Isabella Cruz

Introduction

Hi! I'm Isabella, a second year Biological Anthropology student!

She/her

Brief Bio

I'm not actually sure where I'd consider myself "from", since I've lived in so many places. My dad was in the military, so I've moved pretty much every year of my life until I was about 13 years old, when we settled near Washington D.C. I spent most of my childhood in Europe (Belgium and several places in Germany). My mother is German and loved being able to share her hometown and culture with me.

My dad is Colombian, and only recently have I been meeting his side of the family and learning more about my Latino heritage. It's been great to get to learn all about both sides of my heritage, of course including the foods! Colombian and German food are very different, but go surprisingly well together.

My interests

In addition to learning about my family history, my passions also include writing, acting, and anthropology! I do a lot of student films ands am working on writing and directing my own short film! I also hope to be able to do some field work in archaeology in the future!

A History of Food in Germany: How Industry Impacts Tradition

As a child growing up in Germany, I never really paid much attention to the food I was eating nor to the food climate around me. After moving to the United States at age eight, most of my memories of Germany have been lost to time and I have definitely become an American. However, my love for the country’s amazing food hasn’t disappeared. This topic is significant not only in a broad sense, but personally to me as well. The understanding of a country’s food history and how its food industry is impacted by major historical events (including two World Wars and the Industrial and technological Revolutions) within the last century is crucial to not only understanding how the current food climate in Germany came to be, but how it may continue to evolve in the future. I’ll be exploring how German food practices (common recipes, traditions, preparation methods) have changed over the last 100 years as a result of the growing food industrialization. I’ve also interviewed both my mother and my uncle, both of whom are German natives who grew up there as well.

Left: My family's hometown, Heidelberg Germany

Right: Me and my mother!

German food is notorious for being very hearty and filling. Traditional staple ingredients include: wheat, potatoes, lots of meat (especially pork), white fluffy bread referred to as broechen (similar in taste/texture as baguettes), brown rye & whole grain bread, green vegetables like cabbage and kale, and sauerkraut (fermented cabbage). While potatoes have been at the heart of German cuisine for hundreds of years, it’s also important to note that potatoes are not indigenous to Germany, and were introduced in the mid-1600’s by Spanish explorers who found the crop in Peru. Prior to potatoes, Germany’s main sources of carbohydrates were barley, wheat, and rye, in the form of bread or porridge (Penn 2016). German cuisine is centered around heartiness and making the most out of the few ingredients you have. Many dishes originated from people finding unique ways to prepare or preserve undesirable foods like tough cuts of meat, food scraps, or fermenting perishable vegetables.

Let’s take a look at the origins of some of the most important national recipes! Bratwurst is perhaps the most famous German dish. It originated way back in the 1400’s and consists of pork sausage often topped with mustard and served with brochen and/or sauerkraut. “Brat” meaning scraps and “wurst” meaning sausage, the dish was an essential means of survival for people in harsh Winter months, when no scraps could be wasted (Penn 2016). Schnitzel is another very popular German dish. It’s unclear whether it originated from the Ashkenazi Jewish or in Austria, but the meal was brought to Germany through immigration and became popular as a way to make tough meat more tender by pounding it thin. Soft pretzels are one of those German foods that has made its way far out of Germany and become a popular snack food all around the world. They’re originally made from wheat flour, baker's yeast, and lard, and the three holes possibly originate from early Roman Christianity (Penn 2016) where three loops represented the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Food and celebration often go hand-in-hand. Examining what has changed and what has stayed the same within traditional celebrations is a good way to exemplify the changes to society as a whole. Looking back to the origins of Oktoberfest, the event began to celebrate King Ludwig I’s marriage to his bride, Theresa. The annual celebration marks their wedding anniversary on the 17th of October, 1810. Originally, the whole event was held in a large meadow called “Theresienwiese” (meaning Theresa’s Meadow) (Williams & Downs, 1984). However, over the years the celebrations have been held in a variety of cities and fairgrounds.

