In anthropology, the omnivore has several types of food to consider as part of their eating habits. According to Michael Pollan in the Omnivore's dilemma, there are four main types of meals for these creatures back from history, industrial foods that include Mc Donald's, Big Organics like Whole foods, locally produced goods, and self-hunts by the omnivores. The meal types, however, attract different perspectives and opinions from people and food nutrition professionals basing on economic, environmental, cultural, and political principles. Industrial foods for instance currently attracts much criticism by health experts by body makeup; the assumption on Mc Donald's products, for example, that specializes in fast foods and thus components including fats that alter the normal digestive process (Lyons, 2006).
Big Organic as whole foods is, therefore, the primary focus and emphasis from food and nutritionists point of view with regards to health. Organic food entails the natural fruits and vegetables fresh from the farms that according to research analysts on diet and nutrition is essential for healthy growth and development of the omnivorous body more especially because of the popularity of industrialized and processed foods. Nutritionists are day by day pointing us back to the old systems and feeding habits to focus on foods that are in their natural form as much as possible.
Nevertheless, culture is a significant element when it comes to choice of foods for people. In as much as the Nutritionists seem to have the ultimate say and advice when it comes to feeding habits, different residents in the various regions of the world may not access each and every elements and subtype of meals in the recommendations. Considering that organic food are farm fresh products, including nuts, grains, and legumes they cannot be available everywhere because of the different climatic aspects in various geographical regions of the world (Counihan and Van, 2013). It is, therefore, challenging to establish a standard across the globe on feeding habit with regards to whole meals.
However, currently, the idea of big organic food is quickly picking up globally because of the concern on emerging diseases for instance cancer that doctors often point the causes back to diet. In the United Kingdom and North America for example, there are approximately 197 stores posting whole foods as the leading retailers on organic foods which are a notch higher in sales and market status in comparison with processed foods. The society and community as a whole picking and developing a culture of whole foods is a positive according to health experts, but there is a downward; the high demand for organic foods with fewer producers is leading to industrialization in the industry. The primary objective of organic stores from the 1980s was to focus on providing a natural alternative to complement what the food supply was offering at the time; industrialization and processing these foods, therefore, undermine these goals (Lyons, 2006).
Pollan expresses his worries on the transformation regarding the production of organic foods that the smalls farms were previously the only source, and now there exists production stores and processing of the same thus lowering the food quality. According to Counihan and Van, (2013), there is an element of connection that consumers of these organic foods have with the respective producing lands in the country sides. Expanding the whole food industry to industrialization decrease the standards while hurting the families in the small producing farms, it also undermines the Eco-friendly aspect of people with the environment is also a threat.
Michael Pollan's book has the great impact on my feeding habits with regards to the type of meals that are harmless and help in the proper functioning of the body, foods that build and not distract. Am planning to reconsider my previous habit on Mc Donald's products and venture into whole foods identifying the components that are directly from farms and not supermarkets.
References
Counihan. C & Van Esterik, P (2013) Food, and Culture: a reader 91-103, Routledge.
Lyons. S (2006) Fast Food/Slow Food: The Cultural Economy of the Global Food System (Society for Economic Anthropology Monograph Series)
