Minorities tend toward obesity, more than white folks. 

Along with obesity comes health consequences, which I won’t belabor here. 

My reason for this article is to share the advancement of eating habits in relation to race and economic status, and how they may help create obesity. 

As a rural white boy, we raised our own food and livestock and had enough to eat, with each member of the family getting their own portion of meat at mealtime.

Our meals seldom had more than one source of meat, (gravy excepted) .

 

Poorer city families in earlier times often could not provide each person a portion of meat, but rather, would put what meat they had into the main dish, be it a soup or stew, a savory pastry, or a dish that was a predecessor of today’s casseroles. The meat was mixed in with the starches and vegetables so everyone got a little meat. And when the meat was some form of sausage, that meat too, was diluted by fat that was ground back into the mix, making it stretch even farther, and making the calories even denser. 

So, I read statistics on minority obesity and then go to Twitter recipe pages, and recall recipes that my minority friends serve. 

Most minority savory combo dishes include meat, while many similar white dishes don’t. 

My baked beans have no added meat in them, I would probably be scorned, or at least given odd looks if I brought my baked beans to a black family’s BBQ. 

Here’s the key to my equation: Poorer people, decades ago, made combo meals with the meat mixed in. They took those recipes into the next generation. 

A few decades later, their descendants can often afford to give individual portions of meat at mealtime. 

But for some reason, the meat in the bean, potato or rice dishes didn’t go away. It is still there, along with full portions of a central meat dish. 

It seems that the heathier meals have just one source of meat. 

I suspect this is an unidentified perspective in minority obesity. 

Is minority nutrition-history a part of any minority studies program? 

No fancy ending; I’ve said what I wanted to say. 

Eric Rose