P6: Our National Eating Disorder

In his article “Our National Eating Disorder,” Michael Pollan addresses the skewed attitudes that Americans have toward food. He characterizes our ‘eating disorder’ as an obsession with what’s in food, how many calories it has, etc., rather than on the actual taste of the food. We go through fad diets, like the no-carb phenomenon Pollan mentioned in the article, during which restaurants, consumers, and producers completely change the foods that are eaten or offered. We do this readily and a new fad is always replacing the old one, spurred by governmental regulations, new studies, or simply an obscure trend. The most interesting part of the article is Pollan’s analysis of American eating habits as compared to those of the French. French people eat cheese, drink wine, and are generally less health-conscious about their food than Americans, preferring instead to eat or drink for the company of family and friends and the simple pleasure of eating good food. But yet, the French are healthier and thinner overall than their calorie-counting American counterparts. Pollan traces this difference to a very different set of food values between the two populations. The French rarely eat alone, and they have long, communal meals that are just as much a social time to catch up with loved ones as they are a time to have their beloved wine and cheese. He also notes that the French don’t snack, eat small portions, and don’t have second helpings. Americans, on the other hand, may be conscious of the fact that excess fat or carbs are unhealthy, but that doesn’t stop them from eating them, usually in excess, and feeling guilty about it afterwards. Pollan even states that many Americans go to the gym simply to justify eating more.

This article was especially engaging because it made me realize that most of us, including myself, have this American eating disorder, whether we realize it or not. It’s not really our fault on a personal level as much as it is an ingrained cultural value. For example, if a restaurant has the number of calories in each dish printed next to their names on the menu, I’m more likely to go for a lower calorie option than the decadent dish that actually sounds the best to me, because knowing just how bad it is nutritionally makes me feel guilty. I also tend to justify my unhealthier food choices by rationalizing that I went to the gym earlier in the day, so therefore it must be okay. Pollan’s analysis was very thought-provoking, and to me, a life where taste trumps calorie or carb counts sounds pretty great.

4/29 In-Class Post: How Do We Decide What To Eat?

For me, choosing what to eat is primarily based on convenience, and fitting eating into my busy life. For instance, today, I had class straight from 10-2, and have to go to straight to work after class, so I grabbed a sandwich from the a la carte in Olin that I ate in my next class. This is a fairly common occurrence, because for the most part, I don't have time to have a sit-down meal, so it's much more common for me to be eating in class, while driving, or sometimes while doing homework. I try to eat fairly healthy, which isn't the easiest thing on meal plan, but I am conscious of what I eat, what I've already eaten in the day, and of trying to maintain a balanced diet. In terms of changing my eating habits, the main thing is probably the constant rushed eating. I eat because of the physiological need to do so, not to actually enjoy it. So, if I were to change anything about the way I eat, it would be by making an effort to taste and enjoy my food, using mealtimes as a little bit of a break, rather than scarfing down a sandwich as I try to take notes in calculus.

EE1 draft

It’s no secret that Americans like fast. Our society is arguably one of the most fast-paced in the world, with instantaneous connections to others via text or email, high-speed transit, and perhaps most famously, fast food. Our streets are lined with drive-thru restaurants and our store shelves stocked with microwavable meals and portable snacks.  While fast food is certainly not a phenomenon limited to the United States, there is a definitive cultural value that’s reflected in our penchant for all things fast, and that’s convenience. We’ve also experienced a general shift away from traditional practices surrounding food, such as eating at conventional mealtimes, places, or the concept of the family table. These factors are all indicative of a larger trend in which food is becoming an afterthought, an accompaniment to another activity, and not, as it has been in the past, an event.

            The transition into a fast food culture has been a relatively recent one.  Just a few short decades ago, the idyllic American household with a mother who had dinner ready at the same time every night was the norm. In fact, the first McDonald’s drive-through was not opened until 1975. Interestingly enough, the drive-through was not simply a convenience feature, it was actually installed to allow soldiers from a nearby military base who were not permitted to leave their vehicles in their fatigues to eat McDonald’s (McDonald’s). As more and more businesses introduced drive-throughs, the focus quickly shifted to convenience for civilians, and now even liquor stores come in a convenient drive-through format. The countertop microwave, one of our essential instruments for heating easy food, didn’t become popular until the 1970s (Nut). It’s no coincidence that the personal computer and cellular phone industries, too, boomed in the late 1970’s (PBS). It was a period of rapid growth and expansion in all sectors.  No industry is safe from the ever-present American desire for innovation, and this is exactly what happened to our food as the technology developed to make it possible.

