The number one cause of death in our country is heart disease, a chronic disease. To clarify, conditions that cannot prevented by vaccines or medications. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) a government run website; “chronic diseases are responsible for 7 of 10 deaths each year, and treating people with chronic diseases accounts for 86% of our nation’s health care costs (Chronic Disease).” Hence, 7 out of 10 deaths are preventable. It is through personal choices being make everyday. Not that I am here to scold anyone for having a donut instead of oatmeal plus an apple, for breakfast this morning. The problem arises when the donut is winning everyday, those choices add up. That is what makes chronic disease, a …show more content…
“The antibiotics these animals consume with their corn at this very moment are selecting, in their gut and whatever else in the environment they end up, for new strains of resistant bacteria that will someday infect us and withstand the drugs we depend on to treat that infection (Pollan. 81.)” Similarly, we will possess those same microbes from the animals we eat. There are roughly 5 diseases that can be attributed to antibiotic resistance due to factory farming; e. coli H-7, MRSA, Campylobacter/Salmonella, Mad Cow disease and Obesity. E. coli strains are normal in cows, but this particular strain thrives in feedlot cattle. Due to high grain diet the cows are fed, allows the deadly strain to withstand acidic environments in other words, resist acidity in our stomachs. This strain of E.coli can cause severe kidney damage. Children and elderly people are more likely to have severe symptoms and die. According to an Oxford Journal article MRSA infections leads to more deaths than HIV/ AIDS every year(Stryjewski 19.) MRSA is very common to pass in hospitals, and it’s antibiotic resistance makes it very difficult to treat. Campylobacter and Salmonella can be killed through proper cooking. Although, both are becoming more resistant to antibiotics. Campylobacter can be found on more than half the chicken being sold in stores. Mad Cow disease occurs when cows are fed other pieces of butchered cow, sheep or goat. Causing an infectious neurodegenerative disease in the animals which get passed to us. Luckily this is a disease more rare than the others I have discussed. Roughly 1 in 3 Americans is considered obese, calling obesity a disease is debatable. The country with the largest food industry also has the largest obesity rate. Arguably it doesn’t meet the requirements for a disease, but the American Heart Association and the American
The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, by Michael Pollan, is about one man’s journey through the food production system and how he arrives at the conclusion that although hunting and gathering may be an excellent means to keep oneself healthy, it is really up to the individual as to what they are willing to put in their body.
In the book ‘The Omnivore’s Dilemma’, by Michael Pollan, he inquires into the secrets within the four food chains; Industrial, Industrial Organic, Local Sustainable, and Hunter-Gatherer. Pollan lists the pros and cons of these four food chains. Industrial food is your Wendy’s, your McDonalds, your Burger King. There are multifarious benefits to this food chain. A major benefit for sure is the fact that it is inexpensive.
The health of consumers will not be endangered if we treat the animals humanely. Antibiotic resistance caused by factory
How much do you really know about the food you eat? Reading the book “The Omnivore 's Dilemma” by Michael Pollan,”Getting Real About the High Price of Our Cheap Food” by Bryan Walsh, and the movie “Food Inc.” gave me an idea of how our food is made and what is in it. Also reading the books gave me an idea, Michael Pollan mostly talked about corn and Bryan Walsh talking about high prices of our cheap food. Robert Kenner explains how we should look into our food to save us from getting sick or becoming obese.
The local sustainable food chain from The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan would best feed the United States because it is efficient and natural and has little to no impact on the environment compared to the industrial food chains. Pollan illustrates several different food chains in his book, but currently we are depending on two out of the four he discussed. The two industrial food chains already are feed the entire U.S, and it doesn’t look like they are going away. In a perfect world we would all buy local sustainable products.
This book will show you the problem with our food and how it affects more the just us with fact research and visiting farms where our food come from while taking to the farmers about the way they rise the animals. Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. This book is about how Michael Pollan explain all the problems in omnivore's diet with research and facts. Food industries don't tell you everything about what is in your food.
The main reason for which corn is the main crop in America is because it can be easily used for the making of “processed food and hundreds of other products.” Corn has become so convenient, that many factories use it to feed their animals, in order to accelerate their growth. Since it benefits government subsidies, many farmers opt to make a greater profit by changing the way they raise cattle, which also means the amount of animal manure is much greater. Furthermore, since there is “no good way of disposing it,” the grounds are becoming ideal parameters for the breeding of “deadly bacteria,” which brings about the unethical and scientific issues in the industry for these bacteria have found “their way into our food.” Moreover, as confirmed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a corn-based diet can promote Escherichia coli within the “digestive tract of
Horrigan, L., Lawrence, R., & Walker, P. (2002). How sustainable agriculture can address the environmental and human health harms of industrial agriculture. Environmental Health Perspective. In this article, Horrigan agrees with Pollan that there is definitely a problem with using corn-based feed for animals who are to then be fed to human beings. Specifically, Horrigan examines both animal feed and the danger of other forms of pollution which have an impact on human food production and eventual consumption. The authors make the claim that animal consumption itself is highly dangerous and perhaps should be universally abolished in order to help the environment in terms of pollutants and to help humans in their health concerns.
