750 word draft: The 2014 article, “The End of Food” by Lizzie Widdecombe takes us on a life questioning journey as Lizzie learns the ins and outs of Soylent and its creator, Rob Rhinehart. This article creates much controversy about how much our lives revolve around food. Some people believe that food takes up too much time, Rhinehart himself said “Food is such a burden,” and that is the reason he invented Soylent. Soylent consists of the most vital nutrients for our survival mixed up in a powder that is blended with water. This mixture can successfully replace all food a human would eat for the rest of their lives which can be cheaper and healthier but at what cost? There is a difference between surviving and living. We only have one life; mind as well live it to the fullest with delicious food and tasty experiences. Food is significant in traveling, traditions, holidays, religions, cultures, and celebrations. Soylent can be a great tool when used correctly as a quick meal for busy individuals or for the malnourished villages that need nutrients to survive.  

Soylent can be an incredible tool for occasional use, but society should not let it become an “all-over food substitute” like Rhinehart suggests after making a sales pitch to a customer at a Beyond Meat taco truck. Soylent can be useful to busy individuals that are on the go and are in need of a quick refuel to keep them on track. It stuck out to me when Rhinehart mentioned that Soylent could be brought to a village of malnourished people because this is a practical and life changing idea that can make an improvement to the 663 million malnourished people in the world. I believe that the use of Soylent should be focused on changes like these instead of using it as a meal replacement which takes away the quality of life.  

Food is more than a necessity for survival but it’s a language of love and a connection with loved ones. Food creates a strong bond in a religious aspect, holds a sentimental stance throughout all cultures, creates a connection throughout generations with traditions, all celebrations have a spread of foods and snacks for guests to enjoy, trying foods while traveling enhances the experience, and holidays always have a meal to celebrate with. Think about the family-owned restaurants or the generational recipes that will be lost over time as Soylent becomes more popular and replaces every meal. If we replace these special foods with Soylent, all the connection, love, and excitement will disappear.  

Food is a very important factor in my life. Not just the act of eating food but grocery shopping, preparing, and cooking as well. As I mentioned in my Favorite Homemade Meal essay, “I love to go to grocery shopping, and I love to cook so, every once in a while, I will go grocery shopping, come home, put the groceries away, and cook a meal for my mom and I. I love cooking for my mom because I learned it from her. I know it makes her proud that she has passed on the cooking gene to me,” and I am certain many others can relate to me. My mom grows a garden every summer and we always get so excited to bring baskets down to pick all the fresh vegetables so we can bring them in to create a delicious dish out of them. I cannot imagine giving up all of that to drink Soylent for every meal. Texture and flavor are huge components when I create a dish and as described in the article, “The End of Food,” Soylent does not sound appealing. After Lizzies first taste of Soylent, she explained it as, “The liquid is smooth but grainy in your mouth, and it has a yeasty, comforting blandness about it,” and as someone with texture issues, I don’t believe I could even swallow it… definitely not multiple times a day, every day.  

Soylent is a powerful tool that can change lives for the better or for the worse. As a society we should use Soylent as an advantage to improve the health of the malnourished or to be a quick meal while on the go rather than a replacement for all meals. Food symbolizes love, connection, and relationships. Without our traditional meals or generational recipes, there will be a disconnect from us to our ancestors. One of the most important things every country, state, town, and family has in common is food. 

1,000 word draft:

Are humans supposed to live to eat or eat to live? The 2014 article, “The End of Food” by Lizzie Widdecombe takes us on a life questioning journey as Lizzie learns the ins and outs of Soylent, the substance made purely of vital nutrients for our survival, and its creator, Rob Rhinehart. This article creates much controversy about how much our lives revolve around food. Some people believe that food takes up too much time, Rhinehart himself said “Food is such a burden,” and that is the reason he invented Soylent. Soylent consists of the most vital nutrients for our survival mixed up in a powder that is blended with water. This mixture can successfully replace all food a human would eat for the rest of their lives which can be cheaper and healthier but at what cost? There is a difference between surviving and living. We only have one life; mind as well live it to the fullest with delicious food and tasty experiences. Food is significant in traveling, traditions, holidays, religions, cultures, and celebrations. Soylent can be a great tool when used correctly as a quick occasional meal for busy individuals or for the malnourished villages that need nutrients to survive. Soylent should be used as an aid for particular and extreme circumstances, not to replace our meals and experiences.  

