4. The consumption of food and drinks in Britain and Belarus these days

To start with, I would like to say that food is as much a part of our culture, as our landscape, language, and our literature. So, it goes without saying that every country has its own traditions and tendencies in the consumption of food and drinks. Let’s take our country and Britain for example. There’s no need to say that in Belarus people are more used to eating natural and very often home-grown products than processed. Actually, the Belarussians are not so obsessed with getting slimmer, so they eat different kinds of food and don’t really worry about calories that it contains. The British on the contrary tend to consider calories, that’s why their diet is quite different. And the main difference is that the Englishmen consume much less fatty food than we do. So, while we don’t care about the kind of dairy products we buy and most of us prefer full fat milk, the British drink only skimmed milk. Besides, because many British people nowadays have weigh problems they try to eat more poultry than beef or pork. Moreover, in comparison with previous years the consumption of high-fibre fruit and vegetables has increased greatly in their diet. They also eat less butter and fewer eggs than we do, but surprisingly, more cheese which is high in fat. Apart from that, the British as well as the Belarussians consume a lot of sugar, eating food like cakes, biscuits and sweets. Tinned products, as beans or soup often contain sugar too.

In fact, salt, sugar and fat are not the only things that we should be careful about when they choose products. These days people all over the world have become much more anxious about additives—special substances which are added to food for a number of reasons: to improve the flavour or add more colour. As a rule, most of these additives have a number and a letter E in front of them, which means that they are included in the list established by the European Economic Community. However, many additives are still without a number and they are not acceptable, because they may bring on some unpleasant consequences. For instance, they can cause certain people feel unwell, suffer from allergies, or even bring to nervous disorders. And no matter what country you are from one must be careful with these additives not to bring harm to one’s health.

To sum it up, I’d like to say that the greatest difference between the Belarussian and the British people is that they tend to eat out more. Most of the time they prefer going to fast-food places or traditional pubs, while we mostly eat at home, and visit restaurants only on special occasions or sometimes at week-ends.

5. A decline in our eating manners

Think about the word “people” and what does it mean. If you ask me I would say that from my point of view the most suitable meaning is “sociable beings”, because we are always in society. That’s why we have to take into account other people’s feelings all the time. Thus, to be a full member of society one must keep to the certain rules of behavior in definite situations.

As eating is an integral part of our everyday life, table manners deserve not less attention than other rules of behavior. Unfortunately, very often nowadays we can observe the full absence of etiquette not only at home but even in restaurants, cafes and especially in fast-food places. For example, sometimes people consider it acceptable to put their elbows on the table while eating, to eat or drink noisily, to speak with one’s mouth full, to put their knives or forks on the tablecloth. Using a napkin is a piece of cake, but this simple rule is often neglected too. Besides, it is very impolite to bend over other people’s plates, to take large bites, to pick at food with one’s hands or to wipe one’s plate clean with bread. Quite often we can see young women putting on make-up at table or little children who play with cutlery.

It seems to me that such unpleasant things happen so frequently, because many of us haven’t been properly taught to keep to table manners in our childhood. From my point of view, it is parents’ responsibility to teach their children to follow the rules of etiquette. Only they should set good example through their own behavior, and tell the kids what can acceptable only at home. So, if children are aware of some basic rules of behavior from the early years, later when they grow up and step in their adult life they will never get into ridiculous situation. Thus, we can see that table manners take a vital part in people’s lives. Actually, they mean politeness, kindness and intelligence. And there’s no doubt, if you are a well-bred person and respect others, people will treat you in a nice way too, as it is always a great pleasure to communicate with a well-mannered man or woman.

In conclusion I would like to add that though etiquette on the whole and table manners in particular in are necessary to follow in all corners of the world, still every nation has its own peculiarities. That is why if one is going to another country it is a very good idea to learn as many etiquette rules, specific for the place of destination, as possible, in order to show respect for the nation.