post 4

After reading The Scavenger’s Guide… I have a new outlook on hunting. It would be difficult for me to kill and butcher and animal myself, but I think I would be far less likely to waste any part of the animal. I would also be less likely to throw away unfinished food if I grew, gathered, harvested, or killed it. Thinking back to eating in the dining halls on campus my Freshman year, I thought very little about the food I was wasting since I did not have to gather it, prepare it, or clean it up. I would feel better killing a wild animal because it is more likely they have a more natural diet than factory farmed animals and I would know directly how it was butchered and what I am eating. As for middle and upper class people hunting more for sport, as opposed to those below the poverty line, this is an interesting question. I hate seeing animals heads mounted on people’s walls like trophies. So I suppose I don’t really have an answer to that question. As for Steve Rinella killing so many animals for his mammoth feast, at least it was only once (I hope). He also seemed to be an avid hunter-gatherer with an understanding of wild animals. I’m sure a meal like a 10 oz. filet mignon, potatoes, salad, etc… has a huge impact that I will never see, effecting lots of different things. For the steak to be harvested, possible forests were likely slashed and burned to give them grazing land, completely changing the ecosystem and dynamics of the area. That’s a huge impact!

Thompson, A.K. Postharvest Technology of Fruit and Vegetables. Harlow: Blackwell

Science, 1996.

Trubek, Amy B. Haute cuisine : how the French invented the culinary profession.

Philadelphia, Pa.: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000

harvesting food

I think its advantagous to know where your food comes from because when we go to the store and pick up the packaged meat from the store we have no idea how the animal was treated and how it was prepared and overall if it is quality meat we are about to consume, but if we actually go and hunt for our food we know for sure exactly what we are eating and can feel a little better knowing exactly how the meat was prepared. But unfortunately we do not all have the time, money, etc., to hunt for our food; also most people wont eat foods if they see the animal slaughtered. For me personally I think it would be hard to butcher my own food and it's really weird that I would rather just buy my food packaged then go out and hunt for my own food, but its too hard for me to butcher an animal and eat it, if I actually see the whole animal then I start to think more about the fact that im eating an animal with feelings etc.
I think for people that do hunt it is perfectly fine. I just think that if they do hunt animals it should be used for food and not just for fun and excitment because hunting has turned into a popular sport now.
In the really big lunch article I thought it was cool that they were cooking meals from the past and that they were eating what historical figures liked to prepare for themselves. By doing this they are able to see what people in the past ate and it could possibly bring back some good recipes for the future. But was eating the 30 something courses all at once really necessary? you could still enjoy all those meals on seperate occasions. Over eating like that is gluttony and its really not healthy to do even if you do plan on taking a walk afterwards to settle your food.

Book Recommendations:

Tait, Heather Harvesting and Country Food Fact Sheet Ottawa: Statistic Canada, 2007

Lattanzi, Mark. HarvestingSupport For Locally Grown Food; Lessons learned From The Be A Local Hero, Buy Locally Grown Campaign. Millheim, PA: Food Routes Network; Amherst, MA: CISA. 2002

Blog 4_Harvesting Food

There are both disadvantages and advantages to harvesting your own food. If we assume that harvesting your own food gives you a stronger connection to the source of your food, it can be a very good thing to gather your own foods as many people who do harvest their own food confess that the food is more fresh and tastes much better as well. It may also be very rewarding for some to know that they hunted, planted, caught, etc. the food before preparing it to eat. Some people who realize the diligence it takes in not only preparing food, but obtaining the food will probably be more appreciative of food than someone who simply buys packaged food from the store and doesn’t think twice about where it came from. However, there can also be disadvantages to having a stronger connection with the source of your food. Some people may find it even stranger that certain people can raise their own animals, establish a connection with them, name them, and truly care for them, then slaughter them. So on one hand, it might be viewed as respectable, that someone will work hard for their food, but on the other hand it could also be viewed somewhat disturbing that they kill their personal pets. It also takes a lot more time and resources to harvest your own food that many people are not in a position to do. Personally, if I had to butcher the animals I ate, I know I would be less likely to eat meat because it would bother me too much to have to butcher any type of animal. I’d rather not eat it, and not butcher it. I don’t think it is fair though to not allow people who wouldn’t be able to butcher their own animal to not eat meat. I don’t know very much about hunting so I don’t think I am qualified enough to decide whether or not hunting is moral or not. However, I guess it depends on the situation of the hunter and the hunter’s intensions. I think harvesting anything of too much is not necessarily unmoral if people plan on finishing all of it, but insanely crazy. When Harrison was describing all the food prepared for this meal it was incredibly disgusting. I can relate to eating too much because I always have a problem with eating more than I really need to. I’ve never been able to eat until I’m satisfied. I eat and eat. So as long as the food being harvested is not wasted, I think can be alright. Unless the animal is endangered or something and people continually hunt it for personal purposes.

