Jacob Miller PV

PhotoVoice Project
Created by Jacob Miller
Participant: Nate Miller (brother 17)
“I fully concentrate on sharing photos and written statements
with my brother on the environment and health” -Nate Miller. I, Jacob Miller, can confirm he wrote this statement.

Photo 1

“After reading an article about PhotoVoice, I decided to show how we can’t always be as healthy as we want when it comes to the products we use. We can try to be as healthy as we can, but we can’t always do that because of the added products companies put in their products. For example, I don’t recognize many of the toothpaste ingredients I don’t know if they’re harmful or not and if they are what am I going to do about it, not use toothpaste. If we lived in a perfect world we would be able to put in our toothpaste what we need and not anything extra, however that is not the case,” Nate Miller.

What I gained from my brothers photo and statement was that we have less control than we think on the things we put in our bodies. He shows that he may get the few things that he thinks he needs, but he is unable to just have those, he has to have all the other stuff that he doesn’t know as well. I think his concern is very serious because unless he wants to give up those products, which would give him poor hygiene, he’s stuck using the ingredients that he doesn’t know about and might not be good for him.

Photo 2

“The second photo I have relates to the first one in showing that I don’t know many of these ingredients and if they are good or not. I used food products to show it’s even the food that we put in our bodies that can be unhealthy. I wanted to point out that you can always look up what every ingredient is, but I feel like most people don’t and the companies know that. They know that nobody will really care to look if they just write it in small wording on the back. I think people should be taught at some point which of these ingredients are good and bad for you and companies should stop putting the bad ones in them,” Nate Miller.

When looking at his photo and statement, I wanted to add that peanutbutter used to be made from just peanuts, but now there are so many extra preservatives that increase its shelf life and other added fats, sugars, and salts that make it unhealthy. This is a problem because more and more people are becoming obese and the food industry is not helping. I agree with his point that companies should be more upfront with these things and not have to make you go look it up yourself. The New York Times article “America at Hunger’s Edge” by Adrian LeBlanc explains how one in eight households in America don’t have enough to eat. this image relates to this because many of these items are cheap and would be ones that those households choose and they are not giving those people the proper nutrients they need because of all the added stuff.

Photo 3

“The last photo I have is a picture of a sprite zero. I think these zero-sugar drinks exemplify the point I’m trying to create. These companies show that just by saying “zero-sugar” that these drinks are healthy, when in reality they’re having to put way more unhealthy chemicals in those drinks to make them taste the same. I think people need to start being smart and learn what they’re really putting in their bodies,” Nate Miller.

I think my brother makes a great point with photo showing how one simple phrase can make someone think something is good for them. I believe people see what they want to see and don’t look deeper into it. When comparing to previous photos when I said the companies need to be more open, I equally think that people need to be smarter with what they’re putting in their body.

Theme
I believe the theme to be “looks can be deceiving.” I believe this so because all the items shown were items you use in everyday life however they all had extra ingredients many people are unfamiliar with and would have to research if they are bad for them.