Week 3

This week’s topic was really interesting to talk about with my family.  Beyond my troubles with trying to translate it into questions they understand, their answers were also interesting. 

We initially had difficulty with the first question, but once I was able to understand them they had multiple examples of eating practices of others that they find weird.  There first instinct answer was about China’s eating practices.  They were very passionately grossed out by the idea that China eats weird animals, which is an idea that they took to be a cold hard fact.  They also expressed that the amount of chili that they eat in Mexico is weird to them.  They also brought up iguana soup that is evidently popular in Honduras and a dish from Columbia that they claim is essentially rice and chocolate.  While there answers to these questions were interesting, the way in which they delivered these answers were even more interesting.  They were clearly disgusted at these different types of foods and traditions.  It made me think about the way we all think about foods of other cultures, and even about the first chapter that we read for this week.  In that chapter we read as a Frenchman discussed the role that food plays in our society.  Reading it and then listening to my family’s answers to the questions made me realize how we all view other cultures eating habits very differently than we view our own.  This theme held true in the second question as well to which my family gave multiple answers where popular foods of other countries would never be acceptable in Costa Rica.  They mentioned many things that they believe China eats like rats and cockroaches that they swore would never, ever be eaten in Costa Rica.  It was actually quite funny to hear the bias that they answered with. 

When I asked them if the food a person eats “says” anything about that person, they agreed that it definitely does.  My mom touched on the idea that you can often tell if a person is rich or poor by looking at the foods they eat.  She also said that food could often tell you something about the way someone was raised.  As far as weight, my mom told me that if a person is slightly overweight it might be because they are wealthy or even because they do not work or work out much.  However, she said that in Costa Rica it is important that you eat enough, and stay healthy.  She said it is not a good thing to be really, really skinny because it means you are most likely not eating healthy.  I thought that there response to this question was very interesting as well because it validated the idea that food acts as more than just a necessity.  It holds psychological and sociological weight as well.

Overall my talk with my family was very interesting and verified with many things that we have read about and discussed in class.  It was interesting to see how they viewed others eating habits, and how food can define a person.

For my photos this week I have included an ad that is on the window of AM/PM and an ad found in the sale papers at MasXMenos. Each of these ads shows something different about Costa Rican food and tastes.  In the AM/PM ad it is obvious that they are also trying to sell convenience.  This is because the ad is showing different combos that can be bought as meals.  This sells convenience because it lets people know that they can go there and receive an entire meal quickly and cheaply.  This will appeal to people who have a short lunch break or just need something quick and easy to eat.  This tactic works well because I know that many of us students partake in the deal throughout the week.  On the other hand the MasXMenos ad is selling a healthy meal and a happy family.  The ad shows happy families eating the select cereal and the words in the ad allude to the cereal’s nutritional value.  Through these two differing ads it is clear that there are multiple appeals that Costa Ricans use to advertise their foods.  While the ads are a little different than the U.S. they are very similar.  It is not uncommon to find foods being advertised for convenience.  Actually that is why fast food is so popular, because of its convenience.  However, the ad with the happy family made me think a little bit.  While we do have ads showcasing happy families eating healthy food it is not that common.  Instead we advertise healthy foods with attractive and “sexy” people.  This alone demonstrates how we hold more value in materialistic aspects of life, such as personal appeal, and Costa Ricans generally value family more.  It is very interesting to use ads to look at the likenesses and differences between Costa Rica and the U.S.