Modern culture has had a profound effect on food and the way we eat it. As we explore women's historical contributions to the family and society at large, our first stop has to be nutrition. Women are still, by and large, the ones who are in charge of seeing that their families are fed and monitoring their overall health.
The way we eat, however, has changed from traditional habits. Let's take a look at how we eat now, then look at the traditional model of food.
Modern Culture
Modernity values money and fame over anything else. The pursuit of money is the proper focus of the modern person, and that means that our relationship to food has changed. In modernity, the time that it takes to make a traditional diet is a deal-breaker. Instead, we value convenience.
In the 80s and 90s, "convenience" tended to mean meals that could be prepared in approximately 30 minutes - something that could be made quickly after a work shift. Now, "convenience" has begun to mean meals that are largely outsourced - we eat out an average of 5.9 times per week. If we choose not to eat in a restaurant, we can have our food delivered to us.
Our imaginary eater chooses between a SAD (standard American diet) rich in carbs, fats, and sodium (think fast food, or the boxes in the center aisles of the grocery store) and a designer diet - likely an elimination diet of some kind. The designer diets change over the years - there's always the "latest hot trend", whether that's South Beach, Macrobiotic, Keto, or raw veganism. Because our imaginary eater values money over all things, they are choosing between convenience or trendiness... either spending as little as possible on food or choosing a conspicious display - everyone knows those diets are expensive to maintain.
In modernity, we simply assume that food can - and should - be available instantly. It should be prepared quickly. It is not something we should need to focus on - although we might choose to focus on it. (In other words, food preparation has become a hobby). Food as a hobby is highly thought of, and keeping a pet sourdough was all the rage during the COVID years. This expresses itself in hours of time spent working on a special meal or meals, it almost never expresses itself in daily life.
Food as hobby has bred the expectation that luxury food items, such as out-of-season produce and costly cuts of meat, should be available at all times. There is no moment of excitement in "the asparagus is ready", because fresh asparagus is always a choice at hand. It has to be - because who knows when the muse will strike?
Modernity exists in a permanent state of feasting. There is always an abundance of food, and FOMO (fear of missing out) chases us. Have you tried Ethiopian cuisine? Guamanian? Do you leave each meal completely full, having extracted every tiny morsel of french-fry driven pleasure on a given Tuesday? As we are in a perpetual state of "feast", our communal and seasonal feasts lose meaning - after all, nothing is special if abundance is the norm.
Traditional Cultures
Contrast the modern way of eating with traditional. Most traditional foods take a long time to prepare, although much of this time is spent waiting and monitoring. Traditional lifestyles sometimes dedicate long hours to the work of cooking, but as time is precious, day to day foods tend to be cooked in quantity, cooked ahead, or can be put together and then monitored. The exceptions to this are when one or two women are in charge of feeding a large family or a group of people doing heavy labor who need a substantial amount of calories - a classic division of labor.
A traditional diet is rich in whole grains, beans, vegetables and possibly dairy products. Fruit and meat and sweets are ornaments. This of course varies between locations - the ancient Irish "white diet" with its emphasis on milk products in every form and the traditional Egyptian diet, heavy on wheat products, reflect their environments. What is consistent is that there is a lot of plain food, heavy use of condiments (herbs, cooked vegetables, pickles), and that feasts are occasional, not daily. Fermented foods are found in every culture.
Traditional breads, cheeses, preserved foods can be made ahead and then eaten throughout the week. Soups and porridge are put on and simmered throughout the day. "Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold, pease porridge in the pot, nine days old". Vegetable foods are a staple of traditional diets whereever it is warm enough to grow vegetables. The Irish ate colcannon of turnips and onions and cabbage before the potato came to town, and kale is a Scottish staple. Vegetable foods are often integrated with fats and meats to extend the meat/fat - consider stuffed cabbage leaves or virtually any soup.
Food was, and is, a central occupation in traditional societies. This occupation begins with gardening and keeping animals, extends to food preservation (drying, fermenting, canning, salting, etc) and then moves to daily meals. Food was understood to affect health, and nourishment is taken seriously in traditional food preparation. The condiments were often prepared from a variety of herbs and the amount of herbs consumed in traditional condiments is far higher than a sprinkling of oregano over a roasted chicken. An individual, normal Tuesday's food might not be the focus of Tuesday, but food for the family was always on the traditionalist's mind. The hearth was the center of the home.
In traditional societies, feasts are very important times to gather families and communities. It takes a group to put together a good feast, and this time is not only celebratory, it's a time to bond. Feasts and fasts are cyclical - it's not always a time of abundance, but when it is, you stop and enjoy it. This elevates the importance of food.
Traditional societies invest in feeding their bodies.
The Exchange
As women have become primarily consumers, we've traded our positions as rulers of the hearth for the freedom to pursue wealth. This trade, and our migration away from our ancestral homes, has gradually changed our diets. Has the trade been to our benefit?
I will leave that decision, and the choices that may follow, to the reader.