Filed under: Food + Health, J500 Week 6 | Tags: body type affects metabolism, contrasting personalities to our foods, cultural foods, eating choices reflect who we are, effect of experiences and family traditions
While I was growing up, I was exposed to many different cultural foods. After my parent’s divorce, my dad introduced my sister and me to a local Indian restaurant. When my stepmom came along, she introduced us to her favorite type of food, Thai. And in high school I had a few friends with different ethnic backgrounds, in which I learned about different types of food from. Before encountering these cultural foods, I was a little skeptical to try them, because I didn’t know if I would like them. However, I usually try new foods at least once. And I’m glad I did, because these cultural foods have been an important part of my family.
This led me consider my personal eating habits, and how they reflect who I am. I don’t think the saying ‘we are what we eat’ necessarily holds true; I think it’s more about ‘what we eat reflects who we are.’
Just because I have a can of green beans in my cupboard, doesn't mean I am a tall, jolly green giant. I am quite the opposite in fact. Photo by Jackie McClellan
Believers of the former popular saying argue that ‘we are what we eat’, because if you eat fatty and sugary foods, you will gain weight and become fatter, and vice versa, if you eat healthy foods, you will lose weight and become skinnier. This may be true for some people; however, it is not true for everyone. Someone with a high metabolism could eat a lot of bad foods, and not gain a pound. It all depends upon your body type.
Also, I would like to beg to differ that ‘we are what we eat’ in regards to our personality. Sometimes they are just not compatible. For example, I know plenty of people who like sweets, and whose personality is not so sweet.
Let’s also consider the literal meaning of a food. Simply said, we are not animals. I mean just because I eat parts of a pig, doesn’t mean I’m a pig; in fact I’m far from it, I’m one of the most organized people I know.
This concept is more focused on ‘what we eat reflects who we are.’ I say this because our bodies conform to what we eat. We can’t control how that affects our bodies; it will either affect us in a negative or neutral way.
We can also be shaped based our cultural experiences and family traditions with foods, like I mentioned above with the Indian and Thai food. My family isn’t Indian or Thai, but it shapes our family values. Everybody enjoys different types of food, and that shapes who they are, what they eat, and where they go. A certain restaurant can be a family tradition, and mean something to that family. For example, when I was a younger, we always went to a nearby country club for Easter brunch every year. It defines us because we have many memories from there.
From a literal standpoint, I can’t stand here and say ‘I am what I eat’, that just doesn’t seem right to me. I look at it from the viewpoint that ‘what we eat reflects who we are.’ We are shaped by what we eat, we are not what we eat.
-Jackie McClellan
Filed under: Food + Health, J500 Week 6, Society + Media | Tags: cognitive dissonance, food, fridge, green, Jacob Muselmann, kraft, latte, mother nature, oj, sustainability
Once upon a time last week, I decided to start making a change. I guess it was what is languidly referred to by communications and philosophy people as “cognitive dissonance” that finally caught up with me. I started staring at all those paper latte cups I had with me every day and thought, god, this is ridiculous. The sheer amount of cups and lids I use was not only a green atrocity, but also shed light on how much of a caffeine goon I am. So I finally drug my thermos and my computer around for a day to try on my sustainability hat.
All went well—I saved the lives of at least two cups, only to be used by the people in line behind me, and spared a few spiraled pages for another day. But guess what? That evening I found my computer charger—among other things—dowsed in my spoiled latte swill from eight hours ago. And I suddenly remembered why I had previously stopped lugging the adult sippy cups. Charger defunct. Spirits again tarnished.
Every time I attempt things like this, they end in folly, I often think. Then I look in my fridge and wonder how I was surprised. It is a sick sight: food wrappers I somehow couldn’t take out of the fridge; half a can of soup saved in vain; condiments that have been rifled through with messy hands halfway through a meal (likely the Ramen “needed something”); my prized thick, pulpy orange juice; yogurt, for those creamy personal moments I need after a long day; and most recently, evidence of my new-found appreciation for Kraft Singles, as articulated by an old friend. And in the thick of a terrible winter, my new way of storing groceries (wherein refrigerated items are extracted while the rest is left in bags on the floor until time of use) points to the subtle, horrifying laziness I am capable of. How is it again that I can stab at sustainability when my own lifestyle is so… dilapidated? Can a messy person make the world cleaner?
