Final Post

In this course, I have learned many things about the world of food after taking this class. The most significant thing that I learned was how different people in different cultures have very different relationships with food Some people eat just to survive, some people see it as a health benefit, and some eat for enjoyment. I learned that food can be a way to connect to others. Maybe it could connect you to people you just met, or maybe it brings back memories of your home and your family. This course has also taught me a lot about research writing. We read many articles and were required to compare the different views as well as incorporate our own ideas into our writing. This is a very useful skill that I'm sure I will use in the future. Though my relationship with food may not have changed very much throughout the quarter, the way that I view food certainly has. I no longer see it as just as a source of enjoyment. I now relate food to home and my family which gives me special connections to certain foods now.

EE2: My Eater's Manifesto

Over the past couple months, I have learned so much about different food values and how different people choose what they want to eat. Some people eat what is healthy, some eat what is organic, some eat what they have with them, and some just eat what is cheapest. For me, most of these things don’t play a large role in choosing what I want to eat. I just eat what tastes good.

            One of the greatest parts of growing up in Wisconsin was the State Fair. This has to be one of my favorite events of all time, and I make sure I go at least once every summer. This is a time when all of the greatest foods in Wisconsin all come together in one great week. It is a food lover’s paradise. There are so many different foods to try, most of them are the same as the year before, but each year, there is some new culinary creation, like deep fried butter or chocolate covered bacon. There are a few favorites that I eat every time, and I make sure to try one new thing each time I go. Necessity number one is the milk. There is an area that sells a cup of flavored milk for just a quarter. The flavors of milk include black cherry, strawberry, raspberry, chocolate (of course), Root Beer, and in recent years, banana. I usually make sure I get at least 2 different flavors every time I go and I am never disappointed. The second thing I make sure I always get is a Cream Puff. These things cannot be good for me at all, but it tastes so good. It is essentially two fluffy pieces of bread, with an excessive amount of cream in the middle of it, with powdered sugar on top. I am pretty sure that zero percent of that has any health benefits, but it’s one of the most delicious things that I have ever consumed. I have always eaten a lot, and most of it hasn’t exactly been good for me, but I was raised eating a wide variety of foods, so I get my fair share of greens in. I love sweets though. I love a nice cold Dr. Pepper or some Twizzlers when I go see a movie. Throughout my entire life, I have eaten whatever looked good at that time and decided that I wouldn’t worry about how healthy it was until a later time.

I love to eat. I always have and I always will. My favorite thing about food is the taste; and I wouldn’t base my food choices on anything besides that. I have my entire life to worry about my health, so in the present, I’m going to eat what I want and not worry about how it may affect my health. I’m not exactly worried about becoming overweight since I’ve always been a very active individual. According to the American Heart Association, regular physical activity helps to “improve blood circulation, which reduces the risk of heart disease, keep weight under control, and improve blood cholesterol levels” Though this doesn’t necessarily mean I can eat whatever I want and be perfectly healthy, as long as I manage to get some healthy food into my diet, I won’t have to worry so much about eating what actually tastes good. To me, food has always been an important part of my life, especially because of my upbringing in Wisconsin. I never want to settle for something to eat just because it is something to eat. I always try to make sure that what I’m eating tastes good and will be satisfying for me.

            I am well aware of all of the studies that say how foods that taste so good can be so bad for you, but it changes nothing. One of these foods is red meat. I can’t even explain how much I love the food you can make with red meat. Whether it’s a juicy cheeseburger, a succulent steak, Mom’s homemade meatloaf, or some meatballs on top of delicious spaghetti, nothing beats a generous helping of red meat. Of course, some would disagree with me. Dr. An Pan did a study that proved that “consumption of both processed and unprocessed red meat is associated with an increased risk of premature mortality from all causes as well as from cardiovascular disease and cancer.” (Ornish) According to this, there’s no denying that a lot of red meat is not exactly healthy for my future, but that doesn’t change a thing. I love meat, and I won’t stop eating it.

            Furthermore, just because something is tasty, does not mean that it has to be unhealthy. In our society, we commonly associate things that are unhealthy as being tasty. Rajagopal Raghunathan did a series of studies that showed that people associate unhealthy foods as tasting better. In one of his experiments, he told participants to try two different crackers and he told them that one of the crackers had 2 grams of good fat and the other had 11 grams of bad fat, “the participants perceived the cracker with the higher content of good (versus bad) fat content as healthier.” (Raghunathan) Alongside of this experiment, he also instilled a hedonic goal into one of the groups by telling them to imagine that they were craving a really tasty snack. Out of that group, a significantly larger proportion of participants chose the “unhealthy” option. (Raghunathan) This study shows how people can perceive tasty food to be unhealthy and that they are more likely to choose this type of food if they are looking for enjoyment out of their food, like me. However, Marilyn Kuntz did a study that examined how Brazilian students, ages 7-10, viewed snacks in regards to being healthy and tasty. She asked the students about foods that were actually consumed during snack breaks, foods they considered healthy and/or tasty, and their desired characteristics of a healthy and tasty snack. (Kuntz) The students considered mostly vegetables to be healthy and sweets and pizza to be tasty. However, when asked what they actually ate, the most common responses were things like packaged snack foods and cookies. Then, when they were asked what they considered a snack that was both healthy and tasty, the majority said fruit. From these observations, we can infer that food doesn’t have to pick between being healthy or tasty, it can be both. I am in agreement with these Brazilian children; fruit is a great choice if you’re looking for something that’s healthy and tasty.

