Aundrenee Nash
Writing 121
Chris Jensen
May 10 2013
The Pleasures of Eating Summary and Response
In “The Pleasures of Eating” Wendell Berry wants the reader to recognize that eating is a cultural act. He believes we are eaters not consumers and that we should have more knowledge about the food we eat. Berry wants the reader to questions where the food is coming from, what condition is it produced in and what chemicals may it contains. He has found that the food industries blind us to what we are consuming and the effect it has on us. At last Berry believes that we must eat responsibly to live free.
Berry first begins with eating as an agricultural act. We think of food as an agricultural product rather than think of ourselves
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Like any politics it involves our freedom. By giving someone else the control we, “neglect to understand that we cannot be free unless our food is free” (Berry 232).
Our food wars a much make up as actors (Berry 232). Berry expresses that the food industry wants little to do with our health but more to do with volume and price of their product. As scales increase, diversity declines when this happens so does health. From there the dependence on drugs and chemicals becomes necessary. Food advertising leads up to believe that what we eat is good, tasty, healthy and guaranteed to give us a long life (Berry 233).
Industrialism is a trap. Berry believes how to escape this trap is to recognize the food problem as a whole and how eating is inescapable. In order to participate in the agricultural act you must; participate in food productions, prepare your own food, learn your foods origin, cut the middle man when you buy, learn about industrial food companies, good farming and gardening and learn from observation and experience. Berry takes pleasure in eating meat from non-suffering non-farm raised animals. As well as, fruits and vegetables that lived a plentiful life. He believes eating should be an extensive pleasure and the more we participate in agriculture and gain knowledge the more we live, “free from mystery, from creatures we
Regardless the person, everyone still orders from restaurants, or they microwave a frozen dinner meal once in awhile. In contemporary society, it 's much more efficient to order take out rather than to cook and prepare your own food due to the lack of time. Sadly people even forget the taste of fresh, home cooked meals. Nowadays people don’t know what it’s like to sit down and enjoy a nice hearty home cooked meal, instead they’re always on the run grabbing a quick bite here and there. Unfortunately with such busy lives people don’t have the opportunity to watch cooking shows, go to cooking class, or even cook for their children. People just want to come home and relax they don’t want to have to worry about cooking and all the preparation that comes with it, they would much rather order take out and avoid all the hassle of cooking. In Berry Wendell’s Essay “The Pleasures of Eating”, we are given insight on how very little common people know about where their food comes from and what it goes through. “When a Crop Becomes King” by Michael Pollan reveals how corn, a single crop could be involved in such a wide array of industry and be used in almost everything. David Barboza’s article “If You Pitch It, They Will Eat”, focuses on how in modern society advertising is everywhere and it is taking a big role in everyday life. Through the work of Berry, Pollan, and Barboza we are shown that ignorance is a defining human trait.
Neither life nor culture can be sustained without food. On a very basic level, food is fundamentally essential for life, not simply to exist, but also to thrive. A means by which carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, nutrients, and calories are introduced into the body, food is a mechanism of survival. However, on a more abstract level, food is also fundamentally essential for culture by establishing its perimeters and dimensions and in shaping its authenticity and character. Food becomes the
The world continues to face a wide-scale food crisis. The effects of this crisis reach from the farmers who grow and raise the food to the very system of laws that are in place to govern the system itself. Food giants are reaching deep into their pockets for lobbying in order to take advantage of both the producers and the consumer all in the name of profit. Moreover, farmers are being driven to suicide, and the ecosystem’s livelihood is treading a fine line. Both Michael Pollan and Raj Patel bring to light these problems and offer suggestions to help lessen their severity. Though there are many philosophies on which they both agree, they both have their own ideas to fight back. Pollan seeks to challenge the consumer as an individual while
Diamond explains that our worst mistake was the transition from hunter-gathers to farmers. Diamond believes that humans were better off chasing our food rather than planting it due to the consequences that followed after such a dramatic change of life. His reasoning expands further out than one might think of about this subject. He talks about the social changes that were created when agriculture began. Diamond spews empowering points that leave a reader pondering if he is correct. People are only sure of how the world is now but the possibilities are endless on what our world could have been if agriculture had not begun.
The essay “Eat Food: Food Defined,” from Michael Pollan’s 2008 book In Defense of Food was written to address the American general public about the food industry. Pollan focuses on relatable topics as examples, such as family, common food items, and common belief that everyone wants to be healthy. The essay brings across Pollan’s point by establishing his credibility, explaining why this is important to us, and telling us how to react to the given facts. Pollan makes the readers inquire how we define food by drawing our attention to the importance of examining our food before eating it.
