Reflection

The most important thing that I will take away from this course is the knowledge that I gained from my own introspection.  We were forced to consider our relationship with food from childhood to today and the foods we want to eat tomorrow.  I learned a considerable amount from thinking about what I eat and the health standards I hope to achieve.  I've realized how important food is in contributing to health and began to understand its impact on all aspects of my life.  From this course and other major events in my life I've begun to contemplate opening a restaurant at some point in my life.  Maybe I will even switch from the business track of things to going to culinary school.  Regardless of my studies, I will employ my new found knowledge to eat healthier and live happier.  In addition, the writing and research that we did taught me how to build upon past work.  This course effectively had us build upon our writing throughout.

Final Manifesto

Writ 1133: Eric Leake

Extended Essay 2: An Eater’s Manifesto

April 24, 2012

-       Zach Quinn

All Natural and Balanced

Though exercise and stress free mind are important for health, the food that we eat has the largest impact.  It comes down to what you put in is what you’re going to get out.  Taking into consideration what I’ve learned from documentaries, articles, books and conversations with others on the subject, I have narrowed down my beliefs on what I consider healthy eating.  To maintain good health in an era where corporations and marketing teams have taken over the food industry is difficult. Regardless, many still achieve it.  To do so, it is necessary to eat a balanced amount of the right nutrients, intake the appropriate amount of calories for your weight and exercise routine, and eat the whole ingredients rather than the processed ones.

Finding balance is the most important step to creating a healthy lifestyle.  Too much of anything is not good for you.  Sticking to only fruits and vegetables, which are the healthiest part of a meal, would leave you out of the nutrients provided by grains.  Humans are not simple organisms and for us to live long healthy lives we need a good balance of nutrients from different sources.  The United States Department of Agriculture maintains a website devoted to nutrition and health.  Though a “MyPlate” has replaced the classic food pyramid, the same principles remain.  The emphasis is on balance, with sections of the plate portioned out for vegetables, protein, fruits, grains, and dairy.  It aims to represent how much of each food group should be on your plate. (Herring) This is quite different advice from what specific diets will tell you to eat.  It seems every year that there are new diets marketed to consumers that consist of avoiding a specific nutrient.  Eating too much bread won’t be good for you but not eating carbohydrates altogether will have a similarly negative effect. 

Ignoring the current diet fads is a good idea.  Though some might help you to slim down, they don’t support good health.  We should be able to base our diets off of calorie intake and output.  No one will call Michael Phelps unhealthy, however, his calorie intake is extremely high.  Jon Henley, a writer for the Guardian writes in his article that Phelps consumes around 12,000 calories per day.  If you saw an average sized male that exercises 3 times a week, eat 14 eggs for breakfast; you might then see him go to back to bed right after.  Henley tried eating what Phelps eats as a challenge in writing his article.  Midway through lunch he wrote, “Afterwards, six colleagues pile in and eat their fill for lunch, and it still doesn't look like a dent has been made in the insane, obscene, illness-inducing mountain of food that America's 11-time gold medal winner ploughs through every single day of his life” (Henley 3) Phelps can consume his daily 12,000 calories without a problem because he burns them off in a work out.  A balanced diet is of course relative to the individual.  If people want to lose weight they should eat less or work out more, not choose the non-fat or sugar-free version.

An imbalance in the nutrients we take in is the main cause of obesity, heart disease and other illnesses.  Eating too much sugar, fat, or salt is the main dietary problem that we face.  That being said, why are we setting ourselves up to eat these in high concentration?  Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish and meat all come from nature and their nutrients are balanced the same way that they have been for thousands of years.  Though apples and bananas have sugar in them, they are still good for you because the concentration isn’t too high.  Fruit Loops Cereal and Coca-Cola on the other hand, are made with high fructose corn syrup, a scientifically produced sweetener that contains high levels of sugar.  Eat too many apples or bananas and you’ll probably start feeling sick before you’ve consumed more than your recommended daily intake of sugar.  If you drink two cokes on the other hand, this can be accomplished easily because of the high sugar concentration.

