come together at night and catch up after the long day. If you are invited into a French person's home for dinner, that is them saying you are accepted by their family and officially a close enough friend. Basically in France, sharing a meal is a symbol of togetherness and family. That is so beautiful. In America, if we eat as a family most often it is in front of the TV. That is great, don't get me wrong because sometimes I just want to watch TV while eating and not talk to my family. But, because of this emphasis on cheap and fast food, we don't spend as much time with our families.

http://www.cfs.purdue.edu/CFF/documents/promoting_meals/spellsuccessfactsheet.pdf

As my boyfriend an I continued the discussion, we were thinking, isn't it obvious that this food culture is affecting way more than food? I think that goes without being said, but this negative food culture is finding its way into the core of our families. It is affecting the way we operate and affecting the closeness. I did a little extra research because I was curious exactly HOW this is affecting America and I found some interesting statistics and an interesting graph (above). That is how little we spend on our food! I know we are in a recession and I surely can't spend more on food, but its is a little revealing as to where our country places the importance. The graph under that shows how often we spend eating away from home. It would seem that if the amount of time we eat out is increasing, the amount we spend on food would be too, however it seems to not be the case. A recent study done by Purdue University offers a clever acronym to represent all of the benefits that eating healthy family members provides children. I posted the link below the last picture. The acronym they offer is "SUCCESS" S= smarter children, U= unlikely to smoke, drink, or take drugs, C= courteous and conversational, C= connected to family, E= eating better, S= sharing food and conversation at meals, S= strengthens family! They, then go on to list statistics and facts backing up each one of these premises. I thought this was interesting even though most of these things are common sense, it is good to have some statistics to show what eating well balanced meals as a family can do for it. So, when we all grow up someday and maybe have families, let's strive to feed our families better and eat together. If we have family meals we will be healthier, stronger families, and hopefully produce better and more respectful and healthy children!