Draft #3
Brandon Healy
Professor Miller
English Composition 105-H5
Sept 27, 2019
What is Food, Really?
Rob Rhinehart, the man who went from broke to millionaire, all because of a special drink called Soylent. Soylent is a liquid mixture of pills and powder that is supposed to fulfill your necessary nutrient intake for the day. Rhinehart has a vision to use Soylent to replace food in order to limit agriculture and lower climate change to save the planet. Food is so much more than just fueling your body to survive. The social aspect of sitting down with people you love and sharing a meal is the real importance. It is a way to tell people how your day was, share past memories, and relieve the stress of the day. Soylent also takes out the importance of preparing and cooking the meal. For some people, it is their passion to take a recipe step by step, remembering where each ingredient comes from and why it is important to the dish. Although I agree with Rhinehart’s intention to save the environment, I do not agree with his vision to replace food with Soylent, as the cultural, social, and nutritional values of tangible food are too important to dismiss.
Rhinehart’s major flaw is his perspective that food is an engineering problem, rather than a cultural paradigm. He tries to dissect and sell food as physical, rather than focus the emotional factor, which is the most important part of it. For me, food is a way to remember where I came from and my Portuguese heritage. When going through my favorite meal essay, I resonated with this statement: “The reason that Bacalhau is my favorite food is not because of the amazing taste of salt, grease, starch, and high cholesterol, but because of the memories it brings about. It does not matter if it brightens my mood or puts me in a saddened state; I love the memories all the same.” This statement allowed me to realize that I did not choose my favorite food based on taste, but because it reminded me of my vavo and the memories of visiting my mother’s birth place. The Azores can be the most beautiful place in the world at times, and covered in rough red volcanic ash at other times. All of these memories just flood back after one bite of the salt infused, grease covered and potato starched smack of goodness. The memories keep the idea alive, that spending time with the people you love is more important than feeling like a “six million dollar man” (Widdicombe 2).
Our lives revolve around food. Every other thought throughout the day is devoted to our next meal. But when you are in college, you tend to forget about food and shift attention to other aspects of daily life. College students are more worried about finishing their school work and about what they are going to learn in class that day. In college, the main purpose of food is to be utilized as a source of fuel. It is imperative that students never lose sight of the social benefits of food in this new environment, as food always finds a way to bring people together. Everyday I refuse to go to the dining hall without a group of people because I enjoy the social aspect of breaking bread with people. It is important for me to use meals as a means of taking a break from the stress of college to have a laugh with friends. I need the time to reflect on memories with friends that will last a lifetime. Food allows you realize that the little things matter. Soylent cannot be an “all-over food substitute”, because it takes out the human interaction that food provides.
The primary purpose of eating from a biological standpoint is to fulfill your body’s nutritional needs. This involves consuming real, natural food during a meal. There is some grey area with protein shakes to help you obtain necessary nutrients, but the majority of your food should be organic. In order for you to be healthy, you cannot just throw pills and powder into your body, or you will miss out on the nutrients that your body requires through organic food. Rhinehart claims that you can survive almost entirely on Soylent and remain healthy; “It’s a little different from a meal replacement.. It’s kind of an overall food substitute” (Rhinehart, 11). Scientists have discovered that this statement is false. It is possible to survive on Soylent alone, but you would not lead a healthy and adequate lifestyle. The practice of marketing new food trends as replacement diets is common in the food industry because everyone wants to sell their product. Although companies claim that they are trying to help their customers, or are driven by the right causes, in the end it’s all about turning a profit. In the beginning, when Rhinehart first posted Soylent online to the public, he made a comment that he had only spent fifty dollars on the materials in a month. I found it interesting that even with the formula online, the company still charged people sixty-five dollars a week for a shipment of Soylent. If Rob Rhinehart’s goal was to help save the environment, why would he prioritize his profits, while charging the people he is trying to help more than five times the production cost?
