Food is something that my family and I use to celebrate different holidays and on regular days it is something that we still love. We don’t really have a traditional way of preparing or eating our food, it is done in more of a “prepare and just eat” kind of way. I don’t have a specific dinner time, but I usually eat dinner around 9 o’clock. Although my family and I prepare our plates and eat at the same time, we don’t eat together at the dinner table. My sis, my mom, and I usually eat while watching television and talking..while my grandmother goes in her room to watch her television and eat. Since we bought a dog in 2007, it changed the way he pay attention when eating. We now have to be aware of where my dog is and whether or not he is drinking out of our cups.
I see food as something that I absolutely can not live without, and so does my family. We value the quality of food, the taste, the amount of seasoning and the way it is cooked. I grew up in a household with only woman, and even though I wasn’t forced to learn how to cook certain things...it sort of came naturally. Watching my mother in the kitchen since I was younger, served as a way for me to learn about the way different food are prepared and how different seasonings are used.
One thing that my mother and father constantly tells me to do is to take vitamins. Whether its vitamin C or any other kind of vitamin..my sister and I are always pressured to take it. I think this is due to the fact that I don’t drink milk very often so they see this as a alternative way for me to get nutrients that my body needs. Not eating eggs sometimes gets in my way of eating certain food, I don’t think its that im allergic to eggs but more so based on the fact that I find eggs to smell and taste very nasty. From the time I was young my parents would always try to get me to eat eggs by saying it taste like candy or by just simply saying it actually does taste better than I thought. I never really understand why they wanted me to eat eggs because personally I don’t see it as something important missing from my everyday diet.
Recently my family and I have been trying to eat a little healthier than we have in the past, which means less red meat and more fish. Personally I have gotten so sick of fish after we decided to make this change. Now my mother prepares fish around 2 to 3 times a week, which than forces me to eat take out or prepare my own meals when ever I don’t feel like eating fish. Eating a lot of fruit is something that we are doing more frequently now, its something that we love to eat and at the same times its very nutritious. One thing that I would like to change about my eating habits is eating when im not hungry. I find myself doing this a lot, whether I am bored or just sitting around...I go and get something to eat just because I feel like it. I was told by my doctor that I should only eat when hungry, and that I should only have big meals 2 to 3 times a day. In between those meals I should drink plenty of water in order to avoid snacking too much. In school during lunch time I usually eat what ever is convenient for me, rather than paying attention to what is healthiest. Im pretty sure that this serves as something that many teens do but don’t really pay much attention to. Another thing that I should change in my food habits is eating breakfast. I rarely ever eat breakfast, not because I don’t have time but just because Im use to not eating it so it doesn’t seem to matter much.
Around a year or two ago there was a new supermarket that opened in my area called “Fairway” its said to be one the biggest supermarkets around. Around the first week of it opening, people from all over came to see how it would be. The normal food markets around my way that my mother usually go food shopping at is ctown, pathmark or costcos..by this opening It gave us a bigger variety of foods and I think this is why my mother got the idea for us to start trying to eat a whole lot healthier.
The fruit section is the main place where we shop when attending this supermarket..which is probably the reason why my refrigerator is always filled with so much fruit.
Being that my family comes from a Caribbean background, we often use a lot of spices and seasonings when cooking food. Example: The day before thanksgiving my mother usually seasons the turkey and lets the season marinate into the meat over night because it is said to give it more taste. I rarely every hear of other families preparing food this way, but in class on Tuesday I was surprised to learn that my classmates (Anias and kareem) parents also prepare their food this way. Anias even stated that his mother sometimes seasons the meat and freezes it for the next week. Kareem stated that his mother thoroughly seasons the meat with many different seasonings, lets it sit and then cooks it the same day. This showed me that my food ways are similar to other individuals in America.
Although I live in a household that usually eats home cooked meals, I do however eat take out far more than I should. This shows that my food ways are similar to corporate America. This is because most American’s don’t usually eat home cooked meals every single day of their life, in fact I believe that no American prepares a different home cooked meal every single night without eating left overs or ordering outside food. This is just the American way of life and how things are done when related to food in America.
One thing that my mother says a lot is “Make sure you chew your food good,” and “Don’t use your drink to swallow your food...that’s how people die easily.” These are comments that she usually says to my sister because she says that the way she eats is like a starving pig(lol). She always tell us never to rush to eat our food because its not like its going anywhere, would we rather slowly eat or rush to die? I totally understand the message she is trying to get across to us, and this was only after a cousin of mine almost choked to death during thanksgiving diner. When this incident happened it scared my entire family and now we cautiously eat and chew our food. Personally i believe that the way my family and I eat food is very similar to the way many other families across America eat their food.
When I was younger I wasn’t allowed to eat candy, drink soda or eat much junk food. My parents reasons for this is that it would make my teeth rotten and would possibly give me diabetes in the future. At points in my life I hated that I couldn’t eat as much candy as I wanted to, and I begin to sneak and eat it anyways. As I have gotten older my parents don’t really have much control over the things that I eat, and I find myself eating a lot of candy, and junk food. I don’t really drink too much soda..water is my everyday drink.
But one thing that I have noticed in my eating habits as I grew up is that I tend to gravitate towards junk food when im not around my parents or just out alone. I joke sometimes and say that its because I was denied it as a child so now its my time to eat as much of it as I possibly can. When im home or around my parents I rarely ever eat candy/junk food because I know their reaction wouldn’t be too great...this shows me that even though I have become older and more independent on choosing the things I eat..my parents still play a major role in the different food my body consumes.
