Food needs to keep up with Americans

Most of the articles that we covered this week touch on subjects that we have all heard of or are somewhat familiar with. However the one article that i found very intriguing is the Negra article on Ethinic Food Fetishism. I have always loved cooking shows, the food network is actually one of my favorite channels. I watch all the shows featuring "ethnic" cooking chefs, Giada, Molto Mario, Bobby Flay etc. I also love movies that are related to food. Eat, Pray Love, Julia Child, Soul Food, ive seen them all but i  never looked for a deeper meaning while i watched these shows, it was pure entertainment for me. It was not until this article that i began to realize and make a connection between food fetishism and different media.As we were talking in groups i began to think about how even though we have this nostalgia for things of the past and we try to keep them alive at the same time we wont let go of our current ideologies. For example, this article talks about the fetishism of ethnic food in films and how it tries to recapture the values of family that American Culture has lost. Even though we are trying to recapture or preserve these values of family shared meals and togetherness other types of media are in contradiction. Fast Food for example is ultimately created for a modern American. It is food that can keep up with the new industrialized and fast paced lives of Americans. Advertising for fast food restaurants like McDonald's have made it a point to appeal to this particular audience. McDonald's accessorize campaign ads feature younger people that are on the go. These are people much like DePaul students, with no time to eat at a restaurant none the less eat with their family. It pitches food as an accessory something more that we can carry with us. McDonald's focuses more in particular to their new smoothies, shakes and coffee. Restaurants like Olive Garden create their restaurants around the concept of a home meal however counter to that we have fast food chains like McDonalds that value mobilization and accessibility much like our current society. In a sense we want it all, we want to keep traditions placed within ethnic food alive but we also want to have food that keeps up with the active American.