Tranona
Well-known member
Re: A serious reply!
Attitudes to food are very culturally determined. Much of our current diet in the "rich" countries including the overeating and resulting obesity is a reaction to the austere times of less than 60 years ago. Good eating (or rather excess eating) in our society is a celebration of our wealth, particularly as much of it would not be possible without our ability to buy food cheaply from other countries.
A couple of nights ago there was a programme following two ladies trying to find their birth mothers in Sri Lanka, having been adopted and brought up in the UK. One was brought up in Scotland and was a well built cheerful professional gardener. She found her mother and extended family in a remote village. The contrast between her physical size and appearance and everybody in her family could not have been more stark.
I spent many years from 1996 visiting China and fortunate enough to spend much of the time away from the "western" side though mostly urban rather than truly rural. In those 12 years or so the change in diet was massive, not only in variety of food but in volume. High social level eating had always been lavish, often to impress visitors, and over the years spread to much lower levels in society.
The most obvious manifestation of this was in the student population. Early visits saw students (mostly in late teens) exhibiting the lean and hungry look but 10 years on the same demographic was bigger and heavier, including some we would class as obese.
Bringing this back to our context, individuals find it very difficult to revert to earlier diets even though they recognise the benefits both nutritionally and financially, because of the social pressures. In some ways boat dwellers have more opportunity because they can more easily detach themselves from society and have the adding incentive that alternative diets are more compatible with life on board.
However, I guess many want to hold on to aspects of their land based lifestyle so look more to how they can maintain their "normal" diet rather than make a radical change. Those that do stand every chance of reducing their expenditure significantly as suggested above.
Attitudes to food are very culturally determined. Much of our current diet in the "rich" countries including the overeating and resulting obesity is a reaction to the austere times of less than 60 years ago. Good eating (or rather excess eating) in our society is a celebration of our wealth, particularly as much of it would not be possible without our ability to buy food cheaply from other countries.
A couple of nights ago there was a programme following two ladies trying to find their birth mothers in Sri Lanka, having been adopted and brought up in the UK. One was brought up in Scotland and was a well built cheerful professional gardener. She found her mother and extended family in a remote village. The contrast between her physical size and appearance and everybody in her family could not have been more stark.
I spent many years from 1996 visiting China and fortunate enough to spend much of the time away from the "western" side though mostly urban rather than truly rural. In those 12 years or so the change in diet was massive, not only in variety of food but in volume. High social level eating had always been lavish, often to impress visitors, and over the years spread to much lower levels in society.
The most obvious manifestation of this was in the student population. Early visits saw students (mostly in late teens) exhibiting the lean and hungry look but 10 years on the same demographic was bigger and heavier, including some we would class as obese.
Bringing this back to our context, individuals find it very difficult to revert to earlier diets even though they recognise the benefits both nutritionally and financially, because of the social pressures. In some ways boat dwellers have more opportunity because they can more easily detach themselves from society and have the adding incentive that alternative diets are more compatible with life on board.
However, I guess many want to hold on to aspects of their land based lifestyle so look more to how they can maintain their "normal" diet rather than make a radical change. Those that do stand every chance of reducing their expenditure significantly as suggested above.
