Food & Culture Presentation Review

    After hearing most of the food and culture presentations, I can definitely say I have been surprised by the numerous odd traditions and habits of other countries. One that stuck out to me was Rachel’s presentation of Germany. Learning about things like Oktoberfest is fascinating, and it’s really interesting to see what unites people in different places (like beer, for example.). While other countries traditions seem odd to us, for them it is what they’ve known and been raised with, like Thanksgiving or Halloween for us. It is also very interesting to see the crazy food that different cultures eat, things that sound appauling to us are the norm for them. While Houston and I were putting together our presentation, we had the opportunity to get a taste of the Peruvian culture. We definitely learned a few shocking things, like about the consumption of guinea pigs and alpacas, which would seem so bizarre here. Another one I found interesting was Thailand, and the way they set their meals up. I think it’s funny that it’s only encouraged to eat sweets for breakfast there, where here, dessert is normally for after dinner. Also their frequent snacking and large lunches with light dinners makes me question our own countries set up of meals. Through seeing the presentations, I also learned a lot about the different cultural and geographical influences of each countries diet. The videos of people trying  the foods from a certain country made me laugh, and shows the difference in preferences culturally.

    The main thing I discovered through these cultural influences presentations is that food truly does unite people. Even though in each country, they have their own specific and different traditions and ways of eating, the common denominator is that food is associated with celebration everywhere. Whether it’s rice soaked in alcohol, guinea pig or beer, food and drink brings people together. There are festivals and carnivals in almost every country celebrating that. The bottom line is that wherever you go, whatever the traditions and cultures, people love food. Something that we commonly take for granted and don’t take notice of plays a significant role in everyones life, far beyond the nourishment of our bodies. 
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