It is important not to replace healthy foods with junk processed material for the sake of losing weight.  Take into consideration the words all and natural.  These are two simple words that in recent times have been taken over by marketing teams for the food industry.  They have been placed in bold lettering on cereal boxes, jars of peanut butter and chips.  But what do these words really mean?  The Food and Drug Administration takes no responsibility in regulating what is necessary for a food to be “all natural.”  It becomes difficult to derive their meaning when corporations place these words wherever they please on processed foods and on foods that have been genetically modified.  What they should mean is something far different than what they are currently being used to describe. Mike Adams writes, “Anything derived from plants, animals or elements found on planet Earth could earn the ‘all natural’ label. The key is in understanding that it's the process that's unnatural, not the source. When you chemically or structurally alter food ingredients into a form that no longer appears anywhere in nature, it's no longer natural” (Adams 1).  Natural should imply that something originated from nature and all natural should imply that its important genetic features were left unaltered.  Given this, “all natural” should mean that aside from being chopped up, spiced, flavored, cooked, steamed, fried, or broiled, a food item has not been altered.  A study done by researchers in Netherlands concluded, “The idea of ‘naturalness’ can be used to characterize organic agriculture and to distinguish it from conventional agriculture, but only if naturalness not only refers to not using chemicals but also to ecological principles and respect for the integrity of life” (Verhoog 29). Though foods appearance and flavor should be able to change while remaining “all natural,” its nutrients and genetics should remain the same.  Adams humorously remarks, “Claiming MSG is natural because free glutamic acid appears in tomatoes is sort of like saying cocaine is natural because it's derived from ingredients found in the coca leaf” (Adams 1). 

We currently face a problem with how products are labeled but also with the processes behind them.  The industry is currently going on a binge of creating genetically modified plants and animals.  Imagine a scientist working to create avocados with less fat in them.  Maybe avocados contain too much of this nutrient but our response should not be to modify the genetics of avocados in an attempt to lessen its fat content.  If we take that route, we could potentially do something to ruin the avocado forever.  Instead people should choose to eat less of them or strive to get more exercise.  We’ve gotten to the point of reengineering the chicken to have bigger breasts so that the poultry industry can make more money.  A non-profit website working to defend animals states, “Broiler chickens are selectively bred and genetically altered to produce bigger thighs and breasts, the parts in most demand. This breeding creates birds so heavy that their bones cannot support their weight, making it difficult for them to stand. The birds are bred to grow at an astonishing rate, reaching their market weight of 3 1/2 pounds in seven weeks” (Katz).  It’s disgusting to think that a majority of the chickens that we consume were unable to walk in their lifetimes because their own bodies weigh them down.

So all of this begs questions about my eating habits and health.  If I believe people should balance their calorie intake and output, avoid non-fat and sugar free foods, eat real foods instead of processed foods, and avoid GMO’s, what do I do with my own diet?  I’m not perfect and can admit to the times I’ve passed through the McDonald’s drive through.  If I could create the perfect meal plan for myself it would look something like what I’ve witnessed in traveling to Italy or France.  Though supermarkets have begun to sprout up around Europe, most Europeans still have the options to buy meats from the local butchery, produce from an open-air market full of self-employed farmers, bread from the local baker and cheese from an experienced shop owner that makes it himself.  These are the raw materials, the food that will later be chopped up, sliced, sautéed and baked into what we call a meal.  This process has a feeling of balance to it.  It employs hard workers with specific skill sets rather than turning the creation of a meal into a job for an assembly worker.  It focuses on the aspects of foods that are inherent in their nature and emphasizes what makes them great.  It is the opposite of scientists meddling in a lab to change the genes of an organism.  That a majority of our food in the U.S. is processed, we eat so damn fast and we're obsessed more with nutrients than taste has always bugged me.  In the food industry I think Americans have it backwards, it's nice to know that someone agrees.  Michael Pollan remarks, "Oddly, America got really fat on its new low-fat diet — indeed, many date the current obesity and diabetes epidemic to the late 1970s, when Americans began binging on carbohydrates, ostensibly as a way to avoid the evils of fat" (Pollan 5).  In America's attempt at becoming healthy, it created far more health issues than it solved.  On the other side of the spectrum, you can look at French culture, which makes no attempt at being healthy, yet French people have ended up far healthier than Americans.

