Food Matters Summary

Nobody denies that the need for more food grows with the global population. Factory farms seem to be a solution to this problem since they produce mass quantities of food for cheap compared to their organic counterparts, which are forty-seven percent more expensive (Consumer Reports). The factory farming business, however, is not the best way to feed more people since it pollutes the environment. The factory

To conclude, our current way of agricultural life is not sustainable. The article “What’s for supper” has made me realize that if I hope for a better future for generations to come I should support a locally sourced lifestyle. This article is an eye opener to me and proved to me the importance of supporting locally grown produce. Locally grown produce supports the environment as well as jobs for people in the community. The current system takes a toll on every species on the planet. Humans are overproducing on a massive scale and are wasting close to half of our supplies and

The first introduction in the film is multiple images of farms, and agriculture of all kinds. Then the author quickly states that farms do not look like they use to. The message, and start of this film is to inform the viewer about the changes in agriculture, and present ideas about where our food actually comes from. The purpose of the film is to introduce to consumers the risk of eating foods that are owned by large corporations. This film addresses issues with large corporations owning all food sources, treatment of animals, and food-borne illnesses.

Other flaws in “big” organic are discussed, painting a picture  of a feel‐good movement that provides few benefits. Pollan’s final position on “big” organic is  somewhat unclear. He clearly perceives substantial flaws in the system, such as the fact that it is  as non‐sustainable as typical industrial food production, but at the same time he seems to argue  that it is at least a step in the right direction.     Pollan’s position on “small” organic is much less equivocal. He spends a substantial section of  the book detailing his visit to a small organic “grass” farm. Although Pollan does his best to  maintain a journalistic, neutral view throughout the book, it is clear that he was captivated by  the work being done by the grass farmers. Pollan shows that the most important crop to these  farmers is in fact the numerous varieties of grass, which form the foundation of the life cycle on  the farm. These farmers work to farm in a sustainable, natural way that closely resembles the  symbiosis of nature. In this section, Pollan provides a fascinating look at the evolved  relationships between different species of plants and animals, and how these relationships can  be utilized to create a sustainable farming system. Although Pollan is clearly enamored with  such “small” grass‐based farming, he also recognizes the near impossibility of implementing  such farming on a large scale. For example, the higher costs

Sure, industrial food is cheaper and easier to make, but smaller farms who make most of the food humans eat, do not get a lot of money, meaning people will go broke and lose their jobs. "we are a family owned business." Sandhya Dirks, the author of The Economic Impact of Killing 'Pink Slime' says. To further Dirks idea, their are more people who work on small, local farms, than large, industrial farms. MIchael Pollan, the author of Omivores Dilemma, says, " " If the American farmer is more productive than even before, how come so many farmers are going broke." IN other words- people who work on small local farms, who work so much hard than industrial farmers, who spend their days slaving away in a field, make less then the industrial farmers, who work

Industrial food chains use chemicals on their animals, which in turn leads to disease spread on a wide scale. Not only is there harm to humans but also to the environment, as there is an absurd amount of CO2 that is created in the process used for industrial food chains. This is evident in the article “Industrial Agriculture, an Extraction Industry Like Fossil Fuels, a Growing Driver of Climate Change,” when the author Georgina Gustin states, “This trend is a central reason why American agriculture has failed to deal with climate change, a crisis that has been made worse by large-scale farming practices even as it afflicts farmers themselves.”. This shows that children in the future will end up dealing with problems aligned with the industrial food chain, making it a non-sustainable permanent solution that, along with diseases, could eradicate many affected by them. Another example is in the article “Industrial Agriculture 101,” when NRDC states, “Industrial farms overuse antibiotics, feeding large amounts of the drugs—often the same ones used to treat human illnesses—to healthy animals to help them survive in crowded, dirty

In the article,” Why Bother” written by Michael Pollen, he explains how the environment has gotten very bad over time. He talks about sustainability, global warming, and the cheap-energy mind in his article. He tells us that we need to act now before the phenomenon gets worse. Have you paid attention to the environment lately? Have you noticed the rising temperature around the world? Have you noticed the melting of the ice caps? If you haven’t you are about to be in for a surprise. The world has gotten very bad and we need to act now. There are a lot of causes to the environmental problems. The main cause are from farmers all around the world. Farmers are a lot more technologically advanced then what they were 50 years ago compared to now. The problem with the farmers are the overuse of energy, erosion of the soil, and pollution. The answer to all of these problems is sustainable agriculture because it is more efficient and better for the environment.

