The progression of food throughout the centuries has dramatically changed, but the concept of the rich getting better quality food than the poor has sadly stayed the same. Back in the 1800’s food was never processed. People raised their own chickens, cattle, livestock, and produce on their own property. Now, that is a rarity. The Industrial Revolution changed agriculture from making up the primary sector to agriculture making up the secondary sector. The Industrial Revolution brought the workers from the farms to cities, which changed the job force.
Food production in the United States is an oligopoly, in that the food industry is dominated by only ten companies. One such conglomerate corporation is General Mills. While federal law does not permit monopolies, the food industry comes close. We are a capitalistic country that lives in a global economy, but when it comes to food, we often can’t export because other countries do not allow GMO’s, which is what makes up all our food source.
Overtime, this resulted in mass production of food that has led to a national outbreak of obesity, one of the biggest eating problems in the United States. An example would be breakfast. Back then it was normal to have a breakfast of bacon and eggs that you raised on your own land, so they would have been organic, which are full of protein. Now, we have a breakfast that is a bowl of sugary cereal or no breakfast at all which can then lead to us overeating during lunch. Some of the causes of obesity comes from jobs that require little to no physical activity, and the foods are so processed that they are nutritionally deficient. Another cause of obesity can also be linked to a lack of health education. But the foods that are processed are cheap, so it is what the lower class can afford often causing them to be overweight. Food choices are often handed down through the family and the culture they come from. The migration of people from other countries has brought on different food cultures to the United States. Diversity of our country has introduced us to a multitude of different types of food that we would never experience if we lived in a culture that was so focused within. For example, in England people eat baked beans for breakfast, but if we had never been to England we wouldn’t have known except for social interaction, like social media. Socialization, even as seen throughout social media, influences food choices. sunflower123
I like how you mention the huge influences that media has on our food choices. In a society where everyone is always in a rush, it is not surprising that the fast food businesses are doing so well. Unfortunately, our health is not as a result. You brought up the idea that not only can the poor people not afford to buy the healthiest foods, but they are often not educated on how bad processed food is for you. I think you are right because in my nutritions class we learned that there are ways to buy healthier food on a very tight budget, although it would never amount to the healthy diet you could afford with sufficient money. -Chameleon123
I agree with you when you mention how obesity has really become one of our biggest problems here. The numbers really tell the problem itself. The fact that so many of these obese people are children is really sad. Because the habits that they are taught in childhood will play over into their adulthood and then taught again to their children. I do think however that our health and what we eat has really been a hot topic in America lately. I do think more people are trying to eat better. The whole process of healthy living can be really hard with all the different things we are surrounded with today. Litv123
America’s food industry has been a growing problem over the years. The United is slowly becoming increasingly obese. Our food is not becoming as whole as it once was. In the past everyone knew what they were eating because they had grown everything they were going to put into their mouth. While watching the video you really get to see how cooking has evolved in our everyday lives. I’ve never considered how for an advanced the things we are able to cook today have gotten. The way our world has socially changed is really shown throughout the whole video. Eggs were internationally very important in every region. Many of the different ways they are cooked are considered very sacred to each different area. Our food has changed over time due to the way we have socially interacted and taken from one another. In the documentary when they exam the cereal it really caught my attention because that has been a large discussion in my house before. We have over the past couple years like many other families we have been a symbol for health in our house. We viewed all the cereals in our house and it was really surprising the amount of sugar packed into one single box of cereal. I think our society as a whole has really taken a social movement in healthy conscious living. I think it is really becoming something people have started to care about more. With all the technology we have today I think it should be getting easier to make healthier food. However, at the same time there are very unhealthy and great tasting food as we have advanced. Like we talked about in class I do think your race, social class, and your social ethnicity can really play into what you eat on a day to day basis. Litv123
You make a good point when you said that the eggs used to be sacred in every region. It was interesting how during lent pastors and preachers would eat eggs and bacon the Monday before lent started. I was almost like a type of ritual, and it was sacred. Now, there is no meaning to what we eat as long as it tastes good and is cheap. It is amazing how the world evolves to the point where our food choices are affected as well, and I think this video does a good job of depicting that. You also make a solid point by saying that our society has become more health conscious, and I agree with that. I also agree with your statement about technology advancing and making food taste better even though it is wore for you. sunflower123
Emmy TMay 29, 2017 at 5:02 PM It really is crazy to see how much we have changed about our foods. It goes to show that not all advancements are positive. And I know what you mean about having family discussions about cereal. We were not allowed to buy any cereal with more than 11 grams of sugar in a serving, except for on out birthdays when we got to choose any one kind for that week. I totally support bringing back the egg as one of our most important foods. Our surroundings really have an impact on what we eat. Not only can race, social class, and ethnicity play into what you eat on a daily basis, but also where you are. I eat a significantly smaller amount of eggs when I am at school than when I am at home because they are only served at one meal a day (breakfast) at school. -M&M123
The evolution of how our food choices have come to be what they are today is based largely on our society’s cultural changes. As shown in this documentary, the Catholic religion is actually the reason that the traditional bacon and egg breakfast was formed. People would try to eat a lot of protein before lent started and animal products were not allowed. In the earlier times, people also had more active jobs as most people owned their own farms. After the industrial revolution, family farms were replaced by corporate agribusinesses and the percentage of families in the farming business dropped drastically. In our current post industrial economy as technology continues to advance, jobs are mostly sedentary and stress levels are high. We all seem to be in a constant rush, a lot of us not even making time for breakfast at all, which is why fast food and processed foods have become such a big industry. Unfortunately, the lack of time spent preparing healthy meals, the stress and jobs in our advancing world, and the media’s advertising of unhealthy foods has sent our nation into an unhealthy state. The rates of overweightness and obesity are higher than they have ever been. It is not only our eating habits that are affecting our society’s health. Industrialization comes with environmental drawbacks that can have negative affects on our health such as pollution and the increase of sedentary lifestyles. Social inequality is evident in the health of populations. Social epidemiologists have found that those who are rich can afford the greatest medical care, best quality of nutrition, safe housing, and lack of stress about finances. Poorer populations do not have these benefits, and as a result their life expectancy can decrease by decades. Social inequality and health is not a new thing. It was said in the video that tea drinking was thought to have health benefits, but it was associated with higher class communities. -Chameleon123
I agree with your comment. It is accurate to say that religion played a part in the eating habits of the century. Not only back then, but in our culture today as well. There are still religions that do not meat, and consider themselves vegetarian. Hinduism, and Judaism being good examples on how they do not certain kinds of meat, or no meat. I also agree with your sentence about the rich receiving the best medical care, and if they wanted to best nutrition. Because now foods that are organic are becoming more popular, and since organic foods are more expensive it is safe to say that it is the wealthy that are able to afford it. Hence them being able to be more healthy with their food lifestyle. Like you said, social inequality is a real thing in everyday life. Many concepts such as religion, social class, and time affect our choices when it comes to things like breakfast food. panda123
The documentary “We Are What We Eat”, made me think, Are we really what we eat? The documentary mainly focus on breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. We all need food in order for our bodies to function properly. Breakfast has the most historian history. The traditional breakfast is also called either English breakfast or full English breakfast. Breakfast is considered iconic, because you can eat it pretty much any time of the day. Religion played a major role in the sacred of food. During the middle ages, the catholic churches told the people what to eat and what not to eat. The churches used the structural-functional theory. The churches obeyed the people to not eat meat at all. In France the Dominican order was founded in the 1930’s. The priest/pastor during that time felt as if certain foods have certain effects on people. When you drink caffeine it gives you energy. Chocolate make people happy. They consider meat as flesh and the production of the reproduction system. They believe that when you eat meat you're going to think about sex. I found this to be interesting of how they perceived meat of how people would react if they were to eat it. In the 17th century during the age of prosperity bacon became known for breakfast. Breakfast is divided from lower class to high class. The documentary showed how in high-income countries in an addus acratic household during the 16th century breakfast was likely to be an substantial meal. In the textbook, “all societies contain relative poverty, but low-income nations face widespread absolute poverty that is life-threatening.” People who live in poor nations suffer from hunger. It wasn’t about what you can eat it was whether or not what you can afford to eat. All good food comes with a cost. If you are not eating healthy that can cause a person health problems. “Health is a social issue, because personal well-being depends on a society’s level of technology and its distribution of resources.” Tobias Varner was the first person to use the word obesity.According to the textbook, “In the United States, 64 percent of adults are overweight; being overweight raises the risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Social causes of obesity include an inactive lifestyle and a diet heavy in salt and fatty foods.”Tobias Varner felt that just a couple of poached eggs with some bread and butter with a good draught of pure Claret-wine was the perfect breakfast. Wine and beer was the traditional drink until coffed came about a breakfast pick me up in the 1960’s. In the 18th century, tea became a serious social concern amongst a certain social class. In the late 1740’s and 1750’s tea became regular or normal for breakfast. In 1894 the invention of corn flakes was an accident. Cereal has been around for more than 100 years. The good thing about breakfast food is that it is iconic. In actual reality we are what we eat. Rendezvous123
