Summary From about 5000 miles around the globe, 34 years old Jamie Oliver from Essex, England passionately shares an important message that has the potential to save lives. Looking back into his past, Jamie’s interest for food began at an early age. It was then that his career journey sprouted and took off. Today, Jamie is one the most influential professionals and celebrity in the food industry. This culinary chef is well known for using fresh ingredients in his cooking. He is also the founder of the Fifteen Foundation that trains young chef from challenged backgrounds to run his restaurants. His work does not stop there; Jamie has published many cookbooks, designed cookware and is revolutionary food activist. His knowledge background and …show more content…
According to the national vital statistics report of April 2009, heart disease, cancer, diabetes and stroke the leading cause of death in the United States. In fact, these diseases are actually conditions that are caused by diet and obesity. In the talk, Jamie points out that today’s food is largely processed and filled with additives and artificial ingredients which contribute to excess weight gain and obesity. As a result, there is a higher risk of developing and dying from a diet related disease. This issue is coming at a cost the no one wants to face. Some examples include increased healthcare bills, shorter lifespans and strained relationships of affected individuals and their family and friends. Diet related disease is not only a problem affecting the people of America, but it is a global one and it is growing countries like Germany, China, India, Mexico, as well as back home in England. The importance of the need for a food revolution stressed in order to make a healthy and effective change. In order to achieve this change, Jamie tells his informs his audience of the vital need to go back to the basics and understand the underlying problems with the food system. He explains that the main stream food industry, the home and school are the primary cause of unhealthy food habits which lead …show more content…
However, although the talk was moving and provided extensive awareness, it still had its strengths and weaknesses. Looking at the strengths the talk was extremely well presented. Jamie included adequate research and evidence to support his facts and ideas. For example the use of clips of case interviews where the audience had an opportunity to view the issue of diet and obesity in the schools and in the home. In the beginning of the talk, he used a bar graph that explored the leading causes of death in a given population. Based on the graph he concluded that heart disease, all forms of cancer, stroke, and diabetes weren’t only the leading causes of death but also identifies these diseases as conditions caused by diet and obesity. Oliver used data from the national vital statistics report of April 2009 to support this claim. Throughout the talk the statistical evidence that Jamie continued to use remain relevant to the points he made. Therefore it was easy to understand and see how the different points he discussed were interrelated. However, I feel that Jamie left out some relevant information that may have more supportive to his talk. For
“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).
Brody, Jane E. “Attacking the Obesity Epidemic by First Figuring Out Its Cause.” New York Times. 12 September 2011. Print.
For some time, scholars and writers have continuously debated as to what constitutes or defines the idea of healthy eating, mainly because of the increase in the number of people diagnosed with ailments associated with bad eating habits. It has quickly become the forefront of issue, particularly in the United States. In recognition of this on-going debate, this composition seeks to compare and contrast two well-known authors concerning how we think about and consume food. In Michael Pollan’s discussion, “Escape from the Western Diet,” he discusses the negative sides of nutrition science, including conflicting theories surrounding the elements of healthy food consumption and why solutions are essential for the Western diet and lifestyle. “Escape from the Western Diet,’’ is among the articles that talks about the eating habits of individuals in the society. In the article, Pollan points out not only the numerous conflicts concerning what types of diets – including carbohydrate-based, the inclusion of omega-3s, other nutrition-specific needs - that are believed to directly affect general health or specific illnesses, but also how western nutritionism compares to other countries diets affect longevity outcomes. In the end, Pollan suggests that the United States must seek solutions that move towards more natural, unprocessed, plant-based lifestyles that ensure that individuals are making what they consume a primary
This documentary shows great examples of how obesity is a rapidly growing epidemic as important as terrorism, according to Former Surgeon General Richard Carmona. He stated, “Obesity is a terror within us. It destroys our society from within.” If we don’t take responsibility and change our horrible eating patterns we are going to be doomed. One of the main reasons for obesity, other than the lack of a healthy diet, is the modernization of our world.
The consequences of obesity are clear: various metabolic problems, high cholesterol, insulin resistance and high blood pressure. Risk of heart diseases more as we gain more fat. Sleep apnea can also result, as well as joint problems. Obesity is not only a result of lack of exercise, but of the kind of food people consume. The film “Fed Up” does not address whether “real food” as solution to this endemic is feasible, assumes that people have the time, money and energy to control their health by buying, preparing and cooking real food, and leaves the audience wondering whether their laziness that prevents them from investing time, energy and money to cook and consume slow food at home. However, health is not just a personal battle left to individuals; the food industry and the government should take more part in conscienscious research and education to provide truly healthy choices at reasonable
In February 2010, a remarkable chef and speaker, Jamie Oliver, presented himself to a TED (Technology, Education, Design) audience as ruthlessly real and charismatic. In his speech, “Teach Every Child about Food” he shares powerful stories of his anti-obesity project and makes the case for an all-out assault on our ignorance of food. Jaime Oliver’s speech aims to alter the perspective of Americans and their decisions about food and its effects. Since then, Oliver’s TED talk has been viewed across the nation and brought a reality to the issue with food education. Jamie Oliver successfully utilizes ethos, logos, and pathos to portray his belief that without the use of food education, America and its children will fall under the weight of its own obesity.
