Food Trends Of Western Countries

The global population is expected to reach 9 billion people by the year 2050 and scientific projections indicate that world is on a trajectory towards an environmental and global food crisis. World Leaders, environmental enthusiasts and aid agencies have cause for alarm as they support urgent policies for change, for without them mankind will face unprecedented food insecurity. In 2015 estimates were that there were “some 795 million people” [World Food Programme, 2015], experiencing food insecurity and 3.1 million children under 5 died through malnutrition, while Australians continue to waste an estimated 361 Kg’s of food per person per yr [PMSEIC, 2010, p.44] All the while the earth groans under the weight of Greenhouse Gas Emissions [GHG], deforestation, soil degradation and

Despite the vast research on nutrition and health, malnutrition is still a major fatality in this present day. Policymakers, social scientist and medical experts have expressed alarm about the growing problem. While most agree that the issue deserves attention, consensus dissolves around how to respond and resolve the problem. Malnourishment continues to be a primary health liability in developing nations such as Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. It is globally the most significant risk factor for illness and death, predominantly with hundreds of millions of pregnant women

In Raj Patel’s novel Stuffed and Starved, Patel goes through every aspect of the food production process by taking the experiences of all the people involved in food production from around the world. Patel concludes by eventually blaming both big corporations and governments for their critical role in undermining local, cultural, and sustainable foodways and in so doing causing the key food-related problems of today such as starvation and obesity. In this book of facts and serious crime, Patel's Stuffed and Starved is a general but available analysis of global food struggles that has a goal of enlightening and motivating the general Western public that there is something critically wrong with our food system.

According to Pollan, “The industrial value of specialization… and mechanization wind up crowding out ecological values such as diversity, complexity, and symbiosis” (Pollan). Pollan emphasizes the harm technology has on the environment. In contrast, Romero/Shahriari states in their article that “chronic malnutrition in children had climbed in quinoa-growing areas, including Salinas de Garcí Mendoza, in recent years” (Romero/Shahriari), where they explain that the boost of the growth of quinoa through technology has actually caused those living there to not be able to afford quinoa, and therefore suffers malnutrition. In this aspect, Romero/Shahriari focuses more on the effect of technology on people rather than its effect on the environment. In this way, Pollan and Romero/Shahriari differs greatly in the focus and emphasis of the facts of the changes technology in food production has

In its State of Food Insecurity in the World 2012 report, the United Nations found that nearly 870 million people around the globe are chronically malnourished (Ruttan 6).  Chronic malnourishment weakens the immune system, and it significantly increases people's risk of contracting infectious diseases. As a result of the problem and severity of malnourishment, one of the United Nations top eight goals is to drastically reduce the number of people who suffer from this condition (Johnson 4). During the course of working towards their goal, the U.N. has identified agricultural growth as one of the most effective ways to reduce the prevalence of malnourishment. However, the United Nation has also determined that in order for agricultural growth

Nutrition is important for healthy life. Many people are still hungry around the world even though there is mass production of food. This is because of unhealthy food production. In today’s world we see many obese people because of high intake of high fat and cholesterol containing food. It is important to have a healthy diet/ nutritional intake for individuals to have good foundation for physical and mental health. Now a day’s healthy food is getting more expensive rather than unhealthy food. Poor people are forced to eat unhealthy food, while the rich can afford to eat whatever the please. Food insecurity is caused by individuals not having healthy food for their families due to their low income or political and

Food is a necessary part of ever individual’s daily life. Without food, the body cannot function properly, resulting in poor health, exhaustion, and even death by starvation. Therefore, food insecurity continues to be an international global epidemic. The journal article by Harrigan suggests that the citizens of the Sub-Saharan African country of Malawia are in further poverty due to their lack of food and agricultural resources. The newspaper article from the Guardian tells the real life story of African citizens struggling to farm and find food due to the crop shortages that have spanned Africa for the past two years. This is a current global issue, and the journal and news article prove that there is much to be done in order to help restore

