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Research question about the western diet
Research question about the western diet
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I do agree with Michael Pollan’s view on how deciding what you eat for dinner is a moral dilemma. In the past families usually all had a set dinner time and sat together had ate a homemade meal for the majority of the nights in a week. This is not only healthier but helps pull families closer together. Throughout the years we have moved away from this due to easier made processed food and buys school, work, and life schedules of many americans. So much of this pressure is on the parents and I feel that’s who are faced with this moral dilemma because their children will eat what is provided and how you educate them has a massive effect on what they eat when your not around. What is eaten for dinner is something that takes record of peoples …show more content…
He also emphasizes that you 're body is a machine that properly runs off of real whole food. When looking at this comparison you can relate processed food to gasoline cut with ethanol. Engines are meant to run of 100% gasoline. Overtime when pitting fuel cut with ethanol (processed food) in your engine you are slowly damaging it and not letting it run properly. Culturally people are exposed to traditionally prepared food. In the video, an example of this is in Italy. There diet mainly consists of pasta, meat and bread due to their cultural norms. Eating unhealthy food or even good foods but in unhealthy proportions can have great effects on your health. Science is what essentially provides us with the option of unhealthy processed food. This is obvious when they looked at tribes that still live by the hunter gatherer lifestyle. They lack many of the science and technology that we have but they are very healthy people. Science tries to “help” peoples health but in return its just made it more complicated than it needs to be to eat healthy and give your “machine” with the proper fuel. It’s sad that so much of what around us in developing countries is just a act of making money and not things that are truly done for the good of …show more content…
Not too much. Mostly plants”, is a great way to help people eat healthier. The first portion of the phrase “eat food” refers to the real whole foods that are located on the outside of food markets. The fake food is what fills the aisle of food in the middle of stores. The second part of the phrase, “not too much” makes reference to the amount people eat. For example, the American food proportion are absurd compared to other places in the word. Its become a norm to eat a lot and also quickly. My dad always said “anything in moderation”. Even if your diet mainly consists of healthy food but your eat way too much of it, its almost defeating the purpose. And the last part of the phrase, “mostly plants” is something my mom has always instilled on me. I don 't fully agree with it mainly from an athlete people of view, needing lot of protein to grow and train. But I do think in the long run eating mostly plants with additionally whole foods and meats to obtain what your body needs to grow is the best way to live a healthy life. Even though I feel all parts of his phrase have a great meaning I would have to say “eat food” is the most important. If you are able to eat real food in moderation everything else will
“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).
Kingsolver desired to embrace “a genuine food culture” which is “an affinity between people and the land that feeds them” (Kingsolver 20). Having a true food culture can limit calorie intake and represent a cultural connection to the land that you live on. Kingsolver seeks to establish that a food culture is not just for the privileged, but rather is a result of cultural regulation of impulses (Kingsolver 16). A real food culture “arises out of a place, a soil, a climate, a history, a temperament, a collective sense of belonging,” all of which mitigate the impulse to eat fats and sugar (Kingsolver 17, 15). Kingsolver then states that to live without these natural regulations of diet “would seem dangerous”, and that the United States has no food culture.
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.
In his essay “The American Paradox”, Michael Pollan illustrates his conclusion that Americans who focus on nutrition have a higher probability of decreasing their well-being. Pollan defines the American paradox as “a notably unhealthy population preoccupied with nutrition and the idea of eating healthily.” For most of our human history, our parents and culture have influenced our diet. However, today the idea of what to eat has been based on the opinions of scientists, food markets, and nutritionists. I agree with Pollan’s argument that being preoccupied with what we eat makes us unhealthy, however, we need a balance and a sense of responsibility in what we eat.
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
... Nestle’s quote, Bittman makes his editorial plea to ethos, by proposing proof that a woman of reliable mental power of this issue come to an agreement with Bittman's thesis statement. Bittman also develops pathos in this article because he grabs a widely held matter that to many individuals is elaborate with: "...giving them the gift of appreciating the pleasures of nourishing one another and enjoying that nourishment together.” (Mark Bittman) Bittman gives the reader the actions to think about the last time they had a family dinner and further imposes how these family dinners are altogether important for family time. Therefore, Bittman did a magnificent job in pointing into the morals of his targeted audience and developing a critical point of view about fast food to his intended audience leaving them with a thought on less fast food and more home prepared meals.
As obesity and medical problems due to diet become a larger issue within society, it is imperative to educate humans on the importance of maintaining a healthy diet. This is exactly what Hungry for Change does. One of the key points made in the documentary is that humans no longer eat a natural diet like their ancestors did; when humans first began to inhabit the Earth they lived off a diet of fresh fruits, vegetables, grains, and meats. During these periods famine and disease was rampant, so humans adapted to store nutrition more productively. Now that humans live in a more developed society, they have a (practically) unlimited supply of food. However, much of this food is processed and manipulated to have a better flavour and a longer shelf life, and though this sounds like a positive situation, it has become a huge problem. According to best-selling women’s health author Dr. Christine Northrup, “We’ve lived on Earth for a millennium where there was a food shortage. You’re programmed to put on fat whenever there is food available. Now there’s a lot of food available, but it’s the wrong kind.” (Northrup, as cited in Colquhoun et al., 2012). This is a logical and widely accepted theory as to why humans continue to overindulge on foods despi...
