The End of Spam Shame The article, “The End of Spam Shame: On Class, Colonialism, and Canned Meat” by Sylvie Kim originally appeared in Hyphen Magazine in 2011. In the article, the author discusses how consuming Spam has influenced her life, and in light of her experience she claims that people should not be ashamed of their culture. To her audience who face the same dilemma as herself, she urges them to take a firm stance on their culture, and not be bullied by the cultural critics. In addition, the article suggests that suspending ethnocentrism is key to understanding the cultures that flourish beyond the boundaries of one’s nation. Moreover, the author’s personal experience of the subject matter, and the way she presents her argument with sufficient examples and support make her argument extremely cogent. …show more content…
She also mentioned that she “had to eat Spam in private” because of “class-based Spam shame.” She grew up in the Midwest where people consider her culture as “weirdo Oriental way,” such that she hid her cultural heritage to protect herself from being judged. These stories make the article personal, and it captures readers' attentions. Especially, the following sentence "My childhood was chock-full of nitrates, sodium, and an amalgam of four-legged animals chopped and cured into uniform cuts of salty goodness that was inexpensive, easy to heat, and lasted for damn near forever..." leads readers to be sympathetic. Her diction to explain canned meat has negative connotation, and it makes reader feel that she has strong feeling towards canned meat such as, Spam. Thus, she is trying to make readers have compassion for her from the uses of
Food Inc. interviews notorious authors, farmers, and food advocates. Each interview’s credibility is gained by the movie maker because he acknowledges experts from both sides of the argument. The interviews demonstrate the individual’s knowledge of the food industry. The audience can now make an informed decision on the view after seeing both sides of the argument. Additionally the film makers include a depressing interview that depicts the
Many people have grown up around school lunches without knowing much about them. With these people trusting the schools to serve healthy lunches to students, not many people care to worry about what they are eating. Growing up ignorant about food is easy to do, but why settle for convenience if it harms the body? In Melanie Warner’s novel, Pandora’s Lunchbox: How Processed Food took over the American Meal, she goes over the history and science of many well-known food companies and the products these corporations sell to individuals. Warner explains how food science became popular to study and how progressive America’s food technology has come. Pandora’s Lunchbox is a remarkable read through its personal stories and demonstrations. Despite her fruitless comments about the science of food, Warner’s approach shows that her writing style and personal testimonies connect with the reader.
My Year of Meats displays the multitude of definitions that people use when talking about authenticity. Ozeki shows readers how authenticity can be an subjective view, varying from person to person. It’s important that reality shows, especially “My American Wife!,” be seen as authentic — how else would BEEF-EX sell their product if it didn 't seem realistic? The book also touches on the relationship of wholesomeness and authenticity. John Ueno often has “disagreements” with Akiko, who tends to rate “authenticity” and “wholesomeness” far away from each other when watching “My American Wife!”
Have you ever been in a rush, low on cash, and looking for something to eat so you didn’t really have a choice but to grab a burger with fries at your local fast food place? Have you ever paused or stopped to think about where the burger really came from, or the process that went in to be made? The Food Inc documentary investigates and exposes the American industrial production of meat, grains, and vegetables. Robert Kenner the producer of the film makes allegations in this film and he explores how food industries are deliberately hiding how and where it is our food is coming from. He emphasizes that we should find out where our food comes from and why is it that the food industry does not want us to know. Food Inc. does not only uses compelling images, such as hundreds of baby chickens being raised in spaces where they do not see an inch of sunlight, it also includes the speeches and stories of farmers, families, government officials, and victims of the food industry. The four current problems facing today’s food industry are the reformed usage of the false advertisement within the labeling of products , mistreatment of farmed animals, and the harmful chemical in our meats. The documentary Food Inc uses very persuasive tactics that demonstrates strong elements of pathos, ethos, and logos make an effective appeal, while uncovering the dark side of the food industry.
In this poem the theme is about being a 2nd generation immigrant, and so for her that is Japanese-American. The speaker for this poem is obviously a young daughter; she speaks of how her father says “Where we’re going they won’t grow.” (Okita 3-4) when trying to explain they’re being moved away. The tone throughout this whole poem is sad. The daughter talks about her friend Denise and how before the daughter left Denise was mean at school. The daughter still gives Denise a pack of tomato seeds and says “Told her when the first tomato ripened she’d miss me” (Okita 23-25). The setting of this poem is in the United States during World War II. This was a time when all Japanese-Americans were being sent away to internment camps and that is where the father was talking about when he told his daughter her tomato seeds wouldn’t grow (Okita4-5). The diction in this piece of work uses food references to make a point on how the daughter feels about feeling more American than Japanese. She states “I have always felt funny using chopsticks and my favorite food is hot dogs” as if to say this feels more normal than being grouped as just Japanese (Okita
There were no toilets, so human and rat excrement wound up in the meat, along with the rats themselves. These unsanitary details moved readers far more than the injustices inflicted on the workers. Other examples include the rechurning of rancid butter, the cutting of ice from polluted water and the doctoring of milk with formaldehyde. The average consumer was shocked to know that the “pure beef” was in fact contaminated and unfit for human consumption. Imagine
While Pollan urges consumers to stay away from the enticing products foods at all costs, McCorkle welcomes junk food as it is an integral part of her life. The way they shop for food is completely opposite. Pollan argues that the best place to buy fresh produce and organic meat is a farmer’s market, but McCorkle’s short-lived trip to the all-natural grocery store only reinforces that she did not belong there. She was surrounded
Within the first four paragraphs, Eighner managed to alter the reader’s perception of the lifestyle he lives. The indignancy that he displayed when he was asked, “’Do you think these crackers are really safe to eat?’,” also shows us that he takes pride in dumpster diving. So much so that he gets angry when someone questions the safety of his food. His pride and in-your-face-intelligence makes his paper less effective, in my opinion, because it makes him seem arrogant. Eighner’s argument was not as effective as it could have been because he focused more on defending himself personally instead of presenting the reader with more information on the issue. Had Eighner shifted his attention more towards the issue of food waste and society, rather than focusing on defending himself, he would have been more effective in his writing.