It is probably quite obvious that I belong far away from the brightly lit aisles of supermarkets filled with processed foods that brag about what scientists have put into them or taken away.  I’d much rather taste a peach or a tomato in a market sliced by the hands of the farmer that grew it than read a label on packaging with bold lettering about how few carbohydrates a product has per serving.  Have we become lab rats? We have allowed the innate act of eating a meal be taken over by scientists and marketers that think they know what is best for us.  Why are we more swayed by the colors and bold lettering on the packaging of a frozen meal or a cereal box than the color and smell of a ripe tomato?  Maybe in the past I haven’t followed exactly what I preach.  In fact, as I write this paper I look up to see the bright colors on a box of Lucky Charms sitting on my desk.  I’m a college student and healthy, unprocessed food is expensive.  Not to mention, what am I to make without a kitchen?  My health is left in the hands of restaurants surrounding campus and most of all, Sodexo.  I’m not a great eater, though I do choose to create a salad for myself with grilled chicken rather than picking up the ready to eat cheeseburger in the cafeteria.  I hope that my slip-ups in healthy eating are due to what is around me, that this state of affairs doesn’t remain the same for the rest of my life.  In fact, I can’t take Sodexo food much longer at all.  It remains to be seen whether or not I will make it to Europe for good and be able to stick to my “all natural” diet but for now I will try to do as Pollan recommends, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants” (Pollan 1).

Works Cited

Adams, Mike. “’All natural’ claim on food labels is often deceptive; foods harbor hidden MSG and other unnatural ingredients.” Natural News: Real News Powered by the People, Naturally. Natural News Network, 2012. Web. 30 May 2012. <http://www.naturalnews.com/‌005778.html>.

Henley, Jon. “The Need for Greed.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited, 14 Aug. 2008. Web. 30 May 2012. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/‌lifeandstyle/‌2008/‌aug/‌15/‌foodanddrink.michaelphelps>.

Herring, David. “Choose My Plate.” USDA Choose My Plate. United States Department of Agriculture, 2012. Web. 30 May 2012. <http://www.choosemyplate.gov/>.

Katz, Elliot M. “Factory Farming Facts.” In Defense of Animals. IDA, 2012. Web. 30 May 2012. <http://www.idausa.org/‌facts/‌factoryfarmfacts.html>.

Pollan, Michael. “Unhappy Meals.” The New York Times Magazine. The New York Times, 28 Jan. 2007. Web. 30 May 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/‌2007/‌01/‌28/‌magazine/‌28nutritionism.t.html?pagewanted=all>.

Verhoog, Henk. “THE ROLE OF THE CONCEPT OF THE NATURAL (NATURALNESS) IN ORGANIC FARMING.”   (Apr. 2002): 29-49. SpringerLink. Web. 30 May 2012. <http://www.springerlink.com/‌content/‌r2uk524282088445/‌fulltext.pdf?MUD=MP>.

Rough Rough Final

Writ 1133: Eric Leake

Extended Essay 2: An Eater’s Manifesto

April 24, 2012

-       Zach Quinn

All Natural.  These are two simple words that in recent times have been taken over by marketing teams for the food industry.  They have been placed in bold lettering on cereal boxes, jars of peanut butter and chips.  But what do these words really mean?  The Food and Drug Administration takes no responsibility in regulating what is necessary for a food to be “all natural.”  It becomes difficult to derive their meaning when corporations place these words on processed foods and on foods that have been genetically modified.  What they should mean is something far different than what they are currently being used to describe.  Natural implies that something originated from nature and all natural implies that its important genetic features were left unaltered.  Given this, “all natural” should mean that aside from being chopped up, spiced, flavored, cooked, steamed, fried, or broiled, a food had not been altered.  Though a foods appearance and flavor should be able to change while remaining “all natural” its nutrients and genetics should remain the same.

