The American Food

American cuisine is an American food style that traces its roots back to the colonial times when Native Americans used different styles to cook a variety of foods with different ingredients. As colonization took place, it saw the introduction of new types of food that were unknown prior to this epoch. As the immigration of people from different parts of the world in the 19th and 20th centuries intensified, the same happened to the diversity in cooking styles.

This essay is going to limit its focus to American food and will give an analysis of what American food entails. The Native American delicacy was made of different types of food and they included plant foods which can be categorized as root vegetables like arrowhead, bitterroot, prairie, sweet potato and white potatoes. The other category is green vegetables like salmon berry shoots, fiddlehead fern, wood sorrel, wild nasturtium and coltsfoot. Their fruits according to Sack (2001) included; strawberries, pitaya, hawthome fruits and elderberries and American persimmons.

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The natives also used seeds as food for example; pine nuts, dropseed, spurge, tumbleweed, sunflower and pigweed. Apart from plant food, they also used animal foods especially game meat of animals such as deer, bighorn sheep, bear, bison, goat and elk. Small game meat came from animals like raccoon, rabbit, wood rat, ground hog, honey badger and porcupine and is something that is still common to the natives. They also hunted birds such as pigeon, osprey and turkey besides keeping birds such as geese, swan and ducks (American Native Food.

2009). When colonialists arrived in the Americas, they found that the food that was consumed there was different from what they were used to and thus they had to introduce what they were used to back in England. They also kept animals for fur and meat and with time they had a cuisine similar to that of their motherland. Apart from introducing their own foods, they also adopted some of the natives’ food and would use their own cooking styles unlike those of the locals (American Native Food.

2009). Colonial foods varied across regions and they greatly transformed the diet of the locals for example hunting game meat was no longer practiced and they tried to discourage it. Today just like it was the case in the past, people living near the sea consumes sea foods such as crustaceans, lobsters and various kinds of fish. Today, there happens to be a change of diet as the American diet has been changed by the fast food industries.

Schlosser (2001), many Americans have forgotten about their indigenous foods and have turned to fast foods something that is detrimental to their health. Many of them are flocking in fast food hotels and restaurants that are selling foods such as cheese, hamburger, pizza and fries. These foods have been cited as the main cause of obesity in America and have caused many to be overweight. Today, if one goes to a hotel to look for food; one finds that the menu is limited in the kinds of foods that are sold unlike in the past where traditional foods made the menu.

Though this food has led to the change of diet, it has created many job opportunities as many are employed in those hotels that are allover the world and has led the Americanization of food due to globalization something that threatens the survival of food cultures of those nations (Schlosser, 2001). In short, it could be said that American foods are diverse and depends on the regions they are consumed in. In the past, the Native Americans before colonialists had a wide range of foods that was fit health-wise unlike the lately introduced fast foods.

These foods were prepared and cooked in various ways but colonialist introduced theirs when they came as they consumed different kind of food from what was consumed locally and some of them are still in use to date.

References:

1. American Native Food. 2009. American Native Food.
2. Schlosser, E, 2001. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal.
3. Houghton Mifflin Company. Sack, Daniel. 2001.
4. Whitebread Protestants: food and religion in American culture. Palgrave Macmillan.

Advantages and disadvantages of fast food

Fast food is the term linking to the food is prepared and served quickly. It is a fact that there Is a rapid rise In the number of Mc Donal , KFC , Bugger King.... restaurants over the world as a obllvlous evidence for the hot trend of ready-food In fast-paced and sedentary life. However, like everything, it has its own pros and cons. The most demonstrable advantage of fast food is saving time. In today' modern life , people feel comfortable and convernient when they order a pizza or bugger after a hard and late work instead of spending a lot of time to cook the meal .

Moreover, some fast food companies also establish a quick widow in their restaurant to help drivers buy and take away this food easier. To some extend, cost also consider a benefit of fast food . In reality, a single one can pay a small amount of money for a meal with fries or bread and soda while a whole family has a bigger expense. Furthermore, fast food does raise health concern, however people can chose good foods in menu in restaurants such as : salads , boiled chicken and fruit drinks.

