Culture

What is  my culture? We Americans of English descent are discouraged from embracing our cultural identity.  Any thought in that direction is considered to be racist, supremacist.  We are encouraged to embrace cultural celebrations focused on cultures such as Native American, Latin American, African, African American, Irish, Italian, German, Polish, Ukrainian, and Armenian.  We are pressured to love such things. If we don't love them, we are considered racist.

We are told that as white Americans, one of the things that is wrong with us is that we see the way we are as the norm, rather than as one of many possible cultural expressions.  However, we aren't allowed to think otherwise, as we get called racist if we embrace our own cultural identity.

My sister lives in Brazil, and brought her Brazilian fiance to visit her family and friends in the northeastern United States.  He was eager to learn about our culture.  Do we even know what our culture is?

As we ate oatmeal for breakfast, she explained, "Oatmeal is a traditional New England breakfast.  Some people eat it every day.  It's good for the cold weather because it stays warm in your tummy until lunch."

What foods are associated with my culture?  The things that come to mind are associated with particular occasions or regions, foods like cranberry sauce, baked beans, pumpkin pie, Boston brown bread, and New England clam chowder.  But the things we eat every day, that's what our culture really eats.

Breakfast: cold cereal with milk; toast with butter or jelly; bagel with cream cheese; orange or grapefruit juice; half a grapefruit; eggs; bacon; muffins; coffee.

Lunch: sandwiches with cold cuts, cheese, lettuce, and tomato.

Supper: chicken, beef, fish, potatoes, rice, bread, rolls, pasta, vegetables.

Summer celebrations: barbecue hot dogs and hamburgers; potato chips; potato salad; soda; beer; cookies; brownies; corn on the cob; watermelon.

Fall, winter, and spring celebrations: turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, peas, squash, cranberry sauce, pie.

Many of these foods are not foods I like to eat.  That's because I'm describing the overall white American culture.  People in that culture do things I don't do, like watch television, go to malls, and play computer games.  I have always lived in this culture.  To some extent, it is my culture.  But I have also always lived in a subculture which is a better match for my preferences.  I'm not sure there's a good name for this subculture.  Many people around me identify as "folkies," but I don't think an interest in folk music is mandatory.  I think "crunchy granola" is a more encompassing term, though it is rather awkward and silly.

This subculture includes interests such as:

• Folk music and folk dance, especially as a participant.
• Food: legumes, whole grains, vegetables, fruits, organic, locally grown, not overly processed, not too much sugar.  
• Beverages: water, juice, tea (herbal and non-herbal), coffee, beer. No soda.
• Sustainable living, permaculture, organic gardening, Transition movement, renewable energy, composting, bicycling.  
• Low-tech outdoor recreation such as walking, kayaking, and cross country skiing.
• Egalitarian ideals.
• Books, learning, education, science.
• Atheists, agnostics, humanists, pantheists, pagans, liberal Christians, Quakers, Unitarian Universalists, Jews, and Buddhists.
• An aversion to large corporations, complex technology, and highly commercialized environments.  No eating at McDonald's or shopping at WalMart.
• Alternative medicines, herbal remedies.  

My culture identity is a combination of different things.  My roots reach back to England and Ireland, so traditions from those places are a part of my past.  My ancestors came to New England from England in the 1600s and from Ireland in the 1800s, so my culture includes the traditions of New Englanders of Irish and English descent.  I have lived in the northeastern United States all my life, so that is the backdrop for everything I've learned and experienced.  I grew up in the "crunchy granola" subculture I've described, and have chosen to continue to live within this subculture.  

These are my roots, the traditions from which I come.  This is my culture. This is who I am.  These roots are to be honored and celebrated.  That does not mean my culture is better than any other.  It does not mean that people from my culture never did anything bad.  But being a druid means understanding yourself as connected to your land, your history, and your tribe.  

Restaurant review: Oliver's Naturals

I prefer independently owned restaurants over chains to the extent that I don't even go to chain restaurants. As much as independently owned restaurants are a notch above chains, Oliver's Naturals is a notch above other independently owned restaurants. Of course the food is good, and on their one-page menu, I can find over a dozen appealing options, while at other restaurants with six-page menus, I may find only two edible items and no appealing items. That's because I'm a vegetarian, and non-vegetarian restaurants can't seem to think of much to serve vegetarians other than pasta and salad.

