Mindless Eating

I just read the first chapter from mindless eating and it was so interesting to figure out what things influence what people eat and how much they eat.

The most interesting experiment to me was the use of cheap wine. In one study they named it California wine and in the other they named it North Dakota wine. Both were the same wine with the same labels and equally as bad. However since the North Dakota wine was from that region which is not known for wine they rated it worse and their meals worse than the all powerful Californian label.

This makes perfect since considering Americans lust for certain brand name goods. For example some people only drink one type of soda maybe Coke over Pepsi or one brand of clothing over another even tho they may be almost identical. This is the power of American Capitalism.

How big a role does packaging play on how much we eat?

The Fat Republic

It seems that Americans cant get enough of fatty foods. I admit I love fatty foods however their is a balance and recently the balance has been of in the American diet in a chapter of the Omnivores Dilemma Michael Pollan describes how the new fat republic relates to our consumption of alcohol before prohibition. He also describes some of the roots of the obesity epidemic and how Americans started their super size lifestyle.

All in all in this chapter Pollan ends up pointing fingers at subsidies and cheap corn. In actuality corn is not that cheap but we have perfected the process of refining it which is what really makes it cheap.

In America however we dont force corn down peoples throats and not tons of it either. I think instead of people pointing fingers they need to act themselves. I eat tons of corn and I dont show it because I keep active and eat well balanced meals. This is the key people need to take action on their own part to change their lives and not expect people to always do it for them.

Is obesity a social problem or an individual problem?

Will "The Fat Republic" spread worldwide?

The Processing Plants

I recently read another chapter in Omnivores Dilemma that discuses the trip corn takes from filed to plate. The steps include going through a process of steel tubes and chemicals to create a product. Then putting them through a processing plant to put them on our shelves.

To me this is a very good system. It produces many products and in the end results in very little waste. Which I believe is important that we use as much of a crop that we can. However some believe that it is a problem because we are changing the basics of a crop and turning it into something foreign that we should not be eating.

The process is actually one of the most energy efficient in our industrial agriculture system and is really one of the contributors to Americans cheap food supply.

If we don't process the corn what else should we do with our excess?

How willing are we to stop processing corn when we go to the store and suddenly all the processed foods corn is in are gone?

American Food Culture

Its interesting to me that American Cuisine is almost undefinable. It is multi cultural and every American seems to have a different definition in what it is. Some believe it is the cuisine of our roots. Some believes it is the power of American brands for example the food of KFC, McDonald's and Coca-Cola.

To me American Cuisine truly doesn't have a definition it is whatever you make it. With our power of diversity in this country we can have the best of our worlds.

In other countries our food culture comes down to a simple brand. I am sure that the golden arch is a symbol of America in other countries. The question is what kind of symbol does that send to us Americans. Is it good or not? Is it a positive effect on other nations or negative?

I think for our culture it is positive the brand power we have has spread worldwide and that shows cultural strength. However it could be a negative symbol of America since are powerful corporations.

GM

GM crops have been around in our agricultural system for a long time. Crops have been played with and genes have been added to countless different species. It has been a great increase in production the problem is there are pros and cons to these and they are endless.

The real question is how do they effect the environment?

The Price of Cloning

A just recently read a chapter from the book "best Food Writing 2008", it was all about cloning and its pros and cons. It explained how it can be a very useful thing creating perfect breeding and increased production. However in some ways it can be a problem. Some people just dont believe in it and some believe there could be some consequences to cloning,

I believe cloning is a good thing. Its a new frontier in technology that I think has many bright hopes. However the growth of the industry is being caused by politics and the flopping of real answers on the issue.

There is some kinks that still need to be worked out. But they will never be if companies are not allowed to move forward. Cloning is just as much of a help to agriculture as it is to medicine so I believe it is important to continue developing the technology.

However there is a line and the question is what is to far where we can not go back?

And what could happen if we do cross that boundary?

The Swine Flu Related to agriculture?

I have been reading a few articles on the swine flu and how they are related to agriculture and the seem to believe that it the industries fault that we have the swine. They describe how pigs live in filth and bacteria and the industry pumps them with antibiotics to keep them from getting sick. This they say is truly the cause of the swine and it arose from this evolution of disease.

I find a few holes in this, first of all the swine flu originated in mexico and they are trying to blame the American meat industry. That makes no sense because it didn't come from us thats like going to Mexico and getting food poison from a taco and coming to the U.S. and saying u will never eat a taco here again.

The second point I find to be a whole in the logic of the meat industry starting the swine flu is that they blame it on antibiotics. Last time I knew antibiotics fought bacteria, swine flu is a virus which means antibiotics have little to do with the argument. Also as far as I knew, I believe the use of antibiotics without reason just for precaution was baned by the FDA.

Another thing I found interesting is that you cant catch the flu from a pig. It has to mutate first which usually occurs only when you are around the animal for along period of time this however is not a common practice in the united states because industrial farming usually doesn't allow that kind of contact because of scale.

These are only a few of the holes that I found when reading about the argument.

Do you think the meat industry is the cause?

If so is this the price we pay for mass meat?

Are antibiotics effective and what is the danger?