I can truly say that I have never been as disgusted researching and writing a paper than I am writing one about the production and growth of food. In a previous course, I had to watch the documentary, King Corn. Watching that film alone was an eye-opener for me because it went into depth about how 80% of Americas antibiotics were used on cows because of being corn fed, but I never knew how drastic the food industry was. Now that I have watched two drastic films and read the chapter on Food, I feel as if I never want to eat food unless it is grown by me. With a growing population, there is a demand for an increase in agriculture.

"I believe in the future of agriculture, with a faith born not of words, but of deeds." These famous words from "The FFA Creed" by E.M. Tiffany outline the basic beliefs of FFA members and agriculturists around the world. But these values, although crucial to the sustaining of our world's ever-increasing population, are growing more and more detached from the people not involved in agriculture. Although food and fiber production has increased in recent years, providing more bushels per acre and more meat per head of cattle, the agriculture industry has come under fire due to an overwhelming majority of people being totally disconnected from the agriculture industry. Today, we'll examine the primary causes of this disconnect, the negative effects on agriculture and our society as a whole that results from it, and how you can help solve this ever-growing problem.

With the population of the world continuing to rise, the Earth’s ability and resources to sustain its people is nearing its capacity, if it not has been reached yet. With the increase in wealth and modernity, people are having more choices what to eat without realizing how the food they are eating are produced and manufactured. All they see are choice pieces in perfectly sealed Styrofoam trays and plastic wrap. To keep up with the demand, farmers are now adopting mass production methods that focus on numbers and less on how these modern farming methods cause or are causing wide-scale destruction to the planet.

Local sustainable farming has many attributes, but one of the most important is to preserve the quality of the environment. Even though farming is not a new concept, many people do not know what it is or how it works, yet most of them think that food just comes from supermarkets. The current industrial agriculture system have improved the yields of production by growing monocrops such as corn and soy, which in turn is leading the land to erosion. It has also implemented the use of new technologies, mechanization, chemical products, and government policies (Ingels, Campbell 1.) However, it has had significant costs. Land deterioration, water contamination, and human health problems related to diet are some of them. As the industrial farms, sustainable farms also have high yield of production. As shown in “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” Polyface, a local sustainable farm located in virginia, produces in a season: 30,000 dozen eggs, 10,000 broilers, 800 stewing hens, 25,000 Lbs of beef, 25,000 lbs of pork, 1,000 turkeys, and 500 rabbits (14). Opposite to Industrial farming, local sustainable agriculture is helping the land recover thanks to the implementation of multicropping and the use of

Have you ever wondered what you’re really eating, where the ground beef in your cheeseburger comes from, or if the animals are getting the same satisfaction and happiness that your hunger gets? Factory farming is the reason for these questions we ask ourselves. They say we should eat animal products that trace back to factory farms because they wouldn’t raise anything that’s not good for us in a “farm”. I say that you shouldn’t eat animal products from factory farms because of the corrupted conditions animals live in. They might object that factory farms is a better choice because you get more bang for your buck versus going to a farmers market and spending an arm and a leg for naturally raised produce.

The raising of cattle, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and more are the reason for most of the destruction of the environment on the planet. Over all farm land covers about 38% of the worlds land area. So humans can continue to eat meat millions of animals and insects are losing their homes and even going extinct so more farm

Since the 1970s, the agribusiness and agrochemical industries have been aware of a growing problem: as the global population soars, soils around the world are becoming less suitable for farming as a result of erosion, nutrient depletion, and structural degradation. In the United States, about 60,000 farmers have abandoned the "conventional" system which relies on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and adopted the organic farming systems that allowed areas of China and India to be successfully farmed for 4,000 years (Reganold et al., 1990, p. 112). Organic farmers use plant matter and animal and municipal wastes for fertilizer, and rely on natural predators

This isn't to suggest that industrial farming is healthier; just that it leaves less of an organic footprint than its organic counterpart.