Changing the World: One meal at a time

It is a beautiful mid-September day on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. I am enjoying my last hour of peace and quite before my visiting parents’ return from their shopping adventure. I am so happy to have come up with a perfect excuse for not going with them. I convinced them that I would make one of my famous dinners. Being the only member of my family who knows how to cook, they could not object. Just as the table was set the intercom buzzer rang. I pushed the door button on the intercom and prepared myself for the usual New York City complaints that always accompanied my parents. They hate my 5th floor walk-up apartment, the way people push and shove, the garbage, the pollution, and of course, the taxi drivers. But now they can relax and have a good home-cooked meal.
After a drink and a moment to relax, I direct my parents to the dinner table. They sit and eagerly await my return from the kitchen. The apartment is filled with smells of cheeses, garlic, onion, and oregano. Upon arrival to the table I see how happy my parents are by my choice for dinner. They love lasagna and they know that I use the best ingredients. I cut the lasagna into squares and place the plate in front of my mother and then to my father. After cutting out a piece for myself, I look up for more positive reinforcement. To my surprise, I see a bewildering puzzled look on my parents’ face and a hesitation to speak. Finally, my mother pushes herself to ask “Jay, where is the meat?” I tell them, “This is Spinoccoli lasagna; it does not have any meat.” Still puzzled, she responds, “There has to be meat; it’s not a meal without meat.” It was then that I realized how difficult the job of changing the menu would be.
The history of meat-eating humans started as our ancestors became hunters and gatherers. As evolution and time continued, meat became more and more important. Before long, meat became the symbol of prosperity, health, and a source for protein. As animal farming grew and technology increased, alternative-farming techniques became widely used. These techniques include different animal feed, hormone and anti-biotic injections, and inhumane animal treatment. Today, meat consumption is becoming widely known as oppressive and unhealthy yet Americans consume more beef, chicken, pork, and fish than any other country in the world. With so much information on the negative affects of meat consumption, why are we still making these choices? In order to change a certain behavior or action, we must first understand its origin and the meaning associated with it, point out all industries, companies, and organizations that influence our choices, hold these industries and organizations accountable, and finally create realistic alternatives.
Methodology

