P9

Kerry dePenaloza

Prof. Leake

Writ 1133

19 May 2013

P9

In the essays written by Michael Pollan and Melanie Dupuis, they both focus their attention on the food trends that have been present throughout history.  For example, in Melanie Dupuis’ article, “Angels and Vegetables: A Brief History of Food Advice in America,” she talks a lot about food trends in terms of slavery, religion, the Civil War, WWI.  Each example really shows how the food trends have changed significantly over time.

  As well as talking about past food trends, another big focus in both essays are what a good solution would be for the current food trends that are unhealthy and are just bad eating habits.  For example, in Michael Pollan’s essay, “Unhappy Meals,” he makes note of the modern eating habits and how bad the food is for the consumer than it use to be in the past.  He talks about eating habits that claim to be healthy and in fact are not, such as some of the bogus diets that are out there today.  Pollan puts a lot of emphasis on the amount of food people eat in the present day.  He talks about how what someone eats is important, but even more important is the amount of food that person eats.  

After reading both essays, I was able to relate them to a contemporary food issue that affects us whether we know it or not.  In fact the essays made me think of two big issues that relate to how much or how little we eat.  Americans eat a lot of food and sometimes it is very unhealthy food.  Part of the problem is that we are always given large portions of food rather than the right amount.  Consequently, some Americans do not eat enough.  There are so many products on the market now that promise the results that are only achievable through proper food intact and proper exercise.  It is not physically possible to take a pill twice a day and get the desire results.  Both Pollan and Dupuis do a good job of backing up their arguments with examples as well as making valid points on food trends of the past and present.