Four people sit kneeling around a small table in a small room laden with food. A room where a serious man in a black box holds out a can of something altered and edible, and a young girl perched near her mother clutches a bag of potato chips to her chest as if claiming it as solely her own. This is the scene depicted in a photograph of the Ukita family in Kodaira City, Japan as part of a series taken by Peter Menzel for the book “What the World Eats”. This series of photographs illustrates not only what people eat in different parts of the world, but also how their families, and lives as fellow humans can so closely resemble our own.
The Ukita family is kneeling around a small table in a small room. The extent of the food they’ve purchased over the past week is arranged around this tiny living area. The space is somewhat cramped as they attempt to arrange themselves comfortably, and Mio Ukita, the eldest daughter of the family finds herself squeezed into the far right corner of the room next to a red tray of plastic wrapped cakes. A television no one’s thought to turn off blares brightly in the room as a processed food commercial beams to life and an actor holds out the heralded food item as if sternly urging the audience to simply reach out and take it. The screen is paused at this moment as it’s determined to be the perfect image to make the scene complete, and the Ukita’s youngest daughter, Maya, reaches out for a bag of her favorite potato chips. She clutches the bag to her chest as she maneuvers her way back to perch on a red cushion near her mother. Everyone looks up at something only they can see, and from that spot a bright light flashes, and a photograph is taken (D’Aluisio & Menzel, 2008, p.94).
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In Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, he retells the story of a young man named Chris McCandless by putting together interviews, speaking with people who knew him, and using letters he writes to his companions. Chris McCandless also known as Alexander Supertramp is a bright young man and after graduating from Emory University with all honors, he abandons most of his possessions and travels around the west, making long lasting impact on whomever he meets. He then hitchhikes to Alaska where he is found dead. In chapter 14 and 15, both named “Stikine Ice Cap”, Jon Krakauer interrupts the boy's story and shares his anecdote of going to Alaska to climb a dangerous mountain called the Devils Thumb. Krakaure’s purpose is to refute the argument that McCandless is mentally ill because many others, like Krakauer have tried to “go into the wild” but they are lucky to survive unlike McCandless. While describing his climb, Krakauer exhibits through the descriptions of and uncertainty about personal relationships.
This book Into The Wild is about how a young man wants to get away from the world. He does escape from society, but ends up dying in the process. The author, Jon Krakauer, does a great job of describing Chris McCandless and his faults. Chris is an intelligent college graduate. He went on a two-year road trip and ended up in Alaska. He didn't have any contact with his parents in all of that time. Krakauer does a great job of interviewing everyone who had anything to do with McCandless from his parents, when he grew up, to the people who found his body in Alaska.
The Omnivore’s Dilemma In the book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan challenges his readers to examine their food and question themselves about the things they consume. Have we ever considered where our food comes from or stopped to think about the process that goes into the food that we purchase to eat every day? Do we know whether our meat and vegetables picked out were raised in our local farms or transported from another country? Michael pollen addresses the reality of what really goes beyond the food we intake and how our lives are affected.
At the end of “Into the Wild” by John Krakauer epilogue, my view towards McCandless’s journey and death is emotionally similar to McCandless’s parents as they accept Chris’s death. Chris’s parents weren’t really involved in his life so they never really knew why he cut everyone off. My initial guess is that Chris got tired of his parents controlling his life and just wanted to get away. Throughout “Into The Wild” Chris’s parents seemed like they didn’t support or care about Chris, or they didn’t know how to show it, however my opinion about Chris’s parents did change because the author shined light on his parents and how they came to senses with their son’s death and that they actually really did care about their son Chris McCandless.
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:
American consumers think of voting as something to be done in a booth when election season comes around. In fact, voting happens with every swipe of a credit card in a supermarket, and with every drive-through window order. Every bite taken in the United States has repercussions that are socially, politically, economically, and morally based. How food is produced and where it comes from is so much more complicated than the picture of the pastured cow on the packaging seen when placing a vote. So what happens when parents are forced to make a vote for their children each and every meal? This is the dilemma that Jonathan Safran Foer is faced with, and what prompted his novel, Eating Animals. Perhaps one of the core issues explored is the American factory farm. Although it is said that factory farms are the best way to produce a large amount of food at an affordable price, I agree with Foer that government subsidized factory farms use taxpayer dollars to exploit animals to feed citizens meat produced in a way that is unsustainable, unhealthy, immoral, and wasteful. Foer also argues for vegetarianism and decreased meat consumption overall, however based on the facts it seems more logical to take baby steps such as encouraging people to buy locally grown or at least family farmed meat, rather than from the big dogs. This will encourage the government to reevaluate the way meat is produced. People eat animals, but they should do so responsibly for their own benefit.
As healthy lifestyles have come to take over the minds of the general public, people have begun to pay increased attention to the food they eat, which in turn has sparked a renewal in vegetarianism. Vegetarianism is a term used to describe the practice of living on a diet consisting of nuts, grains, fruits, and vegetables, with or without the use of eggs and dairy products. People usually associate vegetarianism with the hippy movement in the 1960’s; however, it was Frances Moore Lappé's iconic book, Diet for a Small Planet, released in 1971 that launched the vegetarian movement. Since 1971 vegetarian cookbooks, restaurants, and food brands have become popular and have enticed the likings of about 7 million Americans. Unfortunately, despite the growing popularity of vegetarianism most people living on a carnivorous diet laugh at the idea of giving up meat. Although omnivores are reluctant to give up their current diets, giving the vegetarian diet a chance even for just a month or two can bring about a number of positive consequences. By adopting a vegetarian diet a person is not only...
