One Thing to do about food

The reading done for class today is a compilation of many peoples opinion about food/ food advertising. The title of the forum is “One thing to do about food” and has some of the big names known in healthy and responsible food marketing. Such names as Eric Schlosser and Michael Pollin. The majority of this forum focuses on two major issues surrounding the advertising and production of many quintisential American staples. Staples such as hotdogs and chicken. Eric Schlosser argues that it is imparitive that Americans understand exatly what they are eating, as well as what it takes to get that product to you. In his post Schlosser sites a bill that was trying to get passed by lobyists that would limit the amount of information required to be on packages. This would mean that companies would no longer have to abide by state laws and instead only comply with federal standards which tend to be more laxed. In other words, companies would no longer be required to put warnings on their lables if a food may have negative effects on pregnant woman or children.

The Second major issue that is discussed in this post really focuses on the use of advertising to make children and parents choose the unhealthy over something more nutricious. Marion Nestle argues that it is imparative that we make laws to insure that product not be marked directly to kids by way of television, internet, and video games. Nestle further implies that the United States is behind the eight ball when it comes to regualtion when compared to countries like Europe.

Personally I believe that this issue is not as cut and dry as the authors attempt to make it seem. Although there is indisputable evidence that small children are impressionable ( in fact they are unable to tell the difference between advertising and television shows until around six) and that big companies use this to gain both imidiate revenue (the nag factor) as well as long time costumers, I believe that this shouldn’t be totally eliminated. It is still a free country and it is up to the parents to some extent to teach their children what is good and bad. All the majority of the companies are doing is trying to get people to purchase their product over another, not to start in the first place.

Enough Food To Go Around

The article that we have to read for class is titled the Scarcity Fallacy and covers a couple of major misconceptions that people have about hunger. Also this article discusses both the reasons behind as well as the class, racial, and gender dividing lines that have been shown to play a large role in whether a person may go hungry or not. First, the article discusses a belief shared by many free market capitalists and UN executives which is that food itself is too scarce in some regions, therefore to fix the problem all one must do is streamline production, distribution, and shipping. However this is not the case at all. According to the article there is actually more food available per person than there has been ever in history. What has changed is that the richer countries are dominating the food supply leaving little food for the developing countries. Ironically some of the countries that have the largest problems with malnutrition and starvation are still exporting millions of pounds of food each year because they are able to get a better price. Second, the article points out that even though there are health organizations that have programs in place to spread food around to people in need, they find that their elements on the ground are corrupt and that the food a large portion of the time never gets to there intended recipients.

Personally I believe that countries which have a certain percentage of residence that are under a poverty line should be required to feed them first before they can export their products elsewhere. It is absolutely ridiculous to be exporting millions of dollars of food when your countrymen are starving, Furthermore it is imperative originations like the WHO and the EU to take a more active role in overseeing the distribution of aid so that corruption cant occur. It has been proven that there is enough food to go around, all that is needed are honest people to get out and do it.

Last Class

During yesterdays class, I felt that the class really hit on the major issue of whether a person who gets laid off from a well paying job. Deciding to use emergency food services rather than selling assets or using savings is an ethical acceptable. I still believe that because that person has been paying (in taxes) for years should not be required to sell off all of their assets just to get aid. I think that if a person has some assets left, they will be better able to find full time employment and get off the emergency food system.

Who Eats Emergency Food

The article Who Eats Emergency Food not only discusses what kind of people are taking advantage of emergency food programs, but also what forced them to need assistance, and whether or not the aid available is enough. One of the most misunderstood thing about the homeless is that majority actually have some kind of employment. However for most of the people, jobs don’t pay enough or the hours are not sufficient. When a person is working part time at a minimum wage job, it is almost impossible to fulfill the basic living needs. Unfortunately people find cutting food costs one of the easiest things to do when money gets short. Furthermore, because people have this opinion of food, they turn to food banks and the overtaxed government aid programs for support.

