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.