Harvesting Resources:

Tait, Heather. Harvesting and country food factsheet. Ottawa : Statistics Canada, 2007

Benediktsson, Karl. Harvesting development: the construction of fresh food markets in Papua
New Guinea. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 2002.

Blog 4- Harvesting and Gluttony

I think that hunting is moral with the intention of harvesting food for eating and not just for the game. I can see how hunting can have its issues of being a sport and not for a means of providing food because there is so much food out there. Yet, one can't deny a hunter if they like to know where their food comes from and if by all means that leads to be your own hunter and gather, so be it. I think in that sense there's a greater concern for the environment and a more conscious awareness of how food gets on a plate. I feel that packaging desensitizes people from what really happens to their food. It can be disturbing once they get a glimpse of what goes on and see the extremes of abuse to animals when slaughtering in itself is not pretty in the first place.

After reading about the "lunch" that lasted over 10 hours and over 35 courses, I could not believe that people really put their time, money, and bodies at such stress over food. I can only imagine the preparation of this event and how much food was served that day that could probably feed a starving country or how many squabs and crayfish attended, displayed, and devoured. I guess it serves the guests right to feel so out of it as they continued to their "digestive time" with half the courses to go. Gluttony is not meant to sit well morally or physically.

Good reads:
Bringle, Mary Louise. The God of thinness : gluttony and other weighty matters . Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1992.

Thompson, A.K. Postharvest Technology of Fruit and Vegetables . Harlow: Blackwell Science, 1996.

Assignment 4- Harvesting food

I would agree with the statement that killing, growing and harvesting your own food definitely gives people a closer connection with what they are eating. But let's be honest with ourselves. We live in a lazy, yet fast paced society. Very few people want to or have the time to kill, grow or harvest their own food. It's obvious, just look at all the fast food joints on every corner of every street. We have been socialized to hunt at the grocery store. We don't want to know where our food comes from, how it's prepared or what's really in it. Ignorance is bliss right? That's just reality. And yes, if I had to kill animals and butcher them into pieces of meat, I doubt I would eat  meat at all. I'll admit that whole heartily. And I have a feeling that most of my peers would agree with me. Nobody likes to think about what exactly they're eating when they buy a "ball park hot dog" at a Mariner game. You just don't think about it.

I believe that hunting is moral. It's definitely more so than what is done to chickens, cows and pigs that come from big corporate factories. It's moral to kill your own food, and have that connection and that understanding than just going to the store and buying something from a package. You don't know if that animal was killed in the most humane way. And you certainly can't guarantee that it didn't have a horrible life before it was even killed to begin with.

But then again, over killing is bad also. And so is over eating. Harrison's meal is definitely an example of gluttony. Who eats 30-something meals like that? If you wanna get really fat, maybe. But too much of anything is bad for you. It doesn't matter what it is, everything must be in moderation. I'm sorry, but I wouldn't be able to go on a binge-eating frenzy like that knowing that a huge number of the world's population is starving. It's sick and selfish and gross. It wasn't "A really big lunch" it was a "really big binge."

Good reads:

Petersen, David. Heartsblood: hunting, spirituality and wildness in America. Washington D.C: Island Press, 2000.

Cutler, Katherine N. Growing a garden indoors of out. New York: Lee and Shepard, 1973.