In Radley Balko’s writing, “What You Eat is Your Business,” his main argument is that the types of food one eats should be each individual’s personal responsibility. The government should be held liable for what one puts into his or her mouth. More specifically, Balko states that the government gets too involved in people’s personal dietary habits to the point where they are controlling everyone. He supports this idea by writing, “President Bush earmarked $200 million in his budget for anti-obesity measures” (Balko 396). In this passage, Balko is suggesting that the government gets too involved in the American people’s food intake. According to Balko, in order to make this situation a private manner, people have to take back their bodies.
The tone is set in this chapter as Krakauer uses words to create an atmosphere of worry, fear, and happiness in McCandless’s mind. “The bush is an unforgiving place, however, that cares nothing for hope or longing”(4). McCandless is on the path of death, which creates worry and fear for the young boy. “He was determined. Real gung ho. The word that comes to mind is excited,” (6). Alex is very excited and care free, which Krakauer used to his advantage in making the tone of Alex’s mind happy. The author creates tones to make the reader feel the moment as if the readers were sitting there themselves. Krakauer uses dialogue and setting to create the mixed tones of this chapter. As one can see from the quotes and scenery the author uses tones that are blunt and are to the point to make the reader feel as though the emotions are their own. Krakauer uses plenty of figurative language in this chapter. He uses figurative language to support his ideas,to express the surroundings, and tone around the character. To start the chapter he uses a simile describing the landscape of the area, “…sprawls across the flats like a rumpled blanket on an unmade bed,” (9). This statement is used to make reader sense the area and set the mood for the chapter. The use of figurative language in this chapter is to make a visual representation in the readers mind. “It’s satellites surrender to the low Kantishna plain” (9).
Geeta Kothari’s “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?” shares a personal story of a young woman’s efforts to find her identity as she grows up in a culture different than her parents. Kothari retells memories from her childhood in India, as well as her experiences as an American student. Kothari uses food as a representation of culture, and she struggles to appreciate her parent’s culture, often wishing that she was like the American children. Kothari’s tone changes as she comes to realize the importance of maintaining connections to her Indian culture. Originally published in a Kenyon College magazine, Kothari’s main audience was originally student based, and she aimed to give her young readers a new perspective to diversity. Through the
Into the Wild, written by Jon Krakauer, is the story of a young man named Christopher Johnson McCandless who ventured off to Alaska and tried to survive in the wild. McCandless grew up in Annandale, Virginia where he attended school and made very good grades, rarely bringing home anything below an A. His father, Walt worked for NASA for a little while, before starting his own business with Chris’s mother, Billie, out of their own home. They worked hard and for long hours to get the business up and running and it finally paid off. The McCandless family was wealthy, but had many emotional problems. After graduating from Emory University in 1990, Chris McCandless donated twenty-four thousand dollars from his savings account to charity, changed his name to Alexander Supertramp, and then disappeared. This book tells the story of his life and travels. Some critics say that Chris McCandless was a very admirable person. He was a brave man that followed his dreams. However, given all of his flaws, attitudes, and actions, he is un-admirable. McCandless walked into the wild very unprepared and stubborn. He also treated his family poorly as well as anyone who got emotionally close to him. Chris was additionally too impressionable in a way that he admired authors along with the books they wrote, and tried to imitate them. He was very rebellious in his actions as well, and did not try to change the world or help others.
In the book Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, the author talks about, not only vegetarianism, but reveals to us what actually occurs in the factory farming system. The issue circulating in this book is whether to eat meat or not to eat meat. Foer, however, never tries to convert his reader to become vegetarians but rather to inform them with information so they can respond with better judgment. Eating meat has been a thing that majority of us engage in without question. Which is why among other reasons Foer feels compelled to share his findings about where our meat come from. Throughout the book, he gives vivid accounts of the dreadful conditions factory farmed animals endure on a daily basis. For this reason Foer urges us to take a stand against factory farming, and if we must eat meat then we must adapt humane agricultural methods for meat production.
Her video installation of Semiotics of the Kitchen 1975, reflects a female subject within a parody of cooking shows that address the implications of a traditional role. Semiotics of the Kitchen, a sort of bizarrely witty six-minute black-and-white video from December 1974 (dated 1975), was one part of a large body of work in several media that she could take on the questions of women, society, and art through the medium of food and the culture of food preparation and consumption. The video is a real of anger and aggravation produced through a loud and rowdy demonstration of some hand tools in the traditional kitchen. This performance reinforces and present our sense of individuality and identify the place of what a traditional place
There are several images that were shown in this small collection. The goal of the images is to portray how different families eat around the world. The first thing I noticed is the amount of food in each picture. The family in the United States had the most amount of food in their picture while Mali had the least. This shows that the American family probably consumed the most in one week because they had the most food available. However, upon further inspection, the food depicted in the family in the Unites States was mostly packaged food. Therefore, they may just have more food because it has the capacity to remain stored for a longer time than non-packaged foods. The other 3 families had little to no packaged foods which show that the
Seafood has been an important part of the human diet since the first hunter-gatherers realized they could use fish, shellfish, and other aquatic animals as a food source. Now, almost 10,000 years later, seafood comprises a major part of animal protein consumption all over the world (Huss et al. 2000). In fact, global seafood consumption has been on the rise within the last two decades. The number of consumed seafood products rose from 140 million tons in 2007, to 145 million tons in 2009 (White 2011). This increase in consumption can be contributed to the many health benefits that have been attributed to the consumption of seafood.