- A social norm I have personally experienced in regards to food choice would be college. Back at home, I would consume only organic food because my family and I believed in staying away from GMOs. However, college made this difficult. Dining halls only contained food with GMOs, and a trip to an organic store was too inconvenient. I didn’t want to sound strange and refuse to eat this type of food, so I just went with it. I was striving to meet new friends, so not following this social norm and sounding like I was weird would only make my reputation weird. The social norm is that Americans are cheap, and Americans want to spend as little money as possible in the most convenient way. I didn’t blame this norm for saving money because I understand times are tough, but my food choice desired proper nutrition, safety, and sympathy for livestock. Even though I still believe in organic consumption, I have a very limited and pressure choice at PSU because of norms and limited availability.
2. The food choice from paragraph one reflects upon the societal issue of an industrialized agriculture. In order for farms to produce larger quantities of food such as meat, farmers inject hormones into innocent animals that cause them to grow at an abnormal rate. More meat means more profit, which is why fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s serves this meat at such a low price. When we consume this, we are not only consuming the dangerous chemicals injected in the animal, but a poor amount of nutrition and high intake of calories and salt, which leads to the epidemic of obesity; another societal issue. This is connected to food choice because Americans are so focused on convenience and cheap prices that we don’t think about what we are consuming nor what this is doing to our bodies. My view of social norms is focused on proper nutrition. Though prices for safer food may be higher, I believe having a healthy diet with no GMOs is worth every dollar spent, leading to a healthier, longer life.
Hi Cassandra! My name is Kristin Crockett. I found your blog interesting because I have had a similar experience since coming to college. All though my family wasn’t necessarily into eating organic stuff- we always had home cooked meals with lots of veggies which was much healthier than eating out. However when I came to college, I followed the norm of eating dining hall meals, fast foods, and eating out at restaurants a lot with friends so I wasn’t the odd one out. I totally agree with you that Americans are cheap! In my post I wrote that I felt as though Americans eat so unhealthy because it is much cheaper. You can feed a whole family at McDonalds for under $20! I also feel as though the fast pace of American culture is a big part of it because with more parents (moms) working, families are lazier and have less time to cook.
Here is a link to my blog if you want to check it out
https://wp.me/p3RCAy-bEQ
Hi, Cassandra,
I found your post to be very thought provoking. You are spot on: Americans are cheap. There is just no getting around it. Taking advantage of what is in the dining halls as well can be tough, especially since there is not much of a relatively “healthy” choice. I think, however, GMO usage is also important to sustain the surplus of fruits and vegetables, and I discussed this in my posting found here: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/02/29/food-and-agricultural-the-societal-norms/. Nice job on your article/post. It was well written.
– Harrison
Hi Cassandra! My name is Julie and here is a link to my post; https://wp.me/p3RCAy-bDQ.
I find it very interesting that you have always chosen to avoid food with GMO’s, but since coming to college, you are not always able to do this. I can relate to the idea that college has not offered as many healthy food choices as was available back home for me either. I also value proper nutrition and I like the connection you made between the fact that Americans want to spend as little as possible even though it can have a negative cost in the future.