Week 5- open topic.

   Our class is focused on food cultures, so I think it’s important to highlight one of food cultures’ most popular subdivisions…DIETS! I consider diets to be a subgroup of the food culture because it deals directly with food & food intake, so it just made sense to me. However all diets definitely do not make sense for instance the “Beer and Ice-cream diet”; people believed that ingesting the two cold products would require your body to work harder to heat the food up in order to digest it (thus burning more calories). Then there was the cookie diet (designed by a doctor) which had its clients eat 6 specially prepared cookies a day, & then one small meal, but people who participated consumed less than 1000 calories a day, so it was highly restrictive. Not only do diets come in a wide arrange of methods and approaches (some credible, & others most definitely not), but the diet industry is an extremely advertised and seemingly profitable trade.

   Print ads, commercials, and billboards pushing the latest diet pill, diet book, or weight loss lost secret are pretty much everywhere. These companies spend a lot of money on celebrity endorsements as well; whether it’s Jersey Shore cast member, Ronnie trying to sell you Xenadrine, or Kirstie Alley in a bikini on Oprah after losing 50 lbs. via, Jenny Craig. These companies use “stars” to attempt to appeal to potential buyer’s ethos, but in reality just because you use the same product that Kim Kardashian “uses” does not mean that your body will look like hers. Especially in today’s society, where a lot of attention is paid to how a person looks, (see: Hollywood, high school) not being overweight is vital, which is ironic because over 30% of Americans are overweight. Shows like the Biggest Loser, I Used to Be Fat and Heavy, have all picked up on America’s growing interest in shedding pounds.

   The diet industry and the food culture share an undeniable connection in my opinion. High food intake (& little exercise) leads people to gain weight, which more often than not results in dieting. American diet trends are discussed on a daily basis, & millions visit fast food restaurants on a daily basis, coincidence? I think not! So it seems to me that America, the food loving we country that we are, do not share that passion for food moderation (our portions sizes are gluttonous compared to a lot other countries) or for exercise. Of course this is speaking in very general terms, there are people who love healthy food, and working out, still I think that it is safe to say that way most Americans consume food has catalyzed a diet-product revolution of sorts, which shows no signs of lessening, just like our obesity rates!