Becca Russell
Eng 151
16, March 2011
Relationship with Food
Food is a big part in everyone’s life. We all tend to eat the bad stuff because it’s just so good, and generally it’s quite cheap, but we don’t think about the negative effects that it will do to us. Growing up, my father was always a health freak and was always trying to get me to understand the importance of eating healthy foods. I somewhat would listen, but would go behind his back when he wasn’t home and eat the unhealthy things. Being in English 151 with Samantha Mudd has really taught me a lot of things. She was all about the healthy aspects in life and would always try and turn our attention to it. I want to talk about the movie she had us watch in class one day, Food Inc, directed by Robert Kenner. That man really knows what he is talking about. That movie not only made me open my eyes, but made me want to change the ways I ate. I highly recommend this movie to every single person in the world. It gives good facts throughout the whole thing. Also, it goes into detail about real life situations dealing with bad food and watch it does to people. I think showing real life situations is a perfect way to open people’s eyes and really get them to watch and understand the importance. This is an overall summary of what the movie is about:
“I'm not generally in the habit of praising documentaries for being good for you, but Food, Inc. is more than a terrific movie--it's an important movie, one that nourishes your knowledge of how the world works (or, in this case, has started not to work). The movie draws, among other things, upon the muckraking testimony of Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) to create an essential, disturbing portrait of the industrialization of what we eat. It's about the way our food has undergone a corporate-chemical change during the last 30 years. The ubiquitous high-fructose corn syrup, the flavorless white-meat chicken (and you thought that breast enhancement was just popular for humans), the homogenized junkification of beef that was pioneered by the fast-food industry and then spread beyond those chains to the daily supermarkets--the movie weaves these phenomena into a larger, sinister narrative of conglomerate control. Food, Inc. is a movie that's hard to shake, because days after you've seen it, you will find yourself eating something--a hamburger, cereal out of the box, a perfectly round waxen hothouse tomato--and realize that you have virtually no idea what it really is,” says Entertainment Weekly. Here's a clip from the movie that really moved me:
What you put into your body reflects on how you act and the way your mind thinks each and every day. Good food plus good sleep can make a world of difference. About a year ago, my parent’s went on this cleanse where you can’t put anything bad into your body for 3 weeks. Basically all they ate was rice, asparagus, and lentos. You also could not have any alcohol enter your system in that 3 week period. It was very tough for my mom, not so much my dad, and she lost about thirty pounds. Granted, after the cleanse, she felt so refreshed and healthy, that she started eating that way from then on. Not only did she loose a ton of weight, but her blood pressure and cholesterol decreased dramatically, which was really good. She doesn’t even eat, nor crave sweets anymore. Due to the fact that I was not at college yet, so I still lived in my parents house constantly, I started to eat this way, and I lost about ten pounds. Now, I’m not saying I only did this for the weight loss, I did this because it just really feels good to put healthy foods in your body and to know that you are actually helping your system. Eating good will prevent you from getting sick all the time, keeps your blood pressure on track, saves you from getting other problems such as diabetes, and overall, is just what is best for you and your body. Now that I am at college, I don’t have my parents there to make me these healthy foods, but I still try and watch what I eat. I will only occasionally go to fast food restaurants, but not all the time. When people are at the grocery store, they just buy what ever sounds and looks good. Scientist, Breitenbeck says, “"People have become increasingly removed from the sustenance of life," he laments. "Today people buy food with a picture on the outside that explains what they're eating – they don't want to think about where a chicken wing comes from." I’ve just really realized what is healthy and what is not healthy for me, and if I want to live a good, long, healthy life, I need to watch what I eat and only put what is best for me in my body, with sometimes the allowing of bad foods.
Organic foods are known to be very good and healthy for your body, despite the fact that they are more expensive than the regular foods. Peter Melchett, the policy director of the Soil Association, said "This is a very rigorous study. There is clear evidence that a range of organic foods contain more beneficial nutrients and vitamins and less of things known to have a detrimental health effect such as saturated fats and nitrates."
In conclusion, by the talks we have had in my English class, the movies we have watched, and my own personal direct experiences, I have made the decision that it’s important to eat healthy, and that’s what I am going to do if I want to live a long, healthy life.
WORKS CITED
Kenner, Robert. “Food Inc.” Robert Kenner Films. 2008.
http://robertkennerfilms.com/films/files/detail_current.php.
“Organic IS healthier, says food scientists.” The Telegrapher 17 Mar. 2011
Pate, Katie. “LSU Scientists say Organic Food may not be healthier.” WorldNow and WLOX, a Raycom Media Station. 11 March 2011.
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