Assignment 3- Cannibalism

Jonathan Swift's article, A Modest Proposal, was definitely an eye-opener. Ok, I'll be honest...I really haven't sat down and thought about whether or not I'd be a cannibal and eat someone. It's just never been something that's come to mind. This article was strange in the sense that he actually proposed the idea of allowing people to eat young children. It seems so unnatural and so inhuman to do such a thing. I thought about the idea of how certain animals in the animal kingdom practice cannibalism...but then I also realized that many animals do not. Perhaps it is an acceptable thing for one species, but not for another.  I feel that humans may be one of those species that just don't practice cannibalism unless in a forced, desperate situation. But the idea of allowing people to eat their young...or grow babies just to be fattened up to eat is just ridiculous, regardless of how economically or financially beneficial it is. It's just not natural at this time of the human race. It obviously was for certain Indian tribes a long time ago, and perhaps in that culture and time, it was acceptable. But at this day and age, it's just disturbing and it's not something I contemplate at all. If I had been socialized to think that cannibalism was ok in my own culture than I probably would practice it, but that's not how our society works. It's gross to think of babies being sold like cattle or chickens to be eaten. If our society is so against abortion and things of that nature, than cannibalism/ eating babies would definitely be a contradiction.

A good read:

Monson, Nicholas Michael, The Kinship of Cannibalism: Cosmology and Social Structure Among Two Tupi-Guarani Peoples, 2000.

Blog 3_Eating The Young

I thought that Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal was an interesting read. Although I knew he was a satirist by skimming the blurb about him before actually reading the article, it took me a bit before realizing it was an entirely satirical article. So initially I was completely disturbed when Swift was conveying his plan to help the economy by turning to cannibalism but towards the end I found parts of it funny. In the article itself, he did a great job of evoking different emotions from the audience so they could connect with the article whether it was a positive or negative connection. He started off painting an unfortunate picture of the prevalence of beggars then transitions to the value of children depending on the gender, the size, the age, etc., and discussing the opportunity for a child to provide a nutritious meal. This part actually made me think of a scene from Sweeny Todd when they would murder people and use the body parts in the meals they served to customers, which they responded very well too, (of course not realizing that they were being fed human parts). This also made me wonder, if people were fed human body parts without being told they were, whether or not they would enjoy it. Personally, I would never turn to cannibalism, even if I was starving and at the point of death. No one knows for certain how they would act in a situation unless they have been through it, but I fully believe that I would rather die than eat another human. Do you think you would be okay with eating a human if it meant it would save you from death?

Corbin, Alain. The village of cannibals: rage and murder in France, 1870. Cambridge: U of Harvard P , 1992.

Blog 3- Modest Proposal

I've read this proposal in the past but it still is very disturbing. I recognize the attention it draws which serves its purpose but still is blind sighted by the actual implications of why Swift wrote it. After reading Jonathan Swift's Modest Proposal again, I felt that the impact of his work was clearly one of disgust. He uses the idea of cannibalism to survive the hardships his country is experiencing. By shocking his readers to read and think about how to address the issues of famine, he brings up eating babies. This idea is extrapolated and is detailed in thought. It is very in depth with its convincing means of survival, despite the fact of cannibalism- and not just any adult humans but mainly focusing on babies. I seemed as though he somehow addresses the issues of overpopulation along with poverty and famine.

Cannibalism is seen as disgusting and undeniably wrong to especially the Westernized cultures and/or countries. how much of a priority was the hunt for humans by humans? I am not familiar with cannibalism and its affects in this day in age or wherein the number of cultures who chose human flesh as a main source of food besides outlying islands or villages deeply submerged in the vastness of land. It is hard to imagine the process of hunting down food that is pretty much yourself. I like to think that cannibalism had to arise out of harsh conditions for a means of survival and not just because humans taste like chicken or better. Swift uses this aspect to drive his proposal to hope that this to NOT happen for their future survival.



Cummins, Joseph. Cannibals: Shocking True Tales of the Last Taboo on Land and Sea. Guilford, Conn: Lyons Press, 2001.