            The bottom line is that I love food. I don’t care what effects it will have on me, if it tastes good, I will eat it. I acknowledge that this eating habit of mine can have serious negative impacts on my future, but I trust that between my frequent exercise and inclusion of a bit of healthy food into my diet, the tasty food won’t negatively affect me. Through my research into how this sort of food might affect me I have learned that it could potentially have detrimental impacts on me, but regardless of any of it, I will not change my ways. I love food to sacrifice giving up the tasty food. I suppose I may reduce the amount of this food that I will eat, but I can’t possibly quit eating it all together, it’s just too good. This diet is not for everyone. Maybe I’ve been blessed with good genes and a good metabolism, or maybe it’s because I am fairly active, but this diet suits me just fine. 

Processed Food In Society

Both articles, “Unhappy Meals” by Michael Pollan and “History of Food Advice” by Melanie Dupuis focus heavily on how the eating habits of Americans have changed over the years. The focus is on how nutrition has played a role in the changing of food and how food becomes less natural as scientists attempt to make food healthier. Pollan makes the statement early on in his paper that most of we eat can’t technically be called food. This is a problem that I consistently see in the food industry more and more these days. The amount of processed food that we eat increases year after year, just because it is said to have some nutrient or another in it.

            The first time this hit me was when I had a job as a babysitter. The kids I babysat were very spoiled so they basically got whatever they wanted. They also watched a lot of TV so they were exposed to many commercials for all those fun food products like Fruit Gushers and Lunchables. So, on any given day, their house was stocked full of all these types of foods. I can’t even quite recall there being actual food in their house, like fresh fruit or vegetables. This is just one example of many that shows the extent to which the incorporation of processed foods has had on society.

            Both of the authors agree that processed food has moved to incorporate more nutrients to be “healthier”. However, while they are doing that, they are adding substances that are harmful for our bodies. Pollan makes the observation that most of what we eat would not be recognizable as food by our great-great grandparents. The “food” that one finds in Lunchables would fall into that category. The things that are in those individual size packages cannot possibly qualify as food. The packages claim some health fact or another, but what they don’t tell you is the amount of unhealthy chemicals they place in their product, or the unhealthy amount of sodium found in each package. This is just one example of the processed food industry, but you be sure that there are countless others that are just the same, if not worse.

Snacking and Mental Health

A common trend that I have noticed in both my own eating habits, as well as those of my peers, is snacking. In the food journals, I noticed that there were not very many large meals that were eaten during the day; rather, both I and my classmates consumed snacks at many different points of the day. I have always wondered if this habit had any sort of adverse effects on my general health and wellness, or if it caused my digestive system to work differently because of this habit. This is a trend known as snacking and Dr. Andrew P Smith addresses this trend in his article “Snacking Habit, Mental Health, and Cognitive Performance.” In his piece, Smith discusses different studies that were done to evaluate the effects of snacking on mental health and cognitive performance.

            Smith cites four different studies, done by both him as well as other researchers. In each of the studies, the same tests are done on the subjects, but different age groups are used each time. The age groups were as follows: sample of the general population ages 20-60, a sample of individuals in their late teens living at home, a sample of people ages 18-30, and finally an elderly sample aged 65+. The studies were done over a span of five years, from 1998 to 2003, with most of the studies being done in 1998 and 1999. The studies looked at how snacking affected mental health and cognitive performance by measuring the test subjects on a few different tests. For mental health, they looked at the Beck depression inventory, emotional distress, and state anxiety perceived stress. For cognitive performance, they looked at free recall (number of words recalled), logical reasoning speed, logical reasoning accuracy, and sustained attention. However, through all of these different tests, there was not enough significant evidence that showed that snacking has any effect on mental health and cognitive performance. The data was inconclusive in showing a trend between snacking and mental processes. Instead, this study showed an unintended result.

The researchers found that most of their subjects snacked very often. The categories of snacking were broken up in to never, once or twice a week, most days, and every day. The researchers found that most of their test subjects fell into either the category of most days or every day. This shows a general trend in the population that we are moving more towards a snacking culture rather than sitting down and having a few large meals a day. This confirms the observations that I made about my classmates own eating habits and a trend that I have noticed within society as a whole. Even though there wasn’t enough evidence to show a direct correlation between snacking and mental processes, I noticed from the data that there was a general improvement in results as snacking increased. Furthermore, the test results showed positive results as a whole, showing that snacking doesn’t have bad effects on mental health.

Overall, the study did not show conclusive results of a trend between snacking and mental processes. There was not sufficient enough data to come to that conclusion. There may have not been enough test subjects to come to this conclusion or maybe there were other errors within the study. I believe that this is a valid hypothesis that snacking has an effect on mental processes and that a potential study in the future would be viable. This study already showed there were minor improvements in mental health and cognitive performance due to snacking, and they certainly didn’t get worse because of the snacking, so by my evaluation, keep snacking. 

Snacking Habits

http://0-search.proquest.com.bianca.penlib.du.edu/docview/919439042
This article discusses snacking patterns within different age groups and how it effects mental health.

Food Log Observations

Something that I noticed pretty consistently was that on the weekends, everybody started eating sometime in the afternoon, and that a lot of meals were consumed at 1 or 2 am. Also, a lot of people ate the same things pretty consistently, whether they were snacks they had in their rooms, or specific foods at the dining halls that they knew would be good every time. There weren't a whole lot of complete meals, many people just snack on random things throughout the day.

