Essay 1: First Draft
Christopher Langlitz
Professor Miller
English 110-H5
27 September 2019
What is Food, Really?
When you think about eating food, the average person may have a feeling of hunger, sickness, or maybe even disgust. But, what if you didn’t need to think about eating food anymore? In 2012, Robert Rhinehart started testing alternative ways to consume the important nutrients our bodies need to function properly. He determined that lipids, amino acids, carbohydrates, minerals, and nutrients found in food could be purchased in a powder or pill form and be mixed up together to basically form a healthy, disgusting sludge of grey stuff. It is called Soylent; but, is it so bad? In today’s world, there are so many things happening that we often forget to eat, but with Soylent there is an alternative to food which makes us wonder, is food really that important?
Although Soylent is basically an alternative to food, it wasn’t supposed to replace food however. According to Rhinehart, “we’ll see a separation between our meals for utility and function, and our meals for experience and socialization.” Rob is basically saying that Soylent is not a replacement for food, but a faster way to get the appropriate nourishment for the day; and, it makes sense. Who wouldn’t want a way to eat faster. However, there are positives and negatives to this “replacement” for food.
Food is supposed to satisfy your hunger needs. When you have different kinds of food, there are different tastes that are associated with that food. When you have a Soylent drink, you have the same stuff, over and over again. It is just constant repetition and you most likely will not remember it in the future. But with actual food, you can associate that meal with a certain memory, taste, or smell. The possibilities extend much further than what Soylent could do. Think about it. If you have a favorite meal, snack, dessert, whatever it is, you probably have a memory associated with it. As I stated in my Favorite Meal Essay, “I could hear and smell my mother making this wonderful concoction of bananas and sugar popping and sizzling in the pan.” This singular quote portrays an exact example of what Soylent will never be able to achieve. If you have, or do, the same thing everyday, you often forget about it. That’s the negative that Soylent has. It cannot compare to actual food because there is no memory, smell, taste, or sound that can really be associated with it. Although Soylent is a good “grab’n go” type of food, it will never be able to replace actual food. However, there are positives to this “Soylent Green” monstrosity.
Just for a second, I want you to place yourself in Rob Rhineharts shoes when Soylent was first created. You have developed a new product that ultimately “replaces” food. Wouldn’t you want to drink only that for almost two years? Probably not; but, Rhinehart did. It is stated in an article from the New Yorker called “The End of Food” by Lizzie Widdicombe, “He was healthy-looking, which was encouraging?for the past year and a half, he’s been living almost exclusively on Soylent, drinking it for “ninety per cent” of his meals.” Although he is not exclusively on Soylent, for being drinking ninety percent of his meals without any serious stomach problems it is quite impressive. In addition to this ninety percent lifestyle, Rhinehart stated that he would be expecting to live one hundred percent on Soylent in the future. “Chris Running, a former C.E.O. of Muscle Milk, and an adviser to Soylent, called this suggestion “riskier.”,” (Widdicombe 9). It may be riskier to live solely on the “grey stuff protein drink” but there are benefits. The first one is that the amount of time a single individual would free up by drinking Soylent. You would most likely have an average of 3 to 4 more hours in a day and if you think about it, that is a lot of time for the average person working the 9 to 5 job. There would be time to go to the gym, or finish work earlier, or get the proper amount of sleep you need. All from just drinking Soylent in a day. Another benefit are the nutrients in the drink. Some foods lack specific vitamins, but with the Soylent, you get them all in an action-packed drink. In the future there could be a drink dedicated to athletes of various types. It could contain all the proper amounts of calories, protein, and carbohydrates that one needs in a day. All of these are ideas that can stretch the possibilities of what food is and with Soylent, that might be a thing. Even though Soylent is six years old, there are still side effects that may appear in the future.
Finally, we get to the million dollar question. Is food really that important? As of right now, the answer is yes. Since Soylent is still relatively new, there could be possible future hiccups in the product. In addition to that, not eating food weakens and drains are organs and muscles in our body. Similar to the movie Wall-E and how their bodies changed overtime, our bodies could do the same without the proper food our bodies need to digest in order to keep it functioning properly. Food is important in many ways. Personally, I don’t think Soylent is a replacement for food. There is just so much more value in food than Soylent. For instance, there are thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of different kinds of meals. Some break the boundaries of different cultures and create opportunities for new ones. They force us to express different types of emotions and feelings towards that food. They make us feel satisfied when we cook, or make, the food to eating and enjoying it. Food is probably the most important and necessary thing in life because it creates bonds and friendships that can last a lifetime. Soylent just can’t do that.
Despite the fact that Soylent is looked down upon by many people, it still has benefits like how fast it is. Similarly, everybody can worship food, but it has negatives, like how expensive it is. The point of the matter is that although Soylent is beneficial for certain types of people and food is just as important, if not even more important. Both of these complete the same task to fulfill our nourishment and leave us satisfied and waiting for the next one.
Works Cited
Widdicombe, Lizzie. “The End of Food.” The New Yorker. 09 July 2019. The New Yorker. 23 Sept. 2019 <https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/05/12/the-end-of-food>.
