Dr. Ades: Does the Olive Branch Extend to Today? An examination on the food habits of my culture from the past to the present

The Past:  Aleppo, Syria

My ancestors initially came from Spain and were forced to leave to Syria during the Spanish Inquisition.  My ancestors took a lot of the food from Spain to Syria such as olives, nuts, as well as olive oil.  When they moved to Syria they would make their own bread (the pita type of Syrian bread pictured on the right).  They would also make their own hummus  (bottom left) and baba-ganoush (above), make from chick peas and eggplants.

People would generally have their own small farms with lambs and chickens.  They would use a lot of lentils because they were easy to store year round as well as rice and beans.  My ancestors would spice many things with local fruits such as dates and apricots since they grew in the wild.  Their would always be a bowl of pistaccio nuts and almonds since nut trees grew in the area as well as olives at every meal.  My ancestors lived in Aleppo, an inland city in Syria, but I imagine that people who lived on the coast ate fish as well.

Today:  New York City, United States

Today, I eat an assortment of foods from many different cultures such as Thai, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, and Italian as well as fruits and vegetables.  I often start my day with a granola bar and coffee, and have a lunch I can eat up easily in the microwave.  When I have time to cook, I often make stir-fries, fish, or meat.  I definitely don't eat food that grow in the region like my ancestors in Syria did.  I don't even know how I would begin to eat the food that naturally grows in the New York City region or if that is even possible.

Is Michael Pollan Right?  Have Modern Americans Lost Their Food Traditions?

I don't know about everybody, but I definitely have!  I also tend to agree with Michael Pollan's claim that Modern American's don't have strong food traditions.  I think about what my ancestors use to eat, and it was all based on what was readily available to them based on what the land could support and what could grow naturally.  It's strange to think that in the past, even people who lived in cities had livestock and small gardens to support their eating habits.  This connection between what our land can support and what we eat seems to be completely missing from modern American food culture.

Are All Americans Hopeless?

Although some people may say it is possible for some Americans to eat locally or eat the foods of their cultures, I believe this does not extend to a significant population of the American people.  So much of American culture is fast-paced, and really thinking about what we put into our bodies takes time, thought, and money.  Often, if I don't pack ahead a lunch from work, there aren't that many options about what I can eat outside of the local deli.  I'm looking forward to learning about how I can change the way I eat in small ways as we examine American food habits throughout this unit.