The timeline on how breakfast has changed over the centuries is very interesting. In the documentary it was said that the traditional bacon and eggs plate came about with the Catholic church beliefs. Since the Catholic had a rule that you could not eat during lent, one could have a single day of indulgence. Therefore they ate what the couldn't eat during lent, which was meat and eggs. Hence, accidentally creating the plate, bacon and eggs. Breakfast food and breakfast drinks were changing as the centuries passed. For example, the original morning drinks were wine and beer, but then in the 1620's coffee made its debut as a social drink that was served in coffee houses in the 1650's. It was a good service to be a part of. After that, it switched to a breakfast pick-me-up. Another drink that began to change society was tea imported from china. It was adopted more quickly as a domestic drink, it might be because it was easier to prepare compared to other drinks. Then came Dr. Kellogg who came up with the famous cereal, corn flakes. Since he was a seventh day Adventist, he believed that mankind should not eat meat. It was said that the invention of corn flakes was an accident, because Dr. Kellogg and his brother were experimenting with wheat rather than corn. So when they were heating the wheat, they overheated it and that's when they realized that even though they failed that part, it was the right consistency to be rolled. Thus, the invention of corn flakes being introduced to the world. It was said that he wanted to change America with a change of diet, so he wanted to create foods with healthier ingredients like wheat, vegetables, and nuts. It was a good plan because before this change of food became popular; the documentary implied that the Victorians were having health problems concerning their bowels, and on top of that the foods that were mentioned at the beginning, used a lot of fat, and ate a lot of eggs in almost all of their breakfast meals. It would have been interesting to see the social epidemiology was in these centuries. In fact, it was eaten so much that a physician named Tobias, advised restraint. In his book the Right Way to a Long Life, he was the first to mention obesity, and he wrote what one should eat at breakfast. This documentary was interesting to see as they showed how, and what foods were being invented and made popular. Also, how it was the wealthy aristrocratic people that were more privy to the more popular and delicious foods. Even with food, there is a class system. It is unfortunate but true, and the documentary did a good job in bringing to light that situation. panda123
Panda123, I liked how you mentioned that food is found in class systems. It is absolutely true. We still see it in today’s society. The fast food industry, for example, targets the poorer people in America by enticing them with good “deals.” People in the middle income class are able to have more access to healthy foods than someone in a lower income class. Food deserts are also prominent in our society. A food desert is when grocery stores are a long distance from a neighborhood or town. Typically, the lower income class are a part of these food deserts because no one else wants to live a far distance from the nearest grocery store. Some argue that distance is not much of an issue, however, efficient transportation to the nearest available grocery store is and can therefore contribute to the cause of a food deserts in the U.S. Check123
I never realized how much of an impact religion had on the foods we eat today. I thought it was funny to hear people talking about how breakfast foods don’t have to be eaten for breakfast only. I laughed out loud when someone made a comment that people would be drinking a glass of stella while eating their breakfast food or “full english.” It was interesting to learn that eggs and bacon came from people throwing these two things together before lent so that none went to waste. I had never really known why people cut out meat for lent. I never would have even thought that it was because that is what came from reproduction and foods relate to thoughts. Breakfast tea is a brilliant idea and I don’t know why we don’t do that here in the U.S. I would love that! Watching the foods being discussed go from foods like eggs and bacon to foods like cocoa puffs was almost disappointing. While there has been a lot of progress in our knowledge of foods and nutrition, it is disappointing to see how many more options there are that contribute to an unhealthy lifestyle. I think that in the United States, it is almost impossible to have a nutrition diet if you don’t have the money for it. It is so much easy to pull into McDonalds and buy a McPick2 for three dollars instead of spending nine dollars for a salad at Panera. The same goes with grocery shopping. It is easier to spend ten dollars on several junk food items than ten dollars on a very small amount of fruits or vegetables. These prices seem to have a large effect on child obesity too. Unhealthy options are often a much cheaper option for low income families with kids than healthy foods. This is why my family goes to Farmers Markets and we always make sure we have eggs in the house for a good source of protein. These are just a few ways to help keep a family healthy without spending more than you can afford. -M&M123
I agree it's crazy that you people can't buy quality and nutritious food because it costs too much money. Some of the junk food that we eat is so unhealthy that it shortens people's life spans. I think that we need to make nutritious food more available to every consumer. I used to think that the advent of nutrition programs in school were stupid because I thought that knowledge about what food is good for you was common sense. This video and the health chapter made me realize that some people don't have the resources and knowledge about nutritious diets. -Glass123
This video focuses on the how our food more specifically our breakfast food has transformed over the years and how it relates to our health. Many people are confused because the “junk food” and “comfort food” of today is essentially the same food that people have been eating for hundreds of years and they have not faced the problem of obesity. The women in the video is exploring the class “english breakfast”. The English Breakfast consists of fried eggs and bacon. Which is now considered a relatively unhealthy dish. Comfort food has become unhealthy through advancements in technology we are able to fry food which makes food taste better but also makes it extremely unhealthy. In those days they had to do a lot more physical activity which means there would be less cases of obesity. The lady in the video explains that people of the past were burning more calories so they could consume more calories. If you think about the sorts of jobs that people have today most of them would be sitting at a desk which burns almost no calories. Also with the food industry today is controlled by big corporations. In order to make a lot of money corporations will put heinous amounts of sugar into their products in order to make the food more addictive.Consumers of course realized that this was a problem and began increasingly in what was in their food however social epidemiology creates a difference in the foods that people can afford. Class satisfaction affects the types of food one will consume and the food that we consume is directly related to the health. I had no idea that cereal came from an idea that everyone should become vegetarians. I never realized how in depth the The first cereals of course were not filled with sugar like they today. -Glass123
I like how you pointed out that there was more physical activity back in the day, furthermore leading to less cases of childhood obesity and/or adulthood obesity. I think a lot of this stems from the fact that several decades ago it was normal for kids to go outside, and play for hours after school each day. Now the norm is for a kid to come home and play "Angry Birds" on his or her iPhone for hours after school each day. Technology really is a great tool that provides plenty of resources, but I do think it is contributing to the obesity epidemic in America especially.-MrG123
You make the very real point about more physical activity being required for jobs back in the day. Nowadays, people are working more desk jobs and sitting in one place all day, or working in factories standing in one spot all day. Not only are Americans burning less calories, we are also consuming more calories than they did before the industrial revolution. It's no wonder obesity is on the rise, and with the food industry continuing to process unhealthy foods we will only continue to see this trend rise. Especially when American pastimes nowadays are becoming less physical as well, people aren't even going home and being active. Society has definitely impacted America's cultural norms when it comes to the food industry and what people are consuming. daisy123
Consumption of fast food, as well as junk food for that matter, has almost become an American pastime like baseball, or apple pie. However, as this video shows there is a lot more to the culture and detail surrounding junk food than your normal average joe might think. For starters, the health of individuals can be based largely around the cultural patterns that surround them, as well as social inequality. If resources are distributed unequally than people will resort to consuming junk food, as it is generally cheaper than healthier food. As the video also explained, the patterns of junk food consumption can also be broken down into social epidemiology, as the poor get sicker while the rich feel better quicker. That rhymed; cool! In fact, in the United States of America obesity is a massive problem, no pun intended. A lot of this is largely due to the social hierarchy that exists within America. Holistic medicine especially in the fashion that it is used, to prevent illness, most of which the lower class cannot afford or purchase because they don’t have proper healthcare. It is even hard for some doctors to treat patients as people, or provide personal treatment when there is a cultural bias against individuals fighting obesity. In which case these individuals must resort to the practices of socialized medicine in order to get better, as the government will distribute it based on household income. With the media often glorifying junk food, or fast food items on television, as well as in commercials, it can also become difficult for people suffering from obesity to avoid playing the sick role. In other words, these people cannot function as normal members of a society because they are either picked on, or simply cannot perform everyday tasks due to their weight restrictions.-MrG123
I love the way you described the inequality of society and how it relates to the consumption of fast food. Due to the inequality of money, the poor of the poor will always consume the cheaper, less healthy food. I agree with you that the system of the United States is very messed up. People all around the world cannot get the care that every human deserves because they are very sick. Instead, if they do get anything, they are getting a pill that will make then feel better but will not resolve the issue. This is where holistic care comes in, or prevention care. Those seeking holistic care are much more educated because it requires a lifestyle change as opposed to traditional care.
