Family & FoodPart 4, Chapters 1 – 2

Family

Median1 annual household income (2012)

•About $50,000

•“Household” means that the incomes of everyone (over 18 years old) in the home are included.

•About 2% of households had incomes greater than $250,000

1Median – midpoint. Half are higher, half are lower.

Family

Poverty1

•The U.S. government set the poverty level for 2013 at $23,550 (total yearly income) for a family of four, and $11,490 for a single person.

•46.2 million Americans were considered to be below the poverty level by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2011

•The majority of Americans living in “poverty” have adequate shelter, food, clothing and medical care.

1Poverty – the condition of being extremely poor.

Family

Children

•The number of households (in 2011) that have children under age 18 has stayed at 38 million since 2000, despite a 9.7% growth in the U.S. population.

•As a result, the share of households with children dropped from 36% in 2000 to 33.5%.

•Children make up 24% of the nation's population, down from 25.7% in 2000.

•The total fertility rate in the United States (estimated for 2009) is 2.01 children per woman.

Family

Divorce

•Divorce statistics are confusing due to different ways of presenting the information.

•In 2002, 29% of first marriages among women aged 15 to 44 ended within 10 years.

•Divorce rates in America have been dropping during the past 20 years.

•Nevertheless, it is estimated that an American couple who get married in 2013 have a lifelong 40% to 50% probability getting a divorce.

Family

Dating

•Double-date – two couples who go out together for some fun.

•Blind date – Go out on a date with someone you have never met before. Usually, friends arrange for the boy and girl to meet.

•“Going Dutch” – each person on the date pays for his / her own meal, movie ticket, etc.

Food & Dining Customs

Meat

•Americans love eating meat, especially thick slices of meat – steaks.

•In previous years, beef was the most widely eaten meat. But chicken has become more popular – with beef, pork, and fish being the next most popular.

Food & Dining Customs

Different levels of cooking a steak

•Well-done – thoroughly cooked.

•Medium-well – mostly cooked, slightly pink inside.

•Medium – more pink than medium-well, but more brown than pink overall.

•Medium-rare – mostly pink to red in the center.

•Rare – slightly cooked on the outside, mostly red inside.

全熟

七成

五成

三成

Food & Dining Customs

Hamburger

•In America, a hamburger is always made with beef!

•If you want chicken on a bun, ask for a Chicken Sandwich.

A Chicago-style Deep Dish Pizza

A Chicago-style Hot Dog

Don’t call them convenient noodles!

Food & Dining Customs

Dining at a restaurant

•After giving each person a menu, the waiter/waitress will ask everyone what they want to drink.

•By the time the drinks arrive, most people are ready to order.

•Some people will begin with appetizers.

•A salad is often the next “course” (part) of the meal.

Food & Dining Customs

Dining at a restaurant

•The main course is served. Each person’s meal arrives on their own plate. Food is usually not served “family style”.

•Some people will have desert at the end of the meal, often with coffee or tea.

•The waitress expects a tip. A standard tip is 20% of the bill (before tax).

Food & Dining Customs

Tea

•When Americans make tea, they usually use teabags, not loose tea.

•Types of tea – Black, Green, Herbal.

•Herbal tea has no caffeine, and in fact is not really tea. It is made from various plants and flowers, and can have medicinal value. So it is sometimes similar to Chinese traditional medicine.

Food & Dining Customs

Tea & Coffee

•When we prepare tea, we say that we “steep” the tea (or brew it).

•Steep – soak in water to extract the flavor.

•When we prepare coffee, we say that we “brew” the coffee. (Don’t use the word “steep” with coffee.)

•Brew – make coffee or tea by mixing it with hot water.

For next week,

please read:

Part 4 Social Life

Chapters 3 – 4, pages 269 to 284

(Customs & Traditions, Attitudes & Views)