Genetically Altered Food

Genetic engineering is a very controversial topic and one that makes one question their morals. There are two sides to every story, and this one is no different. Some people think that genetic engineered food is OK to eat, others think that it is not. We are entering a new world of scientific study and experimentation and the right decision is not always clear.

Some argue that genetically modified food is OK to eat. We have been eating it for years and have not seen any side affects that can be attributed to it. Also, they say that it increases crop yields to help feed the people of the world. This argument has merit. We have not seen side affects that can be directly linked to genetically modified food. Scientists have studied these foods and have not found evidence of side affects.

The other side of this argument is that not enough testing has been done yet. How are we to know what the long term affects are of these modified foods? One example of this is not too long ago, some countries in Africa were facing a food shortage. The United States offered to give them grain, but the grain was genetically modified. These countries refused the grain because of concerns as to the effects on the people and also cross pollination with their own crops.
The truth is that we don’t know enough about these foods. It reminds me of a story about people in Las Vegas in the 1950’s watching nuclear bomb testings and thinking it was great. They didn’t know at the time the health concerns associated with radiation. Maybe in the years to come we will solve this debate and find out there are side affects or not.

To Eat Meat or Not

The decision of whether or not to eat animals is not an easy one to make, for most people. Part of this decision depends on what your situation is. If you live in a post industrial country, then you have many options about what you can eat. If you live in a developing country, you probably have difficulty in getting food in the first place. People living in these conditions use animals to survive. They use the entire animal and do not waste anything. I think part of our dilemma is how we eat animals. The thought of animals on factory farms being slaughtered is disturbing, but thinking of a poor villager that kills a yak to feed their family and keep warm does not seem as bad.

Growing up, I didn’t have a problem eating animals. However, the more I learned about the conditions in which most are raised made me reconsider my position. Also learning about the hormones pumped into these animals affected me. I eat less meat today than I used to, and the meat I do eat I try to make sure it is free range and free of drugs. Reading Pollan’s chapter about eating animals didn’t change my mind at all. It made me think, but he did not persuade me to stop eating meat. I also felt he was stretching a bit comparing racism to the decision to eat animals. I feel that it is OK to eat animals, but not to be excessive about it. Eating a balanced diet includes other foods besides animals. There are some foods that we can eat to substitute the proteins and nutrients we get from animals, but sometimes animals are the best source. I think moderation is the key for eating animals and that we choose wisely on which animals to eat.

Guilty Pleasures

Why is food that is bad for you taste so good? We know certain foods are bad for us, but we eat them anyway. Even if there is a more healthy alternative, it is never as good as the original. Most people have a food that they have trouble resisting or a guilty pleasure. Some people have more than others. Once these bad foods have you, they fight to keep a tight grip on you. I’m afraid there are a few that have a hold on me….

One of these foods is crackers and/or chips. There are so many flavors and types to choose from that one could eat a new type everyday and not get sick of any of them. Crackers have a good variety of flavors such as chicken, cheese, vegetable, wheat, etc. We used to buy four different flavors when we would do our grocery shopping. Chips are the same way. There are potato and corn chips, and many flavors within those two categories. Some of these are bar-b-que, ranch, sour cream and onion, regular, nacho cheese, salsa, coolranch, etc. Having choices is the American way!

Another food that gets me is pop. Even though it is not really a food, I would put it in the same category. Everyone must know by now how bad pop is for you. Empty calories, tons of sugar, lots of sodium, acidic, are all examples of the bad components of these drinks. I have gotten better about drinking pop, but I could do better still. I used to drink 2 or 3 a day, but have cut back to not having any during the weekday except for once or twice with dinner and on the weekends.

I have often wondered why I have a weak spot for these foods. I think it is a few reasons. First, I didn’t have a lot of these foods when I was a kid. But when I got to be a teenager and had my own money, I would buy pop and chips on a regular basis. Maybe I became addicted to these foods. Another reason could have been forming bad habits. A person gets used to eating a certain way and could not really think much of it until they notice their declining health or increasing waistline. A third reason could be convenience. These foods are ready to eat right now. Crackers and chips are made and ready to go. Great for a quick snack, right? Same thing with pop. It tastes good and it is readily available. Some pops have so much sugar in them that they give you a little boost. To change my habits, I’ve tried to buy vegetables and cut them up and have them ready so that if I do want a snack, I can grab them and go. Also, I’ve tried to find flavored water that is healthier than pop. Everyone is in a rush now days, so we have to adapt to that way of life in order to break the hold these bad foods have on us.

Food and My Generation

I would have to say that it is hard for me to identify with food. I don’t feel a certain association with any one food or food group. My race is Caucasian so I don’t think there are foods that are associated with just white people. My gender is male, and again, no food is exclusively identified with males. Ethnicity might be one group that could have something. I’m mostly German and I ate some German food growing up, but we didn’t eat this type of food all the time. Class wouldn’t work either, since I’m middle class and I can’t think of anything that would identify only with the middle class.

The only connection I can think of is generation and food. Being a Gen X’er, I was raised on fast food. Not that I ate it constantly growing up, but enough to where it was around and in my diet. My generation was the first to really consume this type of food and make it the money making machine that it is today. The big one was McDonalds. I would eat there usually once a week. My mom complained how bad the food was, but I thought it was good. Maybe the free toys helped make the burgers taste better. I do have to admit that even today, I think their french-fries are the best. Looking back, it seems like most of their marketing was geared towards kids. Other restaurants caught on to this and did the same thing. And it worked! What kid wanted to go to a restaurant that didn’t have cookies and toys that came with their meals? No one that I knew.

