When I was a young girl growing up in Florianopolis, Brazil I remember that my favorite time of the day was dinner time. That was when I got to sit down around the table and talk to my mom, dad and sister. We could talk about our day in school and my dad would always tell a funny story or something important that happened to him or my mom that day. My excitement was never about the food but about having that time together with my family, sharing stories and moments that I remember until this day. Fortunately, I grew up in a family that had enough money to have a comfortable life but I have never appreciated those dinner table moments before as much as I do now.
After high school, I started studying tourism and hotel management in college. When I was in my fourth semester I had the opportunity to come to United States for a work and travel program. The program allows you to come to work at a ski resort or in the hotel industry for four months during the winter and then go back to your home country for school. That experience was a great opportunity for me to improve my English and to learn how to be more independent.While I was away I definitely learned how hard my mom and dad worked to provide my sister and I with a comfortable life and how much I missed those dinner times together. Having to buy food and cook for myself every day wasn’t easy but I certainly learned to appreciate the opportunity I had and how fortunate I was to being able to experience this on my own and in a different country.
After my first experience in the United States I went back to Brazil for school. When I graduated I had the opportunity to go to Peru to visit some friends I made when I was working in the United States. My trip to Peru surely opened my eyes to the economic and social differences that exist in such a vast culture. I visited places that had shocking contrasts, on one side of the city it was a modern, vibrant and rich place and only a few miles away it was a poor, dilapidated neighborhood where there was always someone asking for money or food on the streets. This was not anything new to me having experienced environments like this in Brazil but seeing this huge contrast right in front of me every single day of my trip made me realize how unaware we are of what is happening in our own community. I thought of the families that can’t even afford a healthy meal every day. I still have the vivid image of little kids and their parents dressed up in the traditional Peruvian colorful clothes asking for some money in exchange of a picture. For tourists it is just an opportunity for a cool picture, but for these Peruvian people it is their job, dressing like that for photos is how they make their money to purchase food to survive.
Based on my experiences I think all the three countries, (Peru, Brazil and U.S.A) are very different both culturally and food wise. For example, according to Numbeo.com a nutritious meal (meat, rice or potatoes and vegetables) at an inexpensive restaurant in Lima, Peru costs US $4, in Florianopolis, Brazil US $5.50 and in Salt Lake City US $10. On the other hand, a McDonalds combo meal costs in Lima US $5.35, in Brazil US $6.75 and in U.S. costs around US $6. Those numbers show us a difference between cultures, while in South America is common have a nutritious meal every day, both for lunch and dinner; we know that for the most part, in the United States, fast and junk food are what people eat in a daily basis; especially because those are the most affordable choices.
In my opinion, this information also relates with our beliefs towards food. In the U.S., the prices of a nutritious meal is the double of South America countries and that just show how both Americas have different eating habits. Maybe because what North Americans eat like (fast food, pizza, sandwich, processed food, etc.), it’s so different of what South Americans eat like (fresh produce and fruits, meat, seafood, grains, etc.), in a daily basis, those numbers are so different. Yes, both Americas eat fast and processed food, but in a different scale; and that it’s all based on our culture habits.
I think it’s a great opportunity to be able to experience all those cultures and see all the disparities between countries. Everybody should have the opportunity to see the world in another perspective like me. Unfortunately, our world is not well balanced between rich and poor, so not everybody can have the same experiences that I do; but we certainly can do something to help, we just need to look deep in our community and find a way to do it. Now I know how much I miss those dinners with my family, because I saw that there are a lot of families out there that don’t even have enough to have those kind of dinners every day; and me even being far from my family I still can have some food on my plate.
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