I Am What I Eat

Okay, I am finally going to start posting to my blog. To begin with, I will post samples of work in progress that I have been doing since last fall, when I began the MFA program at RIT.

My work is centered on a critique of processed American food. To provide some background, I grew up eating a typical American diet that included foods like Oreos, Pepperidge Farm Goldfish, candy, American cheese, and fast food. However, as I approached adolescence, my family became educated about proper nutrition, and we began to make changes in our diet. In school, I learned about the health problems caused by hydrogenated oils. And I learned how to read nutrition labels, so that I could avoid foods with harmful ingredients. Searching for the best way to eat in a culture of processed foods, I underwent a series of dietary experiments. I tried being vegetarian, vegan, and then I returned to eating meat. I have come to the conclusion that the best diet is filled with organic fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean meat.

I began my time at RIT by photographing everything that I eat, in order to demonstrate my relationship with food. The result showed that I eat a very simple, repetitive diet. My peers describe my diet as healthy and disciplined, though by no means are my eating habits perfect. My objective in the creation of this project was simply to let the viewer know from where I am coming as an eater. As I continue to educate myself about nutrition and the American food industry, my diet continues to change.

Below is a video that shows everything that I consumed between the dates of 9/25/08 - 11/09/08.