When I went to college the first time, eating in the cafeteria sometimes proved interesting because there were so many things I was unfamiliar with. Now, some family members had farms, so I was familiar with the whole butchering thing. And they hunted. We slaughtered our own chickens one year.
Let’s just say that “running around like a chicken with its head chopped off” is a very accurate simile.
I ate veal once in college. I was pleasantly surprised – until a friend voiced displeasure with my choice and educated me on why. I’ve never even considered it again. I can’t stop seeing it. We’re meat-eaters here in this house, but I draw the line.
Growing up, Sundays were spent in church, and when church was over, we’d go to my uncle’s house to eat. Sunday dinners would quite often be rabbit, squirrel, or groundhog, coupled with mashed potatoes and pan gravy, green beans, and a glass of milk for the kids.
We had a varied menu but it was usually focused on the same ingredients. My grandma was near 90 when she made her first pot of spaghetti. There were some things they simply weren’t used to on the farm. They made everything from scratch. There were no additives, dyes, etc.
I hated cheese as a child, especially macaroni and cheese. Sometimes my mom would remember to put some macaroni aside with butter for me, which I loved, but I wouldn’t eat the orange stuff. When I became an adult living on my own, it didn’t take long for me to develop a taste for macaroni and cheese because it was cheap. Much the same reason, I’m sure, that we ate so many pork n’ beans and baked beans as kids. I ate so much of some stuff as a kid that I refuse to eat it as an adult, and baked beans is one of those.
I love seeing photos of what people are eating. I see the bright colors and beautiful plate arrangements and wonder what it tastes like and whether I’d like it. Did they eat like that as kids or was it learned after they left home? And if they eat like that on a Monday then what’s a big dinner look like at the holidays?
One challenge for me when I was on SNAP was wanting to try new things but being afraid to spend the food stamps on new things. I mean, if you buy something new and no one eats it then not only are you hungry that night but the stamps could have been spent on something that wouldn’t have been wasted.
A few years ago, I was sent to DC for a work conference. I should have been excited because it was paid for, first of all, and in a swanky hotel, but I was nervous. I didn’t know how to do things, like how much and how often to tip the guy who opened the door for me. And when we sat down at the table for lunch? Well, I have never felt so backward in my life.
I sat and waited on someone else to reach for the bread. The staff asked which dish we wanted, and I chose the most popular table choice. I watched to see how they ate the items on the plate that I had no idea how to pronounce let alone eat. I was hungry and embarrassed and perhaps had never felt so alone in my life.
My childhood was spent with people who had lived through the Great Depression and wasted nothing. They prided themselves on providing what they needed in terms of food. At the same time, my mom raised us with what she had, depending on cheap processed foods and quick weekday meals. Most of my adult life has been working low-wage jobs and squeezing a dime out of a nickel. And I have never offered veal to my kids.
There’s a difference between nutritional eating and eating to survive. I can hardly believe that eating wild game was such a big part of my upbringing because I have far removed myself from that, but I can’t seem to move past the “how can our bellies get full the cheapest way possible” mentality.
As food prices, especially meat, continue to rise, the threat of not being able to afford food becomes more and more real. The pressure on the food pantries and feeding sites will continue to grow, and they’re going to need support. The working poor are really going to struggle. If you can make a donation to a local feeding site, write an email after you write your check and tell our government leaders that no one should be hungry in the richest country in the world.
Onward,
Amy Jo
