Economy on Food Essay

Many Americans consume food at an alarming rate without even stopping to think of what they really might be eating or how it ended up on their plate. If we just took the time to see how our food systems worked, we would notice the domino affect trickling down from government to average day Americans. In order for us to be able to grow and produce food, farmers are paid by our government in the form of subsidies. These crops often times do not grow naturally from the ground. Chemicals are pumped into the Earth causing problems for our environment. That food is than sent on journeys all over the world, including stops at feed lots. Animals are fed the crop which has more cons than pros to their digestive system and their bodies causing meat to have a higher concentration of fat. Of course these products are then distributed to our grocery stores and we buy them without the slightest bit of hesitation. Each one of these steps has an affect on the other and it might all be controlled by one problem – government subsidies. Without this control farmers might have the initiative to grow with their minds set on quality over quantity which in turn will have healthier affects on each level of our food economy. Farmers are large contributors toward the food for our society. The government pays farmers by controlling the supply and demand through subsidies keeping the farmers their jobs. However, the subsidies are based on how many bushels a farmer can grow, which leads to an overproduction. An example of a highly subsidized crop is corn. Alone, this crop causes environmental, animal farming, and society health issues. According to Michael Pollan, an author, activist, and Professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, for farmers to grow an abundant amount of corn it requires more chemicals and pesticides to maintain growing conditions. These chemicals eventually find its way into the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, killing marine life (45). When this crop is sold, farmers with livestock buy it as animal feed, for it is cheap. â€Å"Most of the animals we eat (chickens, pigs, and cows) today subsist on a diet of corn, reguardless regardless of whether it is good for them† (Pollan, 44). Cattle are not use to an all corn diet which causes farmers to feed them antibiotics to fight off any illness and or infections. Once these animals pass inspections they are sent off to a slaughter house to become the meat we eat, which is filled with antibiotics and corn. Corn comes in a sugar additive form be more accurate -Meline Akashian 11/27/10 3:25 PM called high fructose corn syrup. It is commonly found in soft drinks because it is so sweet and cheap. Due to the subsidy, it took the place of sugar. There is â€Å"†¦ no coincidence that the wholesale switch to corn sweeteners in 1980’s marks the beginning of the epidemic of obesity and Type 2 Diabetes in this country† (Pollan, 44). Since the subsidy caused overproduction and extremely low prices, America has let itself go in becoming one of the fattest and laziest nations by turning to fast food restaurants instead of home cooked meals. The government pays farmers to grow these commodities (i. e. corn, soy, wheat, rice, and cotton) for their overproduction and â€Å"†¦ the farm bill what farm bill? offer context for quote -Meline Akashian 11/27/10 3:26 PM does almost nothing to support farmers growing fresh produce†¦ The reason the least healthful calories in the supermarket are the cheapest is that those are the ones the farm bill encourages farmers to grow† (Pollan, You Are What You Grow). While fruit and vegetable prices increased 40 percent from 1985-2000, the price of soft drinks, containing corn, declined 23 percent (Pollan, You Are What You Grow). Through government subsidies and the farm bill, it has caused several problems concerning the environment, and animal and society health. Government subsidies need to be looked at and changed considerably. Farmers need to stop overproduction and instead of being paid by bushels, be paid to limit production and support prices (Pollan, You Are What You Grow). By supporting prices and limiting production, crops may not be so high in demand, further resulting in animals eating what they are accustomed to and Americans eating healthier with fewer unknown additives put into their food. Here you have moved to possible solutions — save it for that section. -Meline Akashian 11/27/10 3:28 PM The overproduction of corn in America has raised many questions regarding the process and production of corn and how it is affecting us Americans today. Need a different transition here, one that spins off from last paragraph -Meline Akashian 11/27/10 3:29 PM Many documentaries about corn, the production, process, and distribution have been experimented with and caught on tape, while more problems have risen about conditions of corn and farming. Such Aforementioned problems have revealed that though corn is cheap and