You Are What We Eat Analysis

1748 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: similarities and differences between fast food and home-cooked food

We have all heard the phrase “you are what you eat” at some point in our lives. Most of us simply brush it off, regarding it as just another tactic our mothers use to get us to try new things. This phrase has been used time and time again and it turns out, Mom was right, the food we eat does affect who we are in many ways. This theme of identifying ourselves with the food we consume is portrayed in both the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and the documentary Supersize Me, directed by Morgan Spurlock. In the article “Mom Was Right: You Are What You Eat.,” David Katz states:
Just as our homes are made from lumber without looking like trees, our bodies are made from the nutrients we extract from foods without resembling those …show more content…

Many live very fast-paced lives with rigorous schedules. Most people work full-time jobs, and do not arrive home until later in the evening. This makes the convenience of fast food more appealing than slaving over the stove after a long day at work. Due to these demanding schedules, people do not have time to prepare a healthy meal and in most cases settle for an unhealthy alternative, usually in the form of fast food. They are forced to eat what is readily available since limited options are presented. Kingsolver states:
Though they also may be busy with jobs and modern life, people the world over still take time to follow foodways that bring their families happiness and health. My family happens to live in a country where the main foodway has a yellow line painted down the middle. (39)
This presents the issue of why some countries, amidst their hectic lifestyles, continue to find time to prepare home cooked meals. Also, why the United States persistently defaults to the more convenient fast food option. We are hurting ourselves in the future by making these decisions today. The decisions we make today may lead to negative consequences in the future, “Arterial-plaque specials that save minutes now can cost years, later on” (Kingsolver 130). A conscious effort must be made in order to live a happier and healthier

Show More
Related

  • Food As Thought: Resisting The Moralization Of Eating By Mary Maxfield

    795 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Food as thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating,” is an article written by Mary Maxfield in response or reaction to Michael Pollan’s “Escape from the Western Diet”. Michael Pollan tried to enlighten the readers about what they should eat or not in order to stay healthy by offering and proposing a simple theory: “the elimination of processed foods” (443).

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Mark Bittman's Article: Is Junk Food Really Cheaper?

    1064 Words  | 3 Pages

    There has been withstanding controversy about whether fast food is easier on the pocket than eating home-cooked meals. Take McDonald’s for instance, they’re notorious for their convenient and affordable dollar and value menus. Since you can get a burger for just $1.19, feeding a family of four should be inexpensive right? Mark Bittman, author of “Is Junk Food Really Cheaper?” argues otherwise. He claims that fast food is not at all cheaper than buying a few groceries and cooking at home. He expresses the different myths about fast food like how it is supposedly cheaper than real food when measured by the calorie, the mentality of people that if it isn’t fast food, it has to be costly organic food, and that there just isn’t enough time to cook at home. These myths followed by genuine factors such as addictions and a cultural impact, help Bittman prove his argument’s validity across to his audience. I have to say that Bittman proved his argument’s effectiveness, for he clearly stated his thesis and provided various reliable

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The American Paradox By Michael Pollan

    785 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pollan states that food is not just a necessity to survive, it has a greater meaning to life. Pollan explains how food can cause us happiness and health by connecting us to our family and culture. Warren Belasco, in “Why Study Food”, supports Pollan’s idea that food is something social and cultural. In Belasco’s description of a positive social encounter food is included, whether it involves a coffee date with a colleague or a dinner date with a loved one. Belasco states that food forms our identity and brings our society together.

    Read More

  • Eating In The American Paradox, By Michael Pollan

    1236 Words  | 3 Pages

    Eating is an instinctual habit; however, what we decide to put in our body is a choice that will affect our way of living. In “The American Paradox,” Michael Pollan, a professor of journalism at University of California, Berkeley, disapproves of the way Americans have been eating. The term “American paradox” describes the inverse correlation where we spend more of our time on nutrition, but it would only lead to our overall health deteriorating. According to Pollan, our way of eating that had been governed with culture, or our mother, was changed by the entities of food marketers and scientists, who set up nutritional guidelines that changed the way we think about food. Nutritional advice is inaccurate as it is never proven, and it is not beneficial

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Omnivore's Dilemma

    791 Words  | 2 Pages

    Have you ever stopped and asked yourself: am I really eating healthy? Recently, I’ve come to the realization of what I’m eating on a daily basis isn’t entirely healthy for me. Michael Pollan, who is author of the book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, has opened my mind. While reading the first couple of chapters of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, I’ve realized that I don’t know much about the food that I am eating. For example, I didn’t know that farmers not only feed their animals, corn but they also feed them antibiotics (Walsh 34). In The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Pollan makes a strange statement, “You are what what you eat eats, too” (Pollan 84). Pollan continuously emphasizes this remark through various examples, and he’s right because strangely enough the food