A Modest Proposal

I started reading the article and put it in perspective that it was written in the 18th century in an oppressed country because there would be no way this article would be accepted if it were written today. The readers he was writing to were peasants that were starving and barely surviving and needed a solution. Swift said in his article that he couldn't think of one objection to his proposal and to me this seems really hard to believe, everyone must be in desperate need during this time to accept his proposal.
When I read the article I found it to be really disturbing. I was amazed that people could actually eat another human being. The fact that he was talking about how babies taste good with a little salt and pepper on them and you can just stick them in the oven is disturbing and gross. He talked about cooking babies as if they were like a pig or chicken.
I believe that if this proposal did get accepted then women would just keep giving birth and they would sell their babies as food to get money instead of getting a real job. And eating babies would become a normal thing, babies soon will be considered as a dish instead of a living, breathing, human being and with no more people entering the world the population would drastically fall. Another thing I found interesting about the article was the last sentence that said that he didn't have any babies and couldn't have any more children which means he doesn't have to worry about his children being eaten so hes trying to convince people to eat their children but he will never have to eat his own.

Worldcat recommendation:
Read, Piers Paul Alive;The Story of the Andes Survivors., Philadelphia, Lippincott. 1974

A Modest Proposal?

The work by Jonathan Swift was obviously quite shocking. I knew this article would be about cannibalism, but not about consuming peasant children to control the population in Europe. Wow. Several of Swift’s comments made me pause to reflect. He ends with the statement that he could think of no argument or objection against what he is proposing. Really? Not even one? I have little understanding of the culture in Europe at the time, but it is hard for me to imagine that the public embraced Swift’s ideas and no one would have any objections.

Swift is not just proposing the use of babies for food, which is slightly off-putting, but also using their skin for gentlemen’s boots and women’s gloves. I am sure many animals in the world cannibalize their own kind. I just wonder how many would use the skin or body of the dead animal for any purpose. I also began to wonder in what context would I be able to force myself to eat another human being? If I were starving and stranded on a island, maybe, but I can’t know without being in that situation. The living conditions for the people of Ireland and the United Kingdom would have to be exceedingly terrible for Swift’s ideas to be accepted. He makes one comment about how sad it is that “poor and innocent babes” are sacrificed by abortion and murder by the mother’s of these bastard children, when he is proposing the same thing. An objection to that claim I just made would be he is proposing to use these children to benefit society. Basically, I’m just a little disturbed by the whole idea.

Alive; the story of the Andes survivors. Read, Piers Paul, 1941. Philadelphia, Lippincott
1974

blog2_MYMdvd&COCCarticle

The video “Meet Your Meat” was difficult for me to watch. There were parts of it that I just listened to and chose not to see because it was getting really visual with the slicing of the animals and the blood. The hardest parts for me to watch were the parts about the baby animals, like the baby pigs being tortured through teeth pulling, ear chopping, and castration. Yet it was an informative video to watch because although I have heard of unethical treatment of animals I haven’t been exposed to the cruelty of animals graphically, which sometimes have a larger impact than simply reading information, or hearing it. It was so devastating to see the aftermath of many animals after genetic manipulation and antibiotics. It was interesting because part of this video made me want to learn more about the meat industry and its processes, and another part of me made me not want to know because a lot of it was disturbing.

Since chicken is the only type of meat I really eat (besides seafood), this article was interesting for me to read. It made me aware of the terrible chicken factories and the processes that chickens go through to be made readily available for consumption. I realized how intelligent chickens really are and that more chicken is eaten than any other animal. After reading this article, it made me think that it was almost worst to eat chicken than red meats. I actually haven’t been eating chicken for a couple weeks now, (just to be more healthy in my diet), and after learning more about chickens, it might be easy for me to stick to meatless consumption for awhile. Although both the video and article were informative, I think they were both somewhat biased and completely concealed positive processes in the meat industry.

Paul, E., et al. The domestic animal/wildlife interface : issues for disease control, conservation,
sustainable food production, and emerging diseases. New York : New York Academy of
Sciences, 2002.

