i“Food Connection” In his essay, “Food Connections”, David Suzuki highlights the different ways food is produced and consumed through out the world, as well as the separation of man from the natural world. The major issues brought up include the ways people of first world nations have become desensitized to the natural origin of the products they consume, the loss of a sense of connection with the natural planet, and a stark comparison of markets in third world countries to that of ours. Eating is an everyday activity that we as humans engage in at least 3-4 times a day, and not including those dreaded late night cravings for cake and cold pizza. We live in a world where the variety of food that is readily available to us is staggering, to the point where one can enjoy a French breakfast and top it off with an English lunch; we have the world on our plate. We have become accustomed to a standard of perfection with how our food looks and tastes that we do not stop for a moment and think of where it comes from, its natural origin.
The Effects of Factory Farming on Human Life Aline M. Hayes DeVry University The Effects of Factory Farming on Human Life A lot of consumers who purchase food items from the supermarket to feed themselves or their families are not concerned with how the products they purchase will affect them or their loved ones. Some people are completely unaware of how the meats they consume are processed and manufactured. Some individuals who purchase a fresh hot meal from a fast food restaurant or cook a nice home cooked meal don’t have an inkling about where they foods they consume come from. A lot of individuals are under the impression that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) operates in the best interest of the consumer. Over the years, the decline of family farms and increase of factory farming has caused harmful effects on human life.
In the essay, “The Pleasures of Eating” by Wendell Berry, he states that the society lacks the knowledge of the making of their food and whether the food is healthy or unhealthy. He goes on and explains that the food industry attracts the customers trying to make them buy their products that has been treated with drugs and chemicals but looks as good as if it was freshly and naturally produced. Berry claims that the food industry will do anything to get people to buy. It would be difficult to know what to cook for a cultural food critic like Berry. One type of food I would serve to Berry is home grown or local farms vegetables.
There are individuals who claim in the media that we need to return to the way our ancestors consumed food, the Stone Age Diet or Paleo-diet is one such claim. Comparisons between the diets of human ancestors and today's individual is vastly different, as is the life style. This reasoning is the controversy over the Paleolithic diet and today's grain and dairy-based diets in the scientific and medical fields of study. Modern man does not lead the same lifestyle as the Paleolithic humans did; there are differences that have an effect on food consumption and nutrition. Through anthropology, we know what our ancestor ate and how they lived.
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.
We should care about our environment by ordering smaller amounts of food when in restaurants. Many people in the restaurants order too much food especially in buffets but when they finish their dinner, we can see there are still have some food left on the dishes. I was one of them who always wasted food when I was done with my meal. I didn’t realize that the food I tossed in the trash could impact our environment and lead to pollution concerns. In the book, Bloom said “it’s easier for today’s children to waste food because they are so removed from its origins.” The reason why we waste food easily is we don’t have the chance to plant, water, or nurse the plants by ourselves, so we don’t know how hard it is to plant and grow the food.
The Effects of Factory Farming Kathleen Zylinski PHI 103 Informal Logic October 8, 2012 The Effects of Factory Farming Society as a whole is becoming more and more concerned about profit. There are always new methods or products that can be developed to get the most out of everyone’s money. This seems to be the biggest concern and mission in every industry across the world. Not only how big of a profit they can make but also how cheap they can produce the goods that we eat. It is one thing when industries cut corners and produce inferior products for a to use, but then it is another thing when that product is something that we eat and that we feed our children.
McDonald’s has realized the importance of getting their food to the public fast, with that being said this organization has accumulated 1.8 million employees. This is where some of the ethical issues come in to play as a global organization. Child labor laws and the limit of hours that people are able to work vary greatly from country to country. While McDonald’s wants to profit from their service to the public, they do not want to profit at the suffering of their employees working too much or in horrible conditions. In America we have child labor laws in place to ensure that employees under the age of 17 years old are not working too many hours in a row or in an overall week.
Even though some countries are not lacking farm land or water to grow food, malnutrition occurs simply due to the lack of education on nutrition and healthy eating. Keep in mind that malnutrition is not only the lack of food, but it is also the lack of nutrients in unhealthy eating. Obesity is a growing problem even in developed countries. Only is it through education and awareness that we have hope in the future to help conquer malnutrition. How has Right to Play tackled malnutrition?
Another reason is we have a choice on what we eat on a daily bases. We need to take responsibility by saying that it is truly our fault. We can prepare a nice meal the day before for the next day, or take the time to make a sandwich which is quick to make, healthier than fast food, cheap, and taste great. Along with all these reasons there are more against the consumer. On the consumers side they have plenty of arguments.