An imbalance in the nutrients we take in is the main cause of obesity, heart disease and other illnesses.  Eating too much sugar, fat, or salt is the main dietary problem that we face.  That being said, why are we setting ourselves up to eat these in high concentration?  Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish and meat all come from nature and their nutrients are balanced the same way that they have been for thousands of years.  Though apples and bananas have sugar in them, they are still good for you because the concentration isn’t too high.  Fruit Loops Cereal and Coca-Cola on the other hand, are made with high fructose corn syrup, a scientifically produced sweetener that contains high levels of sugar.  Eat too many apples or bananas and you’ll probably start feeling sick before you’ve consumed more than your recommended daily intake of sugar.  If you drink two cokes on the other hand, this can be accomplished easily because there is a concentrated amount of sugar within.

Finding balance is the most important step to creating a healthy lifestyle.  Too much of anything is not good for you.  Even sticking to consuming only fruits and vegetables would leave you out of the nutrients provided by grains.  Humans are not simple organisms and for us to live long healthy lives we need a good balance of nutrients from different sources.  It seems every year that there are new diets marketed to consumers that consist of avoiding a specific nutrient.  Eating too much bread won’t be good for you but not eating carbohydrates altogether is crazy.  I disagree even with the idea that red meat is bad for you.  Too much may not be healthy but a little won’t hurt you.  We should be able to base our diets off of calorie intake and output.  No one will call Michael Phelps unhealthy but if you saw a normal sized person that works in a cubicle eating 14 eggs for breakfast you would assume that in a short amount of time that person would begin to put on weight.  Phelps can consume his daily 12,000 calories without a problem because he burns them off in a work out.  A balanced diet is of course relative to the individual.  If people want to lose weight they should eat less or work out more, not choose the non-fat or sugar-free version.

The next big problem that we face is creation of genetically modified plants and animals.  Sure avocados contain too much fat but our response should not be to modify the genetics of avocados in an attempt to lessen their fat content.  If we take that route, we could potentially do something to ruin the avocado forever.  Without guacamole and turkey avocado sandwiches this world won’t be the same.  Instead people should choose to eat less of them or strive to get more exercise.  We’ve gotten to the point of reengineering the chicken to have bigger breasts so that the poultry industry can make more money.  It’s disgusting to think that a majority of the chickens that we consume are unable to walk in their lifetimes because their own bodies weigh them down.

So all of this begs questions about my eating habits and health.  If I believe people should balance their calorie intake and output, avoid non-fat and sugary foods and eat real foods instead of processed foods, what do I do with my own diet?  I’m not perfect and can admit to the times I’ve passed through the McDonald’s drive through.  But even by my tough standards, a little bit of that won’t kill you as long as your balance is right.  If I could create the perfect meal plan for myself it would look something like what I’ve witnessed in traveling to Italy or France.  Though supermarkets have begun to sprout up around Europe, most Europeans still have the options to buy meats from the local butchery, produce from an open-air market full of self-employed farmers, bread from the local baker and cheese from an experienced shop owner that makes it himself.  These are the raw materials, the food that will later be chopped up, sliced, sautéed and baked into what we call a meal.  This process has a feeling of balance to it.  It employs hard workers with specific skill sets rather than turning the creation of a meal into a job for an assembly worker.  It focuses on the aspects of foods that are inherent in their nature and emphasizes what makes them great.  It is the opposite of scientists meddling in a lab to change the genes of an organism.

It is probably quite obvious that I belong far away from the brightly lit aisles of supermarkets filled with processed foods that brag about what scientists have put into them or taken away.  I’d much rather taste peach or a tomato in a market sliced by the hands of the farmer that grew it than read a label on packaging with bold lettering about how few carbohydrates a product has per serving.  Have we become lab rats? We have allowed the innate act of eating a meal be taken over by scientists and marketers that think they know what is best for us.  Why are we more swayed by the colors and bold lettering on the packaging of a frozen meal or a cereal box than the color and smell of a ripe tomato?

