HW 5 - Dominant Discourses Regarding Contemporary Foodways in the U.S.

Discourses are exclusions, a separation of a certain group of people who have similar ideas. The more people included in the group the more dominance they have. If someone adds ideas to this specific discussion and the ideas have either no significance or contribution they are frowned upon as outsiders. In regards to food though, dominant discourses in this area either see the food industry as something that is hurting us or something that is helping us. And the outsiders in this situation could represent people who have new ways of eating which the main experts have not approved yet.

The expression "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" is used very loosely in our culture. What if a person seriously ate an apple a day and still ended up having a heart attack or getting cancer? Is this consciousness of watching what we eat unnecessary if certain diseases or health problems are unavoidable? On my way home from school I was sitting on the subway and the man sitting next to me was reading an article from the magazine TIME, the title struck out to me: How the First Nine Months Shape the Rest of Your Life. I thought what if the only way to live a long healthy life regardless of what you eat is essentially based on what your mother eats while she is pregnant. "We are the way we are because it's in our genes. We turn out the way we do because of our childhood experiences. Or our health and well-being stem from the lifestyle choices we make as adults. But there's another powerful source of influence you may not have considered: your life as a fetus. The nutrition you received in the womb; the pollutants, drugs and infections you were exposed to during gestation; your mother's health and state of mind while she was pregnant with you — all these factors shaped you as a baby and continue to affect you to this day." (Paul, Anne M. "How the First Nine Months Shape the Rest of Your Life." TIME 176 (2010). Print.) Mothers while pregnant are told not to smoke, drink alcohol or do drugs because it can effect the baby physically and mentally. But what if the mother is eating french fries and cheeseburgers throughout her pregnancy does this mean her child is more prone to addiction of these types of foods?

In class today we were discussing the reasoning behind learning songs like 'Old McDonald had a farm' when you are younger. I thought a direct link between the song and our culture was that the song leads to the desire to eat McDonald's fast food, which gives the children a happy feeling inside especially when they are eating their happy meal and thinking about Old McDonald. Which leads to more $ for McDonald's since kids are winy and won't rest their case in till they get what they want. Which then leads to obesity amongst children because they become addicted to the chemical filled food, and once they have children the cycle repeats itself. For people that get trapped within this cycle it is probably much more difficult for them to be able to have a balanced diet because they are so used to eating processed food that comes fast and is convenient. Which is probably why companies trying to sell healthy food have a hard time doing so because so many potential customers have already been hypnotized by someone else. "The baby-carrot industry tried to reposition its product as junk food, starting a $25 million advertising campaign whose defining characteristics include heavy metal music, a phone app and a young man in a grocery cart dodging baby-carrot bullets fired by a woman in tight jeans." (Severson, Kim Clifford. "Told to Eat Its Vegetables, America Orders Fries." The New York Times [New York] 2009, New York ed. New York Times. 25 Sept. 2010. Web. 28 Sept. 2010. ) Companies who are trying to promote healthy eating have to turn there entire motto around to create the illusion of the same message as companies who sell unhealthy food. Sadly this is probably the only way they will get the attention of a large amount of people, they have to use the 'Old McDonald had a farm' idea to distract them from what they are really selling, and create a new kind of cycle.

Although we are definitely living in a time of significant reform of U.S. food ways, I don't think it is something to be proud of at all. Essentially it means we have failed as eaters, and in order to save ourselves from complete destruction we better figure out a good back up plan. Think of this example, we have created so much pollution from our cars that has greatly contributed to the problem of Global Warming, so one of the solutions from the specialists are hybrid cars. And so forth the food industry has done a terrible job at promoting healthy eating habits and erasing processed foods from our palates, so now there are 72.5 million adults suffering from obesity and the specialists are stepping to the plate (literally) to save the day! The fact of the matter is that the main speakers part of this discussion know that the country is in a bad state, and in order to change this state people need to understand the one of the only ways to fix the problem is to eat healthier and exercise. “Everyone knows that you shouldn’t eat junk food and you should exercise,” says Kelly D. Brownell, the director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale. “But the environment makes it so difficult that fewer people can do these things, and then you have a public health catastrophe.” (Singer, Natasha M. "Fighting Obesity Through Public and Private Policy." The New York Times [New York] 2009. Print.) It seems like a lot of the specialists try to sympathize with those who are suffering, and allow them to understand they know how hard it is to walk up a flight of stairs instead of taking the elevator... or to cook a meal instead of ordering a cheeseburger... Or are they just sugar coating it to get their attention at all so the problem doesn't escalate anymore?