These smart choices not only save time but also provide nutrient food. Usually , fast food has higher calories , salt and additives than home cooking food. That leads to several healthy problems . One of them Is very dangerous-cardiovascular disease. Other serious worry Is obesity which Is on a rise In some rich countries Ilke America, England , Australia... Regarding to the NBER Bulletin on Aging and Health , fast food effects the obesity rates of 3 millions school children and weights gain over 3 millions pregnant women.

Beside adverse effects on health, fast food also contributes on spending less and less time or members of family coming together. Because the home meal is long enough to talk and share experiences and teenagers tend to hangout with their friends and peers In fast food centers Instead of with their family. In conclusion , there are many debates among advantages and disadvantages of fast food. People can not deny that it saves time and makes fast-paced life more convenient but citing several points of its drawback also awake young generations avoid healthy problems and imbalance of modern life.

Save Food, Save Planet

The first thing that comes to the mind after reading the topic is: ‘How not wasting food would save the planet? ’ ‘What effect does wastage of food has on the environment or the planet? ’ ‘What exactly makes all that waste and its emissions? ’ The answer is very simple if we pause to ponder. Food waste is not just consumers throwing dinner scraps away. Producing, distributing, storing and cooking food uses energy, fuel and water. Each of these emits greenhouse gases contributing to climate change.

Looking at emissions of uneaten food from farm to table, the researchers found that food wasted at the consumer phase had the highest carbon footprint. Some food spoils before farmers can harvest it, other food goes bad on its way from the farm to the market, and still more food ends up rotting on supermarket shelves that's because by the time food gets to that stage, it's already accumulated emissions from production, harvest, and distribution. In other words, when chuck food that you buy at the supermarket, you're throwing away every part of the process that has gotten it there, as well.

Then, some kinds of food waste create more emissions than others. Wasted fruit, for example, has a relatively small ratio of food waste to carbon emitted. Meat's ratio is much larger. That's because meat production is exceptionally carbon intensive. Of course, carbon emissions are not the only way in which wasted food harms the environment. A report finds that wasted food consumes an amount of water almost three times as large as Switzerland's Lake Geneva! And that's to say nothing of the human impact of all this food waste. In the coming years, the global population is expected to hit 8 billion.

How are we going to feed everyone? There are many arguments going on related to this but what I evenly say is we should start figuring out how to eat the food that we produce instead of throwing it away since If we stop throwing this good food away it would save the equivalent of at least 17 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, the same as taking 1 in every 5 cars off our roads and this is what I am going to emphasize on. So, yea that's right folks, stop throwing out food. Eat everything on your plate just like your mom taught you. If you can't eat it all, take smaller portions.

It’s easy for us all to make to make a difference on individual base. First of all, stick to the motto ‘LOVE FOOD, HATE WASTE’! Secondly, start planning, since it works for almost everything. Think ahead to what the week has in store - look in the fridge, freezer and cupboard, make a simple list so you only buy what you need. Make the most of your fruit and vegetables. Did you know? Apples last even longer when you keep them in the fridge – up to two weeks longer if loosely wrapped. And if they’ve had a knock, try putting them in a crumble, a sauce or start the day with a smoothie. Thirdly, Freeze!

Since, food can be frozen any time before the ‘use by’ date on the label. Then when you have an evening where you don’t feel like cooking, take it out of the freezer, defrost and use within 24 hours. Fourthly, get a pet! Chickens should be the priority as you can turn those leftover scraps into eggs for your breakfast but dogs would do as well since they will eat almost anything, even those fish burgers you like so much. At last, I would like to say that ‘Yes, It is as simple as that! ’ If we try, each one of us we can save millions of malnutritioned children, habitats of thousands of endangered species and on a whole our planet.