My Food Log from the Weekend

Thursday:
1:00 pm- pretzels and french onion dip and a coke
4:50 pm- cheeseburger, cheese fries, baked potato, blue raspberry kool-aid
7:00 pm- orange crush 20 oz.
9:00 pm- beef skewers, hot dog, pepsi

Friday:
12:30 pm- pizza, peach yogurt, root beer
5:45 pm- hamburger, salad, fruit salad, kool-aid
8:00 pm- popcorn, cherry coke

Saturday:
12:00 pm- biscuits and gravy, rustic potatoes, chocolate milk
5:30 pm- tortilla chips and nacho cheese, gatorade
7:35 pm- Caeser salad, broccoli and cheese soup, and water

The History of the Potato

            This morning, as I left my Spanish class, I left Sturm hall, walked through Driscoll, and continued on to Nagel Hall to pick up something to eat for lunch. I decided to pick a selection from their Rotisserie section, which normally consists of things like chicken, ribs, meatloaf, mac and cheese, and some sort of potato dish. Today, I chose the ribs, some mac and cheese, and for my third choice, I could not decide between cream of chicken soup and potato au gratin. I eventually decided on the potato au gratin, a choice I was very happy with. The dish got me thinking about potatoes, and I realized that there are so many different ways to cook a potato. This got me thinking even more. Where do potatoes come from? Who was the first group to consume potatoes? Who would ever think to take that out of the ground and take a bite of it? These questions led to more questions, which caused me to do a little research into the subject matter. I soon found out both the history of the potato and the all of the different ways you can prepare a potato, and let me tell you, there are A LOT of ways that you can prepare a potato.

            I discovered, according to Eugene Grubb in his book “The Potato”, that the potato finds its origins up in the Andes Mountains, nearly 10,000 feet above sea level, with some being found nearly 15 to 16 thousand feet high. (64) To the Peruvians, these potatoes were more than just a source of food. They were called “apples of love” because of their aphrodisiac properties. The Incans fought to the death, just so they could use human blood to fertilize their potato fields. Though no one knows exactly how the potato got to Europe, it arrived sometime in the late 1500’s. Most suspect that the Spanish were the first to bring the potato back, but there is much dispute over exactly who brought it back. From there, the potato spread throughout the rest of Europe and eventually, the rest of the world. Over the years, the potato has received many names. To the Spanish, it is called a papata, a brambor by the Czech, a panbowka by the Polish, and a pomme de terre by the French, which literally translates out to ”apple of the earth”. (Robyns 8) The French have a very clever name for this food since, to many cultures; the potato is eaten just about as frequently as an apple. In 1959, Poland led the world in consumption of potatoes, consuming 550 pounds per year, with East Germany coming in second with 484 pounds per year. (Robyns 131) However, this survey did not include the USSR, which, at the time, was the heaviest consumer of potatoes by far. Potatoes have a very unique history, and have been considered to have been responsible for many important events over the course of the world. One of these events was the potato famine in Ireland. Without this famine, the Irish never would have migrated to the United States and we would not have the strong Irish background that we have today.

            After discovering the history of the potato, I inquired about how it has been used over the course of its history. The Potato Cookbook by Gwen Robyns was a wonderful source of information for this part of my inquiry. From this book, I learned that there are 4 different groups of potatoes: the round white group, the round red group, the russet group, and the long white group. (Robyns 9, 10) Within each of these groups, there are even more subgroups of potatoes that I will not go into since there are so many. From this point in my research, I took interest into the different ways that I could prepare the potato. I was very surprised by my results. I had always known that there were plenty of different ways to cook a potato, but I had not realized there were so many different ways. To begin with, Robyns lists a few lesser used ways to cook the potato, boiling, steaming, baked potatoes, roast potatoes, foiled potatoes, French fried potatoes, and potato chips. (40) The more commonly used ways of cooking potatoes were given their very own chapters. These include mashed potatoes, filled jacket potatoes, and skillet potatoes. In the chapters describing these ways of preparation, Robyns gives around 25 or more different recipes to cook the potato in that manner. After these ways of using mainly just the potato, I learned that you could also make potato soups and potato salads, and that you could even use potatoes in making pastries, flans, and pies. The most interesting recipes I found for these desserts were for Potato Chocolate Gateaux (French for cake) and Chocolate Éclairs. (Robyns 112) I was amazed by these results. I had no idea that there were so many different ways you could utilize something as simple as a potato. Robyns’ cookbook certainly gave me a lot of insight into the world of the potato.

            After doing all of this research, I thought back to my meal earlier in the day, my potatoes au gratin. I was surprised to not find any recipes for this particular dish, but I decided that it may have been listed under a different name. I don’t believe that my discoveries will by any means change the amount I consume potatoes, but it will definitely change the way that I eat them, at least once I have the ability to make that decision. When I am living off on my own next year, I will keep these recipes in mind and potentially try some of them out (I may even take a try at making potato wine.) One thing is for sure though, the next time that I am consuming a potato, I will think back to the Incans, who shed blood for the creation of this wonderful spud.

Eugene, Grubb. The Potato. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1912. Print.

Robyns, Gwen. The Potato Cookbook. Stemmer House Publishing, 1976. Print.

Pollan, Estabrook, and Cook

Before reading these pieces, I had already previously been exposed to the horrors of the food industry. A couple years ago, I read Fast Food Nation, which let me into the world of the fast food industry and showed me the terrible things that happen in that industry. However, most of that had all gone to the back of my mind before reading these. These pieces really brought back all of those memories and reinforced them. I previously had some knowledge to how bad the poultry industry was, but I did not realize the exact extent that it went to.

            Each of these different pieces goes about the different food industries in a different way. For example, the infographic by Cook goes through the process of how chicken’s go from the factory to the sale, and all the dangers that are involved in that process. It shows a bunch of numbers that really make you realize the extent to which this industry goes. It tells how many chickens are killed each day, how many workers are injured in this process, as well as how chicken consumption in the US has increased in recent years.