I chose Omnivore 's Dilemma for various reasons, one being to learn more about current food issues within our economy, ecosystem, and environment; and two, to learn more so I am not a hypocrite to my beliefs. My entire life I have grown up learning and practicing sustainable mannerisms. Learning to turn off the water while I brushed my teeth, using reusable tupperware and grocery bags, and not idling are a few of the many practices I was taught. I spent my middle and high school years surrounded by many individuals whose views about the environment were much different than my personal beliefs. Listening, observing, and learning from those around me drove me to apply for school and pursue a degree in
In the past century there has been a substantial change in the way human beings raise and keep animals meant for food. While in the past there were great numbers of widely spaced small individual farms, now there are relatively few, but extremely large industrialized farms. And as the numbers of animals kept and slaughtered for human consumption increases, these industrialized farms, known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations or CAFO's, are having more and more of an impact on the environment and people around them. The concentration of animals causes a major problem with the waste products they produce, as well as the gases, chemicals, and other types of byproducts. And the increased use of antibiotics in the animals is beginning to have a profound effect on the health of not only the environment but the communities that exist around these industrialized farms. CAFO's, and their secondary industries, are also a large consumer of oil, gasoline, and other fuels which can have an indirect, but devastating effect on the environment. Luckily there are some who have come to recognize the problems, and potential future problems, involved in this type of animal farming and have begun to inform the public to the dangers these farms pose. And in response to this information, the public is beginning to force changes in the way these CAFO's operate and the impact they have on the environment and
This is due in part by the previous statement to get higher yields out every animal raised. Cattle, chickens and pigs alike are all subject to certain fattening diets, modern breeding techniques and growth hormone treatments. These forced practices have very adverse, life altering and threatening affects that lead farmers to use antibiotics in order to keep diseases at bay. The Committee on Drug Use in Food Animals states, “doses are used when pathogens are known to be present in the environment or when animals encounter a high stress situation and are more susceptible to pathogens “, (1999, p. 28). It is important to point out that the use of growth hormones and antibiotics dramatically increases body mass, drastically shortens the lifespan of animals such as cattle and is being detected in food for human consumption.
The Spanish Flu was called the mother of pandemics because of how strong and lethal it was. It lasted from January 1918 and lasted to December 1920 and claimed over 30 million lives and infected over 500 million people. It majorly affected people's lives, economy, and medicine. To this day the spanish flu has been cited to be the most devastating epidemic in recorded world history for how quickly it spread as well as the financial and emotional toll it took worldwide.
The media today concentrates intently on drug and alcohol abuse, homicides, AIDS, and so on. What a lot of people aren’t realizing is that coronary disease actually accounts for about 80% of sudden deaths. In fact, the number of deaths from heart disease approximately equals to the number of deaths from cancer, chronic lung disease, pneumonia and influenza, and others combined.
As different crazes and fads are appearing each day, we have come to expect them to simply fade away as the hype passes. However, veganism has stood the test of time in our fad society and is still increasing in popularity. Originally only thought to be a religious lifestyle, many people from different walks of life are becoming vegans. However, this poses many questions and sparks heated debates, mainly from omnivorous people who believe that veganism is against life’s natural order. Vegans, then, argue against an omnivorous lifestyle by bringing up facts about humans’ biological makeup and how humans are, contrary to popular belief, herbivorous by nature, not omnivorous. While both sides present good arguments to some, the veganism lifestyle contains more benefits and less harmful cons than an omnivorous lifestyle.
As the soil becomes more and more polluted with these toxins, it becomes unsustainable. Therefore, land that would have remained fertile for centuries through the commonsense farming of our ancestors, is being ruined by farming controlled by big corporations whose sole interest is in immediate short term profit (Goodall 38). Industrialized livestock farming with thousands of animals crammed into small factory spaces is responsible for numerous bacterial and viral infections such as E.coli., Avian bird flu, Mad cow disease, Salmonella, and many more. Therefore, conventional farmers use antibiotics to keep these animals alive. This over use of antibiotics is causing the creation of new, resistant strains of deadly diseases that kill people and animals. Disease is actually caused by the bad practices, shortcuts, and antibiotic resistance. This has the opposite effect of what was intended and also costs farmers millions of dollars every year instead of saving money. Unfortunately, conventional agriculture experts recommend these monocultural farming practices in the name of quick, mass production.