What we eat, the way we do it, and why we do it, will always be scrutinized and in this article the author does just that. She argues that eating healthy or not depends on witch social class we fit in; witch can be true in a way. However, eating healthy or not can also be a question of choice. Obviously having more money will always give you more choices and the option to go for expensive products with higher quality. The journalist goes back to the 19th century saying that white bread was a luxury that only rich people could afford but showed no evidence that, by eating white bread they were healthier than the poor who could not afford it. Eating a healthy and balanced diet doesn’t mean you always need to buy the most expensive foods. Neither does it mean having to switch to unhealthy foods, whose price tags may appear tempting, but which contain little or no nutritional value. Simply by making a few small changes to our daily lifestyles we can eat healthily, while saving money. There is a lot of information available from all different sources such as the NHS and the web where we can find ideas for meals that are healthy, tasty and best of all, won’t break the bank! The British Heart Foundation gave a simple but very effective example it read: Keep a supply of frozen fruit and vegetables in the freezer. They tend to be cheaper than fresh fruit and vegetables but still count towards your five (or more) a day. We can get fresh and cheaper fruit and vegetables from local markets, again, is a choice that not everyone is willing to make. Conrad Dean, an American nutritionist said: `You probably think eating healthy is expensive. I’ll be honest — it is. But there are tricks to keep it low cost; consume tap Water. Check the price of... ... middle of paper ... ...re options to go for, we cannot say that they eat healthier that lower class. They might have the money to buy quality food and still make the wrong choices when it comes to their diet. There is absolutely no evidence that higher social classes eat healthier. On the other hand, according with evidence given above, the lower class might not have a lot of options but they do have choices which are a bit more difficult make and unfortunately people don’t make those choices and blame the easiest, but not the most obvious thing “money”. There is a lot of free accessible information for everyone and we should stop making excuses. Someone once said:” we are what we eat”. Despite of witch social class we belong to making the right choices about our diet will definitely improve our eating habits and promote a healthier Britain without having to look at our social status.
Although avoiding foods that contain certain ingredients is helpful, it seems to be unavoidable to those with a low socioeconomic status based on their economic, environmental and personal factors. "...[It] is not surprising considering the current structure of food prices is such that sweet and high-fat foods provide dietary energy at a low cost, whereas the energy cost of lean meats, fish, vegetables and fruit are likely to be higher" (Inglis, 2008). Another suggestion Pollan brings up is the idea that people should spend more money on nutritional foods in order to better their health (Pollan, 2007). As I previously mentioned, this suggestion disregards low-income households because money can be a barrier as to why they are not buying nutritional foods but unhealthy foods. What makes matters worse is the fact that Pollan states, "not everyone can afford to eat well in America, which is shameful, but most of us can….and those of us who can afford to eat, well should" (Pollan,
In her essay, “Food’s Class Warfare,” author Tracie McMillan promotes the inclusion of both “individual changes and structural ones” (217), particularly “class consciousness” (217), in the fight for quality diets in America. She reveals the most common sides of the healthy food debate as the inherent “just-buy-better stuff logic” (215) and the opposing “structural challenges of eating well” (215). The main strategies for defeating the American “obesity epidemic” (216) have been reaching out to the individual, as well as changing the structure of the American food system itself. The favorite concept for structuralists is “food deserts - neighborhoods with insufficient grocery stores and thus insufficient supplies of healthy food” (216). She deems the concept insufficient in practice, as it ignores smaller markets and equates large stores with a healthy food source. While the individual viewpoint and structuralists argue with each other, they share common ideals. According to
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
In “Food as Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating” by, Mary Maxfield (pp.442-447), she affirms a bright argument about how food is not moral or immoral. Therefore, you can eat whatever you desire and not suffer any negative side effects, which she ignores. Her key points including stated facts such as “Culturally,we resist these scientific findings,” that people can be fat and healthy, “in favor of a perspective that considers fatness fatal and thinness immortal.”(pp.445) The main point to Maxfield’s claim in healthy eating, is being active and living a fit lifestyle. In “Escape From The Western Diet” (pp.420-427)by Michael Pollan, his argument is to help the American community be enlightened with
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.