Repeatedly the news will highlight a story about the obesity epidemic sweeping the nation. Although the news and health experts bombard the common citizen with quick and easy ways to eat healthier and exercise more, the source of the issue is kept hidden behind closed doors. Before placing blame on the eating habits, it’s essential to take a closer look at what is being consumed. With rapid change in the food industry, progress must be met with caution because “The way we eat has changed more in the past fifty years than in the past 10,000” (Pollan and Schlosser). It is easy for the common man to provide the blanket statement of eating “better”, yet few actually proceed to do this. The average American has one of the worst diets in the world although opportunity and variety of options are overwhelming. Food industries are deceiving by masking the true process of how their food is produced. Not only does the eye not see how the food was made, but there is also a false sense of variety in the grocery market. The grossly unbalanced American diets and genetically modified organisms both coexist to create a greater problem than previously thought of.
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.
Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally with at least 2.8 million people dying annually as a result (World Health Organization). Among others, the food industry, governments and the private sector, all have vital roles to play in contributing to obesity prevention or more controversially, obesity continuation. These groups have the power to govern the constitutional elements of consumption, distribution, inspection, regulation, control and production of food. Competition within the industry is inevitable as it strives to supply food in a staggering abundance, at such a low-cost and without regard to geography or season. These high production rates have spawned powerful conglomerates as companies have merged to increase overall influence and reduce competition. In order to safeguard these positions, issues of regulation and conflict of interests manifest themselves in questionable industry funded food research centered on potential health benefits of their products (Sharma); these are conducted by government organizations responsible for promoting healthy eating habits but are funded by food manufacturers. They attempt to provide scientific proof in order to lobby the government to ensure a sympathetic legal framework to influence the implementation of nutritional policies. This repeatedly indicates that business interests are winning out over health concerns. Innumerable resources have been expended to develop and market products that are guaranteed to sell regardless of the global “eat less” message. In this essay I will explore how the food industry is promoting an environment in which the net result is an increase in body weight.
There is no surprise that food is important in all aspects of our lives—it is shared amongst families, celebrated as a major part of our culture, and crucial to our daily routine that keeps us fit, healthy, and active. Today’s western culture glorifies a skewed perspective on how food is supposed to fit into our lives. Somehow this perception has led us to believe we no longer have the time or money it takes to prepare a wholesome, healthy meal that is shared at the dinner table with family. Instead, we are trained to want a meal that is fast, cheap, and easy. This meal is usually highly processed and filled with sugars and fats. This has led us to a problem of epidemic proportions characterized by the rapid increase in obesity and diabetes.
In the end, fast food companies and individual faults should not be targeted as the main epidemic of obesity in the United State is increasing tremendously. Our lifestyles and poor 'convenient ' diets we can all say is an appropriate blame for the increase in obesity. Heaney acknowledges Oliver’s admonition “to stop worrying so much about our weight” is premature, although his advice to start caring more about diet and exercise is sensible. Eating well, eating less, and exercising regularly is what we must do to if we want to increase our life span and feel better about ourselves
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
I find this interesting because mostly what it shown on the news or shared on Facebook is the amount of deaths caused by murder or something else. Not once have I personally seen a news article show up on my Facebook news feed or on the news channel regarding death caused by obesity. He used stories in his speech that included him talking to other people about this issue. I found his material interesting because he talked to your every day average family to show that this is a problem with people that he has personally talked
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
One of the chief causes is unhealthy diets. On one hand, there are high-calorie foods in daily diets like chocolates, sugar, cheese and butter. Teenagers eat more and more high-fat burgers and pizza in fast food restaurants. For example, according to Altman and Leitch (2012), in Mexico, students drink cola rather than water due to the short of hygienic drinking water. Coca cola made agreements with many schools that they would exclusively sell Coca cola inside the schools. Therefore, Mexicans are considering being the most obese country which will have 70% overweight people including 30% obsess in the future. (Altman and Leitch,2012). The foods most commonly eaten by over 80% of kids are white bread, savoury snacks, chips, biscuits and chocolate confectionery. Besides, almost 20% kids do not eat any fruit at all. In general, kids eat about half the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. On the other hand, some people judge traditional food healthier; however, some traditional foods are extremely oily as well. For example, Chinese pay attention to use oil to heat the ingredients quickly. This makes the food fairly oily and high-fat. Furthermore, diets today are changing according to ...