Family Food Routine Analysis

A food routine analysis of my family would be a food routine based on not only Midwestern routine, but also the routine in Northern Minnesota of an immigrant family from Italy. My mother was born in, and spent most of her life in the Midwest, and my father was born in Northern Minnesota to a traditional Italian family that had immigrated to the United States only a generation prior. When I look at the routines that have emerged from the union of my parents, I see something that is varied. My mother’s families are of mixed backgrounds and it is obvious in her bag of tricks when it comes what I was fed as a child. My Great Grandmothers on my mother’s side were Cajun and Irish, so I ate gumbo and corned beef and cabbage. My father’s …show more content…
First and foremost the analysis represent the American and Mid-Western customs. A formal Italian meal come in many courses and those courses are in a specific order. It starts with and appetizer then an antipasti, consisting of a meat and cheese plate. Next you get the first course, the second course, the side dish, and the salad, finally finishing with a fruit and cheese plate. Without skipping a beat you go to desert, coffee and a digestive drink. Of course this is a meal that takes hours to consume, because it is meant to be a celebration that encourages families to sit down together and to commune. As Americans, we do not allow ourselves the luxury or spending hours over a meal, not even at the holidays. We don’t have the time to spend hours eating, we have allowed ourselves to become a non-familial society. I spent two weeks in Italy and was surprised that some restaurants had an American menu, which consisted of a single course that begins with a salad, and an Italian menu that had several courses, when you sat down, they expected you to be there awhile. The American society has become too fast moving, we do not dare to slow down. We have been taught that as Americans we do things bigger, better, and faster; and that is how we live our lives. We eat bigger portions, we make our food better with GMOs which also allows for …show more content…
The culinary triangle that Levi-Strauss explains to us help us to better understand the society in which food was prepared. In my family I can see the blend of the old and the new. On those rare occasions that a traditional Italian meal has been prepared, I feel the old world influences even when it is done in a more modern fashion. But for the most part, my analysis shows that I eat in a traditional American way, which is quick and fast and without any regard or concern for the preparation. This is the direct reflection that I see American food and food preparation having on American