Of course to the on lookers one of the food experts is going to look like the perfect eater. He/She will probably eat a very well balanced diet, that doesn't include processed foods but only organic, local and fresh. He/She will probably eat with people all the time, regardless of the circumstances. He/She will eat three meals a day, at the "normal" times for meal time. If they really wanna push their limit of eating though they might include a healthy snack in there somewhere. They also will probably surround themselves with other people who are eating the same way, and have the same ideas on the way we should eat. This allows them not to be tempted to give in to food that isn't so healthy, however for all we know behind closed doors they could be breaking their own rules. And if they happen to be seen in public since they are talking the talk, they are also expected to be walking the walk.

Discourses as a whole seem very bias to me... People have a strategy to find similar talking people, with similar degrees of higher education and similar ideas. If anyone who tries to put in a word doesn't fit into these categories they will be looked at like they are out of their mind. Shouldn't people who suffer obesity, eat too much fast food, don't exercise and have diseases because of their eating habits should be the ones having the voice. I mean after all they do have first hand experience with the situation. Or why don't they allow children and teenagers to speak up, I mean they are disguising carrots as greasy potatoes, and turning square frozen hamburgers into salads. The children are the future so let them lead the way... or so they say. And furthermore the bigger problem of discourses is that instead of taking all the ideas of a variety of different people, and creating a more realistic solution to help those suffering, they are taking one idea that may or may not work. Just because they are giving the how to guide doesn't mean people are going to reform and listen to them, or for that matter do the people suffering even want to waste their time reading information delivered from these people? So there isn't going to be any noticeable solution until the dominant discourse allows the general public to add their two cents to the discussion.

HW 4 - Your Families' Foodways

Habits are merely repetition, motions that become so normal to us we don’t even realize how often we do them. I believe our eating habits have been adapted from our caretakers and those around us. We don’t really change them unless something in the motion becomes abnormal and we are forced to. Until about 10 months ago my eating habits were reflections of my parents, and it was my choice to change them because I could feel something wasn’t working. Our culture, our families and our friends piece together the way we eat.

My mom grew up in Upstate New York, the nearest grocery store was 19 miles away from her house. A typical meal was some sort of meat, potatoes, a vegetable, salad and some sort of fruit. They always drank milk and only had soda on special occasions. My Grandmother would can food so when winter came around they had certain types of food. They grew a lot of their food in a small garden they had on their property. My Grandmother made a lot of sweets, she enjoyed baking. My Grandmother today has diabetes most likely a direct link to the amount of unhealthy desserts she ate in her younger years. She has had her leg amputated, most of her fingers and some of her toes. Recently when I visited her she told me how she doesn’t understand how she is still here. I think her story is quite remarkable and even though she is suffering with this disease she still manages to live a full life to the best of her ability.

When my mom went to college she kept eating the way she had while growing up under my grandparents roof. However when she realized she was heavier than normal she changed her eating habits and became a vegetarian. She wanted to be healthier and see if she would feel better by eliminating meat from her diet. For 17 years she was a vegetarian, she ate a lot of brown rice, tofu and vegetables. Although she does admit she has a sweet tooth she learned how to balance her eating habits. She likes that in New York City we have so many resources of fresh food and tries to buy local as much as possible. She likes to cook her own food so she knows what is in it. This allows her to not use salt, sugar or lots of oil. I believe especially now my mom is influenced by her own mother and the setting she lives in to help create eating habits.

