Food Policy Is Not Sufficiently Addressed By Our Government Essay

He probes them to learn the what, where, and how of dinner – knowing what is going into the body, knowing where that food came from, and knowing how that food was made. By first knowing what is being consumed, people can make better informed decisions about their purchases. Nutrition, or lack thereof, is a key component in the battle against obesity. Food giants are hoping to hide the often unnecessary filler present in their products by use of dodgy claims and socially engineered advertisements. In general, most consumers probably couldn’t say where their food came from. This usually boils down to the fact that shoppers typically don’t think about it. Breaking this reliance on mass-grown foods is the second part of Pollan’s proposition. The third and equally important element is how the food is produced. More specifically, Pollan is concerned whether or not the food has been produced in a sustainable manner. Preserving the biodiversity of food, maintaining fertile land for future generations, and ensuring consumers receive food that does not compromise health are all factors of sustainability. Without informed consumers, what, where, and how will continue to be unanswered questions. Whether it is for nutritional or ethical choices, a particular food’s history is something that needs to once again become common

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.

One does not necessarily expect books about food also to be about bigger ideas like oppression, spirituality, and freedom, yet Pollan defies expectations. Pollan begins with an exploration of the food-production system from which the vast majority of American meals are derived. This industrial food chain is mainly based on corn, whether it is eaten directly, fed to livestock, or processed into chemicals such as glucose and ethanol. Pollan discusses how the humble corn plant came to dominate the American diet through a combination of biological, cultural, and political factors. The role of petroleum in the cultivation and transportation the American food supply is also discussed. A fast-food meal is used to illustrate the end result of the

Most people say that the government’s role, in our diets, is the key for a healthier life. While others may argue that it is freedom of choice to eat whatever we want. However depending on the point of view, the government’s role in shaping what we consume is either a compulsory intervention or a blatant interference on American free will. Even though we hear a good argument on the government controlling our diets, most research show that the involvement of the government on our diets has shown little to no results.

In Michael Pollan’s essay, “The American Paradox”, Pollan argues that American’s hold falsified ideas if one is more focused on nutrition. Americans have too much going on in their head with trying to be healthy, that they do not actually become healthy. The notion that “a notably unhealthy population preoccupied with nutrition and the idea of eating healthy” (Pollan 268) is what Pollan defines as the “American paradox”. The amount of time spent focusing on healthy eating habits decreases the joy one contains. Pollan identifies many issues that contribute to what is wrong with the way Americans think about eating today. For instance, we spend too much time and money trying to be healthy, we have strayed away from the past as new inventions occurred and last being we listen to “flawed science”. Despite the fact that many may say they see positive results from focusing on nutrition and health, Americans actually receive negative outcomes from nutrition and health.

Over the last several decades, the diet of society has been continually changing. This has resulted in different formulas for nutrition and the proper portions of foods that must be consumed. To fully understand the various arguments requires looking at numerous viewpoints. This will be accomplished by focusing on Michael Pollan's Escape from the Western Diet in contrast with Mary Maxfield's Food as thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating. These views will highlight how diet and nutrition is based upon individual opinions. This is the focus of the thesis.

Pollan goes on to suggest that there are many different approaches to the food movement, and although the movement seems splintered and “sometimes the various factions […] work at cross purposes,” the author uses some highly credible sources to show that despite its many offshoots, a cohesion of the masses has taken root in the food movement (par.11). The author uses big names like Troy Duster, who is a renowned research sociologist from Northwestern University, to help clarify his point. Troy duster states that “viewed from a middle distance, then, the food movement coalesces around the recognition that todays food and farming economy is unsustainable, […] that it can’t go on in its current form much longer without courting a breakdown of some kind.” (Par. 13). The author then clarifies his point but stating that “the food system consumes more fossil fuel energy than we can count on in the future […] and emits more greenhouse gases than we can afford to emit.” (Par. 14). Pollan uses his sources as an ethical appeal to the readers, which effectively connects the reader to the article and its

