Nutritionism what is it?

A basic necessity for all humans is for us to eat food, but it can be confusing though. What to eat? When to eat? What nutrients does my body really need?

Many of us turn to the product label or rely on how it's being advertised. From the store, restaurant, or even on the television food, is presented to us in many different ways and with differing ideas on the best diet. Food might look good on appearance but have people really should know where there food is coming from. This topic has sparked my interest in where my own food is grown, processed, and the the nutrients it contains. Is my food consumption really fueling my body the way it needs to be?

The professor in my communications class asked the question “Do you know where the food you ate today came from?” and only one person in the class could answer that question. They had an eaten an apple from a local apple farm. Other classmates responded with “from the store” or from a relatives’ house. The professor then asked a counter question “Where did they get that food from then?” No one had an answer. So it looks like we take for granted that our food is safe and is providing for our nutritional needs.

We then viewed a movie called “IN DEFENSE OF FOOD"” where a nutrition journalist named Michael Pollan brought about this idea of nutritionism. Nutritionism is an ideology that companies tell us which foods are beneficial for our daily diet. Companies present food that can be good for us but can also be harmful because when food is processed and manipulated it changes the nutritional value. Companies try to influence consumers by advertising on packaging the “good nutrients” like “100% more Vitamin C”, “Whole Grain” as the first ingredient, and a bunch more that makes the product looks more enticing to the health conscious consumer. I think most of us look at the labels when we go shopping for food but are often confused. In an effort to further “confuse us” companies advertise against “evil nutrients” like being “Fat Free” or “Sugar free” to make it look like it's a better choice when in reality there is often additives that are probably equally as dangerous to our bodies being substituted. Companies advertise in this way to make us feel better about our food choices.

In the movie, Michael Pollan compared nutrients to religion. He describes religion as a belief based on something we can’t see and comparably you can’t see nutrients in food. He goes on to explain that religion has pastors to guide a congregation, as compared to food/nutrition being guided by doctors and healthcare professionals.

Product labeling can be very confusing. At times I think you may almost need a doctorate to understand what the food actually contains. For example applesauce, one might assume that it's just a blended up apple, but when you look at the label you see things like, apple, high fructose corn syrup, water, Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C). It's processed food now, has additives, and may contain chemicals like preservatives, flavoring enhancers, or even coloring dye.

The Western Food Diet is what much of our society  goes by when they eat a meal or choose a snack. Much of our food diet is prepackaged, ready to eat, or fast food. This type of food is usually high in sugar and saturated fat. I was shocked about how much of this stuff leads you to believe it's good for you but provides little of the nutrients our bodies truly need. Often this food is bad for your body and health.

The healthier food is often found in its whole state, in the produce section and fresh meat section. Missing from these areas are loud/gimmicky advertising labels. The food sells itself.  It's weird to think that the less of a label the better the food is for you.

In the book “Food: The Key Concepts” , it brings up this idea of a culinary triangle and how this relates to our everyday eating habits. The triangle has three key parts to it- identity, convenience, and responsibility. We can relate nutritionism to the culinary triangle. The identity refers to the personal preference and how the food identifies who you are and where you are from. Someone from the Pacific Northwest might have a diet of salmon and fresh fruit while someone from Texas may have a diet of red meat and okra.

The second part to the culinary triangle is the convenience piece. The convenience part is pretty self-explanatory, how easy it is to get your food is the convenience part. Other things to consider as to the convenience part, “Is it right type of food for the meal? Is it right time to eat? or even is it good for you at all?”

Prior to taking this course I really never looked or thought about what I was eating or what I was putting into my body. I was making decisions of what I wanted to eat and when I wanted to based on how it was convenient for me.

The third part to the culinary triangle is the responsibility. In my opinion, I think this is the most important one. Responsibility in the culinary triangle means that is responsibly grown, safely and properly handled, and at the time of consumption safe to eat.  This is huge because food borne illnesses and some diseases are linked to the proper handling and care of our food.

Our goals as consumers is to appease the culinary triangle while meeting our body’s nutritional needs. Lawmakers are trying to help the public make more informed choices when making food and drink products. For example in Seattle, Washington on January 1, 2018, a new law was introduced that adds 1.75 cents tax per ounce to drinks that contain sugar. I think this is a great way for the younger generation to look at their dietary intake through drinks and cut unnecessary added sugar out of their diet. In this example, cutting sugar can help with weight and mental alertness. The thought of paying an extra $10 for a 35 pack of Gatorade from Costco taking the price from $15.99 with the sugar tax of 1.75 cents per ounce, we get a total price of $26.33. It almost doubles in price. I think this price hike will get the attention of consumers and help them make better choices. I don’t think the government telling us what to eat is a great idea; however, I think that the government should enforce laws of truthful, informative, layman terms unlabeling and I’m not opposed to junk food taxes to help subsidize health care costs due to poor diet. I think our government should help subsidize healthier food production to make healthier foods more affordable. This new sugar taxing law gave me a thought of what if we put a tax on the western food diet type of foods? Could this help people choose to eat better if there was a tax on the processed food? I feel like this would be beneficial to all of us. Would putting a tax on the bad food nutrients such as fats, sugar, carbs, high fructose corn syrup make people more conscious when make their food intake choices.

Ryan Lusk

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