The culture of food has dramatically changed and transformed throughout the centuries. What we see now as a usual meal could of been deviant 50 years ago. An example of this would be eating bacon when the church prohibited people to eat meat. People are also eating things that are much less healthy for them than the past. The overall health of people has declined and the rate of obesity has skyrocketed. The ways of agriculture and farming have changed for the worst. Pesticides and preservatives have taken over the crop industry along with postindustrial equipment. A century ago and leading up to the postindustrial era farming was done with agrarian and pastoral customs. That type of farming and organic farming is almost unknown today, and is very expensive. Everything is now about efficiency, the human race is lazy. Most people do not want to cook in the morning, much less spend more on organic products when they pretty much taste the same as the normal product. People are not informed about their health and only act on how they feel. It is important to learn about the dangers of eating poorly and the effects of obesity. There are dozens of ways to cook a product and the norms have changed throughout time. There are so many medieval preparations people of our time have forgotten or never been exposed to. We may only know how to scramble and broil eggs when there are about ten other ways to cook them including roasting them.Technology also played a huge role. A lot of the food today requires certain technologies that people did not have hundreds of years ago such as ovens and grills. This changed the way our cooks looked at food and introduced new recipes, maybe forgetting about old ways of doing things. Scuba123
As the video discussed, the evolution of food choices is based on cultural change throughout time. Before the industrial revolution in America, most families owned their own farms to feed themselves. These family farms allowed people to know exactly what they were eating. Traditional breakfast is thought to be bacon and eggs, full of protein to start the day. Nowadays, most people eat a quick, sugary breakfast. In America, it is not uncommon to pour a bowl of cereal or grab a breakfast bar on the way out to work or school. Because breakfasts now are nutritionally deficient, people tend to overeat during lunch. This could be looked at as a cause of obesity in our country. After the industrial revolution family farms were replaced by large corporations. The food industry is controlled by about 10 companies. This is because our country can’t export food to other countries because they have strict policies prohibiting GMOs. Mass production of food allowed such poor quality food to be purchased very cheaply, which could be a reason that the lower class is impacted more heavily by obesity than the upper and middle classes. Some people are also uneducated about America’s food industry, and continue to consume processed foods that do not have enough nutrients in them. As America’s economy is now postindustrial, most careers and jobs are high-stress and take up the majority of Americans’ time. With that being said, most people don’t have the time of day to make a good, healthy meal, and we can see this through the rise of fast food industries. The media also influences people more than they would like to admit. Cultural norms are constantly changing, and do affect what Americans consume. Advertising these unhealthy foods in such appealing ways causes people to eat things they never would’ve before. daisy123
I think this documentary showed a lot about how society changes over time by discussing human kind’s eating habits. The video primarily focuses on the development of breakfast in the UK and the Western world. How it became a societal norm is interesting. I always thought that breakfast was always apart of every culture around the world since the beginning of time. In addition, I had no idea that the religion of Catholicism determined what people would eat and also told people what to eat. Like the lady says in the video, bacon and eggs are what make up the classic English breakfast. However, the Catholic church said in Medieval times that meat and eggs were not to be eaten during lent. Meat was seen as being sexual and was frowned upon because it showed that one may be unfaithful or deviant towards Catholicism when eaten.
Back then, in Medieval times, the Western world consisted of an agrarian society. People grew their own food and raised livestock. Food was food. Many people did not know what healthy and unhealthy was for the body. Obesity was not an epidemic, like it is today, because food was not industrialized yet. Nowadays,we see bacon and eggs as a comfort food that is not the healthiest to eat. In addition to faith having an impact on what people ate, so did one’s status. The lady in the video also talked about the aristocrats being able to eat while socially interacting with one another. Caste systems were very prominent from the Medieval times until the Victorian era. This social stratification was justified and reinforced by religion. The church justified that God wanted people to be born into the life that they would live. Referring back the the aristocats, luxurious breakfast parties were thrown where people of the same social class would indulge in eating food together. These people had an ascribed status and were born into having money and could therefore afford these luxuries. These breakfast parties were eventually passed down through the social classes over time and eventually developed into what we know as the simple breakfast time with the family in the morning.
Moving on, I wanted to also comment on the industrialization of food. In the video, we see that it all started with Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and his brother with the development of corn flakes. Being of the Seventh Day Adventists denomination, John and his younger brother Keith wanted to convert the rest of the world to vegetarianism. Grains, vegetables, and nuts were important to eat in that religion. The Kellogg brothers, being a dyad, fought over whether or not to sell their newly developed cornflakes to the world. In the end, the younger Kellogg brother began selling them and became a multimillionaire. The Kellogg brothers are one of the first people to begin the industrialization of food. Being in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Western world had become an industrial society, so it makes sense that food would find more and more easier ways to be industrialized. Check123
You bring up a good point about how class systems affected what people ate in the middle ages. The aristocracy had breakfasts much like dinnertime banquets to show off their lush lifestyle, and the commoners would have roasted eggs if they had anything at all. Making a parallel to today's society, the same class division is going on in our own country, except that the script is flipped. With advancing medicine and nutrition, we now know what to put into our bodies to keep ourselves feeling better longer, playing into preventative care, as well. Also, due to industrialization, the food that makes us fatter is actually cheaper due to additives and processing methods. Now, the richer people are thinner and the poorer people are fatter as a generalized pattern. It is interesting to think that society changes a whole 180 degrees due to advancing technologies. aardvark123
I thought it was weird how they said some people don’t eat meat because it is a product of sexual reproduction. This is an example of how someone’s culture defines what is healthy to them. There are many different reasons why people wouldn’t include meat in their diet. No matter the reason, a lack of or a lot of a specific type of food is what makes a person healthy or not. I think that this video showed a lot of old fashioned ways of eating that seem not as weird today as they might have seemed back then. A beverage like tea was not a common drink to poor people or at lunch or dinner but today there is a ton of different teas and sweet teas that anyone can drink any time of the day. I think it’s interesting how cereals used to be very plain and tasteless and a hard process to make. Now, there are lots of different flavors and combinations of cereals that aren’t all that good for people. The cereal business expanded greatly when sugar was added to it. In a society fueled by money, this could be one of the causes of obesity because of many companies trying to sell their products. I think it’s unfortunate that poorer people must settle for the unhealthier foods. Health issues are mostly not due to someone’s personal choice of diet but because of what they had to eat with money they could spend. This could be why many people are obese today. I think there might be a correlation between when the economy got bad and the rise of obesity in America. All the countries in the world have a different definition of a proper breakfast. These breakfasts change because of what resources are available in what country at the time they were invented. Today, depending on if a country has more resources available, the breakfast tradition became more common to the entire country and other countries. -Kiwi123
I like the way you talk about the fact that the cereal craze is being based on money and how the addition of sugar fuels the fire. It is amazing how corporations take the health of the product out of the equation and how to produce more cheaper. I also like the fact that you say how much more unhealthy are breakfasts choices of today are. I also made the correlation of obesity and our choices of the foods we eat today. The fact that Americans prefer processed foods that are quick and easy to make over putting in an effort to preparing a good meal, is stunning. Diver 123
What was interesting about the documentary was that it paralleled usual food consumption and trends with cultural change and what values society upheld at certain times in history. Meals were, especially in medieval times, reflections of social class. When breakfast came about in Europe in the Middle Ages, it was reserved for the aristocracy, and the commoners of the time were lucky if they even ate in the morning because food was such a luxury due to society being severely hierarchical. What food you ate was also largely influenced by the church, similar to today’s mass media if you were to compare societal influence. The church placed a stigma on meat because it was flesh, and flesh was the product of copulation. To the church, it was a very taboo concept, and the amount of meat you did not eat also depended on your status in the church. As the church lost power over secular matters, its influence over what people ate declined, as well. In the coming years, food production increased as industrialization increased, and breakfast became much more common among all levels of social class, even among the lowest class. Advancing farming technology made food easier to make and, therefore, cheaper to sell, making breakfast available to all markets, but the increase in consumption of breakfast broke from the earlier traditions of a vegetarian lifestyle because industrialization made meat cheaper. This made certain groups upset because their values still upheld the folkways of the church, and there was a cultural push to follow the rules of the past to follow a more godly lifestyle through the choice of becoming vegetarian. That was when Kellogg’s began to rule the breakfast world with a new product, sugary cereal, inadvertently broadcasting their old church ideology through popular culture. It is very interesting to see the trends in the social world carry over to the food world in everyday life. aardvark123
