There are more ways to shun obesity. Michael Pollan, who wrote “Escape from the western diet”, claims that the fast food industry are one of the main reasons why the people struggle with their health. He believes that the processed food we consume gives us harmful deceases. Pollan urges us to listen to his words to avoid the “Western diet”, he preaches that this is main cause of obesity, yet he does not give concrete information. I disagree with Pollan’s view that the food industry is the main cause of our health problems because although Pollan gives us great arguments he does not dive in into greater detail. Pollan states that we should simply avoid processed food by buying food that is not consisted with chemicals and supplements, but …show more content…
Pollan develops some straight forward rules and eating policies with the help of some research. It will not consist any food that we should eat, nutrients, or calories. Basically, he tells us to not only know what to eat but also know how to eat. Mary Maxfield, “Food as though: Resisting the moralazation of eating” calls Pollan out on his lack of evidence on his rules giving us definitive results “His rules function as eating algorithms” (Pg. 443) his rules would help, if we were some sort of food experts, but that is not the case for everyone. So basically, what Pollan is telling us is to guess on picking the right food and hope for the best. As an example; If I were in a position like this I would just assume that anything that says “Whole food” labeled on it will be the right option, yet Pollan even thinks that “Whole food” is bad since it is processed as well to an extend, so he says. Some consumers do not have the knowledge on picking the right foods for themelves, some people are in need of a concrete menu or rules with more specific food, and Pollan needs to be that person if he wants to proof that his rules are true. The obesity status has greatly increased over the past few decades, Pollan says that obesity is our “greatest threat” (Pg. 423) it is threat, not our greatest but it does have an affect towards us. Mary Maxfield, Food as though: Resisting” Says that “Voices like Pollan’s warns us about eating to much—often without any parallel warnings against eating too little” (Pg. 445) we continue to believe that if we stop eating too much than we will be ok. Has Pollan ever thought about what would happened to our health if we we’re to eat too little? If we we’re to reduce our eating than we would run the risk of eating too little. We would lose vitamins and nutrients. Pollan does not give us any specific amount of
Mary Maxfield wrote her essay as a response to Michael Pollan’s essay on the western diet. Maxfield does not believe we should see food as what we can or cannot have, but to trust our instincts that our bodies will know what they need, which is contrary to Pollan’s article. Maxfield says that she does not believe that there is a correlation between weight, diet and health, which is also contradictory of Pollan. She believes that the body will naturally crave what it needs and you should let your body have what it wants because of this. Maxfield is targeting those interested in the real diet issue (possibly writers) and the Americans looking to make a difference in their diets.
In turn, he provides his own rules for escaping the western diet as well as the idea of nutritionist set forth by scientists. Then Pollan explains that scientific theories of nutritionist focus on individual nutrients rather than foods as a whole. He further goes on to refute this claim mentioning that these scientific theories contradict with one another. Pollan explains “the scientists who blame our health problems on deficiencies of [micronutrients] are not the same scientists who see a sugar soaked diet leading to metabolic syndrome and from there to diabetes, heart disease…” (Pollan, 421).
He says that the human race should go back to the diets and lifestyles of our ancestors or in other words go back to the bush. Pollan however disagrees with Burkitts drastic solution and instead agrees with Gyorgy Scrinis’s (2008) solution to the problem, “the most important fact about any food is not its nutrient content but its degree of processing.”
After I read the book The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, I changed my mind on how food is produced. This impacted me because I became more aware of where my food comes from. In summary, over the last three years my mind has changed from being less aware of the nutrition my body receives to incredibly conscious about what I consume. I have not only educated myself, but, also, the people around
Corn. Is it delicious? Yes. Do we think about it’s role in our lives when we’re eating it? Probably not.
Relevance between Food and Humans with Rhetorical Analysis In the modern industrial society, being aware of what the food we eat come from is an essential step of preventing the “national eating disorder”. In Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma, he identifies the humans as omnivores who eat almost everything, which has been developed into a dominant part of mainstream unhealthiness, gradually causing the severe eating disorder consequences among people. Pollan offers his opinion that throughout the process of the natural history of foods, deciding “what should we have for dinner” can stir the anxiety for people based on considering foods’ quality, taste, price, nutrition, and so on.
In recent decade, the United States has seen supermarkets continuously get filled with packages labeled with things like “Low sodium” or “No Trans Fats.” Companies stick these labels on their food to match the current fads of what is good for you and what is not. In his essay Unhappy Meals, Michael Pollan advocates a return to natural and basic foods, and deplores nutritionism. Pollan argues that nutritionism does not actually tell people what is healthy or not, and that the only way to be sure you are eating healthy is to eat natural, fresh food.
In “How Junk Food Can End Obesity,” by David H. Freedman, he claims that processed foods can help fix the obesity crisis in a more realistic manner, rather than whole-some foods. The popular opinion emphasizes whole-some foods because they aren’t informed about the similitude between processed and unprocessed foods. The essence of the essay is that people believe processed foods are bad and unhealthy for us, therefore whole-some foods are highly recommended for the health of an individual. Freedman mentions many prominent authors who wrote books on food processing, but the most influential voice in the food culture Freedman makes a point of is, American journalist, Michael Pollan. The media and Michael Pollan indicate that everything should be replaced with real, fresh, and unprocessed foods, instead of engineering in as much sugar, salt, and fat as possible into industrialized foods.
1. Explain why Michael Pollan finds the questions “What am I eating? And where in the world did it come from?” so difficult to answer. Michael Pollan finds this question so difficult because all food is made up of other foods, mostly corn. On page 17, he states, "any food whose provenance is so complex or obscure that is requires expert help to ascertain."
In the book, The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, Pollan claims we should be more knowledgeable about what we consume as omnivores. As omnivores we have a variety of food, we can choose from, however, we don’t regularly make the best decisions for ourselves. Pollan argues this by showing us where our food really comes from and how we can find many unwanted extras. Pollan shows us that we’ve evolved as humans from how we used to eat to how we eat now. Pollan argues this by introducing us to all the food chains we value today, some much more than others.
Both Pollan and Maxfield’s arguments go hand in hand with one another, even though they may not be talking about the same diet. Each argument is stating that even though people know that their diets have flaws and that they are being lied to, they are still using these diets. The people know that it is not healthy for them and that it is not the right way to become healthier, but yet
On a differing take on the solution, “Escape from the Western Diet” by Michael Pollan provides the complete change of our diet and way of life based around cooking and eating meals. however creates a more powerful and logical argument against the “Western Diet” in his article, He uses a combination of his credibility from his publications on health and foods, evidence against the practices of the medical community, along with his solution to the issue of obesity to create an article that draws in audience’s emotions and rationale. Pollan’s strongest points in his article was the use of credibility and his ability to bring logic and reason to most of his points against medical society and the publics solution to obesity. Pollan comes in with a stronger
Ambar Delacruz Essay 1: The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma addresses a variety of concerns about food production and consumption. One might ask what exactly is the omnivore’s dilemma? And the basic answer to this question is “what should we eat for dinner”?
Nowadays the people only think the way to a good eating lifestyle is having a healthy diet, low calories, less dairy, and fat. Which is true it does give
Over the years obesity has emerged as a critical health crisis for the United States, gaining the attention of many with minimal execution. Doctors with the American Medical Association have declared obesity to be an epidemic disease. Throughout the past 30 years, poor diet and lack of physical activity have contributed to the death of millions. The goal of executing a healthy lifestyle serves to minimize the risk of heart disease and instill healthful diets that maintain healthy body mass, in avoiding obesity.