Final/Reflection Post

The most interesting or useful things that I've learned about food and research writing from this course are: the unethical treatment towards animals (and the potential remedies), people's ability to use food as a means of passing on culture or identifying with others, and how to find sources effectively (through the library and related sources on other sites). I think that these have opened my eyes to the true value of food in culture, as well as making finding sources much easier to accomplish for writing projects. I intend to use the library as a good way to find scholarly articles for other classes, and already have for my Psychology class, and I plan on following the food industry more closely and observing what and how I eat more often.

An American Eater's Manifesto Rough Draft

                Living and growing up in the United States of America, I have been constantly reminded of the national problems with eating and obesity throughout my life. Obesity has risen to the point where “more than one third of U.S. adults (35.7%) are obese,” according to the government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC - Obesity). This high level of obesity in the United States has led to a massive movement by the government to educate the people about healthy lifestyles, including a large push for a healthier eating habit. Considering this, it should be of little surprise that many Americans find themselves often judging food for its health aspects, even if they decide to eat the less healthy meals. However, other selection factors are also very influential in the decisions Americans make when they decide on which foods to eat. I, myself, find that my values regarding food selection consist of the convenience of attaining the food, the overall health aspect of the food, and my personal preferences on the selection.

                Convenience of food is arguably the most defining characteristic of American dining, and this national mindset certainly has affected the way in which I select food. Everywhere one looks, stores and businesses are constantly trying to maximize their convenience to the customer, and try to push this image for their company in turn. Thinking back to so many of the commercials floating around, so many of them consistently use phrases such as “conveniently located,” or “at your own convenience,” clearly trying push this impression. In fact, American’s love of convenience has even led to the naming of certain types of stores to be “convenience stores,” meaning that the importance of convenience in our culture and society has led to the labeling of certain types of stores that exemplified this. This convenience image and them can be seen even more so through fast food restaurants, and the larger chains. Simply selecting one of these, Starbucks, to use as an example, it is clear that they are trying to push their convenience to all consumers. I am sure that you have noticed Starbucks springing up everywhere, often in the most ridiculous places so that they are nearly across the street from each other. This is not a mistake by the company, but a conscientious approach and marketing strategy. It is part of their “infill” strategy, where they push their own image and keep putting more and more stores into cities that already have their coffee shops. As worded in an article by Walt Crocker, who worked in the restaurant and entertainment industries, “One of the reasons that Starbucks cites for all of the oversaturation is that people will leave the line if they have to wait very much longer than the prescribed three minutes” (Starbucks). Starbucks has a very methodical approach, and observes everything their customers do, from direction they travel in their cars to distance they have to walk. From their own studies, they have begun placing stores everywhere in order to keep customers in their stores, for less than the three minutes that customers are willing to wait. In another article written in Triple Net Marcus, a site focused on commercial real estate, a writer comments that “after doing some research and seeing the number of people going to Starbucks, it became very clear – Starbucks is in the convenience real estate business” (Triple Net Marcus). Clearly, Starbucks is pushing for an extreme convenience of their product, and push for this image nearly excessively. This trend is not just for Starbucks, however, think of all of the fast food services and chain stores, such as McDonalds, 7-11, Walmart, King Sooper’s, etc. The list of businesses building multiple stores everywhere is very extensive. The very act of building even second stores for local businesses is an act of attempting to make the products more available and convenient, demonstrating the national value of convenience of attaining things. I believe that I reflect this American obsession with convenience when I select foods.

                When I select foods, convenience is one of the first things that comes to mind. If I am close to a particular place, or if there are other options but they are much further away, I would most likely elect to go to the closest destination. This trend is again emulative of the national American habit regarding convenience. In an article on Food Navigator-USA, they analyze a study conducted by NPD, a research company, and they discovered that “Convenience trumps health in American eating choices” (Heller). Going even further than this, in the words of the vice president of NPD, Harry Balzer, who is also the author of the annual Eating Patterns in America, “the driving force in our eating habits has always been convenience” (Heller). Therefore, even through careful scientific studies, convenience not only has a higher national importance than other important aspects of food selection, such as health, but is even argued to be the driving force of our decision making in the field for generations. However, in this same study they argued that although convenience has consistently been of prime concern, “health is not forgotten, with a majority of consumers saying they want to include more whole grains, fiber, calcium, and Vitamin C in their diets” (Heller). Such is the case with my decision making as well, in that I too will also consider health aspects of food when deciding what I eat, despite the initial urges of convenience.

