Unfamiliar Culture; Cuisine in Ireland.

Much like America, Ireland's diet consists mostly of things like meat, potatoes, cheese, milk and bread. Animal products and starchy foods make up the majority of most dishes. More recently, Ireland has developed a diet very similar to the American diet. Fast food consumption has risen a considerable amount. In fact, obesity has become a rising health issue.

Traditional Irish cuisine is also a culprit of obesity, as it contains much butter, red meat, and processed meats. Unlike America, Ireland's diet is less focused on things like fruits and vegetables. Yes, this means there is a country that consumes even less (healthy, non-starchy) produce than we do.

Some traditional dishes in Ireland include soda bread (bread that uses baking soda as a replacement for yeast), boxty (potato pancakes), and Irish stew (mutton/lamb/beef, potatoes, onion, and parsley).

Ireland is often stereotyped as a highly alcoholic country. Numbers show that alcohol consumption in Ireland is higher than many other countries, although Luxembourg takes the prize for most alcohol consumed per person in the world.

Overall, Ireland's current diet is very similar to America's diet. Ireland is also beginning to adopt other cultures foods; i.e. curry (a predominantly Indian dish) and Chinese food. There aren't many differences between our diet and their's, at least not significant differences. They share the same love of high-fat foods, alcohol, and animal products.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_cuisine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soda_bread
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_stew
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxty
http://www.ravensgard.org/prdunham/irishfood.html -history of Ireland's diet
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9325487 - Luxembourg, highest alcohol consumption in the world
http://www.ndc.hrb.ie/attached/3863-4118.pdf - alcohol consumption in Ireland
http://www.red-branch.com/fruit_&_veg.htm - fruit and vegetable consumption in Ireland