Some classic activities include traditional dances, games and competitions, parades, and pageants. The foods at Oktoberfest were usually foods that one could eat with their hands and no utensils–like pretzels dipped in bavarian cheese, schweinshaxe, stick-fried fish, and sausages in bread with sauerkraut. However, some messier meals like whole chickens and whole roasted oxen were also eaten, along with copious amounts of beer to wash it all down (Williams & Downs, 1984). Beer was central to the celebration and since there were rarely children at the function, many people took it as an opportunity to get extremely drunk (for King Ludwig! Right?) Associating food, drink, and celebration is an age old notion that existed in Germany even far before Oktoberfest. The concept of feasting for merriment is something humans tend to enjoy world-round. Oktoberfest just brought the whole concept together and created something that Germans looked forward to every year, and even non-Germans began to travel to participate in the drinking and festivities. By the late 1800’s, Oktoberfest solidified itself as a well-known event for many Europeans to partake in. However, the next 100 years would offer unique challenges to this festive tradition, as food availability came into question and new technologies rendered old practices obsolete.

Let’s explore some of the biggest factors for the change in the German food industry within the last century. In the early 1900’s, cooking and eating home cooked meals was a very common everyday activity that no one would even think to skip out on. It was not uncommon for families to go their whole lives without eating at a restaurant, especially in the rural areas. By the start of World War 1, however, meat became scarcer. During the war there was a lack of fodder for livestock which led to livestock losing weight. The government subsequently failed to regulate these food shortages which raised prices in meat and derailed the usual diet for many German citizens. This resulted in food standards to drop and the tolerance level for spoiled food rose (Hierholzer 2007). During World War 2, the “Food Crisis” emerged due to loss of agricultural land in the former Eastern provinces, war consequences like destruction of machinery, and an influx of refugees from Eastern countries (Jürges 2013). This led to a decline in consumption of staple foods such as meat, eggs, and dairy. The after-effects of this era were especially impactful on not only the bodies but the minds of Germans. It led to a mindset worried with scarcity, and a chronic state of undernourishment for many Germans, especially the Urban poor (Jürges 2013).

However, by the 1970’s it would appear things were looking up. Throughout the 70’s-90’s, Germany saw the emergence of chains. After the wars, the country experienced urban expansion and thus, large grocery chains emerged. Some popular chains include Plus, Aldi, Rewe and Edeka. These places were the primary source of food for most families of all classes– lower and upper classes all shop at grocery stores, though different chains offer different prices on the same items. This era also saw many sit-down restaurants started by family’s and even immigrants pop up. A lot of foreign food was introduced at this time, with Greek, Turkish, and Thai foods being favorites among Germans. Regarding her restaurant experiences in the 80’s, my mother said: “The myriad of small Imbiss stands, especially Turkish Doner Kebab or Metzgerei Imbiss stands would sell hot meat items wrapped in broetchen. These were very common and inexpensive lunch for many working Germans or just people strolling through the Fuβgängerzone…the main shopping area.” I also asked my uncle Andrew Tompkins, who is an historian, about any social issues he lived through in his time in Germany, and how that impacted his food situation. He says: “The large immigrant population, especially of Turkish, was a direct result of the post-WW2 Marshall Plan to help rebuild Germany and jump start economic growth. Though Germany needed this labor force desperately, as there were very few men left from the war, this caused fights between Germans and Turks as large Turkish populations came in. But they brought with them their delicious food which Germans immediately took to. Doner kebabs were the number one thing I ate as a teenager coming home from school. It was so cheap.”

Another important thing that impacted Germany's agriculture and economy was the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, as the country was on the outskirts of the hazard zone. My uncle reminded me of this, as I was able to find very little research on the impacts of Chernobyl outside of Ukraine. “Germany’s imports from Poland and the Ukraine came to a halt, primarily bovine meat, and Germany needed to find alternative import sources,” he says. “I remember only being able to buy food imported from the US and for a while my parents could not even shop in grocery stores or farmers markets due to possible contamination. Milk was imported as well, but this only lasted a few months. Tests have concluded that livestock and crops were not negatively impacted by radiation for the long term.” So, while this situation only lasted for a couple months, it was definitely something that spooked many Germans and temporarily wavered a sense of mistrust in non-imported goods. Also interestingly, my uncle & mother, along with many other Germans their age, are not allowed to donate blood due to trace levels of radiation in their bodies from the disaster.

