The Course Blog of Anthropology 210 @ Wheaton College, Fall 2014

The Course Blog of Anthropology 210 @ Wheaton College, Fall 2014

Friday, November 7, 2014

Happy Birthday: The Purpose of Food in Celebrations

        Recently, my roommate enjoyed her 21st birthday with friends and family. Typically, food is associated with extravagant celebrations, but it wasn’t until I shared this social experience with her that I realized how highly college students value outside food. I challenged myself to observe food habits surrounding a birthday celebration and consider the purposes for each food related act. Why is food so important in the celebration of a students birthday? Food served three purposes in this context: the first was to apply the culturally embedded practice of cake eating, the second was to create a social experience, and the third was a reflection of student values through gift giving. 

         

       Roommate blowing out candles 
     
      Although food is the central reason for “going out to eat,” the social aspects are far more valuable. When asked by her family to pick a restaurant for dinner her response was “Wherever is fine, I don't really care.” I don’t really care? She had talked my ear off not hours earlier about how excited she was that her family was taking her out to eat, yet she “[didn’t] really care”!? It dawned on me that the value was not in direct correlation to the physical food that she was going to enjoy, but instead was anticipating seeing her family, and spending time with them, whatever the venue. Much like Karps article about beer drinking in Africa, the act of eating or drinking may be the theme or physical activity, but the concept of the social experience is what holds the most value. 
       Next, everyone (friends and family) joined together in our room to eat cake, sing Happy Birthday, and blow out candles. These traditions are decades old, and have become so woven into our culture that there is no question as to why they exist. In the context of birthday celebrations, cake can act as a delicacy, or treat so that someone feels special and celebrated. Other symbols associated with the cake are the birthday song, and the extinguishing of candles. Cake without these two elements can be placed in any other context, but otherwise are strong symbols for one kind of celebration. Just as sugar symbolized a social and economic status in Europe years ago, meat symbolized passion and masculinity for Victorian era women, and beer symbolizes social interaction for Southen Iteso habitants, cake with candles symbolizes the celebration of the anniversary of someones birth for us. 

        After the cake was eaten and gifts were given, it became very clear to me what college students value most. In front of my roommate sat a pile of chips, avocados, cookies, dipping sauces, crackers, cheeses and fruits. The only non-food items were given by her parents. As students of the meal plan, we are given a series of foods, day to day, that may not reflect the kinds of meals that we grew up on. “Comfort foods” such as cheese, crackers and chips that are not available in the dining halls are clearly important to the students of Wheaton College, because each guest individually chose food products to give as gifts. When my roommate asked her friends “how did you know I wanted this?” all of their responses expressed that if the roles were reversed, this is the gift that they would like to receive while living on campus. In another context, for example a birthday celebrated at home, gifts might vary to include more standard presents such as clothes, (like her parents got her) electronics, supplies and other products. The gifts that were exchanged reflected the values of Wheaton College students. 

       Social experiences, symbols of celebration and expression of values through gift giving were all reflected in the evening of my roommates 21st birthday, and clarified for me why food is so central to this celebration, especially for a college student. 

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