St. Patrick's Day

On Wednesday, March 17, college students (and others) across America will wear green, eat beef and cabbage, and go to parties where they will drink green beer and Irish car bombs—a drink with Guiness, Bailey’s, and Jameson. But how many people celebrating St. Patrick’s Day really know why they are celebrating?

I think it’s great that so many countries celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and in doing so, recognize the old, rich, interesting culture of Ireland. Yet, the problem today is that many people celebrate the holiday and don’t recognize that culture. Companies like McDonald’s use St. Patrick’s Day as a marketing tool, selling Shamrock Shakes—vanilla milkshakes with peppermint extract and green food coloring—during this time of year. There’s even a website, www.shamrockshake.com, where people talk about where they can find the nearest McDonald’s that sells a Shamrock Shake. What does this tell us about the Irish culture? History? Nothing, and, nothing.

Who is Saint Patrick? Well, he was the patron saint of Ireland and is one of Christianity's most widely known figures (Visit www.history.com/topics/who-was-saint-patrick for more info). This is interesting, in that Christianity is America’s majority religion. You would think that Saint Patrick and the culture he represents, then, would be acknowledged and respected a bit more by some of America’s biggest companies. What about Celtic music? Ireland’s beautiful geography?

Many people, Irish and non-Irish, do celebrate Saint Patrick’s day honoring Irish culture, traditions, food, and drink; but still too many people use the holiday as another justification to consume large amounts of alcohol, market food with green food-coloring, and sell cheap plastic decorations. I've seen too many shiny plastic green hats and shamrock necklaces.

*On a side note, not only do MacDonald’s Shamrock Shakes use St. Patrick’s Day as a marketing tool (neglecting Irish culture in the process), but food-coloring contains many chemicals, many of which are toxic. As reported on Science News, The majority of food colors are made with petroleum . . . and are a derivative of petrochemicals and coal tar. These chemicals are in no way made to be ingested by humans or any other animal. In fact, food dye is pulled off of the market regularly because of health concerns . . . [some are] shown to cause ADHD, multiple types of cancer, male sterility, and many other issues” (http://science-news.org/artificial-food-coloring/artificial-food-coloring-dangers/).

And plastic? We really don’t need any more cheap plastic decorations. Google “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” and you’ll see what I mean. Or visit www.greatgarbagepatch.org.

And here’s some traditional Irish music for you to enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_nc4-xxdMA