Americanization of Foods: Food is traditionally considered as a simple means of subsistence but

The biggest change over time in our eating habits has been how involved we are with our food. In the 1700s colonists grew many of their own crops and hunted their own game. Most individual families also had a dairy cow in their backyard, especially in New England. This was a tradition that they brought back with them from England. They would use the milk for cooking steamed puddings, cheeses, and custards. It also provided colonial families with fresh milk in the morning. Preparing meat was very laborious and difficult in the 1700s. Colonists had to prepare a dead animal, not just parts of it. The cookbook we read in class walked us through how to dress a turtle and the entire process of preparing it used to take hours. This shows that food would not have been made every day. Colonists had to grow their fruits seasonally and did not have the opportunities to go out and purchase what they did not have.

It is a known fact that every human being communicates through language, but perhaps a little known fact that we communicate even through the food we eat. We communicate through food all the meanings that we assign and attribute to our culture, and consequently to our identity as well. Food is not only nourishment for our bodies, but a symbol of where we come from. In order to understand the basic function of food as a necessity not only for our survival, we must look to politics, power, identity, and culture.

Thinking about the importance and significance of food respective to our health, ethnic culture and society can cause cavernous, profound, and even questionable thoughts such as: “Is food taken for granted?”, “Is specialty foods just a fad or a change in lifestyle?”, and even “Is food becoming the enemy.” Mark Bittman, an established food journalist, wrote an article called “Why take food seriously?” In this article, Bittman enlightens the reader with a brief history lesson of America’s appreciation of food over the past decades. This history lesson leads to where the social standing of food is today and how it is affecting not only the people of America, but also the rest of the world.

Migration into regions can create a struggle for finding new or even familiar foods making the creation of palatable foods difficult. Therefore, many Americans brought bulk foods with them in their quest for Western expansion. Some of the staple items during this period could have consisted of salted meats, beans, flour, and any other items that would have the ability to keep without spoiling. We can only imagine how such meals would have tasted, especially after eating the same meal for days at a time. However, one way to create appealing and appetizing food is through the use of condiments, along with the fact that canning jars help people store foods for lengthier periods.

Paula J. Johnson, a curator at the National Museum of American History, says that foods such as wasabi, Sriracha, and hummus would have been considered “foreign foods” 50 years ago, but today they are common, everyday staples for many people across America. Ramanathan briefly states before this that the only constant in American foods is global influence and then goes on to say that it’s not uncommon in modern times for people to eat, for example, Thai food for lunch and then Italian for dinner. She writes that America has people from all backgrounds, cultures, and countries and their influences are present everywhere, especially the food. In America today, there are so many influences on our foods that using the term ethnic to describe them makes it sound foreign when the food is something people eat every

In American culture, we typically center our food choices around american options such as burgers, fries, chicken fried steaks, and chicken tenders. However, I decided to seek out a food from a culture that differs than my American background. I sought out a restaurant that served and Indian cuisine and one that I wouldn’t usually try. I decided Indian for the reason that I love spice in food and the spice that the Indian culture uses in their food should really compliment the food. The restaurant that I found was called Taco Naan, which combines cultures and serves food that cater to Mexican and Indian cultures.

Food is used in different circumstances in life represents a culture, but can also reflect one's personality, lifestyle, and socio-economic

America have a variety of food with no staple food to eat with every meal, unlike in Vietnam where the food is more exotic, but very easily to get sick of. Both countries daily meals consist of cooked goods, vegetables, and a variety of foods. Daily routine for eating is the same for both countries consisting of breakfast, lunch and dinner. But where there are similarities, there are differences such as the food cultures. Both the countries have difference regions, so of course each region vary on what they eat, and what they have access to. In America, the southern region’s foods are different than the cooked foods in other regions. In the same way, the foods that the southern region

Southern food embodies a history that has evolved over time and explains why we have come to believe of exclusive foods as deeply southern. “The South is a world so shaped by history and memory that is difficult to separate myth from reality. The same is true for southern food” (Ferris, 3). Southern foods are rooted in culture and traditions of the past. “Real southern food is distinctive, innovative cuisine that is grounded in the world of local agrarian traditions—soil, waters, region, season, flora and fauna—and the influence of global cultures” (Ferris, 3). Through agricultural innovation, southern food has advanced to become the tasteful southern cuisine

My earliest memory of food is lentils and rice cooked in a pressure cooker. Lentils were cooked at least three days a week. Other days we had different vegetable curries, curd and more rice. This was what I took to school as my lunch every day. As I grew older and started caring more about my social life and people around me, I started noticing what my classmates brought for lunch from their homes. I started understanding how food reflected different cultures and communities. One day, in our

The Edible South: The Power of Food and the Making of an American Region, written by Marcie Cohen Ferris, illustrates a story of southern cuisine in addition to the endeavors of whites, blacks, Native Americans and other inhabitants of the region. Ferris gives the reader a multitude of different experiences with the south during slavery. In these experiences one learns about the plantations, and the way they were set up. Ferris is able to merge food together with issues such as racism and sexism.

It must seem nice being able to eat like a colonist during the First Thanksgiving, but was it always that great? The meals of today contain snacks and fun food, but people in the thirteen colonies had very simple meals. People used many techniques that are used even today to preserve food. What made it even harder was if there was a war, where people couldn’t hunt in fear of being killed. People had to rely on very easy foods when traveling. While all colonists in the thirteen colonies came from England, food differed in all the regions, especially in the New England and the Middle colonies. Food today brings people joy and is a way to socialize with peers, but back in colonial times, it was just a way of fueling the body.

Food, has a specific meaning to all of us; for some it is a form of nourishment, for others it is a cultural act,

“Dietary patterns of Americans differ widely, but most Americans eat a diet that could best be described as in need of improvement”. Compared to other countries, the American diet is very different. I have first hand experienced how much different Americans eat from other countries. For a brief, but very beneficial and productive time, I lived in Barcelona, Spain with my host family. Over in Spain, they eat much more fresh, organic food. There was a lot more seafood in the average diet. The meal configuration over there is also different than ours. Lunch is the largest meal eaten every day; different than America, where dinner is the largest.

Throughout the Great Plains counties, the surveys demonstrated that there are clear regional and cultural differences that can account for variations in meals; the main and popular dish consisted of steak and potatoes, with a side of a salad, bread, and pie for dessert. Nonetheless, each of the meals had its own special twist on a prevalent meal