Eating habits

As a nation we are becoming more aware of the food we and our children are eating. The recent campaign to improve school dinners by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has helped raise awareness of our fast food lifestyles.

Healthy eaters or just trendy?

Are there certain things that you do and don’t eat and why? With so many food programmes and books telling you what you should and shouldn’t eat to be healthy it’s hard to keep track. Some people are vegetarians for moral reasons, some don’t like the taste of meat and there are one or two people who do it because it’s trendy. Likewise, it can be trendy to follow the latest celebrity diet because it’s what the famous are doing.

Eating out

People are eating out more frequently now, not just on special occasions as in the past. The choice of restaurants has also diversified over the last few decades. Italian, Chinese and Indian restaurants have been around for years but have now been joined by Mongolian, Japanese, Mexican and Turkish amongst others. Bars and pubs are still popular for food and often promote English cuisine made with local produce. For the Queen’s recent 80th birthday celebrations, top UK chefs battled it out to create the Great British Menu to serve at a birthday banquet.

‘We enjoy eating out a couple times and month whether with friends or just as a couple. We like trying new things so go to different restaurants.’ Craig, 25, County Durham.

Eating on the go

From chocolate bars to sandwiches and wraps more people are eating on the go - on the street, in cars or on buses and trains. While our parents and grandparents may frown at this behaviour, considering it to be bad manners, people eat on the go because they are rushing from one place to another. And in the home the number of people sitting down at a dining table for their evening meal is on the decrease as meal times become more informal.

‘If I’m running late for work I don’t think twice about eating toast in the car or on the bus but I know my mum wouldn’t approve.’ Stacey, 24, Leeds.

Whilst we may be trying to eat more healthily it seems we still have some bad habits.

Lucy
September 2006

我们的民族越发关注我们及我们的孩子们所吃的食物。最近，由名厨师杰米•奥利弗（Jamie Oliver）发起的改善学校饮食的运动，使我们对自己的快餐生活方式取得进一步的认识。

健康食客或是仅为潮流?

您有某些确定吃或者不吃的食物吗？为什么？由于太多的饮食节目和书籍会提醒您，什么应该吃或不吃，以保持健康，所以很难有章可循。一些人由于精神信仰而成为素食者，一些人不喜欢肉类的口感，还有少数人不吃肉是因为他们视其为一种潮流。类似的，模仿名人的饮食也是一种潮流，因为那是名人的所作所为。

外出就餐

如今人们更频繁地外出就餐，这不同于过去，外出就餐仅仅针对特殊场合。在过去数十年间，对于餐馆的选择也变得形式多样，意大利、中国和印度餐馆存在已久，现在再融入蒙古、日本、墨西哥和土耳其餐馆。酒吧酒馆仍然是提供食品的流行场所，并经常以本地的制作手法将英国烹饪发扬光大。 为庆祝最近的女王80周年寿辰，顶级的英国厨师们激烈角逐，创作出英国美味佳肴菜单，以供生日宴会使用。

“我们喜欢每月数次外出就餐，无论是和朋友一起或者仅仅夫妇两人。我们愿意尝试新事物，因此常去不同的餐馆。”25岁的奎格（Craig）说，他是达拉谟郡人（County Durham）。

在行程中就餐

从巧克力棒到三明治和食物卷，越来越多的人在行程中就餐 - 在街上，小汽车里，或是在公共汽车和火车上。然而我们的父辈和祖父辈们可能不赞同这种行为，他们认为这是不雅的举止，实际上，人们在行程中就餐是因为他们奔波忙碌于两地之间，而在家中，坐在餐桌前共享晚餐的人数则大大减少，就餐时间也变得更加随意。

“如果我上班即将迟到，我会毫不延迟地选择在小汽车里或在公共汽车上吃烤面包，但我母亲肯定不赞同这种做法。” 斯特西（Stacey）说，他24岁，来自利兹。

在我们努力更加注重饮食健康的同时，似乎我们仍然有不少坏习惯。

露西（Lucy）
2006年9月