Feeding Rx

I’ve picked the images above to help represent the idea of how these readings have shown the influence of how “feeding” in our lives represents much more than simply sustaining energy. In fact often feeding comes to mean much more as a form of medicine. Farquhar states, “Patients know they are ill because they feel bad, and they need to boost the efficacy of their everyday means of self-care” (Farquhar 69). With this in mind I intend to prove that food and feeding is often prescribed (whether by society or a physician) to alleviate our ailments. Throughout this analysis of Judith Farquhar’s “Appetites: Food and Sex in post Socialist China “ and Jean Retzinger’s “ The Embodied Rhetoric of ‘Health’ from farm fields to Salad Bowls”, I intend to prove similar to Chinese views on the nutrition of food we are all being “prescribed” food. However, I intend to prove that a difference in society leads to the duty of prescribing to the individual in china and the masses in America.
Firstly, looking at Farquhar’s piece she describes the Chinese culture around food and medicine as being highly customized system of checks balances. For instance patients and will seek traditional medicines for a variety of reasons ranging from impotence to baldness. As diverse as those who request it the treatments for the ailments prescribed to them are highly customized. Farquhar describes the preparation of said medicines:
“They [herbs] must be boiled with water (and often food additives…) for an hour or more… Many doctors instruct patients to boil the herbs down to half the volume of liquid, refilling with water twice or three times to extract the maximum efficacy.” (Farquhar 68)
Therefore the commitment on behalf of the patient and the patient’s belief in the efficacy of treatment is very great. Farquhar says:
“Such patent medicines are [western medicines] are ‘easier to swallow’ and handier to take, but they are widely acknowledged to be less effective for stubborn complaints than custom-made prescriptions. Hence, there are many who still seek out a classical form of ‘traditional’ Chinese medical practice despite its inconvenience.”
The willingness to follow the traditional and complicated methods for true results characterizes the difference in the cultures being compared. On the one hand we have the Chinese ideology of true results come through with time and tradition, in comparison to the American point of view that there is such a thing as instant gratification.
The idea that one can be instantly gratified is over evident in the “prescription” of foods by society. For instance above we can see the ads I have selected that embody this idea of food giving one an instant gratification. Retzinger makes the comment about advertisement:
Such narratives conspire to persuade us that we can be happy (in the future) if only we take the proper action (buy something). Thus advertising feeds our narcissism, allowing us to view ourselves (and our bodies as the measure of all things.(Retzinger 153)
With this idea in mind if we were to direct our attention to the ad placed from McDonald’s salad plus ad campaign we would see another example of prescribing “instant gratification”. This ad features a smiling African American woman (the population in the US which statistically suffers higher rates of obesity and less amount of economic prowess) with the words: “taste, choice, vitality”. This ad then “prescribes” the idea that one can have it all by choosing to eat this salad at McDonalds. Furthermore the name of the salad itself is called “salad plus”. This gives one the idea that in fact it is not just a mere salad. But rather there is something more attached with this salad and by choosing this salad you will get more than expected from it. In this way the salad is specifically prescribed to the African American woman’s population to gain the traits of the model shown.
In addition, if we can look at the ad above stating “ love a tasty little number” we can see similar themes playing out in the this add. This ad employs the idea that love will come to those who can and are perceived to be “tasty little numbers”. Examine the beginning of the ad the word love starts with no noun before it. This means that one can add any noun before the statement to create one’s own desired outcome. For instance one can say looking at this add “my boyfriend will love a tasty little number, or “Everyone will love a tasty little number”. This ad prescribes the seared chicken breast as a way to gain the identity of a tasty little number and be loved by whomever.
The final and quite possibly the most infamous ad, is an ad from Carl’s Junior for their “spicy six dollar burger”. The ad features a model rolling around washing a car and finishing with the phrase “that’s hot”. This ad then creates two meanings with the statement. The first being for those excited by the models appearance being that, the burger itself is adding to this sensation. Therefore, by consuming the featured burger one is able in fact to relive the sensations through purchasing the burger. For those who are envious of the model rather than stimulated by her, the phrase “that’s hot” gives the idea that the actions done by the model herself is “hot”. By purchasing the burger and being able to consume it and be viewed consuming it in that manor, one envious of the model will in fact be “hot” as well.
In contrast, we see that in china the “prescription” for food is much more subtle and consumer driven rather than the American’s seller driven society. In her essay Farquhar, describes her experience in Mr. Wu’s Yao Shan. Farquhar describes a situation where she actively seeks a medical meal, through word of mouth. She is then embarrassed when she arrives at the restaurant to find that she has made the blunder of a foreigner. Mr. Wu’s Yao Shan, was indeed a medical restaurant however, it was that catered to male’s vitality and needs. Farquhar says:
“….no one really explained it, but where spaces and practices are strongly gender marked there is perhaps no need to explain. Several ill-assorted forms of habitus confronted each other there… (Farquhar 61)”
This anecdote shared by Farquhar emphasis the fact that in a Chinese society, one is expected to pursue the cure rather than the other way around. By just showing up and expecting a beneficial medicinal meal, Farquhar exhibits a western idea of a one size fits all model of healing. While in contrast the Chinese proprietors are perplexed and embarrassed by the fact the women just don’t understand that this medical meal is incorrect for them.