            The introduction to Tomatoland shed some light on a subject I had never considered before. I had no idea that the tomato industry was so bad and that they essentially use slaves to work there. The introduction uses a personal story to lead into his overall message and brings up points that he will elaborate on later in the book. He discusses the process of creating these industrial tomatoes and how they look perfect but have nearly no taste at all. He compares them to home grown tomatoes that while they look terrible, taste delicious. His way of explaining these processes is easy to understand since he uses personal references to relate the content to the reader. 

The final piece by Pollan essentially is a review on a book written by Peter Singer. He discusses how he tries to defend his personal views against what Singer says in the book. It seems as though Singer has a come back to every statement Pollan would try to make against the book. He makes a few valid points about animals and how society treats them.

Potato Research

A food that I thoroughly enjoy and try to eat as much as I can is mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes do not include very many ingredients. They include potatoes, garlic, and any other seasonings that you might choose to add to the dish to give it your own special flare. My interest lies in potatoes. I would like to know the history of potatoes, where they come from, other purposes they serve, and interesting dishes that include them. I think a good place to start this research would be with a book I found of Amazon titled 

Potato: A History of the Propitious Esculent. This source seems as though it will give a very good explanation of the history of potatoes and will be very helpful for my research.

http://www.amazon.com/Potato-Propitious-Esculent-John-Reader/dp/0300171455/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1367435880&sr=1-3&keywords=potatoes 

America's Eating Disorder

In his piece “Our National Eating Disorder”, Pollan makes a few valid observations about how Americans eat. It seems as though the main point that he makes is that Americans think too much about what to eat, and since we do this, we eat unhealthily. He makes connections to the various diets that have sprung up over the years and how each one comes up as being the healthiest way to eat, but then fades away as more information surfaces that prove otherwise. He compares the U.S. to the French and how they appear much healthier than Americans. He also comes to the conclusion that the French choose their meals based on what tastes good, rather than what has been deemed “healthier” by various diet scientists. After considering these things Pollan determines that Americans are unhealthier because they over-think what they eat and they stress out too much over what they should eat.

 I found much of this very interesting. I could easily draw a connection to all of the various diets to my own life because of my grandma. My grandma is one of those people that sees all of these new diets and thinks that they are the next big thing, and then tries to convince the rest of my family that we should start eating like this. She reads way too far into these “studies” and considers them to be the best way to eat. However, when I personally try to decide what to eat, I almost never take what is “healthy” into consideration. Growing up, my parents taught me to eat well balanced meals and this habit carried with me throughout life. Along with this, I was an athlete through school and I could usually eat whatever I want and it would not have any negative effects. On the other side of this, when I was in a season of a sport, I didn't even consider food that would not be beneficial for my sport at the time. Through this article, I can see how Americans over-think what they eat, and how this makes them unhealthier, but as for myself, I have never really taken an interest in these diet fads, so I would not consider myself to be part of the American eating culture in this aspect.

How I Decide What To Eat

How I decide what I want to eat changes depending on the situation that I am in. While I am here at college, much of what I eat depends on what is cheap, what is fast, and what is convenient. For instance, most days after class I will stop at Nagel and get something from there. This is on my way back to my room so it is convenient, it takes a couple minutes to get so it is fast, and I can use my meal plan for it so I do not have to spend any additional money on it. However, there are many times where my want for decent and quality food overcomes these factors. I have always loved food and I appreciate food that tastes good. As an example of this yesterday, instead of going to the dining halls for breakfast/lunch, I went with a group of friends to Jelly down Evans. Even though it was out of the way, a little bit more expensive, and wasn't very quick, it was definitely worth it. The food there was so delicious compared to the things that we are served here on campus. So for the most part, during the week I will normally choose to eat somewhere on campus that is cheap and easily accessible, but on the weekends, I tend to eat off campus at least two to three times. I don't think that I would change these practices at all, normally, wherever I go, I tend to have a semi-well-rounded meal that is mostly nutritious.

EE1- Soft America

Americans have started to grow softer and softer. We like to pretend that we are tough and strong, but after taking a look at food values and culture in America, I have come to realize the truth. We live in a society where we eat our feelings, have designated food groups as being “comfort” foods, and have access to food at nearly every street corner. All of this points to a change in how we as Americans value food. It used to be that food was just that, food. But now, it has changed into something much more than that. Food has become an emotional experience. Each meal is different than the last, and with our growing tastes and preferences, we attempt to shape each meal to our specific wants for that day. It is made apparent that food has a very strong connection to emotion through both the examination of food advertisements and the analysis of the setting and atmosphere of various restaurants.

One instance of where we can see America growing softer is in its advertising. Advertising has become an enormous part of our society and has become increasingly necessary due to all of the various products that are now available to consumers. After examining a few food advertisements, I noticed what was most effective in advertising was not sex appeal, it was not humor, and it was not the promise of a better life style, instead, it was raw emotion. According to article out of a scholarly journal, “understanding consumer behavior is critical since food purchases are driven more by human emotion than by a pure physiological need.” (Westphal) Ads that showed the softer side of human nature are beginning to become much more prevalent in American society than just a decade ago. Two ads that do just this were put out by Coca-Cola and Dr. Pepper. The Coca-Cola ad goes through and shows scenarios where people are caught doing kind things by security cameras. This evokes an emotion in people watching this ad that causes them to feel happy for society and maybe believe that some people actually do care about others. This emotion is then connected to the product which will then make people think happy thoughts whenever they see Coca-Cola. The second ad worked in a similar way, but evokes a different emotion. The Dr. Pepper advertisement displays people doing strange things, but emphasizing the fact that everyone is an individual. By examining these ads and even a few others, one can easily see how there is a strong connection between food and emotion, “even in ads that are not selling a food product, the mere mention of food contributes greatly to the emotional idea of the moment and conveys a story” (Westphal) The article gave examples of both AT&T and Procter and Gamble of using food to evoke emotion in their advertisements. All of this is evidence to the idea that food and emotion have become very heavily connected in our society and has played a very larger role in the softening of America. This softening goes even further than just advertising though.

