The Real American Diet (or Not)

“The American way of dietary life undergoes yet another change.” Pollan makes an interesting point that we do not have a set cultural value in Amercia that makes our dietary values stable. Any “lone crackpot with a medical degree can alter this nations diet overnight,” according to Pollan. We can really see through Pollan’s argument that America is as whimsical as a child. One day we eat our vegetables, the next day we don’t and eat something else. The dietary values in our country are not as stable as a country such as France. Pollan explains a study about how people in France are more likely to associate pleasure to food where American’s will not. In France, when asked about chocolate cake, they think “celebration” where as American’s think “guilt.” This shows the cultural identity of America and how we shun everything that is thought of as being bad for us.

            I really like the tone of Pollan’s essay. He is highly satirical and very sarcastic about the values of American culture. The tone is really communicated through the word choice like gorging, quackish, and crackpot. These all are very detailed negative words that are used to show just how bad the American dietary values are. I also really like the point that he makes because it is somewhat similar to my essay that I just wrote. I talked about the value of needing a healthy choice while really just indulging in the same chocolate cake that is always in the house.

            When I was reading this I found a lot of things to ring true. There are times that meals are eaten on the go and not really enjoyed, but I also think there are people that enjoy food. Many of my friends have called me a foodie, and I would say I fit that description well. My family takes the time to prepare each meal before it is made and then enjoy it around the dinner table. We enjoy the food that we make because it has some value since we just spent the time making it. I would say that I like to enjoy food because it can be a good social bonding experience. Not every person is simply jumping into the fat-free diet because its said to be good, but of course, not everyone is staying away from it. In our culture, we have an interesting mix of people that do all different types of things, not just what Pollan says we do.