Eating Boxed Macaroni

Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto is an eye-opening analysis of the American food industry and the fear driven relationship many of us have with food. He talks in depth about all the little scientific studies, misconceptions and confusions that have gathered over the past fifty years. In the end provide us with a piece of advice that should be obvious but somehow is not, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." He follows the history of nutritionism and the industrialization of food, in hopes to answer one question….. how and when "mom" ceded control of our food choices to nutritionists, food marketers and the government.

Eating healthy is very important for people, and modern supermarkets can make this difficult with thousands of new products flooding the market every year. Countless numbers of the products that hit the market are considered food, nevertheless is it the food needed for proper nutrition? Most of the food that fills up the supermarket shelves each year isn’t the healthy real food our bodies need to get proper nutrition. Several edibles obtainable appear healthy or normal enough to call wholesome. Think about processed deli meats, for example, particularly the ones that say “no preservatives” on them. Several of the processed meats you find contain nitrates, a preservative. Nitrates are viewed as harmful, so people don’t want them in their sandwich meats. Hence some deli meat companies made their product more appealing to the public, by labeling “no preservatives.” This

American food culture is not like other countries in the world; the diversity in foods and ethnicity creates its uniqueness. However, Americans mindset of “what should we have for dinner” and the poor decision making about food choices created the “omnivore’s dilemma” or what Pollan, in The Omnivore’s Dilemma calls the American national eating disorder. Pollan explored more about the food that Americans consume in “an investigation of food called the industrial food chain”(Pollan, Omnivore 110). While studying the products in supermarkets, Pollan realized that supermarkets offer a large variety of foods that contain corn, an unhealthy component, in most of its products. While Pollan is compelling claiming that American’s healthy food

Mark Bittman wrote the article “Is Junk Food Really Cheaper?” which was published in The New York Times in late September 2011. Bittman argues that junk food is not healthy nor cheaper to eat than home cooked meals. The author wrote this article in response to the increase of obesity in 2011. This article can be divided into six sections. In the introduction the author discusses weather or not it is cheaper to buy junk food compared to buying it from the grocery store. Bittman discusses the quantity of food and price differences for junk food and food made at home for a family of four. In the next section the author compares the differences in calories that you

Health becomes one of the public's main concerns for American people, hence we are becoming more scrupulous to our diet. People believe that being overweight is the main cause of obesity. Therefore, it is a common believe that processed food is the number reason of obesity. David H. Freedman, however, opposes this view. He published his article How Junk Food Can End Obesity in the Atlantic magazine stating that processed food is not as bad as we deem it is. Freedman claims that the ''whole foods” are equally “fattening and unhealthy” (507). As for my personal opinion, healthy is a very broad term. Its definition is generalized to be having good health, not being sick or injured. Freedman makes me question what would be classified as healthy foods. Would a food that provides our essential daily nutrients

A goal of mine is to modify how much processed food I eat because I want to live a healthier lifestyle. In, “Eating Made Simple” by Marion Nestle she discusses ideas on how to become healthier. Nestle notes, “eat less, move more; eat fruits, vegetables, and whole grains; and avoid too much junk food” (37). Nestle argues that experts disagree on most notions concerning what is healthy and what is not. Nevertheless, they all came to an agreement in the basic idea of healthy eating. This suggests that living a healthier lifestyle could be rather simple if you follow these simple steps. My family and I eat an enormous amount of junk food, and I would like to change that so we can live a healthier lifestyle.

One concept that the author suggests is the link between the choices that American’s make now versus the choices American’s made in the past. The kinds of foods we choose to eat is very crucial to the body and if we don’t pay enough attention, it can lead to health problems later on in life. In the past, there were not much processed foods with added sugars and fats, as compared to now. Americans are consuming more processed foods than eating healthy, but eating healthy is not the only answer to lowering the risks of diseases; we also have to include daily intakes of vitamins and minerals and daily exercise. If Americans continue to choose eating processed foods and not maintain their health and weight; they will have a higher risk of diseases

Food is a necessity, a source of energy that should be taken in moderation. Although, it has been an issue for consumers to maintain a healthy diet with the time and money while limiting their choices at the grocery store: purchases most often made swiftly and cheaply without reading the labels. Unknowingly, the food industry’s marketing shapes the ways consumers decide on their purchases, which significantly exploit children at a higher risk for obesity. “Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us” written by Michael Moss will further critique and examine the American diet that has been heavily influenced by giant corporations, which use important ingredients like salt, sugar, and fat to compete against other corporations and continue to

Food is one of the most important aspects of the human body. Over time it has been proven that food is the key to survival. Food for human beings has definitely made a drastic change throughout the centuries. With that the food industry has been talked about quite a bit. We consume so much processed food to the point where we adapt unhealthy diets which causes us to develop unhealthy habits. In order to combat this we humans have taken different approaches to including buying organic produce as an alternative to conventional, going vegan, as well as just plain watching what they eat

To get an understanding of our diet we need to see the what has been in front of our faces for generations. In fact at least 2 generations. The only generation in its entirety to to not see food that was processed and packaged for "shelf-life" was that of our greatest generation... those people who fought and won World War II. Many of them were exposed to it during their time in the Military but up until then had probably grown most of their food themselves or, at the very least, had access to fresh, food sans preservatives. What was it about that time frame that has now caused the greatest lack of basic constituents that food has ever known? I will cover that in another article.

Processed foods are becoming more readily available due to convenience. “ The term 'processed food ' applies to any food that has been altered from its natural state in some way, either for safety reasons or convenience”(Eating Processed Foods). An example of a processed food would be

The United States has the highest amount of people below the poverty line in its history. Since these people make below $20,000 dollars a year, their only way of feeding themselves is buying the cheapest food. The cheapest food in a food market is almost always processed food. These types of foods do not have the best nutrient content. Eating these types of foods more frequently can increase a person’s risk of becoming obese. One of the many reasons people consume processed foods is because they are very cheap “The relative price of fresh fruits and vegetables it’s gone up by 40% since 1980 when the obesity epidemic first began. In contrast, the relative price of processed foods has gone down by about 40%” (A Place at the Table). Since processed foods are cheap, people under the poverty line will mostly buy these types of foods. Sometimes people under the

Modern processed foods are packaged in ways that are designed to sell. With many people seeking healthy and nutritious food options, it makes sense that companies would want to portray their products as such. In the article “Front-of-Package Food Labels”, Marion Nestle and David S. Ludwig discuss why vague and unproven front-of-package labels should not be allowed on processed food packages.

We think that we know good food from bad, but do we truly know what is bad? Most of the food we consume is factory processed and some is genetically modified. After watching the movie Food Incorporation, you start to think about what you eat on everyday basis. In the 1930s, factory production of fast food became extremely popular in the United States, from there on restaurant owners began thinking of ways to save money on the food production. They wanted to pay the least possible for bigger amounts of food, not paying attention to the quality of it. That way, the companies were able to make more profit. From that point of history, processed food became more acceptable everywhere.

All across America, food manufacturers and sellers seem to be cleaning up their act. Apparently customers are demanding healthier fare at their eating establishments and from their supermarket shelves, and restaurants and food manufacturers are starting to pay attention. Tyson had announced they were going to be phasing out the use of hormones that are also used in people and McDonald’s had also said they will be phasing out the use of such chicken. Another big trend, however has been the removal of artificial ingredients such as colorings and preservatives by companies.