I agree with the statement “You are a product of your environment” to an extent. I believe every person is a conditional product of their environment. However when the expression is lacking the 'conditional' element, it becomes overused and misconstrued.

Being a product of solely your environment conjures up a disturbing image of humans lying on an assembly line being sent to predestined locations. Life is not like that. Nonetheless, that’s not to say the environment cannot drastically manipulate the “product”. Say you lived in a remote desert and all you’ve ever known is the sand.  It is very unlikely that you, or any other product of this environment, will grow up to be professional snowboarders. That said, however improbable, it could still happen.

Self awareness dictates we are more that a product of our environment. What power does our environment truly have when we are able to think analytically, weigh pros and cons and even anticipate situations? My point is we are the product of our decisions too. Think of the success stories you hear, the underdogs, the climbers, the ones that bet the odds. They weren't a product of their environment or were they?

Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime. Right? Wrong. What if the man’s mind was elsewhere when you were teaching him to fish? What if he decides to catch a fish he must be a fish? What if he’s too lazy to get out of bed to even start the fishing? The environment is waiting, bountiful with fish, but the man’s choices are determining if he’ll go hungry. His choices influence the product. In contrast you could teach a man to fish but send him to a concrete jungle. His environment is adversely determining the product here. And what happens to the poor man you ask? He ends up sleeping with the fishes of course. 

Perhaps the largest confusion with this expression is that our environment directs our attitude towards life which in turn determines the product. I believe it works the other way around. I marvel at the fact that is so overlooked that you can construct your own environment. Perception is a wonderful thing. The growth mindset and fixed mindset argument is an example of this in terms of success. If you limit yourself you cannot truly succeed. If you see your environment as “what you’re stuck with” then you are accepting a certain standard of the “product”. Let’s say you view your environment to be “bad”: A) This means you will turn out “bad” B) Everyone should feel sorry for you and pity your struggle C) You work to achieve aims and give yourself a prosperous life. Same recipe, different dishes. This is why we have success stories, rising of the underdogs and everyday heroes. This is why we are not ONLY the product of our environment but the product of our mindset and choices too.