Food Chains : Description And Analysis Essay

What do you think of the American food system? Do you think America is doing it’s best to feed you healthy food that’s safe for consumption?

One of the biggest problems facing American families today is the inability to afford fresh, nutrient filled food. In the United States today over 13 million families don’t have the money to buy fresh food and have to live on unhealthy diets. In the essay Prudence or Cruelty, author Nicholas Kristof talks about how much of a danger malnutrition is to poorer American families. Kristof mentions that the sole reason for such a high rate of malnutrition in poor U.S citizens stems from the lack of money to buy fresh goods. The price of fresh goods is too much compared to the amount of money these families are making. With multiple mouths to feed and a limited budget, going to the grocery store for these families is almost unheard of. These families

Over the past couple decades the number of undocumented immigrants involved in American agriculture has increased by the hundreds. They have dominated the fields on the west coast and have been put to work in some very harsh conditions. Many people in the US believe that these men, women, and even children are occupying jobs that legal citizens could have. We realize that even though much of our agriculture these days is harvested by modern technologies, a big part of the agriculture’s economy is made up of labor intensive from people, such as harvesting grapes, strawberries, pistachios, raspberries, etcetera. As we dig deeper into this topic we will realize why our agricultural

The world continues to face a wide-scale food crisis. The effects of this crisis reach from the farmers who grow and raise the food to the very system of laws that are in place to govern the system itself. Food giants are reaching deep into their pockets for lobbying in order to take advantage of both the producers and the consumer all in the name of profit. Moreover, farmers are being driven to suicide, and the ecosystem’s livelihood is treading a fine line. Both Michael Pollan and Raj Patel bring to light these problems and offer suggestions to help lessen their severity. Though there are many philosophies on which they both agree, they both have their own ideas to fight back. Pollan seeks to challenge the consumer as an individual while

The Cesar E. Chavez Foundation describes farm worker’s living conditions as, “thousands of farm workers living like savages, beneath trees and amid garbage and human excrement--near tomatoes fields in San Diego County, tomatoes fields which use the most modern farm technology. They walk miles to buy food at inflated prices and they have to carry in water from irrigation pumps” (Chavez Foundation 1). It is unbelievable that Farmers treat their workers as agricultural implements or plow animals to be used and then discarded. Furthermore, is it vexing that farmers can afford expensive technology for their tomato fields, yet lack the insignificant amount money required to provide their workers with drinking water that is clean and doesn’t come from an irrigation water

Strawberries are treasured by numerous throughout the world, but feelings may transformation after the unveiling of some dark secrets of strawberry farms. “In the Strawberry Fields” by Eric Schlosser brings up many concerning realities about what life is truly like for strawberry pickers. Many of these farm workers are illegal migrants from Mexico. Because of their illegal status, they are far less probable to go to the authorities with complaints of unfair treatment. Many strawberry field owners are more than willing to take advantage of this. Strawberry pickers are often overworked, poorly paid, and not treated fairly. Most are Mexicans searching for work so

However, some believe, that a shift in the way we produce food may have some unintended consequences. They contend that poverty in nations such as Africa and Asia, is caused by the low productivity of the unindustrialized farm labor. The U.S. Agriculture Department projects, without reform, there will be over a thirty percent increase in the numbers of the ‘food insecure’ people in those nations over the next decade (Paarlberg 179).

To begin, migrant farmers are not paid fair wages. In Source D, the graph demonstrates that a farm worker will earn only $.30 for every $100. of produce that he harvests. The majority of the earnings are split between the manufacturers and the retailers. This does not leave the farm worker with an adequate salary to feed and clothe his family. Furthermore, with such measly wages, the farm workers cannot live “The American Dream.”

Supply and demand are the rulers of price in the capitalist economy of the United States, and farm goods rely on these factors as much as any other commodity. The demand for food remains relatively stable although slightly increasing year to year, but the supply fluctuates greatly depending on

More and more health-conscious individuals are scrutinizing the source of the food their family consumes. However, even the most conscientious consumer is not fully aware of the exhaustive efforts and struggle to get a juicy, ripe strawberry or that plump tomato in the middle of winter, even in Florida. These foods are harvested and picked mostly by seasonal and migrant farm workers. Migrant workers hail, in large part, from Mexico and the Caribbean, and their families often travel with them. Migrant farm workers must endure challenging conditions so that Americans can have the beautiful selection of berries, tomatoes, and other fresh foods often found at places like a farmer’s market or a traditional super market. Seasonal and

This shows two things. First, a major portion of farm workers are being paid unfair wages for their labor. Secondly, these workers do not have a high level of security for their jobs. Given the importance of this work force, it seems as if the wages and level of security fail to match the level of reliance that the food system has on this portion of the food chain. The rate of illness and injury among workers within the food chain is dangerously heightened. Specifically, the rate of injury is twice as high as the national average among food-processing workers, and as much as ten times as high for rate of illness (Lo, 65). These workers are subjected to these negative conditions without much hope of implementing real change to this system. The reason behind this inability to institute change lies in the constraints revolving around unionization among this workforce. Within the distribution sector of the food chain, temporary workers make on average half as much as directly hired warehouse workers (Lo, 67). This can be accounted for by this lack of unionization. Due to a lack of job security, temporary workers have a hard time increasing their hourly wages and work conditions. This discrimination is having a more profound effect on minority races within the United States. According to Lo, “High numbers of of African American and Latinos work in the

In “Wrath of Grapes Boycott Speech”, Cesar Chavez emphasizes that “We farm workers are closest to food production.” (690, Chavez) He highlights he is a farm worker working closest to food

In the past fifty years, there has been such a vast change in the Industrial Food Industry. Food went from being grown naturally to being processed and packaged for convenience and cheapness. This is where the problem starts, and the greed for money is to blame. The industry has been altered in order to find convenience in making product faster because we all know, time is money. It has been altered in a manner of scamming to get all you can out of as little as possible to of course, save money. It has all become a game of money and profit rather than right and wrong and I have found more than enough examples to

Pico was a philosopher living from 1463-1994. He focused mainly on humanism because he lived in the Renaissance period. He believed that the orientation of human dignity was important. This idea focused on speech and discussion topics. He talked about the Great Chain of Being. This chain represented the natural hierarchy of things in the world. This hierarchy cannot be changed, and it can be related back to Aristotle and putting things into categories. At the top of this chain is God. Succeeding below God lies angles, humans, big animals, simple animals, big plants, simple plants, and rocks or other nonliving things, in that order. This hierarchy very much resembles the food chain as we know it today. In the world, a thing’s purpose can be

Fluctuating prices on the world commodity markets give organic producers an insecure existence. The farmers as well as store owners export business in vegetables and grains which are controlled by a marketing board. Furthermore, volumes of organic foods are in an agreement a “baby food agreement”. The goal is to avoid unnecessary