Maybe in the past I haven’t followed what I preach now perfectly.  In fact, as I write this paper I can look up to see the bright colors on a box of Lucky Charms.  I’m a college student and healthy, unprocessed food is expensive.  Not to mention, what am I to do without a kitchen?  My health is left in the hands of restaurants surrounding campus and most of all, Sodexo.  I’m not a great eater, though I do choose to create a salad for myself with grilled chicken rather than picking up the ready to eat cheeseburger.  I hope this state of affairs doesn’t remain the same for the rest of my life.  In fact, I can’t take Sodexo food much longer at all.  It remains to be seen whether or not I will make it to Europe and be able to stick to my “all natural” diet but for now I will just try to eat off campus more often and frequent the grocery store for food items rather than processed goods.

Works Cited With Possible Quotes

http://www.springerlink.com/content/r2uk524282088445/fulltext.pdf

“The second sense of natural refers to pristine nature, unaffected by human interference. Then nothing humans do (including all agricultural activities) can be natural in this sense. So, either everything or nothing humans produce is natural.”

“We conclude that the idea of “naturalness” can be used to characterize organic agriculture and to distinguish it from conventional agriculture, but only if naturalness not only refers to not using chemicals but also to ecological principles and respect for the integrity of life.”

http://www.naturalnews.com/005778.html

“Claiming MSG is natural because free glutamic acid appears in tomatoes is sort of like saying cocaine is natural because it's derived from ingredients found in the coca leaf.”

“When you're shopping for groceries, watch out for the phrase "all natural" as claimed on the front of various product packages. It turns out that the phrase "all natural" can mean just about anything; it actually has no nutritional meaning whatsoever and isn't truly regulated by the FDA.”

“By that definition, anything derived from plants, animals or elements found on planet Earth could earn the "all natural" label. The key is in understanding that it's the process that's unnatural, not the source. When you chemically or structurally alter food ingredients into a form that no longer appears anywhere in nature, it's no longer natural, folks. Regardless of what the food manufacturers claim.”

http://www.acaloriecounter.com/breakfast-cereal.php

Le French Have Got Something Right

I've always thought that I belong more on a European lifestyle, specifically French.  That a majority of our food is processed, we eat so damn fast and we're obsessed more with nutrients than taste has always bugged me.  In the category of food I think Americans have it backwards, it's nice to know that someone agrees.  In fact, Pollan's conclusions are hilarious.  He remarks, "Oddly, America got really fat on its new low-fat diet — indeed, many date the current obesity and diabetes epidemic to the late 1970s, when Americans began binging on carbohydrates, ostensibly as a way to avoid the evils of fat" (Pollan 5).  In America's attempt at becoming healthy, it created far more health issues than it solved.  On the other side of the spectrum, you can look at French culture, which makes no attempt at being healthy.  French people have ended up far more healthy than American's without even trying.  Though I don't have a scientific background to back up my claims, I attribute this fact to the way that French people eat. (If I follow Pollan's argument correctly, maybe not having a scientific background is in fact better in this realm, science could be the real reason for our health problems) In eating slowly and socializing while eating, the French avoid shoveling food down their throats as fast as possible.  Forget separating out nutrients, just eat slowly, according to your level of hunger and eat the raw materials not the processed foods.  It seems what Pollan argues is that we need to make food simple again.  If we stick to the basics and strive to make eating pleasurable, we will end up being healthier than if we keep turning to science.  Dupuis article was far less interesting to read.  He looks at American's actual health and their obsession with reading about health.  A somewhat humorous question that he poses at the beginning of the essay is, "Why do middle-class Americans love to read advice about how to eat while mostly ignoring it?" (Dupuis 34)  He looks into where Americans turn to for food advice and ties that into our issues with health.  Like I said, he isn't as interesting of a writer as Pollan and I enjoyed Pollan's ideas more.

Topics on Health

I found it interesting that Ben wrote about binge drinking.  The quote he found on the percentage of teens with bac's over 0.08 that died in car accidents was surprising.  37 percent is a ton! As well, I found the facts about the importance of breakfast interesting.  I was surprised how many of my peers wrote about it. It's interesting how important even a meal consisting of cereal is for your health.

