Eggsellent for your health

            Keeping track of what I ate for three days really got me thinking about my eating habits. I looked over what I had eaten and looked for trends in my diet. One thing I noticed is that I eat eggs almost every morning with breakfast. Typically I will enjoy one or two scrambled eggs, seasoned with salt and pepper or with a bit of hot sauce. Because I eat them every day, I started wondering about the health implications of consuming eggs on a regular basis.

            Over time, advice about the dietary role of eggs has changed several times. I’ve heard many of these different things regarding the nutritional value of eggs. People have told me that eggs are very healthy for you; however, I have heard from others that they are not very healthy to eat on a daily basis. Starting in 1957, the Egg Marketing Board advertised eggs as being a good source of protein and was successful in increasing sales. By the 1960s, egg consumption in the US “peaked to nearly five eggs per person per week” (Derbyshire et al). However, within a few years people began to worry about the cholesterol content of eggs, with “research studies suggesting that cholesterol-rich foods may elevate blood cholesterol and, hence, increase the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD)” (Derbyshire et al). It is true that eggs contain protein and cholesterol, which leaves me wondering if the health benefits outweigh the concerns or vice versa.

 Research shows that “eggs are a rich source of protein and several essential nutrients, particularly vitamin D, vitamin B12, selenium and choline” (Derbyshire et al). It is well established that the egg is a very important source of nutrients. It contains all the “proteins, lipids, vitamins, minerals, and growth factors required by the developing embryo” (Kovacs-Nolan et al). It is logical to conclude that an egg is healthy for us to eat because it contains everything needed to nurture a chicken embryo. It has all the elements necessary for healthy growth and development of a chicken, which are all things that would also contribute to the healthy growth and development of us.

            Eggs not only contain all of these important nutrients, but also have “a number of defense factors to protect against bacterial and viral infection” (Kovacs-Nolan et al). In order to defend a developing chicken from disease and infection, the egg contains antioxidants. By consuming eggs, we consume these antioxidants and they give us certain health benefits. Emerging evidence suggest that the egg could become important in “human health and in disease prevention and treatment” (Kovacs-Nolan et al). The health benefits of eggs go beyond being a good source of protein and other nutrients—they have potential to play a role in the treatment and prevention of infectious disease.

            Concerns that people have voiced about the cholesterol content of eggs have also been investigated. Within the last 15 years, the majority of key studies done “do not support the contention that egg consumption is a risk factor for heart disease or stroke” (Derbyshire et al). It has been calculated by using the risk apportionment model that “eating one egg per day accounted for 1% of CHD risk. In contrast, 40% of risk was attributed to lifestyle factors” such as smoking, alcohol intake, lack of exercise, or unhealthy diet (Derbyshire et al). While eggs do have a somewhat high cholesterol content, they have much less of an impact on health than other risk factors. Researchers have concluded that “for most individuals, egg consumption will have little or no influence on cholesterol levels or CHD risk” (Derbyshire et al).

            There are clear dietary benefits to eating eggs on a regular basis. Emerging evidence shows that eggs have potential to be used in therapy and prevention of infectious disease. The nutritional value of eggs goes far beyond being a good source of protein. While eggs do contain cholesterol, they do not have near the impact of other factors, such as consuming foods with high levels of saturated fat, a lack of exercise, or smoking cigarettes. People who consume eggs on a regular basis are unlikely to be affected by CHD or have a stroke as a result of cholesterol levels in the eggs. Conclusions have been made making it very clear that the health benefits of eating eggs outweigh the concerns. With this in mind, I will be enjoying eggs for breakfast for many mornings to come.

References

Derbyshire, E.; Gibson, S.; Ruxton, C.H.S. “The nutritional properties and health benefits of eggs.”

Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 40 Iss: 3, pp. 263 – 279. 2010.

Kovacs-Nolan, Jennifer; Mine, Yoshinori; Phillips, Marshall. “Advances in the Value of Eggs and Egg

                Components for Human Health.” Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, Vol. 53 Iss: 22, pp.

    8421 – 8431. Department of Food Science, University of Guelph. 

Food Journal Observations:

Reading through some of my classmates' food journals from the weekend, I noticed a few trends. A lot of people ate pretty light for breakfast--there was a lot of yogurt and granola. Pizza was also a pretty popular meal; probably due to lack of appealing options in the cafeteria. Another thing I noticed was the time of day that people ate at. The times were not always typical meal times, but scattered throughout afternoons and late at night.

What I have been eating for the past three days...