This research paper originated from my Spinoccoli lasagna and my parent’s reaction to my favorite recipe. My main focus centered on meat consumption in the U.S and the environment that supports it. This includes government agencies, capitalism, and culture. Most of my inspiration comes from the book Food Politics, by Marion Nestle and my own search for a healthy lifestyle. I have read books on the subject of culture, capitalism, meat production, and politics. I have also gathered information from the USDA and CNPP symposium- “Food Choices: Why we choose the foods we eat.” This was held in the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s Jefferson Auditorium in Washington DC on Nov. 3, 1999.
Factors of Why We Choose the Foods We Eat
It is almost impossible, nowadays, to hear, read, or watch mass media without information being given on the negative effects of eating meat. From Oprah Winfrey to Dateline, almost every pop-culture, current events or news-related shows promote either vegetarian or low meat diets. In April 1996, Oprah Winfrey devoted an entire show to the mad cow epidemic in Europe. Immediately after the show, Texas cattle producers sued Oprah for deformation. According to the cattle producers, Oprah´s show ¨was sensational and unduly alarmist.¨ They also claimed that her show triggered a reduction in beef prices. News programs such as Dateline, 20/20, 60 minutes, and 48 hours continually present case studies of food related questions and issues; most of these issues help to inform viewers on the hidden dangers in meat. Although these programs receive high ratings, indicating a large audience, Americans are still consuming an incredible amount of meat.
In 2000, Americans ate an average of 113.5 pounds of red meat per person. One does not need a Ph.D. in Psychology or Sociology to figure out the first problem; people are not changing their diet. The second problem requires much more information, knowledge, and education; we must understand the factors involved when we choose the foods that we eat; these factors are internal, external, and environmental (Center).
Internal factors for why we choose the foods that we eat are associated with biological and psychological theories. According to Adam Drewnoski Ph.D., @ University of Washington, internal factors are related to brain chemistry (Center). Studies have linked the intake of fat, sugar, and salt with altering certain chemicals in the brain. Humans tend to prefer all three of these foods, both singularly and in various combinations. There is also a direct relationship between taste, calories, and the density of food. The density of food is equal to the amount of calories per gram. In theory, the greater the food density, the greater the taste. Meat is a very dense food and according to most meat eaters, taste is an important factor in choosing to eat it. Taste and food density could have its origin in genetics. Dr. Paul Rosin Ph.D. at University of Pennsylvania believes the biggest predictor of food intake is taste, which has an important evolutionary value (Center). As prehistoric humans found better tasting foods, their caloric intake increased improving their chances for survival. Although biology is an excellent internal factor, it is not the only internal predictor of food choices.
Food psychology is another internal factor and an excellent predictor of food intake. Memories, behaviors, feelings, and experiences play an important role in our food choices. My parents are excellent examples of food psychology working very well. Although my parents consumed more calories and fat in my lasagna, they still believed that they were missing something. Luckily, my cheesecake helped to fill that void. Marketing and advertising companies spend thousands of dollars on food psychology research in order to capitalize on specific needs. By buying their product you will “feel” better, reminisce, and enjoy. McDonald’s commercials show unhappy, depressed, and dysfunctional families that are miraculously healed by stopping in at McDonald’s because “You deserve a break today” (Schlosser). This brings us to the next reason for choosing the food we eat, which are external factors.
External factors for making food choices may seem obvious at first, but can also be subliminal and hidden. The obvious external factors are capital (money), time, availability, and price. It is relatively simple to understand that someone with little time and money would buy an inexpensive, microwave-able beef TV dinner rather than pricey organic vegetables. External factors that are not as obvious are marketing, labeling, and food placement. One interesting observation was that marketing was found in all three factors of food choice. Many shoppers wheel up and down grocery stores unaware that they have been influenced by the food industry. Labels that contain words like fat free, lower fat, lean, and reduced fat are designed to draw your attention to the product.
Availability is also very important for the fast food industry. Besides fast food restaurants, fast food grocery products are designed to be “ready-in-minutes” or “ready to eat.” These exterior factors of food choice are created to produce the maximum profit in our changing lifestyles and greatly influence environmental pressure to buy and consume certain foods.
Environmental factors of food choice centers on culture and lifestyles. Cultural traditions involving food are very difficult to change because they are used in conjunction with internal and external factors. For example, the turkey served on Thanksgiving is a cultural tradition in many American homes. Every year, thousands of slaughtered turkeys flood American supermarkets on this holiday. In some cases, to change the menu could be perceived as denying one’s culture or identity. Doris Witt’s Black Hunger: Food and the Politics of U.S. Identity, explains how food is connected to an enormous amount of social and environmental aspects of American Culture from race and politics to gender and sexuality. Doris Witt brilliantly writes about the power of food as a means of communication bridging the gap between generations of African-American women. She also explains the power and symbolism in “soul food” and reasons why African-American women are concerned about the growing popularity of “soul food.” In one example, Ms. Witt explains how Vertamae Smart Grosvenor received an enormous backlash of African-American women who were outraged by her televised recipe of collard greens that substituted peanut oil and bouillon cubes for ham hocks (Witt 12). In the African-American culture, food represents history, oppression, and gender specific roles in the kitchen. After only reading the prologue of her book, I realized that completely understanding food and environment would require an enormous amount of knowledge. In this book alone, food represented race distinctions, heterosexuality, genders roles, and feminism. Witt’s book points out how food can be used to oppress African-American women (166). But these issues are not the only environmental factors for choosing certain foods; individual families also play a large role.
In Ruth Reichl’s Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table, food became the main character in the story line. Reichl shows how her family’s food choices played a major part in her memories and attitudes about food thereby influencing her own food choices. Like Reichl, my family had a tremendous impact on my choices of food and according to my parents, those choices had to include meat.
Beef and pork were the staple crop in my family because it represented prosperity during a time of desperation. Growing up in the 70’s in Watervliet, New York, I saw my parents struggle just to pay their bills. Although both of my parents worked, their salaries for unskilled labor were very small. Luckily, my mother’s reception job at Tobin’s First Prize allowed her to bring home meats at greatly reduced prices. Tobin’s First Prize was a meat packing plant that slaughtered and packaged pigs and cattle. My mother’s mouth still waters as she describes the steaks, roasts, pork chops, hot dogs, and sausages that she would bring home. She explains “we ate like we were wealthy even though we had trouble paying for our utilities.” Eventually, my father found a higher paying job that allowed my mother the freedom to quit her job and stay home to take care of our growing family. Later she explains “I hated having to leave that job because we never ate as well as we did back then.” Somehow, I remember only the meals after my mother quit her job. She called the beef from the supermarket “poor man’s steak.” This consisted of Salisbury steak, cubed steak, hamburger, pre-packaged meatloaf, and roast beef in boiling bags. But this love affair between humans and meats did not simply begin with my parents.