Even when it comes down to the actual eating, Americans need to be completely comfortable to fully enjoy their meal. I discovered this fact on my own, while I was dining out for lunch. When I had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, I observed my surroundings and how people were reacting. According to the article “Generation Y Consumers: Key Restaurant Attributes Affecting Positive and Negative Experiences”, written by Robert J. Harrington, “Atmosphere includes many aspects: cleanliness, odor, lighting, temperature, color, decor, and music”. (Harrington) All of these factors were things that I noticed were spectacular within the Cheesecake Factory. The restaurant was very clean, it was brightly lit, but not too bright, it was a relaxing temperature, it was painted mostly gold and dark yellow, which was very calming in that setting, it was decorated in a contemporary style, and they played modern, yet relaxing music. Even though it was such a fantastic experience, I later found out in the article by Harrington, that in a study done by Beth Chung and Douglass Hoffman, customers are more likely to remember a negative experience of atmosphere in a restaurant rather than a positive experience. (Harrington) One of the most important factors to consider in regards to the atmosphere is the comfort of the seating. The Cheesecake Factory definitely had comfortable seating. They had nice booths with cushioned seats that I was extremely comfortable sitting in. A study done by Julie Baker and Michaelle Cameron in 1996 showed that if seating is uncomfortable, wait times are perceived to be longer. (Harrrington) I completely agree with the findings of that study. Too many times I find myself waiting for a table and either I am forced to stand and wait, or I have to sit on a hard wooden bench. It seems like the wait takes forever. There was none of that at the Cheesecake Factory though. I had a wonderful experience with this meal and I cannot wait until the next time I am able to go there.

Places that have calming music, dim lighting, comfortable seating, and friendly staff members are more likely to leave customers with a pleasing experience. This is in part due to the change in American food culture as well. Eating is no longer just about the consumption of food. Eating is an experience. More often than not, when we eat, it is with people we enjoy and we talk about our days and life in general. The table has become a place of social gathering and a place to reinforce community values. In Americas past, people ate just to eat. They would get their food, sit down on a hard wood chair or a bench, eat their food, and then just go back to the rest of their day. But these values have changed since then. Even in prison, meal time is something special. To the inmates, sitting down and eating their spread with each other is a way to form relationships with the other inmates and could mean the difference between a tough time in prison or not. According to inmate Devon Gray, “sharing spread is a ‘community thing’”. (Cate)

People like to be comfortable in everything they do, especially during meal times. Some food is even prepared around the idea of being comfortable. This growing softness of Americans is not necessarily a bad thing either. It shows that we as a nation have discovered that we like food and we would like to enjoy it as much as possible. Of course you always have your exceptions to the rules, but as a majority, Americans respond most heavily to comfortable experiences in regards to their food. Some people may disagree with this theory that Americans have been growing softer, but the evidence is all out there. You could go to any restaurant and depending on the atmosphere, you will probably be able to determine for yourself the sort of experience the people will have. Though being comfortable is not a bad thing, our necessity to be comfortable may have negative impacts on the future.

Sources

Cate, Sandra. ""Breaking Bread with a Spread" in a San Francisco County Jail." Gastronomica: The Journal             of Food and Culture. 8. (2008): 17-24. Web. 24 Apr. 2013.        <http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/gfc.2008.8.3.17 .>.

Harrington, Robert. "Generation Y Consumers: Key Restaurant Attributes Affecting Positive and Negative                 Experiences." Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research. (2011): n. page. Web. 24 Apr. 2013.

Westphal, Linda. "Food Promotion - Catching the Consumer's Attention." Direct Marketing. (1997): 18. Web. 24 Apr. 2013.

Eating on the Edge

            In his article, Horwitz talks a lot about what we have been discussing all year in class. He really elaborates on how food is becoming an additive to the rest of our daily life and is going away from being an event by itself. This is what he means by “eating on the edge”. He connects this way of eating to the use of cigarettes, or at least the way they used to be. He explains that cigarettes were connected to just about every aspect of daily life. Food is essentially the same way now-a-days. People in general have much busier lives and don’t always have the time to sit down and cook and eat a whole meal. The rise of fast food is a part of this movement. Other examples that Horwitz uses are the creation of Campbell’s Soup at Hand and the creation of the TV dinner. Both of these creations help reinforce Horwitz’s idea of eating on the edge.

            I can relate to what he is trying to convey in this piece in my own life. The part where he talks about how we have the need to eat during everything we do really applied to me today. I called my dad today, but I did not just talk to him, I went to Jimmy Johns and ate my food while I talked to him. It is exactly what Horwitz is talking about. Our culture has become so wrapped up in everything else that we do, that we rarely take the time to just sit and enjoy a meal. If this sort of behavior continues, the future cannot be too great as far as family meal times go. Meals may come to be a thing of the past and may be replaced by on the go meals that may completely eliminate social interaction.

A Day at the Cheesecake Factory

            Going out to eat has become such a routine occurrence for many Americans, and seldom does anybody stop and just observe what is going on. We just go in, eat our food, talk to our company, and leave. This past weekend I went to the Cheesecake Factory at the Park Meadows Mall and took some time to observe my surroundings. Some of the things that I noticed did not surprise me, but other things caught my attention and made me want to look into the subject further.

