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We discovered it, we lost it, and it is coming back: Pleasure in food.
The essay “Discovering something new in food: Pleasure” by Trish Hall addresses the matter of food from a different angle; in fact, food, like fashion, is affected by trends.
The author analyzes a new trend that might affect food in the near future. Nowadays processed food has gained a greater portion of space on markets shelves; therefore, according to the author, people are starting to associate pleasurable food with negative emotions which instead of making eating pleasant, it has become the complete opposite (Hall 1).
The author argues that some individuals have become so obsessed with healthy eating and homemade diets that some of them completely stop eating fat and
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The author begins with an evaluation of the ignorance of the “today” consumers regarding the whole process of food, from the land, or factories where it originates to the consumers’ table, where it ends. The author writes: “For them (The consumers) food is pretty much an abstract idea –something they do not know or imagine- until it appears on the grocery shelf or on the table” (Berry 64). The author then continues and defines the word “Industrial eater” that is essentially the type of consumer that does not know the link between eating and the land, and who is therefore passive and uncritical, the author calls those eaters victims (Berry 64). The writer utilizes the term victim to cleverly generate a connection between: food, consumer awareness, food industries, and ultimately freedom. One cannot be free if someone else controls his/her mind and voice; equally, one cannot be free if the food and its sources are controlled by someone else (Berry 66). The analogy acts as a wake-up call for the consumers in order to make them comprehend the importance of understanding the origin of the food as well as unfolding the real goal of the food industry, profit. Wendell Berry’s essay is greatly more critical when it comes to the modus operandi of the food industry and its ethical principles than Trish Hall’s article. Wendell Berry, then, gives seven distinct instructions on how to eat responsibly. Four of the seven points concern learning more about the food we eat and its origin as well as the extra chemicals added to it by the food companies. For the remaining points, the author, advises to grow your own food if possible, to deal directly with local producers and to prepare your own food by avoiding precook products (Berry 68-69). All these
Food Inc. is a documentary displaying the United States food industry in a negative light by revealing the inhumane, eye opening, worst case scenario processes of commercial farming for large corporate food manufacturing companies. Food Inc. discusses, at length, the changes that society and the audience at home can make to their grocery shopping habits to enable a more sustainable future for all involved.
In the essay “Her Chee-to Heart”, by Jill McCorkle, she discusses about the various difficulties she has encountered of being a junk-food junkie and the struggles of overcoming the guilty pleasures of junk food. Firstly, one of the many difficulties she encounters are her feelings, which ultimately overwhelm her into continuing to eat various types of junk foods. Her feelings of nostalgic memories when consuming such goods as a child, the enjoyment and the savory tastes it grants her, are constantly mentioned throughout the essay, directly contributing a major factor into her desires of junk food. Furthermore, while she is quite aware of the consequences regarding the health side effects of consuming such foods and what the food is ultimately
Journalist, David H. Freedman, and author of How Junk Food Can End Obesity, dedicates an article to address the situation regarding the wholesome food movement. In his writings, he points out that although this new phenomenon brags about healthier foods being made available, there are some faulty aspects within the cause. Many loyal fast-food customers are put off by the anouncement of healthier menu items, while health fanatics are raving about restaurants catering to their needs. There are two types of consumers in the world of food; both of which are blind to the opposing sides’ work ethics.
In the article by Wendell Berry titled “The Pleasures of Eating” he tries to persuade the readers of the necessity and importance of critical thinking and approach to choosing meals and owning responsibility for the quality of the food cooked. He states that people who are not conscious enough while consuming products, and those who do not connect the concept of food with agricultural products, as people whose denial or avoidance prevents them from eating healthy and natural food. Berry tries to make people think about what they eat, and how this food they eat is produced. He points to the aspects, some which may not be recognized by people, of ethical, financial and
There are many different beliefs about the proper way to eat healthy. People are often mislead and live unhealthy lifestyles as a result. Both Mary Maxfield and Michael Pollan explain their own beliefs on what a healthy diet is and how to live a healthy lifestyle. In the essay, “Escape from the Western diet” Michael Pollan writes about the flaws of the western diet and how we can correct these problems to become healthier. In the essay, “Food as Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating”, Mary Maxfield criticizes Michael Pollan’s essay about eating healthy, and explains her own theory on how to be healthy. She believes that Pollan is contradicting himself and that what he is stating is false. Mary Maxfield ponders the
Environmental advocate and cofounder of Eatingliberally.org, Kerry Trueman, in her response to Stephen Budiansky’s Math Lessons for Locavores, titled, The Myth of the Rabid Locavore, originally published in the Huffington Post, addresses the topic of different ways of purchasing food and its impact on the world. In her response, she argues that Budiansky portrayal of the Local Food Movement is very inaccurate and that individuals should be more environmentally conscious. Trueman supports her claim first by using strong diction towards different aspects of Budinsky essay, second by emphasizes the extent to which his reasoning falls flat, and lastly by explaining her own point with the use of proper timing. More specifically, she criticizes many
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.
