EE1.
Leake
Ben
Massey
4/30/12
Each culture
possesses distinctness that makes it unique, these attributes can be seen in all
aspects of society from styles of dress to religion to food. American culture
is unique in its own ways and the average American diet is reflective of our
food culture and how we interact with food. “Currently processed food sold in
supermarkets takes up 80% of retail sales in the United States” (Regmi, and Gehlhar). Processed food
is any food item that has been altered from its natural state; in many cases
for preservation or safety reasons. The opposite of processed food would be
local produce or meat taken straight from the farm to the dinner table, also
known as local or primary food. Processed food has become so widely available
today that many people do not see the distinction and assume that the only type
of nourishment is what is available on the grocery store shelf. There has been
a reversal of the roles processed food and primary food play in American diets,
processed food is now the norm while local food has become decentralized and
even foreign to many American consumers. There are detriments to the
overwhelming presence of processed foods in American diets, especially
environmental and health impacts. This
relatively new view of food reflects American food values such as convenience
and affordability. As processed food has grown into its current market share,
American food culture has changed as well.
Food processing
has been around for centuries. As soon as humans discovered agriculture and
began keeping livestock, extra food became a commodity. Keeping this surplus from
spoiling became very important. People have used salt to preserve meat for
thousands of years; preservation of food was one of the key skills required for
nomadic tribes to become stationary villages and towns. Up until the industrial
revolution primary food, food consumed directly from the land or animal, was
the most important source of nourishment around the world. That changed in the
19th and 20th centuries. In America the first house hold
refrigerators rolled off production lines in 1913 (National Academy of
Engineering 2012). This was key for the expansion of preserved food into the
mass market. In the 1960s the “TV dinner” was introduced to Americans, for the
first time dinner could be made with just a microwave in less than five minutes.
The 20th century also saw the advent of supermarkets across the county. These
stores are now the base of American’s food needs and can be found in almost
every town across the country. They made access to a variety of foods easier
than ever, increasing ease and convenience and playing to American cultural
values.
Processed food
has a large environmental impact as well. Raw ingredients must be transported
to processing facilities and then to stores across the nation. This is
accomplished primarily through the use of fossil fuels. A Carnegie Mellon study
was conducted in 2008 to study the climate impacts of American food sources, they
estimated, “the average household’s climate impacts related to food to be
around 8.1 t CO2e/yr”(tons of CO2 emissions per year)(Weber, and Matthews ). Much
of this footprint was attributed to the production plants where raw ingredients
like corn become Frosted Flakes and other
familiar products.
With the advent
of processed food across much of the developed world there are both benefits
and detriments that we now take for granted in America. First and foremost
processed food allowed the expansion of cities into suburbs by provided
preserved food that can be eaten miles away from its source. Many places in
America would be uninhabitable if food were not driven in from around the
country. These benefits were driven by the food industry’s business model of
feeding as many people as much food as possible. Shelves across the country are
overflowing with food; many perishables are displayed and then thrown away if
they expire before being sold. Preservatives
have also brought previously unavailable food items into new markets. For
example, seafood can be found in every state even though only a handful have
access to the world’s oceans. American’s have developed an attitude of “I can
have it all” that is spurred on by marketers. Processed food is a manifest of
this attitude. You can have seafood from Alaska and meat from the Midwest, even
if you don’t live next to the sea or a cattle prairie. “Global trade in processed
food grew rapidly during the 1970s and 1980s, as consumers in high-income
countries demanded more foreign food products” (Regmi, and Gehlhar). These products were brought to American
consumers through an explosion of supermarkets across the country during the 2nd
half on the 20th century. As soon as consumers realized foreign
products were readily available to them, demand exploded.
If you look on
the supermarket shelves today they are stocked full food proclaiming
self-value. If you look even more closely at the packaging, words like big,
best, and more, jump out at you. This has become the norm in marketing food to
Americans as our food culture has shifted to value “bigger” and “more”. By
processing raw ingredients the food industry can create products that cater to
these values at the cheapest price possible. This occurs through the addition
of synthetic ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup. By engineering new
chemicals that produce different tastes a product can be the “spiciest” or the
“sweetest” on the shelf. It is in fact a loop of circular logic; marketers sell
us the idea that bigger is better and then create newer and newer products that
cater to this belief. In many cases these new products have been shown to have
negative health effects.
