HW 2 - Food - Initial Thoughts

I’ve despised family meals since I was little. When I was younger and my family was closer we’d get together probably 4 or 5 times a year for Jewish and American holidays. The only family members who keep kosher are my aunt and uncle. But in respect to their religion my grandmother keeps a set of kosher dishes etc. for our family get togethers. I remember learning at a young age to stay out of the way when the food was being prepared, “That can’t touch that; don’t put that there; what are you doing”. It just baffled me; why did these people care so much about the way their food looked and how it was prepared? Why not just put food on a plate and let it be? That’s the first thing that interests me about food. Religion. I’ve never really understood much about keeping kosher. I know that meat and cheese together is out of the question and that you can’t eat pork or rabbit. There also some unusual rules about burying plates that I don’t quite understand. I find that in most religions there are very specific ways one must prepare and eat their food; and I want to explore that more. 

The dining table at my grandma’s house is long. You can fit about 5 or 6 people on each side and then one grandparent on each end for a total of 13. I don’t know if you’ve ever sat at a long dinner table, but you can never see the people sitting on your side and can never seem to talk to the people at the other end. I would ask sometimes, “Why do we sit at the table”. I usually got something along the lines of “It brings us together as a family”. But what I found is that after dinner, when we would sit in the living room in a circle; where you could see everyone, we had full on discussions. I was too young to partake in the important conversations but I knew there was meaningful discussion going on. Which would bring me to this question: Why do we have to sit at tables? Why not eat standing up? Why not eat on the ground? Why is it only acceptable to have picnics outdoors?

I remember when one of my mom’s cousins married a Korean woman and they had a baby a few years ago. On the baby’s 100^th day of living we held a celebration called a Baek Il. We ate low to the ground, took our shoes off and the children were separated from the adults. I was unsure; take my shoes off? Why on earth would I take my shoes off to eat? It was weird at first but I slowly became accustom.

Rituals are interesting to me because they relate back to religion. People follow certain rituals based on their culture and beliefs.

 

Ethics is important when coming to food. When I think of ethics and food in the same sentence my mind goes to vegetarians vs. omnivores. I have been a pescetarian for about 1.5 years now. I don’t enjoy eating fish but my parents are concerned about my protein intake and have me eat fish once a week. I don’t eat shellfish or any other animal. When I do eat fish I usually keep it to salmon, trout, or tilapia. Some people tell me I’m not a true vegetarian and I honestly don’t care. There shouldn’t be a label. People create their own types of vegetarianism so it works for them; and that’s fine with me. I just thought to myself one day, “If I’ll kill it, I’ll eat it”. I don’t think I could ever find it in myself to kill a cow or a pig or a duck…you get the picture. But I could definitely pull carrots out of the ground and pick berries off of bushes.

Different people have different perspectives on food; what they eat, when they eat it, how they eat it, and why they eat it. All of those things rely on culture and opinion which are influenced by setting and religion amongst other things. 

For me food is very important. Not the rituals put around it. Not the people I’m eating with. Just the food itself. I think people get a little too intense when it comes to food. For some people, food has become a luxury; not a survival need.  I personally try to eat when I’m hungry and eat what I’m hungry for. If I want mac and cheese; I’ll go make some mac and cheese. If I want an apple; I’ll go get myself an apple. People put too much thought into ritual. Why not just go with the flow and enjoy yourself?