Are Americans Obsessed with Food?

In my area on this past 4th of July, the weather was far from perfect. The heavy downpour caused most of the fireworks shows in our area to be cancelled. One of the main things that I noticed, however, was that people were not too upset about not being able to see fireworks on the 4th of July. Most of them were upset about not being able to have their BBQ's and having to miss out on all of those "yummy hot dogs, hamburgers, and potato salad."

It seems that we celebrate every single holiday with food. On Thanksgiving, we crowd around the table with family members that many of us do not see the rest of the year to eat turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. This is not to mention the apple or pumpkin pie that we are expected to eat for dessert. If it was homemade pie, chances are that you do not want to offend whoever made it.

On Christmas, many of us crowd around the table and eat ham or turkey again. No matter what your family eats on Christmas, you can probably agree that it is often accompanied by a rich dessert such as gingerbread cookies, chocolate mousse or even cheesecake.

When it comes time for Easter, it is also usually time for many of us to eat ham again, or for the first time this year if we have not yet had it on another holiday. For dessert, we typically eat carrot cake or whatever else we feel in the mood for..

Both Mother's Day and Father's Day are often both celebrated by children making, or attempting to make, their parents breakfast in bed. Later on life, Mother's Day and Father's Day are usually spent by children taking their parents out for breakfast or dinner. In some cases, children may continue the tradition of cooking for their parents on these holidays.

When we are younger, our birthdays are often spent having birthday parties which usually include our food of choice, whether it is pizza or hot dogs. Birthday cake and ice cream is also often enjoyed at these birthday parties. When we get older, we typically spend our birthdays going out for dinner with our friends or family. Ice cream and birthday cake usually remain a tradition throughout much of our lives, though there may be some years when we are disappointed to not have any.

All Americans have their own traditions for any holiday that they celebrate, but many of these traditions do seem to incorporate food in some way or another. One of the main problems that many families seem to experience on some holidays are arguments over who is going to bring what type of food to the table.

When it comes to dating, there are typically two "ideal dates" that we seem to have. One of them is going to the movies, where many enjoy getting popcorn that they often drown in butter. The other one is going out to dinner, where the idea is to get to know someone over a delicious (and often fattening) meal. In some cases, you may find yourself going on a date that includes both dinner and a movie. While there are other types of dates that Americans tend to go on, these just seem to be the two most popular options.

We have an entire television station that is dedicated to food. On the Food Network, we can do a lot more than watch people teach us how to cook the best food. We can also watch competitions, ranging from cake decorating competitions to pizza contests where one of the "tests" includes tossing the highest pizza. I personally know many Americans who sit in front of the television sets all day long watching the Food Network.

Conversations with friends and family members often revolve around food. Often, this type of conversation is as minimal as giving someone a new recipe that we have tried out or recommending a new restaurant in town. At times, however, this type of conversation can blow into a big debate about what type of foods we enjoy or do not enjoy.

This is just to name some of the many ways that foods play a role in our lives. It seems that as Americans, food often has a much deeper meaning to us than simply being something that is used to satisfy our hunger. Many of us seem to relate food to having fun or enjoying ourselves. Others even relate food to love, such as when we cook a meal for someone. What made us feel this way about food in the first place, though? Do we really only feel this way because we are obsessed with food? Or is there another reason for why we associate food with love and happiness?