But what I like most about Oliver's is not the food but the atmosphere. Adam is the waiter, cashier, chef, and owner. He's helped out by his mom, Diana. When you enter, they greet you warmly. The cooking area is right there, behind the counter, so as they cook, they may ask you questions about how you want your food. The seating area is small, and a busy time seems to be any time there are more than about 4 customers in the restaurant at a time. The other day when I was there, there was a party of 8, and Adam told me, "I've never had so many people in one party before." The smallness means the customers can all talk to each other, as well as to Diana and Adam. One day, a customer was on the cell phone talking to a friend, saying something along the lines of, "I'm at Oliver's Naturals. You should come join us." She said to Adam, "Want to talk to her?" and passed him the phone. At most restaurants, it is not typical for the owner to get on a customer's cell phone to talk with a customer's friend. This was a first-time customer, but she had already caught the atmosphere of the place enough that if felt natural to her to offer Adam the phone.

Too many restaurants have gone out of business, so I hope that Oliver's gets plenty of customers so they can stay open for a long time to come. On the other hand, the smallness is what makes it such a great restaurant, so I want it to stay small.

Food and drink

This is what I do and don't eat, in case anyone ever wants to know.

To me, there are four basic food groups. There are a wealth of interesting things to eat in these food groups, but you wouldn't know it from going to an American restaurant.

1. Legumes, nuts, and seeds. Includes lentils, split peas, kidney beans, chickpeas, and many others. Hummus and tofu are both made from foods in this group. I like some Indian and Latin American style dishes. Red lentils are one of my standby dishes because they are easy to cook. I just throw on some spices, and if I'm feeling energetic, I add onion and coconut too. Tofu is also easy -- usually I throw on some tamari and some sesame oil.
   
2. Whole grains: includes brown rice, millet, quinoa, buckwheat, whole wheat, oats, and amaranth, barley, kamut, rye, spelt, corn, triticale, and flax. I don't usually eat all those. Usually it's mainly wheat, oats, and rice. Shredded wheat is a good cold cereal because it's just made with whole wheat. Most cold cereals have some form of sugar added. When I was a kid, my mother made whole wheat muffins without sugar, and that was better than the sugary things called muffins that they sell in stores.
   
3. Vegetables. My favorites include tomatoes, carrots, squash, beets, sweet potatoes, spinach, and swiss chard.
   
4. Fruits. My favorites inclue nectarines, peaches, bananas, mangos, kiwis, strawberries, blueberries, black raspberries, and blackberries.
   

My beverages of choice are:

• Juice. I usually drink this for breakfast. When I talk about juice, I mean juice that's actually 100% juice. I don't see why anyone would add sugar to their juice. I like orange, pineapple, and grapefruit juice. I also like blends of several kinds of juice, sometimes with fruit puree added too. In addition to the aforementioned kinds of juices, these blends may include banana, passionfruit, etc. I don't really drink a lot of apple, grape, or cranberry juice.
  
• Water. I drink this for lunch and supper, and between meals.
• Smoothies. These are a tasty treat, especially in warm weather.
  
• Herbal tea. I drink this once in a while, especially in cold weather, in the evening, or when I'm sick.
  

Now here's what I don't eat, or only eat in limited amounts:

• I don't eat meat. Sometimes people ask me, "What about chicken?" What about fish?" I didn't say I don't eat mammals. I said I don't eat meat. Meat is the flesh of animals. Chick and fish are animals.
• I am not a vegan. I will eat foods containing milk or eggs. However, often I don't. I don't generally drink milk as a beverage. I do put milk on cereal, but at home, I usually have soy milk for that purpose. Though I'm not fond of milk as such, I do like milk products such as ice cream, cheese, yogurt, and pudding. However, sometimes I try to avoid milk products when my respiratory situation is flaring up. Most of the time though, I eat milk products regularly, mainly cheese. However, some nonvegetarians seem to think the way to feed vegetarians is to give them a lot of cheese. I like cheese, but not enought to make it the main course of every meal.
  
• I don't eat much sugar. Sometimes I try to avoid it entirely. Other times, it's not part of my daily routine, but I'm willing to have ice cream or cookies as a treat.
  
• I don't like hot, spicy foods. Some people are proud of their tolerance for hot foods. To me, that's like being proud that you are so hard of hearing that loud noises don't bother you. I just don't see the point of repeatedly burning your taste buds until your sense of taste has been dulled sufficiently that you don't mind hot foods, and non-spicy foods seem too bland.
• I avoid alcohol and soda because I just don't see the point of them. I don't really like them and they aren't the most nutritional beverages anyhow.
• I don't usually drink much coffee or caffeinated tea, but they are okay sometimes. Occasionally I like a latte or cappucino.
  
• Chocolate occasionally makes me nauseous, and besides, it usually has sugar in it, so it's a good thing to avoid. However, sometimes I try it in a social situation, like when there's cake to celebrate someone's PhD defense.