Although people have access to government aid in the form of food stamps and subsidized food programs, the aid is not enough and it doesn’t come in time. Government officials fail to realize that people have needs that extend past just food. If a person believes that cigarettes or their child’s new pair of shoes is more important than food than they will use food stamps for that instead. Unfortunately this is one of the major reasons that the food stamp system is in my opinion such a failure.

New York City

When I was sitting in a Johnny Rockets in New York City over the weekend I noticed that the things that I originally miss took for prices were actually the calorie count on the items. What was even worse about the whole thing was the fact that there was nothing on the whole menu of any substance under 1000 calories. Now for those who don't know, the recommended caloric consumption for the average adult male is between 2000 and 3000(Young active adult) calories. This means that to eat a cheeseburger and a Sunday would basically be all the calories that I would need for the whole day.

I am aware now aware of the attempts by New York to make its residence more conscious of what they eat, and I completely support that effort. However, even though i would not consider myself weight conscious I found the entire dining experience less enjoyable almost dare i say it depressing. I believe that the Government needs to alert people to the nature of what they consume but not destroy a meal. In the case of New York, this requirement of calories on the menu along with past legislature on the use of trans fats have gone way to far.

Having worked in a number of upscale restaurants, the idea of limiting ingredients in a dish to those that are classified as healthy is preposterous. The best example I can give is the use of duck fat in frying potatoes. Although they may have been" poison" they were delicious in moderation.

Americans are once again trying to push the blame of overweightness on the industries that cater to them rather than taking responsibility for their own short comings.

The McDonaldsization of Society.

The McDonaldsization of society reading focuses on the unfortunate habit of Americans to always want thing to be very quick, predictable and standardized. One might go so far to say that to the average American, equates quick boarding food with quality and value. Now days when the majority of elder members work long hours, the time for long home cooked meals was first replaced by TV dinners, and now by fast food restaurants.

The reading make a few key points that truly shows human behavior in its most basic form. First, the desire for complete standardization has become so pronounced in society that it is very likely that machines will be preparing our food in the very near future. The major reason for this is because people want to be able to walk into a restaurant or supermarket and know what they are getting every time. Second, humans are artistic creatures that need to have something to spark their attention. However now, because restaurants like McDonalds and Burger King have taken away all need for thinking in the preparation of their food, most patrons feel that the employees may as well be machines. Finally, efficiency has become such a concern to the average producer and consumer that everything must be strictly regimented. To a producer like for mentioned McDonalds, an extra piece of lettuce on a hamburger changes the appearance as well as their profit margin. To the consumer, if they can eat on the run without ever getting out of the car, well better for them.

Personally I believe that people need to slow down a little and move back towards sit down meals. It has been proven that children that eat home cooked meals at the table have both a better relationship with their parents, as well as better devolved social abilities. Furthermore I feel that a strict regimented life tends to lead to regret in later years. Although I may be an oddball but a major reason I don’t enjoy school more is because I find it both regimented and repetitive. If things where more spontaneous in the world I believe that everybody may be just a little happier.

Omnivores Dilemma

Chapter 5 in the Omnivores Dilemma is all about how modern corn is broken down into different aspects in order to satisfy a multitude of needs of Americans. According to the chapter Americans eat very little corn in its basic form. In fact in an average year, Americans will consume only about a bushel of corn in its basic form. This may still seem like a lot but compared to the amount of corn products that are consumed in the form of sweetener in beverages or secondarily through live stock consumption the amount is very little. The chapter in this book also raised a very interesting argument which states that humans have finally found a way to in laymen’s terms, cheat Mother Nature. Conventionally humans had been restricted to diets of seasonal local foods. However with the creation of methods of storage and altering of food, humans are for the most part no longer fully enslaved by nature.

I believe that generally the belief above is valid. Personally being a chef, I have never found it difficult to find fresh produce like apples that haven’t been in season for several months. Because humans are no longer fully restricted by nature we have been able to broaden our culinary horizons, which in my opinion is always a beneficial thing.