easy, it increases health risks for our bodies and to animals as well. Michael Pollan author of â€Å"When A Crop Becomes King,† writer for the New York Times states that â€Å"nowhere have humans done quite as much to advance the interests of this plant as in North America , where zea mays has insinuated itself into our landscape, our food system-and our federal budget. † Pollan is revealing that people may question the food production and if producers are looking out for our best interest or not. We still buy the same products and dont ask the important questions, though, we just accept that it is a way of life. We complain that food is unhealthy and there are rarely any alternatives that are just as quick and tasty as fast food, instead, we need to choose our own alternatives rather then blame the fast food industry. Corn has been processed and has become an American product for the past few decades, â€Å"we’re sacrificing the health of both our bodies and the environment by growing and eating so much of it[†¦ ]that’s cause for our concern† states Polan in another quote from The New York Times. Though we have the production of corn processed in foods and fed to animals to make there meat more fatty, the best strategy that has kept the zea mays in business is the development of high fructose corn syrup. Look on the backs of soda cans, candy bars, even apples and you will notice that there is high fructose corn syrup in our americanized products. Corns being processed into all of our foods, drinks, and animals is only part of the problem, Polan states that â€Å"Modern corn hybrids are the greediest of plants, demanding more nitrogen fertilizer than any other crop also requiring more pesticide then any other crop. † Corn isn’t as cheap as we suspect it to be, the diet for corn consists of a plethera of water and is sprayed with chemicals each time it’s grown. Due to the chemicals that are sprayed, â€Å"these chemicals find its way to the Mississippi River which carries it to the Gulf of Mexico, which has already killed marine life in a 12,000 square mile area. † Polan again reveals that if we take a step back, we will realize that our environment is suffering just as much as we are, we are temporary on this earth we need to remember that the environment is not to be tempered with, but natural. The process of cornification and new developments if cheap and easy products, has cause a domino affect in our health system. Although our environment is suffering due to over use of chemicals, we do not end there. nice T -Meline Akashian 11/27/10 3:33 PM According to the U. S Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, each year in the United States, 10 billion land animals are raised and killed for meat, eggs, and milk. To an average American with no prior knowledge of our food economy this might seem like a minuscule fact, however; it is the way in which these animals are farmed which has dire consequences on our societies health. Farm animal welfare expert Dr. Donald Broom states; â€Å"Efforts to achieve earlier and faster growth, greater production per individual, and efficient feed conversions and partitioning are the causes of some of the worst animal welfare problems. † The farming of livestock has changed dramatically over the past centuries. Many still think of farming as the rural collections of barns and field where animals are free to graze and move about until they are executed effectively, â€Å"in reality, some farms are massive industrial-type facilities owned and operated by large corporations†¦ [and] although they make up a small percentage of American farms, they handle a large percentage of the animals killed for food in the United States† (Breakdown of Livestock Farms, North American Industry Classification System in Census of Agriculture). These factory farms are also known as CAFO’s or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. Because of the over production of corn, these animals diets consist of nothing but it. Since corn is a high-starch, high-energy food, it decreases the time it takes to fatten the cattle and increases the yield from these farms. According to the documentary, King Corn, cattle are fed for anywhere between 140-160 days and than slaughtered, however; corn is not the natural diet of cattle and since it is not, many problems have stemmed from this abnormal diet. They are becoming fatter at an alarming rate which is good for the company’s wallets but not for our waist lines considering â€Å"65% of calories from burgers are energy calories from fat† causing a direct line between obese cows, and obese Americans (King Corn). The problem lies within the cattle’s digestive system. The heavy corn diet acidifies the cow’s digestive tract and causes bacteria to form. Under normal circumstances a bacteria known as â€Å"E. coli 0157: H7 would be killed by stomach acids but the increased amounts of acid allows for the more acid resistant bacteria to thrive and reproduce† (Richard J.Arsenault, Corn