The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food Essay Sample

Our upbringing and backgrounds dictate our choices to a bigger picture than we expect. Our culture and religious influences tell us, which foods are acceptable and the ones that are not, or even what foods we would eat traditionally on holidays. Throughout our lifetime you will constantly be faced with making healthy decision. If you eat poorly, drink too much and not exercise regularly an individual's values and attitude towards health have to affect their own health but there are many other factors that play in the decisions to eat and choices we make.

We decide what we eat because we choose what we are interested in and how we eat all these foods, and we keep going back to them. It is our decision what we eat if we make the healthy decision or unhealthy decision on the food we eat. I believe there is no right or wrong way to eat because the only decision that matters is our decision because we are putting the food in our bodies.

In the article "The extraordinary science of addictive junk food" author Michael Moss explains to us the effects of the decision making of eating junk food gives us. The author uses logos because he gives us examples of the effects that the junk food gives us which can cause obesity that is one of the highest bad causes. For example "We were very concerned, and rightfully so, that obesity was becoming a major issue"(Moss 472). The author has been concerned that eating high amount of fast foods like hot cheetos, any other chips, sugars, candy, and salts.

Author explains that the most that kids are focused on, are Cheetos. It's a pleasing taste and makes us want more and more author Moss explains to us but there are consequences to eating these. The evidence to show that many kids that eat unhealthy and adults too that are addicted to junk food, have a higher chance of getting obesity.

The author tells us that we can enjoy big amounts of junk food and there is a way that the chance of getting obesity is low. We can be different sometimes because I believe there are times that we have this major craving for junk food and want to eat so much salt and sugar and bad foods. Then other days we have this feeling of wanting to eat healthy and eating a balanced diet. For example "We act like a snack, not vegetables… We exploit the rules of junk-food to fuel the baby carrot conversation.

We are pro junk-food behavior, but anti junk food establishment"(Moss 494). The author says in my opinion there can be different ways that we feel towards eating junk food and eating balanced. We have a feel to eat vegetables and other feel to eat sugars. I can say that yes indeed there are times in my life that after practice I get the feeling of eating hot Cheetos, then later regret it saying it was a bad idea and go in this mode of eating healthy for days n days. This means that it is up to us on how we eat. The decision is ours for our lives to be healthy or not. Your health decisions can be influenced by your values and attitude.

There are certain ways for us to eat so that's why markets are set up the way they are. The way the markets are set up can affect how we choose our foods which affect the way we eat how we decide on what to eat. In the article "The Supermarket: Prime Real Estate" the author Marion Nestle states that there are reasons why supermarkets are laid out like all other supermarkets.

They are trying to make us buy the things we don't need and forget the things we need most importantly. For example "There are reasons why milk is in the back of the store and the center aisles are so long. You are forced to go past thousands of other products on your way to get what you need… but they do everything possible to make the choice theirs, not yours."(Nestle 497). The author is telling us that the reasons why markets and stores are set up the way they are is to tell us we need more food and make us buy more things that we don't need.

There can be times that we go to a supermarket with a list and leave with only a little that are on the list. An example from the article "Researchers says about 70 percent of shoppers bring list, but only 10 percent follow it"(Nestle 504). From reading this article on how supermarkets make them, I really am going to be sticking to what I put on my list and not go buy things that are not on my list because it's what researchers say.

Now that when I go to markets, I won't be distracted by how they are formed and what they want me to buy instead buy the things I want to buy for helping me out for the better. I would never think that the way they set up markets the way they did after reading this article. It can be hard following your specific list that you take with you to the market, when you have many more items in front of your face when it is tempting to buy them but you really don't want to.

You can go to the market and have a list of things you want to get but you see somethings that is not on your list, the decision you make to get that other food can affect how you eat and could be a bad decision toward your health.

I think the problem with eating is that people can eat whatever they want and later in time they get bigger, then they wonder why they are not losing weight. The decisions people make on what they eat affect their body and if they do overeat and not exercise then they gain weight and will consistently make bad decisions to eat. Some people can eat whatever they want and not gain weight which is like me.