            The growth of convenience food industries has not stopped since those pivotal years in the 1970’s. 24 hour drive-thru restaurants are now quite common, so a consumer doesn’t have to stick to traditional mealtimes and can have a Big Mac at 2 AM if they desire. Vending machines in airports and microwaves in dorm rooms leave the consumer with the ultimate power to decide when and where they eat, not constrained by business hours. This has led to a phenomenon that Jamie Horwitz describes as “eating on the edge,” meaning that “food is an additive to a situation, such as a cigarette would be, rather than being definitive” (Horwitz 42). What this means is that meals at a traditional time around a traditional table are becoming increasingly rare. Recent statistics reflect that nearly half of American families sit down and eat a meal together less than three times a week, and one third report that the TV is always on during these meals (CBS). It stands to reason that if a family isn’t eating together, they’re all off doing something individually, supporting Horwitz’s hypothesis that food is an accessory to another activity. Even eating in front of the TV is a great example of ‘eating on the edge.’ The workplace exemplifies the lack of a defined mealtime, too. A 2012 survey found that 65% of American workers eat their lunch at their desks while working or don’t take a lunch break at all (Muhammed). They work through lunch to get more done or to be able to go home earlier. Driving down any busy street will more than likely reveal people eating in their cars, using the time required to get where they’re going to also accomplish the task of eating. All of these examples point to a conclusion that to modern Americans, eating is more of a chore than an enjoyable experience. Most people do not have time in their day to sit down exclusively for the purpose of eating, so it’s added on to another activity. This is not to say that traditional meals are not still valued, though, they’re just increasingly saved for special occasions like holidays, when we sit down with friends and family and enjoy the food and one another’s company. On a day-to-day basis, however, Americans have decided, as a culture, that our responsibilities and tasks are more important dedications of our time than food, and we have more than enough convenient products and restaurants at our disposal to make that easy to do.

            It’s interesting to note that this is a characteristically American experience. Most European countries still place a high value on family meals, even though they, for the most part, have the same technologies that we do. In fact, on the International Space Station, where astronauts from multiple countries live and work together, it was observed that more American crew members preferred to eat alone, while working at a computer or doing something else, as compared to their European counterparts, who had a greater tendency to sit together to eat a meal. American astronauts did, however, like their earthly counterparts, eat meals together for special occasions like the boarding of a new crew member (Horwitz 44). This reflects a difference in cultural values as a whole. European societies tend to be more slow-paced, with more emphasis on family time, especially at meals. Dinnertime is an event, often with multiple courses, sipping of wine, and chatting with family and friends.

P5: Eating on the Edge

In her article “Eating at the Edge,” Jamie Horwitz explains the concept of ‘eating on the edge’- the ever-developing phenomenon of food being consumed “as an additive to a situation…rather than definitive.” She argues that there is a movement away from eating at pre-set times or places toward convenience food, things that people can easily grab and eat on the go. Horwitz emphasizes that our changing lifestyles are what fuels this change in food and the way it’s eaten. Our society is increasingly becoming more and more fast-paced. We can get places faster, contact people faster, and with the integration of technology for almost any need, are generally more efficient. She uses the example of soup, a food that once required a stove and a pan to cook as well as a bowl and utensil to eat. Now, Campbell’s produces a microwaveable soup container, shaped so that it can be drank straight out of the container. She also emphasizes how the greater flexibility in eating is useful to international businessmen and travelers, among others. To summarize the article through the lens of what we’ve been discussing in class, I would say this: The trend of on-the-go, convenient food replacing meals in set times and places reflects the changing food values of the United States as a whole. We value convenience over anything else about food, which explains why sitting down to eat with family and friends feels like a special occasion.

This article led me to some interesting thoughts about my own life and how I can relate to ‘eating on the edge.’ As someone who balances being a full-time student with a job to pay for said schooling, I am often guilty of grabbing something easy to go rather than sitting down to eat, even if it’s the simple decision to buy something from the C-Store instead of eat in the dining hall. Many days a week, I find myself scarfing down food in my car on my way from class to work. I can also relate to what Horwitz says about how this phenomenon is primarily American. My roommate is an international student, and she has a large network of Chinese friends here. They NEVER eat alone. In fact, there’s almost a societal pressure to eat with your friends, she’s explained to me. It’s interesting that their culture places such high value on eating with people they care about- even if it is in the Sodexo dining room- and ours does not.