The revolution is surrounded by many inventions including fertilizers and pesticides. It is through these innovations that developed countries were able to feed their people (Standage, 199). As Standage refers to it, feeding the world. Standage's descriptions of this revolution clearly indicate that developed countries achieved what they have by feeding their people first. As such, food can be used for the betterment of the nation. Through the book, the writer focuses on the impacts of agriculture on various aspects of a human's life. The main audience seems to be the people (leaders) who have the role in making and implementing food
Wendell Berry’s “The Pleasures of Eating” is a strong-opinioned article on how and why people (in his view) take for granted the food they are served and nourished with everyday. The read itself is lengthy in the fact that the first three pages don’t mean that much; the numbered bullet points starting on page four outline what the author was trying to say throughout the whole piece. Berry is such a smooth writer with a strong vocabulary, that reader’s like myself could have trouble staying on topic with his side thoughts in just about every sentence. In dissecting his bullet points, I think this will serve as a good summary and personal reflection. The first point is about growing our own food to feel the reward and labor that many farmers
In the article “The Pleasure of Eating”, Wendell Berry expresses his idea that in order for consumers to truly appreciate the food on their plates, they should know its origin and how it is produced. Berry was inspired by his realization that nowadays food productions are becoming more and more industrialized, and the consumers themselves are slowly transforming into industrial eaters. He states that there is a barrier between the people and the reality behind food production because people can purchase already packaged food at anywhere and anytime. This makes them ignorant to the hardship and the cruel conditions it went under to get on the shelves. He also criticizes the food industry, as it manipulates people to regard eating as a way of survival and not one of the many pleasures in life. Berry successfully appeals to pathos in order to further convince his urban consumers that eating is an act of pleasure. Therefore, people should take more into consideration on what they are eating and how it will affect them in the long run.
Throughout the articles, each one discussed the author’s perspective on food industries. Two articles argued whether the food companies should be blamed for the health epidemics or it should be a personal responsibility for consumers. While others discussed how food industries manipulate consumers into buying more of their food. Along the same lines, all the articles mentioned how the health epidemic is increasing and who must be fault for the growth. As well as finding a solution and who should help. Although the articles emphasize how obesity rate has grown, the public seems to blame food companies for manipulating consumers and others insist it is a consumer’s personal responsibility.
For instance, “…agriculture is an efficient way to get more food for less work. Planted crops yield far more tons per acre than roots and berries” (64). Diamond is claiming that society abandoned traditional foods consumed by hunter-gatherers because it was easier to feed more people if nutrition was sacrificed. The necessity to feed more people at a low cost provoked the decision to choose calories over nutrition. In other words, society chose agriculture over the hunter-gatherer method.
Nowadays more and more people are unaware of where their food comes from. Mankind now lives in an age where technology is the main focus and the rural way of life is becoming a thing of the past. The ability to produce food is so efficient and effective that some people do not even realize how their food gets to their plate. But that was not the case in the 19th century. In 1837, a man named John Deere changed farming forever.
They are insults.” (page 10, paragraph 2). The first quotation from the text leads readers to believe that those who view things from a purely scientific, “progressive” standpoint are indifferent to a sense of community and the knowledge of the land that comes with it. He is claiming that those at the forefront of logical movements are only versed in general sciences, and are ignorant of the ways that certain places can be taken care of to produce better crops and livestock. This attack on community is not only negatively affecting farmers, but also those who are members of a small community. This audience could include students, business owners, historians, and residents. The second quote targets the sense of pride in small farmers, as Berry is implicitly referencing the progressively growing belief that agrarianism is dying and comments such as in the quotes are becoming more common.
Within the essay Pleasures of Eating a Kentucky farmer and author, Wendell Berry, recalls several instances where after a lecture on the decline of American farming he’s asked questioned about how to take action. His answer is, “Eat responsibly” (1). He goes on the say, “Of course, I have tried to explain what I meant by that, but afterwards I have invariably felt that there was more to be said than I had been able to say” (1). Cooked suffers in a similar way, it fails to dedicate enough time to present a solution to the questions it asks; while also falling to ask all the questions necessary to form a comprehensive argument and give viewers the knowledge to make a positive change. Instead, they choose to use their time to babble off cherry picked statistics, without properly stating sources i.e, most Americans spend 27 minutes a day
In the an article called ‘The Pleasure of Eating’ by Wendell Berry talks about how consumers should know where the food they eat comes from and learning to adapt in producing their own food. His main idea is really focusing on the
It is indeed true that the quality of food that you take in will do a