"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating." ~Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story
In folklore class, we have been discussing the significance of food in American culture. We have made some rather impressive connections - everything from the apple demonstrating themes of innocence and guilt to cranberries equalizing Yankee ingenuity to tobacco representing the essence of hip pop culture. I've found our discussions and the connections made in the readings to be fascinating, but at the same time, I'm a little skeptical about the actual connections for the average American. After all, an apple is just an apple, right? Do regular people really share common values with regard to such ordinary foods? Do they attach any kind of meaning to food?
I asked my brother and sister to tell me the first American theme or connection they would think of when I said the following words. I wasn't looking for deep analysis, just any first impressions or symbolic connections which they might think exist. Here are the results:
Apple
My sister: Johnny Appleseed, health
My brother: Apple pie, Washington State (they grow a lot of apples)
Peach
My sister: It just sort of represents the South.
My brother: Georgia, the Peach State
Orange
My sister: Health again, they're good for you.
My brother: I just know they're grown in Florida and California... They used to be a treasured present, like in the days of Laura Ingalls Wilder, but not anymore.
Banana
My sister: It's a safe food, for everyone; variety - it can be green or mushy; it's good for sick people and well people; they're easy to chew.
My brother: Comedy - you can trip on one. The thought of a walking banana is funny. They're mushy and slippery.
Surprisingly, my brother hit on the same theme mentioned in Rooted in America, our folklore textbook, regarding bananas. The connection between comedy and America is a little more difficult to do on the spot, but the book manages to fudge it rather well. Overall, though, I would hesitate to say that there's anything particularly American about a single food. "As American as apple pie" may be a popular expression, but the truth is that apple pies have been in Europe since the Middle Ages. As for peaches, I learned in my food group presentation that Georgia and the rest of United States produces nowhere near the amount of peaches produced in China. Oranges are healthy, sure, but so are most fruits and vegetables. And the connection between health and America is getting harder to justify as the years go by. If the day ever comes when Americans will be forced to choose between chips and oranges, I shudder to think what will happen to our sense of identity.
In conclusion, I suppose the one lesson we can learn from this experiment is that bananas are funny. Anyone who disagrees is probably a Communist.
In folklore class, we have been discussing the significance of food in American culture. We have made some rather impressive connections - everything from the apple demonstrating themes of innocence and guilt to cranberries equalizing Yankee ingenuity to tobacco representing the essence of hip pop culture. I've found our discussions and the connections made in the readings to be fascinating, but at the same time, I'm a little skeptical about the actual connections for the average American. After all, an apple is just an apple, right? Do regular people really share common values with regard to such ordinary foods? Do they attach any kind of meaning to food?
I asked my brother and sister to tell me the first American theme or connection they would think of when I said the following words. I wasn't looking for deep analysis, just any first impressions or symbolic connections which they might think exist. Here are the results:
Apple
My sister: Johnny Appleseed, health
My brother: Apple pie, Washington State (they grow a lot of apples)
Peach
My sister: It just sort of represents the South.
My brother: Georgia, the Peach State
Orange
My sister: Health again, they're good for you.
My brother: I just know they're grown in Florida and California... They used to be a treasured present, like in the days of Laura Ingalls Wilder, but not anymore.
Banana
My sister: It's a safe food, for everyone; variety - it can be green or mushy; it's good for sick people and well people; they're easy to chew.
My brother: Comedy - you can trip on one. The thought of a walking banana is funny. They're mushy and slippery.
Surprisingly, my brother hit on the same theme mentioned in Rooted in America, our folklore textbook, regarding bananas. The connection between comedy and America is a little more difficult to do on the spot, but the book manages to fudge it rather well. Overall, though, I would hesitate to say that there's anything particularly American about a single food. "As American as apple pie" may be a popular expression, but the truth is that apple pies have been in Europe since the Middle Ages. As for peaches, I learned in my food group presentation that Georgia and the rest of United States produces nowhere near the amount of peaches produced in China. Oranges are healthy, sure, but so are most fruits and vegetables. And the connection between health and America is getting harder to justify as the years go by. If the day ever comes when Americans will be forced to choose between chips and oranges, I shudder to think what will happen to our sense of identity.
In conclusion, I suppose the one lesson we can learn from this experiment is that bananas are funny. Anyone who disagrees is probably a Communist.
1 comment:
Yeah for food! I guess everyone has figured out by now that I am "My sister" in this post. I should have thought of bananas being funny. If you had asked about banana peels...but that's ok.
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