Monday, May 3, 2010
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."
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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