Hw 5 - Dominant Discourses

Discourses are separations of certain groups from similar ideas. The more people who follow these ideas make it a dominant discourse. Dominant discourses have become people joining social norms that masses have followed out of sheer ignorance and lack of knowledge. The dominant discourses in the food industry have become topics of how the industry is either helping or hurting us. For example, whether to eat at McDonald's or your local green market and which one is more healthier.

Is it really the food companies fault for our unhealthiness? Some might say it is, others may argue it is the choice of the human being who decides whether to eat healthy or not. "Unfortunately, behavior changes won't work on their own without seismic societal shifts"(Singer, Natasha. "Fixing a World That Fosters Fat") It is a popular norm to blame the food companies for how fat our culture is getting, but they forget that it was their own choice to eat unhealthy and not exercise which is not really brought to light because they know they either find it hard or incapable of changing their food eating behavior. On the other hand, we may advocate that eating much healthier is obviously much better for you, the cost of eating in a much healthier diet has become expensive and the fact that "Fast-food restaurants can charge lower prices for value meals of hamburgers and french fries..." has made it easier for people to eat unhealthy.

So who has more word on what we consume and what we can't. At first my initial thought would be us of course, but in a dominant perspective we don't. Food companies offer us products that we consume ultimately giving them the power to dictate what choices of foods we eat. The voices of the government govern the food industry while we become the subjects to this industry buying and eating what is being sold. However we do have the choice to not accept what the food industry offers us and we as people could make our own produce for ourselves, but is it a stress we really want to take on ourselves. The stresses that constrict are choices in our daily routine are already too much because as we can see we either eat too much, buying food from fast food restaurants or becoming too unhealthy. Like the study made in Maine, we want something easy to get too,inexpensive and quick.


The New York Times Log In." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. Web. 29 Sept. 2010,