One of the most
apparent effects of processed food is the growing obesity rates among Americans.
Data from the
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey indicate that 35.7% of adults
are obese (Ogden, Carroll, and et al). Processed
food has increased the choices available to consumers as well as increasing the
convenience of obtaining food. Today
food is more available and affordable than ever before, this increase combined
with a lack of nutritional education has led to the highest obesity rates the
United States has even seen. As a culture we have gravitated away from the idea
of a meal and more towards “eating on the edge" a term coin by the author
Jamie Horwitz to describe “occasions when food is an additive to a situation,
such as a cigarette would be, rather than being definitive” (Horwitz 42).
Instead of wholesome meals we consume processed snacks multiple times a day. It
is so easy for many American’s because they readily available to us. In terms
of food culture our obsession with easy and convenient meals has proved to be
unhealthy in the long run. Yet despite the evidence against processed food we
stick to our firmly entrenched values and keep eating it. Processed foods can
cause more harm than just obesity, in a study published by the journal Clinical Epigenics scientists found a
possible link between synthetic additives such as high fructose corn syrup and
increasing rates of autism (Dufault,
Lukiw, et al ). As a culture we now pursue easy and convenient meals at the
expense of our health.
Less than 200 years ago Americans got much
of their food from local sources. Grain and meat were cultivated in each town
and cities relied on satellite fields to feed their population. There was a
cultural ethic that valued a connection to the earth. Each farmer cared for his
fields and sold his grain to the town. When you bought a bag of corn in
colonial America you knew it either came from a nearby field or it was spoiled.
Today you would be hard pressed to find any local items in your supermarket.
This change has led to our desensitization towards the environment as our food
source becomes less and less apparent. If you ask the average American child
where their food comes from most of them would answer, the grocery store, not
even considering the fact that it had to be grown and processed somewhere else.
We are more inclined to preserve our land when we gather food from it every
season. American culture is pulling farther away from the source of our food
and as a product we are losing our connection to the earth.
Like it or not processed food is the only
choice for many Americans. However there are farmers markets in many towns
along with other options to buy local food. Despite the obvious health effects,
environmental impact and a loss of connection to the earth many people choose
processed food over local meat and produce. Our diet is reflective of many
societal aspects; American’s obsession with fast and convenient food, disregard
for our health, and a need to have whatever we want when we want. What is
needed is a reformation back to local sources for nourishment. It won’t be as
easy as driving to Safeway to get groceries with a transition back to primary
sources. Many of the foods we love and take for granted wouldn’t be available
ether, but in the long run we would benefit as a society and individuals. Already
community gardens and community supported agriculture programs are gaining
traction as an alternative to processed food. Not only would Americans be
healthier but we would regain a connection to the earth that seems to have been
lost over the past century.
Sources
National Academy of Engineering, . "Air Conditioning and
Refrigeration History - part 3." Great
Achievement. n. page. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. <http://www.greatachievements.org/?id=3862>.
Dufault, Renee, Walter Lukiw, et al. "A macroepigenetic
approach to identify factors responsible for the autism epidemic in the United
States." Clinical
Epigenics. n. page. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. <http://www.clinicalepigeneticsjournal.com/content/4/1/6/abstract>.
Ogden, Ph.D., Cynthia L, Margaret D. Carroll, M.S.P.H, et al.
"Prevalence of Obesity in the United States, 2009–2010." NCHS Data Brief No. 82 January 2012.
(2012): n. page. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db82.pdf
Regmi , Anita , and Mark Gehlhar. "Processed Food Trade
Pressured by Evolving Global Supply Chains."Amber Waves; USDA. n.
page. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. <http://www.ers.usda.gov/amberwaves/february05/features/ProcessedFood.htm>.
Horwitz, Jamie . "Eating at the Edge." Gastronomic. 9. (2009): 42-47.
Web. 24 Apr. 2012.
<http://blackboard.du.edu/bbcswebdav/courses/2017.201230/Eating at the Edge
- Horwitz.pdf>.
Weber, Christopher L., and H. Scott Matthews.
"Food-Miles and the Relative Climate Impacts of Food Choices in the United
States." Environmental
Science and Technology .
42.3508–3513 n. page. Web. 30 Apr. 2012.
<http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es702969f>.
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