    Read More

  • In Defense Of Food Essay

    611 Words  | 2 Pages

    Unlike similar documentaries published, Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food” effectively shows how the American diet has failed to produce good eating habits. As members of this modern culture we are exposed to all the wrong eating approaches. Michael pollan successfully convinces the viewer it can be simple. He conclusively defends food as it is intended to be eaten, and exhorts the viewer to “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly

    Read More

  • Escape From The Western Diet Essay

    1160 Words  | 3 Pages

    When we think of our national health we wonder why Americans end up obese, heart disease filled, and diabetic. Michael Pollan’s “ Escape from the Western Diet” suggest that everything we eat has been processed some food to the point where most of could not tell what went into what we ate. Pollan thinks that if America thought more about our “Western diets” of constantly modified foods and begin to shift away from it to a more home grown of mostly plant based diet it could create a more pleasing eating culture. He calls for us to “Eat food, Not too much, Mostly plants.” However, Mary Maxfield’s “Food as Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating”, argues differently she has the point of view that people simply eat in the wrong amounts. She recommends for others to “Trust yourself. Trust your body. Meet your needs.” The skewed perception of eating will cause you all kinds of health issues, while not eating at all and going skinny will mean that you will remain healthy rather than be anorexic. Then, as Maxfield points out, “We hear go out and Cram your face with Twinkies!”(Maxfield 446) when all that was said was eating as much as you need.

    Read More

  • The Reality of America’s Immigration

    1119 Words  | 3 Pages

    Harvey, Blatt. America’s Food: What You Don’t Know About What You Eat. 1st ed. Cambridge:

    Read More

  • America's Food Problem

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the United States, Food is one of the basic needs of life.We tend to spend tons of money every year to buy food. Consuming food reflects America’s culture in the United States. In America, Fast food is a way to enjoy delicious food made with sugar, fat and salt. It’s impossible to back away from eating good tasting food. Unfortunately, this is leading to major destruction. In the human life, food procurement, preparation, and consumption have devoted to an art form.Spite the terms of “America has a food problem,” it shows that our nation is unable to produce and supply safe, nutritious food in a way where it sustains our global population. Health Issues are a result of over consumption, which lead to portion sizes, and food production.

    Read More

  • The American Paradox, By Michael Pollan

    1071 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nutrition and health have become more popular in today 's society. Our generation is becoming more and more indebted to the idea of being healthy and eating nutritious meals. However, in “The American Paradox,” by Michael Pollan he argues that our unhealthy population is preoccupied with nutrition and the idea of eating healthy than their actual health. He also mentions the food industry, nutrition science and how culture affects the way we eat and make food choices. While Pollan is right about all these factor that affect our eating habits, there is more to it than that. Convenience, affordability and social influence also affects our food choices making them inadequate.

    Read More

  • We Are What We Eat: The Diffusion Of Hispanic Cuisine

    2022 Words  | 5 Pages

    Introduction The phrase, “We are what we eat” holds some essential validity and truth to it. Food is a constituent feature of our environmental ties to where we subside. It is a part of our daily lives. It can act as a form of communication with other individuals. Food can be an indicator of the nutrition idiosyncratic cultural groups are practicing.

    Read More

  • Paleolithic Health

    734 Words  | 2 Pages

    Growing up in today’s culture offers more convenience than ever before. This fast-paced lifestyle unfortunately leaves little time for most to shop, prepare and enjoy healthy food. Many people find it easier to buy packaged, pre-made or fast food in place of more sustaining foods. In Paleolithic times humans were required to hunt meat, gather and forage vegetables, roots, seeds and nuts to live. These skills served up fare that was full of nutrition and sustenance. Today’s processed and sugar-laden foods offer convenience but at the cost of some health problems. A February 2009 study done by the Department of Medicine in the University of California, San Francisco, shows a remarkable improvement in

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay About Food

    1094 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many people in America, from toddlers to the elderly, have shown numerous signs of bad health. People have the desire to keep on eating due to more, new things being merchandised as “new and improved items” from the producers. For example, nowadays, people are eating pure junk that they find satisfying on the grocery food shelf. As, stated by Michael Pollan, in his article, “Eat Food: Food Defined” he affirmed that “real food is the type of things that our

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Eating Healthy

    1177 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the book, In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan explores the relationship between nutrition and the Western diet, claiming that the answer to healthy eating is simply to “eat food”.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Fast Food Vs Home Cooked Meals

    867 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lack of time to cook a proper meal and decide to order fast food? This situation always happened in everyone daily life. This shows that choosing fast food as a meal is already a trend in this modern era. Fast food and home cooked meal can be differentiated by time, cost and its nutrition value.

    Read More

More about You Are What We Eat Analysis

Open Document