HW 5 - Dominant Discourses Regarding Contemporary Foodways in the U.S.

The way I would put a dominant discourse is how something is being viewed at the time based on what many people think but at the same time how the media decides to show it.  There may be many views on the topic, but the dominant discourse is the view that is showed and focused on the most.  I do believe that the dominant discourses that are related to food today are definitely that food is poison or that food is medicine.  Eating healthy is a much bigger issue than it used to be and the media is showing how some foods are bad for your health and/or showing what foods are good for your health.  People believe what they hear on the media because often the information is being displayed with evidence done in tests.  This way it's not just anyone giving their ideas it is doctors and scientists that found evidence of foods being bad for your or foods being good for you.  Usually for foods that the media shows is good for you are foods that are low on fat.

Fast food restaurants are shown as selling unhealthy food that's bad for you.  So in this discourse fast food places are the bad guys.  I found an article about the public school's food system.  "In the past three years, the government has provided the nation's schools with millions of pounds of beef and chicken that wouldn't meet the quality or safety standards of many fast-food restaurants, from Jack in the Boxand other burger places to chicken chains such as KFC, a USA TODAY investigation found", (http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-12-08-school-lunch-standards_N.htm?csp=34&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+%28News+-+Top+Stories%29).  This quote is basically saying that the government is feeding schools with food that is very unhealthy.  They use fast food restaurants as an example to show how unhealthy the meats are.  They use fast food as if it is impossible to get worse food then fast food uses.  The meat fed to the schools gets much less testing for contamination than fast food restaurants get.  This shows the dominant discourse because an investigation was done on the food in the schools and is showing how the food the children in our country is poison, it's worse and less safe then fast food.  

I came across another article that is about the same thing as the previous article.  This again stressed how bad the food being fed to children at schools was unsafe and unhealthy.  "According to the New York Times, if changes like this are enacted, it will mark the first time since the 1970s that nutrition rules for school lunches are updated. Expect Congress to start its review after the first of the year", (http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2009/12/school_lunch_nutrition_worse_t.html).  This quote is saying that the government is going to look over the nutritional rules for the school systems foods.  This also shows the dominant discourse because this will be the first time since the 1970s that the rules for the schools food have changed.  This means almost 40 years and the foods rules haven't been changed, just now is the healthiness of  the schools foods is being payed attention to.

Based on these articles it does seem that the writing does think that we are living in a time where significant reform of U.S. foodways might occur because they think that the investigation will cause the government to change the rules for the schools foods.  They are writing these articles to show how the schools food system is unhealthy and unsafe, that way people will be aware and it will be changed.  I imagine that the food practices of a reasonably well-informed member of our society whose worldview gets sculpted by the dominant discourse might be that they eat very healthy with many fruits, vegetables, low fat and low sugar foods.  I think that person thinks of food as a necessity, something they need.  They need to have food but they have to keep track of everything they're eating and the fat and calories so they can stay healthy and in shape.  

HW 4 - Your Families' Foodways

         We all approach food in different ways.  My mother said that her mother was the one that always made dinner for the family.  It was the same for my father's parents.  They did have different foodways though.  My mother's mother wasn't very into cooking, she was interested and busy with many other things.  So usually she was just making a simple meal to feed the family like a soup and grilled cheese, or meat and potatoes.  My father's mother had to feed many kids so she made a lot of food and she enjoyed it because she's a caring person so she makes what people want to eat and gets joy out of feeding people.  Her meals were usually some type of meat, some starchy type of food like potatoes, bread, a variety of vegetables and a salad.  Both my parents say that the food their parents made was usually pretty healthy.  Also my parents said that a big difference was that was when they were kids their parents always had to make food at home, food wasn't as easy you couldn't just go out and buy something to eat they always had to cook.  

My parents foodways are different from their parents though.  One difference I noticed immediately was that my father makes dinner a lot because my mother usually works until the time we usually eat at.  Opposed to their parents where both of their mothers always made food for the family.  I my own experience I know that my parents eat differently from my grandparents.  My parents told me that they always like to make food at home because it saves a lot of money, and you can make something for much cheaper then you can buy it it already made.  They told me that they base what they cook around:  what is healthy, something that my brothers and I would like to eat, and what they like to eat.  This is similar to their parents.  I know that to my mother food is sacred she loves cooking and baking.  So that is a difference from her mother who just made food to feed the family.  A big difference that my parents told me that there is much more information on food and more research being done.  They will often make salads for dinner because now they said that now they found that to eat meats every single day is not good for you which is what my father's mother used to usually do.  That was a big point they kept bringing up for their difference in foodways from their parents because more and more things about food and what is good and what's not good for your health.  