This video tells of the evolution of breakfast over the years. The story starts with the discussion of the typical bacon and eggs breakfast to the cereals of today. From the bacon and eggs it discusses the aristocratic styles of breakfast which included an omelet made with rabbit, and eggs cooked in coals of a fire. Then we speed up to Dr. John Kellogg. This changed the way we eat breakfast today here in the States. Dr. John Kellogg was not the first person to create corn flakes. Dr. John Kellogg was a very religious man and wanted people to be more vegetarian. He thought that in the bible in the book of Genesis it was said that man should not eat meat. The video goes on to tell how corn flakes was made by accident. During the process initially wheat was used instead of corn. Kellogg was a strong believer of a good grain based diet. In 1895 the first corn flakes were served in his sanitarium for breakfast. Later malt and sugar were added to the recipe. Dr. John Kellogg’s first intent was not to sale or mass produce his product, just serve it to the people in his sanitarium. It was John’s younger brother who wanted to mass produce the product for everyone to enjoy. This caused the two brothers to fight and John’ brother Will Keith Kellogg did end up selling the product to the people. People did like the taste of the cereal and Will became a multimillionaire. In 1952 Tony the Tiger was introduced to appeal to young children. From there the sugar increased with cereals aimed to selling it to kids. It is amazing how much sugar is put into cereals to appeal to children. The history of the evolution of breakfast is amazing, from bacon and eggs to high sugar cereals. It is not a wonder how there has become an obesity epidemic in the United States. We have gone from eating real whole foods to eating processed sugar enriched foods today. Which the sugar amount is not good, it can cause diabetes and obesity. The processed foods are not good either. We need real food that can be grown and raised not mass produced in a factory. Diver123
This video excels in showing the shift in food consumption from healthier natural foods to unhealthy processed foods. Prior to the Industrial Revolution of the late 1700s, the majority of people produced their own food for consumption on their own. Primarily this food consisted of locally sourced agricultural products, meat from cattle, and additional sources gathered through acts like fishing and hunting. Little concern was placed into whether food was healthy or unhealthy; as the video stated, "food was food." Thus, many modern day issues related to food such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes simply weren't prevalent in many medieval circles
This changed with the advent of processed foods in the 1800s. Instead of cooking and producing your own food, more and more people were opting to move to urban areas to work in factories and purchase their food through the capitalist marketplace. The video utilizes breakfast foods as the primary analogy for processed foods, specifically breakfast cereal. Though initially produced in an effort to reduce meat consumption, the initial bland cereals gave way to the more sugary and desirable (though much less healthy) breakfast cereals that line store shelves today.
This video reminded me the most of Sweetness & Power, a book I had to read for a history class I took last semester. In this book Sidney Mintz discusses the importance that sugar plays in our modern day consumption of food. Mintz argues that the addition of sugar "altered the grammar of consumption" and changed the way we ate our meals by creating and high calorie supplement that was more desirable than traditional nutrients. Nowadays, meals have become much more individualized and catered to individual tastes. The video takes this into account with the discussion of breakfast foods leading to health problems. Today someone can eat a quick breakfast bar on the way to work, paving the way for a large, unhealthy lunch.
This video effectively discussed the way junk / processed foods changed the way we consume food. dday123
It is saddening to see how much food has changed over the centuries. It has definitely taken a turn for the worse. I normally do not eat breakfast, but I was surprised to see that breakfast is a big part of the cause of childhood obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. That is a good point that food is more individualized in today's society. I can even relate to that because I am a very picky eater myself. If you eat a decent sized and whole not processed food breakfast, not a granola bar or something to that nature like you said, then it will be less likely for that person to have a large, unhealthy lunch. -softball_savvy123
I found this video more intriguing than I thought I would. Seeing how what we eat for breakfast has changed over the decades were interesting. Our food has changed because our culture and society has. I did not realize that religion played such a big role on what we today. For example, the Catholics, or more specifically the Clergy, created the combination of bacon and eggs, which is a common breakfast for people in today's society. It all started with bacon and eggs and now in today's society sugary cereals are much more appealing to a lot of people. Rather than eating whole, healthy foods, we now eat processed foods. These foods are full of sugar and fat which is extremely unhealthy. There is currently a big problem with obesity especially in child in the United States because of the food we are eating. If we were eating how we did centuries ago, there would not be a problem, but our culture as changed drastically in a lot of ways. It is easy to forget how much our culture has become better though. We have advanced greatly over the centuries with cooking and baking. In the past, people were farming and working very hard for their food which enabled them to lose more calories allowing them to eat more calories. Work is not the same as it was centuries ago. Our health declines because of the junk food and comfort food that we eat today. Comfort is common for people under a lot of stress and anxiety. Chocolate would be considered a comfort food which is very bad for you. This documentary helps people see just how bad the food is that they are consuming. We need to begin eating the foods people ate centuries ago instead of Cocoa Puffs, for example. -softball_savvy123
I too did not know the extent that religion played on eating a well balanced meal. It really is an eye opener to see what we should and should not be eating and how it can negatively affect our bodies. In some aspects it seems that Americans are making up for all the times in the past that people went without food when you stop and think about all of the food consumed today and how people never think about how it really is not that good for us even its affects on unborn babies is uncanny. Our food culture has not only influenced Americans but it’s trickling down to other countries as well. Benoodles123
Food has become so engrossed in everyone’s culture. It sets apart some cultures from others. The food we eat has changed drastically over the years causing an unhealthy lifestyle for many people of the world. The cornflake which is a breakfast staple in many families today, was invented by a mistake. Interestingly it was also produced to appeal to vegans. In some of the cultures, people have taken on a vegan approach which allows them to not consume all of the processed foods that comes along with many of the foods we eat today. On the other end of the spectrum, many people overindulge when eating or eating more than what the body actually needs which results in obesity. Obesity is a real epidemic with in the United States and young children are being affected by this. Obesity leads to weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and many more ailments. Many Americans try and combat obesity with unhealthy remedies such as not eating or binge eating and then vomiting it all up. Another reason why obesity is rampant in our country is the fact that unhealthy eating is everywhere even going to the grocery store has a fast food restaurant incorporated inside the store wherever a person goes there is a fast food restaurant flashing in their face. Breakfast seems to be the meal of choice especially since it’s been around for over 100 years and it is a very important meal because it sets the tone for the rest of your day. If a person eats a fatty and or greasy meal first thing in the morning then they’ll more than like feel sluggish for the rest of the day versus if a person eats a healthy breakfast then they may feel energized and ready to start their day. Benoodles123
While food certainly differs from culture to culture, I agree that "engrossed" is the correct term to use. In fact, it would be odd if food was not engrossed in society as it is one of our most basic needs as humans. I found it extremely intriguing that cornflakes were originally intended to appeal to vegans, seeing as how small the vegan lifestyle was a mere one hundred years ago. I wholeheartedly agree with your statement that obesity is rampant because of the fact that unhealthy eating is everywhere. I always find it slightly ironic when I walk into a Wal-Mart that has a Subway or any other restaurant in it. -ThreeTwo123
From this documentary, one is able to clearly observe that our food choices go hand in hand with the society’s changing culture. Because of the fact that most jobs in earlier centuries involved more physical activity, more protein was required than is generally needed in this day and age. Also, in past centuries many families owned their own small farms and were able to provide food for themselves that way; however the industrial revolution brought with it a change in the family farming and agriculture dynamic: now farming began to become privatized and was conglomerated with large corporations. One thing that really stuck with me through watching this documentary was the digression (in my opinion) of foods as time progresses. You go from healthier foods like roasted pigeon, eggs Benedict, and fish to more modern food like cocoa puffs. Because we live in a post-industrious society here in the United States, we have an abundant amount of options when it comes to what we would like to eat. Our general access to goods is incredible; some stores will even deliver your groceries straight to your door if you would like. Because national and international food production companies are becoming larger and larger, they are able to offer their manufactured food products (mostly unhealthy) at a much cheaper price than many fresher and healthier options. Because many people today in the United States are working class, they do not have a large amount of time to focus on the food that they are eating or the nutrients (or lack thereof) that they are putting into their body. If time is money, why would anyone do anything besides go through the drive through at a McDonald's? It is cheap, it is easy, and it tastes good. If our society focused on valuing nutrition over time we would be much healthier overall. -ThreeTwo123
The progression of food throughout the centuries has dramatically changed, but the concept of the rich getting better quality food than the poor has sadly stayed the same. Back in the 1800’s food was never processed. People raised their own chickens, cattle, livestock, and produce on their own property. Now, that is a rarity. The Industrial Revolution changed agriculture from making up the primary sector to agriculture making up the secondary sector. The Industrial Revolution brought the workers from the farms to cities, which changed the job force.
