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Exploring Diet Culture in America

" She continues to write "Staying mindful of that culture (and critical of the hidden interests that help guide it) can free us each to follow a formula we have long known but recently forgotten: Trust yourself. Trust your body. Meet your needs. (3)".
             While Mary Maxfield takes issue with standard healthy vs unhealthy culture in America, Alice Kemps details the governments influence on American eating habits. Kemps writes about how the government installed healthy eating as a national priority in the years surrounding World War II. The government wanted to make sure the people in America were eating right and staying healthy so they released a nutrition chart that illustrated the proper foods and portions that should be consumed daily. In addition to the charts that helped Americans learn the "proper" way to eat, "Uncle Sam" also initiated a campaign to help Americans incorporate the correct nutritional values into their everyday life. A Food Habits committee formed by the national research council and headed by cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead, was established to "discover the links between culture and diet", though the task proved to be much more difficult than she originally thought (2). .
             Sarah Stankorb feels there are many reasons why the perfect female figure has changed over the decades. The culture of each decade has dictated how women view their diet and themselves. During the Great depression and World War 2, women were less focused on diets and "spent more time on their appearance"(4). Once the war was over women were expected to leave the workforce and return to the kitchen. The advertisements and films of the 1950's projected an image of a woman who "embraces the idea that she can spend time on being pretty"(4) at home. The overall weight of a women wasn't important as long as she had the correct proportions.


Essays Related to Exploring Diet Culture in America

1. The Columbian Exchange

Horticulture played a crucial role in many Native American cultures and the survival of their people. ... On the other hand, the European's were busy exploring the world, advancing in technology, and spreading their religious beliefs. Christendom and Islam were out to control the world and its inhabitants; so when Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492, the cultures of the Eastern and Western Hemisphere's met for the first time and changed the history of the world. ... Disease also traveled back eastward with Columbus and fellow explorers, affecting large numbers of Euro...

  • Word Count: 543
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. Native Americans Affected by European Settlement

European explorers marveled at the sight of iguanas, rattlesnakes, tobacco, maize, beans, tomatoes, and lowly potatoes. These new crops revolutionized the international economy not to mention the European diet. ... The horse transformed their cultures into highly mobile, wide-ranging hunters. ... Spain became the dominant exploring and colonizing power in the 1500s. ... They merged cultures, laws, religion, and language....

  • Word Count: 523
  • Approx Pages: 2
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3. The Influence of Spain in America

America's identity is made up of many cultures put into one. Spanish colonization has had huge impact on the Americas in ways such as shaping the American character, contributing to American ranching practices, and by obtaining vital territory for its survival. ... As mentioned in the essay, "America was discovered by accident and explored to a considerable extent by people trying to find a way to somewhere else.... Beef is a big part of the American diet today. ... The heart of the American character lies within the act of seeking as displayed by many early Spanish explorers in th...

  • Word Count: 689
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Christopher Columbus

The majority of my fellow Congressmen wanted to revise Columbus Day, and make it an explorers day. ... Columbus contributed culture, heritage, and art to the Mexican people. ... Without most of these items, Americans would be missing an essential part of their diet. ... For giving al Americans a balanced diet, it is our duty to uphold Columbus Day. This is why I am not part of the majority in making an explorer's rather than a Columbus Day. ...

  • Word Count: 577
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Columbian Exchange

This exchange was initiated by the explorer Christopher Columbus and his voyages but was continued by virtually every explorer thereafter. ... These staples when exported to Europe enriched the European's diet and brought their declining population to new heights. ... The Europeans also introduced domesticated animals to the Native Americans. ... The cultures also exchanged ideas and methodology on religious beliefs, transportation, production and agriculture. ... The exchange of various plants, animals, goods, ideas and people fostered trade and offered experiences for enrichment of a...

  • Word Count: 450
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

6. Sex in American Culture

"The Day America Told the Truth," a 1990 survey of American beliefs and values contains this scene from a California high school. ... Sex is an image that Americans have grown accustomed too. ... Dieting has become an unfortunate cultural phenomenon, especially for women and girls, whose self-image is often closely linked with their body image. ... Everyone is a product of his or her culture. ... Today, men and women are freer than ever to explore their sexual beings in or out of marriage. ...

  • Word Count: 1632
  • Approx Pages: 7

7. How Media Culture is Harmful to Society

The media culture has for long exploited the vulnerability of the modern young people to its ideal that is ethically and professionally harmful to society. The media qualitative exploits on qualitative and quantitative techniques in its methodology to explore the impacts on the target audience. ... This has led most young people astray leading them to resort to cosmetic surgeries, surgical makeovers, and extremist dieting. ... There is an increase in a number of people going for surgical processes the relative percentages are as follows: breast argumentation 36%, tummy tuck 84% and 132% for Bo...

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  • Approx Pages: 4
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8. Body Image

The message from the media, fashion and our peers can create a longing, a longing to win the approval of our culture and fit in at any cost. ... The diet/fitness craze is mind-boggling. It is not just dieting, it is diet foods, and diet commercials. ... The talk centers around dieting, fat thighs or tight "abs" and how many pounds can be lost with the latest diet. ... This goal is the billions of dollars this industry obtains with the help of us Americans who will do anything to mirror what we see. ...

  • Word Count: 2222
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Entomophagy; Should we ignore this valuable food source?

Let's explore this alternative food source by answering these questions. ... The Europeans that eventually came to inhabit North America brought their beliefs and traditions with them. North America along with the rest of the Western World view insects as a completely inedible side dish. ... Vegetarians are individuals who have chosen not to eat meat as a part of their diet. Insects are considered animals and there for are taboo for a vegetarian diet (Taylor 1975). ...

  • Word Count: 1154
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

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