American Food Culture Research Paper

Hispanic vs. American Food Culture

For this project, I chose to research the Hispanic food culture being I am a Spanish minor and I’ve studied much of the culture before. The culture I chose to identify with is American. Being an American, a few of the most common foods I consume are biscuits and gravy, Buffalo wings, and meatloaf, very southern comfort foods. These are very common foods and are usually eating at dinner, which tends to be from 5pm to 7pm. Some of the most common foods consumed by Hispanics are guacamole, enchiladas, and tamales. Depending on the occasion, these food items can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or as a snack. The timing for meal consumption is similar for both American and Hispanic culture, but lunch is

We rely heavily on packages, processed, and fast food to keep up with the fast pace lifestyles we live. In contrast, Hispanics consume a diet filled with whole grain, fresh fruit and vegetables, beans, rice, herbs, and spices. They also prepare more of their meals than we do as Americans. A typical meal day for Americans would be, breakfast from 7am -10am, snack, lunch from 12pm-2pm, snack, and dinner from 6pm-8pm. Breakfast, if eaten, would usually consist oatmeal, fruit, eggs, or cereal. Lunch would probably be something from a fast food restaurant. Dinner would be something home cooked and very filling. On the contrary, a typical meal day for Hispanics would be breakfast from 7am-10am, lunch 1:30pm-4pm, dinner from 8pm-9pm. Breakfast would be tropical fruits, sweet bread, or yogurt. Lunch would be a huge meal with a huge family gathering consisting of soup or salad, the main course, and dessert. Dessert would usually be fruit or flan, a traditional Hispanic dessert. Dinner would be something light after having such a huge lunch. Upon researching, the differences I saw between American and Hispanic food culture were the presence of processed and packaged food in the American culture, and the presence of fresh fruits