As one who enjoys the rich flavors and textures and combinations that food variety can bring, I truly appreciated Pollan's defense of food appreciators in the section "Beyond the Pleasure Principle." The unique perspective that America has tried its best to avoid enjoying food, does truly seem to be unsettling in its accuracy. How many other countries have created "rules" on how and what to eat? In personal experience, this is something saved for America. Friends who come from varied origins such as Nepal, Vietnam, Korea, and India, have all indicated that restraint with food is only an issue when they return to America. However, the lack of restraint needed on their ventures does not seem to reduce the extent to which food is enjoyed, merely the mental ease with which they can eat.
So how might we go about enjoying our food once again?
Perhaps it is more than a matter of quantity and quality. Perhaps it is merely a matter of our mindset. What is it that we are defying that has necessitated a defense for food? Are we defying our desires? One might say no until we consider the "you can't eat just one" tagline that is associated with most foods we tout in America. Are we defying our taste-buds? Well I have apparently "tasted the rainbow," so I suppose that is not lacking either. Perhaps we are defying intuition and food with our science. We have defied what is real and natural so long, that we must now defend it.
It seems truly instinctive to defend lettuce and chicken over "yogurt enemas" that were apparently advocated once upon a yesteryear. I cannot imagine the havoc that such things wrought on the human body versus the supposed detriment of animal protein on the human body. There truly are times when just letting your spirit guide you is the best choice, and perhaps not even your spirit, I really think all it takes is understanding your pain receptors!
So I am completely prepared to stop defying natural intuition and defend food! Science has gotten us far, but from what I've seen, nature seems to have lasted quite some time.
The amazing thing is that there is very little advertising for those foods that are locally grown and not processed. They aren't in the media so they aren't on our plates. We are a nation that also enjoys the convenience of the local supermarket that has the Lucky Charms and Lays chips. We are more likely to buy what we see on the television over what we see being grown in the fields that we pass on the way to the store. This is terribly unfortunate because, like you said, nature seems to be doing just fine.
ReplyDeleteCollin makes a good point, if we as a nation started advertising for whole foods more people would most likely buy it. If we create the whole foods demand, consumers will come...the whole if we build it they will come philosophy.
ReplyDeleteCollin and Kristina, I believe that is what Dr. Hartman meant last night when he said that if as a nation, or just large group, we could get the industries to put more effort into whole foods, rather than the current processed "foods" we have. He also mentioned that it's doubtful to happen, but if it does happen, it'll be a long time from now. It would be terribly hard to convince a significant sized group of Americans that we need to actually put more effort into getting foods that are better for us. America as a whole is already fine with low quality and cheap foods and other items because they're convenient and easy to get. Why would they want to change to something that's going to cause them more work?
ReplyDeleteI truly do believe that the advertising of whole foods would be helpful as Kristina and Collin illuminated, because I think Americans don't realize that such is much easier to obtain that we anticipate - at least if you live in a rural or suburban area. I think it would be hardest for those in the city to be able to obtain whole, locally grown foods.
ReplyDeleteHowever, even that is probably not as difficult as we might believe.
Moreover, I think there are a decent number of Americans who are willing and possess the desire to eat healthier, but what we have come to know is a streamlined, processed food consumption. So if we can alter the mindset that such is acceptable, I believe there is truly the possibility for positive change sooner than we are apparently allowing ourselves to believe.
Advertising, while certainly effective, cannot possibly overcome outsourcing and convenience associated with industrialized food, can it? We are in midst of iPhone upgrade crazies, 5S vs. 5C, a product originally never asked for by consumers, but created for consumption. So yes, advertising is all powerful, but how do you advertise whole foods effectively enough to compete with Oreos, Mac n Cheese, or even the barbecue sandwich? Whole foods, unless eaten in their whole state, require processing for our enjoyment, and evidence shows (with less than 27 minutes A DAY devoted to meal preparation), we are not in the self processing business anymore.
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