            When I went to the Cheesecake Factory, it was around 12:30 p.m. on a Friday, so I was there at time. This time and date were very important for some of my observations. Two things that certainly were influenced by this were what was being eaten, and how many people were in each group. Since it was only lunch time, most of the meals that I noticed people were ordering were smaller, less filling dishes, like salads, sandwiches, or appetizers. This also could be due to everyone ordering cheesecake at the end of their meal. They may have just wanted to save room for the best part of the meal. There were a few exceptions to my observations. A few people ordered larger entrees like steak and fish. There weren’t too many people that did this though, since it was lunch time, and normally in our culture, dinner is usually the largest meal of the day. The second factor that was influenced by the time of day was the size of the groups. Most people would come in pairs, but I did see a few groups that looked to be a possible business meeting. The pairs were either a couple or two women; there wasn’t a group of just two men. All in attendance were also about middle aged, with a few elderly couples too. I determined that this could be because it was a weekday and most young people were in school. That also could be the reason why there were no families that all came together.

            I noticed a few other things about the people that were eating there as well. The first was that there really wasn’t too much of a difference between male and female consumers, it was split fairly evenly, with a slight edge to females. The second thing I noticed was that the people were consistently white and seemed to be either middle or upper class. It is no secret that the Cheesecake Factory is not a cheap meal, and the people eating there acknowledged this by dressing nicer than they normally might. Other than white people, there were a handful of Hispanic individuals that were eating there as well. Since everyone was in small groups, they weren’t really doing much else besides eating and talking to each other. Some people were being anti-social and were on their phones, and one person that was alone was working on his computer. This reinforces the idea that eating is not solely about consumption of food, even at a very nice place like the Cheesecake Factory, people are always doing something else besides eating and it is often times a social event.

            One of the most prominent observations I made was about the atmosphere of the restaurant. According to the article “Generation Y Consumers: Key Restaurant Attributes Affecting Positive and Negative Experiences”, written by Robert J. Harrington, “Atmosphere includes many aspects: cleanliness, odor, lighting, temperature, color, decor, and music”. All of these factors were things that I noticed were spectacular within the Cheesecake Factory. The restaurant was very clean, it was brightly lit, but not too bright, it was a relaxing temperature, it was painted mostly gold and dark yellow, which was very calming in that setting, it was decorated in a contemporary style, and they played modern, yet relaxing music. Even though it was such a fantastic experience, I later found out in the article by Harrington, that in a study done by Beth Chung and Douglass Hoffman, customers are more likely to remember a negative experience of atmosphere in a restaurant rather than a positive experience. One of the most important factors to consider in regards to the atmosphere is the comfort of the seating. The Cheesecake Factory definitely had comfortable seating. They had nice booths with cushioned seats that I was extremely comfortable sitting in. A study done by Julie Baker and Michaelle Cameron in 1996 showed that if seating is uncomfortable, wait times are perceived to be longer. I completely agree with the findings of that study. Too many times I find myself waiting for a table and either I am forced to stand and wait, or I have to sit on a hard wooden bench. It seems like the wait takes forever. There was none of that at the Cheesecake Factory though. I had a wonderful experience with this meal and I cannot wait until the next time I am able to go there. 

Ambiance Research

I found an article from the Times of India that did a study on how the setting in a restaurant affects eating habits. They renovated half of a Hardee's in Illinois and had some customers sit in the fine dining half and had others sit in the unchanged part. They then recorded how much food was consumed and how long they ate there for. They thought that more food would be consumed in the fine dining area since they figured the customer would stay there longer. However, they found that even though they stayed in the fine dining area longer, less food was consumer. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-11-15/food-reviews/33498030_1_food-restaurant-fast-atmosphere

Food and Community

Both of these articles by Cate and O’Donnell caused me to once again think about food in a way that I never really considered before. Starting with the Cate article, I was able to see that food plays a very large role in the prison community. It’s not surprising that prison food is not of the highest quality, everybody knows that. What was surprising was how the prisoners dealt with this problem. In prison, the inmates create a substance that they gave the name spread. Spread consists of a base of Ramen Noodles, and then basically whatever else they want to put in the mixture. The inmates get these various foods to experiment with by paying for them. This is one of the ways that food is involved in the community. It shows a sort of social class ranking in the prison, based on who has the best food to contribute to the spread. Food also unites inmates within the prison. Making spread takes lots of teamwork so the inmates must collaborate together to make something that tastes remotely decent. Some inmates use their skill at making spread to make friends and to make sure others have their back in other aspects of prison life. It turns out that spread is a very important part of the prison community.

The article by O’Donnell explained food and community in a different way. Instead of prison, the setting is Shenzhen. O’Donnell explains how food is used as a separation of political ideals. The north predominantly eats cows, so they are considered to be slower than the south, but they are also more honest. Since the government protects the northern cow eaters, the northerners are loyal to the government and are considered to be more socialist. The South on the other hand relies on fish and seafood to eat, and since it takes skill to catch these fish, they are quicker and harder working than the north, but are also sneaky and dishonest. Since the government does not take care of the southerners, they are more capitalist. The article explains how food creates a distinction between older and newer generations.

Both articles go very in depth in displaying the roles that food plays in community. In both articles, there was more than one way that community could be identified by examining the food that they eat. I found the Cate article much more interesting than the O’Donnell article. I was amazed at all of the things that inmates are able to create using simple ingredients and limited resources. The pictures in the article reinforced my opinion, and I was amazed by the way the pie guy was able to make his creations. Both articles were very interesting to read and to learn the way that food can play a role in community.