The History of Meat in America

In order to find the origins of meat-eating, one must travel back in time prior to modern humans or Homo Homo sapiens. Although there is still a scientific debate over the first method of acquiring the meat, it is generally accepted that Pliocene hominids were the first to have meat in their diet. The feminist theory in the 1970’s debated the “Man the hunter” origins, which led to the belief of opportunistic hunting of smaller prey and pirating of larger carcasses (Stanford 5). By studying early hominid evolution, scientists are able to theorize the consequences of increased carnivory. These consequences could have been an enlargement of the brain, increased sexual dimorphism, increased body size, longer life span, and greater intelligence using observation, memory, and association (Stanford 317). As Homo sapiens evolved into the modern humans of today, the method of finding food went from scavenging to hunting and gathering and then into agriculture.
Domestication of animals allowed hunter-gatherers to remain in one place and use little energy in gathering their new prey. American cattle ranching began in 1607. After 1611, herds roamed freely on open land far from town and were protected for three years. Cattle ranching became a popular and profitable endeavor sending cattle everywhere. As early as 1840, commercial feedlots began to pop up and by the mid-1960s huge feedlots began to dominate the cattle market (Skaggs 169). Most cattle spend the last few months of their lives in holding pens, routinely injected with growth promoting hormones, antibiotics, and unnaturally rich diets to fatten them up (Factory Farming). It was at this time that a growing number of Americans began the long battle against the meat producing companies.
The Meat Battle
Although meat eating may have had an enormous positive impact on our evolution, many would consider meat to be doing the exact opposite today. According Marion Nestle’s Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health, “the leading causes of death are chronic diseases associated with excessive (or unbalanced) intake of food and nutrients” (31). In 2000, almost 64% of American deaths could have been caused by our diet where as in 1900, poor diets could only be blamed for 21% of deaths. One of the major U.S. health problems is obesity in children. In January of 1977, the Committee on Nutritional and Human Needs released a report entitled “Dietary Goals for the United States.” Although the original report advised Americans to “decrease consumption of meat”, the National Cattle Association successfully urged the committee to revise the report and advise Americans to “increase consumption of lean meat” (40). But the amount of meat consumption is not the only health concern of American diets; meat quality is just as important.
There is a growing concern in America about the quality of meat products that are sold to consumers. Since agrifarming replaced most of the cattle ranches in America, cattle have been given a combination of growth hormones, antibiotics, and an unusually high fat and calorie diet. Corn fed beef producers pride themselves on the quality of their “Tender Beef” products. Corn provides a very high amount of carbohydrates and a very low amount of essential nutrients, creating an over fed and under nourished animal. “Tender” is taken to an extreme in Veal, where calves are placed in to small wooden crates, preventing them from moving, and fed a strict liquid diet that is designed to cause anemia.
Bacteria such as E. coli., have also been found in our meat supply, in some cases, causing death. Since meat by-products are reprocessed as feed, there is a growing concern that cannibalism might genetically alter the cattle. Some researchers believe that Europe’s Mad Cow epidemic might be related to the techniques used in cattle farming. Although these health concerns are very important for those who decide to eat beef, there is a growing awareness that the beef industry is affecting non-meat-eating people as well.
Environmental issues are strongly related to our cattle industry and are not contained in an isolated area; instead, these issues could have a global impact. The deforestation of much of the world’s forests is the consequences of over grazing and the need for more pastures. The greenhouse effect of an over abundance of carbon dioxide is closely related to the reduction of forest. Cattle farming could also be blamed for much of the hunger that is plaguing the world today. It takes over 100 pounds of grain to produce just one pound of beef. Multiplied by the 113 pounds of beef that the average American eats we realize that world hunger would be eradicated if Americans would only reduced their intake of beef and other meats by 1/3. But there are some benefits of eating meats.
Meat producers are very happy to see information that encourages Americans to eat meat. In the July 15, 2002 Time Magazine Article Should We Be Vegetarian, the question asks, “Can it be that vegetarianism is bad for your health?” (52). While some vegetarians understand that they must search for foods high in riboflavin and vitamins D and B12, many do not and score significantly lower in overall nutrition than nonvegetarians. Vegans are even more prone to deficiencies because of their strict avoidance of meat, eggs, and dairy products. Breast-feeding mothers that are vegans, run the risk of depriving their children with lower levels of vitamin B12, vitamin D, and DHA, which is important for vision and growth. High endurance athletes must consume more protein, calories, calcium, iron, and zinc. Seniors citizens also run the risk of not getting enough calcium and vitamin D (Time 53). After reading this article, I wondered who paid for the research.
Although the article focused mainly on the negative aspects of vegetarianism, it never mentioned the negative effects of eating meat. Perhaps there are too many articles already published and the scientific information that is available today would convince even more people to eat less meat. Perhaps this article proves Marion Nestle’s points about Food Politics and the struggle to educate Americans. If I was not in the middle of writing a research paper on meat, I might have been persuaded by this article to give up and get a Big Mac® at McDonalds™. So what can Americans do to eat healthier and help others as well?


