Continuing with the past blogs and my research on how the health of the Mexican community changes after coming and adapting the U.S. life style. In this blog I will go over the misperception that the American diet is healthier than the traditional Mexican diet in Mexico, the study mentioned in the last post said that the original Mexican diet is not healthy. These Mexican-American people have adapted the American diet stating that is healthier than the traditional Mexican food. But in the documentary titled Unnatural causes… is inequality making us sick? produced in 2008 by California Newsreel, studies found that the Latino community, in this case Mexicans, when they arrive to the United States, they are healthier than anyone else, but as they become “Americans”, they start changing their ways of living in the country, the more time they are in the United States, the more their health deteriorates because as mentioned in the documentary, immigrants start facing the hardships such as discrimination, low-pay jobs, isolation, racism, and living in a different environment and community as they are used to. Immigrants come to this country to work hard to have an improvement in their economical struggles. They must work 2 or more jobs to help their families back home. Also, it is important to consider that many have stablished their families here, which is even harder because the high prices of the rent and cost of living expenses for the whole family.
In my experience, I noticed how migrating to California in 2014 has changed my life positively but also negatively. In our home countries we don’t have the privilege of having big meals due the lack of money and that’s why we migrate to have those resources to feed our family. The little we produce in our lands, is what we often consume. Those locally products and animals grown and raised such as corn, avocados, tomatoes, grass-fed cows, chickens, etc. are healthier to consume because, for example, the vegetables and fruits do not travel long distances and are not Genetically modified products like many we consume here in the United States. In the U.S. to have access to organic or high-quality products, we must spend a lot money buying them, so it’s easy and affordable to buy products that most of the time are not organic, and in most cases just ended up buying fast food from a taqueria or burger/sandwich joint.
There are many factors that leads to an unhealthy diet while living in the United States, and I hope through these posts you are a way to make you think to find a way to stay healthy.
References
Carlos' Blog 