Interviews with grandparents
Germany 
Form 7a interviewed their grandparents two weeks before Easter 2008. Altogether, 27 interviews were done.
The following facts are striking.
None of the favourite food items of the class like pizza, pasta, hamburgers etc. these were mentioned in the interviews. (2 exceptions: noodles are very common in Southern Germany, and one family comes from here. One family also mentioned lasagne as a common dish) Moreover, mostly locally grown food was consumed. Some state that they had a farm on their own and grew their own food. Many of the dishes mentioned are very traditional.
Several grandparents mention that didn't eat as much meat as is done today, especially because it was more expensive.
For the Polish students, it might be interesting to see how many grandparents originally come from regions which are in Poland today.
Here a some of these interviews.
Louisa Peters: Interview with my grandmother
Louisa: Hi, grandmother. How are you? I'm fine.Grandmother: I'm fine, thank you.
Louisa: I want to talk with you about your life. How old are you and where did you live with your family?
Grandmother: I'm 68 years old. I lived with my sister, my grandmother, my dad, my mother and our dog in Hellengrund. This was in Kreis Ortelsburg, in East Prussia. Today Ortelsburg is called Szczytno and it is in Poland.
Louisa: What did you eat in this time for breakfast?
Grandmother: For breakfast I ate muesli with fruits.
Louisa: And what did you eat for lunch and for dinner?
Grandmother: For lunch we often ate stew and salad. For dinner we ate bread.
Louisa: Did you have a ´tea-time´?
Grandmother: Yes, sometimes we drank tea and ate biscuits.
Louisa: Did you have a special-food?
Grandmother: Yes, Stew, kale and fried potatoes. But in the war we didn't have much meat.
Louisa: That's very interesting, but I must do my homework now.
Grandmother: Yes, I understand. Bye.
Louisa: Bye grandmother.
Lena Perkmeyer: Interview with my father
Reporter: How much brothers and sisters do you have?Dad: I have three sisters and three brothers. And I have five uncles and four aunts.
Reporter: Did you have to help your parents?
Dad: Yes, I had to help them everyday, but I didn't like this.
Reporter: Did you have a special food?
Dad: Yes, we did. On Sunday, we ate pig roast.
Marcel Brunsmann interviews his granddad
I: How old are you?Grandad: I´m 59 years old.
I: Where did you live as a child?
Gandad: I lived in Osnabrück in the Sutthauser Straße.
I: What did you eat for breakfast?
Grandad: We always ate bread for breakfast.
I: And what did you eat for lunch?
Grandad: We very often ate stew or potatoes.
I: And what did you eat for dinner?
Grandad: We always ate bread for dinner, too. But I think sometimes we ate rolls.
Lukas Wächter interviews his grandma
reporter: "Hello grandma, please tell me how old are you?"grandma: "I'm 62 years old."
reporter: "Where did you live?"
grandma: "I was born in Russia, because my parents were expelled because by the war. When I was 24 years old we came back to Germany and lived in Basinghausen for 6 years. Then we moved to Natbergen, Osnabrück."
reporter: "What do you eat for breakfast?"
grandma: "For breakfast I drink a big cup of coffee with milk and eat a slice of bread with cheese or marmalade. "
reporter: "What do you eat for lunch?"
grandma: "For lunch I always had a warm meal, often with salad."
reporter: "What do you eat for dinner?"
grandma: "For dinner I had one or two slices of bread with tomatoes or other things."
reporter: "Was there an special food?"
grandma: "For me and my whole family I cook a Russian soup called Borrtsch."
Lena Marie Brinkmann interviews her Grandma
1. reporter: " How old are you? "grandma: " I'm 65 years old. "
2. reporter: "Where did you live? "
grandma: "I lived in Stettin, it was formerly a town in Pomerania till the end of the world war 1945, now it's a city in Poland called Szczecin. I left Stettin by train and after that I lived on a farm near Melle, it is called Gesmold. There we had more to eat, because the farmer gave us eggs, milk and bread."