Friday:
9:30 am -- Two pieces of whole wheat toast, lightly buttered. Blueberry yogurt with granola and raisins. A couple scrambled eggs with salt and pepper. Half a glass of orange juice.
2:00 pm -- A panini made with whole wheat bread, ham, provolone cheese, pickles, mayonnaise, and spicy mustard.
7:00 pm -- A taco with beef, salsa, sour cream, jalapenos, and lettuce; all on a whole wheat tortilla. Small side of about eight or so chips with guacamole. Water to drink.

Saturday:
9:45 am -- One cup of coffee, black.
11:00 am -- One scoop of an egg dish with eggs, cheese, chorizo, and jalapenos. One scoop of an egg dish with eggs, cheese, asparagus, spinach, mushrooms and Italian sausages. Put Cholula hot sauce generously on both egg dishes. A cinnamon roll. Scoop of fruit salad with watermelon, honeydew, grapes, strawberries, and pineapple. Half a glass of orange juice.
5:30 pm -- Three baby back ribs smothered in barbecue sauce. Scoop of fruit salad with watermelon, honeydew, grapes, strawberries, and pineapple. A dinner roll, buttered. A small scoop of potato salad. A small scoop of macaroni salad. A cream soda to drink.
7:45 pm -- A piece of marbled cake (chocolate and vanilla) with vanilla frosting and a scoop of chocolate ice cream.  

Sunday:
11:00 am -- A waffle, buttered with syrup. A couple of eggs, scrambled with salt and pepper. A sausage patty. A cup of coffee, with a little milk. A scoop of fruit salad with watermelon, honeydew, grapes, strawberries, and pineapple.
3:00 pm -- A chocolate peanut butter Cliff bar.
5:30 pm -- A piece of marbled cake with vanilla frosting.
7:30 pm -- A couple scoops of penne pasta in a light tomato sauce. A piece of garlic bread. Water to drink.

                        The other day, I was chowing down on some tacos and realized that they just wouldn’t be complete without one ingredient—guacamole. In fact, it got me thinking about how much I love avocados in general. Avocados have grown to be a favorite of many people around the globe, appealing to Americans in particular. I started wondering about where the avocado in my taco came from and how it ended up being eaten by me.

            The avocado is a tree fruit, and is “thought to have originated in Mexico and Central and South America” (Boriss et al, 1). In 1833, they were first planted in Florida, and then in California in 1856. Today, avocados are commercially grown in California, Florida, and Hawaii; however, America is still the “largest importer of avocados…accounting for 26 percent of world imports” (Boriss et al, 2). The world’s largest exporters include Mexico, Chile, and Spain, which are where we get our imported avocados. Mexico is responsible for about a third of the world’s avocado production. Over half of the imports we bring in from Mexico are processed avocado products (Boriss et al, 2). We import millions of dollars’ worth of avocados, yet we produce over 6.5 percent of the world’s avocados ourselves (Boriss et al, 2). We have no choice but to import if we want to eat as many avocados as we like. The avocado industry in the United States has grown tremendously over the past couple decades in an attempt to keep up with the demand of its citizens.

            Many people in America, including myself, enjoy avocados often, and the number of avocado lovers in the U.S. is increasing every day. The annual per-capita consumption of avocados “has risen 10 percent in the United States over the past decade, and if that trend continues, coupled with population growth, avocado demand will top 2.8 billion pounds by 2020” (Linden). Per capita consumption of this tasty fruit has “followed a variable but generally increasing trend since 1970, increasing significantly in recent years from 1.5 pounds per capita in 1999 to a record 2.5 pounds in 2003” (Boriss et al, 1). Reasons for this recent increase in avocado popularity in America could be due to a couple of factors. Avocados have been marketed as “a healthy dietary choice and as a good source of beneficial monounsaturated oil” (Boriss et al, 1). An increasing awareness of healthier foods and the acceptance of monounsaturated fats, along with a growing Hispanic population in the U.S., have contributed to the recent increase in demand (Boriss et al, 2).

