English 400
Professor: Gabrielsson
July 15, 2013 Eat an Ethical Diet People have been eating food for thousands of years. In fact, food is a distinctive part of culture, tradition and even religion for example, the Christian orthodox when they fasting they did not eat meat, dairy, and sometimes no fish, also the Muslims they did not eat pork so I want to say our traditions, religion, cultures are affecting in our eating lifestyle.. Without food humans cannot live. Today, American culture has developed its own unique way of producing and eating food. This new way of producing food has some Americans questioning the ethics of eating. America’s poor food ethics start with a lack of education and then with the food production, where the food is subject to quantity over quality, and unhealthy ingredients. Quality food is unneeded. Most Americans throw away their healthy food for the more satisfying flavors of sugar and salt. If people liked organic food than Americas food producers would provide more organic food. Grocery stores and fast food companies do not waste their time selling wholesome foods. These stores know the money is in frozen foods, empty carbohydrates, and high fructose corn syrup. People do not want organic maple syrup on their pancakes they want preservatives and concentrated sugar. Americans do not want quality food. When I say that I am an “ethical eater,” I mean that I strive to understand where my food comes from and the impact that my choices have. That does not mean that I am perfect. Food is very personal, and all I can hope to do is educate people about why I do the things I do. When it comes to being an “ethical eater,” there is no black and white. There are a lot of gray areas, and these gray areas are dependent on each individual person, for example: me as a Coptic orthodox we have more than 231 days per year fasting which is mean when we fast we did not eat any meat, chicken, dairy, or butter and sometimes no fish, but between those fasts we eat any of those which we couldn’t eat it in the fasting period. I want to say this like gray area because we practice two lifestyles, vegetarians and ethical meat. Many people choose to go vegetarian or vegan for the health benefits this lifestyle has to offer.