Indeed, to present oneself as sustainable suggests a certain degree of organization, say not virtue for those that can seem to pull it off—and that’s why it makes everyone feel terrible; it’s like self-righteous in-laws (by Mother Nature) with a political fervor to fuss until everyone feels bad, even for trying. But sustainability is also an idea—and a motivation—that emerges in odd, unexpected new shapes every day, and we should be open to them. Though we continue to discover dazzling complexities of nature each day, models to help the planet don’t have to be. Nor does someone have to trod weightless on the planet to recognize how ornate and delicate it is. And I thought lugging the thermos was too tedious.
Somehow, something wells up in me—call it guilt, call it sporadic moral compunction, call it optimism—to try new ways to render myself less abrasive for the environment, and, when they end in disaster, to try another way.
—Jacob Muselmann
Filed under: Food + Health, J500 Week 6, Society + Media | Tags: associated press, budget, bullet, cereal, food, gunshot, healthy, income, Kashi, local, love handles, meat, meats, nutrition, Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe Trail Meats, sustainable, Velveeta
In case you missed it this week, The Associated Press reported that a woman claimed that the fat around her midsection, otherwise known as love handles, saved her life from a gunshot. She was quoted in the story saying, ‘I want to be as big as I can if it’s going to stop a bullet.’
Now, not only did I think her quote was one of the most illogical statements I’ve read in a while, but the story got me thinking about how the types of foods people eat show in appearance or beliefs about nutrition.
I’ll be the first to admit I don’t always eat what I should. (I don’t think anyone really does.) But since taking time to learn about the importance of healthy, sustainable and local foods, I really try to pick out items in the grocery store that reflect this awareness. Unfortunately, because I am a college student and don’t have a lot of money, I can’t always afford the best foods.
My mom often is my hook-up for healthy, locally-grown food, such as this ground beef from Santa Fe Trail Meats. (Photo taken with my iPhone TiltShiftGen app)
I think my food pantry and refrigerator reflects my conflict of “Do I buy all fresh, local or organic food or do I buy cheap junk food?” pretty well. In my kitchen, you can find anything from ground beef from Santa Fe Trail Meats or whole grain bread to Velveeta shells and cheese or off-brand cereal.
Honestly if I can get twice as much cereal in a big off-brand bag for half the price of a cereal like Kashi, I’m going to choose the off-brand bag. Yes, I would love to buy Kashi everytime I buy cereal, but that’s extra money each grocery trip I could use for bills, rent, etc.
For me, primarily focusing on buying higher quality proteins, fruits or vegetables is the best option for the income I have right now. Once I have a steady income, I definitely want to be able to shop primarily at places like The Merc. The reality is that I can’t afford it now. It’s enough for me to try to find fresh or healthy foods, let alone organic or locally-grown foods.
Luckily, I do have healthier opportunities around me even now that I always try to take advantage of. One of our family friends shares the vegetables she grows in her garden with my parents and with me, which I love. As a teacher, my mom also regularly tries to buy local foods from her students’ families or co-workers (hence, my supply of meat from Santa Fe Trail Meats).
No, not all of the foods in my kitchen reflect someone who always chooses the healthiest option of food. But I’m not that person just yet anyway. I think my food selection still shows that I am constantly thinking of the smartest, most sustainable food choices for my budget.
— Lauren Cunningham
Filed under: J500 Week 6, Society + Media | Tags: cooking, food, independent living, packaged food kitchen
If someone were to ask me what my favorite food was, I would probably choose the simple lunch meat, turkey. I could eat turkey everyday and never get sick of it. However, if someone were to ask me how often I eat my favorite food, I would maybe say once a week. Why, you ask? Living in a sorority house gives you no freedom to choose what you eat. The menus are decided by the chefs; basically, I just eat whatever they make even if I dislike it.
From my living situation the past year and half, my choice about the food I eat has basically been eliminated. Since money is tight for the average college student, going out to eat usually isn’t really an option.