                Health is and has been another huge factor in American dining and selection of foods for generations. In Michael Pollan’s Our National Eating Disorder, he diagnoses the United States as having an unhealthy obsession with the health and scientific aspect of food. He states that Americans are “a notably unhealthy people obsessed by the idea of eating healthily,” which he refers to as the “American paradox” (Pollan). This diagnosis and paradox has factual evidence through the many dietary fads that we sweep through as a nation, and our obesity epidemic despite our best efforts at eating healthy and often observing strict dietary guidelines.  When comparing American eating habits with that of the French, after providing evidence from a study showing that Americans display much more negative views and associations of foods, he states that “we're much more likely to choose foods for reasons of health” (Pollan). I again find myself reflecting the National trend, in that I will often consider and select different foods because of their health aspects, such as nutritional value. As an example, I have recently undergone a bit of a personal dilemma with one of my favorite spices, salt. As a child, I was raised eating a lot of it, due to my Swedish heritage, and therefore developed a strong emotional and personal connection with it, as well as loving the flavor it provides. However, I have recently discovered that salt is a very controversial subject in the health field, and it has impacted my usage of it. On one hand, as stated by the government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “most of the sodium we consume is in the form of salt, and the vast majority of sodium we consume is in processed and restaurant foods. Too much sodium is bad for your health. It can increase your blood pressure and your risk for a heart attack and stroke,” and continues to say that “heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of death in the United States” (CDC - Salt). This means that salt is the leading contributor of sodium in our diets, which in turn increases the risk for heart attack and stroke, the two leading causes of death in the United States. This directly opposes the positive health benefits of salt, mainly its ability to provide iodine. According to experts such as Basil Hetzel, an Australian medical researcher particularly known for his contributions to the battle against Iodine deficiency, “Iodine deficiency is the single greatest cause of preventable mental retardation” (Salt Institute). Building off of this, “public health authorities around the world agree on the critical priority need to avoid iodine deficiency and the brain damage that results from inadequate iodine consumption. Virtually all agree that universal salt iodization should remain the primary strategy” (Salt Institute). Therefore, salt appears to be the unanimously chosen best option for battling the largest cause of mental retardation in the world according to public health authorities and experts in Iodine deficiency from every corner of the globe. These two hugely conflicting, yet equally studied and observed, aspects of salt leave the salt lovers such as myself, and indeed all people, in a position where we have to find a balance between too much salt as to cause excessive amounts of sodium in the body and too little salt as to cause mental retardation. Battles such as this regarding health are a constant throughout the United States, and are clearly a major factor in the American diner’s selection process for food. Through these battles, such as my selection process when I have to decide whether I want to enjoy the salty flavors of foods, or abstaining from them for healthier options, health emerges as another defining characteristic of American selection criteria for food on a national level, and is even identified as a “National Eating Disorder” by experts such as Michael Pollan.

                The taste of foods appears as another value for personal selection of the foods. In an article by Ahmed El-Sohemy, professor at the University of Toronto and international expert on Nutrition Sciences and public health, focusing on tastes’ effects on food choices states that “Food preferences are influenced by a number of factors such as personal experiences…. Taste and smell are arguably the most important determinants of whether a food is liked or disliked” (El-Sohemy). Here, it is argued that factors such as taste, smell, and previous experiences are the greatest influences on food selection for people around the world. The United States in general is no exception to this, with people constantly making selection choices based off these characteristics of food. I often times go to the local dining hall on campus, and make my selection of my meal based off of my own preferences of the foods, and this is not only true here on campus, but indeed everywhere that I eat. I am sure that people everywhere undergo the same personal preferences of taste when they eat foods. Such as deciding whether to eat a juicy hamburger or a plain sandwich, or simply selecting dishes off of a menu, personal choices based off of their own preferences is a constant factor in everybody’s selection process, and I am no different from this international standard.

