Composition Reading Bank: Food & Health

Bleyaert, Aaron. "How to Lose Weight in 4 Easy Steps" Warning: Explicit Content  Bleyaert reacts to the end of a personal relationship. The piece started as a 2015 Tumblr post, before it was published in Medium, and was then adapted as a short film the next year. How to Lose Weight YouTube Video (First- and Second-Person Perspective; Narrative; Instructional; Blog and YouTube video)

Deepak, Sharanya. "The Ghost Crop of Goa"  Deepak explores the importance, history, and heritage of a kind of heirloom rice found in the small, Indian state of Goa and how food is tied to culture, families, economics, and history. She deals with politics and economics of the region, which has been taken over by tourism. (First-Person Perspective; Narrative; Cultural Analysis; Economic Analysis)

Goode, J.J. "Single-Handed Cooking"   Goode writes a first-hand account of living with a disability, focusing on one time when he invited friends over for dinner. (First- and Third-Person Perspective; Narrative; Descriptive) Note to users: this article may not display in Chrome.

Greenfield, Rob. "My Thoughts on Veganism…and Why I’m Not Vegan"  Greenfield argues for people to think about choices like veganism differently and to question their rationales for the food choices they make. (First-, Second-, and Third-Person Perspective; Narrative; Expository; Persuasive)

Kapadia, Jess. "I Still Don’t Understand the Cultural Appropriation of Food"  Kapadia explains the issues some people have with chefs who “become famous for and profit from the cuisine of cultures that are not their own.” Others assert that these chefs aren’t “harming anyone’s culture”; that they are instead “ambassadors of the culture.” Kapadia provides some important questions that can be help with making these judgments. (First-, Second-, and Third-Person Perspective; Expository; Persuasive)

Kim, Sylvie. "The End of Spam Shame: On Class, Colonialism, and Canned Meat"  Kim discusses the connection between culture and food by looking at the history of how Asians came to love Spam, while America, the provider of the canned meat, has deemed it as shameful to eat. (First- and Third-Person Perspective; Narrative; Expository; Persuasive)

MacGregor, Jeff. "The Lionfish Have Invaded, But a Ragtag Army of Divers and Chefs Are Fighting Back"  MacGregor vividly illustrates the invasion of the beautiful Lionfish in American water and how they threaten native populations. Divers and chefs are working to decrease the populations by focusing their catches on them and encouraging a market for eating them. (First-, Second-, and Third-Person Perspective; Descriptive; Narrative; Expository)

Nestle, Marion. "Utopian Dream: A New Farm Bill"  In this critique of the 2008 farm bill, Nestle proposes changes that need to be made in order to improve the health of people and our planet. (First- and Third-Person Perspective; Expository; Persuasive)

Olenick, Maria, Monica Flowers, and Valerie J. Diaz. "US Veterans and Their Unique Issues: Enhancing Health Care Professional Awareness"  In this academic article, Olenick, et al. discuss healthcare issues that affect U.S. veterans and argue for some specific solutions to these issues. (Third-Person Perspective; Expository; Persuasive; Academic journal article)

Powers, Kirsten. "Americans are Depressed and Suicidal because Something is Wrong with our Culture"  Powers discusses recent suicides by the wealthy and famous Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain. (First- and Third-Person Perspective; Narrative; Expository; Persuasive)

Stanek, Becca. "I Took Multivitamins Every Day for a Decade. Then I Found Out They're Useless"  Stanek argues that multivitamins aren't necessary or effective nutritional supplements like most people have been taught. (First-and Third-Person Perspective; Expository; Persuasive)

Tobin, Lad. "Here Everything is Possible"  Tobin reflects on his mother's relationship with food and how this has influenced his want for more. (First-Person Perspective; Narrative; Descriptive)

Wallace, David Foster. "Consider the Lobster"  Wallace writes this article, which was originally published in Gourmet magazine, in response to his visit to the Maine Lobster Festival. He wrestles with the ethical dilemma surrounding the cooking and eating of lobsters. (First-, Second-, and Third-Person Perspective; Exploratory) Note to users: this article may not display in Chrome.