SE3: Food Values and Culture in LoDo

It’s 2 PM on a warm Sunday afternoon in a deli-style restaurant in Denver’s hip, upscale LoDo neighborhood. Even though this time of day typically sees a lull in customers, The Market is just as busy as ever. The restaurant is structured into two main parts- a lower level, where the front door is located, that has a counter that only serves coffee and pastries, and an upper level where customers can order from a plethora of sandwich, soup, and salad options, each type of food being at a separate counter. There are only a few small tables in the lower level, with most of the seating being around the deli counter. The people inside aren’t the only thing that makes the restaurant busy- the décor includes shelves lining the walls, filled with bottles and packages of old-time foods and seasonings. Much of the space not occupied by food counters, soda fountains, or silverware stations has racks of products for sale- candy, tea, and other odds and ends. At first glance, this eatery seems fairly typical, but further analysis of the people, food, and atmosphere leads to a broader observation about food values and culture.

The majority of the people that come in to the lower part of the restaurant to go to the coffee counter are alone or with one other person, and an overwhelming majority of them take their coffee to go, spending minimal time inside the restaurant and instead getting their caffeine fix to go and moving on with their day. This reflects the rather obvious value that people place on convenience. Being able to grab a cup of good coffee on their way somewhere else is obviously a common value of The Market’s clientele, based on the line at the coffee counter that doesn’t ever get any shorter. The more interesting observations, though, lie in the upper part of the restaurant. More people here are sitting down and eating their food, and the majority of them are couples, groups of friends, or families. The most noteworthy thing about it, though, is the feel of the restaurant as a whole. The customers, employees, and atmosphere come together to create a very cozy, casual, local-feeling environment. This is present in the customers because through careful observation, it appears that almost everyone coming in is familiar with the place, or if they aren’t, they are with a person who is. In fact, a friend of mine who lives a few blocks away came with me on this day, and she was new to The Market. She said that the ordering system was very confusing –a person orders at one counter, and then meets their food and cashier at another- and had I not been there with her, she wouldn’t have known what to do. Most people linger after their meals, too, talking with their friends and perhaps sipping a cup of coffee they’ve gone to the lower counter to obtain. The employees also reflect the value of community, because all of them seem to be very close, chatting and laughing behind the counter, and not taking their job too seriously. Several employees recognize each other, providing further proof of the existence of regular customers. All the employees are friendly and talkative with the customers, as well. The nature of the restaurant itself lends itself to this idea, too. Most of the products for sale are natural, organic, and most importantly, local. There’s a large emphasis on the fact that the honey, chocolate, or teas on display come from Colorado. Historical photos of Downtown Denver cover the walls. Furthermore, directly above the silverware, where anyone grabbing a fork would be bound to see it, is an odd decoration- an obituary. Framed and prominently displayed, this obituary tells of the life and passing of the founder of The Market. This signifies the close connection that the small business still has with its owner, and that his passing is something customers would be interested in, too.

All of these observations come together to form a conclusion about what the residents of Lower Downtown Denver value about the places they eat, and that’s an emphasis on community. The casual, low-key vibe of the restaurant, coupled with its obvious roots in Denver’s history and the fact that almost all customers seem to be repeats or regulars support this statement. There’s a value placed on authenticity, which is consistent with what one would probably expect from the residents of this area. A mostly young crowd that can accurately be described as hipsters are the people who mainly populate LoDo, and the values of family-owned and local are ones that resonate with them. But it’s important to note that the Market isn’t high-brow in any way; although it may have organic, local products and a customer base that values such things, it’s affordable and casual. Maybe, then, the authenticity of The Market that appeals to people is the kind that Freedman and Jurafsky posit in their potato chip analysis. “For the working class, authenticity is rooted in historicity, including family tradition, the model of a company as a family business with an explicit founder, and regional American locations” (Freedman and Jurafsky 52). This model seems to fit The Market fairly well- there is definitely an emphasis on Denver history and that of the restaurant itself, including its founder. The class distinctions fit fairly well, too, as the young clientele eating at an affordable deli would probably fall into the middle or working class. Why, exactly, do people value authenticity? In an interesting paper on the authenticity of food by Glenn Carroll and Dennis Wheaton, they postulate 3 main reasons:

“First, fascination with authentic products made by traditional methods might reflect a reaction against the perceived loss of a personalized self in contemporary mass society, in its production techniques and its corporate organizations… Second, individuals may be engaging in self- expression in purchasing the products of small, obscure producers who are not widely known… Third, individuals may be using authenticity as a forum for status generation” (Carroll and Wheaton 12). When these motivations are compared to the clients of The Market, it actually makes a lot of sense. As previously established, the young, hipster crowd are the primary consumers of food in LoDo. Self-expression and the rejection of corporations are known principles of this type of people, and they go hand in hand with eating at a family-owned, local restaurant such as the one examined in this paper. All of the observations and inferences here lead to the acceptance of the conclusion that in the community of the younger, more hip part of Downtown Denver place high value on community, authenticity, and local origins in their food.

Sources

Carroll, Glenn R., and Dennis Ray Wheaton. "The Organizational Construction of Authenticity: An Examination of Contemporary Food and Dining in the U.S." Research in Organizational Behavior (2009): 1-78.

Freedman, Joshua, and Dan Jurafsky. "Authenticity in America: Class Distinctions in Potato Chip Advertising." Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture 11.4 (2012): 46-54.

P4: Food culture in prison vs. food culture in Shenzhen

In both Cate’s and O’Donnell’s pieces, food plays an essential role in the cultures or communities that they studied. However, food is important in different ways and means different things to the two groups of people. Cate studied the culture of inmates in a San Francisco county jail. Although they are provided with 3 meals a day, most inmates participate in ‘spreading,’ which entails saving ingredients from other meals or purchasing them for the commissary and combining them in unique ways to make a meal called a spread. There is a definitive culture that exists in prisons, and spreads are an important part of that culture. Primarily, they bolster a sense of camaraderie between the men, because multiple people usually pitch in ingredients, cook, and eat together. The spread is a kind of unofficial meal, usually late at night long after the prison serves dinner. Enjoying this meal with the group of people the inmates enjoy spending time with is a way for them to not only escape the monotony of the typical prison fare, but also to express some individuality. People of different ethnic backgrounds put different items into their spread, so although all spreads have a base of ramen noodles, an individual can integrate their own culture and tastes into their cooking and share it with the members of their community. The nature of the spread and those who it’s eaten with play a role here, too. The article states that whites tend to spread with whites, blacks with blacks, etc. Economic status can be determined by what the spread consists of in terms of more or less expensive ingredients.

O’Donnell’s studies focused on a very different place than Cate’s- the Southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. She divides the population of Shenzhen into two main categories- old and new ‘Shenzheners.’ Because Shenzhen was developed so recently, the Old Shenzheners are represented by the older people in the city who first moved there to build it, and their offspring as well as people who migrated there for its economic promise constitute the New Shenzheners. The food cultures among these two groups are very intriguing. The Old Shenzheners are partial to what O’Donnell calls “nostalgia for socialist meals.” The socialist meals referred to are what the Old Shenzheners had to eat in tougher times, when they had to live off of certain food rations or were denied government rations of certain foods due to status rules. In contrast, the New Shenzheners enjoy varied types of cuisine, often eating at chain restaurants that serve foods that are ‘fashionable’ and come from all different places in China. This difference in food preferences demonstrates a larger social rift that exists in Shenzhen. The Old Shenzheners still hold utopian socialist ideals that benefit society as a whole rather than the individual. The New Shenzheners, however, have a much different outlook, one that’s decidedly more capitalist. They believe in the benefit of the individual, and this ties directly to their desire to eat more fashionable food.

Cate’s article was very interesting because I had never put too much thought into the elaborate cultures that exist within prisons, and I had never even heard of spread before. However, O’Donnell’s article also intrigued me personally, because my roommate is an international student, and is actually from Shenzhen. She and I have become very good friends and have talked a lot about Shenzhen, but I’d never heard of most of what was addressed in the article. I asked her about it to see if she agreed, and she says that the article is spot on in its analysis of the rift between the old and new Shenzheners. This personal connection with the text made it particularly relevant to me, and enjoyable to read.