We Are What We Eat

This chapter provides an explanation as to how food characteristics such as freshness, natural, and unprocessed have become important to Americans. For sedentary people and those who spent most of their time indoors it would be healthful to reduce fat intake as well as food consumption in general. Although the large food processors made every attempt to assure the public that white bread was healthful, many people were skeptical and rightfully so. The chapter also provides a description of the more major social events and people in the history of America that have influenced food reputations. Concerns about meat products extend back to the early nineteenth century with the preaching of William Sylvester Graham. Meat trepidation has reached a zenith with the mistrust of processed meats and campaigns against dietary fat and cholesterol. Some of this concern regarding meat products throughout American history may be influenced by the enduring conviction that “we are what we eat”.