Cannibalistic Cows April Andrews ENG135 Professor Davis December 15, 2011 American’s diet is in a great dilemma. Just ask anyone where their food comes from, and they will usually say that it comes from the grocery store. However, one might ask where the food in the grocery store comes from. To gain a better understanding of the issues facing American’s eating habits and where its food comes from, Michael Pollen researches these questions in his book, The Omnivores Dilemma. Through his research, he notes that the 100 million head of cattle breed for food are living on Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (C.A.F.O.)
During this time, the beef industry was under great scrutiny from the media and consumers about how it conducted its everyday business. This news led to large media coverage on the topic of mad cow disease which was also a special on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 1996. The amount of publicity given to this issue was mainly caused by the great size of the beef industry. To understand the scope of the beef industry, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, total beef consumption in 2002 was 27.9 billion pounds. Moreover, the retail equivalent value of the U.S. beef industry was 60 billion dollars.
The Changing America “Where’s the Beef?” This was once a popular phrase in a commercial by Wendy’s about the thinness of McDonald’s hamburger patties. McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Jack-in-The Box, has long been recognized as the major competitors in the fast food industry. The demand for fast food has steadily increased, as more Americans consume more meals outside the home. Consequently, the fast food industry is putting a demand on the beef industry. The fast food restaurants want a constant supply of meat at a competitive price.
As herbivores, cows are intended to graze. Omega-3s are produced from eating grass or leaves of plants which contain 20 times more vitamin E than corn or soy (Pollan, 2006 and Robinson, n.d., Eatwild). Cattle that are fed grain and confined to feedlots are prone to disease. They develop bloat, diarrhea, ulcers, liver disease, and weakened immune systems. According to a study (Greener Pastures: How Grass-fed Beef and Milk Contribute to Healthy Eating, 2006), an average amount of heart-healthy EPA/DHA in a serving of grass-fed steak is about 35 mg, while steak from non-pastured cattle had only 18 mg per serving.
Each value meals are a product of modules combined to produce different products. The process strategy of repetitive process is copied by a lot of fast food restaurants. Repetitive process had a lot of decisions that follows the ten critical decisions in operations management. Such as the assembly line process where a layout design was put together to strategically set stations in particular areas. The setup help characterize McDonald’s as a fast food restaurant.
Organically Processed Red Meat VS Mainstream Processed Red Meat The way we eat has changed more in the past 50 years than it has ever. Grocery stores seem to offer a vast variety of food, and brands, but really it is all controlled buy just a few companies. Most importantly our red meat industry has been boiled down to 4 companies, (Tyson, Swift, Cargill, and National Beef) which supply 80 percent of our country’s red meat. I would like to focus on the health, ecological, and ethical differences between eating mainstream processed red meat, and organically processed red meat. There is any number of well-publicized reasons for not eating red meat.
Making millions of dollars a year, top meat processing companies sell their meat to fast food chains, such as McDonalds. From outside of the factories, not much seems out of the ordinary or illegal, but inside is a totally different story. The working conditions are completely unsanitary. Puddles of blood are all over the floor. Workers are forced to butcher animals and process their meat at fast rates, too often causing injury.
Kudler External and Internal Environmental Analysis Paper STR/581 – Strategic Planning and Implementation Instructor: Timothy De Long September 5, 2011 Kudler’s Environmental Analysis Kudler Fine Foods is one of the most successful local upscale specialty food stores in the San Diego metropolitan area. Kathy Kudler, the founder and owner of Kudler Fine Foods, saw the need for gourmet food in the local area and used the opportunity for an upscale epicurean food shop in La Jolla (Apollo Group, 2009). As industries change and grow, the importance of an organization’s ability to obtain and sustain competitive advantages increases. A key to Kudler’s ability of obtaining and sustaining its competitive advantages is the analysis of their internal and external business environment, and assessment of their competitive position and future possibilities. External Analysis Remote Environment According to Pearce and Robinson (2011), “the remote environment comprises factors that originate beyond, and usually irrespective of, any single firm’s operating situation: (1) economic, (2) social, (3) political, (4) technological, and (5) ecological factors” (p. 81).
In the meatpacking industry, the biggest companies, "ConAgra, IBP, Excel, and National Beef- slaughter about 84 percent of the nation's cattle" (Schlosser). People believe that an expensive product is synonymous better to quality. Oligopolies present various barriers
Rochdi Ammar DRE-098-N2 Zaneta summers 15 April, 2014 Eat Healthy! Diet and nutrition form the major determinants of population health. Across America, majority of people do not comply with recommendations regarding intakes of energy, sodium, fruits, saturated fat, and vegetables. The extent to which food is available determines the eating habits. Because food availability depends on an individual’s capacity to buy or produce the food, financial power will determine what kinds of foods one can get; therefore, the rich will access most of the foods as the poor struggle to them or lack them after all.