Food is what we need to survive as animals. We eat whatever we are exposed to. Michel Foucault’s idea of daily life being controlled by institutions, not only the government, can be related to food. This can mean that people are controlled by the food industry. It’s inevitable that someone will run across an advertisement for some sort of food. This can include supermarkets and fast food restaurants. I personally love the taste of fast food, pizza, and oily foods. This is because of how I have been taught to love these foods. Not by my parents because we usually eat healthy, but because of the rest of the world. I grew up spending a lot of time with my grandparents, friends, and other family members who love to eat the foods listed above. Foucault’s idea that small nongovernment groups of people have so much influence on the social norm is demonstrated in the way most of the world chooses to eat their food.
Last year I decided to become vegan for an entire week. At first I craved meats and dairy. By the third day I started only craving the foods that I was allowed to eat. So instead of ice cream I craved vegan deserts. As a replacement for meat I was fulfilled by rice and beans. I was fine with eating vegan food. The reason I quit veganism was because my family was concerned I was not getting enough of the correct protein. My personal experiment farther demonstrated how Foucault’s theory on institutions controlling our daily lives applies to the way people choose to eat food. The reason people think they need meat and dairy is because of the social standards. Which according to Foucault are controlled by the “institutions.”
I do not actually believe that it is healthier to not eat meat or dairy but I wanted to see if it was possible for me to be content without being dependent on it. What sparked my interest in the idea was a documentary on the way animals are treated. The animals, particularly cows and chickens, were forced to live in condensed spaces forcing them to be saturated in there own feces. This leads to the live stalk becoming infected with e coli. I thought that if I was able to live off of no meat for that long that I could live off of only organic dairy and meat that can not be infected with e-coli.
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