Reflection About Food

When Michael Pollan's book The Omnivore's Dilemma was published, many readers began questioning him for advice on what they should eat in order to stay healthy. In his more recent book, In Defense of Food, he responds with three rules, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants"(Pollan 1). This seven word response seems too simple for a relatively complicated question, but as he further elaborates these rules into specific guidelines, this summary turns out to be surprisingly complete. Using inductive and deductive reasoning, he debunks the ideas behind nutritionism and food science, and proves that the western diet is the cause for food related diseases. Inductive reasoning is when a

The documentary Food Inc. is a great example of commercial farming. The purpose of commercial farming is to mass produce food and animals, to feed the community. The concept of commercial farming could also go along food security. The community needs to make sure that there is enough food to feed the growing population at all times. The problem right now isn’t that there isn’t enough food, but rather that there is too much food. The Tyson company produces all kinds of meat to feed people around the country, and when doing so they tend to overproduce. With this overproduction, we are left with expired animals that cannot be produced into food for consumption, and in turn, provide extra parts that aren’t useful or helpful.

It is important to note that a worldview is not immediate as it developed over the course of one’s lifetime and passed on from generation to generation through factors such as tradition, beliefs, education, political orientation, mass media, and social interaction. When a child is born, they do not know what is moral or immoral, acceptable or unacceptable or have any attitudes and beliefs; they do not have a worldview. For the most of our lives, these worldviews develop in us over time, and we take them for granted, and so they just remain below the surface of our consciousness or awareness. Typically as human beings, we are partially conscious of the world views we have, and it is to mean that we are not fully aware of them. The development and comprehension of our worldviews are an evolution and a process, and for this reason, the world views evolve in a direct response to our collective cultural histories and individual and unique life experiences. Consequently, depending on the type of worldview we adopt in the

My parents have always introduced me to all types of food. The type of food I eat is one of the ways that I feel closely ties me to the mexican side of my culture. Mexican food is my favorite. I love how spicy it can be. One tradition

Everybody is entitled to have their own view of the world and how big or smal of an importance something is in their lifes. I know my worldviews are almost never going to be one hundrend persent the same as anyone elses, and that is what makes us who we are. Weather it is religion, family importaneand belif about any subjects. Though it may be difficult to understand other people views, we one day willrespect others views of the world and will be much more open

People have lost sight of the common denominator with all the finger pointing, when it comes to the intriguing argument of whom or what determines what we eat. Individuals have forgotten the process of supply and demand, democracy, and most important individual choices.

Food wise you eat your biscuits, ribs, donuts, pie, anything fried, grits, hamburgers and hotdogs and bacon at any place that offers it. My views are obviously biased to the South, so eating lunch at my Mamaw’s every Sunday afternoon has an effect on my preference. I believe that in order to be American, you must eat your ham with a side of mashed potatoes. Others may think it is being man enough to try the hottest possible sauce at Buffalo Wild Wings. Either way, your choice of food proves to be a part of where you are from.

Have you ever tasted school cafeteria food? I don’t think you would want to. In school story books, do you have characters saying that the food tasted good at school cafeterias? Nope. Why is this? Cafeteria food is often cheap, bought in bulk, high in calories, malnutritious, and microwaved. Student polls and opinions prove this. Therefore, this leads to a suggestion: Healthier, tastier foods and a better, advanced lunch system should be implemented.

During the first week of class, four readings were assigned. One of the readings, “Food and Eating: Some Persisting Questions,” by Sidney Mintz, discusses the paradoxes of food. Although food seems like a straightforward concept, it is actually extremely complicated. According to Mintz, there are five paradoxes, including: the importance of food to one’s survival, yet we take it for granted, how people stick to their foodways, but are willing to change, whether the government should allow people to freely choose food or if they should protect the people through regulations, the difference in food meanings according to gender, and the morality of eating certain foods. All of these paradoxes give people questions to think about, making this an extremely philosophical look at food studies. It also mentions that food must be viewed through the cultural context that it is in, which became important in “The Old and New World Exchange”, by Mintz, and “Maize as a Culinary Mystery”, by Stanley Brandes. These discuss the diffusion of foods after 1492 in different ways. The Mintz reading gives an overview of all of the foods spread from the Americas to the Old World, and vice-a-versa, but does not go terribly in depth on the social changes and effects of specific foods. Brandes focuses on the cultural impact of specifically maize on the European diet, noticing that most Western Europeans shunned it. He studies the cultural implications of this, concluding that maize was not accepted

Food is a necessity for survival in our everyday lives. But have you really thought about the energy that is put in to make the delicious meals? What we eat matters. A vegetarian meal has a lower embedded energy compared to a meal with meat yet we often chose the meal with meat. One of the perks of having more vegetarian meals is the health benefits that come with it. The energy input for meat foods are higher than plant based foods because these foods requires machinery that uses a lot of electricity.

Eating food is essential for all of us, it keep us alive and also gives us enjoyment at the same time. Food can be defined as any substance that can be metabolized by an animal to give energy and build tissue. (ilearn) In ancient time, when people feel hungry, they eat. However, as human history keep developing and evolving, we have a higher standard on choosing food that we like to eat nowadays. In this paper, we are going to evaluate factors that are influencing our food habits and food culture. Those factors can be divided into two main categories, internal factors (individual preference and values) and external factors (geographical, religion, social, economic and political).

Food brings everyone together no matter what culture you are in. Culture is a way of life shared by a group of people, beliefs, customs, symbols and etc. Many families can spend time with each other by preparing and eating dinner at the table, going out for dinner or just celebrating holidays.

The way we eat food has changed drastically in the past few decades. When I think of the process of how our food is made and produced, I typically think of a farm with animals laying around, eating grass, content with everything. Also, I picture ripe red tomatoes, apples, and sweet smelling fruit being pick right when it is ripened so it can get to our grocery stores. This is typically how most people picture our food coming from a farm. It is how they want us to picture it, because it is a happy image: but, it is far from the reality of how things are.

Before watching Food, Inc., my knowledge of the food system was very minimal. I was aware that it was a large industry due to the society’s population but never thought about the harmful effects of it. It was shocking to learn about the horrors of the food industry being that we consume food every day. As seen in the movie, the large multinational companies that control the food system work their hardest to hide the truth about what we are eating. If companies were to reveal what happens behind closed doors, it is most likely consumers such as me would cease eating inorganic products.

During the course of this class, I have learned a lot about different religions. I still have an unprejudiced view of religion. However, I did not suspend my belief to have an understanding of religion. I have been able to learn of other religious beliefs without feeling threatened of my own. I found there are many different practices in other religions, some I agree with and some I do not agree with. I have come to except others, ways of worship without getting upset. I have become humble in my conclusion now that I have a better understanding of others beliefs. The world seems to jump to conclusions and be judgmental about other religions. Postponing ones judgement on a religion is a difficult thing to do. Being raised and taught a certain religion and set of beliefs is distilled in to one’s mind. I, on the other hand, reserved my personal judgement until I have learned more about it.