This article is about the big change in eating patterns among people in the UK today. According to The British Library Board, eating habits of today are completely different from those that were practised in the 1950’s. It goes further to explain the reason behind the great disparity between our eating methods today and back in the 50’s. Among the experiences of today’s food is boredom as a result of repetitive flavours. The author has further stated that the British people are especially known for their conservative recipes. The habit of snacking has also kicked in this era more than it ever has.
Fast food joints are available, cheap and pleasant food is available and with people’s busy schedules, time for preparing a meal is limited. Constant snacking is also another phenomenon that makes today’s eating habits different from those of ancestors to who snacking was occasional. They settled for three meals per day. The author further explains that, despite an increase in food research, complications arising from unhealthy eating habits continue to escalate. The author also mentions the increase in the number of vegetarians in the midst of the incredibly unhealthy eating habits.Changes in Eating Habits
The British Library Board attributes this change in eating to the change in cooking methods, advancement in kitchen technology as well as the transportation methods of food to our shops. We cannot relate to the eating styles of our grandparents as our shopping and cooking experiences have since changed. Nowadays, a person just steps into a supermarket and gets all that they want. The implication is that the capacity to prepare better meals today than there was a century ago has increased. In fact, life expectancy has increased a great deal. Mortality rates related to malnutrition have also reduced and despite people being obese, malnutrition is a rare phenomenon (Ensminger and Ensminger 14).
It is hard to imagine that, despite advancement in food technology, people continue to die from food-related disorders such as high blood pressure and heart attacks as a result of being obese. Financial pressure and lack of time could be blamed for the boring food options that are usually available at home. According to Damon and Wade, “many people eat one kind of food for more than three meals because of the practice of storing and heating leftovers” (45). Unlike a century ago whereby storage methods included much more manual work input, as opposed to today, people can now store food for a week or so and still consume it when it is still in good condition.
It was common to hear women in the same household plan out a duty rotter for cooking because every meal required to be prepared at the time it should be consumed. My grandmother always tells me about how much she hated Sundays because despite having got tired from attending church, she always knew that cooking awaited her. The indication is that every meal that was consumed was usually fresh and probably different from the previous one.
This article goes further to explain about the new eating culture that people have adopted. This is the snacking haze and the availability of fast food joints. It especially dwells on the kind of food available in fast food joints found in the streets of Edinburgh, New York, Paris and Shanghai. The author explains that despite there being food shortage in the rest of the world, most people in the Western states do not understand the phenomenon of having three meals per day. This is as a result of the snacking culture adopted among teenagers and children.
The article “Changes in Eating Habits” qualifies as an “effect” essay because the author strives to give the effects of the changing eating habits. The article states that there is indeed a difference in today’s eating habits from those of our grandparents. It goes further to say, “The eating habits of our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents would be completely unrecognisable for many of us today”. The article gives reasons for the change in food trends such as “For many of our grandparents, the idea that by 2007, raw Japanese fish would be sold in British supermarkets and widely enjoyed by people around the country would have been laughable”. People snack more today for the availability of diversity in snacks. It also gives the reason people cook less despite having fully stocked kitchens.
Reasons attributed to snacking habits of today are such as the availability of a wide variety of snacks such as kebabs. The author establishes their credibility by indicating how humorous it would have been for the early Britons to find Japanese fish in Britain’s food markets. The article uses personal reasoning to explain why people still don’t cook despite the fact that shopping for food has been made far much easier. The article sites that the many food shows that are on television today are an indicator that people do not cook much. They tend to serve as an encouraging factor. Another reason listed down is the increased affordability of flights with which many people too travel, discover new types of foods and choose to make them part of their daily snack from then on.Personal Opinion
The title of this article gets me anticipating obtain information concerning the eating habits practised now, and how much they differ from those that were practised a century ago.
According to my interpretation, the article was supposed to cover the exact differences in food consumption trends. I was surprised to find that it dwelt much on fast foods and snacking joints than on the new adopted eating culture. The article seems to be inclined towards the change in cooking trends rather that the changes in eating trends. One of the reasons listed down is the different kitchen equipment found in today’s kitchens as compared to that of the past. This in itself is true because it contributes to the common habit of eating leftovers. However, The British Board makes it seem like the equipment found in today’s kitchens hinders cooking, which is not the case.
Given the chance, I would have focused on the specific ways that eating methods have changed over the century. These are in terms of diet which has been affected by the food grown and food imported. It would have also included the effect that the changing trends have had on human beings. The effect would be that which makes people today look and behave different from the way they did a century ago.
It was possible to enhance the article by including had it included the phases that the western world has gone through before getting to the point is it at in terms of food consumption. This is in regard to quality and quantity. Included would have been a list of the diseases that have resulted from the negative shift in food consumption habits. The article would not have been focused on the negative changes in the changes that have been experienced in food consumption but the positive effects of the change. For instance, people today have a higher life expectancy today than they did today because they actually know about nutrients and their value. This way, people are careful not to exclude any nutrients from their meals.Conclusion
As the article by The British Library Board states, the eating habits practised today are far much worse than those that were practised by our ancestors a century ago. Their kitchen equipment may have been inefficient in many ways according to the average American citizen. Their food consumption was much healthier as compared to today. They rarely consumed leftovers for more than one meal. They have also gotten used of nibbling chocolates and crisps in between their meals. Many people imagine this behaviour they imagine to being harmless, but with serious health and weight implications.
Works Cited
Darmon, Isabelle and Alan Warde. Change in Eating Habits: The Contribution. New York, NY : Adventure Works Press, 2013.
Ensminger, Marion Eugene and Audrey H. Ensminger. Foods & Nutrition Encyclopedia, Volume Two . New York, NY: CRC press, 1993.
The British Library Board. "Change in Eating Habbits." n.d. Learning Food Stories. 18th April 2014 <<http://www.bl.uk/learning/citizenship/foodstories/Accessible/eatinghabits/changesineatinghabits.html>>.
