The Cuthrell Family Analysis

The development of the food industry throughout the 20th century has captured the attention of many as fast food has become the new fad diet concerning nutritionist. Until recent times, Americans and others around the world have not been concerned with the origin of their food and what its impact could have on their everyday lives. This concern for diet didn’t become relevant until the early 1970s (Pollen 2010). When I interviewed Christine Cuthrell, my mother, who was in her teens during the 1980s remembers how many people were beginning to shift away from eating at home with their families every night. This shift didn’t take place in the Cuthrell family until she was out of school and busy working everyday. This analysis of the Cuthrell

Additionally, the forever changing food industry has caused the introduction of fast food and frozen, fast to make foods because many people don’t allocate the time to make all of their meals because they say they have too much going on. This epidemic has caused many foods and celebrations to seemingly lose their authenticity as many people show up to gathering and events with a store bought snack. In my opinion, this ruins the fun of having a potluck, where everyone brings a dish and everyone shares, style of celebrations. Rarely do people comment on the quality of the cooking or complement each other anymore because often times the response is simply “Oh I didn’t make it, I bought it at the store. Aren’t they great though.” Although I understand that we, as humans, have become more occupied with education and extracurriculars, I think we need to understand that food is more important than twenty minutes a day. We and our bodies deserve the nutrients we need to stay healthy, and remain active for as long as possible. A large issue today is that many are resorting to fast food before and after sports and it is not giving the supplements necessary for the work-out we are giving our bodies and causing health issues down the road. Overall, we must begin a new movement, much like any other; to bring knowledge and understanding about our bodies and the food we eat to all. This understanding will foster making food at home with supplies that we know are safe for our bodies. My

In summation, in learning about the food ethnography of my family, I have realized that my family, like many others has fallen into the trap of believing that there is only one way that we can eat with our schedule. I learned about the significant differences between my mother 's upbringing and my own where I have learned just to eat whenever and wherever, and she learned that it is polite to sit at the table and socialize with everyone as well as wait for them to finish before leaving the table. The development of what are today my family 's customs through my mom 's life is intriguing as she, like many others resorted to fast food as a supplement because of issues with timing. I am curious to understand, what action is necessary to combat this barrier of time and price that was not once an issue? I believe that our best chance at dis-establishing the fast food market would be understanding the food itself. Most people understand or have heard that fast food is bad for you, but providing significant scientific evidence that fast food is causing our obesity and diabetes epidemic should create fear in people, which is much more powerful than any other