Hw 5 - Dominant Discourses Regarding Contemporary Foodways in the U.S.

      The dominant discourses that apply to food ways in America is vaguely; healthy food is all you should eat, and fatty food and fast food is what you shouldn't eat. In mainstream society ( Modeling, commercials, and most food advertisements) being healthy due to food is the way to go. When it comes to advertising in the food industry, there is no company that doesn't show its healthy options. Even Mcdonalds for example; with all the negative assumptions placed on them, and the amount of awareness that the people who eat at Mcdonalds have about their food, they still dare to advertise their low-calorie options such as smoothies or a Filet-O-fish over their notorious Big Mac. Why is eating healthy the dominant discourse on food in America, when more Americans are obese than ever before?
      Dominant discourses are also quite contradictory, Why is it that even though a Dominant Discourse on food ways in America is, healthy food is what you should eat instead of fast food, Than why is it that vegetarians are looked down at? Aren't vegetables the healthiest option of food? Is it perhaps that healthy food is the dominant discourse, but still has to be looked at as "Normal" in society? It makes perfect sense, the media and food companies are who set the standard and dominant discourses on food, and they wouldn't want to advertise something as drastic as an all vegetable diet, therefore they throw in a healthier way of having your favorite meal, and there you have it, a "Normal" healthy meal that is excepted in society and is within the limits of the dominant discourse.
       A person who is very educated about food ways in America, and about what is the norm for food eating, would be looked at as a perfect example of what an American should be eating like. The dominant discourse on food, would be perfectly exemplified by that educated American. Dominant Discourses on contemporary food ways in America are that, everything you eat should be healthy, and that fast foods are bad. The media and food companies themselves are what create it, and we Americans are who should abide by those expectations.