Project 2 final draft
Family Food vs. The New American Food
The essence of food has many different complex parts to it outside of sustenance. These parts consist of values, concepts of civilization, culture, and relationship. Values refers to the things that revolve around food such as time and effort or the comfort of family. Concepts of civilization is the importance in which food holds to communities, governments, or the things that have happened due to just food. Culture is how a community, state, town, country, or region can change and have everything revolve around or end up having something of importance have to do with food. Lastly there is the relationship which is the bond in which you share with others over the food or why that dish is so important to you for emotional and sentimental reasons. All these important things about food are being diluted and lost due to television food shows and fast food. Television food shows are becoming a large issue as it affects people’s willingness to cook meals for their families and take time and effort in order to make something meaningful and delicious. They would rather watch the shows then cook. There is also the fast food aspect. As food becomes easier just to pick up, reheat, or easy bake people become less reliant on meaningful homecooked meals. Not all meals have to be these homecooked important meals as that is almost impossible, but it is important to make it a priority every once and a while. As everything progresses along whether it is fast food or television food shows the values and ideas behind food excluding sustenance are lost and diluted.
As everything changes there is the good and the bad that come with the convenience of eating out quickly or cooking quickly and the loss of these semi consistent homecooked meals. When it comes to cooking shows they are becoming too hectic to follow and to be able to cook yourself. Pollan makes a good point about this change of Julia Childs show to shows such as chopped where “there are no recipes to follow; the contests fly by much too fast for viewers to take in and practical tips; and the kind of cooking practiced in prime time is far more spectacular than anything you would ever try at home. No, for anyone hoping to pick up a few dinnertime tips, the implicit message of today’s prime-time cooking shows is, don’t try this at home. If you really want to eat this way, go to a restaurant (Pollan 9-10)”. This quote shows the fact of how shows have changed. It went from slow and simple, so anyone could follow the instructions and cook the dish. Shows now are too fast and make it so you cannot cook the dishes or even try to attempt it at all. It sends you to go out and spend money as the meal is cooked for you instead of you cooking it for yourself or your family. This is part of that death of the family food that is caused by televisions shows and fast food or restaurants. The other side of Pollan’s essay is the side of how he himself had family dinners in a weekly rotation for most of his childhood but that was only relevant years ago when he was a child. Things are changing so much now though. As Pollan grew up as a child his mother started watching television shows about cooking food which had started with Julia Child. It had a large impact on him as his “mother began cooking dishes shed watched Julia cook on TV: boeuf bourguignon (the subject of the shows first episode), French onion soup gratinee, duck a l’orange, coq au vin, mousse au Chocolat. Some of the more ambitious dishes, like the duck or the mousse, were pointed toward the weekend company, but my mother would usually test these out on me and my sisters earlier in the week, and a few others – including boeuf bourguignon, which I especially loved – made it into heavy weeknight rotation. So, whenever people talk about how Julia Child upgraded the culture of food in America, I nod appreciatively (Pollan 1)”. As Pollan had grown up as I had said things were so much different. Some people still have that sort of connection with their home-made meals and their family unlike others who don’t get to have that sort of things as common.
I viewed essays from Jacob Tomita and Jessie Meyer. They both had similar points yet were quite different at the same time. They both had points that supported Pollan yet also offered up another side to it as well. Jacob expresses his thought of how “the way food should be made is with a natural/homemade process by hands and raw ingredients, and not processed with chemicals to keep it fresh or taste better. That’s why I eat at local restaurants made with homemade food rather than fast food chains. The process is the most important ingredient to me and enchiladas are made fresh every day at my family’s restaurant ‘Chico’s Cantina’”. From the sauces to the cooking of the meats.” Jacob ate at his family’s restaurant almost every day after school. He values the importance behind these fresh time-consuming meals. While Pollan says this isn’t common and doesn’t really happen much anymore Jacob offers up the view of how it still does and to many this is still quite important. To most though this is highly unrealistic as the majority of people don’t have family that own a restaurant, or they just don’t have the time to cook these meals all the time. The other essay by Meyers has a different view kind of to. As Jacob values family and effort full and time-consuming meals the same as Meyers it is just more common for him. Jessie makes the point of how “there hasn’t been a meal that she has made, that I haven’t liked. I remember the first time she made Chicken Marsala and when I took my first bite, I knew I had found my new favorite food. Chicken Marsala has multiple flavors in it that all go together well. When thinking about these flavors, it brings back memories of birthdays, Christmas, celebrations, and some bittersweet moments of my life.” What Meyers is referring to in this is the fact that her favorite meal is her favorite not just because the taste but because it is only made on special occasions and her mother makes it when family is around. She still has the value of family that means so much to her, but she doesn’t get that all the time like how Jacob does. This is somewhat showing of the change of way over time of how one family has kept the tradition of daily meaningful foods while another family had changed and only has those meaningful meals mainly for holidays or for family gatherings.
