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Cultural Foods of GermanyEric NelsonNURS 310AbstractThe paper contains a description of Germany and its cultural food practices. Brief explanations of the countries landscape and indigenous foods are present. There is a summary and comparison of traditional German practices along with my families. A comparison of the two countries food pyramids is explained as well. I explained the different obesity rates of the two cultures.CULTURAL FOODS OF GERMANYGerman Culture and Cuisine Germany is a highly developed country which has seen a lot of political change over the past 100 years. It currently is supported by sixteen federal states which make up the Federal Republic of Germany. Prior to Germany’s defeat in World War II, Germany was segregated between Democratic West Germany and Communistic East Germany. Until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990, Germany retained both a democratic and communistic political makeup. The population if Germany today is 81.3 million (Germany Demographics Profile, 2012). It has a net migration rate of -0.2% and an average life expectancy of 80.19 years. Most of the population in Germany lives in an urbanized area (74%). There are several ethnic groups that make up the current German population. German being the predominant group at 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, and the remaining 6.1% are made up by Greek, Italian, Polish, Russian, and Serbo Croatian. The major religions of Germany include Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Muslim (Germany Demographics Profile, 2012). Germany is located in north-central Europe which is bordered by nine countries: Denmark, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxemburg, Belgium, and the Netherlands (Ember, 2001).” The topography of Germany varies by region. Northern Germany is a low elevation coastal plain. The central region is contains higher elevation with a hilly landscape. The southern region is very mountainous. Germany has a seasonal temperate climate with moderate to heavy rainfall. Crops grown in Germany include: cabbage, potatoes, beets, onions, carrots, grains, apples, and pears.Eating habits vary amongst the different social classes, but there are general traditional similarities. The typical German day consists of 3 main meals. Main food around breakfast is bread in the forms of rolls and pastries, usually with jams and honey. Lunch is the meal when hot food is served around noon every day. Pork is the most commonly consumed meat, usually in the form of sausages. It is often complimented with vegetables such as potatoes, cabbage, beets, or turnips. The third meal of the day, Abendbrot, usually contains bread, cold cuts or sausages, and cheeses (Ember, 2001).The favorite beverages throughout Germany include beer, brandy, and schnapps (Ember, 2001). The consumption and production of beer in Germany is very long and sacred tradition. In the sixteenth century Germany passed the German purity law (deutsche Reinheitsgebot), which stated beer could only be made from water, hops, and malted barley. Even to this day, German brewers hold to this centuries old tradition. The younger populations of Germany are consuming less alcohol than the older generations (Proquest, 2012). Germans prefer milk, tea, and coffee for the morning meal.Germans celebrate holidays and special occasions with different foods and drink. Germans also celebrate a lot occasions in restaurants. “The most important holiday meal is Christmas dinner (Ember, 2001).” Christmas dinner usually includes foods such as goose, duck, or turkey. It is often complemented with red cabbage and potatoes or potato dumplings. Germany also celebrates Oktoberfest every year. This is a celebration that dates back to 1810 when there was a 16 day long celebration in Munich to honor the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig. It is the largest festival in the world consuming over 5.5 million liters of beer in 16 days. Common foods served at Oktoberfest are pretzels, cabbage, brats, and potato pancakes with apple butter. Personal Culture and CuisineMy family has several different cultures that influence our lifestyle and eating habits. My ancestors come from a couple of different European cultures. My maternal family heritage is predominantly German. My great grandmother and great grandfather were both born in Germany and immigrated to Wisconsin in the early 1900’s. My great grandfather passed away before I was born and never had the chance to know him. My great grandmother passed away when I was sixteen years old and I got see some of her characteristics passed on to the family. She had a strong German accent and could speak fluent German. She always had beer with her dinner at family gatherings and drank tea afterwards which was common in my family. We always had sausage and pork roast with carrots and potatoes for our big family meals. My maternal family always celebrates holidays with beer and wine.My paternal great grandparents were of Danish and German decent. I always celebrated holidays with my grandparents and great grandparents. Our traditional family holiday meals were usually turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy. My grandmother would make abelskeivers with various jams for breakfast on Christmas morning which was a Danish tradition. We also had Sunday dinners which included beef roasts and ham with some kind of potatoes and other vegetables. My wife’s family comes from a strong Dutch heritage. Most of her traditions consist of more Americanized family diners for celebrations. The only tradition her immediate family passed along was the abelskeiver breakfast they would do on occasion. My wife and children celebrate most holidays with friends and family. Some of our family holiday meals include turkey, pasta, potatoes, and brats. Pizza is one of my family’s favorite foods. We celebrate most of our birthdays and special occasions in restaurants. My wife and I do have an annual Oktoberfest party in which we serve pretzels, brats, sauerkraut, and beer. I am a home brewer and make a lot of different kinds of beer for celebration. I usually make German styles of beers for the fall in order to celebrate this great tradition.Cultural ComparisonsThere are a lot of comparisons between some of my ancestor’s foods and what we celebrate with today. My wife and I make abelskeivers a couple of times a year to celebrate both of our heritages. We eat a lot of pork sausages and always have beer available on holidays and celebrations. We also do a lot of celebrating in restaurants as in the German tradition.In comparison to the two food pyramids, I would have to say that I like the German pyramid better. The cultural impacts of food on the United States are so diverse. Germany has an obesity rate of 12.9% compared to 31% in the United States. I believe the emphasis on cheap unhealthy food in the United States is overwhelming. Comparing the caloric intake and food types of the two pyramids is very similar. Many of the obesity issues lie within over eating in the areas that should be used sparingly. ReferencesEmber, C., & Ember, M. (2001). Countries and their cultures. New York, U.S.A.: MacMillen Reference U.S.A. Germany Demographics Profile 2012. (2012). Retrieved from . (2012). Germany. Culture grams world edition. Retrieved from Health Organization. Nutrition Landscape information system. Retrieved from ................
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