Grover, Jan. Food. Detroit : Greenhaven Press, 2008.

blog1_food&culture

Growing up I experienced foods from various cultures but primarily ate American and Korean food. My mother made a lot of Korean dishes for dinner but for lunch I would often bring or even buy a typical American-style lunch. Therefore I wasn’t necessarily overwhelmed with only one type of cuisine and I enjoyed most foods because I loved eating. However, as I got older, I started to stay away from meaty products and favored vegetables and fruits. Freshman year of high school I stopped eating red meat but I still consumed chicken and seafood. After choosing not to eat red meats, a lot of food from the Korean diet was removed. This made things somewhat difficult for me because the rest of my family enjoyed red meats. I often just ate the rice with the vegetables, or my mom would make me something entirely different, but I am quite happy eating something as simple as rice, with butter and soy sauce. To my family, some of my Asian-American friends, and extended family this combination was very strange. I definitely had a diet reflective o the typical American pop culture. I enjoyed salads, garden burgers, pastas, wraps, etc. and when I moved out of my house it was really the only type of food I started eating because it was easier to have access to while living in the dorms. I still ate some Korean foods, especially when I went home but I don’t go crazy if I don’t have it for long periods of time, like some of my cousins and friends do. I get frightened by the mere thought of eating certain animals or animal parts so I tend to stay away from them. A lot of that may be due to the fact that I have grown up in a society where we do tend to refrain from eating things like pig’s feet. Yet, I understand that it is an important part of other cultures.

· Ishige, Naomichi. The history and culture of Japanese food. London: Kegan Paul, 2001.

Call number: GT2853.J3 I83 2001
Location: Haggard3-Books

· Roberts, J. A. G. China to Chinatown : Chinese food in the West. London: Reaktion, 2002.

Call number: GT2853.C6 R63 2002
Location: Haggard3-Books

Oh my gosh, meeting my meat was not a fun experience...

Wow...all I have to say is..if you weren't a vegetarian or a vegan before watching that video, you certainly are now. I had absolutely no idea chickens, cattle and pigs were treated in such cruel, sinister ways. I almost threw-up halfway through the video and then by the end of the article, I was in tears. You're talking to a girl right here that would die for a medium rare steak from the Keg. So, I'll be honest...I'm definitely torn. How does one thoroughly enjoy a rare steak, and guarantee that the cow it came from was not tortured for it's entire short life. I mean, how do we REALLY know where our meet comes from. That's just it...we don't know where it comes from. Seeing them castrate the baby pigs and cut off the beaks of the chickens was just plain sickening and completely inhumane. Honestly, HOW do those people who work in those animal factories manage to treat those poor creates with such cruelty and not have it lay on their conscience???? Honestly!

What do I say about the article, "Hidden Costs of Cheap Chicken?" Not only do the animals suffer, but so do the workers, the environment and the people who buy the meat!!! No one wins in any situation, accept for the people who own the factories. It's all about profit and making the most money that you possibly can and doing it in the cheapest way! And by golly, it doesn't matter who or what suffers as long as the money is made in the cheapest and quickest way. I really don't know what to do now. I love meat so much and I want to make sure the meat that I'm eating comes from animals that are not tortured, hurt, abused, neglected, starved or caged. Is that even a possibility in this day and age? I tip my hat to vegetarians. They're doing the right thing and they are thinking of all the animals that suffer in order for us to go to Haggen and buy chicken breast or a pack of bacon.

IF anyone has suggestions about how to still be able to eat meat, and somehow make sure that it's legit, PLEASE let me know. I don't want to support anymore animal abuse ever again.

Good reads:

Summit:

United States Government Accountability Office. "Workplace Safety and Health." Safety in the meat and poultry industry. Washington DC: United States Government Accountability Office, 2005.

WWU Library:

Nierenberg, Danielle. "Happier Meals: Rethinking The Global Meat Industry." Washington, D.C Worldwatch Institute, 2005.