Fed Cattle: Bigger Cows, Bigger E. coli Threat. )nice addition of detail, but paraphrase — wording not worthy of quote status 🙂 -Meline Akashian 11/27/10 3:37 PM Cattle are being forced to consume products which end up killing them slowly, and if it were not for the time of slaughter they would eventually die. Either way in which they die is not usually pleasant. awk -Meline Akashian 11/27/10 3:38 PM Cows may be raised in one state, fattened in another, and then slaughtered in yet another. During the transportation of these animals they are packed into trucks where they suffer from trampling, temperature extremes, and lack of food, water or veterinary care. When they reach the slaughterhouse, cattle may be hoisted upside-down by their hind legs and dismembered all while being conscious since the techniques for slaughter are surrounded around yield and not efficiency. The kill rate in a typical slaughterhouse is 400 animals per hour, and â€Å"the line is never stopped simply because an animal is alive,† according to a former slaughterhouse worker and author of â€Å"They Die Piece by Piece†, Joby Warrick. Are you drifitng away from topic? -Meline Akashian 11/27/10 3:39 PM There are no animal welfare laws regulating the treatment of billions of animals raised for their mean meat, eggs, and milk while they are on the farm. While all of the 50 states have cruelty laws, many exempt common farming practices. As a result of this, farm animals suffer immensely due to the fact that animal welfare is overlooked since the economic interests of the producer often conflict with the animals well-being. But the animals well-being is not the only consequence; factory farming effect the environment as well as society itself. The effects fast food has on Americans is a wide variety of different things, and society is one of them. Wendell Berry from The Pleasures of Eating says people â€Å"buy what they want–or what they have been persuaded to want–within the limits of what they can get. † (Berry 1) Berry feels that the advertisers of fast food companies make people feel that they need things that are not necessarily good for them because it is provided to them cheaply and with easy access. Society has been blind sided when it comes to where there food is from, the most an average urban shopper could tell you is that their food came from a farm. They are unaware of any further information such as; what farm it came from, where the farm is located, and how far the food had to travel to get to them. (Berry 1) Most Americans view food as something that does not concern them until it is put in front of them. They don’t spend any extra time thinking about the health aspects of their food until it comes time to purchase it or make it. Even then, Americans lives are so fast paced they don’t have tome time to worry about what is in their food. It is very obvious through commercials and other forms of advertisement that the industry does not care about the health of society. They advertise to young children and teens who do not know any better, this section seems to be about causes rather than effects -Meline Akashian 11/27/10 4:01 PM as well as hire immigrants that will work for low pay. It is very clear they are not aware of what they are providing their customers with. The industry has been able to create a vicious circle by advertising to children. These children grow up and feed it to their children, thus continuing the never ending cycle. As long as fast food restaurants are able to provide food at a cheap price, quickly the health of society will be a problem. There is no way we could possibly shut down all of the fast food restaurants but there are different things we could do just to make people more aware of what they are eating. When dining at a fast food restaurant it is hard to come across health information on the food they are providing you with, pamphlets providing this information should be offered to every customer much like how they offer you to super size your meal. Another idea would be to provide the dietary facts on the outside packaging of the product how they do at grocery stores on every item sold. And this section seems to be about solutions -Meline Akashian 11/27/10 4:02 PM Societies health problems may be growing but our knowledge is also growing and we should get smart and look further into what we put into our bodies. What we put into our bodies has a lot to do with the increased health problems in society today, in years prior to 1994 diabetes in children was typically a genetic disorder that they had inherited and Type 2 diabetes only accounted for 5% of childhood cases now it accounts for at least 30%. (David Zinczenko Pg 1). This is actually on topic — the negative effects on health -Meline Akashian 11/27/10 4:03 PM So who do we blame for the fact that our health is going downhill? People should know how to eat properly and know better than to eat several meals a week from a fast food restaurants, I don’t think its