Eating the pizza instead of the salad seemed like a good idea at the time, but now one is stuck in this sloth like state hours later. It seems letting cravings control what and how to eat is not the best strategy to healthy living. Mary Maxfield, in her article “Food For Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Food” discusses her views on how people should eat. She believes people crave what their bodies need, therefore, people should eat what they crave. Maxfield claims that diet, health, and weight are not correlated with each other, and because of this, people view obesity as unhealthy, thus forcing them to distinguish “right, healthy” foods from the “wrong, unhealthy” choices. As a result, she concludes that science has nothing to do with
Our current system of corporate-dominated, industrial-style farming might not resemble the old-fashioned farms of yore, but the modern method of raising food has been a surprisingly long time in the making. That's one of the astonishing revelations found in Christopher D. Cook's "Diet for a Dead Planet: Big Business and the Coming Food Crisis" (2004, 2006, The New Press), which explores in great detail the often unappealing, yet largely unseen, underbelly of today's food production and processing machine. While some of the material will be familiar to those who've read Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma" or Eric Schlosser's "Fast-Food Nation," Cook's work provides many new insights for anyone who's concerned about how and what we eat,
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
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.
In putting together this reader, the editors aimed at writing a book "with legs", a book that contributes to the debates around food, and that will offer an collection of what has been written so far interdisciplinary, cross-culturally, and historically about it. At the border of biology and culture, everyone needs to eat and associates food with certain values. In their introduction, the editors remind of the universal importance of food: the process of eating is reproduced everyday several times, food is the foundation of every economy and a central pawn in political strategies of states and households. The editors believe that food is life, and thus life can be studied through food. In this reader, the cultural aspect of food is stressed: food preferences, dislikes, and eating disorders cannot be fully assessed with physical explanations while neglecting the cultural and symbolic dimension. Food marks social differences, food sharing creates solidarity, and food-scarcity damages human communities. Bodily conditions and images, such as being fat or thin, are deeply embedded in gender roles and cultural categories, and symbolize how people define themselves differently through food and appetite. Because of this focus on the cultural dimension of food consumption, anthropology dominates the book despite its interdisciplinary approach. The authors stress the significance of food, because since everybody eats, its meanings concern more people than that of other issues. It has to offer a great variety of meanings since it is interwoven in the practices of everyday life all around the world, and through its diversity in material and preparation. Rather than uniformity, there is a broad range of manners, tastes, a...
Consumer tastes and preferences are changing and the [fast-food] industry need to be able to adapt to them. There is a huge opportunity to develop new products that appeal to the health conscious customer. To be more specific, they need to develop new products that appeal to young, health conscious women. Because consumer tastes are changing there is an opportunity to develop new healthier product lines that appeal to the new tastes of consumers that satisfied their tastes.
Many people in America, from toddlers to the elderly, have shown numerous signs of bad health. People have the desire to keep on eating due to more, new things being merchandised as “new and improved items” from the producers. For example, nowadays, people are eating pure junk that they find satisfying on the grocery food shelf. As, stated by Michael Pollan, in his article, “Eat Food: Food Defined” he affirmed that “real food is the type of things that our
I do believe that consumers should take some responsibility for their food choices, but lets’ take a moment to think, do they really expect the average person who works 9-5 every day to come home and cook a healthy well-balanced meal every night? No, that person is going to stop at one of three McDonalds they pass on the way and get a quick fast food meal. Consequently, Don’t Blame the Eater by David Zinczenko, agrees that it is not our choice what we eat, for there is a lack of healthy food selections to choose from.