Food is taken for granted all the time in the American style of food consumption. The reason that this occurs is because food is always in abundance and variety. Most people can find food anywhere in the United States, yet there are still people starving within our country. The surplus of food does not guarantee that citizens will have the ability to obtain it. In Portuguese culture, the mindset towards food is different. As my mother says, “You need to make enough food to ensure that everyone gets fed. Once everyone has eaten you can just take the food home and eat it for lunch and dinner tomorrow. We never want to waste food, filho”. In Portugal, the paradigms regarding excess or unwanted food are the opposite. I remember visiting my mother’s homeland, and first realizing that they never threw their table scraps or stale bread in the trash. My family in Portugal raise livestock, and they would put all the unwanted food in a bag and use it to feed the animals. This saves them money and gives them a better alternative to throwing away the food that many people are unable to obtain. The reason this is important is because they live on a rural island that has limited resources and could not restock materials as easily as the mainland can. Although the mindset of the American and Portuguese cultures vary when it comes to their values of food, both nations consume unhealthy diets.
When comparing Rhinehart’s and my mother’s ideas on food, I realized that they both had one thing in common: they both wanted to make sure people were fed. Rhinehart’s idea is a cheap and effective manner of feeding a person who does not have a lot of money or runs a tight schedule and does nott have the time to sit down and eat. On the other hand, my mother’s cooking is more expensive because it is cooked with fresh ingredients, and will be enjoyed by many people. For college students, both Rhinehart’s and my mother’s style of feeding people can be incorporated into their lifestyle. For example, if you were running late to but have not eaten all day, a small amount of Soylent would be perfect as a temporary solution. Once you have finished class, you will have the time to meet up with friends and share a full meal together. Though Soylent could fit into the diet, it should not be your main source of nutrition throughout the day. College students are often missing out on the health benefits of sleep, and the last thing they need is to miss out on the organic nutrients they obtain from real food as well.
I think that Rhinehart’s idea to present a healthy alternative to food that would save the environment is important, but it cannot function in our society. The reason for this is because food is more than just substance for the body. It is a way to express yourself as an individual with the people you care to surround yourself with. You need time to relax from the stress of the day and share memories with friends. Food is used as a manner of shifting away from your daily life, and using that time to remember the important aspects of life. Rhinehart’s vision is flawed because his mind is consumed with the idea of Soylent replacing food. He is blind to the fact that human beings need time to come together as one and be present in the moment. He first needs to understand the value of food before he tries to replace it with Soyletnt.
Draft#2
Brandon Healy
Professor Miller
English Composition 105-H5
27 September 2019
What is Food, Really?
Rob Rhinehart, the man who went from broke to millionaire, all because a special drink called Soylent. Soylent is a liquid mixture of pills and powder, that is supposed to fulfill your necessary nutrient intake for the day. Rob has a vision to use Soylent to replace food in order to limit agriculture and lower climate change to save the planet. Although Rob Rhinehart’s vision had the right intention to save the environment, I do not agree with his vision to replace food with Soylent. Food is so much more than just fueling your body to survive. The social aspect of sitting down with people you love and sharing a meal is the real importance. It is a way to tell people how your day was, share past memories, and relieve the stress of the day. Soylent also takes out the importance of preparing and cooking the meal, because for some people it is their passion to take a recipe step by step, remembering where each ingredient comes from and why it is important to the dish.
For me, food is a way to remember where I came from and my heritage. When going through my favorite meal essay I found this statement: “The reason that Bacalhau is my favorite food is not because of the amazing taste of salt, grease, starch, and high cholesterol, but because of the memories it brings about. It does not matter if it brightens my mood or puts me in a saddened state; I love the memories all the same.” This statement allowed me to realize that I did not choose my food based on taste, but I chose it because it reminded me of my vavo and the memories of visiting my mother’s birth place. How the island can be the most beautiful place in the world at times and other times rough red volcanic ash. All the memories just flood back after a bite of the salt infused, grease covered and potato starched smack of goodness. The memories keep the idea alive, that spending time with the people you love is more important than feeling like a “six million dollar man” (Widdicombe 2). Rhinehart looks at food an engineering problem and that is his major flaw. He tries to dissect and sell food as physical, rather than focus the emotional factor, which is the most important part of it.
