The abundance of food in America is a gift and a curse. The curse is the Omnivore's Dilemma of what to eat. With the vast array of choices there are many detrimental ones that could be consumed, shortening ones lifespan. The abundance of food has increased all sorts of health problems such as diabetes and congestive heart failure. I believe the once resolved dilemma, was brought back by the food industry for money. Think about how much one can profit off of inventing new "healthier" foods with the marketing techniques we have today. General Mills, a corporation that manufactures some "healthy" brands such as cheerios, wheaties, and mountain high all-natural yogurt, spent over $1 billion on tv ads alone (http://www.businessinsider.com/the-35-companies-that-spent-1-billion-on-ads-in-2011-2012-11?op=1). Also I find it interesting how General Mills markets foods that are heavily processed as well as food thats marketed as organic. I believe they do this to target the health-concious consumer and the non-health concious consumer. To them it's about the money- not our health. The health condition of America is perfect for making money. You can sell all of these "healthier" foods in the consumers hope of becoming healthier. And a lot of times even though an item claims to be healthy it's usually not- like the example of whole wheat bread from my last post. The abundance of food is a gift because we don't have to worry about a shortage of food. Many foods in the market today contain various perservatives, which aren't necessarily healthy, but it helps food last longer, making food shortage a less probable event. Another benefit of the dilemma is having access to food that is not locally available. How else would I be able to consume the traditional food of my family or be able to try new dishes without leaving home?
"One of every 4 Americans lived on a farm when Naylor's grandfather arrived here...less than a century after, fewer than 2 million Americans still farm- and they don't grow enough to feed the rest of us." (p.34) That is a dramatic decrease in farmers for a short amount of time. We take it forgranted that we don't have to do the hard labor, we can just go and buy the food we want. I wish we all understood how much work is put out by farmers so we can have something to eat. Maybe if we all went back to farming for ourselves we would appreciate what the farmers do. Perhaps we'd also be healthier because this way we'd be getting exercise and since we'd probably produce less we would in return be eating less.
Page 36 states that Naylor doesn't use GMOs in his farm, unlike many of his neighboring farmers. He claims "They are messing with billions of years of evolution." I think that is a good point because we can not revert back to the natural state of an organism once the GMO transition is completed. Obviously Monsanto, a biotechnology company, is pushing GMO seeds for money.
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8 comments:
Sabina,
I found this post very interesting. I think it highlights a problem in the world today that can only lead to a catastrophic end: people care about money more than anything else. As you mentioned, companies are more concerned with marketing and sales rather than the actual health of their consumer. They would rather increase the number of servings to make the calories per serving appear less than actually reduce the amount of calories in their product. But since you suggested returning to historic farming techniques and self-sustainment, how do you think that would affect the entire world? Do you think that the monetary system as a whole would eventually die out and people would begin to barter again? Nonetheless, it is an interesting theory.
Sabina,
You are right about most things here. People take granted for the things they have because they feel like getting food is not a luxury but a simple necessity. They do not realize the hard work and motivation farmers apply to getting the best food out to the public. Instead there are the companies ordering faster production with unsanitary ways. By this way of producing, the public does not know what they are coughing up money for and therefore are getting ripped off. I do not know how our society would be if we all went back to farming like the first settlers. I feel that with society being how it is right now, there is no possible way for farming to be a nationwide job for everyone. Even though it sounds like it would knock some sense into some people, it doesn't sound like the most rational idea because our society can not work off of just land labor. Maybe one day all will be different.
Sabina's right when she says that the big food companies care only about the money and not our health. They'll do anything just to sell their products just like any other company like tobacco. We all know that tobacco is bad for us after all the research that has been done but I think what most of us don't know is that most "healthy" food is almost as bad as fast food. I've noticed in my recent trips to Europe that healthy doesn't mean always available. Like my grandparents who grow their own crops that are in season instead of going out to the market are much more healthier than my family here who can just go to the supermarket and by tomatoes at any time of the year. I think that's one of our biggest problems in America. We don't rely on the old ways of growing food. The new and easier way of modifying our food will end up costing less of our money, but more of our health.
It's sad that we can't trust the people that are providing everyday items for us. Money just seems to be everything now-a-days and we can't seem to get what we actually need. Because of all the new technology we have, in my eyes, too many options in life today. This is a good and also bad. I'm thankful to the farmers that work so hard but they don't recieve enough credit. People need to walk in farmers shoes for a day and fully comprehend all the work that people do for them. Just because companies are producing foods faster doesnt mean that they should recieve the credit. People believe that more, or in this case, faster is better. We can't just trust all food products just because they are produced faster. Our good health is going to continue to decline because of these new ways.
Your post was really interesting and it made me want to know more about GMOs, like what about it is irreversible,and the effect that they might have, even though there can also be huge benefits. The thought that it's messing with millions of years of evolution is something to consider, because traits must have survived or not survived for a reason. I don't know much about it, but we rely on the organisms around us and if we change something irreversibly, we don't know how far reaching of an effect that could have.
Your post was really interesting and it made me want to know more about GMOs, like what about it is irreversible,and the effect that they might have, even though there can also be huge benefits. The thought that it's messing with millions of years of evolution is something to consider, because traits must have survived or not survived for a reason. I don't know much about it, but we rely on the organisms around us and if we change something irreversibly, we don't know how far reaching of an effect that could have.
Sabina, I agree with you in this post. Like the saying goes "you never appreciate the things you have until its gone." Most food companies do not care about the health of the customers of the workers who work in that factory. Im watching a movie in PIG class that shows the insides of a fictional fast food factory. They had cow feces in the meat that they shipped to the fast food restaurant. The company knew of this but brushed it under the carpet. They hired illegal immigrants and when they got hurt they said they were doing coke on the job so the company wouldnt get in trouble. Its unfortunate how little the companies care about the health of the people. Because ultimately that will determine whether or not they come back for the companies business.
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