Food Processing

1789 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: how industrialization changed food in cultural in america essay

Health care professionals question how and when processed foods in America became problematic. Processed foods came with the industrialization of food that gradually took place over decades, and Americans are experiencing lifelong negative health effects. In order for food companies to stay in business, they had to do something about consumer demands. Listed below are five specialty foods that have been created to keep processed food sales at an all-time high. Whole Foods The more we learn about nutrition, the more it seems we should eat the way people did a hundred years ago. Recent research appears to be pointing us in the direction of eating mostly ‘whole foods’ – that is, foods that are as close to their natural form as possible. “The idea of whole foods is catching on the popular imagination as well. Consider the now ubiquitous Whole Foods Market grocery chain, which started in 1980 as one store in Austin, Texas. Its mission was simple: ‘to provide a more natural alternative to what the food supply was typically offering at the time” (Whole Food Web MD). Eating foods as close to their natural form was implemented once researchers began to educate consumers on processed foods. Negative health effects started to increase, and some studies correlated these health effects due to processed foods. Once research became public, the people who are attracted to whole foods are people trying to better their health. Everybody who wanted to better their health began to eat as close to the earth as possible. Eating whole foods was a great alternative to processed foods but did not solve the issue entirely. Although everybody would prefer to make their health a priority, cost is still a factor. “Processed foods are cheaper than br... ... middle of paper ... ...s for Americans recommend that adults in general should consume no more than 2,300 mg of sodium per day” (Center for Disease Control and Prevention). Natural Grocers offer Pacific organic soups that are light in sodium, Muir Glen organic canned diced tomatoes, and Cadia free-range chicken broth. A consumer that chooses the low-sodium product over the original has made the better choice. Works Cited "Web." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 03 June 2014. Print. "Americans Consume Too Much Sodium (Salt)." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 24 Feb. 2011. Web. 18 June 2014. "Breakfast Cereal." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 06 June 2014. Web. 18 June 2014. Nestle, Marion. What to Eat. New York: North Point, 2006. Print. “MyPlate and Historical Food Pyramid Resources." Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 June 2014.

Show More
Related

  • Summary of the Chapter "Nutritionism Defined"

    548 Words  | 2 Pages

    Michael Pollan, an American author, journalist, activist, and professor of journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism (Michael Pollan), writes in his book In Defense of Food, the dangers of nutritionism and how to escape the Western diet and subsequently most of the chronic diseases the diet imparts. In the chapter “Nutritionism Defined” Pollan defines the term nutritionism. Pollan’s main assertion being how the ideology of nutritionism defines food as the sum of its nutrients, and from this viewpoint Pollan goes on to write how nutritionism divides food into two categories, with each macronutrient divided against each other as either bad or good nutrients, in a bid for focus of our food fears and enthusiasms. Finally, Pollan concludes that with the relentless focus nutritionism places on nutrients and their interplay distinctions between foods become irrelevant and abandoned.

    Read More

  • A Summary Of Michael Pollan And Michael Moss

    1204 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Escape from the Western Diet, Pollan discusses how Americans have become obese due to their diet of mainly processed foods. He makes the case that for Americans to once again become healthy, we must return to eating “whole foods”. Pollan brings up the fact that Americans don’t spend as much time nor as much money on

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Michael Pollan's Escape From The Western Diet

    1159 Words  | 3 Pages

    He claims that a better diet requires spending more time and resources on food, just like the people of the past did. Pollan attributes their surpassing health to this practice, but in his article “How Junk Food Can End Obesity”, David Freedman paints a different story. Freedman describes how examinations of ancient non-Western remains revealed “hardened arteries, suggesting that pre-industrial diets…may not have been the epitome of healthy eating” (514). This discovery seriously undermines Pollan’s assumption that we should follow the lead of our ancestors because even though they spent a greater amount of resources on food and ate absolutely no processed foods, they still suffered from some of the same diseases which Pollan claims his eating habits will curb. As an opponent of processed foods, or “foodlike products” (Pollan 426), Pollan advocates eating whole foods. As many people have a similar opinion, he is not alone in this, but he is misinformed. Freedman reveals that after examining the nutrition labels on various unprocessed, whole foods, he found that many contained more fat, sugar, and sodium than processed foods (512). If unprocessed foods underwent the same scrutiny as processed foods, perhaps this common misconception could be prevented. The basic premise of Pollan’s essay is that a better diet will lead to better health. While we could all benefit from a better diet, “findings linking food type and health are considered highly unreliable (Freedman 518). Freedman discusses the multitude of nondietary factors such as air quality and exercise that render such studies untrustworthy. Pollan might be a well-respected author of nutrition books, but this does not mean that his theories are free of

    Read More

  • How Junk Food Can End Obesity?

