Tom Standage's An Edible History Of Humanity

“In the earliest surviving texts on European farming, agriculture was interpreted as two connected things: agri and cultura, and food was seen as a vital part of the cultures and communities that produced it. Today, however, our experience with industrial farming dominates, with food now seen simply as a commodity, and farming often organized along factory lines (Pretty 54).” In the essay “The Pleasures of Eating” by author Wendell Berry, he criticizes how today’s urban population is so blind to how their food is produced and how the food industry does not help people understand. Berry wants to educate and convince his urban consumer audience how to eat responsibly, shop locally, be informed of where of food comes from, and how to grow their

“Under “Eat food”, the writer proposes some practical ways to separate, and defend, real food from the cascade of food like products that now surround and confound us, especially in the supermarket. Under “Not too much” the focus shifts from the foods themselves to the question of how to eat them, the manners, mores, and habits that go into creating a healthy, and pleasing, culture of eating. Lastly under “Mostly plants” he dwells more specifically, and affirmatively, on the best types of foods (not nutrients) to eat” (Pollan,

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

In this first section of his book, Pollan begins by examining the food-production system from which most American meals derive. This industrial food chain is largely based on corn. According to Pollan, we could say that we are “walking corn” as most of industrial food traces its origins to corn whether it is fed to livestock or processed into products such as corn syrup or ethanol. He also explains how this plant spread from Mexico to the entire world by biological, cultural, and economic factors. To finish this part of the book, he explains how wrong we are when we eat industrialized food or fast food and say that we eat a variety of food. He supports this fact by using, as an example, a McDonald’s meal, which items contain a high

In 2009 food detective Michael Pollan published an eye-opening book called The Omnivore’s Dilemma. According to Pollan, we don’t know what to eat because unlike other cultures around the world, Americans lack a stable food culture. Food cultures are traditions that are passed down from generation to generation to teach us how to cook and eat food. These cultures can help you stay healthy and more importantly, enjoy your food.

An Edible History of Humanity is a book written by Tom Standage. It was first published on in 2009 by Walker & Co in the English language. The book is divided into six parts covering twelve chapters. It talks about the civilization of man from Old Stone Age during hunting and gathering all the way to present-day day. In this book, Standage describes how the development of food production has contributed to the civilization of humans (Standage, 113). He also outlines the role of food in the existence of humankind. The main theme in this text surrounds’ the history of man painting food as the tool in industrial evolution, civilization and how it impacts wars, as well as ecological competition. Standage concludes that food is the key cause of

Do you know what is in the food that you are fueling your body with? Eating locally grown food or growing your own food allows you to know exactly what is in your food and where it is coming from. Award winning author Barbara Kingsolver ditched her urban life full of pesticides and GMOs, and uprooted her family to a farm where they were going to eat all home or locally grown food for a year. The Kingsolver family documented this one-year food journey in their non-fiction book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. Barbara Kingsolver wants to educate, persuade, and inspire her readers to live healthier lives by first forcing them to question the food they are consuming. She uses allusion, figurative language, and rhetorical questioning

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, Michael Pollan argues about people should spend less time worrying about health and food and that the current Western diet makes people sick and in the whole book Pollen divide the chapter into three different parts he starts of tell us "The Age of Nutritionism," "The Western Diet and the Diseases of Civilization," and "Getting Over Nutritionism. In the whole book Pollen focus on the personal level, and he talks about what people should and don't eat.

It is a known fact that every human being communicates through language, but perhaps a little known fact that we communicate even through the food we eat. We communicate through food all the meanings that we assign and attribute to our culture, and consequently to our identity as well. Food is not only nourishment for our bodies, but a symbol of where we come from. In order to understand the basic function of food as a necessity not only for our survival, we must look to politics, power, identity, and culture.

From The Pleasures of Eating, Wendell Berry broadens the debate of the food industry with this claim: “Vegetables grown in huge monocultures are dependent on toxic chemicals—just as animals in close confinements are dependent on antibiotics and other drugs” (p. 3). Normally, the food industry topic seems to have an immediate connotation of corrupt practices in the handling of livestock; however, Berry extends the same concern to plants. The primary focus of Berry’s article is to “restore one’s consciousness” (p. 3) of the process of processing foods. Only with this knowledge can one escape—or, at least attempt to—the grasp of the food industry. What is commonplace in the American diet and the American grocery store are scientific products “produced by any means or any shortcuts that will increase profits” (p. 3), making a shopping trip for a truly healthy eater much like a task of sifting through a dump for a gem. Juxtapose the taste of “ugly” produce from a natural garden with the taste of produce engineered to be aesthetically pleasing and the competition is practically nonexistent; however, consumers of the new generation find it awfully difficult to get past the aesthetic comparison.

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

Food and eating as we know are important for our body maintenance and growth process, but can we eat anything we like and trust it? As long as you live in the Western side of this world, you cannot always trust what you digest. As Michael Pollan mentioned, most of the Western food is processed food, which you cannot trust. Pollan is focusing on getting rid of Western diet in the United States and guiding Americans to start eating healthier, and having better eating habits. I agree with his idea because the Western diet is threatening our health and it might become uncontrollable in the coming years. Replacing processed food, and changing bad eating habits can save Americans from many dangerous health problems they are suffering from.

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

According to Robert Kenner, creator of documentary Food inc., the agriculture business produces food that is unhealthy to the environment, along with non domesticated animals. Environmentalist and author Wendell Berry states in his paper From The Pleasures of Eating, “When food, in the minds of eater, is no longer associated with farming and with the land, then the eaters are suffering a kind of cultural amnesia that is misleading and dangerous.” Today, humans find the most effortless food options to go about their daily lives, hence all the processed, microwaveable foods. Unless consumers take a larger part and responsibility in the economy of food, the “cultural amnesia” will continue to mislead and be dangerous.

Michal Siewierski truly has had a remarkable filmmaking career. This prestigious individual has won more than several Telly’s and is a recipient of multiple Emmy Awards nominations. In addition, living as a director, documentary filmmaker, and TV producer, Mr. Siewierski has contributed to a wide range of projects. Most recently, Michael has decided to dwell into the world of filmmaking and embark on a journey to debut his first feature documentary specifically entitled to Food Choices. In this film, it unravels the variety of impacts on how the food we eat affects the human body, environment, and the lives of other living species. Furthermore, it follows Micha’s three-year long journey of interviewing and questioning over 30 top experts around