Soylent can be an incredible tool for occasional use, but society should not let it become an “all-over food substitute” like Rhinehart suggests after making a sales pitch to a customer at a Beyond Meat taco truck. Soylent can be useful to busy individuals that are on the go and are in need of a quick refuel to keep them on track. It stuck out to me when Widdecomb mentioned a conversation she had with Rhinehart about Soylent feeding the malnourished, “To help a village full of malnourished people, ‘you could just drop in a shipping container’ full of Soylent-producing algae,” because this is a practical and life changing idea that can make an improvement to the 663 million malnourished people in the world. Soylent is a fantastic creation when used in the correct ways, like for the benefit of saving time during a busy day or even for saving lives of the millions of starving people. Privileged humans have access to so many types and amounts of food and I truly believe we would be selfish to replace our meals with Soylent while there’s so many people that have no source of food to feed their families. I believe that the use of Soylent should be focused on changes like these instead of using it as a meal replacement which takes away the quality of life.  

Food is more than a necessity for survival but it’s a language of love and it provides a connection with loved ones. Food creates a strong bond in a religious aspect. All religions use food to symbolize their culture. For example, in Christianity, wine is a symbol of the blood of Christ and bread symbolizes the body of Christ. Food holds a similar stance between cultures as well. Cultures use food to celebrate their holidays like Mexicans….. Recipes create a connection throughout generations by being passed down. Usually, the wife of the family will teach their daughter a family recipe once they believe they are mature enough. All celebrations have a spread of foods and snacks for guests to enjoy and chat over. Trying cultural foods while traveling enhances the experience, and holidays always have a meal to celebrate with. Think about the family-owned restaurants or the generational recipes that will be lost over time as Soylent becomes more popular and replaces every meal. If we replace these special foods with Soylent, all the connection, love, and excitement will disappear.  

Food is a very important factor in my life. Not just the act of eating food but grocery shopping, preparing, and cooking as well. As I mentioned in my Favorite Homemade Meal essay, “I love to go to grocery shopping, and I love to cook so, every once in a while, I will go grocery shopping, come home, put the groceries away, and cook a meal for my mom and I. I love cooking for my mom because I learned it from her. I know it makes her proud that she has passed on the cooking gene to me,” and I am certain many others can relate to me. My mom grows a garden every summer and we always get so excited to bring baskets down to pick all the fresh vegetables so we can bring them in to create a delicious dish out of them. I cannot imagine giving up all of that to drink Soylent for every meal. Widdecomb suggests that Rhinehart wants to use Soylent as a tool and not to take away our experiences, “He imagines that in the future, ‘we’ll see a separation between our meals for utility and function, and our meals for experience and socialization.’ Soylent isn’t coming for our Sunday potlucks. It’s coming for our frozen quesadillas.” Although Rhinehart seems to claim that he does not want to use Soylent as a food replacement, he admits to living solely off of Soylent. In my Favorite Homemade Meal Essay I made it clear that food is very important to me, “Eating dinner with my family every night is absolutely my favorite memory as a child and I will definitely be doing the same with my future family.” 

Soylent is a powerful tool that can change lives for the better or for the worse. As a society we should use Soylent as an advantage to improve the health of the malnourished or to be a quick meal while on the go rather than a replacement for all meals. Food symbolizes love, connection, and relationships. Without our traditional meals or generational recipes, there will be a disconnect from us to our ancestors. One of the most important things every country, state, town, and family has in common is food. 

1,250 Final Draft:

Are humans supposed to live to eat or eat to live? The 2014 article, “The End of Food” by Lizzie Widdecombe takes us on a life-questioning journey as Lizzie learns the ins and outs of Soylent, the substance made purely of vital nutrients for our survival, and its creator, Rob Rhinehart. Rob Rhinehart is a young entreprenuer with a different perspective on food than most people. This article creates much controversy about how much our lives revolve around food. Some people believe that food takes up too much time, Widdecombe quoted Rhinehart in her article stating, “Food was such a big burden,” (Widdecombe 1) and that is the reason he invented Soylent. Soylent consists of the most vital nutrients for our survival mixed up in a powder that is blended with water. This mixture can successfully replace all food a human would eat for the rest of their lives which can be cheaper and healthier but at what cost? There is a difference between surviving and living. We only have one life; might as well live it to the fullest with delicious food and tasty experiences. Food is significant in traveling, traditions, holidays, religions, cultures, and celebrations. Soylent can be a great tool when used correctly as a quick occasional meal for busy individuals or for malnourished villages that need nutrients to survive. Soylent should be used as an aid for particular and extreme circumstances, not to replace our meals and experiences.   

