Looking at Cereal, as a cultural Text!?

Topic:

Food

Source:

 I decided to go to all the cafeterias and markets located here on HSU's Campus. I even decided to take a look in my own cupboard! Being able to relate to the topic I was able to look at my personal experiences within my own family and conversation with others.

Relation: 

Many would ask, "How could looking at Cereal be a cultural text?” Well, by doing more than just looking at the cereal, if you take the time to notice the packaging the expressions on the circle and even when and how it is consumed. A Cultural Text is simply stated by Robbins on pg 20 as, “a way of thinking about a cultural as a text of significant symbols-words, gestures, drawings, natural objects- that carries meaning. So why can’t we take a food, like cereal, that appears to be a necessity in most  American homes and look at it in a way that would provide us with more information of our own cultural. Let’s start by just examining cereal on a whole. The texture of cereals can be smooth or rigid, but they all have the same hard consistency. Looking at Americans diet on a whole, you can see that we consume a lot of fried food. The crunch of the cereal can relate the crunchiness found in fried foods. Fried foods are usually associated with fast foods restaurants, why do people go to fast foods? It is convenient and on the go just like cereal. Cereal comes in many, many varieties, ranging from kid friendly cereal, like Fruit Loops and Cocoa Puffs to adult cereals like Kashi, and Special K. Cereal has been made to fit everyone’s needs, like healthy cereals, rich in whole grains and nutrients and gluten and sugar free cereals to help those with certain food restrictions. Looking more into cereal we know that they are all processed.  Processed foods in America equal less time. Parents feed their children cereal in the morning if there is no time to prepare a fresh breakfast. I remember when my mother didn’t have time to prepare food, my siblings and I resulted in, and you guessed it, cereal. Now cereal has more than one role of just being a breakfast alternative, it has become a snack, desert, and even dinner. As I was sitting in the cafeteria around 6:30 pm, one of my friends sat next to me with a bowl of cereal in his hands. “Cereal for dinner, huh?” I asked him. “Yep, I need to eat then run.” The use for cereal at dinner is the quick alternative to what was available at the cafeteria at that time. This can tell us that Americans are based on time efficiency and are always busy, busy people and we base our diet on what’s convenient. While eating cereal for dinner is one thing, what about cereal as a snack and desert. Cereal as I have seen has been placed in bags and used as a dry snack, without milk, when I asked why; I received the same answer, “Didn’t have time this morning!” As for cereal as a desert, well that’s easy, many times cereal boxes have various different ways you can use cereal than just with milk at breakfast time. Cereal is more than a just a box filled with grains, it is a cultural text, how we eat and prepare it can show a lot about yourself and your culture, even society as a whole.

Description:

Over the last two weeks we have been introduced to anthropology and different sub areas within anthropology. What stood out the most was the topic of Cultural Text. Observing life as a cultural text is such a great way to be able to literally read into someone else’s culture.

Commentary/Analysis:

It is safe to say cereal is a cultural text; a box of cereal contains all the descriptions of what a cultural text entitles, symbols, drawings, words, and obviously food. The way they package the food in a box, with vibrant colors drawing the customers in, not like the cereal aisle is every skipped, but they cereal also uses words like delightful, crunchy, crispy, tasty goodness, famous slogans like, “A mouth full of joy!” All of which are things that help explain our cereal consuming society. Others can take these cultural text pieces and put together ideas in a way that would explain why cereal is so important in a typical American diet.