I don't think I've ever dedicated as much time and thought to food as I have in the last month since I started this course. It seems like our lives revolve around food... or do they? Traditionally this was probably the case. When I think of a traditional lifestyle I think of my parents and grandparents. They always talk about how things used to be and how simple life was. Families gathered two or three times a day to cook a good meal. The woman of the house prepared this tasty meal and often the children were forced to help while their father came home from a long day at work (dinner). Once the father returned home and dinner was ready, everyone gathered around the table, said a prayer thanking God for what they had, and then enjoyed the wonderful meal. If you were a child, you hoped you liked what was for dinner because otherwise you would be force-fed or otherwise left hungry. So what do we have now? I'll compare the traditional style of dinner to what was a typical evening for me this summer. I would work all day until about 5:30 - 6:00, then I would call my friends and go out. We would go to someone's house, what would be the first thing we would do? We would find something to eat. However, we weren't the ones who really put in the effort; we go a couple miles down the road to a Wendy's or McDonald's. Why should we do this and why do the majority of people in the United States also choose this option? Well, the reasons are different, but I think it all boils down to one thing. Convenience. It's really easy to drive your car into the drive through, order a meal, and pay a minimal amount for a "seemingly large" portion of food. However, after the first part of this semester between class discussion and reading Michael Pollan's The Omnivores Dilemma and the documentaries Fat Sick and Nearly Dead 1 and 2, Forks over Knives and Spinning Plates, we can see that there are huge flaws in our food system as a nation right now. Over the course of watching these documentaries, reading and taking classes I have learned to look at what I eat in a completely different way because of them and in this article I will explain why. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay I remember the times when I was in middle school and high school, watching documentaries about food and how food was bad and whatnot, but at the time I was probably just too young and immature to really care about what they were saying. When I watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead 1 and 2 (for the purposes of this article I will consider both films as one message), I would definitely say that it is not the traditional family dinner that I talked about in the introduction to this document . Joe Cross takes things to the extreme. However, throughout the film, he explains very well why the food we eat every day isn't all that great for us. This part of the film goes very hand in hand with Michael Pollan's book which I will talk about soon. What the film does really well is give the audience a likable main character, someone they can relate to. I know personally that I'm not in terrible shape, but this movie even made me consider trying this new, healthier lifestyle. Obviously I wouldn't go as hardcore as Joe Cross did because that would be counterproductive for me. Joe Cross is almost trying to "sell you a product" in a way. Its product is to get people to eat strictly whole, mostly plant-based foods. It seems simple in theory, however in the new world we live in, it has become an effort to eat healthier, but thingsthey may slowly start to improve. The next documentary I watched was Forks over Knives. This movie brought out a new concept that I had never heard of before. This film explained that animal-based proteins, no matter whether they were organic or not, were leading to the obesity problem in the United States. This was quite alarming. It seems like virtually every meal I eat contains some sort of meat product. However, after watching it for a while, I became less and less convinced. Humans are meant for both meat and vegetables, so when the movie suggests eating only whole-food, plant-based diets, I lost interest. Yes, Joe Cross had more or less the same message, but I didn't have a good impression of Forks over Knives. Maybe it was the fact that it lacked a main character like Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, or maybe I was just tired of hearing the same message three times in a row. In any case, that movie wasn't for me. Now I would like to talk about the most important film, The Omnivore's Dilemma. This book seems to provide an overview of our entire food system in a way that is relatively easy to understand. I don't think I've ever heard the word corn said so many times in such a short time. But that's the point. Our food is almost all corn, in one form or another. The farm raised chemical-rich corn. From an ice cold Coke, to cereal, to the steak on the dining room table (oh yeah, who does that?