Food- Trattoria Centrale

Another opportunity for a culture blog experience came as a surprise to me without planning it ahead of time. After leaving Sojourns fair trade store, I walked down the street to look around and find somewhere to eat lunch. I was really hungry, so I stopped at the first place that looked decent and would keep me from starving. The restaurant was small and bustling with noise. As I took my place in line I realized that this would be a new experience for me.

The name of the restaurant was Trattoria Centrale (I found out after some research that it used to be called ZaZa Trattoria) and they offer traditional Italian dishes. I recognized that I was in a new environment after looking at the menu and seeing choices such as linguine, risotto, and arugula salad, and I felt very out of place, not having a clue what any of the stuff was.

I did see one thing that I was familiar with, pizza. I decided that I couldn’t go wrong with traditional Italian pizza, and I was correct. The entrée was also served with a green salad, and unlike what I am usually used to, there was no ranch dressing in sight. The salad was topped with a light vinaigrette, a taste that was very new to me, but I wouldn’t say it was particularly bad.

Another thing that I have become aware of when eating at non American cuisine restaurants is the idea of portion control. Here at this restaurant, and others offering foreign food, I have been given a soft drink in a can. If you are eating at a traditional American chain food establishment, they fill up your glass just as soon as you can drink it. Habits such as these have led to behaviors which in turn cause the high rates of obesity in our country.

Also, it is interesting to see how our “Americanized” version of foreign foods varies so much from the actual authentic food. The pizza from Trattoria Centrale was very different than that of Pizza Hut and Dominoes, and actually a lot better. Individual slices were on display to choose from, and then as you placed you order, each slice was cooked separately. This kept an entire pizza from going to waste; only cooking the pieces that were actually going to be ate. Unlike American pizza, it was not greasy, and the crust was fresh bread. Inside the restaurant, I noticed people cutting their pizza with a fork and knife, and decided that this was the norm, and stopped eating my pizza with my hands.

I thought it was interesting how a culture blog experience could come out of the blue, and it made me realize how much other cultures are present in our daily lives.

Global Connections- Sojourns Fair trade Store

Last week I had a chance to visit Sojourns, a fair trade store in downtown Birmingham. On my way there, I began to think about what the term “fair trade” actually means. Fair trade deals with ensuring that those who produce goods are paid a just amount for their time and effort.
In our society, we constantly want to get more for less, no matter what the cost may be to other people. In many developing countries, people are taken advantage of and forced to work in terrible conditions, for long hours, and paid very little. People in these situations really have no other option because they are desperate for the money in order to survive.
This type of store exhibits the key factors of a market exchange, where goods and services are bought and sold through standardized currency. Due to our world becoming smaller and smaller, globalization has occurred and we are all becoming interconnected. This creates a bigger gap between those who have, and those who do not.
Another thing that I noticed while in the trade store was that so many things were intricately made and it was obvious that hard work and time had been invested to make one item. Now that machines and factories are frequently used for everything, something this delicate and time consuming can be replicated and duplicated so quickly that the price is driven down due supply and demand rules. We lose appreciation for tokens from a culture as they become just another trinket in a chain souvenir shop.
I believe that the mission of the fair trade store is to remember that every product we use can be traced back to an actual human being, and we often lose that point. It really helps to be able to put a face to a story, and have a tangible item as proof of their work. In the store, there are stories posted of people who make the products, where they are from, and how fair trade has impacted their lives.
It was very encouraging to see actual benefits that come from more people in America being aware that their choices as consumers can influence how businesses treat their employees. While we often focus on making the next dollar, and have profit as the main goal, we cannot overlook the lives of those involved in the process.