Food of the Gods

I grew up poor. We at things that I am pretty sure other families in our neighborhood never had to suffer through. When I wanted instant oatmeal, I got regular old fashioned oats that were not seasoned well after being cooked. If I was hungry for something like Cream of Wheat, my mother made cornmeal mush and we had to sweeten it with honey. Breakfast food was the least of our worries as other meals like liver and onions, kidney bean chili, and burnt barbequed chicken frequently made their way onto our table. It sucked. I knew what powdered eggs and powdered milk tasted like before I know what good meatloaf should taste like and that only happened when I became an adult. We put ketchup on tacos, on pot roast, and sometimes in mac and cheese (the good old kind that came from a box and not always Kraft). All these things we done to ensure that we at least got a few meals throughout the day. We also got free lunch from public school. While some kids were fortunate enough to bring a lunch to school, or have money to buy other things for lunch, I made due with what was presented to me in the cafeteria line. The meals weren't all that bad, at least we ate.

It wasn't until I got older and I decided that I needed to try new things, or things that I had only heard about on tv or movies, in order to become a well rounded person when it comes to food. I can be a snob sometimes and turn my nose up when I am presented with something that doesn't sound appealing to me. I figure I can afford to be picky. What really gets me are those who have never or will never try anything new, because they are actually picky, picky. Don't get me wrong, Hamburger Helper is disgusting, but any homemade variation of a recipe that includes ground beef, is not always Hamburger Helper. In fact, most of the time it is much better. 

It's silly to me that there is a food hierarchy that exists when you look at folks from different socio-economical backgrounds. I was poor and I would try eating foods that cost more money than needed. The same cannot be said for folks who grew up on the other side of the financial spectrum. They turn their nose up at anything "common". I am scared to say that most of them eat garbage and look down their noses at others who eat what they can in order to survive. The end thought being "it's just my preference" and they skip out on trying really great things. Maybe I read too much into it. Maybe some people are unwilling to change. Maybe a lot of white people actually hate food. Mayonnaise is spicy ya know. HAHA!