Everyday food
Abstract
The article discusses the role of food as an instrument of identity and a channel of contact through cultures. This is discussed drawing from three cases of Italian food culture hybridization spanning from the early 20th century to the first decade of the 2000s: the role of Italian food in Italian-American identity as depicted in Leonardo Coviello’s work; the meeting of Southern and Northern food cultures following the Italian internal migrations in the ‘50s and ‘60s; the food practices of international migrants in the context of the global flows of people and commodities in present day Italy. In this regard, food plays an essential role in the rebuilding of a familiar context in which migrants can feel temporarily
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A cultural system is as robust as it is open to the outside and engages in exchange, cross-reference, and hybridization. It is the fear of others that confines people within their habits, preventing their knowledge of diversity, and causing them to reject what is not customary.
Diet is one of the elements of social life most sensitive to changes in the surrounding context. Migration has always produced innovations and transformations in indigenous food traditions. Suffice it to consider the spread of tomatoes, potatoes, tea, and coffee in the dietary habits of Europeans to understand the transformations that have occurred through trade and the movement of people and things.
In what follows, three examples will be provided of changes in dietary habits in migratory contexts. The first example concerns the transformation of Italian emigrants to America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The second briefly discusses Italian immigration from the south to the north of the country after World War II. The third raises issues concerning the first and second generations of foreign immigrants into Italy in recent
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Renowned for his diaries as well as his studies on education, Leonard Covello – Americanization changed his surname by removing the ‘i’ to make it easier to pronounce – ably recounted through the eyes of an Italian migrant child, cultural and social differences and the process of integration into the New World. Leonard attended a school established by a Protestant philanthropic association. The school was known as the ‘Soup School’ because at noon it provided a meal, which was one of the main reasons why it was chosen by immigrants for their children. The prime purpose of the school was the Americanization of new immigrants through the intensive teaching of English, hygiene, discipline, and love and respect for the new homeland.
In his autobiography, Leonardo Coviello describes how at the Soup School he first encountered the abundance of food in America; a highly significant experience for an immigrant of the late 1800s and early 1900s who came from extreme poverty and severe shortages of foodstuffs. The encounter with the school meals also meant an encounter with
In the book 97 Orchard, the author Jane Ziegelman examines the lives of five different immigrant families in New York City. Through their culinary traditions, foods and drinks of choice, the author is able to determine some of the social and economic situations were for these different ethnicities. She also uses their foods to show what last impressions these people had on the streets they lived on as well as New York City. The German immigrants that were depicted by the author was the Glockner family. In German culture, baking is a tradition that is closed off to a certain number of people, and is an art that takes perfection.
In Michael Pollan’s essay “Escape from the Western Diet,” he directly to Americans about the western diet and why he believes they need to escape from it. The reason Americans should escape the western diet is to avoid the harmful effects associated with it such as “western diseases” (Pollan, 420). To support his view on the issue, Pollan describes factors of the western diet that dictate what Americans believe they should eat. These factors include scientists with their theories of nutritionist, the food industry supporting the theories by making products, and the health industry making medication to support those same theories. Overall, Pollan feels that in order to escape this diet, people need to get the idea of it out of their heads.
The American culture is demonstrated throughout the museum’s exhibits of the “The Star-Spangled Banner”, “Food Transforming the American Table”, “The First Ladies”, “Within The Walls” and “General Motors Hall of Transportation” as a patriotic, driven, determined and tenacious country that has fought and worked courageously to be in the position of power it is today. The flag represents freedom and nationalism to the American people. Since the flag raised on 1814, it has served as an inspiration and personal identity to them; because of this event Francis Scott Key decided to write “The Star-Spangled Banner” which is nowadays the nation’s anthem. One of the biggest subjects that exposes the culture itself is the food. America has a significant
When the Europeans returned home, they brought home new crops which had a huge impact on their diets. While the rich had “meat heavy” diets, “the poor were relegated to mainly vegetables (Shelton, The Columbian Exchange). However, Europe’s vegetables were becoming scarce. People were becoming malnourished from the lack of vegetables. New crops from
Relevance between Food and Humans with Rhetorical Analysis In the modern industrial society, being aware of what the food we eat come from is an essential step of preventing the “national eating disorder”. In Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma, he identifies the humans as omnivores who eat almost everything, which has been developed into a dominant part of mainstream unhealthiness, gradually causing the severe eating disorder consequences among people. Pollan offers his opinion that throughout the process of the natural history of foods, deciding “what should we have for dinner” can stir the anxiety for people based on considering foods’ quality, taste, price, nutrition, and so on.