(Location: Wilson 4W books   Call number: TS1955.N54 2005)

Harvesting Animals For Food

I found the video "Meet Your Meat" pretty disgusting and disturbing. I can't believe people can treat animals so horribly. I think animals need to be treated with respect even if the purpose of their lives is just to be slaughtered. I think the butchers are so used to slaughtering animals that they forget that they are living animals that have feelings and can feel pain. Although the video was gross and made me angry that the animals were being treated horribly I also had in the back of my mind that it was made by PETA and was biased, they want to convince the viewer to become a vegetarian and only show the bad clips.
I have heard before about how chickens are treated badly in factories, but I wasn't aware of the whole process that chickens have to go through just so that I can have it on my plate until I read "Hidden Cost of Cheap Chicken". Everything is geared towards speed of production and cutting labor costs. Money has become a more important issue than making sure chickens are not in pain and handled properly. If they have to stuff lots of chickens in chicken sheds, give them hormones to grow faster and bigger etc. to make more profit than they will do it.
I wish we could stop factory farming, and just farm chickens normally, but we wouldn't be able to feed everybody and I love chicken to much to quit eating it so I think we just need to improve factory conditions, make sure they are treated properly, they are given room , poop is cleaned more often, etc. With a few minor adjustments I think we can improve the livelihood of these chickens.

Western Book Recommendation:
Nierenberg, Danielle. Happier Meals: Rethinking The Global Meat Industry. Washington, D.C. Worldwatch Institute.2005
Location: Wilson 4W Books Call # TS1955.N54 2005

Summit Book Recommendation:
Leckie, Keith, Study On Government Regulation In The Red Meat Industry. Ottawa: Economic Counil of Cana, 1980
Institution: University of Washington Location: GovPub Canada stacks call # CANEc74W893 no.8

Blog 2- "Meet Your Meat"

by Celyn Albino

As I asked for the DVD “Meet Your Meat” from the desk, I couldn’t help but notice it was from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals- better known as PETA. It was a 13 minute video narrated by Alec Baldwin nonetheless. I was rather surprised at how fidgety I became upon watching the first minute or so when I know myself to stand some pretty gruesome things. The footage was captivating as they went through every animal category. Yet, it still was difficult to watch (but not so much so that I wanted to be a vegetarian). I think it would’ve been more helpful to see ways to be animal friendly but still like to eat meet- the right way. Although I felt relief in finishing the watching the DVD, the reading portion did not censor any truth to what happens to the people.

After reading “Hidden Cost of Cheap Chicken,” it made me more aware that the cruelties go beyond the animals themselves. The issue surrounding feces and proper disposal was appalling. I guess I never realized how that in itself would be a struggle for factories. It’s amazing how much poop can accumulate and how the effects are clear when just entering a cooped up chicken coop. I can’t even imagine the stench that doesn’t linger but is wholly existent! So I can only imagine how detrimental it can be to living near such a place that doesn’t really know how to get rid of the poop. Then hearing that it gets into the ground and water or how it causes serious symptoms to the people and family, is quite sad. There seems to be just as much cruelty taking place with regards to the continuous aftermath of animal cruelty. The cruelty the humans experience may not be as obviously “abusive” or “immoral” but they do defer from enjoying life.

I feel more informed and somewhat hopeful that there is information, research, and changes bound to arise from this entire ordeal but only time can tell how effective these changes will be for everyone- animal and human.

Recommended Readings:

Bunn, Henry T., and Craig B. Stanford, eds. Meat-Eating and Human Evolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
D’Silva, Joyce, and Jacky Turner, eds. Animals, Ethics, and Trade : The Challenge of Animal Sentience. London: Earthscan, 2006.

PETA and the meat-packing industry

The first thing that I noticed about the DVD “Meet Your Meat” (besides the fact that Alec Baldwin was the narrator) was the creator of the film: PETA. The images were shocking, the effects disturbing and lasting. Just as they were going for I’m sure. The People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) uses questionable ads and shocking comparisons between the meat-packing industry and the Holocaust and extermination of Jews in Europe to get the point across that vegetarianism is evidently where it’s at. After looking into PETA online, I found that there have been several cases of this organization taking pets from various animal shelters and euthanizing the animals by injecting them with something (I don’t know what), leaving them in dumpsters in a pile. They did this with the claim that it was done to be more humane than other methods like a gas chamber for the animals. Unfortunately, the video did not provide any possible ways to combat the meat-packing industry besides becoming a vegetarian. However, there are ways to a morally and ethically responsible carnivore and/or non-vegan vegetarian. It requires some research and depends on individual communities, but there are local dairy farms based nearby in Lynden providing dairy products from animals who aren’t pumped full of antibiotics and hormones. I felt the same way after reading the article “Hidden Cost of Cheap Chicken.” I wish the author’s encouraged research into farms that do not treat animals in the way they focused on. The responsibility obviously cannot be entrusted to the major meat-packing distributors in this country, so it has shifted to the consumer to become informed about what they are eating and to shop accordingly.


