As I was sitting at Joe Frank Harris Dining Commons eating my chicken wings, I started to think about the types of foods that we eat with our hands. Then I started to think about the types of foods that we don't eat with our hands, but instead knives, forks, spoons, and even the legendary sporks. Then I started to really think about why we eat these messy things with our hands, such as messy buffalo wings, and why we eat these nice and clean foods with knives and forks, such as baked chicken or birthday cake.
DISCLAIMER: For the purpose of this article, the food items listed above are just examples and are listed to be the head of the categories instead of the whole category themselves. Just have an open mind when going into the rest of this. Also, I am not trying to convince you to put down your cutlery nor am I going to put down my cutlery, I am just exploring our thought process in regards to food a little.
After I did a little thinking about it on my own, I was waiting for my next class to start so I had about an hour to kill. I took this little debate/critical thinking to social media. I posted on my Instagram account a short segment of Instagram Stories that basically was me stating the question on why we eat the things we do with our hands and why we eat the things we do with cutlery. I got an array of responses, honestly more than I expected, that ranged from our culture, to efficiency, to protecting us from germs, to outdated social norms. However, a lot of responses I got were centered around one thing: the chicken wing. As I used that as my eating with our hands example (due to the fact of how messy they can be), almost every response I got included something like "Do you realize how hard it would be to eat a chicken wing with a fork and knife?" So, let's take a look at two of the main points.
Point One: Our Culture
This point had me doing a little research and I learned a thing or two in the process. For starters, it is quite obvious that we are not the only culture that uses cutlery when we eat. Some rules might be different, but for the most part, the Americas, Europe, and Australia all have similar rules when it comes to eating. Ya'll know them so I won't go into detail other than napkin on your lap, stick to your plate only, and you know which foods you can and can't eat with your hands. When it comes to India, the Middle East, and Africa, hand-to-mouth eating is a timeless tradition. BUT, there are very important rules you must follow or else it can be seen as disrespectful or be very embarrassing. The main thing to take away for these three areas? NEVER eat with your left hand. This is very disrespectful to the host and should be avoided at all costs. In India, scoop with flatbread, use fingertips to bring to your mouth, and never bring the plate to your face, but your face and head down to the plate. Do not put your fingers in your mouth and do not let the food touch your palms. I can't say I have done this, but I am absolutely sure that it takes a lot of practice to get the hang of. In the Middle East, the rules are pretty much the same as India, but they also have a communal dish that is usually served in the middle of the table. Never use your hands to take this, but use a piece of flatbread as well as never take too much at one time. In Africa, again, the rules are about the same as the other two. The difference here is that instead of washing your hands thoroughly before sitting down, two water bowls are placed in front of you for hand washing for before and after the meal. The second thing in Africa is that you should never lick your fingers until everyone is done as it is very rude to do so before everyone is finished eating. Basically what you should take away from this point is that when we do eat with our hands, we do not hold ourselves to the level other cultures do, and that is okay because we all do things differently in our wide and diverse world.
Point Two: Efficiency
When I was solo thinking on this, for some reason, the efficiency of eating with cutlery just did not come to mind. Simply put, like the example above, try to eat a chicken wing with a fork and knife. And on the other side, try to eat a bowl of cereal with your hands. With the different styles of food we eat compared to other countries, we obviously eat things that would be very difficult to eat without silverware so this is an easy way to prove why we eat the things we do the way we do.
After I looked into a lot of the things that people replied with, we eat the way we do simply because it makes our everyday lives easier and more convenient for everyone. It is faster to eat some things with a fork while it is faster to eat some things with our hands. It has been this way for hundreds of years and it will and should continue to stay the way it is. As the saying goes, "Work smarter, not harder."