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    The problematic aspect of processed food is all the added hormones, preservatives, and antibiotics that are injected into the food. Organic foods have none of these additives, and the pure characteristic of organic food is a valuable thing. Pollan (2008) agrees with this when he writes, “instead of worrying about nutrients, we should simply avoid any food that has been processed to such an extent that it is more the product of industry than of nature” (p. 424). I have a medical condition in which I am not supposed to eat any foods that have added preservatives, hormones, or antibiotics. This is because my body is hypersensitive to chemicals and, especially, added hormones. It can easily cause serious health problems. Pollan (2008) also added an opinion made by a food politics and policy lecturer, Gyorgy Scrinis, who believes that, “the most important fact about any food is not its nutrient content but its degree of processing” (p. 423). If everyone would stop their constant consideration in nutrient content and turn their attention to additives; America could become a much healthier

    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

  • Salt Sugar Fat Summary

    660 Words  | 2 Pages

    This book addresses the public health topic of big food in the US. Salt, sugar fat found in processed foods and excess calories are major contributors to the obesity epidemic in the US. Currently,

    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

  • 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

  • Food Vs Food

    1093 Words  | 3 Pages

    “What are we going to eat?” is a big question that we ask ourselves three time a day. We are eating the same kinds of foods over and over again. Most of our foods come from the supermarket, but many of us do not know where the foods origins. Most people don't realize the nutrition facts behind the fact. They are just simply filling up the stomach. As Michael Pollan, the author of Omnivore’s Dilemma, states: “Industry food system is most important reasons that make people unhealthy and obesity. Yet, eating organic food are considering healthier than industry food.” I believed although industry foods have less nutrition, and bad effects on human, individual responsibilities serve as the most important factor of the obesity in United States.

    Read More

  • Organic Foods vs Processed Foods

    1172 Words  | 3 Pages

    Food has been a common source of necessity in our everyday lives as humans. It helps gives us nutrition and energy to live throughout our life. Over several decades, the development of making foods has evolved. They have changed from natural to processed foods in recent years. Nowadays natural ingredients are barely used in the making of foods like bread, cheese, or yogurt. The food industry today has replaced natural food making with inorganic ingredients. The cause of this switch is due to processed foods being easier, cheaper and faster to make. Artificial nutrition and processed foods have been proven to last longer in market shelves then natural foods. Also, due to artificial additives in processed foods they help satisfy consumers taste more than natural ingredients. The method of producing processed foods is common in today's food industry and helps make money faster and efficiently for companies. Examples of this can be found in all markets that distribute food. Even though processed foods may be easier and faster to make, they are nowhere near as healthy for consumers compared to natural foods. Natural foods are healthier, wholesome, and beneficial to the human body and planet then processed foods.

    Read More

  • Whole Food Vs. Processed Food?

    1115 Words  | 3 Pages

    Let us discover together, what processed foods are and why they can’t measure up to the

    Read More

  • Is Lamb Meat Healthy By Manuel Attard

    1173 Words  | 3 Pages

    Today, more and more people pay attention to healthy lifestyle. People are not only concerned about whether you can eat, people are more concerned about whether you eat healthy. People attach so much importance in the diet of healthy, they understand the nutritional value of things is even more important. Only specific understanding of the nutritional value of food can only be a better choice for their own healthy living. But a lot of people for some very common nutritional value of foods often have a wrong understanding. I think that people in the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle before, should pay attention to the nutritional value of different foods.

    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

  • Argumentative Essay On Junk Food

    1184 Words  | 3 Pages

    It became so clear that junk foods lead to a punch of catastrophic diseases like obesity, type two diabetes, vascular diseases and cardiac disorders. Those kinds of diseases cost more than $150 billion annually, just to diagnose, treat people who suffer from them. That disease is chronic and leads to many health-related issues, for example, obesity considers a risk factor for type two diabetes, and high blood pressure, joint disorders and many others (The Denver Post 2012). The key of preventing many chronic problems is nutrition. Low income plays an important role of limiting most people to buy and eat a healthy diet and in the other hand, it is easy for people budgets to purchase junk foods. So controlling the prices of healthy foods to be suitable for all people make good nutrition available for everyone. Adequate diets mean decreasing the epidemic of those serious diseases, and stopping the spread and break the bad sequences that may happen. Long-term exposure to junk foods that are full with chemicals like additives, preservatives have led to chronic illnesses difficult to treat. Also, the chemical added to junk foods are tasted unique and made millions of people becoming addicted to them and are available everywhere for example in restaurants, cafes, lunchrooms (The Denver Post

    Read More

  • Food Processing

    2662 Words  | 6 Pages

    and it was he who offered 12,000-franc pieces to the person who devised a safe

    Read More

More about Food Processing

Open Document