Besides hamburgers, pizza would have to be the next food identified with my generation. Going out for pizza was a special treat in my house. That meant it was the weekend, or a friend was spending the night, or relatives were in town, etc. Fun seemed to be associated with this food. Part of the reason was that most pizza parlors we went to had video games. What a great idea! The parents could eat and visit while the kids were busy playing video games and entertaining themselves. This idea was transformed by Chuck E. Cheese. This pizza parlor had everything a kid wanted to do for their birthday. Kids couldn’t leave without their parents so they were free to run wild within the restaurant while the parents relaxed and tried to maintain their sanity. Pizza is still a weakness of mine. Even to this day, it is still something we buy when friends or family are at our house or for dinner on a weekend night.

The idea of genetically engineered food can be scary and hopeful. I think it depends on what you read and who you believe. But isn’t like that with most controversial issues? I’ve read a few things from both perspectives, and both sides can make a convincing argument. So where does one draw the line or choose a side?

The pro side of the argument can be very encouraging if you believe what they have to say. From what I have read and studied in an environmental science class, the potential for genetically engineered food is great. According to some geneticists, it is possible to create crops that are resistant to disease and pests, all the while not harming the people or livestock that eat it. Crops can be grown bigger and are able to survive better in adverse weather. We could have enough food to feed everyone on Earth. No one would have to go to bed hungry.

The trouble with this argument is that we do not know if the genetically engineered crops are or are not harmful to humans. We are in the early stages of development with this science and only time will tell. I’m sure we have all heard stories of how nuclear energy was treated and the lack of concern of exposure. Could we find out a few years down the road that we are creating something terribly bad for us?

I think more research needs to be done. How are we sure that we will not be harmed, even through secondary exposure. For example, a genetically engineered crops that are fed to cows or pigs, might not be harmful to them, but could be to us. We eat these livestock and have these new crops passed along to us. I think the best route to go is for natural or organic foods, or as close as possible. Being a parent, one becomes concerned with what they are feeding their kids. I have heard stories about young girls developing earlier than normal because of the hormones in the cows that they have eaten. I’m going to have a hard enough time dealing with teenage girls without them developing early.

Since this is America, we have a choice. We can choose to eat as natural as we want, or to throw caution to the wind and consume whatever we like. I definitely think genetically engineered food is not the best thing in the world, but would like to see more definite numbers and results.

Food and Memories

There is a definite connection between food and memory. Certain foods can bring back memories from childhood. Other foods can bring back bad memories of foods or situations. Maybe this is why we eat certain foods and avoid others.

There are some foods we eat in order to find comfort or because it reminds us of a good time we had in the past. Comfort food can be the same as a meal eaten that reminds us of something good in our lives. One example is Thanksgiving Dinner. We usually make the same thing year after year: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, etc. This is the same food that my grandparents made when I was a kid. Every Thanksgiving we would go over to their house for dinner. They cooked the same meal every year as well. So, when we make Thanksgiving dinner, it reminds me of being a kid at my grandparents’ house eating dinner and hanging out with family.

Another food that I eat that reminds me of a good memory is going out for pizza. When I was a kid, going out for pizza was a big deal. We didn’t do this all that often, so it was a special meal. I have fond memories of the pizza itself and the atmosphere of the pizza parlor. I try and recreate that for my kids, but I’m not sure if they feel the same way about it as I do.

For all of the good memories about foods or meals, there are also bad memories. I have trouble eating some foods because of experiences I’ve had. For instance, tomato soup. In elementary school, tomato soup was on the hot lunch menu. I hated it the first time I tried it. Now, I didn’t just try and once and write it off. I ate it again and still could not stand it. Another meal I cannot eat because of my elementary school cafeteria is macaroni and cheese. This is another meal that I hated since the first time I ate it. Even to this day, I cannot watch my kids eat Kraft macaroni and cheese. However, I can eat the homemade macaroni and cheese. The difference being that the homemade dish has the cheese baked, not runny like the store bought stuff.

More bad memories include meals my grandparents used to make. We would go over to their house for Sunday dinner. They would make recipes that were handed down to them and were brought from the old country, Germany. I would choke down these meals because I didn’t want to be rude or hurt their feelings. As I got older, I would find out what we were going to eat ahead of time and find excuses not to go. It’s funny how food can produce so many different kinds of memories.

I enjoyed making the bentos more than I thought I would. After hearing about them in class, I imagined it would be like making a lunch for my kids or to take to work. I knew that I wouldn’t make anything like what was in the book displaying competition bentos, but I thought it would be easy enough to whip up something. Also, I was unsure about how they would taste. I’m always unsure about trying new food, and some of the food available would definitely be new to me.

After watching the demonstration, I thought, “maybe this will be harder than it looks.” I was right. It was harder, but I had a good time creating my bento. There are so many decisions to be made while planning the bento. First I had to decide what types of food I was going to include. Then came the decision on what should I make. I struggled with how artistic I should make it. I decided to grap a bunch of vegitables and keep the artistry of the bento simple. I did not use any meat (per my partner’s request) and tried to get as many different types of veggies as I could. I decided on making a face due to the shapes of the veggies and it would be easy to make.

Eating the bento was the real reward. Most of my senses were engaged in the consumption of the bento. First the visual of the food as it was arranged really caught my attention. All the different colors and shapes made it more interesting than my normal lunch of a sandwich and apple. The smell of the different food combinations was interesting. I wouldn’t say that it smelled great, but if definitely was different. The texture was really varied because of the mixture of foods. It felt like a different texture with each bit I took. My sense of taste was the most surprised. Everything tasted different. One bite was the rice that tasted sort of bland. Then I would bite into pea that had a definite flavor, but was crisp and to the point. Then was something pickled that had an aftertaste that lingered for quite awhile. I felt like I didn’t know what was coming next. Again, very different than my typical lunch.