Morgan Lindsey
Professor Miller
English 110
Soylent VS. Food
Food; any nutritious substance that people or animals eat or drink to maintain life and growth. Soylent, a nutritious liquid substance that is used as a substitute for actual foods to save on time wasted while eating. Soylent resembles a “gooey lemonade,” (Widdicombe, 2) or ‘“crappy brownie mix’” (Widdicombe, 14) as described in Lizzie Widdicombe’s The End of Food. In this paper she interviews Soylent creator Rob Rhinehart. Rhinehart and I have two different views on what food and meals are. [1] [2]
Rhinehart views food and meals as an inconvenience. For him “Food was such a large burden,” (1). Rhinehart sees time as precious and when it comes to getting the food, making the food, and then cleaning up the food so much time has been wasted. He was wasting time he could be using to work. Rhinehart, being an engineering major at Georgia Tech, started to disassemble the makeup of food to look at not as food but as if it were an “engineering problem” (Widdicombe, 1) to be solved. “You need amino acids and lipids, not milk itself,” (Widdicombe,1) “You need carbohydrates, not bread,” (Widdicombe, 1). Instead of looking at the food in a way we typically look at it, he looks at the chemical makeup and what exactly you would need to survive and keep your body healthy.[3]
Before rea[4] ding Widdicombe’s paper, my ideas about food and meals were not the same as Rhinehart.[5] I had never really thought too much about food and how eating is taking up too much time out of my day or it being a burden. I normally tend to not have breakfast during the weekdays due to early classes[6] , and sometimes not even lunch depending on the day and the number of classes I have. If I do pack something for a busy day it is just a granola bar or some type of small snack in hopes that it will hold me over till dinner. [7]
While reading this essay, I wanted to find fault in what he was saying. I wanted to make the point that meals are meant to be a thing that brings people together to socialize or relax. I wanted to make the point that you couldn’t replace meals with just a drink. I tried to find points to argue, but I simply could not find anything that provided relevant evidence. [8]
In my essay I[9] talk about how meals bring people together to enjoy the moment. I explain that our favorite dishes “gives us a sense of home.” These dishes tend to be at family dinners or holidays. Rhinehart made the Soylent drink to have as a quick meal so you don’t interrupt your daily tasks and work. It is a quick and simple option instead of going to get something at the store or cafeteria to save time. These are two different topics that are difficult to compare due to the fact that they take place for different reasons. You can’t replace a family dinner with a Soylent drink and that is not the point for the Soylent drinks. That is a point me and Rhinehart agree upon. During Rhinehart’s interactions with Widdicombe he explains to her, ‘“we’ll see a separation between our meals for utility and function, and our meals for experience and socialization”’ (Widdicombe, 3). He is saying that the[10] Soylent drink isn’t meant to take the place of family dinners for socialization, it is meant for quick option during a busy day when you don’t really have time to stop for a meal. He didn’t make it to replace all meals.[11] [12]
But[13] during[14] a conversation with Ethan Brown, he contradicts that point. Brown had called Soylent “a meal replacement,” (Widdicombe, 11) Rhinehart then responds with, “It’s kind of an over-all food substitute” (Widdicombe, 11). Though this point does go against what he previously had said I do not have evidence to go against it theoretically. It can replace the food during a meal, but not the interactions around the meal. We don’t normally remember what we eat for our meals[15] we tend to remember the conversations we have during those meals. Therefore, it could substitute the food we eat for our meals and it wouldn’t change the conversation during it.
He makes it seem like y[16] ou could fully live off of Soylent, and that might be possible, but it might cause health problems to completely switch your whole diet to a liquid. Even Rhinehart I doubt completely survives solely relies o[17] n the Soylent drink. There are some meals where you need to eat real food and not just sip a chemical mixture. For me, I enjoy events like Christmas or New Year’s Eve. These are times in which the meal and conversation are equally important. “I enjoy it because of the conversations and laughter that happen around the table while eating it,” is I po[18] int that I made in my favorite meal essay. My favorite food is my favorite food[19] because of the meaning behind it. [20] [21]
Being from a family where cooking and baking is very important, a soylent drink would never be in any of our daily meals. I’ve grown up on recipes that have been passed down from my grandmother and her mother, and even farther back than that. I’ve never thought to change to an all liquid diet such as Soylent. I’m also not a big smoothie drinker either. I couldn’t really imagine switching our actual meals for a Soylent drink for every single meal.[22] I could maybe have it during a busy day for lunch, but I would want a meal for dinner. To sympathize with Rhinehart’s reasoning, I’m also not normally the one making the meals so it does[23] n’t affect me time wise. I just partake in eating and then during the dishes once the meal is finished. I assume he most likely does his own cooking if he were too, so that would take time out of his day. And if he weren’t to make his meals he would either go without eating or he would have to go and get something, which would also be inconven[24] ient time wise. [25]
Introduction: Say what your views on food are, what are you trying to argue?
I would try to expand on this introductory paragraph. either offering more details or combining this with the paragraph below I think would be a good idea!
I like the facts about Rhinehart you bring up in this paragraph, but maybe explain why it relates to your paper
Indent this to start a new paragraph
I like how this sentence shows insight that Rhinehart has altered/made you rethink your views
Maybe try and discuss how time is an issue for you? and for many people like Rhinehart. This could be a chance you explain why your agree with something like Soylent.
you could talk about how this is different then living at home
he might not have anyone to have conversations with at dinner
be specific, what essay?
Take this part out
this is a really great point/paragraph, I could even see you continuing this idea, maybe it being part of your whole thesis?
Develop more: why are family dinner important? What makes about gathering around the dinner table special?
indent?
Try adding transitions to make paper flow
don’t start with but, try however, or on the other hand
you could talk about if we all drank soylent then we probably wouldn’t have those conversations at dinner
different transition here, opening with a transition will help the paper flow
fix this sentence
a?
try not to repeat my favorite food in this sentence
you could state what the meaning is
Yes!
you could mention rhineharts side of the story and how he lives off Soylent
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FEEDBACK LETTER:
local concerns:
– your paper presents your opinion on how Soylent wouldn’t remove or reduce our social meals well.
-your paper flows from topic to topic, just make sure you are using transitions when you change paragraphs so your readers know
-minor grammatical errors, but that’s an easy fix!
-add conclusion paragraph
global concerns:
-I couldn’t identify a clear thesis in your opening paragraph, so trying to make that more clear would bring your paper together
-it seems that the message you’re trying to convey is that you believe Soylent would be a useful product, and cannot find any reasoning against it, but I’m not completely sure because I couldn’t find a thesis
-you have a good mixture of shorter and longer quotes, but maybe insert some more “beefy” quotes into your paper (specifically favorite meal essay quotes), or add to your original favorite meal essay quotes.
-Overall I enjoyed reading your essay and could identify a central theme, seems like you’re on the right track!
Feedback Letter:
I like the ideas you have discussed in your essay. I would definitely keep in mind the importance of stating your thesis in your introduction so that the reader know your opinion right away. Try adding in some transition to make the paragraphs flow more. Also try and develop the ideas already in your essay more. As above explain why family is important? Why is eating with family/ people good for us as humans? What do we as humans gain from socializing?
PROJECT 2
