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EPIB Trail
Volume 12, Issue 3
The Turkey About Thanksgiving
By Jamie Cohen November brings us a one-of-a-kind holiday, Thanksgiving. On this day, traditions are made or followed, such as watching any of the parades (the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, for example), meeting with a lot of family members that you may not have seen in a while, and even having a huge feast. This get-together is a time for celebration and family, which creates a positive atmosphere in some cases. Yet, this celebratory time has hidden implications that have a greater chance of being negative. These implications are not only on the individuals celebrating the festive holiday, but also on the environment. In addition, this specific holiday creates a societal norm, such as abundance, which acts as a confounding factor for both the individuals and the environment. Although Thanksgiving brings a time of joy through family and traditions, the societal norm, “overindulgence” or “abundance” - in terms of consumption - hinders the health of the individuals participating in this holiday, as well as the environment, because of the lack of seasonality. Abundance is a problem that is often overlooked on holidays because the abnormal increase in consumption has become an accepted social norm in communities. However, this accepted norm has harmful effects on an individual's health. According to “We-Gather Together”: Consumption Rituals of Thanksgiving in the
Journal
of
Consumer
Research,
“Thanksgiving Day is a collective ritual that celebrates material abundance enacted through feasting” (Wallendorf, M. & Arnould, E. J.). The Thanksgiving Day holiday is a plethora of many different traditions, but feasting, or eating, is a primary aspect. In looking at the directlystated term, feasting, there is more to be said about the food culture that drives this holiday. Feasting does not necessarily have the same definition as eating. Feasting correlates to an overabundance of food, while eating can simply just mean a single meal. This overabundance of food can have serious effects on the participant's health. In “The effect of the Thanksgiving Holiday on weight gain” by Holly R. Hull and others, they state, “In conclusion, we found over the holiday an increase of .5 kg in body weight” (Hull, et al.). Although this may seem like a trivial amount of weight, considering the short time frame, this is troublesome, since previous research suggests weight gained during holiday periods is retained” (Yanovski, et al.). Holiday weight is a starting point in weight gain that has the potential to lead to serious health implications in the future, and a reason for this can be because of the development of bad habits that are culturally acceptable during the holidays. No matter the holiday, the perception leads to over-abundance of
