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Family Eating Habits
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Cambodian: “We just eat when we are hungry and we don’t eat when we are not hungry. That practice keeps us from worrying about dieting.”
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Cambodian: “We eat a lot of fish. […] Mostly rice. […] Vegetables and rice.”
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Mexican: “Beans and rice. […] lots of oil.”
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Mexican: “With family and kids in particular, you need to set an example. The kids won’t eat vegetables if you don’t eat them […] otherwise they are content with their pizza or chicken nuggets.”
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Somali: “My mom does not like us eating out. She is trying to cut us from the fast food.”
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Somali: “We might not have the right food to eat at home; we just like eat the same things over and over.”
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Sudanese: “My mom told me that people in [our country] are healthier because there is no such a thing ‘pop it in and I’ll microwave it.’ They cook every single day.”
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Sudanese: “We eat healthy […] We don’t have so much fast food where we originate from. Fast food is considered junk food. Here […] we try to make sure […] we feed [our children] homemade meals.”
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Sudanese: “When my mom’s cooking it, all it is, is vegetables and then sometimes there’s a little bit of meat, but it’s not like all the time it’s meat.”
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Sudanese: “In Africa, we cook what the father needs, not the kids.”
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Sudanese: “My dad, he plants things outside like in the summer, and then he cooks it and he eats it.”
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Somali: “My kids go to school and they learn
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Sudanese: “My Dad always says, [when he] orders pizza or chicken [on weekends]: ‘you are not supposed to eat this stuff all the time because you are going to get fat, […] you are going to get sick from all the fat in the food. [And] the food your mom cooks is healthier than any food in America. You get stronger after eating it. That’s why most Africans are strong.’”
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about health and eating fruits and vegetables […], but when they come home they fill their stomach with pasta and rice.”
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Sudanese: “Most of our Sudanese dishes are homemade.”
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Mexican: “In my country, with my family, […] we prefer homemade food. It is better. It’s healthier, less fat.”
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Mexican: “[We] are used to everything just being homemade.”
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Americanized Eating Habits
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“There is a lot of junk food places and you are tempted […] and not make your own food.”
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Somali: “It seems like on every corner [there is fast food].”
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Somali: “Most of the [parents], when they came from like Africa […] they just want to be in America. […] They just want to be Americanized. They just want to be part of it. They don’t want to be left out.”
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“Back home, it was easier to get healthy food. […] Here it is easier to get unhealthy food than healthy food.”
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Mexican: “[My] parents or whoever cooks, cooks healthy [food] but then after the healthy stuff, [I] go to [get] junk food.”
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Sudanese: “I used to like [homemade food] when I was a kid, but all this American food just changed me.”
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Somali: “My mom buys American food but she always cooks African food. But the only time I eat it is when I am really hungry.”
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Sudanese: “Here in America everything [is with] so much oil […]. It’s just instant; just put it in the microwave.”
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Easy Food
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Mexican: “[We eat] whatever is easiest, just go with that because […] that’s what the kids are looking for. […] What is already made, what is easiest.”
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Somali: “If you’re too lazy to cook or something you just go to the store and get like…most of the time something unhealthy.”
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Mexican: “If you hang out with your friends and you are hungry, and you have three dollars, it’s easy to just go to Taco Bell or something.”
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Mexican: “[The kids] see a cantaloupe and instead of slicing and eating it, they would rather get something easier, […] opening a bag of chips and eat that instead.”
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Somali: “If you parents are lazy to cook food, they will give you money so you can go grab something.”
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Mexican: “[When] you are going to McDonalds you are obviously not getting a salad, you are getting a hamburger.”
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