Is there really a way to decide if the food you eat is healthy or not? Some people indulge in foods high in sugar but still don't gain weight. It is known that humans have people who have different body types and at the same time, each person also has a different metabolism. This is why we break down foods very differently from each other. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In “Resisting the Moralization of Food,” Maxfield critiques the way Michael Pollan decided to approach the issues in his article “Escape from the Western Diet.” In “Food as Thought: Resisting to the moralization of food,” Mary Maxfield wrote about the reason for excess weight in the United States. She discussed the “mistakes” Americans make when it comes to eating healthily. American way of eating healthy is to eat differently and less than your usual meal. She also argues that the key to a healthy diet lies not in the quantity of food you consume but in the quality you put into your body (Maxfield). His philosophy was that we should trust our body and respond to its expectations, but this theory was questionable because it was based on the assumption that our minds do not tell us what we want, but what we need ( Maxfield). you think about food, it's neither moral nor immoral, so how to keep your body healthy with nutritious food when your body sometimes crave unhealthy food. This is the very reason why humans are more likely to become overweight and more susceptible to disease. Some believe that the main cause of being overweight is eating unhealthy foods and not exercising. According to Maxfield, most people prefer drinks like soda over water because of their habit of liking sweets. (Maxfield) Fast food consumption has been an epidemic in America for many years. It is one of the leading contributors to obesity in America. This is a big problem for American citizens and not a concern for our neighboring countries around the world. Many researchers believe that regulating fast food could potentially begin to lower our obesity rates. Although Maxfield has some interesting observations and makes valid points, his arguments are very contradictory due to his bias and lack of credible sources. For example, she argues that there is no correlation between health and our diet. The way she went about confirming her views on health was to combine them with information from her personal beliefs and the opinions of researchers and academics. She also argued that Pollan's scientific and statistical claims are unreliable since science is a biased, opinion-based form of study. She also implies that there is no "good" or "healthy" way to eat and ends her essay with a simple idea: people should eat what and how they want without learning to perceive food . (Maxfield)The main point that Maxfield keeps reinforcing throughout his essay is that diet and health have no correlation. She tries to deconstruct this idea which she considers to be a preconceived idea. Maxfield begins his deconstruction by examining the connections between culture and perceptions ofhealth. “The problem is that our understanding of health is as much based on culture as it is on facts. » (Maxfield) This observation, however, puts an end to any logical meaning in his argument. Maxfield attempts to support his health claims with commentary from other sources, but his sources are unreliable due to their track record. Instead of including information from well-known and credible health experts, she uses statements made by a law professor and those of a fat acceptance activist. This introduced the idea that there is a capitalist motive behind health perceptions. When you think about it, this doesn't support his earlier assertions. Maxfield's argument that health is largely based and influenced by culture has merit. Of course, some factors at play in health are universal and undeniable. However, much of health and the perceptions surrounding it, especially those related to body type and diet, are based on culture and opinion. For example, many cultures prepare richer foods and value heavier body types, which can result from constantly consuming these high-fat and high-sodium foods. For example, I'm Nigerian and we eat a lot of carbs and consider thinner people less fortunate. There is a saying: "A man's weight determines his wife's cooking." However, cultures that have a more Eurocentric/Western view value a slimmer body and serve foods in smaller portions with fewer ingredients that can contribute to weight gain. People from cultures that eat richer foods in larger portions may view eating less or differently as unhealthy and people from cultures that eat smaller portions and less fat and sodium may think that eating more or differently would be unhealthy. unhealthy. Both opinions can be true because most ideas about health are subjective. However, if Maxfield wanted to add some credibility to her argument, she should have chosen sources better suited to the topic of the article. Whether or not a law professor may or may not share the same views as Maxfield does not help his cause. If she was writing about the laws surrounding the distribution of health and dietary information, this professor would have been the perfect choice. Additionally, his choice of a "fat acceptance activist" was unwise because an "acceptance activist", self-proclaimed or not, does not need to have credentials to receive such a title. Having the opinions of respected people in the field Maxfield is writing about would have strengthened his arguments and added some credibility to his thoughts. Next, Maxfield finds a way to argue against the validity of scientific research by stating that science is unreliable because "there is a lot of religion in science" (Pollan) Maxfield also implies that due of this “religion” present in science, information supported by science cannot be applied universally due to its bias. She goes on to say that this bias that exists in science also exists in our daily choices and conceptions regarding food. “This “religion” presents itself in the moralization of food. » Maxfield argues that this moralization we place on diet leads to our poor understanding of health and is partly responsible for the belief in "contemporary common sense science" that links health to health choices. diet. Maxfield makes a valid argument in his notion according to..