Food Inc Reflection

The movie “Food Inc.” is an interesting documentary that takes a look into what really goes on in the food industry and shows the perspective of the farmers involved and exposes some of the issues with food production. During the movie it talked about several farmers whose crops were forcibly changed due to the overseeing company Monsanto. This company created a seed that they now own and any farmer that happens to have it found in their field is immediately sued for stealing it. The twisted part is that these farmers aren’t actually stealing anything. The farmers happen to have their crops next to the fields of farmers that legally use the seed, so when the altered seeds were sent into the air by natural process the unaltered plants were “infected” by the genetics from the altered plant causing it to take on the traits of the altered plant. Now with this there was a process that was being offered to farmers to “decontaminate” their seeds returning them to normal. But, the gentleman offering the service was sued for giving farmers the option to change from the seeds which would cost the company money. The lawsuit went on for a while and the only reason it ended with a settlement was because the man could no longer pay his legal bills. It has become a habit of large companies to sue individuals that “leak” the truth about how the companies run their operations. The crazy thing is that they threaten to sue and sue just to give a warning and keep poor farmers in line. It’s just stupefying the lengths companies will go to keep consumers in the dark. The American Beef Growers even tried to sue Oprah for a comment she said on her talk show. They are debasing the very idea of freedom of speech and the legal system is letting them! What the food industry has become a system that systematically tears down the long lasting freedoms built up through America’s history and passed down from generation to generation. They are suing calling it “slander” when actually it’s just an innocent, hard working, American sharing their opinion. A right that we all share and I see being taken away as the food companies become more powerful.

Essay Abstract

Abstract

In America we have an epidemic of obesity in people young and old. Over the years there have been many things that are being put out as potential causes ranging from: poor diet, lack of knowledge, lack of healthier choices, and a magical substance known as High Fructose Corn Syrup. What was focused on in this paper was High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). As the years have gone by HFCS has become an additive in almost everything we eat and drink, which has given many the reason to think it’s what is causing the majority of the obesity issue. However, it’s not only because it’s found in almost everything, but also the fact that since it’s a different sugar molecularly it’s broken down and stored differently in the body. This is the one of the main scientific arguments behind those that find themselves anti-HFCS. While there are those that think HFCS is the bane of our existence there are others that feel there isn’t enough evidence to prove it’s all HFCS’s fault that we have such an issue. What’s most startling is the fact that the issue of HFCS not only affects our health but the environment as well. As the demand for corn increases more land is needed to grow it and the way they do that is by clearing vast expanses of landscape to make way for corn farms. Now this may seem like a non-issue, but as more and more trees are being cut down we lose valuable parts of the global ecosystem that processes CO2 and makes oxygen for other life, including ourselves, to breath and destroying habitats that have been around more than likely much longer than we have. One of the major issues with HFCS is that it raises the possibility for further health issues as well as potentially leading to a new environmental disaster. This disaster is the threat of monocultures. As the production of corn and corn products increases the demand for land to use for corn increases as well. The problem with this is that over time there is a threat to the biodiversity of crops being produced.

"HFCS now represents > 40% of caloric sweeteners added to foods and beverages and is the sole caloric sweetener in soft drinks in the United States."

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Fast Food and Obesity in Children

Brownell, Kelly D. "Fast Food and Obesity in Children." Pediatrics in Review. American Academy of Pediatrics, 2004. Web. 24 Feb. 2010. .

This article showed the point of fast food not being the reason America has gained weight, like this one, "... soft drinks do not cause pediatric obesity, do not reduce nutrient intake, and do not cause dental cavities in children." But, the interesting thing is that it also pointed out some poignant facts that said other wise. Like the one here, "the number of meals eaten outside the home has increased dramatically6 (the restaurant industry accounted for 46.1% of every food dollar in 1999, up from 25% in 1955; 40% of American adults eat at a restaurant in a typical day7)" These facts are useful to my paper as it can give me the opposing side to my film, making it a stronger case. I think I am going to put the information in a paragraph of it's own to really give the opposing side a fighting chance, but crush it in the end. I noticed that the further I read into the article the more clear it became it was countering the statements that support it, but I can still use the sources for the "pro-fast food" statements as references in my paper.

Social & Cultural Geography

Guthman, Julie. "Social & Cultural Geography, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2003." Social & Cultural Geography. Vol. Vol. 4. Routledge, 2003. Print.

