Analysis : Soul Food Junkies

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead is a documentary by Joe Cross directed towards to an overweight, unhealthy audience of fast-food world corporate America.

In the article of How Junk Food Can End Obesity, David Freedman, the contributor editor at the Atlantic and Inc. Magazines, lays out a “they say” that then frames his argument. He states that making processed food healthier can contribute to the battle of the obese in our society. Freedman also says that the food these companies are cooking are making people sick and how it is destructive to an individual’s health. For instance, in the reading, Freedman states a quote from Michael Pollan, a journalism professor at the University of California at Berkeley, “It is one of the reasons that we have the obesity and diabetes epidemics that we do… If you’re going to let industries decide how much salt, sugar and fat is in your food, they’re going to put in as much as they possibly can… They will push those buttons until we scream or die.” In other words, Pollan believes that we constantly let people put all of these things in our foods but no one is stopping it.

Michael Moss a investigative reporter for New York Times also the author. The Extraordinary Science of Junk Food was first appeared in the New York Times Magazine on February 24, 2013. On April 8, 1999, C.E.O from Nestle, Kraft and Nabisco, General Mills, Procter and Gamble, Coca-Cola, and Mars gathered to talk on the obesity epidemic. The vice president of kraft named Michael Mudd. Mudd gave a presentation about obesity, he told them to cut the use of sugar, salt, and fats. Also to change the manner they advertise their products. After the presentation was over the C.E.O of General Mills rose and said that people chose freely that if they wanted a healthy product then there it was.

Seventy pounds as a freshman in highschool and now ninety-six as a senior, and no I did not, nor have I ever had any kind of an eating disorder. Some people are just naturally skinny. In fact we do eat, so you do not have to tell us to “go eat a burger or two” because we probably just left Chick-Fil-A after eating a twelve count nugget large-sized with the fry and drink. Plus if those naturally skinny people are anything like me, they’re probably still hungry or are about to be. Eating comes naturally to humans, some a little too naturally, and now I bet you dislike me for saying that. And that is bullshit. It is not fair that people can come at me for saying things about others’ weights yet tell me every five seconds that I need to eat more

Michael Moss, an investigative reporter who enjoys reporting on food, wrote: “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food” (pages 471-494). This article reports on the ways that prepackaged food, especially junk food, is being designed to fit the customers’ needs and wants, as well as being something that the body craves. Moss provides multiple accounts throughout the reading in which people who have worked for or created corporate companies design foods just so they will sell. Moss expresses his thought in a clear manner to the reader so he or she will understand that Moss worries about the growing obesity in America and places the blame on junk food corporations. Though junk food corporations have a great part in the growing obesity,

In the article “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food”, the writer Michael Moss mentioned that growing weight problem happened in America has become a major health crisis issue. While people are talking about obesity, they care more about how much sugar, salt and fat they consume during a day, which kind of processed food does harm to their body. It seems that food companies have an inalienable relationship with consumers’ health conditions, because they provide us with what we eat. These companies made their food taste better (putting sugar, salt and fat in product) for attracting more customers, and also tried to protect their individual customers from the “obesity epidemic”, which is named by Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Moss, 260), without losing market share. It put them a moral judgment of creating food that customers like or be good to customers’ health. However, another writer Ethan Watters describe a story in his article “The Mega-Marketing of Depression in Japan” that in the market of the depressant drug in Japan, pharmaceutical companies faced a dilemma. They found it so hard to construct a Western-view concept of “depression” among a large-scale demographic of Japanese people, to contribute to their mental health problem, and to make a profit for sure. In the former case, food companies applied multiple marketing strategies to collective demographics to create more individuals’ desire of consumption, while they were striving to protect

Moreover, Ferris talks about how throughout the history of the south, the politics of power and place, have lead to the establishment of a cuisine that includes both privilege and deprivation. Thus, continuously impacting the food patterns of the modern day south. Ferris states, “In food lies the harsh dynamics of racism, sexism, class struggle, and ecological exploitation that have long defined the south; yet there, too, resides family, a strong connection to place, conviviality, creativity, and flavor” (Edible South, 1) . This is exemplified all throughout the text by many accounts of antebellum cuisine influenced by that of African and Native Americans.

Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Print. While I was looking at the cover of the book, I noticed that it included the words “All American Meal”, and I wondered what that meant. For me when I hear those word I picture a McDonald’s, or any other fast food restaurant. Why is that? Is it because the United States comes in at 12th for the most obese country, with 35% of the population in overweight (Worldatlas). Or is it because we have made a name for ourselves, by being the country that consumes the most fast food (Economist)? In the first chapter of the book The American Way, Schlosser is disscussing various fast foods we eat such as McDonald 's, Domino 's, and describes how fast food has impacted American lives, such as obesity in all age groups due to the appeals to younger children. He talks about the McDonald brothers and Carl Karcher and how they established McDonald 's and Carl 's Jr.