the fact that people don’t understand what it could do to there body, its the lack of alternatives and the FDA does not require prepared foods to be labeled with health information. We have covered every street in America with fast food restaurants and made it almost impossible to come by a health food store. Why would Americans spend time looking for healthier alternatives when we have strategically placed several other unhealthy alternatives right in front of them. Fast food is not just affecting the health of people but also of our environment packaging from fast food restaurants can take up anywhere from 20-30% of our landfill space belongs in a different section -Meline Akashian 11/27/10 4:05 PM and add pollutants to our air. Fast food has a huge affect on society that witha few east steps in the right direction we could create a healthier America. A major downfall for the US is how we are able to provide food at such a cheap cost. It is awesome for the customers but for the people providing it (farmers) it is more of a cost to them. Michael Pollan, author of When a Crop Becomes King from the New York Times explains exactly how farmers are paying more money for corn in the long run, because â€Å"the average bushel of corn (56 pounds) sells for about $2 today; it costs farmers more than $3 to grow it. â€Å"(Pollan 1). If farmers are spending more money on corn than customers are paying for it how are they making any money themselves? Congress has decided to subsidize corn by the bushel, America is covered in 125,000- square miles of corn fields. Subsidies are grants given to an enterprise provided by the government that benefit the public. Does cheap food ever mean healthy food? Typically no. Advertisers will promote anything to get you to eat it! They target young children with anything from commercials to action figures. New York Times David Barboza author of the article If You Pitch it, They Will Eat says, â€Å"Big food makers like McDonald’s and Kraft Foods Inc. are finding every imaginable way to put their names in front of your children. † (Barboza 1) Companies view their sale pitches as harmless but they are a huge reason of America’s rise in obesity. Cheap food from fast food restaurants like Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, Taco Bell and KFC are targeting teenagers and cheap is all that the average teenager can afford. That’s what they eat, cheap food that will clog their arteries and if it is eaten constantly could lead to some major health problems. If fast food was pricier maybe it would encourage teenagers to make there way to the grocery store and spend their money on foods that are better and more nutritious for them. The problems that have arosearisen -Meline Akashian 11/27/10 3:56 PM due to the new developments with corn and subsidies have drawn Americans and health developers to question the health risks. Corn has been a new popular development for the past few decades with the booming fast food industry and even to grocery stores across America. Cheap food and cheap prices not only make it easy for parents, but are quite a tasty treat to people anywhere. The solution to end the change and chemicalization of our environment will be too change the â€Å"agricultural act† as Wendall Berry, author of The Pleasures of Eating stated. The video, King Corn, has shown that corn has been genetically changed and is grown closer together which not only makes the food unhealthy, but it is unhealthy for the soil as well. Corn is distributed into many different products, sprayed with chemicals, and genetically altered so that it flatters the human eye. Corn also feeds the animals, in which farms put them in a box to feed instead of grazing along pastures, healthily. Berry states that animals are fed with antibiotics so they won’t die from the change in diet, and so they can fight off bacteria in their bodies. Our environment is where the earth began, slowly but surely we are killing off plants and animals for our benefits as â€Å"heavy consumers. † We want to make a solution to stunting environmental growth because it is all a domino affect. One part affects the whole puzzle, take away corn, and we are forced to find alternative sweeteners for soda, candy, fruit, and other products. An alternative to corn syrup is sugar, though more expensive, it is worth it if it benefits our bodies and environment. In King Corn, the college students say that there is â€Å"30% more sugar used in corn form† than before. This suggests that high fructose corn syrup is more unhealthy than sugar itself. Researchers at University of Minnesota also made the point that â€Å"high fructose corn syrup causes trygliceride levels in men to increase shortly after eating, which links to an increased risk of obesity and heart disease. † Our problem is corn and the production, we find alternatives such as going back to sugar, and letting the animals, plants, soil, grow healthier so that humans will be healthier. Lets face it, we don’t