Sunday, October 16, 2011

Blog 3 : The End Of Overeating

This blog is about a passage that I read in "The End of Overeating" by David A. Kessler. In chapter 3 "Sugar, Fat and Salt Makes us Eat More Sugar, Fat and Salt", food is said to be palatable when it has the capacity to stimulate our appetite and prompts us to eat more. For food to be palatable it usually contains a combination of sugar, fat and salt. Palatable food generally arouses our appetite, rather than genuine hunger, that makes us eat more and more even after our calorie needs are satisfied.


According to a study conducted by Adam Drewnowski, initially he focused on sugar but was soon convinced that sugar itself is not the only reason we're so partial to sweet foods. He found that what we like is not sugar alone, but sugar in combination with fat. Fat, he wrote, " is responsible for the characteristic texture, flavor, and aroma of many foods and largely determines the palatability of the diet "  (pg.13, "The End of overeating"). Mixing the same amount of sugar into low-fat and high-fat products, people invariably prefer higher-fat mixtures. Hence fat and sugar levels both influence preferences. Therefore eating foods high in sugar, fat, and salt makes us eat more foods which is very harmful for health leading to obesity and diabetes.    

Monday, October 3, 2011

Blog 2 : Explaining Contradictions

In this blog I will be discussing a contradiction. In the book "Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser, Schlosser describes Kenny Dobbins as a very hard working employee at Monfort Slaughterhouse. On a number of occasions he suffered serious injuries while working, but was never compensated and resumed work without recovering completely. On one occasion Kenny saves his fellow employee by grabbing him from a machine just before it would've crushed him. Monfort honored Kenny for his bravery by giving him an award for "Outstanding Achievement in concern for a fellow Worker." On the contrary when Kenny felt a sharp pain in his chest, the company nurse just said it was a pulled muscle when indeed it was a massive heart attack. Kenny Dobbins was recuperating in the hospital when he was fired, they realized that he was of no use to the company even though he worked for Monfort for almost 16 years. As a result, once the employee is no longer of use they are discarded and replaced. 

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Blog 1 : Your Trusted Friends

In chapter two of "Fast Food Nation", Schlosser examines Ray Kroc and Walt Disney's complicated relationship as well as their rise to fame. This chapter also considers the intricate, profitable methods of advertising to children.

Schlosser is able to depict both Ray Kroc and Walt Disney as shrewd businessmen concerned primarily, if not solely, with expanding their empires. This tale serves as a backdrop for Schlosser's real project, which is to illuminate the machination of the contemporary fast food nation. Schlosser effectively demonstrates how fast food  companies offer little in terms of nutrition, while manipulating young minds in an effect to sell their products. These companies go so far as to portray themselves as trusted friends, by preying on school systems with declining revenue.