Markins 1

Mikayla Markins

Professor Cassel

English 1201.B53

21 March 2019

You Are What You Eat

The term “comfort food” has been around in the United States for centuries. Growing up,

my family loved gathering together around the dinner table, meeting at a restaurant for brunch or

enjoying each other’s company over ice cream. Food had become a social activity. Although I

hold this practice dear, I have always struggles with my weight and self image especially in

teenage years. In an effort to change my eating habits, I tried several different avenues and

recently found myself jumping on the organic foods only train. After some research, I quickly

found out that not all “organic” foods are what they say they are. So I went back to internet to

see what truths I could uncover about other foods media is telling us are unprocessed or the next

health miracle. This opened Pandora’s Box.

All of this new information caused me to feel overwhelmed. Who do we believe? How

will we actually know what we’re putting in our bodies and what it’s doing to our health? I’m

well aware that the food industry is a business and that with all business, marketing is important

to be successful. As someone who desires to do my best to take care of my body and live as the

healthiest version of myself possible, I feel personally affected by this topic. I do believe that I

have made poor choices and still consume things daily based off the way it was marketed and

labeled. I have reason to assume that many leading food production companies use false or

unclear advertising to sell products even at the disadvantage of the consumer. In high school we
 Markins 2

did a study on McDonalds that revealed their marketing strategies to attract children. The bright

red and yellow colors, the clown, the “happy” meal, these are all ways they have covered their

lack of nutritional value and enticed one of the most vulnerable age brackets.

Through this research paper I hope to learn more about the less obvious companies and

the more deceitful packaging. We are all now aware of the fact that when we go to McDonalds

we’re not necessarily nurturing our bodies the way we should be. But what about the “organic”,

“farm raised” chicken breast we pick up at the grocery store? Are they stretching the truth? What

are those chickens fed and how will it affect my body? What does and does not matter when it

comes to the uprise of obesity? I think because this is such a broad topic that could have many

rabbit holes to fall into, I’ll start with the marketing and labeling of products in grocery stores

only. From there I hope to avoid the obvious, such as fast food companies catchy slogan or

commercials, and dig deeper into the trap Americans might fall into when attempting to eat

healthier.