Essay 1: Final Draft
Christopher Langlitz
Professor Jesse Miller
English 110-H5
27 September 2019
What is Food, Really?
When you think about eating food, the average person may have a feeling of hunger, sickness, or maybe even disgust. But, what if you didn’t need to think about eating food anymore? In 2012, Robert Rhinehart was an engineering student who started testing alternative ways to consume the important nutrients our bodies need to function properly. He determined that lipids, amino acids, carbohydrates, minerals, and nutrients found in food could be purchased in a powder or pill form and be mixed up together to basically form a healthy and disgusting sludge of grey stuff. It is called Soylent; but, is it so bad? In today’s world, there are so many things happening that we often forget to eat, but with Soylent there is an alternative to food which makes us wonder, is food really that important?
Although Soylent is basically an alternative to food, it wasn’t supposed to replace food however. In an article written by Lizzie Widdicombe called “The End of Food”, Rhinehart , states, “we’ll see a separation between our meals for utility and function, and our meals for experience and socialization.” Rob is basically saying that Soylent is not a replacement for food, but a faster way to get the appropriate nourishment for the day; and, it makes sense. Who wouldn’t want a way to eat faster? However, there are positives and negatives to this “replacement” for food.
Food is supposed to satisfy your hunger needs. When you have different kinds of food, there are different tastes that are associated with that food. When you have a Soylent drink, you have the same stuff, over and over again. It is just constant repetition and you most likely will not remember it in the future. But with actual food, you can associate that meal with a certain memory, taste, or smell. The possibilities extend much further than what Soylent could do. Think about it, if you have a favorite meal, snack, dessert, whatever it is, you probably have a memory associated with it. As I stated in my Favorite Meal Essay, “I could hear and smell my mother making this wonderful concoction of bananas and sugar popping and sizzling in the pan.” This singular quote portrays an exact example of what Soylent will never be able to achieve. If you have, or do, the same thing everyday, you often forget about it. That’s the negative that Soylent has. It cannot compare to actual food because there is no memory, smell, taste, or sound that can really be associated with it. Although Soylent is a good “grab’n go” type of food, it will never be able to replace actual food. However, there are positives to this “Soylent Green” monstrosity.
Just for a second, I want you to place yourself in Rob Rhineharts shoes when Soylent was first created. You have developed a new product that ultimately “replaces” food. Wouldn’t you want to drink only that for almost two years? Probably not; but, Rhinehart did. It is stated in an article from the New Yorker called “The End of Food” by Lizzie Widdicombe, “He was healthy-looking, which was encouraging?for the past year and a half, he’s been living almost exclusively on Soylent, drinking it for “ninety per cent” of his meals.” Although he is not exclusively on Soylent, for being on it for ninety percent of his meals without any serious stomach problems is quite impressive. In addition to this ninety percent lifestyle, Rhinehart stated that he would be expecting to live one hundred percent on Soylent in the future. “Chris Running, a former C.E.O. of Muscle Milk, and an adviser to Soylent, called this suggestion “riskier.”” (Widdicombe 9). It may be riskier to live solely on the “grey stuff protein drink” but there are benefits. The first one is that the amount of time a single individual would free up by drinking Soylent. You would most likely have an average of 3 to 4 more hours in a day and if you think about it, that is a lot of time for the average person working the 9 to 5 job. There would be time to go to the gym, or finish work earlier, or get the proper amount of sleep you need. All from just drinking Soylent in a day. Another benefit are the nutrients in the drink. Some foods lack specific vitamins, but with the Soylent, you get them all in an action-packed drink. In the future there could be a drink dedicated to athletes of various types. It could contain all the proper amounts of calories, protein, and carbohydrates that one needs in a day. All of these are ideas that can stretch the possibilities of what food is and with Soylent, that might be a thing. Even though Soylent is six years old, there are still side effects that may appear in the future.
Finally, we get to the million dollar question. Is food really that important? As of right now, the answer is yes. Since Soylent is still relatively new, there could be possible future hiccups in the product. In addition to that, not eating food weakens and drains our organs and muscles in our body. Similar to the movie Wall-E and how their bodies changed overtime, our bodies could do the same without the proper food our bodies need to digest in order to keep it functioning properly. Food is important in many ways. Personally, I don’t think Soylent is a replacement for food. There is just so much more value in food than Soylent. For instance, there are thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of different kinds of meals. Some break the boundaries of different cultures and create opportunities for new ones. They force us to express different types of emotions and feelings towards that food. They make us feel satisfied when we cook, or make, the food to eating and enjoying it. Food is probably the most important and necessary thing in life because it creates bonds and friendships that can last a lifetime. Soylent just can’t do that.
Despite the fact that Soylent is looked down upon by many people, it still has benefits like how fast it is. Similarly, everybody can worship food, but it has negatives, like how expensive it is. The point of the matter is that although Soylent is beneficial for certain types of people and food is just as important, if not even more important. Both of these complete the same task to fulfill our nourishment and leave us satisfied and waiting for the next one.
Works Cited
Widdicombe, Lizzie. “The End of Food.” The New Yorker. 09 July 2019. The New Yorker. 23 Sept. 2019 <https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/05/12/the-end-of-food>.