Food can partially shape a person's cultural identity. Geeta Kothari explores the cultural nuances between American and Indian food in the essay, “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?” She expresses this through the symbolism of food, growing up and living between two different cultures. Kothari begins her story as a nine-year-old child curiously wanting to eat the same foods as American children: tuna salad sandwiches and hot dogs. She does not have the guidance from her mother regarding American food and culture. Kothari’s mom curbs the curiosity by reluctantly letting her daughter indulge in a can of tuna fish. Kothari describes the open can of tuna fish as “pink and shiny, like an internal organ” and she wondered if it was botulism (947). The way
Schlosser employs anecdotes in order to evoke emotion from his readers to achieve his purpose. One anecdote the author includes is the story of Alex Donley, a six year old boy. Alex Donley ate a “tainted hamburger” from Jack-in-the-box that led him to become infected with “E. coli 0157:H7”(Schlosser 200). This disease obliterated his entire body and progressed rapidly. Alex died within five days. The author uses anecdotes such as Alex’s to evoke sympathy and fear from his readers, especially parents with young children. The stories make parents and anyone who buys fast food reconsider what they are putting in their bodies for if a young boy can die from a simple burger, then what’s to prevent others, kids, or even one’s self from becoming the next victim in the vicious industry that is fast food? The use of anecdotes ultimately helps the author unveil the beast that is the fast food industry by pulling on the heartstrings of Americans.
Media has a strong impact on the way we perceive what is good or bad. In the end it is all about money and not about the welfare of people. The media will manipulate ideas around to persuade us to see only the good side but not the bad. Due to the patriarchal nature of our society, women aren’t in any leading media stories instead the appealing women are telling the stories. In the novel, My Year of Meats by Ruth L. Ozeki, features a Japanese-American documentary filmmaker Jane Takagi-little in the show “My American Wife,” sponsored by the BEEF-EX to promote meat consumption of the people in Japan. They show how the media want American to be seen as attractive white women cooking in their show. Jane tries to use the power of the media to show authentic American housewives by including different types of women. She also exploit BEEF-EX of their manipulative use of media to show the dark secret behind their meat and Using the media is how they promote their meat as healthy meat.
In conducting a rhetorical analysis of the two articles, "Joel Salatin: How to Eat Animals and Respect Them, Too" by Madeline Ostrander and "Humane Meat? No Such Thing" by Sunaura Taylor, both articles stand in stark contrast in terms of the viewpoints of meat that they present. In order to gain a better understanding of these viewpoints, it's important to understand the persuasive techniques that both authors use in the article for the reader. More specifically, the ethos, pathos, and logos that they employ, as well the way in which the evidence and support is presented will further elucidate upon the arguments that appear in both articles.
People have no idea what occurs in the canning room at Durham’s. The chemists advertise mushroom catsup. In reality, the men who made these don’t even know what they look like. They would put animal 's body parts that humans wouldn 't eat into the cans. “ "De-vyled" ham was made out of the waste ends of smoked beef that was too small to be sliced by the machines; also tripe, dyed with chemicals so, that it would not show white . Finally the hard cartilaginous gullets of beef, after the tongues, had been cut out” (Sinclair).” mixing all these animal parts they created a new mixture which tasted like something, then sold it which would earn them a great amount of wealth.They gave cows tuberculous to make them gain weight quickly. They were putting the horses in the canned food, later banned the practice because the newspaper exposed them. Now it is against the law (Sinclair).”
In the cover story, “Loving Animals to Death” by James McWilliams, it discusses how important it is to know where you get your meats from. For example, Bob Comis of Stony Brook Farm is a different type of a professional pig farmer, in fact, the good kind. He believes it's important that the animals he has should be raised with dignity and not unfairly and crudely. Although Comis' believes what he does for a living is wrong, he does it because it's what we all enjoy eating regardless of how much we truly know about it. What's most important when it comes to food is where it's coming from and how it will be prepared. If a person loves pork, that's fine, as long as the pork comes from a local humane farm. The food movement is basically more constructural rather than nutritional. Eating anything you want is fine as long as it comes from a place that is nonindustrial.
Pollan first establishes his ethos by citing nutritionist Joan Gussow. This shows us that he has done his research in the field and provides his reflection to her speech; this makes him appear more as an equal peer talking to us about why food should be redefined. He continues to draw the reader in by bringing a pathos aspect; bringing up your great grandmother. Pollan explains, “We need to go back at least a couple of generations to a time before the advent of most modern foods” (107). He continues to encourage the reader to imagine grocery shopping with your great grandmother. Pollan brings an emotional aspect to making the reader reminisce about great grandmother’s cooking and possibly remorsefully reflect how grandma would complain about how unhealthy food is today. Then he tells us to avoid foods she would not recognize as a food that contains familiar ingredients, no extra additives