Story by Alejandro Gomez, Summer 2020
For me right now, beans are abundant and something we can basically get anywhere. I find myself often taking for granted the fact that these foods are so accessible to me. But the history that my dad has with them is different. My father grew up in Guadalajara, Mexico in the 1960’s. He had 15 other siblings, and food wasn’t easy to get all the time. I feel that now as opposed to when my dad was in Mexico, meat is more common for my family than it is a luxury. This was not the case for my father who was lucky if he got a piece of meat once a month when he was growing up. His family relied heavily on the less expensive things like corn and beans.
Currently one can go to almost any grocery store in the U.S and find all kinds of tortillas and beans. Black and pinto beans or flour and corn tortilla, for example. But in the 60’s my grandmother used to buy the dried corn and crush it herself in order to make the paste that is used to create tortillas. She would have to wake up at around 4 am everyday to make sure that the food was ready for all 16 of her children. After everyone ate breakfast and went on their way (most of the boys went to work instead of school and the girls would go to school), she would have to clean the house and go to the store to get what she needed to make dinner. My father always talked about how he would get home from work and there would be a jug filled with fresh water and a big pot full of boiling beans.
When my father came to the US, things were very different than in Mexico. People looked different, and they spoke different languages. The stores didn’t have the products that he was familiar with in them. It was hard for him to get used to living here. Something that he did find that reminded him of home was beans. They weren’t the same fresh raw beans that his mom would cook for him, but they were beans. In the U.S, the beans were already packaged in cans and were usually baked already. This worked for my dad because he didn’t really know how to make them; the can made it easier for him.
Now my father and I make beans almost everyday. Since I decided to stop eating meat three years ago, beans have been a good source of protein, and I try to include them in most of my meals. It's interesting to see how my father grew up relying on beans for sustenance and now, almost 40 years later, I am relying on beans for nourishment.