know what we are eating, but do we care to ask questions? Rather, we complain about how there are no alternatives to the fast and easy drive-thru. Our change in society with our environment will be slow, one less person going to McDonald’s, is one less employee making a hamurger, which is one less manufacturer making money on his or her product. Let’s come together and find our own alternatives, rather than having society determine for us. It is easy to say that Americans are victims when it comes to eating unhealthy. We are heavily influenced by fast food and marketing industries. Together, they promote and reel consumers in by making their products cheap and convenient. So, how do we fight back? According to Wendell Berry, an author and farmer, we need to start by eating responsibly. This includes preparing your own food, knowing where your food is grown (preferably closer to home), dealing directly with the farmer or gardener, and learning, about the economy, farming, and through observations (40). Eating responsibly is a life style one chooses, it definitely won’t happen over night. Blaming fast food companies for making America fat may be the easy way out of personal responsibility but America is to blame. Daniel Weintraub’s article states that â€Å"Statewide, the Center said 26 percent of schoolchildren are overweight† (42). 5 tips prob -Meline Akashian 11/27/10 4:14 PM The lack of exercise has caused childhood obesity to rise in consideration with the intake of fast food. Since fast food companies clearly play a role in the obesity problem America has, the change should start with them by offering healthier alternatives, smaller portion sizes, and nutritional facts on the food and beverages being consumed. But the bigger pictures focuses on the farm bill. The reason fast food companies can sell their food cheap is because of the subsidy system. Pollan states that â€Å"eaters want a bill that makes the most healthful calories in the supermarket competitive with the least healthful ones. Eaters want a bill that feeds schoolchildren fresh food from local farms rather than processed surplus commodities from far away. Enlightened eaters also recognized their dependence on farmers which is why they would support a bill that guarantees the people who raise our food not subsidies but fair prices† (You Are What You Grow). The only way that our nation can change the health problem it’s suffering from now is by taking the time to understand and know what they are really eating, along with what was done to it to make it taste the way it does. Originally, Government subsidies were intended to ensure that American people had enough food. Our Government wanted to make sure that our country would never have a problem regarding the amount of food we produce. Though the intentions of our nation were only to make sure that every person can have food in their belly, the result of starting the subsidy system, in fact, made things worse. Without subsidy, corn costs much more than it does with a subsidy. Since the Government decided that subsidies would be a good idea, farmers have taken advantage of the opportunity to increase their income. Over the years, chemicals have been put into corn to change its color, its ability to grow closer together, and how fast it grows. Not only that, but chemicals must be put into the soil to make it grow in general, because farmers have abandoned their old method of rotating crops and leaving the land fallow. Making these modifications to the corn crop has done what they wanted: increased the amount of corn produced, therefore increasing the amount of money farmers recieve. Unfortunately, it has also caused major problems in the health of the food. As mentioned previously, corn is fed to livestock. Since corn has such chemicals put into it, that’s exactly what the animals consume, and it makes the meat â€Å"have nine times as much saturated fats as grass fed animals†(King Corn). This means that the meat that humans consume, in addition to the corn itself, and corn syrup that humans consume, are much less healthy than we think. Paragraph should start here. Most of above is repeating what should have come before -Meline Akashian 11/27/10 4:17 PM The Subsidy system is flawed in that it’s intentions were for the health of the country, but it’s results are that all food is less healthy than it once was. Eliminating subsidies on corn will raise the price on corn, which in turn will raise price on meat, change the diet for livestock, and force companies to use natural sugar rather than corn syrup. These changes will result in less health issues, considering that â€Å"corn syrup [alone] has a higher risk of type 2 diabetes†(King Corn). If the government really was concerned with the health of our country, officials would have considered the health of not only the people, but the land, plants, and animals we depend on for survival. Getting rid of subsidies will only help the country toward its dream of better health.