3. reporter: "What did you ate for breakfast?"
grandma: "I ate bread with syrup and I drunk a cup of milk."
4. reporter: "What did you ate for lunch? "
grandma: "Often I ate potatoes and vegetables and sometimes a piece of pork, it was very expensive at that time."
5. reporter: " What did you eat for tea time? "
grandma: " I ate self-made biscuits and I drank a cup of tea or coffee."
6. reporter: "What did you ate for dinner? "
grandma: "I ate milk soup and drank a cup of mineral water or milk."
Maike Niewöhner interviews her grandma
Reporter: "How old are you? "Grandma: "I am 66 years old."
Reporter: "And where did you live?"
Grandma: "I lived in Jeggen."
Reporter: "Where are you born?"
Grandma: "I was born in Jeggen, too"
Reporter:" When you were a child, what did you eat for breakfast? And what did you drink?"
Grandma: "I ate bread with marmalade and drank milk from our own cows. The fruits for the marmalade are from our garden"
Reporter:" And for lunch?"
Grandma: "That is different. For example: chicken or pork. The meat came from our animals"
Reporter: "And for dinner?"
Grandma:" Bread with marmalade or cheese."
Reporter: "Did you have tea time in your family? When yes what you ate and drink?"
Grandma:" Yes, we had tea time and we ate biscuits and drank coffee."
Reporter:" Did you have a special food?"
Grandma: "Yes the fruit which we had in our garden. My favourite fruit were and still are apples."
Reporter:" Thanks for this interview. It was very interesting:"
Grandma:" Thanks."
Reporter:" Have a nice weekend. Good bye."
Grandma:" Bye, bye."
David Bruckner interviews his grandparents
Reporter: How old are you?Person: I am eighty-four years old.
Reporter: Where did you live when you were a child?
Person: I lived on a farm in southern Germany.
Reporter: What did you eat for breakfast?
Person: I ate some bread with cheese and I drank milk.
Reporter: What did you eat for lunch?
Person: I ate lots of mushrooms and noodles and sometimes eggs. We very rarely ate meat because it was too expensive.
Reporter: What did you eat for tea time?
Person: I had no tea time.
Reporter: What did you eat for dinner?
Person: I ate always bread with cheese. In summer I ate also lots of black- and strawberries and other fruits and vegetables.
Reporter: Was there a special food?
Person: Yes, of course. At festivals days I ate meat and a lot of gravy and potatoes.
Luisa Wittenbrink interviews her Grandma
Reporter: "You are 75 years old and live in Salzbergen. What did you eat in your young years?"Grandma: "Oh, for lunch we ate pea soup and bean soup, often vegetables and brown bean soup. Sometimes we eat liverwurst, blood sausage and pork cutlet. On Sundays we ate smoked sausage with potatoes, eggs and soup. Sometimes we ate stew, but really rarely and for desert we had milksoup."
Reporter: "What did you eat breakfast?"
Grandma: "We didn't really know breakfast. We sometimes got some bread, no more."
Reporter: "Oh, and the dinner?"
Grandma: "For dinner we ate the rest from lunch. Not really tasty, but we had to eat it!"
Reporter: "What did you eat at tea time?"
Grandma: "At Tea time we had bread with marmalade and no more. Sometimes we got an apple or biscuits, but nobody could buy anything!"
Reporter: "Thank you for that interview!"
Katharina Götte interviews her grandparents
How old are you ? - I'm 72 years old .Where did you live ? - I was born in Lingen .
What did you eat for breakfast ? - I ate bred with jam and cheese and I drank milk .
What did you eat for lunch ? - I ate vegetables and fruits.
What did you eat for dinner? - I ate bred and I drank milk coffee.
What did you eat or drink for tea time ? - We had no tea time .
Was there a special food ? - Yes , my special food was spinach with eggs or sometimes rabbits.