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

A dominant discoure on foodways in the U.S. is the obesity epidemic. According to the New York Times article "Fixing a World That Fosters Fat," approximately 72.5 million adults in the United States are obese, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the cost of obesity to the U.S medical system is about $147 billion annualy. The sad news is that McDonald's quarter-pounders got cheaper by 5% from 1997 to 2007, and the price of fruit and vegetables went up by 17% from 1997 to 2003. This information came from Dr. Barry Popkin, who teaches at the University of North Carolina. Dr. Dee W. Edington, who directs the Health Managemaent Reasearch Center at the University of Michigan, says that it is important to change the culture and environment before changing individual behavior. The only way to do that it seems is to make healthy food more affordable.

Another common foodways discourse is the problem people seem to have with vegetables. When the Center for Disease Control and Prevention issued a nationwide behavioral study of fruit and vegetable consumption, it was discovered that only 26% of the nation's adults eat vegetables three or more times a day. Additionally, the amount of vegetables Americans eat has barely changed since 2000. A market research company called the NPD Group's most recent report called "Eating Patterns in America" concluded that a little less than a quarter of meals include a vegetable and a little less than a fifth of meals prepared at home include a salad, which is 5% less than in 1994. As the consumption of vegetables decreases in the U.S., the obesity rate continues to increase. According to the New York Times article, "Fixing a World that Fosters Fat," the real problem is a landscape littered with inexpensive fast food meals." Based on this quote, I can infer that it's not that people are unaware of the bad food choices they make but that bad food is so available and affordable.

Food contamination is a big foodways discusiion topic especially recently since 1,500 people got sick from the bad eggs in Iowa. According to a recent New York Times article, "Senate Bill on Food Safety Is Stalled," the Senate is holding up a safety inspection bill that the House of Representives passed over a year ago. Right now even if the F.D.A.(Federal Department of Agriculture) finds filthy conditions at a chicken farm, it can't order a recall of the eggs because of the Senate not having approved the inspection bill. The article says that Dr.Margaret Hamburg, Commisioner of Food and Drugs, is hopeful that the legislation will eventually pass and "bewildered by the lengthy battle to schedule a vote." Of coarse there is a Republican senator, Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma who is against the bill so I don't knoow why Dr.Hamburg should be bewildered.