My reading that I had selected for the past essays of students last year’s class was Madison Horns essay. She had a very basic dish with a lot of history behind it. She had interviewed her non-biological grandfather that she calls her Da and says how “when I asked him if mashed potatoes could be considered a meal in and of themselves, he was almost astonished that I was not able to answer this question for myself. In Ireland, mashed potatoes apparently are considered the centerpiece of the plate, and proteins and other commodities are merely embellishments. Da has channeled that same sort of respect directly into his own rendition of the mashed potatoes of Ireland. I think that explains why I hold something as simple and otherwise ordinary as something you do not even have to chew in such high regards. When I asked Da why he thought that his mashed potatoes were my favorite meal, his response was, “you know that I prepare the dish with lots of love… and lots of butter”. Butter does make everything better, and I do not think that anything is made with as much love as my Da makes his mashed potatoes with.” Most of the start of her essay had talked about the stories and the love behind he Da. There was so much about how she had grown up with him and how much he had meant to her. The love of family is what had influenced these simple mashed potatoes to be her favorite meal. I didn’t see too much that had specified when exactly she had this other than the fact that her Da said it was a main piece of a meal in Ireland.
Things have changed so much over time from the original start of television cooking shows and family meals to the lack of family meals and newer shows such as chopped or iron chef and fast food. I believe that Pollan isn’t just conveying that things are changing for much different reasons for good or bad but also is evolving almost. Despite things changing many stays close to their roots while others have strayed from those family meal roots that had originated with their elders. Have things really changed so much though over time? Have things stayed the same in many places in the world or around the country? I believe that they have changed only in some places but others that don’t really have the option to go ahead and get fast food or easily made food. Everything is different everywhere, but I don’t agree with Pollan though as things are just so much different everywhere else in the world and people do just value their family so much.
Project 2 draft 2
Family Food vs. The New American Food
The essence of food has many different complex parts to it outside of sustenance. One of these parts is the relationship in which people have with food. This is how it makes them feel or how it affects them on a personal level. Another part is the concepts of civilization which is how it affects society on all levels and how it changes or molds parts of society. The next part is how it affects cultures from different nations, states, towns, provinces, families, or just an individual person. All these important things about food are being diluted and lost Last is the values formed and affected by meals. This could be the value of family or the value time to put toward something you love or enjoy. Television food shows are becoming a large issue as it affects people’s willingness to cook meals for their families and take time. They would rather watch the shows then cook. There is also the fast food aspect. As food becomes easier just to pick up, reheat, or easy bake people become less reliant on meaningful home cooked meals. As everything progresses along whether it is fast food and television food shows or the values and ideas behind food excluding just sustenance, the complex parts are lost and diluted for multiple reasons.