ReplyDeleteFood production in the United States is an oligopoly, in that the food industry is dominated by only ten companies. One such conglomerate corporation is General Mills. While federal law does not permit monopolies, the food industry comes close. We are a capitalistic country that lives in a global economy, but when it comes to food, we often can’t export because other countries do not allow GMO’s, which is what makes up all our food source.
Overtime, this resulted in mass production of food that has led to a national outbreak of obesity, one of the biggest eating problems in the United States. An example would be breakfast. Back then it was normal to have a breakfast of bacon and eggs that you raised on your own land, so they would have been organic, which are full of protein. Now, we have a breakfast that is a bowl of sugary cereal or no breakfast at all which can then lead to us overeating during lunch. Some of the causes of obesity comes from jobs that require little to no physical activity, and the foods are so processed that they are nutritionally deficient. Another cause of obesity can also be linked to a lack of health education. But the foods that are processed are cheap, so it is what the lower class can afford often causing them to be overweight. Food choices are often handed down through the family and the culture they come from. The migration of people from other countries has brought on different food cultures to the United States. Diversity of our country has introduced us to a multitude of different types of food that we would never experience if we lived in a culture that was so focused within. For example, in England people eat baked beans for breakfast, but if we had never been to England we wouldn’t have known except for social interaction, like social media. Socialization, even as seen throughout social media, influences food choices.
sunflower123
I like how you mention the huge influences that media has on our food choices. In a society where everyone is always in a rush, it is not surprising that the fast food businesses are doing so well. Unfortunately, our health is not as a result. You brought up the idea that not only can the poor people not afford to buy the healthiest foods, but they are often not educated on how bad processed food is for you. I think you are right because in my nutritions class we learned that there are ways to buy healthier food on a very tight budget, although it would never amount to the healthy diet you could afford with sufficient money. -Chameleon123
DeleteI agree with you when you mention how obesity has really become one of our biggest problems here. The numbers really tell the problem itself. The fact that so many of these obese people are children is really sad. Because the habits that they are taught in childhood will play over into their adulthood and then taught again to their children. I do think however that our health and what we eat has really been a hot topic in America lately. I do think more people are trying to eat better. The whole process of healthy living can be really hard with all the different things we are surrounded with today. Litv123
DeleteAmerica’s food industry has been a growing problem over the years. The United is slowly becoming increasingly obese. Our food is not becoming as whole as it once was. In the past everyone knew what they were eating because they had grown everything they were going to put into their mouth. While watching the video you really get to see how cooking has evolved in our everyday lives. I’ve never considered how for an advanced the things we are able to cook today have gotten. The way our world has socially changed is really shown throughout the whole video. Eggs were internationally very important in every region. Many of the different ways they are cooked are considered very sacred to each different area. Our food has changed over time due to the way we have socially interacted and taken from one another. In the documentary when they exam the cereal it really caught my attention because that has been a large discussion in my house before. We have over the past couple years like many other families we have been a symbol for health in our house. We viewed all the cereals in our house and it was really surprising the amount of sugar packed into one single box of cereal. I think our society as a whole has really taken a social movement in healthy conscious living. I think it is really becoming something people have started to care about more. With all the technology we have today I think it should be getting easier to make healthier food. However, at the same time there are very unhealthy and great tasting food as we have advanced. Like we talked about in class I do think your race, social class, and your social ethnicity can really play into what you eat on a day to day basis. Litv123
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point when you said that the eggs used to be sacred in every region. It was interesting how during lent pastors and preachers would eat eggs and bacon the Monday before lent started. I was almost like a type of ritual, and it was sacred. Now, there is no meaning to what we eat as long as it tastes good and is cheap. It is amazing how the world evolves to the point where our food choices are affected as well, and I think this video does a good job of depicting that. You also make a solid point by saying that our society has become more health conscious, and I agree with that. I also agree with your statement about technology advancing and making food taste better even though it is wore for you.
Deletesunflower123
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DeleteEmmy TMay 29, 2017 at 5:02 PM
DeleteIt really is crazy to see how much we have changed about our foods. It goes to show that not all advancements are positive. And I know what you mean about having family discussions about cereal. We were not allowed to buy any cereal with more than 11 grams of sugar in a serving, except for on out birthdays when we got to choose any one kind for that week. I totally support bringing back the egg as one of our most important foods. Our surroundings really have an impact on what we eat. Not only can race, social class, and ethnicity play into what you eat on a daily basis, but also where you are. I eat a significantly smaller amount of eggs when I am at school than when I am at home because they are only served at one meal a day (breakfast) at school. -M&M123
The evolution of how our food choices have come to be what they are today is based largely on our society’s cultural changes. As shown in this documentary, the Catholic religion is actually the reason that the traditional bacon and egg breakfast was formed. People would try to eat a lot of protein before lent started and animal products were not allowed. In the earlier times, people also had more active jobs as most people owned their own farms. After the industrial revolution, family farms were replaced by corporate agribusinesses and the percentage of families in the farming business dropped drastically. In our current post industrial economy as technology continues to advance, jobs are mostly sedentary and stress levels are high. We all seem to be in a constant rush, a lot of us not even making time for breakfast at all, which is why fast food and processed foods have become such a big industry. Unfortunately, the lack of time spent preparing healthy meals, the stress and jobs in our advancing world, and the media’s advertising of unhealthy foods has sent our nation into an unhealthy state. The rates of overweightness and obesity are higher than they have ever been. It is not only our eating habits that are affecting our society’s health. Industrialization comes with environmental drawbacks that can have negative affects on our health such as pollution and the increase of sedentary lifestyles. Social inequality is evident in the health of populations. Social epidemiologists have found that those who are rich can afford the greatest medical care, best quality of nutrition, safe housing, and lack of stress about finances. Poorer populations do not have these benefits, and as a result their life expectancy can decrease by decades. Social inequality and health is not a new thing. It was said in the video that tea drinking was thought to have health benefits, but it was associated with higher class communities. -Chameleon123
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comment. It is accurate to say that religion played a part in the eating habits of the century. Not only back then, but in our culture today as well. There are still religions that do not meat, and consider themselves vegetarian. Hinduism, and Judaism being good examples on how they do not certain kinds of meat, or no meat. I also agree with your sentence about the rich receiving the best medical care, and if they wanted to best nutrition. Because now foods that are organic are becoming more popular, and since organic foods are more expensive it is safe to say that it is the wealthy that are able to afford it. Hence them being able to be more healthy with their food lifestyle. Like you said, social inequality is a real thing in everyday life. Many concepts such as religion, social class, and time affect our choices when it comes to things like breakfast food.