Our lives revolve around food. Every other thought throughout the day is devoted to our next meal. This is true when we are on a normal routine at home, but when you are in college you tend to forget about food. College students are more worried about finishing their school work and about what they are going to learn in class that day. In college, food is turned into fuel, but still finds a way to bring people together. Everyday I will refuse to go and get something to eat without a group of people because I enjoy the social aspect of breaking bread with people. It is important to me to use meals as a means of taking a break from the stress of college to have a laugh with friends. I need the time to look back on memories with friends that will last a lifetime. Food makes you realize that the little things matter. That is why Soylent cannot be an “all-over food substitute”, because it takes out the human interaction that food provides.
Standard eating etiquette involves consuming real, natural food during a meal. There is some grey area with protein shakes to help you obtain necessary nutrients, but the majority of your food should be organic. In order for you to be healthy, you cannot just throw pills and powder into your body, or you will miss out on the nuientents that your body requires through natural food. Rhinehart claims that you can survive almost entirely on Soylent alone and be pretty healthy; “It’s a little different from a meal replacement.. It’s kind of an overall food substitute” (Rhinehart, 11). Scientists have discovered that this statement is false. It is possible to survive on Soylent alone, but you would not lead a healthy and adequate lifestyle. This food practice is common in the food industry because everyone wants to sell their product. They may say that they are doing it for the right cause, but in the end it’s all about turning a profit. In the beginning, when Rhinehart had just posted Soylent online to the public, he made a comment that he had only spent fifty dollars on the materials in a month. I found it interesting that even with the formula online, they still charged people sixty five dollars a week for a shipment of Soylent. If Rob Rhinehart’s goal was to help save the environment why would he charge the people he is trying to help more than five times more than what he had to pay?
Food is taken for granted all the time in the American style of food consumption. The reason that this occurs is because food is always in abundance and variety. Most people can find food anywhere in the United States, yet there are still people starving within our country. The surplus of food does not guarantee an average person’s ability to obtain it. In Portuguese culture, the mindset towards food is different. As my mother says, “You need to make enough food to ensure that everyone gets fed. Once everyones eaten you can just take the food home and eat it for lunch and dinner tomorrow. We never want to waste food, filho”. In Portugal, they have a different set of values to deal with unwanted food. I remember visiting my mother’s homeland, and first realizing that they never threw their table table scraps or stale bread in the trash. My family in Portugal raise livestock, and they would put all the unwanted food in a bag and use it to feed the animals. This saves them money and gives them a better alternative to throwing away the food that many people are unable to obtain.
When comparing Rob Rhinehart’s and my mother ideas on food I realized that they both had one thing in common. They both wanted to make sure people were fed. Rob idea is cheap and effective way of feeding a person who does not have a lot of money or on a busy tight schedule and don’t have the time to sit down and eat. When my mother’s cooking ends up being more expensive because it is cooked with fresh ingredients and will be enjoyed by many people. For college students, both Rhinehart’s and my mother’s style of feeding people can be added into the lifestyle. For example, if you were running late to but you have not eaten all day, a small amount of Soylent would be perfect for a meal. Once you have finished class, you will have the time to meet up with friends and share a meal together. Though Soylent could fit into the diet it should not be your main source of nutrition throughout the day. College students are already missing out on the health benefits of sleep, the last thing the need to miss out on is the organic nutrients they obtain from real food.
I think that Rob Rhinehart had a good idea to present a healthy alternative to food that would save the environment, but it cannot work in our society. The reason for this is because food is more than just substance for the body. It is a way to express yourself as an individual with the people you care to surround yourself with. You need time to relax from the stress of the day and share memories with friends. Food is used as a manner of shifting away from your daily life, and using that time to remember the important facts in life. Rinehart vision is flawed because his mind is immersed with the idea of Soylent replacing food, he is blind to the fact that human beings need that time to come as one and be present in the moment. He first needs to understand the value of food before he tries to replace it with Soyletnt.
Draft #1
Brandon Healy
Professor Miller
ENG 110
Sep 10, 2019
Favorite Meal Essay
Bacalhau is by far my favorite food on this planet. It is the most icon portuguese dish in the world. If you were to ask a portuguese person what they would describe Bacalhau as they would probably say was a meal that was always there. I was first introduced to Bacalhau when I was around eight years old, and it was at a family party. My mother was born in the Azores on a small island located off the coast of Portugal named Pico. She wanted to keep me and my siblings cultured in our Portuguese heritage and that meant making us eat all these new foods at a young age. If you know anything about Portuguese food, you would know that it is very salty. The diet of a normal eight year boy usually consist of chicken fingers, fries, and something sweet. As you could probably delineated, trying the heavily salted, highly strachy, and lathered in oil Bacalhau, was not a great first bite or many bites for that matter. After, copious amount of attempts by my mother, the regular availability of it, and years of getting acquainted with new foods it finally grew into my favorite meal.