Buehr, Walter. Meat from ranch to table, written and illustrated by Walter Buehr. New York, Morrow, 1956.
Wilson 4E-Children's Collection
TS1955 .B8 1956


Yeager, Mary. Competition and regulation: the development of oligopoly in the meat packing industry. Greenwich, Conn. : Jai Press, c1981.
Haggard 3 -Books
HD9415 .Y4

Effects of Culture

I have grown up in American pop culture and have done a minimal amount of traveling in Canada and Mexico. These are countries that are not all that foreign to most of us, neighboring the United States to the North and the South. Due to my lack of travel, I have had little experience with what other cultures might see as acceptable foods to eat versus the perceptions and diet that I have grown up with. For the most part, I do not view my eating habits as being all that different from those around the United States. In Western Washington, we likely eat more salmon and sea food than some part of the country that is land locked like Kansas or New Mexico. There are regional differences, but I do not find them to be all that different from me. In the U.S., we have taken elements of different cultures and adopted them as our own from immigrants throughout much of the 21^st century. Reflecting on the definition of a culture, I find myself at a loss. I use the word often without much thought to how I would define it. Perhaps it is a group of people who share anything from common heritage, interests, and/or traditions. There is much more to a culture than that, but these are the first things that come to mind. If most of my friends were vegetarians, that is a sort of culture that would likely influence my eating habits and change them based on that culture.

Ethical sourcing in the global food system, edited by Stephanie Barrientos and Catherine Dolan. Sterling, VA : Earthscan, 2006.

Location in library: Haggard 3 -Books HD9000.5 .E85 2006

Increasing the contribution of small-scale fisheries to poverty alleviation and food security. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2005.

Location in library: Wilson 4W -Books SH329.S53 I53 2005

Food and Culture

I guess it's safe to say that I've had the best of both worlds when it comes to my eating habits. For some, it may appear as a conflicting strain, but for me, it's all about variety.  I wouldn't have it any other way growing up with an herbivore for a mother and a carnivore for a father. Food was never a symbolic tradition in my family for my religion or for a specific heritage of my parents. However, I would like to make the argument that being a vegetarian or a straight up steak eater (with the cow still practically mooing) helped my parents establish the norms and values towards food in my household.

As a child, I always had choices when it came to food and every meal seemed to balance my parents' differences towards what they each considered to be good to eat. Vegetables and fruits were always included in every meal, while my dad made sure the protein wasn't cut short by pitching in with delicious BBQ chicken from the grill. My parents did a lot of home cooking, with whole wheat, veggies, hardly any fats or sugars, and lean meats. Learning not to eat fast food and fatty foods as a child has helped my into my adulthood with regards to making my food choices. I've been socialized to read labels and understand exactly what it is that I'm putting in my mouth.

As a result, I'm a perfect mixture of both my mom and my dad. Their opposite eating habits taught me that it's ok to have both. It's ok to eat veggies and eat meat. I have to say, I'll eat anything green, anything healthy and anything organic, but I still love my medium rare steak and a beer!!!

Here are two good reads:

Weaver, William. "Scribner library of daily life." Encyclopedia of food and culture.  The Gale Group Inc, London. Vol 1. 2003.

Haggard 2- Reference  GT 2850.E53   2003

Kegan, Paul. "The History of Culture of Japanese Food." Naomichi Ishige. Kegan Paul, London, 2001.

