“My subject is food, which concerns everyone; it is health, which concerns everyone; it is the soil, which concerns everyone - even if he does not realize it, and it is the history of certain recent scientific research linking (these) three vital subjects.” Does being an educated consumer only pertain to the purchase of high-ticket items or should we as consumers apply this theory to everything that we purchase? From the water we drink to the shoes you wear, to the pens you write, technology we use to make life more convenient, to cars we use to commute but most importantly to the fuel we use and I don’t mean the kind you purchase at a gas station. All living organisms need fuel to survive. Plants need water and sunlight to grow, animals need plants or other animals to fuel their energy and humans need to a combination of protein, vegetables and other nutritious supplements to sustain bodies. You are what you eat, it all starts with a simple idea or better yet curiosity, it makes you want to learn which in turn makes you informed. If we take the time to learn every specification about our cell phones, computers, gadgets, cars or whatever drives your interest why not educate yourself about what you use to fuel the most important instrument you will ever use, your body. Recently I began a life-changing journey to change the way that I eat so that I can be healthier, be in better physical shape and look the way that I have always wanted to look. I thought that I was going to achieve these goals simply by going to the supermarket and make better choices when it came to the foods that I was consuming. Last week I was introduced to a documentary called Food Inc. and little did I know that the way I saw food was going to be altered for... ... middle of paper ... ...A is to establish national standards for organics that would be held up state-to-state, clear up labeling confusion educate consumers, what real organics are and to protect consumers and other businesses against organic fraud. Its plain and simple food literally makes up our physical beings; however, the simple act of eating has increasingly become filled with potentially irreparable effects for one’s health and even life. As a result, our ability to judge the safety and healthfulness of foods is as essential as the natural instinct of survival. The ability to properly recognize and choose foods for consumption is fundamentally tied to an informed and educated consumer. After all, as the common adage goes: “you are what you eat.” The fuel we give our body to create energy comes from the food we eat, and in essence, these nutrients becomes the body’s very substance.
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.
...g statistics about the public’s health and make the future seem bleak, “the lifespan is shortening for new American children” (Pastor) and “ one in three children born after the year 2010 will develop type II diabetes” (Pastor). Pastor says that he is shocked by the impact and wants to break away from the cycle created. In his closing statements he convinces the audience to break away from the cycle away as well, by drawing on the seeds he planted with pathos, ethos, and logos. The film was well made and addressed all the issues of “organic” food and well informed the audience of what is occurring. Next time, an audience member goes to the supermarket to buy food they will probably remember what their children will look like in twenty years if they don’t take a more “organic” approach to their lives.
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
In Wendell Berry’s “The Pleasures of Eating,” this farmer tells eaters how their separation from food production has turned them into “passive consumers” who know nothing about the food they eat, or their part in the agricultural process (3). They are blindsided by a food industry that does not help them understand. Berry argues that the average consumer buys available food without any questions. He states consumers that think they are distanced from agriculture because they can easily buy food, making them ignorant of cruel conditions it went through to get on the shelf. Humans have become controlled by the food industry, and regard eating as just something required for their survival. Berry wants this to change as people realize they should get an enjoyment from eating that can only come from becoming responsible for their food choices and learning more about what they eat. While describing the average consumer’s ignorance and the food industry’s deceit, he effectively uses appeals to emotion, logic, and values to persuade people to take charge, and change how they think about eating.
All in all, this book is a great read for those seeking to learn more about food and how it relates to all aspects of life and history as well as find that extra push in taking the initiative in improving one’s eating habits and lifestyle. It serves as an easy to follow introduction into a healthy relationship with food including with simple guidelines that are not too forceful or complex to understand.
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.
The Hungry for Change documentary is based on the idea that detoxification is the key to weight loss. Interviews with various experts present the notion of burning calories and how it does not reduce weight. Hungry for change’s perspective is based on the view that manufactured food substances are a demand created by marketers to be more profitable. These manufactured foods like substances create a craving within us and provide us with very little regarding nutritional gain. The film purports that we can gain incredible health, vitality and weight loss by eating simple, wholesome foods. The experts featured in “Hungry for Change” present the fact that we should eat mostly plants and presents this as one of the most important discoveries of the twenty-first century. Hungry for change throughout the 90-minute documentary sought to remind the public of their health concerns and most importantly remind us that “you are what you eat.”
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.
Freshman year of college is a turning point in most young adult’s lives. They are moving away from home and living on their own or with peers. Tammy Smith, an incoming freshman is concerned about what her diet will be like while living in a dorm. She has heard that a lot of females in college will develop eating disorders because of their poor diet and possible weight gain from lack of exercise. Tammy started to do research on the internet and stumbled across “Healthy Eating: A Practical Guide” published by Concordia University. In the guide, it has guidelines and tips for college students to eat healthy while on a budget, and a chart for the amount of each food group that a female needs to eat to have a healthy diet. While doing
“Eating in our time has gotten complicated” (Pollan xi). In Food Rules, author Michael Pollan makes it very clear that the American diet is unhealthy and we do not know what we are truly eating. We’ve made eating more difficult, Americans are constantly tracking, counting, and stressing about calories, carbs, and sugars. In reality a lot of us don’t really know what exactly we should be eating, we just guess and eat something that sounds like it’s good for us. I myself have done this on a daily basis. Every time I plan a meal, I think “is this too many carbs?” or “what is erythritol and is it good for me?”. In the past few months I’ve decided to become more aware of what I am putting into my body. I’ve noticed myself
Proper nutrition is important in maintaining a long and healthy life. Most Americans are rushed due to their busy work schedules, and do not take the time to plan their diets properly. Like me, most Americans are unaware of the importance of eating a healthy diet and consume too many foods without the proper nutrients. Throughout my life I have been fortunate. I have not had any major health problems, and have been able to consume most foods without having to worry about gaining weight. These last two years, however, I started to gain weight and have become concerned with my diet. Changing my poor eating habits has been difficult for me, however, having this assignment has taught me that it is not as difficult as I previously imagined.
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.
One of the reason’s why I felt my nutrition needed to changes is because nutrition is a huge part of a healthy lifestyle, the way that we eat and what foods we consume can have a huge impact on our everyday lives. Nutrition plays a huge role in multiple facets of a person’s life energy, health, skin, weight, confidence, and more making having a good control on your eating habits extremely important. How we eat over the years and what foods we routinely choose to eat can eventually have a lasting effect on use and what we consider to be most appealing and appetizing at any given moment. Having these craving and routine habits makes eating, diet, and nutrition both a behavior and a lifestyle choice that can be changed over time with help from the theories learned in this class.
He emphasizes the need to escape the western diet and its diverse negative impact on
Proper nutrition is one of the most essential elements to being healthy and living a long life. People deal with food every day, and food has been a part of life since the beginning of civilization. What we eat becomes our diet, and our diet plays a major role in deciding how healthy we are and how well our body functions. Without proper diet, our body cannot carry out the functions it needs to perform. Most people have some common knowledge on what is good and what is bad for the human body to consume. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains are some common items people think of when they think of healthy foods. However, it is not enough just to know what foods are good for your body, it is also important to understand why certain foods are good for you and what they do to help the body function.