My food choices are not typically influenced by social norms, but the social norms do not make it easy either. Being a vegetarian, I am often the “odd one out” when I am out with my friends and even at home sometimes. Typically this is not a big deal as my mother and younger sister are vegetarians too, but we (and other vegetarians/vegans in general) find trouble when it comes time for cookouts in summer. Social norm dictates that everyone eats meat – beit burgers, hotdogs, ribs, steak, etc. – as a way of celebration and “fitting in” (social eating). I suppose in California and other “high-health” states where there is more people living the veggie-lifestyle would not be as odd (there are even pure-veggie restaurants!), but here in Pennsylvania (where pork and sauerkraut is a tradition on New Year’s for almost EVERYONE), and down south in my native state of North Carolina (lots of meat and TONS of gravy), I just have to accept I’m the odd one out.
Two issues that I can connect are obesity/general health and environmental issues. Please note that I am not calling meat-eaters bad or “sway them”- there is nothing wrong with eating meat. Many people who fail to understand vegetable-based lifestyles work tend to look down on them and sometimes will eat even MORE in the process of “showing them up”. Needless to say that there tends to be overeating at cookouts and overeating leads to weight-gain. Too much of one food group is bad as well for one’s health. In order for the meat demand to be met, the livestock are often fed massively unhealthy diets in order to bulk them up; the amount of land used for the livestock’s food alone is astonishing. The pollution to the air and water is alarming as well – the planet is not getting bigger, but the population is so we need efficiency. The “new norm” should be one of eating more balanced diets and spending time focusing on the people with rather than the food itself.
Hello Teresa. My name is Gilberto Aponte.
It is quite the thing to face being into such a meat eating culture. Back home in Puerto Rico it is also very common for us to have lots of meat with our meals, so you will have some trouble there as well. I actually mentioned how in other places such as Italy, meat consumption is much less and how that affects their diets.
Link to my post: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/04/gilberto-apontep-prats-module-6/
Hello Teresa! My name is Jonah and here is a link to my blog:
http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/04/module-6-jonah-kim/
Me being a big fan of meat, I cannot imagine life without it. But, I imagine your health is in good form with you not having the need to eat unhealthy meats. In particular many fast food places are heavily meat based. Also, your talk of a balanced nutrition kind of got me thinking of making post workout meals with vegetables that are high in protein. I feel like high animal proteins are good for after working out but that’s not all there is in regards to getting your intake if protein.
Hello! My name is Kaitlyn, here is my blog:
http://sites.psu.edu/geog30/2016/03/04/food-choice-and-social-norms-11/
I found your post very interesting. My younger sister and I were vegetarians for most of last year and I ran into the same problem come summer, or when it came to eating meals out. As my brother and Dad are huge meat eaters, they often chose restaurants that offer very few vegetarian/vegan options, and when it comes to family parties and barbeques there were rarely options that catered to us. This lack of resources prompted me to give up on that lifestyle and adopt a far less healthy one.
Hello my name is Madison Halbom, I found your blog post very interesting in the fact of discussing your struggles of being a vegetarian. Our country as a whole is very obsessed with the idea of the consumption of meat. I personally am not a vegetarian so I can only imagine how the social norms tend to give you struggles in everyday activities which must very frustrating. I can only imagine, but I am interested in how you referred to the social aspects and events that tend to give you difficultly, shows how attached to our ways our country truly is. Check out my blog http://sites.psu.edu/geog30/2016/03/04/food-choice-and-social-norms-9/
Hi Teresa, my name is Amir, check out my blog post!
http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/04/a-bite-into-islam/
Props for being vegetarian! This past summer, I tried limiting my meat consumption to strictly meat and it was nearly impossible for me. I didn’t really miss meat to be honest, it was just hard because of society, and the low willingness of people to accommodate for this. Another reason I struggled was affordability but I look to try this again in the near future. I do see the health benefits in a vegetarian lifestyle and I agree that it can be hard to commit to when living in the US. I also agree with your statement about meat relating to obesity in America.
Hello Teresa. My name is Tyler Davies. I enjoyed reading your module and I found it very interesting. As you can see from my module, http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/04/module-6-food-choices-and-obesity/ I am a meat eater. My cousin is a vegetarian and my family and I always make sure to keep him in mind when having summer cookouts. We always try to make sure there are a few options for him. I think being a vegetarian would be a healthy choice. Your diagram made it easy and interesting to see the relationships of the social norms and issues you had chosen. Great post!