The era of modern retail lasted from around 2000-2020. This included modern retail stores that most Americans would recognize, as grocery and convenience stores spread through the West at this time. Prepared food consumption was at an all time high, with grocery and convenience stores selling things like french fries, sausages, pizza, kebabs, gyros, roasted chicken, and much more, already cooked and ready to be immediately consumed. It was like a restaurant, without the restaurant. This wave of convenience took the country by storm, and many older Germans would chalk it up to the younger generations becoming lazy. However, convenience is not solely about being too lazy to go to a grocery store, it also encompasses minimizing the mental and physical efforts that come with planning and prepping meals (Brunner et al. 2010). The stresses that come with existing in a world that is becoming increasingly capitalistic, commodified, and industrialized, cannot be ignored. Convenience foods have a benefit when it comes to helping out people who are struggling either financially or with their mental health, to be able to have a prepared meal in mere minutes as opposed to just going hungry as they probably would have done 50+ years ago. Sit-down eateries declined with the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, which resulted in nation-wide (and largely world-wide) shut downs of public places such as schools, work places, and restaurants. After 2020, I wouldn’t say sit-down restaurants are dead in Germany, however, they’ve definitely taken a back seat to a new and formidable opponent– e-commerce. When I say e-commerce, I’m referring to online retail and mobile ordering. These last couple of years have created an unprecedented ease in acquiring food that Germany has never seen before (honestly, nowhere in the world has ever seen before). The convenience of this digital age coupled with rises in grocery prices makes online ordering of takeout and fast food a no-brainer for many young Germans.

Many changes were spurred on by three major factors: World War 1, World War 2, and the 21st Century emergence of Germany as an economic powerhouse. Germany is currently the # 4 economy in the world in terms of GDP and has had an export growth from 2021- 2022 of 20 billion euros (Observatory for Economic Complexity). For example, since there are more business people in Germany than ever before, the average adult worker is bound to lean towards quick food. Additionally, with inflation and heightening grocery costs, it may even be more cost effective to eat one or two meals a day out instead of cooking at home. According to Statista 2019, the current market leader in online food retail in Germany is the e-commerce HelloFresh with a turnover of €479.4 million a year, followed by the food division of Amazon.de with €218 million a year, and REWE with €130.4 million a year (Dannenberg et al. 2020).

Figure shows the potential rise and fall of the “window of opportunity” for e-commerce in response to Germany's stay-at-home measures for Covid-19 (Dannenberg et al. 2020).

Online groceries may be leading the market, but fast food delivery is not far behind. When asked about the overtaking of American fast food chains in Germany, my uncle had this to say: “It’s not exclusive to America. Maybe I’m old, but I feel like most (German) young adults these days would rather order from an American food chain than a real restaurant with actual German food.” My mother also mentioned something similar: “American food has fascinated Germans…once Starbucks was introduced around 2002, the younger university crowd and 20-30 year olds started to frequent it. It is still pretty popular.” This situation reminds me a lot of the article “Swiggy It!”, which details how online food delivery has become so exciting and prevalent in India in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The target audience for these food-ordering apps in India is young working professionals who have no time to work due to intense work schedules, and have disposable income (Srinivas 2020). This mirrors the situation in Germany as well. Many millennials and young adults between 25-35 years old have jobs/careers, but do not have children, due to prioritizing successful careers over starting a family. Many older Germans disagree with this way of life and point to declining birth rates as a bad thing. However, many German millennials simply do not want to bring children into the world right now with climate change, inflation, and the pandemic (this is true in the U.S. and many other countries as well). This allows them to have disposable income to spend on food delivery for themselves and lessens the need to cook several meals at a time for their family.

