Friday, July 24, 2015

Foodies

As I read the lecture on food I could not help but to relate. I feel we are a product of our culture and the area we grow up in. After seeing people eat mice and spiders I could not help cringing at the thought, but that is nothing to those whom have lived in that are their whole lives. I believe that also when one is hungry they are more likely to eat a variety of items than when not as hungry. Just like in Endurance how they men where fine eating off the animals of the sea since they are mostly fishermen, and at that point in time there were not any fast food restaurants. However, when the men were running low on food they had to resort to eating dog, and that is the difference between eating for nourishment and pleasure compared to those who eat to stay alive. I once had to eat a goat, but not chopped and cooked up it almost resembled the bodied just being thrown over a fire then served. The body had such a thick layer of fat before you could even reach the meat, and the water was so filmy with particles that we drank after it was taken from a not so clean river and boiled. This change in agriculture did not settle good with my stomach at all, but it goes to prove that food is sometimes mind over matter where because you are not accustomed to certain foods you are less likely to receive them in a non-hostile way. There are millions of delicacies around the world, and the only thing I can say is try to open your pallet and try new things, but in moderation.

3 comments:

  1. I agree with 100% in that we are a product of our culture - the act of eating mice is acceptable both acceptable in one culture and unacceptable in another, just as eating pork and beef is acceptable in one culture and unacceptable in another. However, I do believe that if faced with the experience of starving to death, most individuals from whatever culture will take eating unacceptable foods over the agony of starving to death. The distinction between eating for pleasure and eating for nourishment is one that is greatly blurred in today's world.

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  2. Dorian,
    You are absolutely correct when you say that "when one is hungry, they are more likely to eat a variety of items than when not as hungry." All the time I hear people, even myself, using the saying, "I'm starving." Are we really starving? Are we so hungry that if we do not eat anything that we will die? The term starving is appropriately used to explain how the men on the Endurance felt. As a result, they ate things such as blubber in which they were initially repulsed by, but had no choice but to consume it. When people are faced with starvation, it becomes a whole new ball game. People will eat anything that is edible because it is their only choice. It is amazing to see a human's instinct to survive and the radical lengths they will go to in order to do so. Things we could not fathom to eat would look like giant steaks in the eyes of those who are on the brink of starvation.

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