I can eat so much and not gain a single pound. Then some people eat alot, and they gain weight easily. I think it is just how our bodies work with us. Some people eat whatever they want to eat and they can not gain a single pound. They are most likely to have a fast metabolism. I don't think the food is bothering us and I also think it is up to us on what we should eat and how we eat.

It is our decision on whether we should eat healthy or not, people can't tell us how to eat. If we feel like the food we eat is good with us whether bad or not it's only up to us. It can be different for athletes because they know that they have to eat healthy so it's different for those that have to eat a certain way.

What influences which foods we decide to buy and eat? Personal taste, family preferences, cultural influences, emotional reasons, health concerns, social pressures, convenience, cost, and variety of the foods that all come into play when we choose what to eat. There maybe influences between your friends or family that gives you those times to make the right decision on what to eat.

The main reason we choose a particular food is because we like the way it tastes. But it is possible to tell ourselves to love the taste of healthier foods as an adult. Learning to enjoy the taste of eating right takes time and perseverance. Ask most any expert about the secret to weight loss, and you'll hear that it's essential to keep favorite foods as part of a healthy diet.

We all grew up with fond memories of foods that bring us joy. Others want a specific detailed list of foods to eat and avoid, like when you have a meal plan of things to eat and not to eat. Studies suggest that the greater the variety of food offered, the more we tend to eat. Keep the variety of foods at any particular meal to a minimum, and it may help you resist the temptation to overeat or eat the unhealthy foods. Typically, we eat more when we eat meals away from home and with others. Some studies suggest that the size of the meal we consume increases with the number of people at the table.

People that eat whatever they want don't care about how their bodies are because of their decision on what to eat. They have no shame of what they eat. Our bodies are used to the things we eat so we want more of the same foods. We need to try new foods for the better of our health. The food they can eat, it doesn't matter to them if it is healthy or not because it's their decision.

I don't think the food is bothering us and I also think it is up to us on what we should eat and how we eat. It is our decision on whether we should eat healthy or not, people can't tell us how to eat. If we feel like the food we eat is good with us whether bad or not it's only up to us. Although I do believe athletes have a different way to eat because if they do eat unhealthy then they are out of shape and can hurt themselves.

I do believe that athletes and professionals that do sports have to eat a certain way, and have to eat a healthy diet, like for cheerleaders, you don't see them always going out to eat cheeseburgers and hot dogs and pizza, they have to eat healthy, with foods like salad and lighter foods. For athletes they do have to eat a certain way for whichever sport it may be, they need their right amount of proteins, carbs and electrolytes that their bodies need.

We make decisions on what to eat because the foods we eat catches our attention and we keep coming back to them. In the article "Hungry? Food Choices Are Often Influenced by Forces out of Your Control" by Christina Roberto, she states "the decisions on eating are out of our control, from deciding when and what to eat to how much food you actually put on your plate, the average person makes over 200 food-related decisions each day"(Roberto).

She claims people make so many decisions on what they eat so that when they eat, they are just intaking so much they don't know how much they need and may be overeating. The decisions on overeating can impact how we eat overtime because we would continue to eat unhealthy that would make us unhealthy. We have to make the right decisions to be healthy and control what foods we eat. It is our decision how we can eat healthier and not make bad choices to better our bodies.

In the article "Gut Reaction: Morality in Food Choice" from Science daily the author states that whatever you go with what you're eating, you should stick with what your gut says. An example "Gerber believes we have an ethical obligation to take care of the environment. By approaching food ethically, we may also benefit our own health. That's because our moral views affect us on an emotional, "gut" level that may have a stronger influence on our behavior than facts"(Gerber).

I believe you should stick with your gut feeling, because you are the one that's making the choice, if it's beneficial to you or not, it is up to you. The foods we decide everyday is our choice on what we put into our bodies. We make the decision so others can't make it for us if we want to be healthy or not. I believe there is no right or wrong way to eat because the only decision that matters is our decision because we are putting the food in our bodies. I don't think the food is bothering us and I also think it is up to us on what we should eat and how we eat.