There is one place that has a special place in my heart, Subway. The prices are great, it’s fast, and it’s healthy. The five dollar foot-long has dramatically impacted my life; I mean I can buy one sandwich and get two meals out of it. It’s brilliant!
If people are what they eat, I’m Subway. Living on my own next year, I am curious how I will choose the poster foods of my pantry. When I envision my kitchen next year, I see lots of fruits and veggies, pasta, and chicken. Who am I kidding, I don’t know how to cook!
I’m sad to admit it, but I think everything in my kitchen will be packaged. This article describes how packaged foods are not the most healthy food, but is this going to stop me from eating it? Probably not.
Therefore, I will not have to mess with the whole cooking thing. Looking at this previous statement, I realize how pathetic I sound; I don’t know how to cook and I really don’t have any desire to learn. Good thing I’m not planning on becoming a house wife!
I’m really not too picky of an eater and will basically eat anything that is placed in front of me, which basically doesn’t leave me any time to think of where the food came from. My hope for next year is that as I (hopefully) start going to the grocery store, I will be more conscious of where the food I’m buying is coming from.
I’m going to call next year my training year; I’m going to figure out what foods I really enjoy on top of being aware of where they came from. Hopefully after my “training year” I will have a set list of foods that I always have my pantry and refrigerator stocked with.
I'm not a big fan of spicy chicken wings but it was in front of me, so I ate it.
-Tess H.
Filed under: Food + Health, J500 Week 6, Society + Media | Tags: diet, food, Health, lifestyle, McDonalds, morgan spurlock, Super Size Me, taco bell
Jokes can be made all day long about the old axiom that “You are what you eat”. Most of these, as the title of this piece, are not actually good jokes, but I digress. Somebody’s lifestyle really can be judged by their diet. One of the most popular documentaries of the first decade of this century (annoyingly referred to at times as “the Aughts”) was Morgan Spurlock’s “Super-Size Me”, detailing his experiment with eating nothing but fast food for a month. The changes in Spurlock from the opening of that film to the end were dramatic. He began as a vegan, in apparently good physical shape, and ended chubby and constantly exhausted.
I bring this up because it gives new credence to the “you are what you eat” proverb. That famous film showed somebody healthy and vibrant to reflect a thought-out lifestyle, only to become fat and slovenly when switching to a diet oriented around food that is quick and easy to obtain without much effort.
I’m not a big McDonald’s fan, myself. Sadly, I do have a weakness for Taco Bell, their Tex-Mex counterpart. It, like the infamous Golden Arches, is cheap and easy to access, not even requiring getting out of one’s car if so desired. And when I go through phases where I frequent “The Bell” (as the cool kids call it), I’m usually feeling a lot lazier as well.
I’d like to say that my food habits only occasionally display somebody not interested in the experience of cooking a nice meal. The part of the pantry I claim (I share with four other people) consists mostly of sliced bread, bagels, soup, canned chicken breast, and cereal. Nothing I eat at home makes more than four minutes to prepare.
According to the “What does the food you eat say about you?” quiz hosted on ProProfs Quiz School, my eating habits are “Plain”. My habits, which range anywhere from dipping carrots in ranch to enjoying cereal. I am assessed as this kind of person:
“You definitely enjoy the simple things in life. You don’t make a big deal out of things and you’re not full of drama. You would be equally happy whether you were riding a bull in a bar or staring at your pet cat Fluffy for three hours. You’ve never really been dissapointed (sic) in life, but then again you’ve also never really won anything.”
My corner of the pantry.
This, of course, is mostly tongue-in-cheek. The thing is, I don’t entirely disagree with it (other than I am a dog person). So what does this make me, really? Lazy? Impatient? Or just generally apathetic about what deeper meaning my diet has. I’ve always assumed the latter, but then I usually don’t analyze the collective food that I keep in my house at any one time.
-Ben C.
Filed under: J500 Week 6, Society + Media | Tags: culture, family, food, friends, meals, simple meals
Sometimes when I’m in the mood for a little self-awareness, I turn to the Internet quiz. Those simple, short questionnaires are perfect for instant answers that have zero basis in scientific fact. So I opted to take a quiz designed to tell me what my food says about me.
