Week 1 Blog

This week's blog post is describing my cultural background in relation to the wonderful world of foods. In this post I will explore where I live, what foods I am most familiar with, where I get them, their price range, and generally how healthy they are among possibly some other related information. If you have a weak stomach, then I would suggest to either turn back now or keep reading and suffer relatively inconsequential rather unnoticeable side effects including but not limited to:

-Spontaneous combustion
-SQUAIDS
and
-Micheal Phelps Syndrome

The video A World of Food presented little new concepts to me although they are concepts that I don't think many people consider.
What the movie really seemed to make the show all about was how different cultures are disgusted by the food practices of other cultures. This is illustrated by how the Hindu people consider cows to be sacred while most Westerners consider the dog to be sacred. Hindus are disgusted by the eating of cows by Westerners and Westerners are disgusted by the many various Asian ethnic groups that eat dogs.
Hindu people likely hold cows in high regard because of how hard cows and other similar animals such as bisen work very hard to support the people who raise them. They carry carts full of supplies, help to ready the earth for the planting of agriculture, and other useful stuff. They're cute, right?
Westerners hold the dog in high regard because they also help with many tasks as well as act as a companion to their owners. The most obvious example of a dog doing work for humans is the sheep dog who directs sheep whom have grown heavy coats of fur as a large group to wherever they are needed. When it comes time to sheer off their fur coats for the production of wool clothing, the dog will direct them to the herdsman who will be waiting. And, after this long days work, lets say this man and his dog retreat to their house where they share a state of relaxation together by the fireplace.
Both groups of people have a good reason to be attached to this particular creature and it is therefore quite understandable that they would be rather resentful of the other culture for eating this animal.

My story starts here - I have lived in America my entire life. I have lived in Washington my entire life. I have lived in the Seattle area my entire life. Seldom have I ever left. This is important because, having lived in these circumstances my entire life, there is a very short list of commonplace foods that I am familiar with eating. In order to deviate from this list of foods one needs to actually SEARCH for new foods via restaurants or, if you are comfortable attempting to cook [as so few Americans truly are], you may purchase a cook book for foreign recipes from around the world.
Having grown up in the United States, it naturally follows that the idea of eating a dog is horrifying.

Personally, I don't know how to cook. I can cook few things, but these few things certainly do not qualify me to make the statement "I know how to cook." That would lead one to assume I'm comfortable in doing so, which I certainly am not.

Growing up, I was familiar with poorly cooked meals consisting of either canned soups and vegetables with an occasional slab of overcooked meat and snacks of toast for dinner. Anyone who has lived in America and attended the public school system knows what sorts of foods I was accustomed with being provided by the school.
My single mother not having enough money to pack us a lunch of nutritious and delicious foods, I was definitely stuck with what the cafeteria had to offer.

So lets start that list, shall we?

-Pizza
-Cheezburgars
-French fries in all their various forms
-Common salads
-Fried Chickenz
-All manner of frozen vegetables
-Loafs of bread
-All variations of toast
-Standard sandwiches
-etc.

Being the frugal person I am, I do not seek to deviate from this list very often. I expect my meals to cost roughly $5 to $10. Any higher is a luxury someone attending college with no job can't quite afford.
I am still subject to the cafeterias located on campus, but does provide a sine variety of foods - even from different ethnic groups. Many different asian dishes are served in the Viking Union.
But for the most part, I haven't explored these various options.

If I were describe my diet simply, I would say that I "adhere to a typically American diet." Diet has a focus on greasy foods with a high carbohydrate count for energy, salad for the sake of easing my conscience in response to the prior, a bowl of fruits and a side of vegetables. Give or take whatever sounds good at the time which might be a slice of pie, bowl of pudding, or a chowder. Finished off by a tall glass of water.

This "American" style diet is often criticized for having such a high focus on the intake of carbohydrates with a degree of ignorance to the greasy or fatty substances that are absorbed as well.
The idea that this is a bad thing is a common misconception. The description of results from this diet is usually put as a "hardening of the arteries" because the greasy intake tends to line the insides of the circulatory system of the human body.
What science fails to realize is that this "hardening of the arteries" has a purpose: reinforcement.



[not finished]