It is our decision on whether we should eat healthy or not, people can't tell us how to eat. If we feel like the food we eat is good with us whether bad or not it's only up to us. It can be different for athletes because they know that they have to eat healthy so it's different for those that have to eat a certain way. The food they can eat, it doesn't matter to them if it is healthy or not because it's their decision. I don't think the food is bothering us and I also think it is up to us on what we should eat and how we eat. There is no right or wrong way to eat because the only decision that matters is our decision because people can't tell us what to eat.

Within the first hour of your day waking up, you will decide what to eat for breakfast, or whether to eat it at all. In the article, "You will make 200 decisions about food today" Brumberg of Cornell's Food and Brand Lab research has shown people make about an average of 200 decisions on what they should eat throughout their day. These decisions, according to Brumberg's work has shown us, they are the ones we make without us knowing. For example, "people are so accustomed to eating popcorn in a movie theater that they will do so even if the popcorn is rather stale"(food,brand lab).

People are more likely to order junk food when they feel stressed. Unhealthy foods are often inexpensive which is why we keep buying them over and over, making them especially appealing to those on a tight budget. We make the decision to take the cheap foods that is unhealthy for us rather than making the healthy decision and spending a little extra money for the better foods.

Fast foods and ready-to-eat convenience store items are also widely available and quicker and easier to prepare than home-cooked meals, which allows consumers to overeat them. In addition, in the article "Food choices are out of your control" recent reports have shown that soda companies are increasing their spending in the US on the Hipic and black youth, which is a concerning strategy as these groups have greater rates of obesity. The good news is that public discourse about obesity and policy-making is starting to reflect science.

The public and policymakers are realizing that the most known health issues like obesity and its related chronic diseases are not just about people's individual food decision. This is what we really want to avoid in the beginning with people getting obesity at such a young age. In the US, the Food and Drug Administration will require large chain restaurants to list calorie content on food menus and it has proposed adding a Daily Value for Added Sugars on food labels to limit consumption. These can allow to customers to be forced to know what they are eating for their health.

In this source author Zelman states, we live in a world with more than enough food to choose from. What influences which foods we decide to buy and eat? Personal taste, family preferences, cultural influences, health, cost, and variety and quantity of the available offerings all come into play when we choose what to eat. Some studies have suggested that children who are exposed to a wide variety of foods early in life are more likely to enjoy a greater variety of flavors as adults. Any expert about the secret to weight loss, and you'll hear that it's essential to keep favorite foods as part of a healthy diet.

We all grew up with fond memories of foods that bring us joy. We know you need your favorite foods, it's your job to be responsible in terms of how often and how much you eat them. Cost and convenience also weigh heavily in our food choices. Time-saving food choices are a major factor for anyone with limited time for shopping and cooking.

But expenses can add up quickly when you rely on restaurant, takeout, and convenience foods. Take a step back, your decision-making process, and see what traits you can identify to help you make healthy and satisfying food choices. In an article "Making Choice: How Your Brain Decides" describes the overall decision on what the brain decides on what to eat, "the overall decision, pros versus cons going into the decision of what is good for the body and how the body will act"(Szalavitz).

Our brain makes the right decision for us whether we need it, the risk versus the reward of our decision. We go through decisions throughout our day to better ourselves and the most important is what decision we make to eat.

To reiterate, I believe there is no right or wrong way of eating because it is our decision to eat what we want to it whether we make the right decision or wrong decision, it depends on our lifestyle of the way we have eaten before. The same way we have been eating before would not change the way we do in the future. We can change the way but, it can be some time. If we do eat the same that some people do like eating unhealthy, they can develop the cause of diabetes. Your health can be influenced by your values and attitudes.

Take responsibility for your decisions and health and surround yourself with positive influences. Decisions are made regarding food intake, exercise, peer and media influences. We all should try to eat healthy and not worry about all the bad foods so we can become healthy and forget all those bad foods in markets and liquor stores with sodas, energy drinks, and chips and candy, we can cut the amount of people that are unhealthy in the world. But the way we eat is all up to us whether we feel it is healthy or unhealthy for us.

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