Food has always been one of the few essential things that humanity needs in order to survive. The sharing of food brings people together and can allow people to recognize different cultures. There are various positive aspects to food and food systems, however there are a mass amount of issues with it as well. For example, many are always extremely conscious about what they consume, considering how it could affect their health or appearance, which Alkon touches a bit on in the Ted Talk. I personally have been a victim of being hyperaware of what I eat, and feeling guilty when getting fast food. Alkon also mentions how unhealthy foods are more accessible and affordable to the middle class, so why should I feel guilty when I’m saving money while just trying to survive? I think with the rise of social media there has been more of a push towards a certain beauty standard, which coincides with the rise of people being more mindful of what they eat and how much they eat. Not only is it detrimental to one’s mental health, but it also promotes dangerous habits that can spiral into potential eating disorders.
Another point that Alkon mentions is POC or immigrants who are farmers or work food service jobs. I’m glad that she brought up this topic because farm work or food service is extremely taxing on the mind and body. I don’t know much about the wages of farmers, however I do work in food service myself. The majority of my coworkers are POC, myself included, many work there as a full time job yet only make $12-14 an hour. My job isn’t a large corporation like McDonalds or Burger King, but it makes me wonder why my pay as a part time worker is the same as someone who is full time? This also leads me to wonder why bigger corporations don’t raise their wages for their full time workers, people who couldn’t afford to get a degree or are trying to save up to go to school. She also discusses POC or women farmers not being widely recognized or supported as much as white male farmers are, which is something I was not aware of. Alkon brings up that POC have been very important in the history of U.S. agriculture, and I completely agree with this mindset. Many minority groups have done the heavy lifting for many years and continue to do so, they deserve the same amount of support and recognition as white male farmers.
1 comment:
I appreciate the light and personal experience you brought to the topic of food consumption hyper-awareness. I have also experienced this. In addition to the feeling of being hyper-aware of what I eat, I have also felt contradicting guilt of what I do not eat. If I have access to food when others struggle with this, who am I to not consume and be grateful for whatever food I have access to? The source of guilt surrounding food, in my experience, also comes from the waste I produce. Food left uneaten on a plate, fruit forgotten in the back of the fridge, leftovers from restaurants. Are these worries and this culture of food-related guilt middle-class mind consumers that are taking us out of the bigger picture? I am not really sure, but the (media-driven these days) food culture certainly has unhealthy aspects.
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