HW 5 - Dominant Discourses Regarding Contemporary Foodways in the U.S.

Having touched upon this in HW#3, i am quite proud to say that i feel i have already a basic understanding of this topic, at least from what i already knew. I feel that there is no dominant discourse among the general public, at least when it comes to the entire general public because dominant discourse is the route or path of thinking that the majority of people follow. It is a social norm that people follow out of ignorance or lack of knowledge to other options. When it comes to food, people always read the reviews, or go where their friends tell them to go, because it is good or not. Zagats and YELP, have become the new Bibles when it comes to the restaurants we usually dine in.

When it comes to the way we eat, we all follow the ever present media. They guide our lives with claims of healthier and longer lives if we only follow their advice and cut trans-fats out of our diets, or stop ingesting so much sodium. These are ideas instilled in our head by the powers at be and because they said so, we do. "They say jump, we say how high." Just by looking up food in the New York Times or Thomson Reuters search boxes, you see the ever present big brother guiding our lives. In Reuters the 3rd article down is titled "HOLIDAY FOOD AND DRUG INTERACTIONS HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH" (http://thomsonreuters.com/content/press_room/tsh/mdx_HolidayFoodDrugInterXns) We all know that we eat excessively and some people drink excessively, and we all know it is bad for us, but to make it seem like people are going to overdose on turkey or holiday ham is ridiculous. We all have to relax and be able to see that we are more then capable of managing our own diets. I don't need mayor Bloomberg telling me that restaurants now need to monitor their trans-fats and sodium.

I can't even begin to comprehend what a person's view of food would be, had they not been affected by dominant discourse. There would probably be a lot of eating that wasn't censored by counting calories or looking at ingredients, and there would probably be more physical exercise or none at all. They would most likely have food that tasted good all the time and not worry so much about drinking soda. If they were to start reading newspapers and watching the news, they would probably change their diets slowly, with subtle things, like counting calories and maybe cutting out unnecessary foods. Then move on to eating healthier leafy vegetables and then more natural foods, it is a slow and toxic chemical, the news. It turns the most staunch people into believers.

Me personally, i am pretty affected by the dominant discourse. I have said that i count calories and watch my diet, the only reason that i dont eat natural food is because i can't afford it. I want to eat food that makes me feel good about myself and makes me feel better as a person. It makes you feel healthier, or so they say, maybe thats what happens if you read these articles, and they tell you that by doing this you will feel good, you will think you will feel better, but only because they told you so. Its a placebo. It is all a lie to get you to endorse their own news agenda and make all us suckers eat like them. They have to eat healthy bland food, so we have to suffer with them. Thats what i think at least