Lastly my foodways, I have very different foldaways from my parents.  I do have a balance in my diet.  I eat healthy and focus on doing that sometimes and then I pig out and just eat whatever I want to eat sometimes also.  I like foods that I know are not good for me and I still eat them.  I asked why my parents think that my foodways are different then theirs.  I told them that I don't really care much about if my food is healthy but mostly I focus on what I think tastes good and what I like to eat.  My father said he really thinks that's just youth.  He said teenagers think they're invincible and nothing can harm them.  He said that over time my views on food will change and I will start to see that I can't always just eat whatever I want.  I hope my foodways don't change because I like eating whatever I want and I feel like if I can't I won't enjoy food as much because then it becomes just another thing I have to worry about instead of something I look forward to.  

HW 3 - Food - Fast Food Insights and Green Market Realizations

The comparison between Wendy's and the Green Market in Union Square was very interesting.  When we went to Wendy's it was packed, I saw  a diverse group of people there were young, middle aged and old people but mostly there were minorities.  Also there were many people overweight. I noticed that there were advertisements all over outside and inside the Wendy's.  There was even a man outside trying to sell us coupons, one dollar for a book that would get you 10 frostys.  The advertisements aimed towards all different types of people.  People that were trying to get a large amount of food, people trying to eat healthier, and people trying to eat for cheap.  The people we talked to said that they were eating Wendy's because they thought the burgers and fries were decent and because the food is cheap opposed to other food places in the area.  When we went to the Green Market it was also very crowded with many costumers.  Almost all the people I saw were fit middle aged white people.  I didn't see any teenagers, I didn't see many minorities,  and I saw about three overweight people.  I also saw many advertisements in the Green Market of course because people are trying to sell their products.  The Green Market had a lot of fruits and vegetables and definitely sold much healthier foods. 

I think fast food is so successful because it is fast you can go in and come back out with your food in a few minutes.  Also because the food is cheap a meal can be bought for around five dollars this is very important to people especially because of the recession people are trying to save money.  Lastly because people like the food even if it is not good for your health.  I think fast food chains are responding to the sort of health-consciousness that the Green Market represents by making healthier foods on their menu or at least trying to make their food seem healthier and better for you.  I think this is good because I believe that they are making the food slightly more healthy and it's moving in a positive direction.  The different people we met had different approaches towards food.  The people that we talked to in Wendy's seemed like food was just a commodity to them and they just ate it because it was cheap and they were eating it because they need food.  Although I must say a couple people I saw in Wendy's actually looked like they were really enjoying the food.  In the Green Market the people seemed just focused on eating healthier and in my opinion it seemed like food was more sacred to them.  Out of the two locations I definitely visit the fast-food normally.  To me this is fine because when I'm outside I'm spending my own money and I want food that's fast and cheap and that I think tastes good, but when I'm at home I'm usually eating what my parents make and my mother shops at the Green Market all the time so in the end I do both types of food and a balance is cool with me. 

HW 2 - Food - Initial Thoughts

FOOD!  I love food.  It is one of my favorite things in life.  It's so good, it makes me happy just thinking about it.  This might sound bad but I don't care if the food is bad for me or when people want me to care about what's in whatever I'm eating.  I think this is because I don't believe in things like that, if you try to do everything perfect you're going to go insane, so it's just important that the food I'm eating tastes good to me.  Although I don't always eat unhealthy, in fact I think I have a pretty balanced diet.  My parents cook dinner for me almost every night and they usually make healthy food.  Also I eat fruits and vegetables and a little bit of everything, even things I dislike.  I play basketball a lot, run around a lot and have a fast metabolism so I don't worry about getting fat.  I like all different types of food and I don't have any ideal meal or typical meal because I like switching it up.

Food is a very important thing in the world today and it has always been.  Food is a big part in society, it is a daily routine and it is also something people use to socialize, entertain and connect with others.  You can tell a lot about a person by what they eat.  Whether they just go for the cheapest foods, what they think tastes best, or what they think is the healthiest and best for their body.  I think that people's preferences for food get developed at a young age based on what they are fed by their parents and what is available to them.  Also your nationality may be a part that has an effect on what you eat.  Different parts of the world have all different types of food and ways of preparing food.  I think this is because food wont be the same everywhere, which probably goes way back in time.  Not every place in the world would have the same resources and food available in the area.  I think this is a big reason food is so special because there are so many different types and ways of preparing food so it can never get old.

In the end food is the best and just one of the great things in life, I think everyone loves food.