Our National Eating Disorder

In Pollan’s piece “Our National Eating Disorder”, he discusses our country’s constant fear of unhealthy foods, and our strange eating fads throughout the years.  America is known for being the most obese country in the world, thanks to all of our heavily carb-loaded, fat-filled foods.  Likewise, there are constantly new diet plans being created that become “popular” amongst so many Americans.  My family and friends are just as much a part of this phenomenon as most other Americans, including myself.  My parents are doing a diet right now actually, which only consists of drinking homemade juices made of various fruits and vegetables, and avoiding all forms of sweets and carbs.  I too have participated in diets like these from a constant fear of eating “unhealthy” and gaining weight. 

Pollan’s article makes an interesting point though, in regards to other countries compared to Americans in regards to eating unhealthy foods.  In his article he touches on a survey that was taken to associate how pleasure and food are correlated depending on the country.  While Americans used negative words toward foods like cake and creams, France and Italy associated those foods with celebrations and pleasure.  Surprisingly enough, French people are actually healthier than Americans in general, and they are rarely worried about their food intake! I found this extremely interesting in that Americans are more worried about being healthier and thus eat less pleasure foods, whereas the French do the opposite and are overall thinner and healthier.  In the article, this phrase is a strong sum-up for Pollan’s point: “But how we eat, and even how we feel about eating may in the end be just as important as what we eat” (Pollan, 4).  So, while Americans are constantly indulging in sweets and carbs, then panicking and dieting to make up for it, other countries that associate food more strongly with pleasure are eating together, in a less rushed manner, and eating smaller portions of what they want to eat, and thus being healthier.