Soylent can be an incredible tool for occasional use, but society should not let it become an “all-over food substitute” like Rhinehart suggests after making a sales pitch to a customer at a Beyond Meat taco truck. Soylent can be useful to busy individuals that are on the go and are in need of a quick refuel to keep them on track. It stuck out to me when Widdecombe mentioned a conversation she had with Rhinehart about Soylent feeding the malnourished, “To help a village full of malnourished people, ‘you could just drop in a shipping container’ full of Soylent-producing algae,” (Widdecombe 17) because this is a practical and life-changing idea that can make an improvement to the lives of the 663 million malnourished people in the world. Soylent is a fantastic creation when used in the correct ways, like for the benefit of saving time during a busy day or even for saving lives of the millions of starving people. Privileged humans have access to so many types and amounts of food and I truly believe we would be selfish to replace our meals with Soylent while there are so many people that have no source of food to feed their families. I believe that the use of Soylent should be focused on changes like these instead of using it as a meal replacement which takes away the quality of life.   

Food is more than a necessity for survival, it’s a language of love and it provides a connection with loved ones. Food creates a strong bond in a religious aspect. All religions use food to symbolize their culture. For example, in Christianity, wine is a symbol of the blood of Christ and bread symbolizes the body of Christ. Food holds a similar stance between cultures as well. Cultures use food to celebrate their holidays like Mexicans celebrate Day Of The Dead by making a speical dinner and placing favorite traditional foods on a shrine for a loved one to honor them. Recipes create a connection throughout generations by being passed down. Usually, the wife of the family will teach their daughter a family recipe once they believe they are mature enough. All celebrations have a spread of foods and snacks for guests to enjoy and chat over. Trying cultural foods while traveling enhances the experience and allows cultures to be appreciated.  Every holiday has a corresponding meal. Thanksgiving is a beautiful turkey with a variety of side dishes, Easter is a delicious ham, and most birthdays are celebrated with the persons favotite meal. Even if your family doesn’t celebrate with food, think about the family-owned restaurants or the generational recipes that will be lost over time as Soylent becomes more popular and replaces every meal. If we replace these special foods with Soylent, all the connection, love, and excitement will disappear.   

Food is a very important factor in my life. Not just the act of eating food but grocery shopping, preparing and cooking as well. As I mentioned in my Favorite Homemade Meal essay, “I love to go grocery shopping, and I love to cook so, every once in a while, I will go grocery shopping, come home, put the groceries away, and cook a meal for my mom and me. I love cooking for my mom because I learned it from her. I know it makes her proud that she has passed on the cooking gene to me,” and I am certain many others can relate to me. My mom grows a garden every summer and we always get so excited to bring baskets down to pick all the fresh vegetables so we can bring them in to create a delicious dish out of them. Even my 8 year old nephew, who is very picky with his foods, loves doing this everytime he visits in summer. I cannot imagine giving up all of that to drink Soylent for every meal. Widdecombe suggests that Rhinehart wants to use Soylent as a tool and not to take away our experiences, “He imagines that in the future, ‘we’ll see a separation between our meals for utility and function, and our meals for experience and socialization.’ Soylent isn’t coming for our Sunday potlucks. It’s coming for our frozen quesadillas.” (Widdecombe 3) Although Rhinehart seems to claim that he does not want to use Soylent as a food replacement, he admits to living solely off of Soylent. In my Favorite Homemade Meal Essay, I made it clear that food is very important to me, “Eating dinner with my family every night is absolutely my favorite memory as a child and I will definitely be doing the same with my future family.” My father passed away a couple years ago but everytime my mother makes one of his favorite meals, it reminds me of him and makes me happy. Other than a persoanl connection to food, I enjoy having different textures and flavors in my dishes, which Soylent lacks. As described in the article, “The End of Food,” Soylent does not sound appealing. After Lizzies first taste of Soylent, she explained it as, “The liquid is smooth but grainy in your mouth, and it has a yeasty, comforting blandness about it,” (Widdecombe 7) and as someone with texture issues, I don’t believe I could even swallow it… definitely not multiple times a day, every day. Eating tasty food increases dopamine, a neurotransmitter that makes us feel happy and pleasant. If we replace our yummy snacks and meals with Soylent, we won’t get to experience these bursts of dopamine throughout each day and naturally, the rates of depression will be increasing.  

Soylent is a powerful tool that can change lives for the better or the worse. As a society, we should use Soylent as an advantage to improve the health of the malnourished or to be a quick meal while on the go rather than a replacement for all meals. Food symbolizes love, connection, and relationships. Without our traditional meals or generational recipes, there will be a disconnect between us to our ancestors. One of the most important things every country, state, town, and family have in common is food.