The Cultural Structuring Of Mealtime Socialization

Imagine having to sit quietly every day for lunch, not permitted to speak to your co-workers, laugh with your friends, or catch up on the news with the person sitting across the table from you. Socializing over food is something we do as humans. This is not an American phenomenon, it happens all over the world, and for centuries; entire holidays are spent socializing together over meals. There are however, places that mandate silence during lunch. Surprisingly enough these places are schools, some here in Oregon! Silent lunch effects students in a negative way, by hindering an opportune time to socialize freely with peers and staff; students being made to eat in silence is additionally detrimental to the learning institution.

The setting used meal and snack times to encourage the children to develop independence through making choices, serving food and drink and feeding themselves.

The importance of cultures and tradition as part of our everyday life, influence us to make certain food choices. The types of our daily life, work and education, size of the family and the importance of hospitality within the social group are also important when we make food choices. This then leads Family functions act highly on socialisation in terms of what society values. There is always a relation concerning what the society thinks and how people think about what they eat.

No matter how busy or hectic the day, the final meal is not optional. Just like David and Reuven Malter, we use it to catch up on the day’s events and to look ahead for the rest of the week. Fast food or takeout never suffices; my dad cooks each and every night. My family and I never stop talking, often ignoring all other responsibilities and commitments. I worked at a grocery store and closed up for the night several times a week, but dinner would wait to begin until I pulled into the driveway, no matter how late. Compared to my house, Abby’s mimics an abandoned ghost town. Weeks would pass without all of the Darmofal clan sitting together. We took dinners at each other’s houses as learning experiments: at mine, Abby would learn why sometimes, family dinner became too much for every night, with my parents’ incessant questioning. At her house, I learned the magic of microwavable meals and becoming self-sufficient, a skill I call upon most days here at USD. Everyone needs to eat, so why not use it as a learning experience?

Mealtimes are important for our children and they are usually excited to eat. There is just something about coming to the table sitting with our friends, being able to pass the food, and choose how much food they want to take that makes mealtime exciting. When meals are served family style and the children and adults sit together to eat, children improve their social skills, build self-esteem and confidence, and learn table manners. Children improve their language skills by having conversations with

Adults in today’s society also can control children’s daily routines, for example when they get up, go to bed, have breakfast, etc. Whereas in historical times this wouldn’t have been an issue.

The best place to begin the discussion regarding the family meal and how it has changed is to discuss where the idea of dinner originated. A fairly new concept, dinner came about roughly 150 years ago. While many people consider family mealtime to be a “natural phenomenon; it is a social construction.” (Carroll, xvi) During colonial times the family functioned as one unit, with everyone in the family having a

Three of the things that will apply to make mealtime more comfortable and pleasant for children will be: First I will start by having them to serve their own food. This will give them an opportunity to choose what they will be eating and put it on their plate. Another thing will be to participate on making fun food activities, like creating a rainbow with their vegetables and fruits. Or making our own pizza. I will make conversation to each them while they eat so they can share feels or questions they might have.

The significance of family commensality within the household is that it is the foundation of the socialisation process. Family meal times are therefore, most significant and beneficiary for the children involved. It acts as one of the events in which parents acculturate their children to everyday norms and values. Meal times are often where

While culture is prevalent in everyone 's lives, the way that culture is interpreted can drastically vary depending upon the generation a person grew up in. In both Madeleine Thien 's “Simple Recipes” and Kazuo Ishiguro 's “A Family Supper” the way in which the children view culture is significantly different from their parents views. While the children in each story grew up in different countries, the similarities between the children and their families are strikingly similar. The cultural views of the father and son in each story leads them in separate ways, which ultimately causes major rifts within the families and creates significant tension between father and son. The fathers in each story are authority figures to their children. Although the level of authority each father has over their children is drastically different due to the age of their children, it is clear both fathers demand a certain level of respect from them. The suppers in each story, while seemingly insignificant at first, actually carry a much deeper meaning. The suppers play a large role in how each story plays out. Although there are differences in regards to how each story conveys the message of cultural divide, the point remains the same. Culture is always evolving, and while this is generally viewed as a success for society, if those involved do not have a firm grasp on what is changing, it can lead to disagreements within society and in some cases disagreements within

The main meal is almost always in the evening, because most people do not have time to prepare a midday meal and children normally eat at school. Some families eat together, but television has increasingly replaced conversation at the dinner table. The exception to this rule is Sunday, when tradition

​The American family has certainly transformed over the past 20 years. Whether someone lives with two parents or one parent they are probably working full time jobs to provide for the family. In addition to their outside jobs they have the responsibility of raising the children, helping with homework, cleaning the house, and provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Due to the events of the day, temptation wins and the family gorges on Big Macs, french fries, and a sugary soft drink. Great, the family is fed, but what are the long term affects of the fast food when ingested several times a month. Planning nutritious meals in advance would promote a healthier lifestyle for the American family. Many Americans are defined as obese.

Mealtime is the perfect time for families to get together, catch up and wind down. This time can be used to catch up with each other and learn new things about the people that we live with and love. Many families feel that there is not enough time in the day to cook and sit down together. In the article “ How Eating at Home Can Save Your Life” written by Mark Hyman, MD he states “Americans spend more time watching cooking on the Food Network, than actually preparing their own meals.” If families are saying there is not enough time to cook a meal and sit down and enjoy it together what does that say about their priorities? Meal time with our families need to become a priority

In my family, when we eat at the dinner table, we talk about our day and build better bonds through our interactions. My mother cooks the meal, my sisters and I set up the table with utensils and place mats and my father is ready to eat. We all sit at the table, no technology, elbows off the table and we give grace. While we eat, we talk about our day or anything exciting has happened and we argue and laugh with each other.

A close examination of the food diary allowed people to see that our family tended to have large meals to together only on Sundays and sporadic, smaller meals on other days. This was partially due to culture and the socialization of food. Keeping up with the fast pace lifestyle created a different schedule types for the family members, hence, different eating patterns. Many people of the North American society still try to enforce family time where they eat together. They cling to the ideal that families eating together fixes personal and societal ills (smoking, obesity, children's vulnerability to drugs, etc.) and that it is a way to kindle children's success in school (Ochs, Elinor, and Beck 2013:49). During the week, snack items and small meals made up my diet. This was quick and easy food preparation was one of the issues, apart from schedules, that stopped our family from eating together. When families are at home other reasons stop them from eating together. Reasons such as convenient snacks in home creating individualized meals or snacks for family members and family dinnertime giving way to