Emotional Ads

Food has always been a very large part of American culture, but with the introduction of advertisements, it becomes easier to make the connection between the food and American values. The way that advertisements work is by incorporating cultural symbols that the people can associate with, which may lead to a personal connection and may then lead to increased sales of that certain product. These advertisements began as just print ads in the form of flyers or ads in the newspaper or a magazine. However, with the increased usage of TV and the internet, video ads have become much more popular. Two video ads that sparked my interest were video advertisements for soda. One of the ads was for Dr. Pepper and the other was for Coca-Cola.

            The ad for Dr. Pepper was very memorable in the way that it was created. It opens up with a few shots of seemingly ordinary people doing ordinary things. There is song playing in the background, “I Am” by Vinyl Hearts. The song keeps repeating the same lyric throughout the video, and the line strongly portrays the message of the ad. The line says “I am one in a billion; I am the only one that I can be, and that is something beautiful”. After the shots of seemingly ordinary people, there is a shot of a woman drinking a Dr. Pepper. After that shot, the music picks up a little bit and then there are shots of people doing unique and interesting things. In each shot of people doing unique things, there is an added symbol of “/1” under each person. The video explains that this is meant to symbolize that everyone is one out of one person, conveying the uniqueness of individuals. The entire message of the ad is to convey uniqueness and how people are unique and so is Dr. Pepper. The slogan at the end of the ad says “Always one of a kind”. The strongest rhetorical device used in this ad is pathos. There is a very strong appeal to emotion in the ad. Even the song in the background creates an emotional connection with the song stating that we are one in a billion and that that is beautiful. Depending on your perspective, you could say that there is a sort of logos in the ad. After the shot of the woman drinking Dr. Pepper, people start to do incredible things, perhaps leading some people to believe that drinking Dr. Pepper will cause you to do amazing things. It is not likely that this is the perception, but it is possible. This advertisement is most likely directed towards just about anyone, but more specifically to people that feel different than everyone else. It appeals to them by telling them that being different and unique is a good thing. I think this says a lot about American culture. Many people nowadays feel the need to conform to the social norm and a lot of people are afraid to break out of these norms. This commercial is enforcing the idea that it is okay to be different and unique, and even that being different is preferred.

            The Coca-Cola ad is very similar in many ways. This ad also opens up with music, this time the song is “Give A Little Bit” by Roger Hodgson. The ad opens up with shots of various security cameras, a prelude to what is to be seen. The entire premise of the video is catching people on security cameras who are doing kind things instead of bad things. It catches people doing things like dancing crazily, helping people in need, protesting peacefully, and then finally at the end it shows someone sharing a Coke with someone. This ad works similarly to the Dr. Pepper ad in that it creates a very strong pathos. This ad shows that there are still kind and decent people left in the world, even with all of the bad that is going on. Even reading the YouTube comments for the video, people say things like “Faith in humanity is restored”. This video does a very good job of being memorable as well as inspiring. The catchy song as well as interesting footage is sure to make people remember the ad. The ad may also inspire people to do kind things for people instead of maybe just ignoring them on the street. This video tries to enforce the idea that a little bit can go a long way in making someone’s day. There is a sort of extension for this ad that doesn’t use security camera footage, but it still shows people doing very kind things for random strangers. This video ad seems to be made for the general public and seems to appeal to them through emotion. It wants people to go out and do similar acts of kindness for other people similar to the things in the video. At the end it all connects it back to Coke when they first show someone sharing a Coke with someone else, and then shows the Coke logo and says “Open Happiness”, conveying the message that by drinking Coke, one will do nice things for other people and will then be happy. 

Freedman and Jurafsky Reaction

The piece by Freedman and Jurafsky was very interesting for me. I don’t think that I have ever thought about advertising in this sort of way. The way that everything was so precise and scientific was astonishing. Normally, when I think of advertising, I think of things like audience and color scheme. I would never imagine encountering linear regression when analyzing advertisements.

Methods aside, there was a very strong connection made between food, language and culture. The authors demonstrated with scientific evidence that food is advertised differently using different language to different social classes. They were able to determine the type of language and persuasive arguments for bags of potato chips based on the price of the chips. They explain that chips that are directed towards a higher class of people use more complex phrasing and use different persuasive techniques than those directed towards a lower class. The more expensive chips specifically use negative expressions and comparison to tell the consumer that their product is superior. They also make sure to say how their product is different and unique.

 I found the most interesting part about this piece to be the use of science and statistics to analyze the advertising techniques of different potato chip brands. It was very intriguing to see the use of the Flesch-Kincaid system to determine the complexity of sentences on each bag, along with the sheer number of words that were on the bag. The researchers went very in depth with their investigation of these potato chip bags to determine the relationship between food and language.

Another area that could be worth studying in a similar fashion would be cereal. Cereal is definitely a food that has many different advertisement strategies. I believe that “sugary” cereals would use simple language and be directed more towards children, while some healthier cereals may use some of the complex language that was found in the expensive brands of potato chips. Though there are only a few different companies that make cereal, each company may have a different advertisement strategy for different types of cereal. Overall, I think that looking at food and advertising from this point of view is a very unique way of analyzing the packaging. 

Growing Up In Wisconsin

Growing up in Wisconsin, I have been exposed to very many different types of food. The most prevalent food, and perhaps the stereotypical food of Wisconsin, is the dairy group. Wisconsin isn’t called the dairy state for nothing. Food products probably account for a large portion of the state’s productivity, and at the top of that list is dairy. There are countless numbers of dairy farms across Wisconsin. My aunt and uncle used to own a dairy farm, and I often visited it and was introduced to their large number of animals, especially the cows. Nearly every elementary and middle school is Wisconsin has at some point taken a field trip to a farm or dairy factory and has learned the process of creating both milk and cheese. The bottom line is that food is a huge part of Wisconsin culture and during my time in the state, I fully embraced that culture.

