Assignments
FOOD DIARY
The Challenge of Avoiding Processed Food
Day 1 (Joon’s everyday meal outlook)
Breakfast:
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Day 2 (Joon Not eating any processed food)
Breakfast:
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How difficult can it be to avoid processed food? Well, I underestimated the difficulties I would encounter while doing this two-day challenge. The insight of what I ate during my first day left me in disbelief on how my appetite had changed since I landed in the U.S. Somehow, processed food that I considered a luxury while living in the countryside of Colombia, became my new normal; all my meals for day 1 consisted of at least one manufactured good. Indeed, ‘‘Assimilation requires you to adopt a foreign tongue, in more ways than one’’ (Fan).
Nachos are currently my frequent choice of meal whenever I feel hungry. What I used to consider as an expensive snack, now has become a complete meal. Apart from this, the idea that I could acquire my breakfast at the store, all pre-packed and ready to eat, fascinated me at first. However, after reading more in-depth about the complex process that packaged food goes through, it made me more aware and careful of my relationship with food. ‘‘Processed foods are designed to be irresistibly delicious and appealingly convenient, but the more you know about the story of food additives, the more hollow the appeal seems’’ (Warner). I couldn’t agree more with this statement. My subconscious hobby of trying new manufactured food and beverages became something I felt the necessity of breaking; it was an addiction. It takes personal initiative to go against our instincts of experiencing sensorial pleasure caused by the artificial coloring, the mouth-feel, and the explosive but not overwhelming tastes that the food and beverage industry sells and advertises. Day 2 was completely different from what I expected, although difficult in the process, it was satisfying in the end. I believe that because I’m still a beginner, differentiating whole foods from processed foods was a hard task. However, after having every meal, I felt satisfied but lightweight, a strange state that my body has rarely experienced before. On a regular day, I would eat so much food in my meals that I would think about rolling back to my dorm and somehow, be really hungry a couple of hours later. However, being conscious of what I eat and how much I eat, made me understand better what my body was really asking for. It wasn’t asking for a heavy, processed meal but it was asking for a balanced, whole-based meal that would let me feel more energetic and productive throughout the day. Although I really tried to control the composition of my meals, the pink lemonade slipped through my mind, and I ended up drinking the whole cup of pink lemonade before noticing it was a manufactured product. Yes, I failed the challenge, but it helped me realize how advertising and accessibility to processed products have made me more vulnerable to acquire them. Thus, I am more than determined to limit my intake of processed food from now on. |
Civilization has run on ahead of the soul of man, and is producing faster than he can think and give thanks.
Gilbert K. Chesterton