Timothy J Salas 9/29/14 Escape from the Western Diet Summary In the article “Escape from the Western Diet” by Michael Pollan says there many different nutritional theories that causes a large number of diseases to those who eat a “Western Diet”. Pollan disagrees with these theories and says that both the food and health industries are to blame for this. Pollan claims the food industry is to blame because they use these different nutritional theories to release new products, and that the health industry is to blame because they use these theories to develop new drugs and treatment methods to profit off them. Denis Burkitt an english doctor stationed in africa during WW2 suggests that the only way to avoid this is to “go backwards to the diet and lifestyle of our ancestors” which Pollan says “to eat foods that are less processed”. Pollan points out that this is easier said then done by describing its not as straightforward as it sounds and that even factors like soil condition and livestock can make this concept a daunting task.
At least in the health care battle, the administration can count some powerful corporate interests on its side — like the large segment of the Fortune 500 that has concluded the current system is unsustainable. That is hardly the case when it comes to challenging agribusiness. Cheap food is going to be popular as long as the social and environmental costs of that food are charged to the future. There’s lots of money to be made selling fast food and then treating the diseases that fast food causes. One of the leading products of the American food industry has become patients for the American health care industry.
The Inedible Truth After watching the documentary Food, Inc., I have become more aware of the food I buy and eat. The USDA and FDA are most importantly in charge of our food safety, but it seems like there is little awareness and understanding of what they actually do. Food Inc. helps show how our food is produced, packaged and sold in the U.S. It seems like our nation’s food supply is being controlled with the intent of making money by companies, opposed to producing safe and healthy food for consumers. The FDA and USDA are supposed to protect Americans.
Tori Harding 4th Ratliff Fast Food Nation – Essay Arguing the so – called “American dream”, Schlosser develops a unique way of presenting the fact that American choices have not only lead to internal destruction of our nation’s people but also how it has affected other nations and all while keeping its secrecy from mainstream news. He not only discusses negative points in his book, like every author trying to prove a point, one must show the other side of the argument to give more base, but brings the positive sides like increased jobs and an abundance of wealth in the industry. But, following these statements, Schlosser reiterates that only few truly make it to the top and stay there and that most of America’s “fast food nation” problems are exactly nothing but problems. Now, it wouldn’t be easy to disagree with this statement because there are very few points in this entire book that have not been brought down to a negative so in turn, agreeing with him is the obvious choice. Opening up the book with a title like “The Founding Fathers”, he compares that the fast food ways seem just as important as the men who founded our country.
Based on the findings of the first taskforce, the FDA set up another taskforce to review three studies on aspartame which Searle had submitted. The second taskforce published a document which became known as the Bressler Report. This report uncovered questionable practices and deviations during the experiments, including animal pathology sheets which showed errors such as dead rats coming back to life and the inability to decide what dose of aspartame had been given to the rats. Interestingly, the FDA’s Chief Counsel, Richard Merrill, felt there was enough evidence to bring fraud indictments against Searle. (Metcalfe, E., 2000, Sweet Talking, Ecologist, 30(4), 16.
The Omnivore's Dilemmaweighs the pros and cons of this seismic paradigm shift. The blessings brought about by the Industrial Revolution have been mixed. On one hand, national and international rates of hunger have decreased. On the other hand, the resulting population explosion often offsets any quality-of-life gains. Although Pollan acknowledges that he does not have all the answers to the world's massive food, health, and intertwined economic problems, his call for all of us to understand the origins of our food is a powerful beginning.
However, after the war, the work made by the Committee on Food Habits ended, but the nutritional advice was kept by the government. The wealth and knowledge about nutritional practices is what America walked out with, but no sense of cultural change to back it up. Cultural change is what offers the best hope for actually changing how Americans eat. “Junking Junk Food” had a reference to how cigarettes are now being portrayed as disgusting and addicting, versus being called cool and sexy, this same exact principal could be put on unhealthy food. Kessler said that it wouldn’t be an easy task
Occupy Wall Street Movement Sonya L. Hames BUS 309 Prof. Allen Strayer University November 4, 2012 The Occupy movement’s power comes from a simple moral message: It’s wrong to demolish the world of health and hopes of others. We called the Occupy movement the source of the crises of our time. Wall Street banks, big corporations, and others among the 1% are claiming the world’s wealth for themselves at the expense of the 99% and having their way with our governments. The Occupy Wall Street didn’t start by just demanding change; it also transformed how the 99% see themselves. Many people felt shame when they couldn’t find a job, pay their debts, or keep their homes from being taken was a political
After all, "McDonalds is a publicly traded capitalist venture. Its function is to earn as much as it can buy by offering people a product they want. Perhaps you hate that notion. Well, go ahead and hate it. Hate it hard.
But what I found most interesting was the Environmental Philosophy. We all know the point of a big company is to make as much profit as possible. In big companies such as Walmart and Mcdonald's their sole purpose is to make as much profit as possible. They hardly care about their customers and the last thing on their mind is the health of the environment. Yvon has made attempts at every step of the way to cut down his environmental impact.