Due to the mass production of cheap corn and soy in America, other food industries that produce healthier fruits and vegetables decrease in number. Importing healthy fruits and vegetables from other countries is unnecessarily expensive and that raises the prices of healthy foods in the market, which discourages many lower class families from eating the recommended daily fruit and

World Food Summit defines food security as: “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”. (World Food Summit, 1996) On the contrary, the food insecurity means the situation people who are lack of food or nutrition. A person who lives in such situation for a very long time cannot access enough nutritious food to be healthy. Additionally, food insecurity can be chronic, seasonal or transitory (FAO, 2000). At present, the

Quinoa is a commodity which has recently gained popularity on the global market. The grain is indigenous to the Andean region in South America, but is now consumed and grown across the globe. While cultural globalization is usually Western dominated, the transnational trade of quinoa is an exception to this notion. Its branding as a “natural, organic, and gluten-free” food has been beneficial as the healthy eating movement continues. Quinoa was only supplied by specialty retailers a few year ago, but now it can be found in most supermarkets and even fast food establishments like Panera Bread have menu items containing the Andean grain. The global demand for quinoa has led to international trade, global adoption of cultivating the crop, creation of new quinoa-based products, and increased competition among producers. The globalization of quinoa has also brought attention to how international movements affect people on a local scale and peaked attention about sustainable food practices and global justice.

Growing up in the early 2000s allowed people to observe drastic changes occurring in the American Food Industry. America is now seeing the repercussions of eating Fast Food daily and what might happen when a person does not maintain a healthy diet as part of their lifestyle. America is now the number one obese country in the world. By the looks of what is happening, America was determined to keep that title. People simply have not taken into consideration that the foods they eat have a direct impact on their body image. The food pyramid has been the first step of many to help show what foods belong where, and how much a person should consume. Even with the food pyramid trying to slow down fast food consumption across America the obesity rate

Bolivia is an amazing country, rich in culture, tourism, and history. Located in western-central South America, Bolivia is bordered by Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Peru, and Chile. Bolivia is divided into 3 very diverse regions, the Andean region, that’s surrounded by mountain ranges and has the highest altitude in Bolivia, the sub Andean region, that’s distinguished by its farming activities, and the llanos region, that’s surrounded by rainforest and is very bio diverse. Although Bolivia has seen many great advances over the last few years, poverty, political instability, and drug trafficking continue to be issues that the country faces. In the next couple of paragraphs I’m going to talk about poverty in Bolivia, and how it has caused an epidemic of malnutrition children, I’m then going to narrow the topic down by talking about Bolivia’s child mortality rates and healthcare system, and the problems with healthcare access, I’m going to talk about Bolivia’s lack of access to food security and sanitation, and lastly I’m going to talk about the benefits that the popularity of the Bolivian crop quinoa has had on Bolivian nutrition.

For long-term health, good physical, mental development adequate intake of nutrients is recommended in every stage of life. Not every sector of society has access to food of complete nutritional quality because of this, large number of world’s population is facing mal-nutrition, and people are obese, overweight, underweight, vitamin and mineral deficient.

The International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) stated that “Reduced dietary quality and diversity and inexpensive foods with low nutrient density have been associated with increasing rates of worldwide obesity and chronic disease” (Rosenthal). A plethora of cheap, manufactured foods that contained little to no nutritional value were extremely present during this time, and contributed to the steady rise of obesity, emphasizing the food industry’s main focus of mass producing foods, rather than on the health of

You are sitting and watching your favorite television show, munching on popcorn when you hear the voice of Alyssa Milano along with the depressing background music coming through the television speakers. You’ve seen the UNICEF commercial a million times but each time it makes a huge impact. The words, “these children are facing death every day” sting in the back of your mind. World hunger is taking its toll in developing countries and even entire continents around the globe. It affects everyone living in these areas. According to the article “The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015” put together by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, 11.3 percent of the world’s population is hungry. That is nearly 805 million people who go undernourished every day. “It is estimated that in 2015, 7.6 million children- more than 20,000 a day- died.” Taking action to solve the issue of world hunger is crucial because of the consequences that we will have to face otherwise. If the problem continues preventable death and disease will continue to occur in our world.