Ways to Change the Menu
I had the pleasure of listening to Marion Nestle as she spoke about her book Food Politics and the reactions that followed after it was published. In her speech she points out the problems of our “Eat Less, Eat More” society. She also explains why it is so difficult to change our way of thinking about food. She believes that the most efficient way to change our eating habits is to change our policies. These policies must do the following: implement nation nutritional goals, state nutrition goals explicitly, use advertising, regulate TV commercials, adjust food prices, and adjust tax polices. After reading Nestle’s book and listening to her speak I realized that she would like our government to perform as well as the companies that influence them. I am always amazed at how large companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars in research, marketing, and advertising while our government spends less than 2 million for advertising fruits and vegetables.
The Time Magazine article Should we be Vegetarians?, hopefully woke some of us up in the first paragraph. It listed the five reasons for eating meat: taste good, makes you feel good, it’s a great American tradition, it supports the nation’s farmers, and your parents did it (49). Then the article informs you that the list was reasons to smoke cigarettes. Although Marion Nestle came under harsh criticism for her book, I feel that she did not go far enough.
Americans should hold companies personally liable for their products, actions, behavior, and influences that they have on Americans. The tobacco industry set an excellent example of showing how powerful these companies can become. Warning labels should be placed on products that contain high fat, sugar, and other additives. Incentives should be given to vegetable and fruit farmers to advertise and market their products. Meat alternatives should be readily available in supermarkets, schools, and restaurants. Beef must be highly regulated and prevented from using growth hormones, meat by-products, antibiotics, and corn. We must prohibit advertising of meats and other high-risk foods. Schools must be free of fast food and fast food advertising. But is this enough?
In Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, we see how some fast food restaurants have more power and resources than most of the countries they invaded. Their power and resources were used to further stratify our nation. Companies like McDonalds™ have taken advantage of minority and under privileged teens, while our government rewards them. McDonalds receives over $2,000 in tax incentives for employing minorities and the disabled that they would have hired them anyway. Finally, campaign reform is essential to stop companies from influencing our leaders. Companies should not be allowed to finance any of our politicians. Strict laws with strong punishments will help to curve senators and congress officials from accepting any funds that would influence their vote. We must also hold our government responsible for their actions by ensuring that they will also be liable for the action.

In conclusion, by seeing how our history with meat made a dramatic change in our evolution, we might be able to accept its importance in today’s culture. But our history also shows how removing most of its nutritional benefits and adding harmful byproducts has altered our meat and financially benefited only the meat industry. By understanding our history and our internal, external, and environmental factors that influence our food choices, we are able to make realistic changes that will provide long term benefits for everyone. When I started my research on meat eating and vegetarianism, I thought I would become a devout vegan or at least a strict vegetarian. As I progressed, I realized that I must remain open to information and new ideas. Perhaps the best answer is not to remove all meat from our menus. Perhaps it would benefit us all to add new items such as tofu, beans, peas, vegetables, and fruit. Maybe it would benefit us to eat smaller amounts of higher nutritious foods so that we will not need to eat so many foods of little to no nutrition.
When I visit my family, I will still complain about their diet and they will continue to eat meat everyday. But now my goal is to encourage them to try new foods as a side dish or a snack. As their menu expands to include cous cous, vegetable pate, tahini salad, humus, miso soup, collard greens, and Spinoccoli Lasagna, the steaks and hamburgers might become less appetizing. After Marion Nestle spoke to the students attending Vassar’s Exploring Transfer Program, I asked for her autograph in my personal copy of her book. On the inside cover she wrote, “To Jay: Change the World by Eating Well.”

Bibliography: Annotated

Center for Nutritional Policy and Promotion. Dietary Behavior: Why We Choose the Foods We Eat. 3 November 1999. www.usda.gov/cnpp/seminar/behavior/archive.html
This was an incredible symposium that gave me a great start in establishing my focus. The symposium centered on biological and psychological factors of food choices but also looked at food choices from a sociological point of view.

Clemen, Rudolf Alexander, M. A.. The American Livestock And Meat Industry. New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1923.
I have no idea if this book is going to help my research but it is a great old book.

Corey, Lewis. Meat and Man: A Study of Monopoly, Unionism, and Food Policy. New York: Viking Press, 1950.
This book gave me a little insight into the meat industry before 1950. It was very helpful in illustrating how important meat was in the American family.
Philip, Leila. A Family Place: A Hudson Valley Farm, Three Centuries, Five Wars, One Family. New York: Viking Press, 2001.
It was wonderful to read a historic reference in a narrative voice. This book was helpful in establishing some sort of writing style.

Reichl, Ruth. Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table. New York: Broadway Books, 1998.
The book demonstrates the power of food in American culture and gives a great example of food psychology.

Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001.
This book has been very helpful in establishing external and environmental factors of why we choose the foods we eat.

Stanford, Craig B. and Henry T. Bunn, ed. Meat-Eating & Human Evolution. Oxford: University Press, 2001.
This book is helpful in gathering information on the history of meat eating and its origin.