The value of avocado production has been steadily increasing along with the rise in the fruit’s popularity. The value of the avocado industry in the Unites States has been “increasing since the early 1990s, from $118.1 million in 1992 to nearly $400 million in 2003” (Boriss et al, 3). In the most recent years, it has been over $400 million, and is continuing to increase. The goal of farmers is to have this “lofty figure” continue to be reached on an annual basis for many years to come (Linden).   The avocado industry may be nowhere near reaching the same number as seen in the production of tomatoes, apples, and other produce, but they are well on their way. In 2011, California avocado growers produced 300 million pounds, “while the 2012 crop has been projected at 400 million pounds” (Linden). Increasing yields is currently a top priority for American avocado farmers. They are looking into expanding the industry by increasing “tree density per acre and possibly expanding more production to other areas” (Linden). The majority of avocado farms are in the valleys along the western coast of California. There is a “high cost of water and competition for that prime coastal land [which] means there are not a lot of new groves being developed” (linden). While it is more difficult to grow avocados in other climates, it is necessary for farmers to attempt growing crops more inland in order to increase production (Linden).

            It is safe to say that the avocado is a food considered tasty and nutritious by many Americans. It is rapidly growing in popularity and the U.S. avocado industry is trying to expand as much as it can as quickly as it can to satisfy the growing demand, but it seems that this might not be possible due to limited land and water supplies in the areas of America that provide the proper climate for growing avocados. It is safe to say the already massive amounts of avocados we import will continue to grow in coming years and Americans like myself will continue to enjoy guacamole on their tacos.

References

 Boriss, Hayley; Brunke, Henrich; Kreith, Marcia. “Commodity Profile: Avocados.” Agricultural

            Marketing Resource Center. Agricultural Issues Center: University of California.

            February 2006. http://aic.ucdavis.edu/profiles/Avocados-2006.pdf May 8, 2012.

Linden, Tim. “California avocado industry bullish about its future.” The Produce News. April 4,

2012. http://theproducenews.com/index.php/category-list/9-story-cat/7313-california-avocado-industry-bullish-about-its-future May 8, 2012. 

                In America, we are very separated from our food. The production of common foods, such as tomatoes or chicken, is something the average American doesn’t know much about. The market has lowered the cost of high demand foods at the expense of the workers and by lowering the quality of the products.

Barry Estabrook, in his book Tomatoland, addresses some of the issues seen in food production today. He discusses how the standards that the country has for tomatoes in our supermarkets all have to do with looks. If the tomatoes are not the right color, shape, or size, they are not allowed to be shipped. A company could grow the most delicious tomatoes in the world, but if their appearance does not meet the market’s regulations, it cannot be sold. Estabrook explains that tomato production these days “has everything to do with marketing and nothing to do with biology.” The industry is sacrificing quality and defying nature in order to mass produce “perfect”, tasteless tomatoes.

Christopher Cook, in his infographic “Fowl Trouble”, discusses similar problems seen in the chicken industry. He points out how, due to the increase in demand, the amount of meat processed per minute has gone up from 40 pounds to 91 pounds in the last forty years. The industry is producing meat as fast as they can—which is probably leading to lower quality of not only product, but also working conditions for the laborers.

Cook and Estabrook both address the issue of poor working conditions throughout the food industry. Workers are often immigrants, which allows companies to pay them close to nothing and give them no benefits whatsoever. The pieces both describe the horrific conditions that these workers deal with every day.

  While we may enjoy our flawless, inexpensive food at the grocery store, we must take a step back and think about what this convenience is actually costing our country. We should eat according to our own standards, not the standards of corporate agriculture. 

Low carb diets really go against the grain

In his article “Our National Eating Disorder,” Michael Pollan addresses the recent low-carb diet craze in America.  He describes the obsession with cutting carbohydrates as “carbophobia” and identifies it as something distinctly American that came about in the early 20^th century.  U.S. citizens had been “happily chomping” on bread, noodles, and potatoes for years, but the minute a scientist declared that cutting carbs would burn body fat, the sales on these items when down drastically.

Pollan mentions the French people and how their population consists of “wine-swilling cheese eaters” who seem to be overall healthier than the majority of Americans. He writes that the true paradox here is that of the American health movement—our population is made up of “notably unhealthy people obsessed by the idea of eating healthily.” Pollan describes the American people as willing to try any new diet “as long as it doesn’t actually involve eating less food.” This is why the low-carb diet has become a food fad in the U.S.

These food trends determine what people choose to eat—hence why donut shops, bakeries, and pasta companies are not making as much money as they once did. When I think about how I choose what to eat, I realize that I don’t really think very much at all about what I eat. I eat whenever I’m hungry, and I eat whatever I have available. I typically try to maintain a somewhat balanced diet that includes protein, carbohydrates, calcium, etc., but I usually just grab whatever sounds good. 

