Raised on American Meals

Having lived in Washington my entire life, my culture has remained the typical American, middle-class lifestyle. I grew up with my Mother and Grandparents on the plateau of Redmond, WA, in a suburban-rural area until I was 11 when I moved to Lacey, WA. The area I lived in as a child was partially suburb housing developments in which lived mostly carpoolers who worked in Seattle. The rest was small plots of land dedicated to some livestock and family gardens. I lived on a street where chickens were often found wandering around and across the street from my house a herd of cows would stare at me as I stood at my bus stop. Due to these farm animals, and many others I was accustomed to getting fresh eggs when my neighbors would send some over, as well as my obsession with drinking milk; whole milk.

My mother has never been a cook, but my Grandmother grew up on a farm, and at one point owned a health food store so therefore was the main cook of the house. Often times she experimented with meals, and then afterward didn’t remember what she had done. Her and my Grandfather tended a garden in our backyard that grew a variety of vegetables such as broccoli, cucumber, carrots, and spinach as well as other garden foods such as beans and even a small patch of pumpkins. Also in our yard were two long strips each of raspberry and blackberry bushes. Every spring and summer I recall running around outside, picking berries at my leisure, coming inside from playing with stained fingers from the juices and pricks from blackberry thorns. Because of this typical American-rural living style, I was raised on the “classic” American meals; spaghetti, pizza from the local store, corn, PB&J’s with my Grandmother’s home-made strawberry-rhubarb jelly, and broccoli or asparagus with cheese. Most of the foods we ate were health-conscientious foods due to my Grandmother’s upbringing. The only meats we ate, that she allowed, were chicken and fish. The only reason we had even those were because my Grandfather loves eating meat. I didn’t even like hamburgers, let alone have a real chance to eat them until I was 12!

When the four of us moved to Lacey, my eating habits changed, but are still considered in the category of “American” culture. At 11-years-old, I moved from a family oriented household, with people from all over visiting regularly for potlucks due to my Grandparent’s business, to a split-level-type family home, where my Grandparents have their living space upstairs, and my Mother and I have our own downstairs. For a while we continued at least family dinners upstairs in my Grandparents dining room, but once I hit high school, everything changed. Since my Mother and I aren’t the most avid cooks, we resorted to foods such as Campbell’s soups, easy spaghetti, Grilled Cheese, still the typical American meals, but not as home-made as before. Then, we found restaurants and fast foods. In High school I probably ate out at a restaurant at least five to seven meals a week. This is probably why I have no problem with what most people consider “disgusting college food.” My Mother and I talked about changing our eating habits, but it never really happened.

Since I started College, I’ve become more conscientious about the foods I eat, and my Mother and I have attempted to change our eating habits instead of just talk about it. Due to the variety of cultures I’ve come in contact with because of my college education, we have tried to be more flexible in the foods we eat. Although, our initial culture is still the Grilled Cheese, Tomato soup, Asparagus with cheese, American food.


Recommended Books

On Nutrition - Gebhardt, Susan, and Robin Thomas. Nutritive Value of Foods. Rev. Oct 2002. Beltsville, Md: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2002. Print. (Subject Heading: Food)

On Fast Food - Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: the Dark Side of the All-American Meal. 1st Perennial ed. New York, NY: Perennial, 2002. Print. (Subject Heading: Fast Food)