Summer has arrived, and the produce aisles and farmers’ markets are brimming with fresh items. Is there anything new and different where you shop or dine? Have you tried a taste? New York-based author Riddhi Shah writes about food-related issues for Salon, The Atlantic, the Huffington Post, and other periodicals. In this 2010 Slate article, she looks at what she calls “faddy foods.”
Read it here: Shah, “Why is America so fixed on food fads?”
- Shah poses the question, “What makes us such promiscuous eaters?” and her article proposes several possible explanations. How would you answer the question? Do any or all of the possibilities that Shah proposes seem plausible to you? Why or why not?
- Have you embraced any fad foods in the last year or so? Any new foods (one that you never encountered as a child)? What are they? What do you like about them? Have you embraced them for their good flavor? Health properties? Both? Neither? If you have not tried any new foods recently, why not? Lack of access and/or affordability? Allergies? Reflect on and describe your attitudes toward new foods.
- Shah’s point of view is that of an immigrant who has experiences living in India and in London. How might her impressions and ideas differ from those of someone who has lived exclusively in the United States? Provide examples from the text to support your conclusions.
- Shah concludes by speculating that the very qualities that made the American experiment so successful—science, progress, open-mindedness, abundance, etc.—have also produced what Michael Pollan has called a “national eating disorder.” Do you agree? Disagree? Do you have reservations? Have Shah and Pollan neglected some key element? Write an essay in which you respond to this hypothesis, and provide evidence to support your argument.
They Say I Blog 
Riddhi Shah provides four contributing factors to America’s obsession with trendy foods. Shah states that one common view is that America’s hodgepodge of various cuisines results from the immigration that founded our nation. She claims that another idea is that because food is an easily accessed resource in America, most people do not appreciate it, so it’s normal for them to jump from food trend to food trend. Shah describes yet another approach to trendy eating as a “symbol of affluence and hipness”, akin to pressures to have the latest fashion trends. The last argument that Shah provides, is the idea that Americans have a tendency to be scientifically progressive and modern, and are always seeking a scientific approach to nutrition, leading to a multitude of diet and eating fads. Considering these four approaches, Shah argues that eating fads seem to be a result of the factors that make America prosperous. Therefore, she believes that trendy eating does not hinder our society.
I agree with Shah’s statement that enjoying new food trends is not a negative practice. In fact, I would go farther to suggest that approaching food as an innovative and inspiring element of life is one way we can advance our society. If finding cures for diseases and inventing new technology is considered valuable, why can’t discovering recipes and creating new cuisine be too?
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