Hw 4 - Families Foodways

My parent's all ways said just before I was about to throw out the food I did not want to eat anymore "there are starving children in Africa, and you are throwing away your food" and I would return to table to finish what I had started. To my parents I think they find food sacred mainly because they grew up in Guyana and to know that you had food to eat was a blessing. My mom's mom always made sure her kids had food on the table to eat which my parents replicate but I find myself seeing food as a given because in New York, every corner and street has some sort of restaurant. Food here is a given and can be easily accessed for anytime we want, so rational habits are threw the roof because there is always a supplier.

Recently my parents have fallen into this movement of eating healthier and eating within moderation and it first starts with not by trying to eat healthier but creating a style or habit type of eating. For example setting goal's of making yourself eat this and this certain time everyday and no junk food in between. Knowing my parents setting these goals is like second nature for them because rationalizing their food was no surprise to them when they lived in Guyana; making sure everyone ate, but also making sure they didn't over eat or under eat. As for me though, this new change in the way I have to eat now is a completely new step because my Americanized culture gives me this opportunity to pig out whenever I want because of all these fast food restaurants and corner stores that are filled with junk food.

Culture has a lot to do with the way we eat, how we eat and when we eat because it's a common structure that all cultures tend to follow. Cultures set acquired tastes for some thing's that other cultures may find different and may not even agree with, but it is still a way people will react to certain foods. For my parents eating Curry chicken, Curry beef etc. is a certain taste that I enjoy because the type of culture my parents were brought up in also enjoyed furthermore passing it down onto me which is how I see a lot of other cultures work with their reactions to foods. I don't see food cultures dying anytime soon because of this "passed down" trait that follows with each culture.