The first thing you will need to make Bacalhau is nose plugs, not really but the main ingredient is dried salted fish, so it is going to smell. The other ingredients include boiled potatoes, large onions, cloves of garlic, olive oil, boiled eggs, black olives, small bunch of chopped parsley, salt and pepper. You are going to want to cook this meal at least three days in advance to anybody to come into your home because the smell is going to linger. Alright to start the process of cooking the Bacalhau you are going to need a day in advance of the actual cooking process to soak the dried salted cod fish in cold water. The next step the following day is to grab a large pot and boil the codfish and potatoes. It is very important to take the potatoes out the pot before they harden, so you can actual slice up the potatoes. Once that step is completed, you have to grab a separate saucepan and hard boil eggs. After, you slice up your large onions, try not to cry because it ruins the atmosphere of the food and add it to a frying pan. It is important to use a lot of olive oil with the onions because they take away large amount of saltiness of the dish. Make sure to fry the onion until they are golden brown because it gives the onions more taste and time to soak up the olive oil. Next all the ingredients have to be assorted into a casserole dish by alternated layers of potatoes, cod fish, golden brown onions and garlic cloves. You must also drizzle olive oil on every layer of the dish because the dish is still extremely salty. Put the casserole dish into an oven preheated to 350 degrees fahrenheit until golden on top. Finally, salt, pepper and parsley is added over top of the dish almost like sprinkles on ice cream and you are done.
I know it is a heart attack waiting to happen but it is my culture and what we do. The dish can get a bit expense ranging from forty to fifty dollars, but it also does feed a lot of people because the actual food weighs about ten to fifteen pounds. Making an enormous amount food food runs back to the portuguese culture aspect behind the dish, as my mom said “You need to make enough food to ensure that everyone gets fed. Once everyones eaten you can just take the food home and eat it for lunch and dinner tomorrow. We never want to waste food filho.”. Filho means son in portuguese and this goes to show that the meals are made enormous to save time not cooking every night and can be eaten over the course of several days. Everytime I think about this meal it reminds me of my avó or grandmother in portuguese. I think of all the times where is visited her in Pico and explored the place where my mother was born. How the island can be the most beautiful place in the world at times and other times rough red volcanic ash. All the memories just flood back after a bite of the salt infused, grease covered and potato starched smack of goodness.
I could and would never try making this dish because it would be a disgrace to both my avó and my culture. If this dish is to be made it has to be done by an experienced cooker because if a mistake was made and the Bacalhau is ruined you would have wasted a lot of time and money. That is why I prefer when my avó over my mother to cook this dish because she cooked it for her when she was a child and has mastered it. Bacalhau is in my mother’s top five favorite foods and in her own words has said “Avó is a better cook than I am. Her cooking reminds me of the Sunday night dinners we use to have as a family back as a child with vovô.”. Vovô means grandpa and he passed away back in 1991 before I was born due to cancer. He was an avid smoker, as are most of my family here and in Portugal. Sadly this is another memory that pops into my head when thinking about this dish, it more than just food for me. That’s why my mother thinks I like this dish so much because she knows more than just the food for me, it is what it reminds me of too. My final question to my mother was why do you love Portuguese food? Her reply was “It’s more than just the food, it is the gathering other loved ones. To remind you of what you have lost and built over time. It is a way to reflect on your life.”.
The reason that Bacalhau is my favorite food is not because of the amazing taste of salt, grease, starch, and high cholesterol but because they memories it brings about. It does not matter if they brighten my mood or put me in a saddened state, I love the memories all the same. It makes me think about my culture and the astronomically healthy options that we take for comfort. I love the people that I chose to eat and share the experience with. Mostly though I love embracing culture and making my mom happy to see me love the food.
