HW 4 - Your Families' Foodways

When my mother was growing up she lived in a house with all of her family members, her aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. As a child food was something that was there however, it s nutritional value was not the first thing on her parent’s minds. They worried more so about quantity. They wanted to make sure that everyone in the house was fed and was full, not if the produce was organic or where it came from. One must also consider the time period; the things we are now exposed to about food weren’t always so obvious. They didn’t talk much about the FDA or about the dangers that a food may contain.

Now, my mom tries to get things that are better for us. Things marked with “organic” and “whole grain” because now she says she knows. Having two younger chubby sisters my mom wants to make sure that they can eat as much as they can and remain healthy. Even though when she grew up, those were not the exact concerns. That difference from her generational childhood to my own is major.

My mother was also raised with a lot more home cooked meals then I have now, my great grandmother would cook for the whole house. That tradition kind of stopped with my mom. Like my aunt still cooks and my grandmother still cooks but my mom doesn't cook as much. I think it has a lot to do with my mother just tired of carrying the weight of feeding everyone and tending to the house, breaking the traditional gender norms. More female empowerment to her. So to kind of make her life easier and to make sure that we eat there is a lot of on the go things to eat that don't rewuire too much prep time to cook.

If I look into my fridge now I see a lot of food that is easy and fast to make. I have two little sisters and they need to eat too but they aren't allowed to use the stove. The food is semi-healthy but not all organic. I see the changes from one generation to another from my fridge to my grandmothers.Maybe its just lazyness from my mom. Which is sunderstandable she comes home late and wants to do nothing but relax after a long and hard day.