Setting: Lunch, KC Dining Hall, April 2011; Four co-eds discussing such topics as Lifetime’s made-for-TV movies based on Nora Roberts novels and such television shows as Sixteen and Pregnant. 

He said, American Culture is all trash now. 
She said, I’m glad that I don’t buy into that.
He said, But you do.
She said, No I don’t. I don’t watch those shows. I watch reality contestant shows; like this new one called Faceoff. It’s about make-up artists who are competing—
I said, And that reflects our cultural values so much better than Teen Mom. 

I didn’t say this to sound like the self-righteous one at the table (because let’s face it, i’m an eternal fan of bad TV). But, I felt obligated to reassure her that no matter the depth of denial, she in fact buys into the culture that America has managed to create. We all do, in one way or another. You don’t have to watch TV shows that glamorize teen pregnancy to do so. She buys into it when watching Faceoff and doing other things that forward the agenda of cosmetic companies. I buy into when I watch The Biggest Loser and Big Brother, with all their fat stigmatization and perpetuation of gender stereotypes. A number of others are buying into it every week on Jersey Shore, The Real World: Las Vegas, and Glee. All of this is part of the same culture that advertises America to the world outside and to the young, impressionable, next generation. Scorning one sector does not save you from “buying into it.” Rather, convincing ourselves that we somehow are not buying into it is exactly the mentality that perpetuates it. Reforming the cultural image we’ve created calls for reforming the whole thing. 

So, last night before I drifted off into a Kahlua induced coma, two hours before my normal bedtime, I started reading a book I saw in my library’s New Year Diet display last week, American Wasteland by Jonathan Bloom. This is the third in a series of food-relative books I have read during winter break (In Defense of Food and Mindless Eating previously). I took Sociology of Food a couple years ago and so I was already aware of the unequal distribution of food in America and that lower income areas are less likely to stock healthy options, as well as “food deserts,” areas in which it’s impossible to obtain real food (that is, something NOT from a gas station/convenience store) without a car or other transportation. But I was shocked by the statistics regarding how much food we as Americans waste on a daily basis, and on top of that where our waste goes after it leaves our tables. 

Every day, America wastes enough food to fill the Rose Bowl. Yes, that Rose Bowl—the 90,000-seat football stadium in Pasadena, California. Of course, that’s if we had an inclination to truck the nation’s excess food to California for a memorable but messy publicity stunt. 

As a nation we grow and raise more than 590 billion pounds of food each year…we squander between a quarter and a half of all that food…Even using the more conservative figure would mean that 160 billion pounds of food are squandered annually—more than enough, that is, to fill the Rose Bowl to the brim. With the high end estimate, The Rose Bowl would almost be filled twice over. 

The average American creates almost 5 pounds of trash per day, and 12 percent of that is edible, adding up to 197 per person for the year. On top of that number, a huge amount of food is discarded by restaurants, large farming operations, grocery stores (after food has “expired”), and by wholesalers (because the food doesn’t meet standards). On average our food travels 1,500 miles from its source to our plates, if it doesn’t get banged up during the journey and thrown out somewhere along the way.

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I just burned through Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food, beginning to read it around 4 pm on Dec. 24 and finishing it just before 2 am Dec. 26. The last time I read a book so fast must have been when I read The Kite Runner this past summer. Anyway, I’ve been extremely interested in the food industry since taking Sociology of Food freshman year. I chose the class thinking it would mix well with my interest in Eating Disorders, but it turned out to be a lot more about big industry, small agriculture, and migrant work. Since then, I’ve been watching documentaries like Food, Inc. and adding books to my list that address those issues. 

So, I couldn’t stop turning the pages of In Defense of Food, which addresses American focus on nutrition rather than actual food, and nutritional science’s tendency to divorce nutrients from their naturally occurring contexts in whole foods, before we process them. We’ve become a nation obsessed with nutrition, and simultaneously become the most overweight, obese, and unhealthy nation in the developed world. Sounds really wrong, right?

After finishing the book, I couldn’t sleep without rummaging through my cabinets and reading long and convoluted ingredient lists on all the so-called healthy foods I make my mother buy me when I am home for breaks, including Brownberry 12-grain bread, Special K Cinnamon and Pecan, and my certified Organic soy milk. Turns out they more closely resemble the “food-like substances” Pollan warns against. On the bright side, Annie’s Organic White Cheddar Mac and Cheese is a winner. I highly doubt that I will stop eating these foods, but I’m glad to more conscious of their “food-like” status and so I can adjust accordingly. 

Here are a few “eating challenges” I’ve resolved on after reading In Defense of Food:

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My grandma is approaching her 70th bday, and the last few years her holiday dinners have come from boxes. I started reading Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food, and I’m on a campaign against processed foods and microwavable meals, which is what I expect to be presented in about half an hour when I get to Grandma’s dinner. It was awkward on Thanksgiving because I barely ate any of the food, and my obese and not exactly classy Aunt, who had on a tie-dye shirt by the way, made a comment about “how she stays so skinny” when she thought I couldn’t hear her. I’m kind of used to those comments by now, but even so, they’re not pleasant to hear especially when the underlying accusation is “i think you have an eating disorder.” Anyway, for tonight’s dinner I made mashed cauliflower and oven-roasted broccoli, all completely fresh ingredients and definitely going to beat boxed mashed potato flakes and frozen mixed vegetables, hands down. However, I won’t be shocked if I am the only one that eats them all night. Here i go!

“‘Going out there and winning this would mean a lot. It would be like a big middle finger to all the people out there who hate my mom and hate me,’ Sarah Palin’s daughter said during last night’s episode.”

-Bristol Palin; Associated Press story, “Grey emerges as ‘Dancing’ champion”

First of all, what a mature thing to say on family television!

Second, winning a D-list celebrity revival show does not prove your worth as a person, star or no. (And when did this show start choosing contenders who are not stars in their own right? Being someone’s daughter and having an unplanned pregnancy do not make you a star, Bristol.)

Third, winning that show does not validate Sarah Palin’s ability to be a politician that Americans can place any semblance of confidence in.

It’s time for Bristol to grow-up, and perhaps work on stopping the cycle of ridiculous that is associated with the name Palin.