Omnivore's Dilemma: Chapters 5 & 6

In Chapters five and six of "The Omnivore's Dilemma," Michael Pollan talks about the idea of processed food. He specifically explains the processing of corn through a process called "wet milling." Wet milling is a high-energy process that yields products such as gluten, corn starch, ethanol, and most prominently fructose which is then used to make high-fructose corn syrup. Pollan explains that food consumption is limited by the fact that people will not eat past being full thus growth in the market in the food industry comes only from population increase. Because of this, corporations are forced to find ways to increase profits in order to be able to survive in a growing economy. Processing food helps achieve this goal in two ways: by making people spend more money on the same foods and by making people eat more food than before. At the same time, however, Pollan believes that processed food is not beneficial to the consumer. In a separate article for the New York Times, (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html) Pollan mentions that we have gone from eating "food" to eating "foodlike substances." We are tweaking and altering products found in nature to the point where they hardly retain any of their natural characteristics.

Discussion Questions
1) How do you feel about the rising prevalence of processed foods?
2) Do you think you are affected by labels and sizes of food products?

Eating American

"Eating American" is a book chapter written by anthropologist Sidney Mintz. In his chapter, Mintz explains his ideas regarding the "American Cuisine." He arrives on this topic after giving a lecture about domestication. Students in the lecture had questioned his statement that there is no American cuisine. Mintz defends his statement. He explains that the American people have come from all parts of the world, each bringing its own culture, and it's own food. In additon, people migrated to different regions of the United States and eating habits differed between regions. Mintz admits that regional cuisines have existed to some extent. When it comes to trying to formulate a cuisine for the country as a whole however, Mintz points out that most of the foods that first come to mind as "American" such as hamburgers, hot dogs, and spaghetti have actually originated from other cutures. He also notes that the American diet is constantly changing. In the modern day, american caloric intake has become increasingly based on fats and sugars. At the same time, fast food is becoming increasingly popular as the current American culture allots less time for eating.

Discussion Questions:
1) Is there an American cuisine? What does it consist of?
2) How do our culture and changes in our culture affect the types of foods we eat?

Best Food Writing: "The Other Other White Meat"

"The Other Other White Meat" is an article written by Ben Paynter for Wired Magazine. In the article, Paynter explores the idea of cloing livestock. To learn about cloning, he visits two businesses that use cloned animals. Paynter begins his article by explaining some of the benefits of cloing animals. The benefit of cloning is that it can produce higher quality products which can be sold at a higher price. However, as Paynter explains, there are some issues involved in cloning animals. One problem is the idea that consumers often shy from willingly eating cloned meat. They often fear that the meat is somehow unsafe. However according to Don Coover, that idea is "total bullshit," and "unless you tell them it's a clone, no one can tell." There are also problems sometimes with the health of the cloned animals. Pig farmer Steve Earhart explains his experience trying to bread a litter of cloned pigs. All four of his cloned piglets died within a few months of birth. It turned out that their deaths were a result of a side effect of some cloning called sudden death syndrome. To account for this, farmers now use the offspring of clones. According to biologist Konrad Hochedlinger, "any abnormalities you see [in clones] are erased in the next generation."

Discussion Questions:
1) Is it ethically acceptable to clone animals?
2) Would you have a problem with eating cloned meat or drinking milk from a cloned cow?