One of the essays in which I had reviewed was the favorite food essay by Jacob Tomita. his family had owned a restaurant down in Key West, Florida. It is a Mexican restaurant that serves authentic Mexican food. One of the important parts that I had talked about was values. There are multiple values shown by this quote “The way food should be made is with a natural/homemade process by hands and raw ingredients, and not processed with chemicals to keep it fresh or taste better. That’s why I eat at local restaurants made with homemade food rather than fast food chains. The process is the most important ingredient to me and enchiladas are made fresh every day at my family’s restaurant ‘Chico’s Cantina’”. From the sauces to the cooking of the meats.” The first value that is shown is the support of family and the time spent on something that is given to another family member. As his family had made the food for him, they took their time and only used fresh ingredients. The next is supporting local small business instead of large fast food chains. This is an important value to have because it is helping the little guy in the food industry instead of big companies such as Mcdonalds. Even though Jacob is getting his meal from a restaurant and not his house it is a local family run restaurant that is run by his family. They care about the food they serve and the importance of making it correct and putting effort into it. Most do not do not put forward this time, effort, or care in their food as majority of “people think nothing of buying frozen peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches for their children’s lunchboxes. (Now how much of a timesaver could that be?) ‘We’ve had a hundred years of packaged foods,’ Balzer told me, ‘and now were going to have a hundred more years of packaged meals (Pollan 15)”. People are spending less time even preparing the most basic of meals for their children. Instead of making a sandwich themselves for their child they are going to pre-made sandwiches. A snack the is packaged is no big deal but a major portion of a meal such as a sandwich or whatever one may want for lunch should not be pre-made as well. Some time and effort need to be put into it. I know that I loved that my mother put in the time and effort to make me a good lunch for each school day. Jacob shows that his family cared, and he cared about the preparation of a meal with fresh ingredients and the time and effort behind it. Others feel the same way about how food should be prepared and the importance behind it as well.
The second essay I had viewed and analyzed was the favorite meal essay done by Jessie Meyer. Her favorite dish is chicken marsala. When it comes to Jessie and her mother’s cooking “there hasn’t been a meal that she has made, that I haven’t liked. I remember the first time she made Chicken Marsala and when I took my first bite, I knew I had found my new favorite food. Chicken Marsala has multiple flavors in it that all go together well. When thinking about these flavors, it brings back memories of birthdays, Christmas, celebrations, and some bittersweet moments of my life.” Spending time together as a family is a big thing for Jessie that she talks about throughout her essay. The holidays that she mentions are extremely important to her as this is when the dish is made, and it is not just the taste behind it or the special events themselves that make it special. It is that her family is around her when it is made, and it is not like they get to see each other all the time other than her immediate family. The comfort and warmth of the food that she talks about in her essay comes from the family around her and the holiday season which brings joy and love to her. As Pollan grew up as a child his mother started watching television shows about cooking food which had started with Julia Child. It had a large impact on him as his “mother began cooking dishes shed watched Julia cook on TV: boeuf bourguignon (the subject of the shows first episode), French onion soup gratinee, duck a l’orange, coq au vin, mousse au Chocolat. Some of the more ambitious dishes, like the duck or the mousse, were pointed toward the weekend company, but my mother would usually test these out on me and my sisters earlier in the week, and a few others – including boeuf bourguignon, which I especially loved – actually made it into heavy weeknight rotation. So, whenever people talk about how Julia Child upgraded the culture of food in America, I nod appreciatively (Pollan 1)”. Julia Childs television show had a major impact on Pollan’s life in a positive way. The old and original cooking shows had this effect on many people but over time this had changed. As many new shows such as chopped kitchen or the iron chef challenge come out people would rather just watch then cook what on the show. Julia Child had gone through the whole recipe in order to teach people how to cook these dishes, so they could write it down and figure out how to make it. These new shows make it so they are too fast and don’t show you how to make the dishes. This causes people just to watch and as they watch and don’t want to get distracted from the show, they just heat up food in an oven that was frozen instead of cooking actual meals.
Project 2 Draft 1
The essence of food is not just sustenance but has many working pieces to it as food has been so much more to so many people, civilizations, and more throughout almost all of time. It had all started when the first fires were made to cook food which brought up life expectancy by making them healthier and made people even more sophisticated over time. There is the fact that there is a major cultural portion as it is drilled in the roots of society. That means that many societies revolve around the habits and traditions around food. Another part is the values which is how it directly effects people or all those around them. This could go from how important it is to them like time, relationships, or the memories behind it. It could mean emotional values, family values, or traditions such as birthday parties/dinners, and the importance of a holiday gathering of family who isn’t typically around each other. Civilization revolves around food as governments can settle compromises and alliances over diplomatic gatherings over meals. There are also how powerful people or even the most basic people in society that get together for breakfast, lunch, or dinner to become closer which can strengthen civilizations. Lastly are the relationships it forms. People go on dates over food and cook meals for their family and children which causes them to become closer as pairs or groups of people of all sorts. As television food shows become more popular among people then they become less willing to cook homemade meaningful meals. This is because people start to rely more heavily on frozen or easily cooked meals. This is because the shows take up more of their time and they would rather get back to watching it and dreaming more about how those meals would taste. It makes very little sense as they think about these meals but will not make it themselves due to the time and complicity of the recipes. The background and importance of the meals are lost as this goes on plus the connection to society along with other people becomes less common. This goes for the creation of fast food and quick restaurant conveniences that is disbanding these aspects as well. More families go out in this time instead of making their own meals for themselves and others like years ago such as when Julia Child’s show was around. As the television shows become more fast paced to a point where you cannot follow it such as chopped where the recipes are read way too fast or just not given at all from where shows such as Julia Child’s took slow and long amounts of time giving you every step and full recipes. This inspired people to cook as it reached people emotionally and deeply and made them want to cook for their family unlike current shows. As everything progresses along whether it is fast food or television food shows, the values and ideas behind food excluding just nutrients and sustenance are lost in so many cases and way.