Evidently, I’m “plain.”
“Plain,” according to the site, means “not highly cultivated, simple, natural, homely.” The homely part is unfortunate. How did they come up with that? Because I would choose to eat an apple over a mulberry? That makes no sense.
flickr.com
But in all other regards, that assessment is probably fair. On a day-to-day basis, my meals are simple, which is basically a result of two factors. Grad student glamor for one, meaning I have limited time and money. I’m sorry, I should be more precise: I have very limited time and money. Time is especially of the essence because when I get home for dinner I’m famished enough to eat my draperies. Which actually would not be simple at all.
Another factor is I just like simple meals. I find them satisfying and charming. Meat and potatoes? Perfection. If I’ve learned anything in my 24 years, it’s that it is never a mistake to listen to how you feel, and it just feels right to eat this way. However, while my meals are well-rounded and satisfying, there is a lot more to food than fiber and vitamins.
The food we eat effects our livelihood by nourishing our bodies and connecting to our emotions. In my case, grocery shopping and home-cooked meals make me feel responsible, healthy, and self-sufficient. Anyone who has sat around the dinner table with family or friends knows that food is much more than a solution to hunger. Good food makes us feel secure. When I come home to beef and vegetable soup, I feel settled, calm, and cared for.
That’s the magic of food. I believe that a person’s favorite meal can tell you a lot about their life. Was it a meal with friends or family? Was it formal or casual? Takeout or made at home? I would assume that most people can associate certain emotions with those different factors. Furthermore, I have noticed that people who are comfortable with food are comfortable with themselves.
Food is important to our physical health but it’s necessary for our emotional well-being too. When we’re confronted with the problems in our food system today, we need to acknowledge the gravity and depth of the issue. We should be concerned about the environment and human nutrition, but an unstable food system also implicates our cultures and our connections to other people.
When you sit down for a meal, consider what food does for you. I think you’ll realize that the importance of food is not so plain and simple.
K.Cochran
Filed under: J500 Week 6, Society + Media | Tags: genetic engineering, grocery, healthy eating, Local Burger, local food, organic food, processed food
Nope, nothing good in here.
One of my favorite lines in every reality dating show is “This year, I’m putting love first.” It’s so cliché, but it recently made me reflect on the things I’ve been putting first in my own life. Health is certainly towards the bottom, as seen by what I ate today:
One grilled Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and mustard sandwich (315 calories)
A half a cup of low fat Cheez-Its (70 calories)
One medium sized orange (85 calories)
10ish peanut M&Ms (about 103 calories)
One slice of Farm Fresh pizza from Pizza Shuttle (about 300 calories)
Three-fourths a cup of macaroni and cheese (300 calories)
Although approximately 900 calories less than the expected daily intake (for the record, I am not trying to starve myself, I’m just more of a snacker than a big meal eater), it’s 1,173 calories of mostly hydrogenated fat and sodium. This is about average for me and I’m not proud of it.
Yes, I have fresh fruits and vegetables, soy meat substitutes and a wild salmon filet in the freezer. Whenever I do my big grocery runs, I make sure to buy as many healthy all-natural foods as possible, and I usually succeed in making a few good meals a week. But what happens is the leftovers sit in the fridge, my milk gets spoiled and my eggs go bad long before I’ve eaten my guilty purchases like chips and macaroni.
Better, but still not great.
According to research by the National Academy of Sciences, the beauty of my processed food items and my genetically engineered tomato is that they last forever.
What won’t last forever though is my health. In the independent documentary Localize Me, fast-food junkie Daniel Fisher only eats food from Lawrence’s Local Burger for 30 days. He can eat whatever he wants from the all-natural and local menu and he eats a lot. It’s expected that Fisher will lose weight, as eliminating fast food from any diet can only improve one’s health, but the results are truly shocking. He went from 295 to 272 pounds over the month and his cholesterol dropped from 285 to 166.
Fisher’s story is inspiring, and not only because swimsuit season is approaching. Diabetes and heart problems run in both sides of my family, an unfortunately more and more common occurrence in the United States.
