Tuesday, January 14, 2014

What to eat?

The Omnivore's Dilemma, written by Michael Pollan, is an eye-opener. I definitely was unsure of what the title itself was referring to. However, it became more apparent once I started reading, realizing that it had to do with what Americans eat and how they choose what they eat. As we can see, the dilemma itself is usually, "What should we eat today?"

Because there are so many things to choose from, it may be hard to choose something ultimately healthy. I have noticed that in my own family, when the parents aren't around, my siblings and I usually go out for something like fast food or something that isn't the healthiest choice. I find it interesting how Americans tend to eat unhealthy by default - something pointed out in Pollan's book. He mentions how we need government help in order to make healthy decisions when it comes to food, which is pretty ridiculous if you ask me. Food is one of the main things in our life, what keeps us alive and what we need to watch and monitor. However, people seem to not care too much as they continue their unhealthy lifestyles.

Something I found interesting which I had not thought much of before is the fact that Americans do not have a set traditional meal or cultural food that I can think of. Hot dogs? Not really your authentic meal if you ask me. Instead, the United States seem to have such a huge variety of foods that they have actually lost what their original meals are.

I find it interesting to read on how we eat since we usually don't think much of it when we do fill our plate and stuff our mouths. I'm looking forward to this book and hope it will be a good read despite how different it is from past works I've read.

3 comments:

  1. I can definitely relate to the part where you say Americans tend to eat unhealthy by default. In my very first blog post, I discussed how hard it was for me to fight the urge to choose a simple, unhealthy meal vs. a healthy one.

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  2. I am curious to learn what you think of the different arguments of his book!

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  3. I will agree with you, I think it is ridiculous that we need the government in order to make health choices. I think that people rely on the government too much, just my opinion. Maybe the reason why America doesn't have a set traditional meal is because we are considered the melting pot country. Our ancestors have brought over their customs, traditions, beliefs, and recipes.

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