The Golden Arches around the Globe

            When Dick and Mac McDonald opened the doors to the first McDonald’s restaurant in San Bernardino, California in 1940, the world would never be the same (mcspotlight). Today McDonald’s has over 25,660 restaurants worldwide and has an estimated annual sale of nearly $29 billion dollars (restaurants, annual).  The growth of the McDonald’s fast food restaurant chain has been rapid and strategic. Not only has McDonald’s changed to accommodate its international success, but aspects of cultures around the world have also changed due to the globalization of fast food. Dr. Jia Lu, PhD in Communication, suggests that “McDonald’s is often used to illustrate the international pervasiveness of the American fast food industry” (Lu, 620). While this claim may be true, it is also possible that other cultures have influenced McDonald’s and diversification has taken place as much as homogenization has across the globe.

            After the first McDonald’s opened in 1940, the chain began growing—and never stopped. By 1959 the 100^th restaurant opened in Chicago. By 1963 the 500^th was opened, the one billionth hamburger was sold, and the company’s net income exceeded one million dollars (mcspotlight). By this point Ray Kroc had purchased the McDonald’s concept for $2.7 million; and this was just the beginning. The first restaurants outside of the U.S. opened in 1967 in Canada and Puerto Rico. Within the next four years, McDonald’s had expanded to eight more countries. This rapid international expansion continued for many years. By 1972, “assets exceeded $500 million and sales surpassed $1 billion” (mcspotlight). At this point, a new McDonald’s restaurant was opening every day. In 1984, McDonald’s had well over 1,000 international restaurants and served “17 million customers a day—equivalent to serving lunch to the entire population of Australia and New Zealand” (mcspotlight). If all the hamburgers sold between 1955 and 1984 were lined up, they would reach to the moon and back five times (mcspotlight). Business was definitely booming, and it wasn’t stopping any time soon. By 1994 the company consisted of over 15,000 restaurants in 79 countries on 6 different continents (mcspotlight). The globalization of McDonald’s had been very successful. The company had revolutionized restaurant business and food culture throughout the world. Thanks to McDonald’s, the fast food phenomenon had swept the globe.

            Not only had the company expanded exponentially, but new menu items were constantly being added to accommodate the tastes of new customers. For example, fried beef patties may appeal to American audiences, but they certainly would not have the same effect on Hindus living in India; and so the Chicken Maharaja Mac was born. German menus offer beer, Canadians can purchase McLobster lobster rolls, and Japanese restaurants serve shrimp burgers (Adams). The new menu items are sometimes an entirely different from American options, such as Gallo Pinto (rice and beans) available in Costa Rica. In other cases, the American menu is tweaked just slightly to appeal to other cultural tastes. For example, in Hong Kong burgers are served with rice patties as a bun, and in Greece burgers are wrapped in a pita (Adams). While McDonald’s has brought aspects of American style restaurants to other countries and maintained the standardization of a fast food chain, these menu changes show how it has also assimilated somewhat to other cultures in order to appeal to a variety of tastes.

            The characteristics of McDonald’s that are distinctly standard aspects of American food values show the homogenization of cultures around the world, while the ways McDonald’s changes to appeal to the local culture of a foreign nation show the diversification of fast food culture. While few current scholars “agree with the oversimplified position of cultural homogenization, what still remains unclear is to what extent homogenization and diversification occur in the international expansion of the American fast food industry” (Lu, 620). As McDonald’s expanded and continues to expand into new countries and new cultures, variety and diversity is maintained due to underlying cultural differences. At the same time, cultural barriers are being broken down and several aspects of food culture are now shared worldwide.

Diversification can easily be seen when observing the application of “cultural proximity” in the globalization of McDonald’s. The theory of cultural proximity argues that the most appealing media is that which is “closest, most proximate or most directly relevant to [the audience] in cultural and linguistic terms” (Lu, 620). Cultural proximity allows local audiences to “selectively appropriate foreign media products. It is a diversifying process in which the audience’s cultural identities shape interpretation and reception of foreign media products, and adapt them into their daily life” (Lu, 620). The pressure of being culturally proximate can be seen in McDonald’s menu changes from country to country. Offering items such as guacamole on burgers in Chile or the McHuevo egg burger in Uruguay are McDonald’s attempts of appealing to the taste of the local culture (Adams). Different cultures have distinctly different tastes. Fast food consumers throughout the world have “tastes and eating habits [that] are different from Americans” (Lu, 620). The audience, in a way, chooses what items will be on the menu by associating certain foods with their culture. Cultural proximity focuses on diversification by “assimilating more local cultural elements…and [offering] the products/services that are culturally approximate to local audiences” (Lu, 622). This idea has not only made the globalization of McDonald’s successful, but has also maintained some diversity in food cultures around the globe.