Collin Brennan Professor Warner Freshman Tutorial 30 October, 2015 The mestizo recipes are famous for the combination of new and old world spices to make famous food. Que Vivan Los Tamales: Food and the Making of Mexican Identiy by Jeffrey Pilcher uses food to discuss the history of Mexico. Pilcher ties connections between the history of food and Mexico’s developing national identity. The book never really has a central thesis.
On October 1492, Christopher Columbus and his crew docked in the Bahamas. As soon as they stepped foot off the ship, two worlds reunited with each other-with both positive and negative effects.(B, Johnson) As different cultures combined, crops and animals did as well. Foods from Europe to America were more livestock than crops. Cows,
Though an immensely important aspect of food is a nourishing supplement; it is not the sole significance of food in human’s lives. Food is symbolic. Food connects people. It is a collective activity everyone must experience; thus meaning it allows people to relate more easily between each other. There is no universal type of food in each society due to the fact that the world is multicultural.
Knowledge is sometimes passed on, learn by experience, or sometimes by curiosity observed. As a Mexican-American part of my knowledge of Mexicos- food, music, and exotic places has been passed on to me or by my travel experience. Different experiences thought me about my cultural background and in this essay we shall be discussing my knowledge of the foods eaten during the holidays to the beautiful state of Aguascalientes, Mexico. The tamal has been a staple in America next to the Tacos for Mexican food.
Weatherford noted that the “Indians gave the world three-fifths of the crops now in cultivation” (Weatherford, 1988, p. 71). Agricultural experimentation was always ongoing by the Indians, which then correlated back to the Old World with new ways to prepare and preserve food as well as grow in difficult climates. The introduction of these new foods and techniques spiked a culinary revolution in Europe and the settlers in America. The subcultures of countries can be distinguished by their favorite dishes and cuisines, especially in modern America. For example, southern America cooks a lot of barbequed meat with creole and Cajun seasonings that actually originated from the Native Americans of that area with some French conquistador influences, too
Choi then quotes the Director of food studies at New York University, providing relevancy and authenticity to her work. The statement also establishes a link between what we eat and how it connects to particular memories and places in our minds. Moving on, the article is divided into six different subheadings. Each subheading explains the origin of indigenous food in different countries and what that denotes particular culture. Broadly speaking, food is necessary for survival, signifies status denotes pleasure, brings communities together and is essential for humanity.
The sociological imagination on food In this assignment I am going to talk about the sociological imagination on food and the aspects it brings with it. Before starting that large process I firstly will explain what the social imagination is and what the key points of the imagination are in able to fully understand the topic; food and its history, biography, and the relation it has in society. This is my first assignment for the module understanding contemporary society so please bear with me as I will do my best to explain it in a logic manner so everybody can understand it.
Culture and memories are expressed through food. Everyone can identify themselves with a concrete culture and in every group there are numerous food dishes that satisfies one, or brings back peerless memories and feelings only they can relate to. Food itself has meaning attached to it, from the way it is prepared down to the ingredients used. Factors that influence food can be anything from practices and beliefs to the economy and distribution. Culinary traditions are important in helping express cultural identity.
What is Processed Food? The term ‘processed food’ applies to any food that has been changed from its natural state in some way, either for safety reasons or convenience. Some foods need processing to make them safe, such as milk, which needs to be pasteurized to remove harmful bacteria. Other foods need processing to make them suitable for use, such as pressing seeds to make oil.
The article written by Ashlie Stevens titled Stop Thinking and Just Eat: When 'Food Adventuring' Trivializes Cultures published on The Guardian website in year 2015 talks about how the popularization of food and lead an exposure of the origin of the food. On the other hand, the article written by Lavanya Ramanathan titled Why Everyone Should Stop Calling Immigrant Food ‘Ethnic’ published on The Washington Post website in the same year talks about how people stereotype ethnic food based on their origin. Both articles discuss the relationship between food and culture however, Stevens’ article is more credible as her credentials as a food journalist is more impeccable and her article was well-written with good grasp of knowledge, tone and language.