Lucas Skiba
3/2/16
GEOG 030
Module #6
Breakfast Food Choices and Social Norms
I have to say it is a social norm for americans to eat bacon and eggs for breakfast. I probably eat bacon and eggs three times a week but most people, including my dad eat bacon almost every morning. This is a food choice because there are plenty of other healthier choices for breakfast other than bacon which is processed meat. Other good healthier food choices are fruit, toast, oatmeal, cereal, etc. During the weekdays when I’m on my way to work I usually eat a banana or an apple for breakfast it is quick and easy way to get energy. It’s a lot easier than cooking greasy bacon, and making a mess. It may taste good but for one, bacon is not as nutritional as fruit or toast. Secondly bacon and eggs have a bigger environmental impact than say a banana or an apple. This module really made me see social norms and the food choices I am making, and the consequences and reactions they have on the environment.
Choosing bacon as a food choice for breakfast and a social norm, I said that it was not nutritionally and environmentally safe as other food choices. Mainly because bacon is a red meat that comes from pigs. This meat is processed and not healthy. The kinds of protein you want to stick to is fish, poultry, beans and nuts. Which beef, pork, and chicken are the leading livestock in factory farms. By purchasing bacon you are supporting the factory farms that pollute the environment and spread animal diseases. These farms aren’t just polluting the air with feces and manure it is also polluting the water as well. These huge factory farms that are located in rural areas near neighborhoods and towns have high populations of animals that produce so much feces in them that it runs into our water supply. So I think our social norm and food choice for breakfast should be fruit. Keep it cost effective and nutritious without supporting major factory farms that produce process meat that ruin the environment.
Hi Lucas! My name is Kevin, really well written and thought out posting, I too am an appreciator of bacon and eggs however since moving to California where Linguica is so prominent the restaurants promote Linguica as much as they promote bacon, sometimes more so! However it has the same societal issues being a pork based sausage that your system approaches with bacon. The argument that can be made with putting fruit in as the breakfast staple is its food miles, when I lived in western PA I didn’t have access to fresh locally grown Oranges or Grapefruits. Not that I would eat Grapefruit. Or say Blueberries aren’t necessarily prominent in western PA, or I don’t think they were, but shipping simple fruits becomes a point of contention, and would be interested to see the footprint left for respective food miles for different crops.
http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/04/californias-central-coast-bbq/
Hello Lucas, My name is Adam Abbott and I am a senior in IST. I read your post and agree at times it does feel like most people who eat breakfast have bacon with breakfast. I tend to have turkey bacon or deer meat breakfast sausage, but I do still enjoy some good bacon. I like your chart a lot. It is easy to follow and shows the connections very well. I actually like your chart better than mine because I didn’t go into as much detail about the environmental effects like you did. I think you did a great job of explaining your food choice situation.
If you would like to take a look at my post the link is here: http://sites.psu.edu/geog30/2016/03/04/module-6-food-choice-2/