This article really goes in depth in the argument of Fast Food vs. Organic Food. But, what makes it important is the fact that it is more towards the pro- organic food side, which will most likely be the core of my paper. I feel that facts like, "...Earthbound Farms continued to grow at a rate of at least 50 percent a year until 1995..." and "Over the course of five years, organic salad mix had gone from a specialty commodity selling for over $12 per pound at retail, to just a commodity at $4 per pound." Which shows the small aspects that go into the over all food problem.

Nathan Lewis: Man of Mistery

During his lecture, Mr. Lewis, talked a lot about whats happening to the world and how humans are affecting climate change in our every day lives. What I noticed during his lecture was that he had a lot of percentages as well as scientifically backed facts on where we are headed. An interesting aspect to that was the fact that he seemed to be such an advocate for coal as a n energy source. This caught me off guard as I was under the impression that he's an environmentalist. But, what i think he was going fro was to show that our most viable energy source is destructive and needs to change. Another thing he mentioned was the fact that, globally, humans use an average of 13 terrawatts of energy. The crazy thing about that number is that a new unit had to be invented to define it. On top of that, where is he getting his information and why isn't it more publically available? As far as renewable energies go, I feel that our best bet is a combination of solar and hydroelectric used as off shore turbines with solar arrays on the top of them.

Fast Food Nation The True Cost of America's Diet

This article is EXTREMELY useful to my senior project. Since my project has to do with conspiracy and a new world order brought about by fast food companies, so this article fits the bill. It talks in detail about how fast food companies don't like "individuality" in their organizations and stress on conformity in order for it to run smoothly. Also, it states that the only workers that make less money than fast food employees, McDonalds especially, are migrant farm workers.

Schlosser, Eric. "Fast Food Nation: The True Cost of America's Diet." Rolling Stone 3 Sept. 1998. Web. 10 Feb. 2010.

Obesity in America: How America Junk food Created an Obesity Epidemic in the US.

This article has some use to me. It talks about how big fast food has gotten to the point where it's spreading to other countries. This helps my point of fast food companies slowly taking over all food industry. The article also continues to mention the fact that burgers do have addictive qualities, which can push my story further. Later in the article it states that a reason for fast food being so popular is that people don't really know what healthy food is. This can go straight into the story where fast food is all there is, most people don't know what healthy is so they have no motivation to rebel.

Obesity in America: How American Junk Food Created an Obesity Epidemic in the US. Web. 10 Feb. 2010.

Lawyers See Fat Payoffs in Junk Food Lawsuits

This site is mostly just for the "film" It talks about the potential for people to sue companies for obesity. Which can add a new portion to the plot that as people started gaining weight lawyers began suing on behalf of them which cost the fast food companies large amounts of money until, the companies made the lawyers "disappear" which allowed for the for the companies to continue doing what they were before.

"FOXNews।com - Lawyers See Fat Payoffs in Junk Food Lawsuits - U.S. & World." Breaking News | Latest News | Current News - FOXNews.com. Web. 11 Feb. 2010.


So over all my articles contribute considerably to my project. There were several bits of information that can fuel the story, such as the statement that recently Ronald McDonald has be come even more recognizable than Santa. This strengthens our point of the fast food companies taking over and running everything. But, I feel that if there is going to be a writing portion I may be in a bit of trouble as my sources don't list where they got their information from. I think that as of now my partner and I have an excellent idea, but executing it may be a challenge.

Farmer in Chief: Reflection

This is an article about the present condition of the food system in America and, in my opinion, and analysis of others in different countries. The article is exceptionally written and the evidence used actually made me realize the flaws in a system I had before known nothing about. A key point in the article that struck me was the fact that we use 10 calories of fossil fuels to every 1 calorie of produce. That statistic is staggering simply because it seems to utterly wasteful. You'd think that those that run any operation related to this would realize how unnecessary it is to use that much fuel. But, I suppose that since most machines that deal with farming run on diesel, the farmers or whomever have no choice simply because there are presently little to no alternatives.

Which brings me to another interesting point in the article where it is stated that, "More recently, cheap energy has underwritten a globalized food economy in which it makes (or rather, made) economic sense to catch salmon in Alaska, ship it to China to be filleted and then ship the fillets back to California to be eaten." It just blows my mind that that is the route that made the most sense. Why ship fish from and area they were caught at to another country and then ship it back to that general area? It would seem that it would make more sense to localize it so you don't have to create a middle man.

Agricultural Background

My grandfather was a cotton farmer growing up. He was born and raised in Blytheville, Arkansas where for the majority of his life he picked cotton in his fathers field. Starting at the ripe age of 5 he continued to pick cotton, by hand, until he was seventeen when he joined the navy. As of now he sticks to growing vegetables in his back yard.