                Probably due many factors such as my upbringing and social standards in America, my selection of food is based off of the convenience of attaining the food, the overall health aspect of the food, and my personal preference. These are my three main selection criteria when I decide what to eat, and I believe they are all reflective of the general American eaters mental process when choosing meals as well. Americans tend to have convenience as a major factor in selection, as can be seen through the operations of major companies through their own studies, as well as scientific studies. The actions of the companies speak miles about the confidence they stake on our preferences for convenience, as they are willing to invest major dollars on even small gains of convenience. The next major selection value is health, and Americans demonstrate this through the national dietary frenzies that are constantly sweeping the nation, as well as internal battles regarding health value. Finally, personal preferences or tastes are the third defining characteristic of food values in America. Americans, and doubtlessly all people around the world, select foods based off of their own personal experience with the food and taste preference, as can be seen not only through the studies by experts in the field, but also through the daily actions of individuals. It is with these reasons that I believe the three listed criteria are my own food values, and that these reflect American food values and relationships with food in turn, making it my own American Eaters Manifesto.

Works Cited

"Adult Obesity Facts." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and         Prevention, 13 Aug. 2012. Accessed: 23 May 2013.     <http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html>

Crocker, Walt. "Starbuck's Plans Include Building 40,000 Coffeehouses Around the Globe."Yahoo!            Contributor Network, 01 Nov. 2006. Accessed: 23 May 2013.                <http://voices.yahoo.com/starbucks-plans-include-building-40000-coffeehouses-103797.html>.

El-Sohemy, Ahmed. "Taste and Odour: Affect on Food Choices." NIP. Accessed 23 May 2013.                 <http://www.nugo.org/publicitem.m?key=nip>.

Heller, Lorraine. "Convenience Trumps Health in American Eating Choices, Report."FoodNavigator-        USA.com, 26 Oct. 2006. Accessed: 23 May 2013. <http://www.foodnavigator-               usa.com/Suppliers2/Convenience-trumps-health-in-American-eating-choices-report>.

“Most Americans Should Consume Less Sodium." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for                 Disease Control and Prevention, 28 Apr. 2013. Accessed: 07 May 2013.   <http://www.cdc.gov/salt/>

Pollan, Michael. Our National Eating Disorder. October 17, 2004.

“References on Food Salt & Health Issues." Sodium and Health, including Health Outcomes, Hypertension           and Iodine Nutrition (iodized Salt). Accessed: 07 May 2013.   <http://www.saltinstitute.org/Articles-references/References-on-salt-issues/References-on-salt-        issues/References-on-food-salt-health-issues>.

"Starbucks Is Everywhere…Even Across the Street from Each Other." Triple Net Marcus. 09 Oct. 2007.     Accessed: 23 May 2013. <https://triplenetmarcus.wordpress.com/2007/10/09/starbucks-is-  everywhereeven-across-the-street-from-each-other/>.

Pollan’s “Unhappy Meal” and Dupuis

At the end of Dupuis’ essay, she relates back to Pollan’s “Unhappy Meal,” and effectively says that you can not use historical advice for face value. Throughout Dupuis’ essay, she talks about the historical food movements, from the very founding of the United States, with the nutritional discoveries, to later generations dietary feud with Chinese immigrants. Using these as backing evidence for the often incorrect statements of cultural phenomena, she concludes her essay arguing that Pollan’s statement “Eat food… Don’t eat anything your great-great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food” is not necessarily true, due to all of these faulty historical contexts. In the concluding paragraph, she discusses her own opinions, and states that “We need to stop trying to solve our social problems through our stomachs and think about the ways in which this type of politics simply justifies current inequalities. Injustice is worth serious attention, but diet won’t do the trick.” Through this, she means to convey the idea that all of the new nutritional waves bent on fixing health issues or other cultural and societal issues will not work. As a whole, we need to step away from this approach, and instead trying fixing the problem through viewing the politics of the issue, and asking why we keep asking what to eat.

