Magdalena
Sociology 100
October 24, 2005
Reaction Paper 2
Bugs for Breakfast is a very interesting video on the nature and
habits of the people and what they like to eat. It mainly features
why people eat what they eat. This video has a lot to do with culture
affecting the eating factors of what we eat. Culture is defined as
the complex system of meaning and behavior that defines the way of
life for a given group or society. In this case it defines what
people eat. In Bugs for Breakfast, the video explains that everyone
needs to eat no matter what culture that you may live in. In Africa,
Asia and Mexico it is not uncommon to find people that eat
caterpillars, grubs and ants. Rats and mice are commonly eaten in
Asia as well as Mexico. Even snake may be eaten in these cultures.
We may think that it is disgusting, but as the video says, “We eat
chicken embryos and slivers of pig for breakfast.” To me it does
sound disgusting to eat a lot of these different things, but the video
also explains that disgust is a learned response due to culture. The
point of this film it to desensitize us to the norms in our society.
If we were to be raised in Asia we would think no differently about
eating bugs for breakfast than you would eat cheerios with milk. This
is something that our culture has taught us. These are the norms.
Another example would be our love of cheese. Cheese is grass that has
been regurgitated by a cow and then reprocessed and finally becomes
milk. When the milk is transported to the processing plant the cheese
goes through a solidification process. An enzyme from the cow’s
stomach is introduced...
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doesn’t matter when you eat, but it all points to a cultural thing.
In some cultures not everyone dines at elevated tables. In Japan they
usually kneel and eat on lowered tables. I am a Japanese-American and
I still only eat at elevated tables or in front of the television. As
an example of culture, I am Japanese but I do not eat Japanese food
like nato or Nishime. I am a product of my culture. I am more
Americanized and would choose a steak or a hamburger versus oyaku
donburi. I do not even know how to use chopsticks. This is all due
to the culture that I was raised in.
Bibliography
1. Bugs For Breakfast, [Video Recording], Lake Zurich ,Illinois:
Learning Seed, 2001.
2. Sociology: The Essentials, Margaret L. Anderson, Howard F Taylor;
[Book], Belmont, California: Thomson Wadsworth, 2005
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David Wolfe claims that people have “forgot about our instincts” and says, “it has led us to an obesity crisis” (Hungry for Change). Our processed diet and indoor lifestyle has led to too many calories and not enough nutrients. The documentary brings about these consequences of the latest diet trends and the effects of the seemingly healthy way to change your life. This segment in the documentary contains personal testimonies from experts like Kris Carr and Jon Gabriel that are more compelling than just stating the facts. Both experts agree and testify that diets don’t work and often times have a negative effect of gaining back the weight if not
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.
“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).
Pollan states that food is not just a necessity to survive, it has a greater meaning to life. Pollan explains how food can cause us happiness and health by connecting us to our family and culture. Warren Belasco, in “Why Study Food”, supports Pollan’s idea that food is something social and cultural. In Belasco’s description of a positive social encounter food is included, whether it involves a coffee date with a colleague or a dinner date with a loved one. Belasco states that food forms our identity and brings our society together.
Eating is an instinctual habit; however, what we decide to put in our body is a choice that will affect our way of living. In “The American Paradox,” Michael Pollan, a professor of journalism at University of California, Berkeley, disapproves of the way Americans have been eating. The term “American paradox” describes the inverse correlation where we spend more of our time on nutrition, but it would only lead to our overall health deteriorating. According to Pollan, our way of eating that had been governed with culture, or our mother, was changed by the entities of food marketers and scientists, who set up nutritional guidelines that changed the way we think about food. Nutritional advice is inaccurate as it is never proven, and it is not beneficial
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
Knowing our cultures is very important in understanding our environment as well as of others. It also help us understand how people take different aspects of life including diet. This is because culture determines our perception and attitudes toward particular issues about which is helpful and which is not, what makes sense and what does not. Some cultures prefer quantity meals to quality food which can lead to obesity or even some cardiovascular diseases to people of that culture while others prefer a balanced diet hence a healthy body, in central America, in particular Honduras and Guatemala, they prefer frying their food first. Due to this method of cooking it is possible to have a devastating health effect on the
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...
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.