Malcolm Gladwell External World

Malcolm Gladwell incorporates many real-life situations and studies into Blink (2005) in order to describe the accuracy of the snap judgements people tend to make without realizing it. Gladwell begins with a story about a kouros, or a statue of a posed naked man. While analysis at the J. Paul Getty Museum seemed to prove its legitimacy, many trained archaeologists had a feeling that the statue was a fake. As it turned out, the kouros was a fraud. Gladwell draws the reader in with this interesting introduction and sets a baseline for the format of the rest of the book.

In today's society Americans are accustomed to and spoiled by having their food made in a quick time frame while not having the slightest clue where the food is coming from. No, not everyone is going to try to figure out exactly what is in their food. More often than people know, the food they eat day in and day out is not as clean or healthy as they may think. Unfortunately, the healthcare and wellbeing of citizens are sometimes not being taken into consideration, when pertains to food. Of course food companies know humans need food to eat and more will be bought, especially when the cost of the product is low, but is it safe to consume on an everyday basis?

Simple small steps like this can break the paradigm of bad eating habits, which will lead us to a healthier organic food industry. Being a persistent and responsible consumer is the power we hold for change if we really believe in moving towards a better

After learning the truth about our country’s food systems, I have become more skeptical of mass produced foods and the processes the animals go through to become the food we eat today. Good and healthy food is very important to myself and to my family. Food means a lot in my family. A meal is an essential part of each day. While sipping my delicious soup, that my grandparents would make for my me

This shows the impact on how important it is to make a priority in eating and making well balanced meals. Being able to see the history in how eating habits have changed generation to generation gives an insight on what we need to change. Many people such as Mark never ate a fresh vegetable until 19 years old. This shows that there is a big gap in eating balanced and healthy meals because of the mass production of frozen and canned foods. Mark Stated that, “it cut down on the variety of food we ate” (Mark Bittman 2007 Ted Talk, transcript 10:17).

The entire book focuses on the fact that we, as individuals, need to be more informed on the process of producing our food as well as the actual ingredients in our food. Not everyone is going to change but approaching this one person at a time can change the world.

FED UP In the US from since the turn of the century, obesity has been a rising and very serious issue. In the 1980’s, western culture experienced a fitness surge, and the major food corporations began producing new products that were “fat free”, but the issue was fat free food did not taste as good so people would not buy it. To compensate the taste, the food companies replaced the fat with sugar.

The development of the food industry throughout the 20th century has captured the attention of many as fast food has become the new fad diet concerning nutritionist. Until recent times, Americans and others around the world have not been concerned with the origin of their food and what its impact could have on their everyday lives. This concern for diet didn’t become relevant until the early 1970s (Pollen 2010). When I interviewed Christine Cuthrell, my mother, who was in her teens during the 1980s remembers how many people were beginning to shift away from eating at home with their families every night. This shift didn’t take place in the Cuthrell family until she was out of school and busy working everyday.

Over the years in America food and how it is consumed has changed, and we seem to actually be eating more unhealthy despite advances in modern science and technology. In Michael Pollan’s book, “In Defense of Food”, Pollan talks about this idea, and how food itself has been replaced by the nutrients in them. Today’s development of food science has done more harm than good, and the food industry has become industrialized. People have to avoid the new “Western diet” and need to go back to the natural way of eating healthy foods. When I arrived at college, I completely changed my diet for good after just a single week in, as I had a realization I needed to eat healthier to transform my relationship with not only food, but with my body and mind.

Now, now we have quite a few persistent disorders like diabetes, colon cancer, coronary heart condition which are commonplace inside our culture. Now, with all advances in medication why would these disorders exist at this type of large cost? Hassle-free, most People and other folks inside western society are killing themselves gradually with each food they try to eat. Processed foodstuff full of preservatives are generating us overweight, triggering high blood pressure, heart disease and cancer.

However it doesn’t have a large impact on the food industry as such as consumers need to purchase food in order to survive. Although they may decrease quantity of foods they choose to buy, they are still willing to purchase basic foods that will sustain their health. Consumers are more likely during an economic downfall to spend their money on foods they require rather than want. The company as a result obtains an advantage from its competitors as they produce long lasting food options, which allows consumer’s to save during tough times. This highlights an opportunity for the company as they produce healthier and simple food varieties which many customers desire.

How come Americans are obsessed with food (new diets, restaurants, television shows, the list goes on and on) but no one cares or knows where their food came from and how it got on the shelf at the supermarket? The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan teaches readers about the importance of being educated about where your food comes from and how to make your own decisions about what and how to eat. Humans, as omnivores, have too many options for food and we don’t know what is good for us. Pollan argues that many diets and information from professionals are false, Americans have no tradition or cultural foods, and the human instinct of not eating bitter foods is no excuse to stop eating nutrient packed foods. First, Pollan talks about how many people throughout history that were supposed to be experts, for example Dr. Kellogg, came up with some strange theories that many people believed, but we later discovered were not true.

Companies who are in the field of competition they don’t really care about human health. Most of the campiness are in the “fight-filed” of the food because every company wants to attracts the people to it in any ways. Each company wants to make the cheapest food to sell for the people. Companies knows that people are interesting in the price of the product more than quality, so companies take advantage of people and wasted their money and their health. What happens now between the companies is like rice.

Accurate, easy-to read and scientifically valid nutrition and health information on food labels is an essential component of a comprehensive public health strategy to help consumers improve their diets and reduce the risk of diet-related diseases. Consumers often compare prices of food items in the grocery store to choose the best value for their money but comparing their purchases using a comprehensive food label can help make the best choices for their health. That is what makes food labeling a public health issue – inadequate food labels may lead to poor quality food choices. Indeed today food labels could not confidently be referred to as accurate, easy-to read and containing scientifically valid nutrition and all necessary health information. They are often referred to as misleading, containing flawed or inaccurate information and sometimes very difficult to understand by various health specialists.

American consumers have become accustomed to this notion of uniformity, without realizing that what is purchased now is a “notion of a tomato, picked green, and ripened with ethylene gas,” as Robert Kenner expresses in the documentary, Food Inc. There is a common denial forged between what is known and what one chooses not to know about what is being consumed. In order to make an informed decision society must first be given the option by being provided with the right