                In Pollan’s “Unhappy Meals,” he too talks about some of the political issues surrounding food. In here he talks about how people’s and scientist’s focus on “nutritionism” is actually detrimental to people’s approach to health and diet. He thinks that people should “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants” as a basic approach to fixing the problem. Pollan sees people’s habit of overeating from meals to be the biggest issue. If everybody just ate to a certain point, and then stopped everyone would be happier. The issue of politics surrounding food is another key point he discusses. One area that is contemporary issue, is the nutritional dispute over the health value of red meats and dairy products. Recent studies have shown that red meats and dairy products are not as healthy as thought, and dairy and meat lobbyists have pushed to keep this from becoming influential in government operations. It seems that societal views of diet and health are constantly changing, and are not always correct, and instead of simply relying on the diet statements of the generation, people should look at their own lifestyle instead. 

Deciding What I Eat

When I decide what I eat, I usually look at the health aspect of the foods (nutritional value, etc.), the convenience of getting the food (lines, distance from me, etc.), and personal preference. I think that I value the health value of foods, not only physical but also psychological, and the ability of food to serve as a common ground for people around the world.

Diets Affecting Pancreatic Cancer Risk

                In comparing the recent posts about fellow students eating habits, I wondered about the possible health aspects of the different amounts of fruits and vegetables people ate, as well as the overall implications of different dietary structures. In a recent study published in 2005, researchers explored the effects of people’s dietary patterns and the risk of pancreatic cancer. From their findings, they divided the participants into three dietary groups, “Western Diet” “Fruits and Vegetables” and “Heavy Drinkers,” and determined that higher ingestion of fruits and vegetables correlates with lower risk of pancreatic cancer.

They investigated this subject using a questionnaire, and asked about people’s eating habits, considering how many fruits and vegetables they ate and how much fat they ate. All in all, they questioned 2,600 male, and 2,546 female voluntary participants. In this questioning, they attempted to account for as many possible lurking variables, or outside factors that could affect their results. This led a very wide range of data being collected for the project, including such important information as smoking habits, age, and BMI reports previous to their diagnosis. After this, they divided the participants into their respective categories, as listed in the first paragraph. After showing all of their data regarding the specificities of the research product, including such lurking variables as smoking or age, they concluded stating that “our current data suggest that the fruits and vegetables dietary pattern reduces pancreatic cancer risk among male Canadians,” as well as “No significant relationship was observed with the Western and drinker patterns.” This means that through thorough analysis of all of their data, they found that the people who ate more fruits and vegetables on average were less likely to develop pancreatic cancer, and that there was little to no relationship between the Western diet and the Heavy Drinkers. One thing that I feel this project is missing is an inclusion of previous medical disorders, such as Diabetes or genetic disorders that would result in different ingestion characteristics, and would certainly have an altering effect on the data.

Looking through many of the blog posts regarding the meals eaten over three days, it appears that while fruits and vegetables are quite often prevalent in some meals of the day, they are also consistently left out of several others. For example, fruits and vegetables are often eaten with the breakfast meals. Whether they are included within the omelets they eat (such as omelets with cheese, tomatoes, chives, etc.), the yogurts, or simply bowls of fruits themselves, breakfast seems to be one of the most popular times to enjoy these dishes. That being said, salads are occasionally eaten at lunch or dinner as well, but these seem to be less frequent and popular than eating the fruits and vegetables at breakfast. From this, it seems that people should try balancing more of the meals during the day with more fruits and vegetables, so as to fulfill the health or nutrient aspects of their meals. 

Link to Source

http://du.summon.serialssolutions.com/document/show?id=FETCHMERGED-LOGICAL-c1275-f2cef31ed962c5eb92c4b8dec19b812a6207c148437f6cb97c7cce644ba5bf9d1&s.fvf%5B%5D=ContentType%2CNewspaper+Article%2Ct&s.fvf%5B%5D=IsPeerReviewed%2Ctrue%2Cf&s.q=typical+lunches

This is a work about sleep and eating.

Student's Food Observations

It seems that people who wake up very early in the morning tend to eat less of a breakfast right off the bat, usually just some trail mix or Cliff Bars, and then later eat a more substantial one. Lunch also seems to be a standard meal, while dinner and breakfast are sometimes ignored. On the weekends people wake up later and eat a bigger breakfast in general as well.