Deletepanda123
The documentary “We Are What We Eat”, made me think, Are we really what we eat? The documentary mainly focus on breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. We all need food in order for our bodies to function properly. Breakfast has the most historian history. The traditional breakfast is also called either English breakfast or full English breakfast. Breakfast is considered iconic, because you can eat it pretty much any time of the day. Religion played a major role in the sacred of food. During the middle ages, the catholic churches told the people what to eat and what not to eat. The churches used the structural-functional theory. The churches obeyed the people to not eat meat at all. In France the Dominican order was founded in the 1930’s. The priest/pastor during that time felt as if certain foods have certain effects on people. When you drink caffeine it gives you energy. Chocolate make people happy. They consider meat as flesh and the production of the reproduction system. They believe that when you eat meat you're going to think about sex. I found this to be interesting of how they perceived meat of how people would react if they were to eat it. In the 17th century during the age of prosperity bacon became known for breakfast. Breakfast is divided from lower class to high class. The documentary showed how in high-income countries in an addus acratic household during the 16th century breakfast was likely to be an substantial meal. In the textbook, “all societies contain relative poverty, but low-income nations face widespread absolute poverty that is life-threatening.” People who live in poor nations suffer from hunger. It wasn’t about what you can eat it was whether or not what you can afford to eat. All good food comes with a cost. If you are not eating healthy that can cause a person health problems. “Health is a social issue, because personal well-being depends on a society’s level of technology and its distribution of resources.” Tobias Varner was the first person to use the word obesity.According to the textbook, “In the United States, 64 percent of adults are overweight; being overweight raises the risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Social causes of obesity include an inactive lifestyle and a diet heavy in salt and fatty foods.”Tobias Varner felt that just a couple of poached eggs with some bread and butter with a good draught of pure Claret-wine was the perfect breakfast. Wine and beer was the traditional drink until coffed came about a breakfast pick me up in the 1960’s. In the 18th century, tea became a serious social concern amongst a certain social class. In the late 1740’s and 1750’s tea became regular or normal for breakfast. In 1894 the invention of corn flakes was an accident. Cereal has been around for more than 100 years. The good thing about breakfast food is that it is iconic. In actual reality we are what we eat. Rendezvous123
ReplyDeleteThe timeline on how breakfast has changed over the centuries is very interesting. In the documentary it was said that the traditional bacon and eggs plate came about with the Catholic church beliefs. Since the Catholic had a rule that you could not eat during lent, one could have a single day of indulgence. Therefore they ate what the couldn't eat during lent, which was meat and eggs. Hence, accidentally creating the plate, bacon and eggs. Breakfast food and breakfast drinks were changing as the centuries passed. For example, the original morning drinks were wine and beer, but then in the 1620's coffee made its debut as a social drink that was served in coffee houses in the 1650's. It was a good service to be a part of. After that, it switched to a breakfast pick-me-up. Another drink that began to change society was tea imported from china. It was adopted more quickly as a domestic drink, it might be because it was easier to prepare compared to other drinks. Then came Dr. Kellogg who came up with the famous cereal, corn flakes. Since he was a seventh day Adventist, he believed that mankind should not eat meat. It was said that the invention of corn flakes was an accident, because Dr. Kellogg and his brother were experimenting with wheat rather than corn. So when they were heating the wheat, they overheated it and that's when they realized that even though they failed that part, it was the right consistency to be rolled. Thus, the invention of corn flakes being introduced to the world. It was said that he wanted to change America with a change of diet, so he wanted to create foods with healthier ingredients like wheat, vegetables, and nuts. It was a good plan because before this change of food became popular; the documentary implied that the Victorians were having health problems concerning their bowels, and on top of that the foods that were mentioned at the beginning, used a lot of fat, and ate a lot of eggs in almost all of their breakfast meals. It would have been interesting to see the social epidemiology was in these centuries. In fact, it was eaten so much that a physician named Tobias, advised restraint. In his book the Right Way to a Long Life, he was the first to mention obesity, and he wrote what one should eat at breakfast. This documentary was interesting to see as they showed how, and what foods were being invented and made popular. Also, how it was the wealthy aristrocratic people that were more privy to the more popular and delicious foods. Even with food, there is a class system. It is unfortunate but true, and the documentary did a good job in bringing to light that situation.
ReplyDeletepanda123
Panda123, I liked how you mentioned that food is found in class systems. It is absolutely true. We still see it in today’s society. The fast food industry, for example, targets the poorer people in America by enticing them with good “deals.” People in the middle income class are able to have more access to healthy foods than someone in a lower income class. Food deserts are also prominent in our society. A food desert is when grocery stores are a long distance from a neighborhood or town. Typically, the lower income class are a part of these food deserts because no one else wants to live a far distance from the nearest grocery store. Some argue that distance is not much of an issue, however, efficient transportation to the nearest available grocery store is and can therefore contribute to the cause of a food deserts in the U.S. Check123
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ReplyDeleteI never realized how much of an impact religion had on the foods we eat today. I thought it was funny to hear people talking about how breakfast foods don’t have to be eaten for breakfast only. I laughed out loud when someone made a comment that people would be drinking a glass of stella while eating their breakfast food or “full english.” It was interesting to learn that eggs and bacon came from people throwing these two things together before lent so that none went to waste. I had never really known why people cut out meat for lent. I never would have even thought that it was because that is what came from reproduction and foods relate to thoughts. Breakfast tea is a brilliant idea and I don’t know why we don’t do that here in the U.S. I would love that! Watching the foods being discussed go from foods like eggs and bacon to foods like cocoa puffs was almost disappointing. While there has been a lot of progress in our knowledge of foods and nutrition, it is disappointing to see how many more options there are that contribute to an unhealthy lifestyle. I think that in the United States, it is almost impossible to have a nutrition diet if you don’t have the money for it. It is so much easy to pull into McDonalds and buy a McPick2 for three dollars instead of spending nine dollars for a salad at Panera. The same goes with grocery shopping. It is easier to spend ten dollars on several junk food items than ten dollars on a very small amount of fruits or vegetables. These prices seem to have a large effect on child obesity too. Unhealthy options are often a much cheaper option for low income families with kids than healthy foods. This is why my family goes to Farmers Markets and we always make sure we have eggs in the house for a good source of protein. These are just a few ways to help keep a family healthy without spending more than you can afford. -M&M123
I agree it's crazy that you people can't buy quality and nutritious food because it costs too much money. Some of the junk food that we eat is so unhealthy that it shortens people's life spans. I think that we need to make nutritious food more available to every consumer. I used to think that the advent of nutrition programs in school were stupid because I thought that knowledge about what food is good for you was common sense. This video and the health chapter made me realize that some people don't have the resources and knowledge about nutritious diets. -Glass123
DeleteThis video focuses on the how our food more specifically our breakfast food has transformed over the years and how it relates to our health. Many people are confused because the “junk food” and “comfort food” of today is essentially the same food that people have been eating for hundreds of years and they have not faced the problem of obesity. The women in the video is exploring the class “english breakfast”. The English Breakfast consists of fried eggs and bacon. Which is now considered a relatively unhealthy dish. Comfort food has become unhealthy through advancements in technology we are able to fry food which makes food taste better but also makes it extremely unhealthy. In those days they had to do a lot more physical activity which means there would be less cases of obesity. The lady in the video explains that people of the past were burning more calories so they could consume more calories. If you think about the sorts of jobs that people have today most of them would be sitting at a desk which burns almost no calories. Also with the food industry today is controlled by big corporations. In order to make a lot of money corporations will put heinous amounts of sugar into their products in order to make the food more addictive.Consumers of course realized that this was a problem and began increasingly in what was in their food however social epidemiology creates a difference in the foods that people can afford. Class satisfaction affects the types of food one will consume and the food that we consume is directly related to the health. I had no idea that cereal came from an idea that everyone should become vegetarians. I never realized how in depth the The first cereals of course were not filled with sugar like they today. -Glass123
ReplyDeleteI like how you pointed out that there was more physical activity back in the day, furthermore leading to less cases of childhood obesity and/or adulthood obesity. I think a lot of this stems from the fact that several decades ago it was normal for kids to go outside, and play for hours after school each day. Now the norm is for a kid to come home and play "Angry Birds" on his or her iPhone for hours after school each day. Technology really is a great tool that provides plenty of resources, but I do think it is contributing to the obesity epidemic in America especially.-MrG123
DeleteYou make the very real point about more physical activity being required for jobs back in the day. Nowadays, people are working more desk jobs and sitting in one place all day, or working in factories standing in one spot all day. Not only are Americans burning less calories, we are also consuming more calories than they did before the industrial revolution. It's no wonder obesity is on the rise, and with the food industry continuing to process unhealthy foods we will only continue to see this trend rise. Especially when American pastimes nowadays are becoming less physical as well, people aren't even going home and being active. Society has definitely impacted America's cultural norms when it comes to the food industry and what people are consuming. daisy123
DeleteConsumption of fast food, as well as junk food for that matter, has almost become an American pastime like baseball, or apple pie. However, as this video shows there is a lot more to the culture and detail surrounding junk food than your normal average joe might think. For starters, the health of individuals can be based largely around the cultural patterns that surround them, as well as social inequality. If resources are distributed unequally than people will resort to consuming junk food, as it is generally cheaper than healthier food. As the video also explained, the patterns of junk food consumption can also be broken down into social epidemiology, as the poor get sicker while the rich feel better quicker. That rhymed; cool! In fact, in the United States of America obesity is a massive problem, no pun intended. A lot of this is largely due to the social hierarchy that exists within America. Holistic medicine especially in the fashion that it is used, to prevent illness, most of which the lower class cannot afford or purchase because they don’t have proper healthcare. It is even hard for some doctors to treat patients as people, or provide personal treatment when there is a cultural bias against individuals fighting obesity. In which case these individuals must resort to the practices of socialized medicine in order to get better, as the government will distribute it based on household income. With the media often glorifying junk food, or fast food items on television, as well as in commercials, it can also become difficult for people suffering from obesity to avoid playing the sick role. In other words, these people cannot function as normal members of a society because they are either picked on, or simply cannot perform everyday tasks due to their weight restrictions.-MrG123
ReplyDeleteI love the way you described the inequality of society and how it relates to the consumption of fast food. Due to the inequality of money, the poor of the poor will always consume the cheaper, less healthy food. I agree with you that the system of the United States is very messed up. People all around the world cannot get the care that every human deserves because they are very sick. Instead, if they do get anything, they are getting a pill that will make then feel better but will not resolve the issue. This is where holistic care comes in, or prevention care. Those seeking holistic care are much more educated because it requires a lifestyle change as opposed to traditional care.
