Andrew Butcher

Over the course of this past weekend, I started to pay attention to the order in which I ate my food. Dinner often began with a plate of whatever the entree was (often chicken) paired with a glass of water. After this I would walk to the salad bar to make my own salad, then lastly, i'd have a cookie for dessert. I began to notice that other too followed this series of events. At first I didn't give this much thought, dismissing it as a shallow observation of sociology in my daily life. However, I began to think about eating as a whole, more specifically constructions that I have formed around eating and institutions that have influenced my eating habits. Beginning with constructs that I have around my eating regiment, my perception of dining, i’m almost positive comes from my mother. She instilled in me everything that I know about dining, from silverware to etiquette. I’d be curious to see how these things range between cultures. I am almost certain I have been subject to corporate manipulation in my eighteen years on this earth. It's honestly hard to begin tracing back the influence of marketing on my habits even as a human.