Harmful Effects Of Eating Conventional Food

An arising food category in America is anything organic. Over the years, several local grocery stores organic section is rapidly increasing. Michael Pollan, who wrote Omnivore's Dilemma, is a New York Times bestselling author. Pollan stated, “Forty years ago there was no such category as ‘organic’ food. Today it is a $20-billion business- the fastest growing part of the food industry.” (112) With organic farming becoming more common, there are many changes being made that are resulting in significant outcomes. One of the substantial changes while using organic farming is the improved treatment and health of animals. Further knowledge and awareness of the importance on how organic farming is better for the lives of animals, as well as our health is needed. Gaining more education on animals lives with organic farming, will potentially lead organic food becoming the most popular because of its remarkable outcomes.

To set up this experiment, two twenty-five gallon aquariums, 3 petri-dishes, 200 flies, rotten bananas, and yeast were used. The bananas chosen to be an accelerant for the growth of the yeast and were frozen so they would be easier to cut. The yeast was used because the drosophila melanogaster prefer this as a food source.  The vestigial and wild type flies were sexed (to determine their sex), sorted, and counted.  An initial population size of 100 total flies was decided so that it would be easier to determine the phenotypic percentage of the total population. Fly paper was placed in one of the sets of cages to impose a method of natural selection as well as the sexual selection which is being solely tested by the other set of cages.

Agriculture is the most fundamental resource of society. Without it, humans could not live, especially in the ways we do now where people reside in cities. This means that those cities could not exist without large scale agriculture to sustain them. Since agriculture is such a necessity, people have developed methods to gain more from their land. One of the many solutions besides machinery they have developed to produce higher crop yields is through the use of pesticides. However, those pesticides which have resulted in high crop yields have come at price, and that is human health itself. This seems rather contradictory. Pesticides were designed to help people and society by increased the success of producing high crop yields, and they

A wide variety of reliable and peer reviewed studies performed by other researchers were included in this evaluation, as well as several of these researchers’ own studies, providing a stronger basis for the results. These studies varied on what particular aspects of organic foods or health benefits were being observed (quality of meat, eczema, etc.) as well as the demographics observed (pregnant women, nonpregnant adults, children), an approach which offers a broad view of the topic. Out of all the qualities and benefits of organic foods observed in these studies, only less exposure to pesticide residue and antibiotic resistant bacteria were statistically significant. The quality of meats were not remarkably different; similar rates of contamination due to Salmonella and Campylobacter suggested similar quality. Furthermore, unfavorable aspects of organic food production were also mentioned by several of the studies included in the evaluation. These ranged from increased amount of E. coli in organic fertilizer and actual produce to risk of Campylobacter infection due to winter consumption of organic meat (Smith-Spangler et al, 2012). The results of these studies indicate that health benefits of organic foods are not remarkably significant, an implication that is imperative as

In the early 1940’s, a new technology emerged that was able to successfully combat crop-damaging and disease-carrying insects. A new age of synthetic chemical pesticides use arose. After their impressive success in fighting deadly insect-borne diseases during World War II, pesticides were used widely to combat insect pests for agriculture and public health. Few people challenged the benefits of the new scientific and technological products and many embraced pesticide use with enthusiasm. Despite its success, doubts about pesticide use began to appear a decade later in the 1950’s, when the government began a vigorous pesticide campaign across the country against insect pests. Scientists began reporting heavy losses of avian and

METHODS: In this experiment, the instructor provided us with 30 ebony individuals and 20 wild type individuals. In order to get an exact amount of each type, we anesthetized the flies and counted them off by gently using a fine point paint brush. Then all 50 Drosophila were put into a population cage which had a lid that had six holes for the centrifuge tubes. Two food tubes and four clean, empty tubes were added on the first day. Each food tube consisted of half a cup full of food mixed with 6-7 milliliters of water. This was the fly medium. The food should turn blue once the water is added. Each tube was labeled with a number and with the date. Every two to three days we added one more food tube until all 6 tubes contained the fly medium. After all 6 tubes were filled, the following days after we exchanged the first food tube with a new food tube. At the end of the experiment, we fed the flies with a total of 8 food tubes. Then the flies were anesthetized, again. At the end of this four week lab, the number of living ebony and wild

The mesh netting surrounding the enclosure was small holed and stitched together to prevent the fruit flies from escaping. Within the cage, the experiment was set up using small containers— about 4 inches wide at the base— filled with fly media. There were 3 bowls approximately 9” in diameter used as water sources to increase the humidity within the cage. Within each food source “island”, there was a cheese cloth (2” X 2”) soaked with sterile water in order to keep the food source moist. For our experiment, we set up 2 food sources. The control (H2J Control) contained the standard medium and was placed 2’ from the population source while the experimental ( H2J Experimental) container was filled with standard medium and placed 4’ from the population source (figure 1). After one week, the adults were dismissed from the enclosure and the food sources were capped to allow the larvae to grow and eat the medium. After the second week, when the offspring became adults, the population was counted, and and analysis of differences between the source and treatment was