Shapin explains that it is not wrong to think that we are possibly consuming a moral agenda and not just a salad, but it is biting off a little more than people are willing to chew. Cascadian Farm’s Gene Kahn volunteers his opinion on impact that food has on the average person’s life: “This is just lunch for most people. Just lunch. We can call it sacred, we can talk about communion, but it’s just lunch.” (439-440). Although, there is not much evidence in this last paragraph of his argument, it is the most straight to the point and thought out argument in the entire essay. The argument ends with a quote that is very important to this entire argument and it just ties the whole article together. The beginning of the essay is a little slow but as it progresses, the arguments get more clear and well thought
The Western Diet is basically processed food, which is foods that are full with hormones, refined grains, sweet food, and food that is high in saturated fats. This food method that America is following is the reason for the increased rate of obesity in the country and many chronic diseases, due to why many Americans are suffering from. Pollan wants Americans to take control and set goals for themselves and their health. As he states, “A hallmark of the Western diet is food that is fast, cheap, and easy.”(424) This is the reason why people tend to buy it this food. Pollan is right about how the Western diet is affecting the people’s health negatively because of recent studies have shown that most of the food that people consume are processed foods, which gone through a process letting most of its nutritional values. Also, the food is full of unhealthy nutrients that are added to it during the process. An individual cannot have assurance of what he/she is consuming from a fast food place or a cheap prepared meal from grocery store. Western diet needs to be taken away from American’s life. He states “Not Too Much”(pp.426) will be the focus from the foods themselves to the question of how to eat, the manners, mores, and the habits that go with creating a healthy diet, and pleasing culture of eating. This way it will allow Americans to live their life healthier and
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.
In the Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan talks about 4 different models that we consume, purchase, and add it to our daily lives. Michael Pollan travels to different locations around the United States, where he mentions his models which are fast food, industrial organic, beyond organic, and hunting. I believe that the 3 important models that we need to feed the population are fast food, industrial organic, and beyond organic. Fast food is one of the most important models in this society because people nowadays, eat fast food everyday and it is hurting us in the long run. We need to stick to beyond organic or industrial organic food because it is good for our well being. Ever since the government and corporations took over on what we eat, we have lost our culture. In the introduction of the Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan states that we have lost our culture:
Michael Pollan states in his article “Escape from the Western diet”, three simple rules to follow to obtain a healthy lifestyle, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants” (426). The food industry and medical community manipulate us to believe we are escaping the Western diet but to only find out that we are right back to where we started. Pollan provides some easy rules of thumb so that we aren’t caught up in the latest trends or diets but instead develop some eating boundaries that seem simple to follow on an everyday basis. Personally for me, following these rules can seem hard in some aspects but also easy in others because factors like role models when I was a kid, living situation and cooking skills effect my ability to follow the three
According to Pollan the question “what to eat” is complicated but “to guide us we have culture” (The American Paradox). Culture influences food likes and dislikes. Culture creates food preferences which make patterns of food choices, making everyone 's selection different. Whoever the influence of our culture has been changing throughout the years, with the food industry taking over the markets. Now we do not necessarily eat what our grandparents or even what our parents used to eat, instead we have this new massive produced packaged products. This is the reason why Americans food habits are changing, now more than ver we see people consuming products not because hey are part of their culture but because is what the media tells you to consume. The 21st century has a new obsession which is body image, now more than ever people is caring about the way they look due to all the advertisement about having a perfect body. Now America is obsess with making every product beneficial to your body but how many chemicals do they use to make that diet yogurt so it can be fat free, sugar free and still have some natural ingredients in it. This is the exact point pollan is trying to make in his article we are obsess with being healthy that we forget to check what are we really eating and where ir comes
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”.
My favorite meal is the chicken fettuccini pasta. I chose this dish because I can never stop eating it. The meal is made up of warm tenderized chunks of chicken, delicate smooth creamy white sauce, and many varieties of sliced up vegetables. However, when I was a child vegetables has always been difficult to eat. It prevented me from enjoying my favorite meal because I would always have to take out the mixed vegetables in the meal. As a child I 've tried avoiding vegetables, but was found throughout the school cafeteria 's food, my mother 's cooking, or many fancy restaurants. There was nowhere to run. Over the years, my mother knew I was struggling to eat vegetables. She worked very hard by coming up with her own recipes in order for me to eat healthy. From mixing in the vegetables into the meals I usually eat or to trick me into eating meat but was actually vegetables. Soon later I came to realize how much effort she has put into the meals. All those hour and hard work my mother put it allowed me to enjoy my favorite meal again.