My dad grew up in New York City, not to far from where we live now. A typical meal in his house was some sort of meat, vegetables and there was always a salad. When my grandparents had guests over they usually served wine as well. My grandmother was in charge of ordering food, there was a butcher shop in the building, and two blocks down was a grocery store that sold vegetables. She would call the owners every day to see what they had in stock. My grandmother tried her best to make the meals as interesting as possible but she was not much of a cook. On Wednesdays my Aunt Paulina would visit my grandparents and make a traditional Romanian Jewish dinner. Unless they had guests they wouldn’t sit in the dining room but the kitchenette. When my Dad moved out of his parent’s house and was on his own he ate similarly but much less expensive food.

Today my eating habits are mainly based on my mothers this is because she is the one who does most of the cooking in my house. She is the definition of a health nut. So much of our food is organic and from the health food store down the street from our house. However when I eat healthy I feel better about myself. We do have sweets occasionally but not to often, and if I open my fridge and there is soda in it I am shocked. Since my mom was also a vegetarian for 17 years she has helped me a lot in picking foods that give me enough nutrition to live a healthy life. My parents don’t like ordering in food and don’t like eating at fast food restaurants.

Every night we all have dinner together and talk about things that happened in all of our days. As much as some nights I really am not in the mood to talk I think by having this time in the day it has only been beneficial to my life. We discuss and expand our ideas and thoughts while surrounded with each other’s company. I think my parents have taken the positive parts of their food related times while growing up and incorporated them in our family. So forth having a huge influence on me as a person and as an eater.

However I think something else to consider with eating habits are friends. Since I am at the age where quite a number of my weekly meals are without my parents I have to take the eating skills I have been taught and put them into use. Personally I end up bringing lunch from home quite a bit, probably due to my mothers idea of knowing what is in her food. It also eliminates the option of not knowing what to eat, since my diet is very specific. And furthermore if my friends want to eat something unhealthy I don't have the temptation to join in. I guess the real test to see how you honestly eat is when you are on your own and have the whole menu to choose from.

HW 3 - Food - Fast Food Insights and Green Market Realizations

There are 354 McDonald’s in New York City alone and it seems like regardless of the one you go to all of them have a gloomy and depressing atmosphere. Many people who suffer depression confide in food to cope… is this to say that McDonald's’s purposely sets up all of there restaurants in a certain way to help there customers depression switch turn on? In the movie Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock kept mentioning as the movie progressed that he felt exhausted and depressed from the amount of McDonald's he was consuming. I guess the formula used to create the fake taste in McDonald's food has more side affects than people bargain for...

While we were in McDonald's I overheard Andy’s conversation with one of the managers... Al said he ate at McDonald’s a lot and thought the food was getting healthier. Not only are the costumers eating the food the workers are as well. Meaning that the addiction of this food circulates back and forth, from the people giving the money to those taking the money. I noticed that all of the breakfast meals had from about 400 to 1000 calories. People that dine here are already fulfilling about half their daily calories by 10 am. All of the food that was being sold consisted of the same three colors, brown, yellow and white, the only thing on the menu that stood out were the smoothies, which had less than 300 calories in them.

Moments after we left McDonald's we stepped into a completely different atmosphere... The Green Market was booming with laughter and colors, all of the fresh food was displayed right before our eyes. I decided to talk to one of the people working at the New York Beef stand. He explained that not only did he sell the meat he also worked on the farm with the cows. He said that New York Beef was not a certified organic farm but that they were in fact organic. He explained that he had only been working at New York Beef for 6 months and that he used to be there best customer. However when the previous man who had his job was getting married and moving, they asked him to take over. He said he loved his job and he definitely was being very honest.

I asked him what the difference was between the beef he sold and the beef McDonald's sold, he responded with " My food is raw", then laughed to himself. He then went on to say, " McDonald's cows are dairy cows being fed corn antibiotics, so essentially all you are eating is a corn burger. The cows are also genetically modified and exposed to pesticides... They are kept like sardines so they don't have the opportunity to move around and because of this are very fat. My cows eat grass and are free to roam fields all day. They are fit and are not fed any kind of antibiotics." I am pretty sure that if we asked a worker at McDonald's the same question they would have no answer.