It’s no secret, Americans love their processed, energy-rich foods. And undeniably, this love affair has led to an obesity epidemic. In spite of the evidence against processed food, however, there are some who believe the problem may hold the key to the solution. David Freedman, author of “How Junk Food Could End Obesity,” criticizes Michael Pollan for his argument in support of unprocessed, local foods due its impracticality. Freedman’s criticism is based on the idea that “It makes a lot more sense to look for small, beneficial changes in food than it does to hold out for big changes in what people eat that have no realistic chance of happening” (Freedman Sec. 1). He contends that processed foods already play a big part in our diets, so instead of trying to expand the wholesome food business, we should try to make processed foods healthier. Freedman’s argument, however, overlooks many negative effects of processed foods and conventional farming. Michael Pollan’s wholesome food movements takes into account not only the obesity problem, but also the quality of the environment and the rights of farmers. Although Pollan’s solution to obesity may not seem the most efficient or time effective, the trades offs it provides in terms of environmental sustainability and the well-being of farmers outweigh the loss of efficiency.

In “Escape from the Western Diet” Michael Pollan argues against the scientific theories of nutrition, and discusses the harmful effects, and chronic diseases associated with the Western Diet. Pollan offers an alternate view of a healthier lifestyle to escape the western diet that simply suggests that we “stop eating and thinking that way.” (Pollan 423) He explains that the food industry has changed the wholeness of our food, which causes us to eat unhealthier things such as fast food. He approaches a solution to these contradictory theories and science by focusing on a personal approach to eating that is based on the individual's view of food. Pollan three rules to create a healthier lifestyle are to “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants” (Pollan 426) which suggest to eat “real” food in a new balanced and healthy way that creates a pleasurable approach of eating. I agree with Pollan’s concepts about the western diet and his rules of eating simpler.

Sarah Henry is a journalist who usually writes about nutrition and local foods. Her intended audience for this article are minorities interested in farming. Penniman raises a local farm with fresh foods and wants people to have access to fresh produce. This is a great article for my unit three essay because this essay talks about a way to solve one of my problems the lack of healthy food or (availability). This article is also great for my essay because the ideas of local farms also fix the problem with processed food.

Michael Pollan is an American author, journalist, activist, and professor of journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. For the last 25 years he has written about nature and culture and their intersection in what we put on our plates, what is in our farms/gardens and in the environment we have built. In 2010, he was named in TIME’s 100 Most Influential People, and received a few other awards. He does not seem to have a formal education in nutrition, however, based off this documentary he completes thorough research through speaking with professionals, specialists and highly regarded (in this case) makers as well as people who live in the communities he is reporting about.

Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma encompasses a wide range of political, social, and economic issues related to the agricultural and food production industries. The author presents food within the broader context of power structure, touching on basic sociological issues. Likewise, Kurt Vonnegut

Regulating what the government should control and what they should not was one of the main arguments our founding fathers had to deal with when creating our nation, and to this day this regulation is one of the biggest issues in society. Yet, I doubt our founding fathers thought about the idea that the food industry could one day somewhat control our government, which is what we are now facing. Marion Nestles’ arguments in the book Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health deal with how large food companies and government intertwine with one another. She uses many logical appeals and credible sources to make the audience understand the problem with this intermingling. In The Politics of Food author Geoffrey

The US government should, like what they did in attacking tobacco in the 1990s, tax things such as fries and sugar beverages, and subsidize staple foods that constitute healthy diets like vegetables and whole grains to make more people affordable of healthy food. In doing this, not only the overall health of Americans will be improved, but also a large portion of health care costs will be saved. The saved budget can be used for welfare facilities and health programs (Bittman, 2011). Meanwhile, many other problems, such as environmental pollution, will be addressed

From the very beginning, food has always had a significant influence on culture. As populations increased, many societies began to function around the assumption that they must be more involved in their food to survive. Though this began with simply growing and harvesting food, the pressure caused by growing families spurred even greater innovations. Pasteurization, canning, and genetic modification are all technologies that have enabled safer and more reliable food for civilizations. However, these technologies are not the only thing becoming more complex. In fact, the very system of food, including production, transportation, allocation, and governing laws, has, too, grown incredibly intricate. Many policies, corporate agreements, and capitalistic motives have shaped the entire food system to an unsustainable state. Though this system has been politicized for a long time, its faults and errors are becoming more apparent to the educated person. Herein lies the most significant problem: the uninformed person is blind to the issues in the current food system. Furthermore, many willingly choose to ignore or deny the underlying science. Education would benefit key factors such as governmental issues, ethical dilemmas, environmental concerns, as well as personal health interests.