The Pleasure Of Eating By Trish Hall

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We discovered it, we lost it, and it is coming back: Pleasure in food.
The essay “Discovering something new in food: Pleasure” by Trish Hall addresses the matter of food from a different angle; in fact, food, like fashion, is affected by trends.
The author analyzes a new trend that might affect food in the near future. Nowadays processed food has gained a greater portion of space on markets shelves; therefore, according to the author, people are starting to associate pleasurable food with negative emotions which instead of making eating pleasant, it has become the complete opposite (Hall 1).
The author argues that some individuals have become so obsessed with healthy eating and homemade diets that some of them completely stop eating fat and …show more content…

The author begins with an evaluation of the ignorance of the “today” consumers regarding the whole process of food, from the land, or factories where it originates to the consumers’ table, where it ends. The author writes: “For them (The consumers) food is pretty much an abstract idea –something they do not know or imagine- until it appears on the grocery shelf or on the table” (Berry 64). The author then continues and defines the word “Industrial eater” that is essentially the type of consumer that does not know the link between eating and the land, and who is therefore passive and uncritical, the author calls those eaters victims (Berry 64). The writer utilizes the term victim to cleverly generate a connection between: food, consumer awareness, food industries, and ultimately freedom. One cannot be free if someone else controls his/her mind and voice; equally, one cannot be free if the food and its sources are controlled by someone else (Berry 66). The analogy acts as a wake-up call for the consumers in order to make them comprehend the importance of understanding the origin of the food as well as unfolding the real goal of the food industry, profit. Wendell Berry’s essay is greatly more critical when it comes to the modus operandi of the food industry and its ethical principles than Trish Hall’s article. Wendell Berry, then, gives seven distinct instructions on how to eat responsibly. Four of the seven points concern learning more about the food we eat and its origin as well as the extra chemicals added to it by the food companies. For the remaining points, the author, advises to grow your own food if possible, to deal directly with local producers and to prepare your own food by avoiding precook products (Berry 68-69). All these

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