Nutrition and health have become more popular in today 's society. Our generation is becoming more and more indebted to the idea of being healthy and eating nutritious meals. However, in “The American Paradox,” by Michael Pollan he argues that our unhealthy population is preoccupied with nutrition and the idea of eating healthy than their actual health. He also mentions the food industry, nutrition science and how culture affects the way we eat and make food choices. While Pollan is right about all these factor that affect our eating habits, there is more to it than that. Convenience, affordability and social influence also affects our food choices making them inadequate.
Western diet causes many diseases; increases people’s medical need for supplements and vitamins. However one writer disagrees with him and suggests “Eat foods that are less processed” (Denis Burkitt) which is easy to say but hard to apply on. Future more Pollen’s purpose of writing this article was to show how bad the effects of eating Western dieting can be, and to introduce a way to escape and in order to create a healthier country. Pollan also mentions the fact that livestock is being raised on a Western diet too, which means they are raised genetically too which means nothing is healthy like it used to be. In order to strengthen his statement he shows the percent of income spent on food in countries where the diseases percent is smaller to prove indeed “Western diet” is unhealthy, this matters a lot because currently most of the people living in this country are suffering from chronic diseases caused by wrong diet. Michael
Unlike similar documentaries published, Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food” effectively shows how the American diet has failed to produce good eating habits. As members of this modern culture we are exposed to all the wrong eating approaches. Michael pollan successfully convinces the viewer it can be simple. He conclusively defends food as it is intended to be eaten, and exhorts the viewer to “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly
In “Bad Food? Tax it, and Subsidize Vegetables”, Mark Bittman suggests that the people of America should stop eating unhealthy foods so often. In the article, Bittman tells his audience that people have “heart disease, diabetes and cancer are all in large part caused by the standard American Diet” (page 35). He also states that eating healthy can result to a better health care system saving millions of lives. The big issue is Americans eating unhealthy every day, but proposing a plan to help stop it from happening.
Although the two authors do not refer to each other directly in their works, both their perspectives share a common ground that no enough income make people eating less healthy. Pinsker argues that the actual barrier that stops people from eating healthy is the lack of income (129-130). He uses studies to show that poor families choose processed food because children like those tasty processed food (Pinsker 129-134). Whereas poor families cannot afford the waste if children refused to eat healthier but less tasty food parents provided (Pinsker 129-134). Cortright also suggests that income matters the most to why people do not eat healthy. He even further discusses income as the most influential limiting factor by addressing that other factors such as physical proximity to local food sources do not cause people to eat less healthy (Cortright 135-138). The two authors, in general, reach a consensus and mutually prove that income plays as the biggest limiting factor for people to have healthy
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.
“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).
Social attitudes of today’s society have changed the way people live, people now are working longer hours to sustain the financial demand that is needed in-order to keep up a higher standard of living, “One quarter of working men and 11% of working women in the UK now work more than 50 hours per week” . This is a social problem because it encourages people to eat ‘fast food’ type products such as pasties, sausage rolls, pre-packaged sandwiches and microwavable take-away items such as burgers & hot dogs etc, which all have high percentages of saturated fats, sugars and salts. These ‘fast foods’ are eaten because of their convenience and due to time shortages from working longer hours these food are the easy option. This implicates less healthy diets and obesity in the UK population. Tesco’s have and still currently sell these items but to combat this problem in 2000 Tesco launched their ‘Healthy Living’ brand of foods which are lower in fat, no added sugar and low in sodium, and in 2004 launched their ‘Healthy Living Club’, which has over 350, 000 members and offer over 500 ‘Healthy Living’ Products. The club offers customers information on diets, weight loss and other health issues.
We all need to adopt a conscientious effort to educate ourselves on what we are putting into our bodies. Nearly all pre-packaged and fast foods, that are tasty to us, are also unhealthy for us. When I am hungry and on lunch break at work, I’m usually looking for something quick and ready to eat that will sustain me throughout the day. Most us are busy and have no choice but to eat junk food. This is where one of the problems originates from. Incidentally, healthy foods are much more expensive. In all honesty, why would you buy a 7.00 salad, when you can get a 1.00 sandwich, that has a greater source of fuel and lasts longer throughout the day? Indeed, the only way to be able to eat healthily is to have a larger budget available for food. Healthy eating is very expensive.
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