Can you please help me proofread my paper. More specifcally, if there are any contradictions, lack of evidence, or things that are wrong or don't make sense, Thanks so much. :)

The Lethal Food Culture of the United States:

One of the most critical questions that I have seen revolving around this course has been asked by Mary Roach. "How do people decide what's good to eat, and how do you change their mind" (Roach 117)? Mary Roach said that culture writes the menu for us citizens, and there are very few substitutes. A culture like the United States writes a menu containing pizza, burgers, and hotdogs. These foods have been called out by companies such as the American Heart Association, which these food products cause cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.With the foods and lifestyles that the current United States Culture emphasizes, it is clear that citizens are more likely to be exposed to processed foods than in other countries, putting them at a greater risk for premature death.

Jill McCorkle explains how taste buds can be rediscovered. In other words, if a child were to grow up with certain kinds of junk foods, they may rediscover those same foods decades later. For example, this could come from television advertisements, particularly on children's television channels. According to Gantz and Schwartz, "Television advertising influences the food preferences, purchase requests, and diets, at least of children under age 12 years, and is associated with the increased rates of obesity among children and youth" (Gantz et al. 2007, 1). Also, in her chapter, Jill McCorkle talked about stories where she and her friends consumed Slim Jim sausages and ate raw chocolate chip cookie dough in the sixth grade. There are other stories that McCorkle tells, like how she ate funyuns on the bus. Why is this important, and what is the significance of listing so many different stories of consuming and being exposed to junk food? By the end of the section, McCorkle says, "Ahead of you are the waste-land years: a pack of cigarettes, some Clearasil pads, a tube of Blistex, and breath spray" (McCorkle 34). In other words, there is so much exposure to processed foods that they have become very attractive to McCorkle and potentially other citizens in the United States. "There's something about unnatural food colors that has always attracted me" (McCorkle 32). Artificial flavors and colors are standard according to American Culture and advertisements primarily because they make the most money and allow consumers to be manipulated to their fullest potential.

Thich Nhat Hank further supports this idea of the United States Processed Food Culture by discussing that citizens rarely eat fruits and vegetables for the taste, primarily for health benefits, or it is used for a nice filling snack. Hank redefined the idea of the apple by describing it as "something part of a greater whole." What the author of the chapter means by this quote is that eating healthy should require full consciousness in which a person eating a natural piece of fruit can enjoy the moment and focus on nothing else but what they are chewing on at the very moment. However, the United States food culture has tried to strive away from the idea of healthy foods and enjoying those same foods. For example, "So major food outlets now sell 'value-added' apples-pre sliced apples, packed in bags and coated with an all-natural sealant,essentially making fruits processed for a longer lifespan. With this, nature and whole foods need to be appreciated, as, without these values, the current economy would not exist, and the country would not be as developed. United States culture should treat natural foods as a gift because having a connection to nature means a healthier mind/body, which could potentially mean more significant, more optimistic productive members of society. If a company were to advertise processed foods, one could argue that they are disrespecting mother nature and disrespecting an essential need that allowed society to develop. Instead, companies like fast food turn this essential into a quick process pushed to the side for work and hobbies.

Next, Taffy Brodesser explains how she never learned to cook despite her mother having much experience, and she did not even learn after she had a family. She described cooking as a burden or a waste of time. "People would say to me, "How do you get so much dining?' 'Because I don't cook'" (Brodesser-Akner 124). Why is this an issue if it applies to more citizens around the country, especially when ordering takeout instead of cooking meals at home? It is an issue because people in the United States may feel that cooking at home takes up too much time and, as a result, decide to get their food via takeout or some alternative method. Alternatively, they can drive for only 5 minutes to pick up a meal of processed meat, fries, and a soda for a meager price. Not only does relying on takeout save time for citizens, but it also may save them money because if a citizen were to put their money over their health, then they may be put into a situation where they pick fast food over cooking whole foods even if they know that it is worse for them. Another factor contributing to the convenience of takeout over cooking at home is the idea that takeout and fast food require less cleaning up because takeout and fast food usually come with plastic which can easily be thrown away. However, when it comes to home cooking, citizens may see it as an inconvenience because it is more expensive and takes more time because they have to clean up the materials that were used and they have to take the time to discard everything. With this, food is treated as a convenience, not an art or value of nature.

With this, food cultures of the United States treat food incorrectly. However, there are other common misconceptions. "In a matter of decades, restaurants have gone from the domain of the diminished-who could not even enter the same door as the guests at the place they worked-to the domain of the revered" (Satterfield 132-133). In other words, the food industry has massive levels of racial inequality. For example, "Latinos are the fulcrum of the kitchen "(Satterfield 133). With this idea in mind, the food culture in the United States only resembles some people and places that brought the country together. Food Culture can become the medium of all different cultures within the United States, which is known to be one of the most diverse countries in the world. It does not have to be just diversity among different races but the diversity of different plants and animals, which has the potential to bring a more balanced diet because different cultures can have more access to different foods that are more difficult to access. "Loss of crop diversity has also negatively impacted dietary nutrition; many of the crops that were important sources of micronutrients for poorer communities have been lost" (Lasenby). In other words, the effects of biodiversity may save millions of lives suffering from climate change and food insecurity. For example, a farmer dealing with more drought in their field than usual may be helped by biodiversity. The knock-on effect on surrounding ecosystems is vast, and monoculture farming as a means of agricultural production is highly unsustainable" (Lasenby). Bringing more diversity into food culture allows bringing more knowledge and productivity.

In conclusion, if all of these policies and ideas, such as reducing takeout, encouraging a healthy body, more diversity, and having more financial access to healthy foods, then food culture in the United States would become something of an art where people enjoy more healthy, diverse foods from different background, which can cause people to be healthier and have higher levels of happiness.