The Nutritional Value Of Food And Food

This essay compares Michael Moss’ “Junk Food” to Virginia Heffernan’s “What If You Just Hate Making Dinner”. Both of these authors write about food, and they specifically discuss the topic of junk food. The key difference between these articles is that Heffernan looks at the topic from the point of view of a consumer, a busy mother seeking a convenience; and Moss focuses more on the food and beverage industry and its impact on the consumers. Many industry professionals, doctors and scientists alike are concerned about spreading obesity epidemic. The similarities between “Junk Food” and “What If You Just Hate Making Dinner” are pronounced, and they deserve thorough investigation.

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.

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 essay “Eat Food: Food Defined,” by Michael Pollan was written to address the general public about the food industry. Originally published in his 2008 book In Defense of Food. Pollan uses 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.

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.

“They (Food Production Corporations) may have salt, sugar, and fat on their side, but we, ultimately, have the power to make choices. After all, we decide what to buy. We decide how much to eat.” (Moss 346). In today’s society, junk food needs no introduction as everyone enjoys the taste of junk food because it is fast, tasty, and affordable but not everyone knows what all goes into their food. Over the years the food industries have drastically changed how food is produced and manufactured. Moss reflects upon the motivations and practices by the food industries which have transformed the American food supply by the use of the three key ingredients, salt, sugar, and fat. Through Michael Moss’s use of rhetorical appeals in his book Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us, he discusses the extraordinary science behind what is considered tasty food, how multinational food companies use the key ingredients, salt sugar, and fat to increase sales and how other literary elements can help create trust between the author and audience thus increasing the effect of his arguments.

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.

The book “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto”, by Michael Pollan, is one of the most informative and shocking books I have ever read. This book has three different parts, each discussing the different impacts the food we eat has on us. These different parts are as follows: part I, “The Age of Nutritionism,” part II, "The Western Diet and the Diseases of Civilization," and part III, "Getting Over Nutritionism." Throughout this book the author stresses how important food is to our everyday lives.

In Hans Taparia and Pamela Koch’s New York Times online article “A Seismic Shift in How People Eat,” posted on November 6, 2015, the current struggle that big food companies are experiencing in relation to increased consumer awareness is discussed. Prompting this article is the overwhelming movement to healthy eating by the general populace and the havoc it is wreaking on corporate companies. Highly popular among health enthusiasts of all ages, the topic of this paper appeals to a wide audience. Although easily missed at first due to the beautiful flow and structure of the paper, the opinions and claims by Taparia and Koch are primarily based in logos where facts and statistics are quoted, and a fair amount of pathos where vivid imagery is utilized to paint a picture of the scenario for the reader. Differing slightly from the normal presentation, the ethos of the paper is not so much enforced through personal titles or anecdotes, but rather through the combination of presenting the ideas and facts clearly and persuasively, all adding to the author’s credibility. When the paper comes to a conclusion, the reader is left with a solid understanding of how big food companies are finally being forced to share their dirty secrets and clean up their act in order to compete with the small scale, organic based companies and the jeopardy they are facing unless they change their ways drastically.

“The Pleasures of Eating,” by Wendell Berry is an informative piece challenging us as consumer to be more aware of what we are eating. Berry points out most times we are unaware of the processes of food production which puts our health at risk. One of Berry’s strongest arguments is that most times as consumers buy food without asking critical questions that will affect the nutritional value of the product. Consumers are so passive that they buy some of the most expensive foods with very little protest. We have become so trust worthy of the food industry that we see no need to be critical of types of food products they give to the public.

Many advertisements nowadays don’t advertise objects with the verity of their quality. Rather, they get someone in the famous industry to advertise their product so the people that are watching see their favorite famous person and want to buy it because they use it. When most of the people that promote it don’t use it, or it never truly works as they say, and another way they advertise is through foods.

Firstly, Pollan explains how baffling the American supermarket can be. He mentions that food corporations process foods in such a way that it’s intended to catch the eyes of the consumers. For example, Pollan points out that when does eating a bowl of cereal for breakfast become a therapeutic procedure in which made him to argue that food inventions have distracted people from eating healthy. Pollan also acknowledges that he is not a nutritionist or a scientist but a journalist hoping to answer questions for himself and his family.

While most the food products that are out in the market today can barely be considered food to some people, in my opinion, the majority of the people don’t know what is in the food products they buy but purchase these food products anyhow. I, myself being one of the people that don’t always know what is in the food products I purchase. After listening to the TED Talks and reading articles from Food Matters, my opinion of what can be considered “real food” has drastically changed. Although I already spend most of my time in the peripheries of the market, I do not spend all of my time there so I would like to challenge myself to following one of Michael Pollan’s rules and plan to “shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle” (15).

As many consumers are finding more ways to eat healthier, the major stereotype is that women are much more capable to fill those expectations. The expectations are met by reading the labels, comparing the content to see what is better, or finding products that fit a high quality. This perspective leads to the idea that men don’t care to find the content that is in a substance or don’t have the willpower to look. This advertisement displays that action by looking at the content of what I presume is olive oil. When I imagine myself looking through every product content to see if it’s healthy, it would be impossible. I would just act on what looks good in my mind, and most of the time I would not care if I was very hungry. Consumers who are concerned of what is lacked in a content would look for healthy, exciting, authentic, fresh, organic, and sustainable reasons to have a great lifestyle. (Sloan 31)