… eat at the table) every day the majority of what people consume contains corn. Pollan describes everything from how corn is grown with artificial enhancers and antibiotics to the politics surrounding it and government subsidies to keep the price low. I think it's a little sad that farmers can grow thousands and thousands of acres of corn (with nothing else) and barely survive. This is because the government wants to keep the price of corn low so that food products remain low. It is so low that the government has to pay subsidies to keep farmers afloat. Nonetheless, farmers continue to produce more and more corn to the point that we almost have too much of it, so we have to find something to do with it. So on the one hand we want to help farmers and allow them to get more money for their products, but on the other hand consumers don't want to pay more for their Big Mac. So what's the solution? In the third part of Pollan's book he has an adventure. He goes to the polyface farm just outside of Washington DC. What he discovers is a totally different lifestyle. It's not the hustle and bustle of the new world that most people live in today. The multifaceted farm is still very true to the traditional lifestyle. The food they ate did not come from thousands of miles away and was not frozen to preserve it. No, it was harvested directly from the plant and brought directly to the table. The chicken was butchered and taken straight to the oven. Pollan explains his personal experience working on the farm and living the life they live. From what you describe, it really is a whole other world. The concept of working for your food is very different. Instead of working in an office all day munching on Cheetos, multifaceted farmers are leading the efficient cycle of how a real farm should work. I find it intriguing that a place like Polyface Farm can still exist. The owner even says he isn't allowed to slaughter his own cows because the USDA won't let him. The only reason I can understand why a place like polyface farm can still exist is because of books and documentaries like these that we as a classwe looked. It's the knowledge of what's happening in our food system today that puts people off and draws them to the whole food market, and I think more and more people are becoming aware. But food companies are no dummies. Organic food is a relatively new thing and is not a mistake. Food companies realized that people were starting to understand their way of doing things, so they launched something new by advertising it as healthier for you. This is partly true since organic foods contain no chemicals and everything except the word organic is simply a legal term and there are many ways around it. Farmers are happy to do what the public wants, but they still have to earn money. So what is the result? The cost of organic food is more expensive. And then, not only that, but you have to prepare a meal yourself. So much effort right? That's the problem. However, as more and more people become informed about how the food we eat every day is prepared, I believe people will decide to try “organic” foods and we may eventually move away from processed foods and appreciate more whole foods. Not all whole meals need to be prepared at home. Restaurants have also noticed the trend of people adopting a whole foods diet. There are now many smaller places, especially in cities, where people can go to get a quote for higher quality food. Whole foods are slowly becoming more accessible, and as that happens, I think we'll see the price barrier start to reduce as well. So maybe whole foods really are the way of the future. I decided to try it myself (plus it was a chore to eat, I could resist). I was going to make a nice steak dinner. However, it wouldn't be just any steak. This steak would have been a premium cut. Where I found it was on the local farm down the road from my dad's house called Kelly Bros. Farm. They raise mainly beef and dairy cows, but the great thing is that all of his cows are free range and graze in the summer on the many grass fields Mr Kelly owns. So I drove down the road and talked to him. He had a thick Maine accent, but he seemed like one of those people you'd call one of the "good ol' boys." However I asked for one of his better cuts and he recommended the sirloin cut, so I got it. It was $20 but honestly it didn't seem that bad. Sure it's not the cheapest but I thought it would be good enough. It was also quite easy to feed two if not three. Secondly, while I was there I asked for some of his fresh whole milk. He said to wait and a minute later he came out with a fresh bottle of milk. He told me to make sure I put it in the fridge right away and I did. Next I needed to get some corn. I decided to go to Hannaford just for this, however as I was driving to pick it up I saw this little farmers market so I decided to stop. They had some sweet corn from this little place in Nobleborrow called Spears Agricultural Farm. This little farm has 100 acres of corn and it's all hand harvested! I thought it was really amazing for so many acres. They also had some fresh potatoes from some farm but I don't remember where from. However, I didn't have to go to Hannaford anymore so I turned around and went home. Shortly after my arrival my father returned home. So I turned on the grill and let it heat up. I got some steak jam out of the cupboard. I have no idea what it's made of, but it was spices, so I figured it wasn't a big deal. At the same time I put the potatoes in the microwave.