The addiction I chose to write about this week is a food addiction/compulsive eating. A food addiction is obsessive-compulsive relationship people have with food. Eating food is both vital and important in our everyday lives to give our bodies the nutrients, vitamins and calories that it needs. “Compulsive overeating, also referred to as food addiction, is characterized by an obsessive-compulsive relationship to food” (Karim, 2012, p. 7, para. 2). When people overeat, they engage in episodes of uncontrolled eating and will often find themselves consuming so much food just to feel comfortably full. Compulsive overeaters usually eat even if they are not hungry. People who have a food addiction have excessive thoughts about food that consumes

Have you ever thought of food as an “agricultural act”? When we are hungry, we eat whatever we want. We do not strive to get the right type of nutrients in what we consume daily or enjoy eating healthy. Food that is available to use effortlessly is the food we go for instead of rediscovering the ‘pleasure’ of food. Wendell Berry contributes in many different ways in his article including emotional appeal and reality to prove to us the various questions that should be arising in our minds when purchasing foods.

If one continually eats unhealthy foods, they can quickly become overweight. Moreover, this has become such a recurring problem in America that according to the National Institutes of Health, compulsive eating has led to obesity for approximately 35.7% of Americans. This number represents over one-third of the entire U.S population and will continue to grow unless it is addressed. In addition, it is critical that Americans learn to moderate their junk food intake to prevent the contraction of serious health issues. Sweenie states that, “Food high in salt, sugar, fat or calories and low nutrient content...provide suboptimal nutrition with excessive fat, sugar, or sodium per kcal. Such poor diets can slow growth, promote obesity; sow the seeds of diseases like diabetes, hypertension, cardiac problems, and osteoporosis.” These are exceptionally serious diseases that can often result in a severely hindered lifestyle or even death. In order to avoid these exceptionally undesirable outcomes, one must always remain aware of their daily junk food consumption. In Kirkey’s article, Paul Kenny, an associate professor at the Scripps Research Institute in Florida, states that, "It's incumbent upon people to make sure that they're more respectful and aware of what they're eating. Just be aware that there are dangers and risks associated. Enjoy (high-fat) food, but make sure it's occasionally and

Soul food junkies enlisted the knowledge of historians, nutritionist, and dietitians. The information in the documentary is explained by an entire slue of people with different professional and cultural backgrounds. Within the first fifteen minutes there is a large explanation of how soul food originated. To drive home key facts and to clearly explain to the viewer the director used multiple expert commentaries. These included Dr. Frederick Douglass a professor of history, Dr. Leni Sorenson a culinary historian, Lolis Elie an Author that writes historical novels, and lastly Marcia Weaver a simple Mississippi resident. These four people all interject into the same story bringing something stimulating and influential to the tail. The two professors lead off with a very clinical, neat, accurate explanation of how the southern food culture came to America on the slave ships from Africans, but then author Lolis Elie elaborated on the story’s of how the slave quarters influenced the kitchens of the planation owners bringing soul food to the tables of the south. His part of the story is very detailed and he expressed his information in a far more abstract way as only an author can. Lastly the director had a forth generation Mississippi resident explain soul food

People today believe that the government is supposed to eliminate any possible danger from the food they consume, but that is not the case. In the book Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of The All-American Meal written by Eric Schlosser, he discusses numerous problems with food production. Some of these issues are discussed in the “Epilogue”, “What’s In Meat”, and “Most Dangerous Job” chapters where Schlosser elaborates on the government’s role and how workers are mistreated. In the article, “U.S. Meatpacking Under Fire: Human Rights Group Calls for Line Speed Reduction, ERGO Standards,” it explains how the working conditions in the meat packaging industry are hazardous and are violations of basic human rights. Although workers are affected by the government’s role in the food industry, consumers are affected as well. The consequences of the lack of governmental oversight, like food contamination and others, are discussed in the film Food Inc. “Escaping the Regulatory Net: Why Regulatory Reform Can Fail Consumers”, an academic journal written by Henry Rothstein, explains how “putting consumers first” is difficult for the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to accomplish because with consumer’s interests that means regulatory reforms are most likely going to fail.

Throughout the years, fast food is becoming more and more of an outlet for many people that are short on change, in a rush but still need to grab a bite to eat, or even who are just too lazy to cook a meal. Fast food is very cheap, yet when we eat it we don’t necessarily realize the price we pay when we are starting to gain weight. Who is to blame? The person that is addicted to fast food, or the fast food restaurants? I agree fast food is cheap, yet delicious. I understand that it may get addicting, I do not believe that it is the restaurants fault for your lack of self-control. Eating fast food all the time can put you up against some major health risks. As claimed by, “Fast Food and Obesity,” Every 4 out of 10 adults in the USA will

Addiction is a dependence on a substance in which the affected individual feels powerless to stop. Millions of Americans have addictions to drugs, alcohol, nicotine, and even to behaviors such as compulsive gambling and shopping. Recent studies suggest that millions of Americans are addicted to food, as well.