What We Really Eat
This blog post is by Stanford students in dialogue with students at American University of Cairo for a course in Stanford's Program in Writing and Rhetoric on the subject of food politics and science.
After reviewing various photographs published in the photo essay “What the World Eats” in Time Magazine , we have discovered several discrepancies between the depiction of the typical American diet and in the foods we Stanford students actually consume. We realize that while these photographs may accurately portray the diet of a “typical” American, as students of Stanford University we feel that the two photographs fail to accurately portray the contents of our diets.
The photograph of the North Carolinian household’s diet inaccurately depicts the diet of all Americans. While the precooked meals, potato chips, fast food, and soda are practical staples for some American families, this is not the case for all Americans. Here at Stanford University our diet consists of much healthier options. Each dining hall has different themes to match the many diverse diets of Stanford students. We have access to sustainable, local, and organic fruits and vegetables at all three meals a day. Tofu and soy are also present at most meals for vegan and vegetarian diners.
In contrast to the North Carolina image, the depiction of the California cuisine is a more accurate reflection of the types of foods we eat here at Stanford. The quality here at Stanford, however, is much better. Soda, fruits, cereal, oatmeal, breads, and vegetables can be found on our plates. Many of the processed foods and frozen meals, on the other hand, are not found in the university's kitchens. With households outside of Stanford, the Caven family's food choices are much more common. One must wonder, then, the accuracy of the other country's depictions.
Here are some things that we eat at Stanford.
Chickpeas in tomato sauce
Watermelon
Grilled tofu
Cereal and milk
The two photos featuring diets in the United States only represents a small fraction of the very diverse diet of our country, which leads us to wonder whether the photo of the Egyptian family is representative of the country's diet as a whole.
What was most surprising about the Egyptian family’s diet was the lack of processed foods, especially in comparison to the featured American families. There also seems to be a heavy reliance on fresh fruits and vegetables and less on meat. Is this diet more typical of a middle class Egyptian family? How do the diets of poorer and richer families differ from this diet? What do you eat?
Comments
what a great post!
Posted by: Christine Alfano, Stanford | October 19, 2009 02:18 PM
I agree, great post--and I love the photos of your meals! I'm curious how much your diet differs at home compared to at Stanford? I'm excited to hear what the students at AUC say in response to your questions!
Posted by: Julia Bleakney | October 20, 2009 07:35 PM
As far as the essay as a whole, I believe it wasn't necessarily a specific photo that surprised me but more the juxtaposition of certain photos that created an alarming
element of some sort and struck a bell in my mind. For instance, the Manzo family of Sicily, consisting of five members, 3 of
which are young boys with an expenditure of $260 with plenty of bread
laid out on the table, followed by the Aboubakar family of Breidjing
Camp comprised of six members, two young boys, three girls and a
mother, spending $1.23 a week with very basic and minimal foods in the
photo. Another example is that of the Bainton family of Cllingbourne
Ducis with the impressive amount of candy, followed by the Namgay
family of Shingkhey Village where it is all basically vegetables and a
little fruit. To think that the variety of foods and products that we
take so much for granted may not even exist elsewhere is quite
alarming.
What was quite compelling for me is how families from
all over the globe are laid in a parallel manner which emphasizes (at
certain points more than others) how what may lack or not even exist
in some places is found in others in bulk.
Posted by: Sarah Ibrahim | October 26, 2009 04:26 AM
I loved how you showed photos of examples of what you have on campus, so I went and took photos of stuff I found in the kitchen however, I cannot upload them. not sure hot to do that, so in the meantime here are some thoughts:
I would say meats here are in fact a very important aspect of a meal, I would go as far as saying that dinner without meats would seem incomplete. However, with lower incomes, families tend to not be capable of affording meats and therefore don’t eat them often. To be a vegetarian here is quite difficult I would say because not many places cater to vegans. I have a friend who is a vegetarian and whenever we went out to eat I noticed how she had to specifically ask for there to be no meat minced up in sauces or anything to that effect. The term vegan is understood in upper class restaurants however, the cheap places for clientele with tight budgets do not understand the term and are confused when you start asking for dishes without any meats. It is as if meats are part-impartial of all meals.
As far as our AUC campus, the food ranges from burgers and pizza to chicken, sautéed vegetables and mashed potatoes, salads, or traditional Egyptian food like Koshari ( made of pasta, rice, lentil, sometimes chick peas, topped with tomato sauce and fried onions.
Boad bean patties (tameya) and fava beans (fool) sandwiches along with koshari
Are very popular in poorer neighborhoods, yet still, all over.
What you eat here depends a lot on what you can normally afford as that determines how much you're capable of paying. Furthermore, what's in you wallet or purse determines where you can eat or grocery shop and that opens up certain venues for some more than others. An example of that would be perhaps organic food. Families that are struggling financially are more likely to be worried about not affording meat instead of going out and paying extra for natural, whole foods.
