What Are Counter Culture Diets

“The solution, in his view, is to replace Big Food’s engineered, edible evil—through public education and regulation—with fresh, unprocessed, local, seasonal, real food.” (Freedman). Pollan has increased spite for “nutritionism,” which is the idea behind packing healthier ingredients into processed foods which is what Freedman is advocating for. Pollan’s view is much the same as some scientists, food activists, nutritionists, and celebrity chefs. He has had such an influence that the Silicon Valley caters to the wholefoods movement and the progression to familiarizing the masses with simpler eating habits (Freedman). However, being an area full of technological endeavors, the Silicon Valley sees technology as the culprit as well. The New York Times Magazine’s food writer, Mark Bittman also shares views with Pollan. In fact, Bittman has even written a cookbook on how to eat better. While most are more wholesome there are still few recipes that are high in fat. One of his recipes consists of corn being sautéed in bacon fat and then topped with bacon (Freedman).

“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,

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

There has always been a negative remark towards people that choose not to eat meat. I have been a pescartrain, a person that abstains from eating any meat except fish, for three years and most of the time people tend to either assume that I want to lose weight or try to convince me that it is an unhealthy lifestyle. They always say, “you aren 't getting enough protein”, or one of my personal favorites, “so, you only eat salad?”. As absurd as it sounds, I get asked this multiple times either from people I just met and even my family. People often stereotype vegetarians as skinny and extremely fit; however that is not the case. Adapting to non-meat eating lifestyle can be difficult; however there are many benefits. Even though many people assume vegetarians do not get enough protein, becoming a vegetarian can decrease the chances of certain cancers and heart diseases.

Rubin says, “There are food taboos. Instead of eating fish on Friday, or avoiding pork, Greens now eat organic foods and many are moving towards eating only locally grown

Michael Pollan, writer of “Eat Food: Food Defined” and “Her Chee-to Heart” author Jill McCorkle are both aware of the unhealthy nature of processed foods, but Pollan would scold McCorkle for succumbing to the processed food’s appeal because he discredits the category “food product” as actual food; there is nothing about McCorkle’s relationship to food that Pollan will agree with. These nonfiction articles take different stances on food in the twenty first century. Pollan’s approach is to warn consumers about processed foods and to guide them into a healthier lifestyle while McCorkle describes her junk food addiction with stories that highlight the artificial foods people are so quick to love. Eric Schlosser’s “Why the Fries Taste Good” is the third article connected to Pollan and McCorkle’s; his writing explains why processed food is so bad but also provides an explanation as to why it is appealing. McCorkle and Pollan will never see eye to eye when it comes to what kind of food people should be eating.

Michael Pollan in his book titled ‘The Omnivore’s Dilemma’ takes a critical look at the food culture in the Unites States. According to him, the question that seems to bother most Americans is simply ‘What should we have for dinner today?’ To Pollan, Americans face this dilemma because they do not have a proper tradition surrounding food. ‘The lack of a steadying culture of food leaves us especially vulnerable to the blandishments of the food scientist and the marketer for whom the omnivore’s dilemma is not so much a dilemma as an opportunity; (Pollan). He cites the example of the Atkins diet and how an entire nation changed its eating habits almost overnight. A nation that had deep rooted food culture values would

I’ve experienced confusion and anxiety over messages about food since I decided to become a vegetarian almost eight years ago. Contradicting information from scientific studies, social pressures, and irresolvable questions of ethics have played tug-of-war with my opinions, and those of most other Americans, throughout our lives. Pollan argues that this distress of being required to make choices among so much conflicting and biased information has turned America into a food-obsessed society, one that is eternally focused on but paradoxically distracted by the seemingly simple issue of what to eat.

In “Michael Pollan's, In Defense of Food starts with a broad sketch of a key social change: how control over what families ate shifted from cultural factors, such as mothers and traditions, to marketing and the food industry. The result is that more health claims are made for food than ever before—but people are less healthy. The goal of In Defense of Food is to analyze the reasons for this seeming paradox. As Pollan does so, he makes other arguments as well, such as the idea that people should spend less time worrying about health and food and that the current Western diet makes people sick”(Pollan). This relate to my others source because I am talking about the culture of food and how my grandma is an Liberian and how in her culture their

In a health conscious world today and advance food technology people are beginning to wonder ‘what is it that we are actually taking in’. This is where the word GMOs starts being tossed around. GMO is the abbreviation of Genetically Modified Organisms, but if crops and livestock are fine naturally why should they be modified? This is where the myth of GMOs being harmful to the human body become present. The public grows intimidated when they know that their food has been modified, leaving the people with a state of mind of hatred. The belief that the public gets when they sense that their food seems abnormal, especially being modified to meet the needs for a better future, will make the public imagine it as a very dangerous intake for any source of life to sustain.

