Campos Yapura 1

M. Florencia Campos Yapura

Brett Rosen

Health 1020

April 24, 2019

ePortfolio Signature Assignment: Nutritional Perspectives

My Nutritional Perspectives assignment centered on the documentary ​In Defense of

Food,​ by director Michael Schwarz, based on the book of the same name by Michael Pollan.

Below are outlined the learning outcomes of that assignment (as both my own and Michael

Pollan’s observations) and my reflection on this nutrition course as a whole.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of human nutritional needs and the role of nutrition in

improving individual health and the societal economic impact of food choices.

Human nutritional needs vary due factors such as age, genetics, developmental stage,

beginning nutritional health and even environment. Proper nutrition is critical to sustain and

improve homeostasis. The current food environment (due in part to sociopolitical factors) is

conductive to good health for those that can afford it and have the knowledge, while poor health

is related to misinformation and poverty.

2. Relate technological advancements in medicine and food production to the

advancement of the science of human nutrition.

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The industrial era allowed food production to increase. More volume more efficiently

produced allowed better nutrition. This is a double-edged sword due to the processing of food,

which strips food of essential nutrients in favor of longer shelf life. Medicine has also been

advancing to address these new concerns.

3. Explain the impact that the food industry has on human food choices and the

subsequent relationship to health and disease at the individual, societal, and

environmental level.

The food industry has made great strides in marketing to sell its products. Unhealthy

food, due to laws that only partially regulate claims on packaging, is often made to seem healthy.

There currently are several generations that don’t know healthy food from unhealthy food, as

well as the diseases it can cause to them, the environment and society as a whole. Unsustainable

farming and the high obesity indexes attest to this.

4. Provide examples of past and present nutrient and diet trends in modern society and

the positive and/or negative implications on human health and the earth’s resources.

Wonder Bread is a great example of how industrialization made a refined food that

provides fewer nutrients than the food in its natural form available to the masses. The shelf life

increased but also the lack of nutrition. This trend has only been magnified in current times.

Refined pastas, soda and candy is now often cheaper than perishable foods. There is an

imbalance of nutrients: too many calories with too little nutrition. The production of these foods

and their packaging also affect negatively the environment, with water pollution, as an example.
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5. Provide examples of positive and negative interactions of humankind with

microorganisms regarding sickness, health and food production.

Industrialized food production is efficient, but when things go wrong, they can go wrong

in massive volumes. In the recent years there have been meat and produce recalls, due to bacteria

and virus contamination that either could cause or did cause disease, and even deaths.

6. Address diet and nutrient issues and concerns for weight control, disease prevention,

physical activity, food availability, and biotechnology.

Michael Pollan identifies processed food as “food-like substances,” due to the above

mentioned instances of imbalance of nutrients these represent, causing unhealthy increases of

weight, chronic conditions and decreases in access to healthy food. Marketing encourages

consumption of nutritionally deficient food, which paired with the overwhelming lack of

physical activity in population, becomes a driving force in an unhealthy population.

Reflection points:

1. Make connections between what you studied in this nutrition course with what

you’ve learned in other courses at SLCC or before. Make specific references to your

work in this class and in the other courses. How did what you learn in the other

courses enhance what you learned in nutrition, and vice versa?

Being a business major, this nutrition course is an elective one to meet a general class

requirement. None of my previous courses touched on this subject, so I do not have much to

compare. I enjoyed the $10 Challenge assignment, attempting to buy the most nutritional food
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with $10. We could say that it related to my business major, but I am a very good budget grocery

shopper naturally and enjoy it, so it did not feel like homework.

I did have an example reading in an English class last semester that explored a famous

personal trainer. The research the author cited concluded that a balanced approach to exercise

and eating was the best choice. That was very strongly supported by what my nutrition class

presented. I did learn how to organize my thoughts much better when writing and how to

improve my MLA citing in that and previous English classes, which definitely influences how

my signature assignment and this current ePortfolio assignment is written. I am quite confident

in my writings required for this class due to that. What I learned from this nutrition class will

definitely help me eat more healthfully to improve academic performance.

2. Reflect on how you thought about nutrition before you took this course and how you

think about it now that the course is over. Have any of your assumptions or

understandings changed? Why? What assignments/activities/readings were influential

in this process? How will you approach (course topic) differently in the future?

I love to learn and read about nutrition (among various subjects) for fun. Due to that

previous knowledge I did know several of the general concepts of the class, including balanced

eating and exercise, as well as some chemical processes in the body. What I was not aware of

were the many intricate interactions among nutrients and how nuanced those are.

I especially enjoyed learning about what individual vitamins and minerals do for the

body. Everyone in my home has at least one chronic condition that can be (to some extent) be

improved with a healthier diet. The online chapter assignments were especially helpful in helping

me assure I understood concepts as well as facts and could recall them. These will help me
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consume foods rich in nutrients that support the bodily processes that may family specifically

needs to feel healthier.

I also came to the realization of just how much undernutrition my mother suffered when

she and my father sought to have my twin sister and me. Learning more deeply what a woman

can do to improve her chances of a healthy pregnancy and fetus has strengthened my resolve to

be healthy for not just myself, but the child I hope to someday carry. I chose to get the printed

copy of the textbook, so I can use it as a reference and reminder of how to live my life in a

healthier manner.