Posted by: Sarah Ibrahim | October 27, 2009 03:40 PM
I apologize for all the typos and repetition found within the last two paragraphs in my comment. I should not be doing this at 12:26 am! But here goes me correcting myself:
As far as our AUC campus, the food ranges from burgers and pizza to chicken, sautéed vegetables and mashed potatoes, salads, or traditional Egyptian food like Koshari ( made of pasta, rice, lentil, sometimes chick peas, topped with tomato sauce and fried onions), broad bean patties (tameya) and fava bean (fool) sandwiches. Tameya, fool and koshari are very popular in poorer neighborhoods as they are inexpensive yet are found all over Cairo.
What you can afford determines the kind of foods you're exposed to in a sense. An example of that would be perhaps organic food. Families that are struggling financially are more likely to be worried about not affording meat instead of going out and paying extra for natural, whole foods.
P.S. I still don't know how to upload my photos but they show a lot of fruit; apples and oranges, crackers, plenty of spices and pasta, mushrooms, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, parsley, rosemary and broccoli. Also, different kinds of cheese and yogurt. My mother is quite big on organic.Once I have the photos up here you'll notice. :)
Posted by: Sarah Ibrahim | October 27, 2009 03:57 PM
Hi, “Group C” of Stanford,
I've read your post of the Times magazine article on the research about what we eat. Although failing to record families placed in the southern hemisphere countries that could notably be affected by latitude and idiosyncrasies from those of the northern hemisphere, I found it really interesting and I was impressed by some markedly differences between the expenditure to feed dissimilar amount of family members.
Extremes are the family of 4, (which it seems to be the typical amount) of Germany, UE, which spends $500 and the family of 13 in Bhutan, Asia which spends $5.
The family of Chad, Africa, which spends the unreasonable amount of $1.23 to feed a family of 6 members in 1 week can’t be compared with the other world families, because they actually live under extraordinary conditions at being confined in a camp site. They can be matched up when they lived in a free country as the others.
However, among the countries that spend less, this is Chad $1,23 and Bhutan $5,03 I’ve found that both are landlocked countries and placed at a crossroads of civilizations (as Mongolia $40.02 but this spends lots more!). Bhutan welcomes migratory shepherds in its southernmost land. Could this affect its family income in some way?.
But there’s more to say about the family in the land watered by snow-fed rivers of Bhutan; that as being the largest family hosting 3 generations spending only $5,03 weekly to feed 13 members, it was rated as the happiest country in Asia and the eight-happiest in the world by Business Week magazine in 2006, citing a survey conducted by the University of Leicester.
Among the families that spend less that $100 in a week are; Ecuador $31.55 of 9 members, Mongolia $40,02 of 4 members of a 2 generational family, and Egypt $68.53 composed by 12 members of 3 generations.
According to the research, the average family spend between $150 and $250 which in order are; Poland $151 for a family of 5 of 2 generations, Beijing, CA, USA $159, China $155 and Mexico $189 for a standard family of 4 and 5 members, then Kuwait $221 of 6 members and 2 living-in maids, and UK $253 for a 4 members family.
The richest families that spend around $300 weekly are; South Italy $260, Japan $317 and North Carolina, USA $341 for a standard family.
We see that the famous proverb “full stomach; happy heart” is not quite true, as having too much to choose it doesn’t bring much happiness as being surrounded by lots of members of the same family; as the study shows, the families composed by close to 10 members are also the ones that spend less weekly; Breidjing, Chad $1,23 of 6, Shingkhey, Bhutan $5 of 13, Tingo, Ecuador $31 of 9 and Egypt $68,53 of 12 members.
What we eat says a lot and is much of what we are according to the Zen philosophy of cooking known as Macrobiotics in the western world.
I’d like to know more about it!
Posted by: Alejandra Cetrangolo | November 14, 2009 12:43 PM
This article is really an eye opener to me. Thanks. Keep on posting!
Posted by: Modern Muslimah Fashion | November 17, 2009 03:13 AM
I think the picture of the Egyptian family is rather accurate but yes, you can see more processed foods in upper class families; however it pretty much stays the same.
No matter what class you're in, the same traditional egyptian meals are cooked in every household. We do however consume more meat than in the picture, but then again not everyone can afford meat.
Here one campus we eat a lot of fast food, there are healthier options of course, but they're usually more expensive and no one can be bothered. I find it easier to just eat McDonald's all the time and then have a nice meal when I get home.
Posted by: Dania Ghoneim | November 19, 2009 06:04 AM
A truly fascinating piece. It's amazing and a real eyeopener that us Americans have the highest intake of processed foods, and it's killing us! We need to take a hint from other cultures and adapt our eating habits so we can live a fuller life.
Posted by: Vegetarian Dog Food | November 20, 2009 11:09 AM