It’s so easy to blame my unhealthier choices on a stressful, busy lifestyle, but I don’t foresee it getting any easier in the near future. So, I think it’s time to change this cycle. I probably won’t stick to a 100 percent all-natural, local, and organic diet. In accordance with the ‘finite pool of worry,’ I don’t think I could do the amount of research on food items required to make sure my grocery list lived up to such standards. What I can do is strike the chips and macaroni from the list and find other, actually healthy items on which to “veg.”
Because 57 days into this year, I decided to put health first.
-Kayla R.
Filed under: Cars + Transport, Energy + Climate, J500 Week 6, Local Events + Action, Waste + Recycling | Tags: clementines, Cuties, Frito-Lay, Iwig Family Dairy, milk, Sun Chips
A lot of Clementines, Sun Chips and of course, MILK–staples in my kitchen. While I’m a sucker for convenience, I try to stay relatively healthy and be at least conscious of my environmental impact. So what do these particular items say about me? Because you are what you eat, right?
Let’s start with the Clementines.
Clementine mandarins- a fridge favorite. Photo by Ben Pirotte
I buy relatively large bags of Cuties, which are small varieties of mandarins. They’re easy to peel, small, and seedless. They’re a convenient and seemingly healthy snack from California. However, to achieve that convenience, they are treated with Imazalil or Thiabendazole, both common pesticides used on citrus fruits. The peeling is also waxed and possibly even gassed in order to increase shelf-life and appearance. Turns out being “cute” comes at a price.
So, first item examined: I’ll give myself a B-. Even though the’yre definitely non-organic, gassed, and shipped over 1000 miles to get to me, they’re still relatively healthy, right? Yikes. Scratch that. I probably deserve more like a C.
Next item: Sun Chips. I’ve been eating them since I was little, so they have the nostalgia thing going for them. They’re a crunchy, well-seasoned snack. So, what does that new 100% compostable bag business really mean? Am I being a more environmentally responsible consumer for buying Sun Chips? Well, if we’re talking about buying local, for example, this would constitute a “fail.” The company that produces Sun Chips, Frito Lay, is a national chain that ships all over the United States and the world. If we’re talking about buying organic, again, not so much. Sun Chips ingredients include artificial flavors, and even Maltodextrin. However, the new ad placed on the bags of the product indicate the chips are contained in a compostable bag. While that doesn’t mean you can just compost the bag, it does leave less of a carbon footprint because it uses less petroleum-based plastic. Also, apparently at least one of the plants that produces Sun Chips is solar, with plans for further solar plants in the future. Not bad, right? I think I will give myself a B+ for the Sun Chips. While still supporting a large chain, I am proud of supporting at least a sub-company that supports greener production.
Now for the milk.
Iwig Family Milk-local goodness. Photo by Ben Pirotte
Milk is my favorite beverage, hands down. I would much rather drink milk than pop, juice, or even water. My milk purchase is something I feel proud of, though, because I have recently started buying from local producer, Iwig Family Dairy, who sells milk in a reusable glass bottle in grocery stores around Kansas. They’re an organic dairy farm not far from where I live in Lawrence, Kansas. It’s tasty and guilt free. Tecumseh, where the milk comes from, is only about 25 miles from Lawrence. Organic: check. Local: checkity-check. The reusable glass bottle adds a nice touch. Milke grade: an honest A.
While I’m sure I have committed several more food sins with my Double Stuffed Oreos, Ramen noodles, and pepperonis, I think I’m at least headed in the right direction. It’s rough to think about what you are is what you eat–when what you’re eating might not be so great.
–Ben P.
Filed under: Food + Health, J500 Week 6 | Tags: Atkins diet, factory farm meat, factory farms, free-range, grass-fed, meat, pesticides, preservatives, processed meats, sodium nitrate
I grew up in a family of meat-lovers. It was guaranteed that the centerpiece of each dinner dish was a slab of protein. You name it- beef, pork, chicken, lamb- and my family and I ate it. As you can imagine, being brought up at a young age on an eating plan that made meat mandatory but fresh fruits and colorful vegetables voluntary, my eating habits were not very healthy.
