Response to Pollan

“As a culture we seem to have arrived at a place where whatever native wisdom we may once have possessed about eating has been replaced by confusion and anxiety. Somehow this most elemental of activities—figuring out what to eat—has come to require a remarkable amount of expert help. How did we ever get to a point where we need investigative journalists to tell us where our food comes from and nutritionists to determine the dinner menu?” – Michael Pollan

In this culture, fitting in has also been defined by what foods you eat. People are constantly afraid of what other people would say/think if they eat certain foods. They’re also afraid of being unhealthy. They want to seem more appealing therefore go through different lengths to achieve that goal – one being doing whatever it takes to stay thin. I do believe Pollan’s argument is true. We have lost touch with our natural ways. Instead of focusing on what we like to eat and what we have been eating for thousands of years, we’re focusing on what’s “healthy” for us and what will get us slimmer the quickest /easiest way. We look to experts for guidance. They seem to know the most about the foods we do eat so why wouldn’t we listen to them, right? Wrong. I don’t think the experts know too much about what is really healthy for us. They may know what foods we can eat that’ll make us skinnier and what not but usually these foods are not the healthiest for us. Both the amount of food and what we obtain from it (protein, carbs, etc) isn’t so much of a good balance. Most experts seem to believe by cutting out for example carbs, you can still remain healthy and be skinny. Personally I don’t believe this to be true but I’m no expert.

In terms of what we can do about this problem, I truthfully have no wise suggestions. There is the obvious which is to try to ignore what experts say and prioritize taste over what’s healthier because that’s what we used to do and as far as I’m concerned, that did us pretty well. In my case I eat whatever I want but play a lot of sports. This helps me because I’m constantly working my body out and staying active after I eat. I wouldn’t say I’m completely healthy but I don’t feel horrible about the way I eat or treat my body or what I feed myself.

Honestly I don’t think my (immediate) family pays much attention to experts. My father was raised on very indigenous foods. Foods that people from Puerto Rico have been eating for many years. Being a single father supporting three, he works too much to have time to listen to what is healthier for us to eat or just anyone’s point of view at all. Me and my sisters were raised on foods that experts would claim aren’t healthy for us. We never worried about things being low in carbs or high in fiber, etc. We ate foods that we liked whether it be pasta, steak, fast food, greasy foods, and so on.

However, a lot of times when my father goes food shopping, my sister will accompany him and practically be in charge of what my father buys. She likes to watch the food channel and tries to think healthier (based on the opinions of the chefs on television). Personally I don’t cook and most of the time I’m too lazy to go to the grocery store with them because it usually takes forever. I mainly eat what’s available in the house for me to eat and I base that on what I actually like to eat the most rather than what is considered healthy for me to eat.