Brett Miller
Draft 1
ENG-100
2018 – 10 – 10
Title
Food has been apart of every living things life on this planet sense it was created. It comes in many different ways to many different kinds of living creatures. Food is simply on a long list of necessary resources that we need to survive, if you didn’t eat, you would starve and die. It’s a very simple thing that used to be one of the greatest struggle for mankind. Hundreds of years ago hunter- gatherers would track wild animals for miles until they were able to attack and kill their food in the wild, a lot of times they were unsuccessful. Now a days we never have to go through that struggle that our predecessors went through. We have such easy access to food now a days we tend to under appreciate it. Or do we? I have read three different “food for thought” essays written by other fellow students. Something that is pretty obvious is each of the essays talk about how important and much their meals mean to them. Back in the day people were grateful for the food that they hunted because there wasn’t always food on the table. Now the actual meal has a greater meal has a much greater and deeper meaning. It’s almost more about the experience then eating the food. Every essay i’ve read at some point mentions family that is correlated with the dish. Food or more specifically the meal is all about who you eat it with rather than what you eat. Food has proved to be a tool to bring people together and is a passion around the world. We can learn lot about other cultures and others different lifestyles just based on the food they eat and how they eat it. Our society has developed and is largely influenced by food and we are influenced by food as individuals.
The definition of civilization is the stage of human social development and organization that is considered most advanced. This stage of human social development was only possible because of food. Once we finally figured out how to farm and began expanding our understanding of agriculture years ago, it allowed us to stop being a nomadic species. When we could develop food it allowed us to settle down and start building developments which led to communities with people working together to help each other survive. Humans were nomadic because of food and then we came together and worked as one for food. This is an old but very strong example of how food can influence us. In the text “Out of the kitchen, Onto the Couch,” Julia child featured in a food cooking show. At this time woman struggled for rights and most of the time they would stay at home, take care of the children, the house, and cook for the family. Many house wives would tune in to Julia’s show for a couple of reasons. First of all they generally enjoyed cooking and wanted to try new things and have fun doing it.
https://mhorn5.uneportfolio.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/639/2017/10/Meal-Analysis-Essay-Final-Draft.pdf
Final Draft
Professor Miller
Brett Miller
ENG-110
31 October 2018
Meal Analysis
Food has been a focus for mankind since the beginning. Over the years its production, ingredients, and ways of being accessed have changed. However, our feelings towards food have continued to grow. I have read four essays about the connection with people and food. Three favorite meal essay by Cobey Johnson, Emilee Soucie, and a student from last year’s class named Madison Horn that were or are all enrolled in Eng-100 with Jesse Miller, and “Out of the kitchen, Onto the Couch,” by Michael Pollan.Through these essays and my own experience with food, I have come to believe that food brings people together. It does more than give us fuel. It gives us memories. Food helps us connect with our communities, families, and ourselves.
Hundreds of years ago hunter- gatherers would track wild animals for miles until they were able to attack and kill their food in the wild. A lot of times they were unsuccessful. Now a days, we never have to go through that struggle that our predecessors went through. Our relationship with food has changed. We can now find it around every corner. Our campus alone has dozens of ways to easily access food. It has changed so much that we forget what food gave us in the first place. Food created a way for us to have permanent homes.
The definition of civilization is “the stage of human social development and organization that is considered most advanced.” This stage of human social development was only possible because of food. Once we figured out how to farm on our larger scale, the idea of agriculture expanded as well. This practice allowed us to stop being a nomadic species. The constant hunt for food forced mankind to wander. When we developed a system for producing much more food, it allowed us to settle down and start building permanent civilizations. These developments led to communities with people working together to help each other survive. This is an old, but very strong example of how food can connect us to form communities.
In the text “Out of the kitchen, Onto the Couch,” Julia child was featured in a food cooking show. At this time, women struggled to gain equal rights and most of the time would stay at home and take care of the children, the house, and cook for the family. Many house wives would tune in to Julia’s show. Women valued it for a couple of reasons. First of all they generally enjoyed cooking and wanted to try new things and have fun doing it. To many, Julia Child was more then just woman who knew how to cook on TV. She was role model to women everywhere. Julia didn’t just use food and cooking as a hobby or profession, but helped send a message to people that cooking was much more than just knowing how to cook the food. In one of her shows she is about to flip a pancake. She purposely messes up. The pancake breaks apart but she just fixes it and keeps cooking. A meaningful quote from that video is “The only way you learn to flip things is to just flip them.” Julia helped empower other women like her and for them to possess a stronger sense of courage. Julia used food to influence how women and some men in our civilization felt about themselves. She gave them more self confidence. She proved in the simplest of ways that food can help us connect with our community and our true selves.