On the contrary, many may argue that even though organic food at times possess such threats they do not come close to comparing to the threats possessed by chemically treated foods. Researchers such as Joanna Jurewicz, believe that children being exposed to pesticides at any time during foetal life will have some type of health effect. She addressed that each year “almost 50,000 children are poisoned annually by exposure to pesticides” (Jurewicz 71), while emphasizing that the most common health effects are on foetus and young children. She proposed that all acute exposures to pesticides cause “skin irritation, lesions in the respiratory tract, and severe toxic neurologic effects”, in long exposure she blames their constant motive to put everything in their mouth and their immature detoxification systems with how they are the easy target for pesticides and chemical

Washington State is a major crop producing state in the United States. According to the Washington State Department of Agriculture in 2013 Washington State had 37,249 farms, led by apple orchards which contribute 70 percent of the nation’s apple production (2015).With this amount of produce grown in Washington going organic could boost the economy of the state and have a huge effect on the health of Americans as well as protecting the environment. If Washington farmers (especially the apple farmers) start growing organically that would mean 70 percent of the nation’s apples would be organic, that is a huge step for organic produce. The pesticides used in non-organic farming are harmful to the health of our children and the elderly. They are

With the world’s population continuing to increase, the demand for food is higher than ever. This increase in food demand also calls for more efficient ways of growing and providing the food. Two methods that are very controversial are the organic and conventional method. While many people support the organic method because of its known benefits, others feel that it is an over inflated industry that cheats consumers out of their money. But recently many studies have disproved those critics. These studies prove that Organic food is a better choice than conventional because it is better for the environment, avoids the use of chemicals, and is generally more beneficial.

When the majority of people buy organic food, most have at least some expectation that the product they are buying is healthier—or more importantly, containing less pesticides—than the conventional food they may buy for much cheaper. Contrary to popular belief, most organic foods do in fact contain pesticides and have no added health benefits compared to conventional foods. The main culprit of hiding these facts from the public is the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) with their questionable regulations of organic foods grown in the United States and being imported from other countries. The USDA has become extremely lax with their rules as to what makes an organic food organic; however, with the cooperation of the USDA and countries

(Trewavas, 2001, p.409). This evidence shows that the use of the synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides, is beneficial from a food safety point of view, as they decrease the possibility of getting ill from the consumption of this food. Therefore, conventionally grown food is safer than organically grown food, which does not use these chemicals.

(Cropper, 2004) Decostole, J. (2010). The Truth About Organic Foods. Retrieved from Redbook Magazine website: http://www.redbookmag.com/recipes-hometruth-about-organic-foods In this magazine article Decostle explains just what organic foods are. She gives us details about how organic crops are grown and how organic animals are raised. Providing more information about how organic food is healthier and better for our bodies and how they differ from conventional foods. She also provides facts about how purchasing organic foods are also healthier for our environment and worth the price difference. Although pesticides contamination is common in our meats, due to feeding animals conventional farmed grains, much of the concern is about

In the modern age, Americans live in a society where they are provided with opportunities to reduce stresses in their fast paced lives; in particular they have found cheap, quick, tasty, and convenient alternatives to home cooked meals and homemade snacks. Throughout the decades Americans have become fond of this type of food, however they have no realization of the many harmful effects it has. In order for there to be an impact on society, it is essential to educate fellow American citizens exactly what they consume and how it reacts to their bodies. Typically when the content found in these particular foods are broken down and analyzed, people are shocked with the high amount of calories, sugar, fat, and chemicals contained in their favorite alternative foods. Americans, whose diets are filled with these less healthful foods, also typically have a lack of exercise habits in their daily routine. Unfortunately, this particular life style has led to an increase of obesity in the citizens of the United States.

Can you imagine not being able to buy veggies to cook a home cooked meal? Or imagine living in a place where finding and/or gaining access to supermarkets and other places that sell ” good-quality food” would be difficult? Well, that is what occurs in many low income communities today. Many low income communities are built in what is called a “Food Desert”. Since there is a lot of difficulty obtaining food, those in these neighborhood tend to constantly eat food from chinese food spots, Mcdonald 's, Popeye 's, Burger King and etc. Yeah, maybe to the fans of these establishments and children would favor this, but this is most likely due to the fact that they do not know the health consequences of making constant unhealthy food choices.