A Painting Worth More Than 1000 Words

Look what I found in the Cornell Daily Sun today!

How appropriate that this was published today after we just read Wansink's "Mindless Eating." This article is about how our increased portion sizes have been reflected in depictions of The Last Supper over the last 1000 years. Professor Wansink and his brother found a growing dominance of food in this famous painting as further proof of growing food quantities in our daily life. Who knew this change in our diets could make such a big impact in the world?

The Government's Food Pyramid

When we ask, "What kinds of food should we eat to maintain a healthy lifestyle?" most of us would not expect the answer to be buried in the depths of lobbyists' pocketbooks. In "The Politics of Government Dietary Advice" by Jennifer Lisa Falbe and Marion Nestle the true nature of the food pyramid's creation is explored. The authors assert that this icon stamped on numerous food products has been transformed into a marketing device controlled by political lobbyists. Since human beings can consume only so many calories daily, it has become the job of the government to influence what we choose to fill our plates with. Recent issues with the industry have included an opposition to recommending people to eat less of specific foods as no company wants their product to be labeled "unhealthy." For example, large amounts of sugar consumption can lead to serious health problems such as diabetes and obesity. However, the government does not tell the public to avoid such foods because "such a recommendation...would be likely to produce serious, detrimental and long-lasting effects of the agriculture and the economy of [sugar producing] countries."

Also, the food recommendations have become increasingly convoluted and lengthy so that it is difficult to see what is truly healthy and what is not. I find it unreasonable that a tool such as the food pyramid that we use to teach our children how to live healthy lives has morphed into something so unapproachable. Shouldn't transparency in a staple as basic as food be of utmost importance? Is it fair to the public to promote exercising in place of eating healthy foods?

Look at MyPyramid for more food intake suggestions.

Not So Mini Meals

While driving on the freeway yesterday I saw a billboard advertising McDonald's new "Mini Meals" for only $2.99. I found this very interesting that a company infamous for its high-calorie food was trying to attract customers by appealling to their healthy and economic sides. I looked up this new phenomenon expecting to see a drastic decrease in calories as the name suggests. However, some research into the subject showed that a mini meal contains up to 820 calories! Yes, this is much less than a super-sized value meal, but people should know that they are not making the healthy choices they think they are. For more information, click here.

What is American food?

This week’s readings consisted of “Eating American” by Sidney Mintz and “Consumer Culture and Participatory Democracy: The Story of Coca-Cola During World War II” by Mark Weiner, both of which explored the idea of American identity in food. Weiner claims that Coke provided a sense of familiarity and companionship on the battlefield and also created a community at home for the Allies’ cause. This is particularly interesting because I have never thought of this soda as American since it is so present on the international stage. However, it makes sense to appeal to the masses on something so basic a level as good and evil- Coke being the good in the evil of the war. But would Coke be as well-known as it is today had it not been accompanied my such an accepting market as the years around the war were? Who knows, maybe we would all think of Sprite as the national soda.

It is difficult for me to see that Coke is truly symbolic of American culture. In other countries, traditional foods are the pride of the nation and are usually dishes particular to a region. For example, white sausages in Germany, borscht in Russia, and gnocchi in Italy, are all associated with generations of a specific people. Mintz asserts that the reason the United States does not have a similar national food is due to the fact that our lifestyle is fast-paced and more centered around snacks or eating out than sit-down meals. Another interesting point is that America was established on immigrants who came to start a new life in a new country and did not continue their old food culture in their transition. We do, however, have what Mintz calls “regional cuisines” such as TexMex in the Southwest, Cajun in the South, and European (Italian, German, and Russian) in the East. These are no longer specific to these areas because of mass transportation and the ability to ship packaged foods all around the globe so that anyone in any place can try almost any food, even if it is nothing close to the authentic version. But is it bad that we are losing some food culture through large-scale manufacturing? In some respects I believe it is a small tragedy, but I am not one to complain when I can buy New England clam chowder in a can from any supermarket in the country. I guess I am American.

Bagged greens

This was one of the top stories on Yahoo's lineup tonight which is interesting because we just talked about it in class. Check it out!.