|
Big
Mac eats Pattie
Young
people abandon traditional cuisine for fast food.
The
pattie is under attack from the Big Mac - and it could be
the end for ackee and saltfish.
Shocking
new fixtures show African-Caribbean people are abandoning
their culinary culture in flavour of fast food.
Almost
half of our youngsters hardly ever touch curried goat or rice
and peas, preferring to much through a flame-grilled whopper.
It
seems McDonald's and Burger King, so long accused of cultural
imperialism in the developing world, are causing a reduction
of traditional Caribbean food consumption in Britain.
Almost
half of the people between 18 and 65 surveyed by international
money transfer company Moneygram do not eat popular Caribbean
dishes, like jerk chicken, ackee and saltfish or curried goat.
Instead
it's burgers, kebabs and fish and chips.
Young
people are turned off by the culinary traditions cultivated
by their grandparents, preferring Kentucky Friend to jerk
chicken.
39%
- prefer other foods
Of
the 200 Caribbeans between 18 and 25 surveyed, 39 per cent
preferred British or convenience food over Caribbean recipes.
47%
- hardly ever
Almost
half, 47 per cent, said they rarely or never ate Caribbean
dishes.
17%
- too lazy get to take away
However,
many of those surveyed were defensive about not eating Caribbean
food. A quarter of young people said there was just
too much choice, blaming the wide variety of food on offer
in supermarkets. But 17% admitted they were just too
damn lazy to get to the local Caribbean takeaway.
83%
- don't want to learn
It
also seems that if young people are going to eat the dishes
they will have to visit their takeaway or get their parents
to cook. That's because almost half of them don't
know how to cook traditional dishes. In fact, a shocking
83 per cent have no desire to learn how to cook them either.
Moneygram
commissioned the survey to learn more about their customers,
most of whom are from the Caribbean.
Moneygram's
commercial director - Leon Isaacs said:
"Food
is an important part of any culture.
It's sad to see young African-Caribbean people
ignoring this part of their heritage and not embracing it
like many Asians living in Britain. We would like to
see Jerk chicken or rice and peas become an integral part
of the British diet, like curry now is."
Despite
the unhealthiness of British food, many of our youngsters
are embracing the indigenous culture and forsaking all others.
A typical Sunday roast contains 92g of fat, while rice and
peas by comparison contains only 18g.
Source:
Danielle Weekes - The Voice Newspaper
12
August 2002
Caribbean
Food Emporium Response
|
