Reymateu Johnson Writing 231 Reading Response #3 November 20, 2014 Reading Response #3 In Omnivores Dilemma: Corn Conquest, Michael Pollan states that most of the industrial food we eat, basically all processed food we find in our supermarkets, can be traced back to corn. Seems and odd concept but scientifically it’s true. The C-4 trick helps explain the corn plant’s success in this competition: Few plants can manufacture quite as much organic matter (and calories) from the same quantities of sunlight and water and basic elements as corn. I found the information in this essay quite interesting. I was surprised to learn that my body had been fundamentally altered by the prevalence of corn.
The idea that organic is better for the consumer and the environment is more of a mindset and not the truth. My purpose is to show the people who believe in organic products, that there are just as many down falls as conventional foods. Many people assume that organic foods are healthier, when in fact organic foods are more susceptible to carrying pathogenic bacteria, such as E. coli and salmonella. They also think that because organic farmers use natural pesticides rather than synthetic pesticides, it’s better for the environment. However, organic farmers are able to use a copper solution, which never leaves the soil, to fight fungal disease as where the conventional farmer use pesticides that are biodegradable.
Pollan begins with an exploration of the food-production system from which the vast majority of American meals are derived. This industrial food chain is largely based on corn, whether it is eaten directly, fed to livestock, or processed into chemicals such as glucose and ethanol. Pollan discusses how the humble corn plant came to dominate the American diet through a combination of biological, cultural, and political factors. Pollan admits that he is surprised to discover that at the beginning of the food chain; almost regardless of the food being eaten was corn. Corn feeds the animals we eat, which lay the eggs we
Because of increased use of fertilizers, plants become more prone to pests and diseases, which results in low nutritional quality. Today, industrial agriculture is all about high yield with qualities that suited it to things like mechanical harvesting and processing. Nowadays, there is reduction in the diversity of species we are growing. We rely much on corn and soy today. These
Those standards, which must be met in order for food to be labeled “U.S.D.A. organic,” are fine, but they still fall short of the dreams of early organic farmers of producing the most nutritious food possible in the most ecological way. (Mark Bittman) Edith Davenport and Dr. Susanne Bügel both have different opinions and experiments regarding this controversy. Davenport’s being a personal experiment and Dr. Bügel’s being an experimental project. Experimental research was conducted by Susanne Bügel and colleagues from the Department of Human Nutrition, University of Copehagen tested three different methods to prove the ongoing battle between organic and conventional foods.
Firstly, GM foods can increase crop nutrition. Nutrition Malnutrition is common in third world countries where impoverished peoples rely on a single crop such as rice for the mainly diet.GM food. Through adoption transgenic technology, we can make single-crop get more nutritious. For example, researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Institute for Plant Sciences have created a strain of "golden" rice containing an unusually high content of beta-carotene (vitamin A) ( 1.Potrykus I et al, 2001). Secondly, GM foods can be planted in extreme environment.
One type of food I would serve to Berry is home grown or local farms vegetables. Vegetables at a supermarket may have been treated with chemicals because when the food industry produces, they produce a large volume and relies on drugs and chemicals to keep them alive. “As capital replaces labor, it does so by substituting machines, drugs and chemicals for human workers and for the natural health and fertility of the soil” (39). The food industry also relies on machines rather than labor to accelerate the process and to meet a sales quota for a certain period, thus following the quote “time is money.” Substituting machines for human workers also save the expense of payment towards the labor of workers. Machines are not the only way to speed up the process, but adding drugs and chemicals is another factor
And it's actually very low in sugars. This will act as a solution for the second problem because it will lessen the demand for corn farms which is affecting agricultural business and the need for deforestation. First, High Fructose Corn Syrup (or HFCS) should be removed because it serves no higher purpose other than to add “taste” to products while filling the body with empty calories. HFCS first became a problem when America actually had too much corn and didn't know what to do with it. Exploration began of just how many ways this vegetable could be used.
There is no doubt about the benefits of eating plants which promote health. However, back to livestock products. It had become industrial and has been marketed heavily, creating unnatural demand. Therefore, people are affected by this problem. According to the author Jennifer Goldberg who wrote ‘4 reasons why you overeat’ (n.d.), there are four main explanations why we eat too much food, including meat and meat-free products: The first reason is we are in the habit of overeating.
The Problem of HFCS in the Daily Diet Wilfredo Balaez DeVry University The Problem of HFCS in the Daily Diet High fructose corn syrup is manufactured from cornstarch after removal of protein and fiber. The high levels of fructose found in many food products that we consume in our daily diet is raising a lot of concerns within scientists, doctors, and other students of the subject due to the problems that it causes to the health of the human population. Problems like diabetes and obesity are directly linked to high ingestion of high fructose corn syrup. Diabetes in humans is one of the common causes of health problems like gangrene, amputations, and even death due to complications of the disease. Several studies made by universities, independent organizations, and the government blame the high fructose corn syrup for the condition.