HW #2: Food and Coffee in the civil war

Starting from the age of four it was typical of me to drink at least one cup of coffee everyday. My mother tried to stir me away from my family’s addiction to coffee but that didn’t stop me. I would take advantage of my grandma who would love to spoil me. The reasons why I wanted coffee was unclear perhaps It was because it was an act of rebellion against my mother or maybe I just really enjoyed the adrenaline. Learning about the consumption of coffee in the civil war was no shocker. A solider in a battlefield has to attend to many obligations that are outside of that realm. War is what overshadows a battlefield and war is simply not feasible. With time war slowly deteriorates your mental heath. To sustain a headstrong mentality I think all soldiers would need more then just food. Of course food is a necessity and is detrimental towards our health but what about our mental health. Mental stability is not something that can be easily obtained when it comes to war. Therefore it is essential to take care of ourselves mentally as it too depends on our survival. Living in the constant stress and fear a solider would experience is not something anyone can just manipulate or manage. A soldier’s life consist of many thing it isn’t just about being heroic it also pertains to horrific scenes as well as making sacrifices that can contradict your morals. Unless you have characteristic of a sadist then I don’t see how anyone can go through that without having something to help a person cope with that reality. As explained in the article having a cup of coffee didn’t only influence a solider’s ability on a battlefield but it had a symbolic meaning as well. Sharing a cup of coffee brought warmth and formed unity. Coffee was being substituted as a coping mechanism to the solider’s daily struggles. I found this to be the most intriguing because I think it something I can relate to. As oddly as it may sound being able to share a cup of coffee with my grandma strengthen our bond. It would bring stories and a couple laughs. It is also something I use to stay productive or alert. So looking at it from a solider’s eye I can see why coffee had its recognition. With that being said coffee would hold influence over me if I was a solider. Realistically speaking something like coffee would be just as vital as food in a solider’s life. In fact it would be many of our top priority. Sharing that cup of coffee would help me get through my day if I were a solider. It would allow me to share that mutuality and reconcile. It would be the source of my stability. With that being said those are things I hope to never go through. Putting that aside I would say the food I can’t live without does not exist. I love my cultural foods but my food choice depends on what I’m craving or what I find most pleasurable at the time. As of now I’m craving pasta but overall I can’t really subject myself to anything when it’s all temporary for me.