The Complicated Story of Food

Many people propose that industrial is better because farms aren’t always near by and meat is cheaper for bigger families. It’s true, in fact, the food is cheaper and low income families need cheaper things. It’s indeed true that farms aren’t always near by everyone, especially in cities. However, people who argue that should also consider their health instead of just how to get food and should considering taking effort into getting safe non-processsed foods for their families. This proves that they should go with the healthy choice of

It is said that farming is "the worst mistake in the history of the human race."(2). In An Edible History of Humanity, chapter two, Tom Standage explained the reasoning behind this statement. The explanation is, farming took longer, created health issues and changed the structure of our bodies.

In "Eat Food: Food Defined" Michael Polan argues, What do you really have for dinner. When you go to the supermarket and read the ingredient's you will see alot of words you dont know. Instead of throwing it in the grocery cart anyways, why don't you ask your parent what it actually is. Your mom or dad will look at you crazy and tell you they don't know. Think of why you dont know what is in the food you eat,"If it is FDA approved it good right?" its in the supermarket its safe . Try to stay away from the crazy words that are under the word INGREDIENT, mostly towards the middle. Just dont go to the supermarket for so long alot of people get caught in a trap of buying alot. If you go to a farm and ask to buy some "corn syrup they will most

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 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.

In many ways, food has been imperative to political and social influences on global human society. In chapters five and seven of An Edible History of Humanity by Tom Standage, the importance of food and its effect on history is shown throughout the major themes of trading, the idea that food is equal to wealth, and the life-long sustenance that foods provide to people. In Standage’s book, middle-eastern botanists traded the spice of cinnamon, and potatoes were traded and seen as a valued food in all of Europe. Standage proves that food equals wealth when he wrote about the importance of spices across the Middle East. He says that people who owned spices were seen as “luxurious” because they could serve delicacies such as rare spices and could serve more flavorful food. Finally, the sustenance that spices, as well as maize/potatoes, provide is actually very similar to each other. Although spices could be seen as a more “secondary” source of sustenance, the rarity and high demand for spices allowed for trading and receiving nutritious food. On the other hand, maize was very important because almost anyone could grow maize and it could, therefore, be used as a major food supply.

The nutrition transition and the increasing westernization, urbanization and mechanization occurring in most countries around the world is associated with changes in the diet towards one of high fat, high energy-dense foods and a sedentary lifestyle (Popkin, 2001). This shift is also associated with the current rapid changes in childhood and adult obesity. Even in many low income countries, obesity is now rapidly increasing, and often coexists in the same population with chronic under nutrition.

Michael Pollan, the author of “In Defense of Food”, is a journalist, who is engrossed in nutritional science as well as its history. By writing this book, Pollan tries to undermine the food industries and health-claiming campaigns and inform us how they misled us about the way we should eat. The low-fat campaign is an example of this, and as said on page 43 of the book, “the low-fat campaign has been based on little scientific evidence and may have caused unintended health consequences.” In the book, Pollan speaks from the perspective of a journalist who wants to share his ideas and discoveries about nutrition. He sounds a little bemused and apprehensive at the same time. When talking about plant foods on page 64, he tries to understand what

Americans love to eat, but do we actually understand how to eat healthy? In today’s world, everyone wants to be healthy, nonetheless, it seems no one knows how. With the nutritional knowledge of present-day, society’s health should be getting better instead of worse. However, there are so many different ideas regarding food that the public may feel confused. Michael Pollan points out many worthy causes in his book In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto; he tends to overuse quotes and research and uses unseemly portrayals, but he also implements excellent information to make a valid argument.

Besides, studies have shown that “The obesity epidemic ranks among the leading causes”. (WHO, 1998) are “poor diet and physical inactivity were the second leading cause of death in the USA in 2000 and may soon overtake tobacco as the leading cause of avoidable death” (Mokdad et al.,2004). “Obesity is a complex medical condition, which has social and psychological dimensions and some major economic aspects.” (WHO, 2000). “It affects people of all ages and socio-economic groups, and of both genders, and is not restricted to developed countries” (WHO, 2000). From

(2003), likewise point out that the fact of not being physically active plays a crucial in doubling cases of obesity. According to Hastings et al. (2003), people in 1st, 2nd and 3rd world countries are doing less physical activities such as riding bikes, working in the fields. Instead, people spend more time sitting in cars, in factories, in offices, in front of the TV, developing “Couch-potato” syndrome, only eating and drinking. In addition, the authors comment that wage-labor patterns are other contributing factors in culture-bound

We live in an age in which we have come to expect everything to be instantaneously at our fingertips. We live in an age of instant coffee, instant tea, and even instant mashed potatoes. We can walk down the street at 5 in the morning and get a gallon of milk or even a weeks worth of groceries at our discretion. Even though it is great that food is now readily available at all times, this convenience comes at a price, for both the producer and the consumer. Farmers are cheated out of money and are slaves to big business, workers and animals are mistreated. And, because food now comes at a low cost, it has become cheaper quality and therefore potentially dangerous to the consumer’s health. These problems surrounding the ethics and the

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.

​Food plays an important role in our daily life. Without food, we cannot survive. Food gives us all the required nutrients that our body needs in order to perform activities in our daily life. People usually find it difficult when choosing the right and effective diet for themselves. Its easy to get overwhelmed with all the dieting advice you get. Do you have to try out every type of diets without obtaining any result? Some people are unaware about how to have a proper diet and with those misleading advice, they may have to stop consuming the food they love, cutting down some portions and calories. Some people do survive this, nevertheless majority of people find it restrictive. In order to have a proper diet, the below information will give an idea about how nutrients plays a significant role in a proper diet. What helps the people to get a proper diet are the three types of diets involved, which are divided into three categories; balanced diet, diabetic diet and fitness diet.

Food culture in the United States is consistently changing and accumulating new traditions all the time. It is quite challenging to define American food with its own single dish, since America is pretty much the melting pot of various cultures. In New York State, but more specifically New York City is a place where people can explore the diversity of food and its cultures from all over the world.