Parents and Grandparents Remember
February 25, 2008
Did you know? Foreign-born children are more likely to eat family meals than are native-born children with foreign-born parents. And both those groups eat more meals together than do families in which everyone is native-born.
No matter where your family members were born, mealtimes are a natural way to strengthen ties across the generations. Everyone eats throughout their lives, and taste and smell are powerful memory cues. Give me a whiff of rich chicken soup, and I'm back in my grandmother's Brooklyn kitchen.
When you tell your kids what suppers were like when you were their age, they learn about you as a child. They learn about the extended family, and what life was like a generation ago. This works for grandparents as well, whether they live nearby or far away. I remember how surprised I was when my grandmother explained that she used to have to make her own noodles. When she was young, they were impossible to buy.
After you talk, try making a favorite old recipe. It may be part of your ethnic background. It may be something you learned from the back of a package. See how the old tastes hold up. Nothing fancy, you understand; just well-loved.
Mealtimes Matter Video
from Miriam Weinstein
About Miriam
Miriam Weinstein is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. As a journalist, she has won several awards from the New England Press Association. Her work has appeared in Boston Magazine, the Boston Globe magazine, Hope, and ParentSource. A former staff member for North Shore Weeklies and freelancer for Essex County Newspapers, she writes restaurant reviews and food columns as well as features on a wide variety of subjects. She lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts, with her husband and has two grown children.
The Surprising Power of Family Meals
In her book, The Surprising Power of Family Meals, Miriam Weinstein shows how this basic human institution helps nourish and strengthen our families today. You can buy this book from our friends at Smucker's® Online Store.