Soylent Draft
Soylent is a seemingly simple idea that took one man who had bad eating habits and was spending too much money on food to come up with. It is a mixture of chemicals, vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that is what the human body needs to survive. Soylent is very cheap compared to regular food and gives you exactly what you need no matter who you are or whatever your taste pallet may be. It is universal as it could be used as a post workout meal or something to energize you if you are a tired college student working on an essay. Despite all the great things and the simplicity behind it, the depth that it has in the ways of life and world issues now is astonishing. With these great things that come from it though there are many things that can change because of it, Soylent could be for the worse depending on how you look at it. As it could solve world hunger and make everyone on the planet and the planet itself healthier. it could also destroy the family dynamic of eating together and the enjoyment of taste people get from food. As Soylent is a wonderful idea that has many pros yet there are close to as many cons that come with it.
There are many pros that come with Soylent on so many different levels. The first is the fact that it is so cheap and such a simple mixture. It is made up of many different things in which the body requires. Soylent is mixed with water to make a lemonade colored and goopy solution. This can cover up to all the calories needed that you need throughout a day rather than eating all the meals required. It fills you up just as much as the meals would. Lizzie Widdicombe mentioned that when she saw Rhinehart the maker of Soylent he “was healthy-looking, which was encouraging- for the past year and a half, he’s been living on almost exclusively on Soylent, drinking it for ‘ninety per cent’ of his meals.” Rhinehart is a clear example of how Soylent is healthy. If a drink can make you simply look healthier it is clearly doing something well for you as it is said later in the article that he felt healthier, felt like he was glowing, and said it was the healthiest he had ever been in his life. But Soylent goes deeper than just the health benefits it gives. There is a global solution that it solves, world hunger. The Soylent is currently being worked on so alga can grow Soylent as its bi-product. The plan of Rhinehart’s company is to eventually be able to drop the algae anywhere in the world and have it survived. They want to try to drop it in areas where people are malnourished and underfed. Places such as Africa or poorer parts of Asia and third world countries. This would be the calories they need to survive and flourish in parts of the world where people can’t afford it. Soylent also could be a solution to many different environmental issues. Things such as large CO2 pollution and eutrophication are some issues that could be solved. Eutrophication could be solved as there would be less need for farming and less need for large livestock farms. Both of those offer up large amounts of chemicals that leach into the ground or water sources and essentially poison wells and ponds all over the country. The CO2 pollution problem could partially be solved as the livestock farms that are also contributing to eutrophication are also causing 15% of all CO2 pollution. This is a big cause to of global warming as it slowly melts away the ozone layers that protects the planet from insane heat levels. The planet heats up on its own anyways, yet humans are expediating the issue. One last thing that Soylent could solve is the cost of food and the cost of food industry in America. Rhinehart was spending around four hundred and seventy dollars a month of groceries for his roommates and himself but after switching to just consuming Soylent they went down to a cost of fifty dollars a month. If the average family of around 4-5 could do that and save over five thousand dollars a year a family could bond during vacations they once could not afford, buy nicer material or comfort items, or allow them to simply save and pay for their children’s sports and schooling. Also, college would be more affordable possibly if colleges adopted the Soylent way as student would have to pay less for room and board. The school would need to make less food making it, so students could pay less to attend. As all these things are great for the average person or for the world there is always a negative effect that comes with the positives as dynamics could change or the possible collapse of jobs and money across the country.