Haggard 3- Books  GT2853.J3 183   2001

Culture and Food

People are influenced by the culture around them, it influences there behaviors and beliefs to what is socially accepted. Americans have created a set of food do's and don'ts and if you eat something that is not socially accepted then you are "weird" or "disgusting". But who is to say what is disgusting? The people that surround you help decide what is a normal or ok food to eat. If there is a food that is foreign and people are not accustomed to eating it many will find it weird. But what I may find as a good tasting food, may be disgusting to another individual if they were raised eating different foods. For example, growing up I almost always had meat as a main course for dinner, but for a vegetarian this may be found as disgusting. Or the fact that I ate beef could be wrong to a culture that believes cows are sacred animals.

American culture is unique because we are a country of many different ethnic groups and all of these different ethnic groups bring their food traditions to our country so we have adapted other cultures foods and americanized it such as our chinese food and italian food. Also American culture has changed over the years it is now part of our culture to eat quick and easy meals such as fast food and many people are not eating together as a family anymore because of busy schedules, or they want to watch their favorite t.v. shows etc. and to many other cultures this may seem weird because they are not used to this lifestyle.

Book Recommendations:
Pollan, Michael, "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto" New York: Penguin Press, 2008
Location: Wilson 2W-paperbacks
Call#: PBK

Counihan, Carole and Van Esterik Penny "Food and Culture: A Reader" New York: Routledge, 1997
Location: Haggard 3-Books
Call #: GR2850.F64 1997

Blog 1- Culture and Cuisine

by Celyn Albino

Culture is a means of identity and a way of living for groups of people. Their very location in itself constitutes their cultural experiences. It provides significance and meaning to a group in defining their being. Culture can be seen through the way the people live in art, entertainment, clothing, tradition, religion, customs, and even their food.

Being a Filipino- American allows me to dive into not only the American cuisine (which in itself is a mixing of cultures) but also the Filipino cuisine. Luckily, my parents did not disregard their Filipino roots after coming to America. In addition, they did not feel the need to shun the Filipino culture from my sister and me. In comparison to other Filipino- Americans, I am particularly familiar with a number of traditions as well as the language, which helps me stay connected to what is currently going on. I grew up with home cooked meals that were mainly Filipino- dishes or inspired. My mom every once in a while will opt for the processed or ready to eat meals, but not without some rice on the side. Rice is always a part of the meal like a plate or utensil. However, oddly enough, Filipinos are known to eat with their hands which I am not ashamed to use every now and then.

The Philippines is a tropical cluster of many islands. There is a large reliance on fresh foods- fruits, vegetables, seafood, and even livestock. The stylings of Filipino cuisine is a mixture of Asian, Islander, and even Spanish influences. Yet, the all- American hot dog is found cut up in banana ketchup sauce over long noodles- the Filipino spaghetti. Growing up, i remember plates of spaghetti without hotdogs and it just didn't seem complete. But sometimes, the food got in the way of my childhood.

At school, my mom would pack me a lunch. this lunch was nothing like the pb&j, apple, and juice box. It was a tupperware of rice and chicken adobo or pancit (chow mein) or lumpia (egg roll). I remember feeling ashamed of the smell and just the looks of disgust but soon that faded away as I grew up. By middle school, people thought I was lucky to have search a hearty meal, instead of the usual hotdog and fries that they'd probably have for dinner sometime that week.

Being cultural aware but also in its cuisine, helps me personally to be more open to foods and cultures. I have shared in a way of life that others can only experience through tid-bits like cuisine but that doesn't mean I know everything about it. Surely, just because I am a Filipino doesn't mean I like to pack boiled duck eggs (balut) for lunch or that I even like them- definitely not my cup of tea.

Recommended books found at WWU:

Rodell, Paul A. Culture and Customs on the Philippines. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2002.
Location: Haggard 2- Reference Call # DS664 .R63 2001

Zabilka, Gladys. Customs and Culture of the Philippines. Tokyo: C. E. Tuttle Co, 1963.
Location: Haggard 3- Books Call # DS663 .Z3 1963

yummy in the tummy established:)

yay:)

yay! we figured it out

I fixed the cookies.

:)

Wud up groupies??? :)