DeleteThe culture of food has dramatically changed and transformed throughout the centuries. What we see now as a usual meal could of been deviant 50 years ago. An example of this would be eating bacon when the church prohibited people to eat meat. People are also eating things that are much less healthy for them than the past. The overall health of people has declined and the rate of obesity has skyrocketed. The ways of agriculture and farming have changed for the worst. Pesticides and preservatives have taken over the crop industry along with postindustrial equipment. A century ago and leading up to the postindustrial era farming was done with agrarian and pastoral customs. That type of farming and organic farming is almost unknown today, and is very expensive. Everything is now about efficiency, the human race is lazy. Most people do not want to cook in the morning, much less spend more on organic products when they pretty much taste the same as the normal product. People are not informed about their health and only act on how they feel. It is important to learn about the dangers of eating poorly and the effects of obesity. There are dozens of ways to cook a product and the norms have changed throughout time. There are so many medieval preparations people of our time have forgotten or never been exposed to. We may only know how to scramble and broil eggs when there are about ten other ways to cook them including roasting them.Technology also played a huge role. A lot of the food today requires certain technologies that people did not have hundreds of years ago such as ovens and grills. This changed the way our cooks looked at food and introduced new recipes, maybe forgetting about old ways of doing things. Scuba123
ReplyDeleteAs the video discussed, the evolution of food choices is based on cultural change throughout time. Before the industrial revolution in America, most families owned their own farms to feed themselves. These family farms allowed people to know exactly what they were eating. Traditional breakfast is thought to be bacon and eggs, full of protein to start the day. Nowadays, most people eat a quick, sugary breakfast. In America, it is not uncommon to pour a bowl of cereal or grab a breakfast bar on the way out to work or school. Because breakfasts now are nutritionally deficient, people tend to overeat during lunch. This could be looked at as a cause of obesity in our country. After the industrial revolution family farms were replaced by large corporations. The food industry is controlled by about 10 companies. This is because our country can’t export food to other countries because they have strict policies prohibiting GMOs. Mass production of food allowed such poor quality food to be purchased very cheaply, which could be a reason that the lower class is impacted more heavily by obesity than the upper and middle classes. Some people are also uneducated about America’s food industry, and continue to consume processed foods that do not have enough nutrients in them. As America’s economy is now postindustrial, most careers and jobs are high-stress and take up the majority of Americans’ time. With that being said, most people don’t have the time of day to make a good, healthy meal, and we can see this through the rise of fast food industries. The media also influences people more than they would like to admit. Cultural norms are constantly changing, and do affect what Americans consume. Advertising these unhealthy foods in such appealing ways causes people to eat things they never would’ve before. daisy123
ReplyDeleteI think this documentary showed a lot about how society changes over time by discussing human kind’s eating habits. The video primarily focuses on the development of breakfast in the UK and the Western world. How it became a societal norm is interesting. I always thought that breakfast was always apart of every culture around the world since the beginning of time. In addition, I had no idea that the religion of Catholicism determined what people would eat and also told people what to eat. Like the lady says in the video, bacon and eggs are what make up the classic English breakfast. However, the Catholic church said in Medieval times that meat and eggs were not to be eaten during lent. Meat was seen as being sexual and was frowned upon because it showed that one may be unfaithful or deviant towards Catholicism when eaten.
ReplyDeleteBack then, in Medieval times, the Western world consisted of an agrarian society. People grew their own food and raised livestock. Food was food. Many people did not know what healthy and unhealthy was for the body. Obesity was not an epidemic, like it is today, because food was not industrialized yet. Nowadays,we see bacon and eggs as a comfort food that is not the healthiest to eat. In addition to faith having an impact on what people ate, so did one’s status. The lady in the video also talked about the aristocrats being able to eat while socially interacting with one another. Caste systems were very prominent from the Medieval times until the Victorian era. This social stratification was justified and reinforced by religion. The church justified that God wanted people to be born into the life that they would live. Referring back the the aristocats, luxurious breakfast parties were thrown where people of the same social class would indulge in eating food together. These people had an ascribed status and were born into having money and could therefore afford these luxuries. These breakfast parties were eventually passed down through the social classes over time and eventually developed into what we know as the simple breakfast time with the family in the morning.
Moving on, I wanted to also comment on the industrialization of food. In the video, we see that it all started with Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and his brother with the development of corn flakes. Being of the Seventh Day Adventists denomination, John and his younger brother Keith wanted to convert the rest of the world to vegetarianism. Grains, vegetables, and nuts were important to eat in that religion. The Kellogg brothers, being a dyad, fought over whether or not to sell their newly developed cornflakes to the world. In the end, the younger Kellogg brother began selling them and became a multimillionaire. The Kellogg brothers are one of the first people to begin the industrialization of food. Being in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Western world had become an industrial society, so it makes sense that food would find more and more easier ways to be industrialized. Check123
You bring up a good point about how class systems affected what people ate in the middle ages. The aristocracy had breakfasts much like dinnertime banquets to show off their lush lifestyle, and the commoners would have roasted eggs if they had anything at all. Making a parallel to today's society, the same class division is going on in our own country, except that the script is flipped. With advancing medicine and nutrition, we now know what to put into our bodies to keep ourselves feeling better longer, playing into preventative care, as well. Also, due to industrialization, the food that makes us fatter is actually cheaper due to additives and processing methods. Now, the richer people are thinner and the poorer people are fatter as a generalized pattern. It is interesting to think that society changes a whole 180 degrees due to advancing technologies. aardvark123
DeleteI thought it was weird how they said some people don’t eat meat because it is a product of sexual reproduction. This is an example of how someone’s culture defines what is healthy to them. There are many different reasons why people wouldn’t include meat in their diet. No matter the reason, a lack of or a lot of a specific type of food is what makes a person healthy or not. I think that this video showed a lot of old fashioned ways of eating that seem not as weird today as they might have seemed back then. A beverage like tea was not a common drink to poor people or at lunch or dinner but today there is a ton of different teas and sweet teas that anyone can drink any time of the day. I think it’s interesting how cereals used to be very plain and tasteless and a hard process to make. Now, there are lots of different flavors and combinations of cereals that aren’t all that good for people. The cereal business expanded greatly when sugar was added to it. In a society fueled by money, this could be one of the causes of obesity because of many companies trying to sell their products. I think it’s unfortunate that poorer people must settle for the unhealthier foods. Health issues are mostly not due to someone’s personal choice of diet but because of what they had to eat with money they could spend. This could be why many people are obese today. I think there might be a correlation between when the economy got bad and the rise of obesity in America. All the countries in the world have a different definition of a proper breakfast. These breakfasts change because of what resources are available in what country at the time they were invented. Today, depending on if a country has more resources available, the breakfast tradition became more common to the entire country and other countries. -Kiwi123
ReplyDeleteI like the way you talk about the fact that the cereal craze is being based on money and how the addition of sugar fuels the fire. It is amazing how corporations take the health of the product out of the equation and how to produce more cheaper. I also like the fact that you say how much more unhealthy are breakfasts choices of today are. I also made the correlation of obesity and our choices of the foods we eat today. The fact that Americans prefer processed foods that are quick and easy to make over putting in an effort to preparing a good meal, is stunning. Diver 123
DeleteWhat was interesting about the documentary was that it paralleled usual food consumption and trends with cultural change and what values society upheld at certain times in history. Meals were, especially in medieval times, reflections of social class. When breakfast came about in Europe in the Middle Ages, it was reserved for the aristocracy, and the commoners of the time were lucky if they even ate in the morning because food was such a luxury due to society being severely hierarchical. What food you ate was also largely influenced by the church, similar to today’s mass media if you were to compare societal influence. The church placed a stigma on meat because it was flesh, and flesh was the product of copulation. To the church, it was a very taboo concept, and the amount of meat you did not eat also depended on your status in the church. As the church lost power over secular matters, its influence over what people ate declined, as well. In the coming years, food production increased as industrialization increased, and breakfast became much more common among all levels of social class, even among the lowest class. Advancing farming technology made food easier to make and, therefore, cheaper to sell, making breakfast available to all markets, but the increase in consumption of breakfast broke from the earlier traditions of a vegetarian lifestyle because industrialization made meat cheaper. This made certain groups upset because their values still upheld the folkways of the church, and there was a cultural push to follow the rules of the past to follow a more godly lifestyle through the choice of becoming vegetarian. That was when Kellogg’s began to rule the breakfast world with a new product, sugary cereal, inadvertently broadcasting their old church ideology through popular culture. It is very interesting to see the trends in the social world carry over to the food world in everyday life. aardvark123