Often times what American fast food chains “represent is not a true cultural proximity but that of desire of aspiration” (Lu, 620). Another definition of proximity focuses on homogenization by “maintaining a distinctive foreign identity loaded with modern/global themes…and [offering] a desired, standardized model of modernity to attract local customers” (Lu, 621). It is good for McDonald’s to be culturally relevant to an audience, but the whole concept of an international American food chain, to some extent, appeals to an audience as well. The foreign identity, specifically the American identity, of McDonald’s associates the restaurant chain with economic and technological advancement and modernization. Because of this, customers expect some standardization and consistency among all McDonald’s restaurants, no matter what country it is located in. The traditional view of modernity defines it as “a uniform, unambiguously structured and self-contained pattern in progress towards full realization and harmonious integration” (Lu, 621). The way modernity is regarded here—as a standard homogenizing process—poses threats to the diversity of existing cultures throughout the world. A newer idea of modernity, known as “multiple modernities”, does not “necessarily eradicate traditional…standpoints and practices but can become associated with different cultures” (Lu, 621).

The McDonald’s globalization strategy emphasizes the consistency of products and quality across countries and cultures. Focusing on “efficiency, predictability, calculability and replacement of human with non-human technology…McDonald’s has successfully standardized food, menus, tastes and restaurant environments all over the world” (Lu, 622). By establishing this standard expectation, McDonald’s has successfully created a solid, foreign identity that appeals to most non-American cultures. McDonald’s represents America “and the promise of modernization” (Lu, 622). The symbolic consumption of McDonald’s enables locals “to know about advanced modernity, and get connected to the global modernization process” (Lu, 622). People are attracted to the idea of McDonald’s and their products because of the international reputation the restaurant chain has. As an American fast food chain, McDonald’s seems to be more to foreign cultures than just burgers and fries, but rather a chance to be a part of the development of the modern world. The standardization of products and service in order to put on this identity of modernity has, in a way, homogenized the food cultures throughout the world. There are certain things that are maintained and remain consistent from country to country, culture to culture. Due to the association between McDonald’s and modernity, the gap between the unique tastes of foreign cultures is closing as the globalization of fast food continues.

McDonald’s has taken over the global fast food market in less than seventy five years. The globalization of this company has been very rapid and very successful. Not only has McDonald’s changed to be more culturally proximate to foreign customers, but it has also worked hard to maintain a sense of standardization in an attempt to create a foreign identity associated with modernization. Changing to appeal to different cultures has encouraged diversification among food cultures, while the desire for consistency from nation to nation has begun to homogenize the world’s tastes. Because of the way the relationship between “homogenization and diversification transforms each other and generates hybridity…it is hard to distinguish western food and local food as well as modern/global values and local traditional ones” (Lu, 630). The globalization of fast food is changing all of the food cultures in the world. The growth of McDonald’s has both encouraged the diversity of taste, and standardized the way people eat. The wide variety of cultures and tastes in the world has certainly affected the way McDonald’s operates and McDonald’s has no doubt forever changed the way the world sees food.

References

Adams, Beatrice. “McDonald’s Strange Menu around the World.” Trifter. July 19, 2007.

http://trifter.com/practical-travel/budget-travel/mcdonald%E2%80%99s-strange-menu-around-the-world/  April 26, 2012.

Bojanic, David and Hanako Murase. “An Examination of the Differences in Restaurant Brand

Personality Across Cultures.” Journal of Hospitality and Leisure Marketing, 11:2-3, 97-113. October 12, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.130/J150v11n02_08 April 26, 2012.

“Brief History of McDonald’s.” The Company.

            http://www.mcspotlight.org/company/company_history.html April 26, 2012.

Lu, Jia. “Multiple modernities an multiple proximities: McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken

in Chinese television commercials.” International Communication Gazette. Sage Publications, 2010. http://gaz.sagepub.com/content/72/7/619 April 26, 2012.

“McDonald’s Annual Financial Report 2010: Sales, Revenue and Profits.” Finance N

Investment. June 14, 2011. http://www.financeninvestments.com/annual-report/mcdonald%E2%80%99s-annual-report-2010.html April 26, 2012.

“McDonald’s Restaurants (most recent) by Country.” Nation Master.

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/foo_mcd_res-food-mcdonalds-restaurants April 26, 2012.