Despite all these changes, the tradition of Oktoberfest persisted (albeit with some changes), as Germans held onto a source of happiness and connection to history apart from the horrors of the World Wars. Modern day Oktoberfest activities include beer tents, German “costumes”, carnival/amusement rides, and a generally more family friendly environment. Foods like pretzels and cheese are definitely still consumed and the popularity never dipped. My mother remembers in great detail her favorite thing she ate at Oktoberfest in 2013: “Warm potato salad and Bratkartoffeln'' (which are fried potatoes with onions and bacon fat). To give an idea of how the common food of Germany has changed and yet stayed the same, here are average meals consumed on a regular basis over the years: 1900- Roasted meat (pork or beef) and potatoes, the core of the German diet for centuries. 1980- Schweinshaxe, aka roasted pig knuckle, often served with a side of potatoes or sauerkraut. This dish became very popular overseas after World War 2 and often appears at Oktoberfest due to how easy it is to hold and walk around with (reminds me of the turkey legs at Disneyland). 2010- Currywurst with fries. Many to-go restaurants and food carts sell fast foods like sausages and fries in styrofoam cups. All these dishes feature a type of meat, usually pork, with a side of a potato dish. It is like the same meal being translated into different versions depending on what’s trending. “Foreign” flavors like curry and other Asian-inspired dishes are well-loved in Germany. At first, I struggled to understand why Germans love Thai food and Thai people love German food; it seemed like a fairly random food-alliance between unrelated countries. However, Professor Fortier suggested that it is because both diets are very pork-heavy and value pig products as a staple in their diet, which makes a lot of sense. My mom recounted how much meat her family ate. “During my time there, and still today, Germans get meat primarily from the local Metzgerei (meaning butcher) for weekly meat. We ate so much meat that we had a separate refrigerator for it, which was smaller since meat goes bad quickly. We’d make weekly trips or even several times weekly.” She then laughed as she said: “Whole pigs were roasted for my parents’ birthdays and sometimes holidays, though as a child I thought whole pigs were gross. The head was scary.” It is nice to see that some traditional practices and recipes are persisting through to modern times.

In conclusion, many factors have contributed to the current state of the food industry in Germany. It’s important to contextualize historical events and their impacts on an ever-changing society, and recognize the aspects that have either changed completely, stayed the same, or just shifted to adapt to the modern era. The shift of the general public’s viewpoint of food and how certain foods have historically related to union and celebration (but are being lost to time and less appreciated due to easy access) is something we should be aware of. History and modernity come together to form the larger picture of German culture. I hope that my research into history, qualitative and quantitative data, and firsthand experiences from my family could paint the picture of how Germany got to where it is today. The phenomena of industrialization, digitization, and re-workings of traditions is happening to other countries too, on a worldwide scale. Food is a wonderful vessel to explore these changes through, as it is something so near and dear to the human heart, and will reflect the ever changing society it belongs to.

Bibliography:

Hierholzer, Vera. "Searching for the best standard: different strategies of food regulation during German industrialization." Food and History 5, no. 2 (2007): 295-318.

Penn, Heather. "Beyond Bratwurst: A History of Food in Germany." (2016): 423-425.

Srinivas, Tulasi. "“Swiggy it!” Food Delivery, Gastro Geographies, and the Shifting Meaning of the Local in Pandemic India." Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture 21, no. 4 (2021): 17-30.

Dannenberg, Peter, Martina Fuchs, Tim Riedler, and Cathrin Wiedemann. "Digital transition by COVID‐19 pandemic? The German food online retail." Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie 111, no. 3 (2020): 543-560.

Jürges, Hendrik. "Collateral damage: The German food crisis, educational attainment and labor market outcomes of German post-war cohorts." Journal of Health Economics 32, no. 1 (2013): 286-303.

Brunner, Thomas A., Klazine Van der Horst, and Michael Siegrist. "Convenience food products. Drivers for consumption." Appetite 55, no. 3 (2010): 498-506.

Williams, Janice Lake, and Janet Downs. "OCTOBER: Oktoberfest." Activities, Adaptation & Aging 5, no. 3-4 (1984): 227-248.

The Observatory for Economic Complexity, Germany § (n.d.). https://oec.world/en/profile/country/deu#latest-data.

Tompkins, Andrew and Gretchen Cruz. 2023. An interview with Andrew Tompkins and Gretchen Cruz on March 10, 2023. 24min. San Diego: Unpublished cell phone audio transcript.

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