Food Justice

After reading “The Pleasures of Eating” by Wendell Berry, I agree with some of the points that he made in order for people to eat more responsibly. I do believe our generation has become less aware of where our food comes from and how it’s being processed. Unfortunately for me personally I haven’t been able to do all the things that Berry suggests to help with eating responsibly. I’ve definitely prepared my own food before and I enjoy cooking for myself because it makes me feel self-sufficient. I shop at Trader Joe’s and Harris Teeter so I know a lot of the fresh produce and eggs is locally grown and harvested. Whenever I go to a farmer’s market I like to discuss the different things that the farmers have to sell and I like to hear that these people enjoy what they’re doing and that their work is important. But some of the other points that Berry makes about knowing the economy of food production and learning the best farming and gardening techniques is difficult to do with my busy life. I can attest to the fact that after reading an excerpt from Food Justice, titled “Accessing Food” Berry takes for granted the fact that it’s a privilege to have the time to analyze the origins of our food and prepare our own meals on a regular basis. In “Accessing Food” there are grocery gaps that exist in low income, densely populated areas that have fast food restaurants and liquor stores as the main source of food. This combats the idea that people should eat more responsibly when they don’t have the food options to do so. Both pieces of writing discuss that people deserve to have sources of fresh produce and free-grazing animals to ensure the best quality of food available. I agree with the idea in “Accessing Food” that small fresh markets be implanted in low-income neighborhoods so that there is at least fresh options for these communities instead of fast food restaurants or food marts that sell unhealthy options. 

Image that Represents food in Asheville

This image is taken from the HomeGrown restaurant on Merrimon Avenue in Asheville. I picked this photo because I think it encompasses the variety of different things blending together to make a complete meal. This photo represents the innovative and diverse persona that defines the town of Asheville. There's an assortment of broccoli, kale, okra, and a unique cole slaw that all comes from a local farm. The pulled pork is the meat portion of the dish and its garnished with a delicious looking sauce. Personally, Asheville gives me a fresh vibe due to the eccentric and vibrant people that live in this area. And I think the food embodies this bright and refreshing new atmosphere. This meal is nutritional because the person who enjoyed this dish got three different types of vegetables and also protein from the pork. I've been to HomeGrown before so I will say that its a great place to go for a nice, comfortable dining experience. I enjoyed my meal when I went there so maybe my personal opinion is biased but its a delicious place to eat.

Service Learning Journal

So far my experience with this service learning course I've been able to attend an orientation that defined what this type of class was all about. This course is unique in the sense that the approach to teaching and learning is from applying hands on experience. Personally without this course I don’t think I would have become aware of the stereotype that young adults doing service could lead to negative racial outcomes. Now I’m more open-minded to think of service as a necessary good for others but at the same time regarding those you’re helping as equals also. I plan on attending my first garden session this upcoming Tuesday. I have yet to acquire any new skill-sets but I believe after Tuesday’s garden session I will know a few more applicable skills for planting and harvesting crops. It has been difficult to plan accordingly for service opportunities with practices, and my game schedule but I really am looking forward to my garden session in the next couple of days. I've definitely picked up some facts about the agricultural background that Asheville has and the locality of where most of the food comes from in our dining halls, but I would like to know more about the demographics of farmers in this town because that can always be a surprising statistic. I hope to help the garden organization that I plan on being involved with on Tuesday with whatever they need looked after, and to also make resources more readily available to people that may not have the means or time to do so. 

This picture was taken at the Arthur R. Edington Education and Career Center here in Asheville, where we enjoyed a wonderful 3 course meal from aspiring chefs. Green Opportunities is doing a great job for giving people work experience and also providing nutritional meals for people in the surrounding neighborhood. 

Food Advertising

After reading “The Joy of Cooking Too Much: 70 Years of Calorie Increases in Classic Recipes” and watching the food advertising video I was able to understand how marketing plays a vital role in what people consume and how much of it. The rhetoric used in the food advertising video was ethos driven because the speaker was a food marketer. Her argument relies on her character and the fact that her occupation is being a food marketer. The things she talked about in the video were convincing and held meaning in my opinion. A few statements the speaker made were important, when she talked about how consumers believe the labels and have willful ignorance when making purchases. Systematic cruelty occurs in the business of food processing but the fact that a few vague labels will make a consumer feel better about themselves makes me wonder how much consumers really care about the situation. I heard the speaker mention that 50% of antibiotics used worldwide are used on animals. That was unsettling for me and it definitely made me think about the personal choices I make when consuming food. Also the rhetoric used in the excerpt by Brian Wansink, and Collin R. Payne was logos driven because they used experimental data and factual evidence to conclude their opinion. After compiling data from various editions of the cookbook The Joy of Cooking it was determined that serving sizes had increased in every edition since 1936. So essentially food marketers are determining how much food families should consume. With that being said, I think food marketers do have a large influence over consumers. Consumers should educate themselves about the food products they’re purchasing so that they can make better choices. The more consumers know, the less control these food marketers will have over important food choices.