Take a break from your studies (in a minute, after you read these instructions), and go to your kitchen. What types of food do you find tucked back in cupboards, in your freezer, your refrigerator? What do you find you eat regularly? What's been tucked in the back for years? What do you save for treats or days when you might be kept in by weather? Remind yourself of what you've got and why you've got it.

Leave the kitchen and now return as if you were a stranger. If a stranger visited your kitchen and looked at the foods you have, what kind of person might they assume you are? Consider the following chart:

Foods

Assumptions

Are you someone who has a lot of pre-packaged food? Could I assume you are someone pressed for time?
Are you someone who has a lot of bulk-food purchases? Could I assume you like bargains?
Do you have a lot of ingredients in your kitchen that would be used to create meals from scratch? Could I assume you enjoy cooking?
Or, might it be that you are very health conscious?

Do you have organic foods in your refrigerator? Could I assume you care about the environment? Or chemicals? Or independent farmers?
Do you see a lot of vegetables in your refrigerator and no meat? Might I assume you are a vegetarian?
Do you see a dozen frozen pizzas and Cokes? Could I assume you're a college student?
Do you see a bunch of Hi-C's? Could I assume you have children in sports? Or, you are on a soccer team?

Make a list of things in your kitchen that have stereotypes, assumptions, connotations attached to them. Write down the products and then write down the things people could think about you, because you consume them, even if they are not accurate. Resist the temptation to write down why you bought them.

Now, consider Schlosser's thesis "we are what we eat" (10). Are you what you eat? What does your diet reveal about who you are? What do you choose to eat? Why theses choices? How are these choices representative of your life style, values, economic status or social status? Do your choices align you with a group of people?

For example, my friend, a vegan, bases her food choices on her decision not to consume any animal products or by-products. She might begin to analyze whether she is motivated by health, social, and/or political reasons. For this essay, she'd want to explore her relationship with food through the eyes of a vegan.

Likewise, my cousin who went on the Atkins diet, restricting himself to only meat products, could do a similar analysis. He might consider why he elected to go on this particular diet (and, perhaps, why he chose to go off it). Quick weight loss, personal preference for meat instead of grapefruit, media attention, health issues, body image reasons, etc. For this essay, he'd want to explore his relationship with food through the eyes of a Atkins dieter.

Myself, well, I cannot have any carbonated beverages, because I have a hiatal hernia. Since 1995, I've not had a soda, nor beer, nor Italian sparking water, nor champagne at special occasions. My reason for abstaining from all carbonated beverages is because of pain caused by my medical condition. For this essay, I think I would want to explore how this condition has influenced my relationship with food. How do other people view me when I order lemonade time and time again at restaurants? Or, how do they view me at a beer garden, when I don't drink any beer with them? Or, what type of disappointment my best friend might have felt when I did not participate in the champagne toast at her wedding? People who don't know me well usually ask why I don't drink soda--am I worried about my dental health? Do I not support certain corporations? There are many different assumptions people make when I say I don't drink soda, beer, etc. How do I feel about it?

Guidelines

In your 2-page Personal Statement Essay, formatted in MLA paper format, please share how people view you through your food choices. Consider completing this sentence, I am ________, because I eat __________. (You might also consider, I am thought to be ____________, because I eat ______________, but I am really ________________.)

Back up your thesis statement with examples that illustrate what you mean and explanations that teach readers how to understand these examples and your thesis. Make sure you explain why you think what you think, whenever you present a new idea.

Take a break from your studies (in a minute, after you read these i...