How Have Food and Eating Habits Changed in Your Country?

How have food and eating habits changed in your country? Suggest some reasons for these changes.

Vietnam has rapidly changed over the past 20 years in many areas. These areas include transportation, retail and banking. The cuisine of Vietnam is no exception and has changed considerably in recent years. This has been largely affected by globalization and the influence of other countries cuisines. This essay will explore some of those changes and suggest reasons for them.

Although the specialties of food vary across the many regions of Vietnam, the country has a basic list of traditional dishes. These are based on rice, noodles and vegetables, flavored with local green vegetables. When available, meat is added to these dishes such as beef and seafood. Preparation of most traditional meals requires a large amount of time and effort. Historically ingredients were sourced locally or grown at home and were therefore relatively inexpensive.

In recent years this strong tradition of long, slow cooking with fresh ingredients has been challenged. People now buy more foreign foods, including stock cubes, processed cheese, instant coffee and flavored yoghurts. Many traditional ingredients such as flavoring for Pho can be purchased from the supermarket which means these are no longer prepared at home, but manufactured in factories abroad. Fast foods such as ready-made pizzas and burgers are also popular.

There are various reasons for all of these changes. More Vietnamese now enjoy the convenience of access to large supermarkets, but this also subjects them to advertising from companies who try to persuade them that processed food is a sign of development. Using more convenience food means more time for work, but this work often results in even less time to spend in the kitchen. The availability and quickness that cheap restaurants offer also tempts people away from the traditional family meals around the table.