This empowering feeling was also present in Horn’s essay when he grandfather da, makes his famous mashed potatoes because of how important they are. “When I asked him if mashed potatoes could be considered a meal in and of themselves, he was almost astonished that I was not able to answer this question for myself. In Ireland, mashed potatoes apparently are considered the centerpiece of the plate, and proteins and other commodities are merely embellishments.” To Horn’s da food was a symbol of where he came from. It was tied to much stronger memories and feelings than Horn realized.
In Cobey Johnson’s essay “favorite food,” he talks about how thanksgiving is the only time all of his cousins come together for a organized family meal. He tells us that “Everyone is so independent and busy with their own lives that I don’t see my family very often. We also aren’t a family who eats meals together, so conversations aren’t something we have unless it’s a negative one.” The thanksgiving meal brings his family together and for a positive occasion filled with positive conversation, something that sounds typically rare to Johnson. Food influences his family and each person to be positive and excited to spend time together. Food creates a common ground for Johnson’s family to relax and enjoy eachothers company.
Emilee Soucie has a very moving passage in her essay “The Lobster: My Favorite Meal. Emilee explains how lobster is her family’s christmas dinner which is very important to her, but wasn’t the original christmas day dish. In 6th grade Emilee’s grandmother died. Every christmas eve her grandma would sleep over, spend all day with them and then make her famous prime rib for christmas dinner. After her death Emiee and her mother couldn’t bear to eat the same meal, as it just made them miss her more. This is when Emilee decided to make the switch to lobster. This made it easier for Emilee and her mother to deal with the loss of a loved one. Eileen’s mother told her “It makes me think of family time because the only time we have it is when we are all together.”
Both of these passages touch on the same thing. Food does more than fill our stomachs. The fact that food could draw out this much emotion shows how much food can personally affect people. It can symbolize love and tradition, good times and bad. It can be used to celebrate or mourn. Regardless of its purpose, food seems to always bring people together. Family and friends are very involved with food. Johnson talks about how it helps bring people together. Soucie explains how it also allows her to bring everyone together, even the loved ones that she has lost. It helps her remember and in this case it brings back positive heartfelt memories just like Johnson also described . These examples show us how food connects families and the history that helped us become who we are now.
“Out of the Kitchen, Onto the couch,” makes a lot of good points on how cooking has shaped our ways of life. The author Michael Pollan makes assertions that cooking has made us who we are, as individuals and a society. America is known for its fast food and unhealthy dietary choices. Physically, cooking has literally shaped our way of life. Our society’s obesity rate has climbed drastically. Millions have faced health issues because of what we consume, and have become lazier because of the easy access to quick unhealthy microwave meals. Many rarely take time to prepare meals anymore and consider the quick microwave or oven meals to be cooking. This is why not just food but more specifically meals can possess much more for ourselves and others
Food helps us connect with our communities, families, and ourselves. We see this when Johnson gets to see all of his family during his thanksgiving meal. We see how strong of a connection food and family really can be when soucie describes how food brings her passed grandmother back for the holidays. Horn shows how food can connect us with ourselves and culture with her grandfather Da. Pollan uses Julia Child’s amazing qualities and her ability to turn food to motivate and open society’s eyes to show how special each and everyone of us are. This is all possible thanks to food and the power it can bring to a society.
Soucie, Emilee. “The Lobster: My Favorite Meal.” UNE Portfolio, https://esoucie1.uneportfolio.org/food-for-thought/. Accessed 14 October 2018
Johnson, Cobey. “Favorite Food.” UNE porfolio, https://jjohnson.uneportfolio.org/favemealessay/. Accessed 14 October 2018
Horn, Madison, “Favorite Meal Essay” UNE Portfolio, https://mhorn5.uneportfolio.org/food-for-thought/. Accessed 14 October 2018
Pollan, Michael. “Out of the Kitchen, Onto the couch.” Paper Handout,
Accessed 14 October 2018