            Dairy was a staple in my diet during the first 18 years of my life. From cheese and milk, to yogurt and ice cream, there was rarely a day that passed that I did not consume some sort of dairy product. If I had to pick my favorite dairy product it would for sure be ice cream/custard. Ice Cream is my go to dessert and could definitely be considered a comfort food. When doing word association’s ice cream came to mind when I thought of both myself and happiness. In class when I had to choose a food that I could be, I would be ice cream due to the fact that it is delicious, there are so many different types of ice cream, and just about everybody loves it. Ice cream is easily my favorite food. I cannot think of a single time that I have turned down an offer of ice cream. Before coming to Denver, I worked at a restaurant that served custard and after almost every shift I worked, I was able to take home a free pint of custard. To say the least, it made the job so much better. Those were the best nights, when I was able to take home some free custard. A few nights, I would just put the pint in the freezer for another day, but more often than not, I would put on a movie, and eat the entire pint. You see, when it comes to custard, it is so much better when not completely frozen. When it is “fresh” it is smooth and creamy and tastes a little bit like heaven. The best nights were when I would take home either chocolate chip cookie dough, cherry chocolate chip, or brownie thunder, a flavor that included brownie chunks, vanilla custard, and caramel, three of my favorite things.

            Not only is ice cream very delicious, but the fact that I am able to eat it is amazing. From birth, doctors believed that I was allergic to many things, including dairy products, which would have put a real damper on my dietary habits. However, a trip to a specialized hospital in Denver changed everything. It was here that I found that I would be able to eat nearly anything I wanted, which was great news. One of the first things I did when I discovered I was able to eat all dairy products was to get a nice big bowl of ice cream. I’ll never forget that meal. We went to a restaurant downtown Denver, somewhere on 16^th st. I can’t recall the name of the place, since I was only 6, but I can recall the meal very well. I went out and got a huge steak (or at least I thought it was big when I six). The meal came with mashed potatoes, another one of my favorite foods, and a big glass of chocolate milk. This was my first recollection of being able to drink chocolate milk, and as far as I remember, it was delicious. To finish it all off, I ordered a bowl of ice cream. The ice cream came with chocolate sauce and rainbow colored sprinkles. It was delicious. It may have been just an ordinary bowl of ice cream, but the experience was incredible. It was my first memory of eating ice cream and it stuck with me forever. Ice cream has been a huge part of my life and has really affected me in so many aspects of my life.

Classmate observations

After viewing a few of my classmates posts about their most recent meal, I came to a few conclusions. The first and most defining conclusion was that most everybody does not enjoy the food on campus. The posts either talked about how unsatisfying their meal on campus was or how lucky they were to be eating a decent meal that was not on campus. I can identify with these feelings because I often find myself struggling for something decent to eat in the campus dining halls. A second observation that I was able to make was that meal times are one of the best times to interact with those around you.Whether they were family or friends, most posts discussed how meal times were a great place to catch up with your friends or family and talk about what's new in life.

Connections with Food

Before reading these two pieces, I had not realized how much of a connection some people had with food, but after thinking about it for a little bit, I realized that I too had a connection with food. Both Ahn and Nicholson had connections to food that stemmed from their parents. Nicholson’s connection was between white food and his mother and whenever he consumed white food, it reminded him of her. Ahn on the other hand had a connection with Korean food that reminded him of his roots. For Nicholson the white food helped him to remember his late mother as well as his cultural background. He associated this food with his time growing up in England and he remembered all the food he ate growing up as a child. He also made the connection to the time after his father passed away when his mother increased her consumption of white food. This was similar for Ahn’s connection with food. There was a very heavy cultural significance for Ahn. He observed his Korean origins whenever he ate Korean food. Though around other people he did not observe his cultural background, when he was in his home, he immersed himself in it, observing his mother while she cooked, and enjoying everything that she would make. As an adult, he came to understand the significance of remembering his roots when he had his own child. As I said before, I did not think that I had much of a connection with food, however when I think about it, food has always been a very important part of my life. As a child, doctors told me that I was allergic to nearly every food. However I later found out that this wasn’t the case and that I was only allergic to peanuts. This gives me a reason to value food and to really appreciate it having experienced life without it. Then as I grew up, my dream job was to be a chef, and though that dream died off, I continued to work in food service. I enjoy these jobs because I love food and loving the feeling of creating a food masterpiece that I can look at and just be proud of. So when I look back on my life, I can really see that food has had a very large impact on my life.

My Most Recent Meal

My most recent meal was breakfast this morning. I ate at about 9:20 so I had time to eat before my 10 o'clock class. I ate over at Nelson Hall for this meal. I ate this meal with my room mate and my friend from across the hall. When I got into the kitchen area, I realized that the selections were not that great. Normally I have some sort of potato, meat, and then pancakes or something. However, today the pancakes looked dry and hard, and the meat was turkey sausage patties, so I didn't get either of those. I got a few scoops of tater tots and then a bowl of strawberry banana yogurt. My friends both got omelets, which was a much better choice, but I don't really like eggs all that much. I then saw that one of the kitchen ladies was making strawberry smoothies, so I took one of those as well. I soon found out the smoothies were not that good because they were very watered down. To fix this, I took some of my yogurt and added it to the smoothie. After that, it tasted much better. The rest of the meal was very uneventful and was in no way remarkable. I really hope that breakfast tomorrow will be better.