The film Food Inc., like many other films of its category is not so much of an informative documentary, rather more of a slanderous exposé which blows the lid off of the food industry and its operations. To say that the film is neutral and tends towards more of an educative approach would be a misinterpretation to say the least. Throughout the entire movie it is always evident that the movie aims not solely to educate its audience about the truth of their food, but to convert the misinformed and inspire a rebellion against food industry practices. The movie does this through a tactful approach of bombarding its audience with gruesome clips, facts and testimonial story lines. The film asserts it claim through a thrilling critique of the horrific meat production process which is most prevalent in the U.S food industry and its impact on humans and the environment, while extoling alternative practices which seem to be more sustainable and humane, yet are underutilized. The film goes on to highlight the different players in the food politics arena, emphasizing the role that government agencies play. Also the film divulges the reality that is the monopolization of the food industry by big multinational corporations such as Monsanto Company, Tyson Food, Perdue Farms, Smithfield Foods, etc.

The dominance of capitalist countries has facilitated the conformity of global civilization and cultural environments resulting in an increase of consumer cultures (Sarmela, 1977; Chaney, 2004). As capitalism experiences a natural and unavoidable expansion, consumers engage with consumer culture creating invisible products such as social status, identity, cultures, and ethical relationships (Sternberg, 2017). There are two sides to consumer culture that are the values held by society; those who conform and those who rebel (Turow & McAllister, 2014). All participants of society align with either submission or resistance to dominant ideas, values, and social structures. However, as a result of continued progressive diversity and fragmentation, the distinction between submissive and resistance are blurred. Nevertheless, those who resist and rebel are still participants of consumer culture. Instead they instead form sub cultures in society with alternative beliefs, values and ideas that challenge the mainstream (Chaney, 2004). In order to better understand the relationship between consumption practice and the resistance of consumer culture, theories of reflexive project of self, prosumers, lifestyle commodification, and incorporation will be analyzed in relation to the vegan movement.

Fad diets are weight loss plans or aid that claim to result really quickly. It promotes “magical” combination of foods. It is very unhealthy since it usually excludes or restricts a particular type of nutrients. The restriction of some nutrients causes a lot of health problems. And usually the weight lost during a fad diet is quickly restored when the person starts eating normally again. Even though fad diets don not work, they are very popular since a lot of people, especially teenagers are sometimes desperate to lose weight. These people want to lose weight usually to look good or because they are worried about obesity and other weight related diseases. Companies which promote fad diets take advantage of this, and advertise fad diets in a way which makes people try it. Examples of fad diets : the baby food diet, the cabbage soup diet, Dr. Atkins diet etc….

Living against the mainstream of society is a challenge which can be difficult to accomplish. The choice to become an outsider can correlate to the lifestyles of vegetarians, vegans, and fruitarians, composing a pool of beings who share similar beliefs and values for which they hold to their lives. Does changing eating habits have global impacts and is it safe to make such drastic adjustments to ones diet? By covering the following topics, the question will be resolved: the fundamentals behind living a vegetarian, vegan, or fruitarian lifestyle, examples of individuals thriving on the variety of lifestyles, how diet differences relate to sustainability survivor challenges and our environmental impact, as well as my own personal experiences relating to aberrant ways of living. The ways of eating, people have become accustomed to, bears negative environmental impacts and other alternative options may be the solution to several world problems. As Albert Einstein once stated, “Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet” (Vegetarian 1).

Most foodies are known as upper-class promoters of elite consumptions which largely impacts the development of social identity and class differences. As explained by Johnston and Baumann (2014), foodies tend to consume foods that are traditionally connected with high-status goods. The food they consume includes imported and expensive foods, which creates a fence among the poor individuals. Even though, most foodies consume foods from both high and low-cost groups. It does not mean that all foodies are traditionally ingrained to high-status goods. Rather, they utilize such district of interest in describing if food is worthy and unworthy (Johnston & Baumann, 2014). According to Johnston and Baumann (2014) interview towards twenty-six foodies, foodies use their taste and practices to raise their social status and distinction of cultural capital to receive social privileges. This means that their decision towards what to consume, what type food to choose and how to advertise the food, indicate cultural component which foodies consider it to be sophisticated. An example Guptill et al. (2013), have mentioned is the growth of consuming donuts in Canada. Donuts in Canada has become an accessible food towards the working class individuals. Yet, the foodies would turn it into something more sophisticated to represent the food in a unique way. Thus, this describes the emergence of more