Snacks on Snacks on Snacks

Writ 1133: Eric Leake

Fifth Short Essay

-       Zach Quinn

Snacks on Snacks on Snacks

It’s only 3:30 but your stomach starts to growl, saliva accumulates in your mouth and the sight of someone else eating triggers feelings of jealousy.  Who knows what’s making you hungry, someone nearby may have been talking about your favorite food or even worse you may have fallen prey to an advertisement for a food you like.  You ate lunch at noon and you’re going to eat dinner at 7 so this is right in-between.  A meal would be too much so you give in and snack.  You might stop by the vending machine, or reach into your backpack to find that bag of chips you put in there in case of emergency.  The snack food industry includes over 500 companies and produces combined annual revenues of $27 billion. (Snack Foods Manufacturing) Their advertisements and influences are tough to avoid and they can initiate bad habits.

Snacking is not inherently bad for you, however.  In fact, eating 5 or more, small meals a day, is supposed to be better for you than gorging at 3.  This originated from Jorge Cruise’s book The 3-Hour Diet and has been supported and criticized by many in the dietary field. Cruise writes that the trick is, “If you eat the right foods every three hours, you will keep your blood sugar level stable, so you’re never hungry” (Cruise).  This isn’t the same as snacking, however.  The problem is that when people snack, not only do they eat junk food but also, they don’t decrease the size of their regular meals. This leaves them eating regular meals plus junk food in-between.  Few snacks are actually healthy.  Most foods that don’t qualify as meals and fall into this category are candy bars, bags of chips, fruit snacks, popcorn, beef jerky and pretzels.  In the right quantity, a few of these are good for you but most snacks come overloaded with sugar, sodium and fat.  To add to these unhealthy foods, most seasoned snackers pair their chips or candy bar with a soda, Gatorade or juice.  Nutritionally, this only adds more sugar.

The goal is for people to learn how to snack appropriately.  A Consumer Reports Journal on Health featured a study on 15,000 English men and women.  The study found first found that eating “minimeals” could help people control hunger, calorie intake and thus lower their weight.  It went further, however, studying the cholesterol levels of those who at big meals and those who ate small meals.  They found that even participants who ate more calories snacking than eating normal meals, had lower cholesterol levels.  Among the participants who ate 6 or more meals a day, their cholesterol levels were about 5 percent lower.  Not only did the study find that snacking provided most consumers with a greater control over calorie intake but also that when they failed to do so, snacking kept them healthier.  The article recommends that for healthier snacking, consumers should, “Think of snacks as part of your whole meal plan, not as add-ons. So you may need to eat smaller portions at your regular meals. Keep healthy snacks on hand, such as flesh or dried produce and whole-grain products” (Snacking Cuts Cholesterol).  According to this article and many other sources, we don’t need to be afraid of snacking.  It can be a helpful tool to keep from getting to hungry and gorging at meal times.  It is simply important to stay observant of the calories you’re consuming, choose healthier snacks and of course keep your body active while doing so. 

Works Cited

Cruise, Jorge. The 3-Hour Diet. New York, New York: HarperCollins, 2005. Print.

“Snack Foods Manufacturing.” Hoover’s: a D&B company. Hoover’s Inc., 2012. Web. 16 May 2012. <http://www.hoovers.com/‌industry/‌snack-foods-manufacturing/‌1371-1.html>.

“Snacking Cuts Cholesterol.” Consumer Reports on Health 14.4 (2002): 7. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 16 May 2012. <http://web.ebscohost.com/‌ehost/‌detail?sid=ad7906e8-42c3-4606-afda-30e46d3465a0%40sessionmgr111&vid=1&hid=126&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=f5h&AN=6371188>.

Observations on Food Journals

I found that many people chose to eat sandwiches.  This is because they are easy to make, allow for the satisfaction of different tastes and are quick to consume.  I also noticed how off my meal times seemed.  Everyone seemed to be eating at normal times while I was eating my first meal at 2:00.