ReplyDeleteThis video tells of the evolution of breakfast over the years. The story starts with the discussion of the typical bacon and eggs breakfast to the cereals of today. From the bacon and eggs it discusses the aristocratic styles of breakfast which included an omelet made with rabbit, and eggs cooked in coals of a fire. Then we speed up to Dr. John Kellogg. This changed the way we eat breakfast today here in the States. Dr. John Kellogg was not the first person to create corn flakes. Dr. John Kellogg was a very religious man and wanted people to be more vegetarian. He thought that in the bible in the book of Genesis it was said that man should not eat meat. The video goes on to tell how corn flakes was made by accident. During the process initially wheat was used instead of corn. Kellogg was a strong believer of a good grain based diet. In 1895 the first corn flakes were served in his sanitarium for breakfast. Later malt and sugar were added to the recipe. Dr. John Kellogg’s first intent was not to sale or mass produce his product, just serve it to the people in his sanitarium. It was John’s younger brother who wanted to mass produce the product for everyone to enjoy. This caused the two brothers to fight and John’ brother Will Keith Kellogg did end up selling the product to the people. People did like the taste of the cereal and Will became a multimillionaire. In 1952 Tony the Tiger was introduced to appeal to young children. From there the sugar increased with cereals aimed to selling it to kids. It is amazing how much sugar is put into cereals to appeal to children. The history of the evolution of breakfast is amazing, from bacon and eggs to high sugar cereals. It is not a wonder how there has become an obesity epidemic in the United States. We have gone from eating real whole foods to eating processed sugar enriched foods today. Which the sugar amount is not good, it can cause diabetes and obesity. The processed foods are not good either. We need real food that can be grown and raised not mass produced in a factory. Diver123
ReplyDeleteThis video excels in showing the shift in food consumption from healthier natural foods to unhealthy processed foods. Prior to the Industrial Revolution of the late 1700s, the majority of people produced their own food for consumption on their own. Primarily this food consisted of locally sourced agricultural products, meat from cattle, and additional sources gathered through acts like fishing and hunting. Little concern was placed into whether food was healthy or unhealthy; as the video stated, "food was food." Thus, many modern day issues related to food such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes simply weren't prevalent in many medieval circles
ReplyDeleteThis changed with the advent of processed foods in the 1800s. Instead of cooking and producing your own food, more and more people were opting to move to urban areas to work in factories and purchase their food through the capitalist marketplace. The video utilizes breakfast foods as the primary analogy for processed foods, specifically breakfast cereal. Though initially produced in an effort to reduce meat consumption, the initial bland cereals gave way to the more sugary and desirable (though much less healthy) breakfast cereals that line store shelves today.
This video reminded me the most of Sweetness & Power, a book I had to read for a history class I took last semester. In this book Sidney Mintz discusses the importance that sugar plays in our modern day consumption of food. Mintz argues that the addition of sugar "altered the grammar of consumption" and changed the way we ate our meals by creating and high calorie supplement that was more desirable than traditional nutrients. Nowadays, meals have become much more individualized and catered to individual tastes. The video takes this into account with the discussion of breakfast foods leading to health problems. Today someone can eat a quick breakfast bar on the way to work, paving the way for a large, unhealthy lunch.
This video effectively discussed the way junk / processed foods changed the way we consume food. dday123
It is saddening to see how much food has changed over the centuries. It has definitely taken a turn for the worse. I normally do not eat breakfast, but I was surprised to see that breakfast is a big part of the cause of childhood obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. That is a good point that food is more individualized in today's society. I can even relate to that because I am a very picky eater myself. If you eat a decent sized and whole not processed food breakfast, not a granola bar or something to that nature like you said, then it will be less likely for that person to have a large, unhealthy lunch. -softball_savvy123
DeleteI found this video more intriguing than I thought I would. Seeing how what we eat for breakfast has changed over the decades were interesting. Our food has changed because our culture and society has. I did not realize that religion played such a big role on what we today. For example, the Catholics, or more specifically the Clergy, created the combination of bacon and eggs, which is a common breakfast for people in today's society. It all started with bacon and eggs and now in today's society sugary cereals are much more appealing to a lot of people. Rather than eating whole, healthy foods, we now eat processed foods. These foods are full of sugar and fat which is extremely unhealthy. There is currently a big problem with obesity especially in child in the United States because of the food we are eating. If we were eating how we did centuries ago, there would not be a problem, but our culture as changed drastically in a lot of ways. It is easy to forget how much our culture has become better though. We have advanced greatly over the centuries with cooking and baking. In the past, people were farming and working very hard for their food which enabled them to lose more calories allowing them to eat more calories. Work is not the same as it was centuries ago. Our health declines because of the junk food and comfort food that we eat today. Comfort is common for people under a lot of stress and anxiety. Chocolate would be considered a comfort food which is very bad for you. This documentary helps people see just how bad the food is that they are consuming. We need to begin eating the foods people ate centuries ago instead of Cocoa Puffs, for example. -softball_savvy123
ReplyDeleteI too did not know the extent that religion played on eating a well balanced meal. It really is an eye opener to see what we should and should not be eating and how it can negatively affect our bodies. In some aspects it seems that Americans are making up for all the times in the past that people went without food when you stop and think about all of the food consumed today and how people never think about how it really is not that good for us even its affects on unborn babies is uncanny. Our food culture has not only influenced Americans but it’s trickling down to other countries as well. Benoodles123
DeleteFood has become so engrossed in everyone’s culture. It sets apart some cultures from others. The food we eat has changed drastically over the years causing an unhealthy lifestyle for many people of the world. The cornflake which is a breakfast staple in many families today, was invented by a mistake. Interestingly it was also produced to appeal to vegans. In some of the cultures, people have taken on a vegan approach which allows them to not consume all of the processed foods that comes along with many of the foods we eat today. On the other end of the spectrum, many people overindulge when eating or eating more than what the body actually needs which results in obesity. Obesity is a real epidemic with in the United States and young children are being affected by this. Obesity leads to weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and many more ailments. Many Americans try and combat obesity with unhealthy remedies such as not eating or binge eating and then vomiting it all up. Another reason why obesity is rampant in our country is the fact that unhealthy eating is everywhere even going to the grocery store has a fast food restaurant incorporated inside the store wherever a person goes there is a fast food restaurant flashing in their face. Breakfast seems to be the meal of choice especially since it’s been around for over 100 years and it is a very important meal because it sets the tone for the rest of your day. If a person eats a fatty and or greasy meal first thing in the morning then they’ll more than like feel sluggish for the rest of the day versus if a person eats a healthy breakfast then they may feel energized and ready to start their day. Benoodles123
ReplyDeleteWhile food certainly differs from culture to culture, I agree that "engrossed" is the correct term to use. In fact, it would be odd if food was not engrossed in society as it is one of our most basic needs as humans. I found it extremely intriguing that cornflakes were originally intended to appeal to vegans, seeing as how small the vegan lifestyle was a mere one hundred years ago. I wholeheartedly agree with your statement that obesity is rampant because of the fact that unhealthy eating is everywhere. I always find it slightly ironic when I walk into a Wal-Mart that has a Subway or any other restaurant in it.
Delete-ThreeTwo123
From this documentary, one is able to clearly observe that our food choices go hand in hand with the society’s changing culture. Because of the fact that most jobs in earlier centuries involved more physical activity, more protein was required than is generally needed in this day and age. Also, in past centuries many families owned their own small farms and were able to provide food for themselves that way; however the industrial revolution brought with it a change in the family farming and agriculture dynamic: now farming began to become privatized and was conglomerated with large corporations. One thing that really stuck with me through watching this documentary was the digression (in my opinion) of foods as time progresses. You go from healthier foods like roasted pigeon, eggs Benedict, and fish to more modern food like cocoa puffs. Because we live in a post-industrious society here in the United States, we have an abundant amount of options when it comes to what we would like to eat. Our general access to goods is incredible; some stores will even deliver your groceries straight to your door if you would like. Because national and international food production companies are becoming larger and larger, they are able to offer their manufactured food products (mostly unhealthy) at a much cheaper price than many fresher and healthier options. Because many people today in the United States are working class, they do not have a large amount of time to focus on the food that they are eating or the nutrients (or lack thereof) that they are putting into their body. If time is money, why would anyone do anything besides go through the drive through at a McDonald's? It is cheap, it is easy, and it tastes good. If our society focused on valuing nutrition over time we would be much healthier overall.
ReplyDelete-ThreeTwo123