What’s for dinner? Michael Pollan book takes it one step further: “What is in the dinner?” The book back tracks from the dinner table, step by step process to rebuild in corn additives back to food status. He realized that Americans are actually corn fed animals too. After reading chapter 1, it’s obvious that no one knows what they’re actually eating anymore. I recently headed out to the supermarket; check the labels on about 15 to 20 products.
It was often used as food for animals as well as humans in these regions. Corn would be found in porridge or bread. China was the quickest to adopt American food plants including corn. Corn reached China during the 16th century through Portuguese ships in Macao. Before corn, Chinese agriculture was based on rice which grew in the river valleys of Yangzi and Huang He.
Nevertheless, if we studied the American industry, we would find that there is one basic ingredient that seems to be in just about everything: - corn. Our food industry here in America is strongly based on corn, and as the author points out, it is used in countless forms, from being fed to livestock, to being used in processed items such as yogurt or beer. Mr. Pollan also explains just how corn came to govern the American markets and industrial food chain due to a number of factors. He also pays a visit to George Naylor’s farm in
(Document 2) The cultivation of plants also showed the ingenuity of the Aztecs. As described by Cortes, they built artificial floating gardens that allowed for more crop growth and easy irrigation. (Document 7) Among the crops planted was Maize or simply corn. The importance of this crop to the Aztecs was obvious as images exist of its planting dating back to as far as 8000 BCE. (Document 9) Seemingly the backbone of the Meso-american diet, corn was kept under strict watch, along with other numerous crops.
Pollan made me think of how much corn that I myself consume, to a point II started looking through my own cupboards to check ingredients. The author went into great detail into the science and anatomy of the corn plant. Pollan described the origins of the plant and he went into, what this reviewer feels as an overkill, of the molecular structure that was like a high school science review that escalated to a college botany course. Pollan began talking about the sex of corn and the germination process to a point that I was hearing late night Cinemax background music. When the author traveled to the Iowa farm I found very interesting, as far as the description of the land, the sounds of the tractor and the feel of the weather.
“Calories are calories…protein is protein,” as stated by Michael Pollen in his book, The Omnivores Dilemma, when discussing the industrial logic many factory farms associate with feeding cattle corn and rendered cow parts (Pollen, 2006, p.75). This is true at a molecular level; however, there are unwanted substances in corn fed beef. For example, there is an increased amount of saturated fat. “A growing body of research suggests that many of the health problems associated with eating beef are really problems with corn-fed beef” (Pollen p. 75). Adding in additional substances to the cows corn diet, such as remnant cow parts, has led to e-coli out breaks in humans and continued to spread mad cow disease.
If you need a second page, staple them together with your name on each. 1. Which two major plant crops are incorporated into the vast majority of Genetically Modified Foods? Briefly describe how it is that these ingredients are in just about all processed foods. Corn and soy.
http:Michaelpollan.com/press.php?id=23. Pamela Kaufman, a reviewer for Publisher’s Weekly, praises Michael Pollan’s book, which follows the food chain of four meals back to their sources, including a McDonald’s lunch and a dinner of supposedly wholesome items from Whole Foods market. She finds Pollan to be a good writer and thorough researcher, not a “preachy” activist. Her brief review is positive, which is why Pollan probably has it posted on his website. This would be a useful source if contrasted against a more critical evaluation of Pollan’s work.
The natives taught the English that corn has great value, and it proved to be easier to cultivate and produce in masses. The English also learned the advantages of growing beans alongside corn to enrich soil. The natives played a significant role in the development of the English colonies and its
As a result of this, business within the cereal industry have introduced new products and modified existing products to appeal to health conscious customers. Based on research conduct, the following trends were identified within the cereal industry: * Consumer behaviour changes * Health conscious customers The main businesses within the cereal industry are Kellogg’s, Nestlé, Weetabix, Flahavan’s and Odlums. Breakfast apart from being a necessity for breaking the fast, it is also seen as a social ritual amongst the majority of cultures around the world. Three main trends emerge from an analysis of the industry: Acquisitions, Automation and Consolidation. The nature of the cereal industry is oligopoly as there are just a few firms dominating the industry.