When I was in high school, the Atkins diet became popular. It appealed to me (and my insatiable appetite for beef), so I decided to try it. I was in meat lover’s paradise. On this eating regimen I was able to consume all the bacon, steak and pork chops my stomach (and arteries) could handle. Now, as not to make too bad of an impression, I also grazed on vegetables. My side dishes consisted of leafy greens, including asparagus, broccoli and spinach. In hindsight, chowing down on a diet of meat everyday was not great for my body or mind, but at the time, I thought otherwise. I ignored the fact that meat contained a lot of saturated fat. My reasoning for eating meat and poultry was because it provided my body with sustenance and likewise, it filled me up. Protein kept me feeling full for hours, whereas, carbohydrates did not sustain my hunger for very long.
I continued the Atkins diet for a year. I was completely unaware that the processed meats I was ingesting were composed of pesticides and preservatives such as sodium nitrate. Never did I expect that eating a slice of honey-cured ham would expose me to many toxic chemicals and additives. These meats come from animals raised on factory farms controlled by manufacturing corporations. The conditions under which factory raised animals are kept are inhumane, to say the very least. In these factory farms, the animals are packed together in small spaces, have their DNA altered, and are injected with hormones and antibiotics and at times wallow in their own feces.
Photo by Farm Sanctuary/Courtesy Flickr
There are some that argue that factory farms will never completely disappear, and because of that, they are conceiving a method to lessen the pain these animals are forced to endure. Adam Shriver, a doctoral student at Washington University in St. Louis, is one of those people. His article in the New York Times suggests genetically engineering animals in slaughterhouses, therefore minimizing their pain. Though the idea is novel, it doesn’t conclusively alter the animals living circumstances.
These days, I maintain an eating plan that balances vegetables, fruits, whole grains and meat. There is an alternative to factory farm meat- choosing to eat organic, grass-fed beef and free-range chicken. Now that I am conscious of the reality of the happenings in factory farms I will try as often as possible to support organic farming practices.
Micole Aronowitz
Filed under: Food + Health, J500 Week 6, J840 Week 6, Society + Media | Tags: apples, conventional, conventionally grown, oatmeal, organic produce, produce, produce labels, you are what you eat
My stove and oven are both broken, so I was left with two options: go out for something to eat or use the microwave. I chose the microwave, because I am a college student and therefore used to it by now. I had a bowl of oatmeal with raisins and a banana along with a juicy and absolutely delicious Fuji apple. Then I went to write this post and thought, you are what you eat. I was feeling pretty good about what I had just eaten.
But after finishing my delicious meal that seemed nutritious at the time, I read an article that informed me that the apple I had just consumed could have had up to thirty pesticides in it. My curiosity grew and I found another article, which listed apples as one of the most commonly contaminated fruits. I looked at my apple and my banana- each had a barcode. The apple had a sticker with “4131” and the banana had a sticker with “4011” on it. I found that these numbers are actually codes. I looked into the code guidelines to find out that both my apple and banana were conventionally grown. These guidelines are simple to follow, but many people, like myself, are not familiar with the codes. I simply look for the most colorful produce, but it seems like I can’t trust that method anymore.
A seemingly healthy dinner may be deceiving.
Considering that what I thought was healthy eating turned out to be unhealthy eating, I was beginning to think that my body was doomed if it was true that “you are what you eat”, because I have definitely eaten meals worse than this, that’s for sure. I grabbed the box of oatmeal and began to read, but didn’t have to read much to find that the only ingredient listed on the box was “organic rolled oats” (sigh of relief). Even though my oatmeal was one of the few organic items in my pantry, I felt a little better knowing that my body did not need to start preparing for destruction at the age of 21.
Have you ever heard that you are not supposed to go to the grocery store on an empty stomach? Well, I have made a new rule; do not read what is in your food after you’ve eaten it. Inform yourself before you contaminate your body.
Plain and simple, the foods we eat affect our mood, energy, sex drive, ability to think, sleep and so much more. I have been living this seemingly healthy life based on the fact that I exercise and eat fruits and vegetables, but that’s not where it ends. There is so much more I can do to live a healthier life, I just didn’t know.
Becca N.
J500 Media and the Environment 