Essentially I think this all goes right back to the depressing atmosphere in McDonald's, not only is it within the restaurant it's in the food. If the burgers being sold to the customers are filled with antibiotics, who knows what's in those antibiotics. If you ever see a drug commercial practically the entire thing is the side effects of it. If their cows aren't happy why would the people eating them be happy? It seems like a domino effect to me and some hidden drugs that don't have a positive effect on the cows or the people.

HW 2 - Food - Initial Thoughts

There are 6,870,243,998 people in the world and nearly 1.02 billion people are malnourished.

For about 10 months now I have been eating as a pescatarian. Meaning I don't eat meat only fish, vegetables, fruit, a lot of soy and dairy products... when I was younger my mom was a vegetarian so I was as well. However when she decided to go on the Atkins diet she had to shift her whole eating habits around and start eating meat again. Now my parents eat poultry and I'm the odd ball. I don't have some cliche answer as to why I don't eat meat, I honestly just realized whenever I ate meat I felt sick and I never thought it agreed with me. On January 1st I decided that my new years resolution was to stop eating meat. Every year I made some resolution but I never kept up with it. It would last a couple of days or a week or two. The first two weeks of being a pescatarian were hard, I gave in twice once because I forgot I stopped eating chicken and the other time because my friends chicken cesar wrap looked so good! After taking a bite of it though I realized I wasn't missing much. What's really weird though about not eating meat is sometimes I have dreams where I am offered it and I get so close to having it but then my dream turns into this strange nightmare... I think by eliminating meat from my diet I have started eating healthier and exercising more. I think the way we eat reflects our lifestyle choices as well.

Living and growing up in a country that has the mindset to always be one step ahead and watch the other guys wait around has a huge affect on the masses way of eating. The phrase "Patience is a virtue", flew out the window years ago and if we don't have something in front of us the second we want it, we all become big complaining babies. Thankfully though our country has an answer to all of our huge "problems", the fast food industry! "Pull open the glass door, feel the rush of cool air, walk in, get on line, study the backlit color photographs above the counter, place your order, hand over a few dollars, watch teenagers in uniforms pushing various buttons, and moments later take hold of a plastic tray full of food wrapped in color paper and cardboard." (Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: the Dark Side of the All-American Meal. New York, NY: Harper Perennial, 2005. Print.) My problem isn't that I wish all food tasted like fast food it's that any ability to be patient for food is long gone. I rarely eat fast food and if I do it's like a special occasion... which I find kind of weird. I think being surrounded by people who are a step ahead makes me feel like I need to be a step ahead. So when I am waiting 10 or 15 minutes for a meal that was actually cooked during that time period I become very impatient.

My grandmother is catholic, she has angel statues all over her house and refers to g*d very often... she says grace at every meal. Whenever I visit her I always feel like I am in one of those movies where grace is being said and the character looks up and looks around at everyone with kind of a funny confused look. I have nothing against people being thankful for their food I guess I just don't ever say it aloud. However, I think that by having this grace my Grandma feels much more sacred about her meals than I do. When I think of things being sacred it almost seems like a ritual to me, something that people appreciate. A time where a person or people can be together and have a moment to realize how lucky they are to have food. So even though like my Grandma I don't say grace at every meal I am not unaware of the billions of people around the world who are constantly worrying about the next meal or the next time they will have clean water.

The things that come the easiest to us are also the things we over look the most. This is very general but in my experience as a teenager the discussion usually revolves more around materialistic things than the actual important stuff. If we have so much time to worry about if we are getting the new gadget why don't we have time to worry about eating better? Why don't we have time to worry about all of the other people who won't be eating today? Why don't we have time to recognize the food we are putting in our bodies? Why do we forget that without this food we wouldn't be here?