Problems of the Food System Essay

School lunches are often unsung heroes of many modern American households. Frequently overlooked and disregarded because of their stigma, school lunches are a key ingredient that may help make the world a better place. Unknowingly, great numbers of individuals in our communities deal with food insecurities every day of their lives. It baffles me that in an advanced society many people do not have the resources to provide food for themselves or their families. Until it affected me personally, I was unaware nor passionate about the struggles of food insecurity. My passion for solving food insecurity in my local community has led me to gain both experience and leadership through understanding and advocating for those around me.

When Michael Pollan's book The Omnivore's Dilemma was published, many readers began questioning him for advice on what they should eat in order to stay healthy. In his more recent book, In Defense of Food, he responds with three rules, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants"(Pollan 1). This seven word response seems too simple for a relatively complicated question, but as he further elaborates these rules into specific guidelines, this summary turns out to be surprisingly complete. Using inductive and deductive reasoning, he debunks the ideas behind nutritionism and food science, and proves that the western diet is the cause for food related diseases. Inductive reasoning is when a

In addition to his solutions, Pollan’s modern narrative sheds light on the façade of our food industries; asking us to rethink what we know. Despite the mention of certain inhumane acts in All Animals are Equal, Pollan takes us one step further to uncover the reason for which we continue to purchase our corrupt food. We all know animal abuse exists, but the average consumer like myself is more worried about the best price and the fastest way to get a burger rather than how fairly the animals are treated in the process. Whether it be the confined living space of chickens or the mental and physical torture of pigs, we continue to blind ourselves from reality. Is it purely out of selfishness? Or are we too ignorant to come to terms with our wrong doings? Like Pollan explains, it takes seeing the abuse before the shame of our disrespect can be felt (pg.6). After seeing Pollan’s truth, I might now think twice before eating out and the choice to support organic produce can make a dramatic difference for those farmers who promote the ethical lifestyle.

Listening to conversations about food on campus, I found that there was a common theme last year: it was difficult to find healthy food on campus.

Food insecurity remains to be a current problem that is defined as the limited access to food due to low income. In 2012, approximately one million Canadian households were classified as food insecure. Certain groups such as, Aboriginals and single mothers, are at higher risk for food insecurity compared to other groups.

The farmers then give their products to the manufacturers, who represent the bottleneck of the food system (21). “The ten largest companies control half of the world’s seed supply. …Ten firms control 90% of the nearly $38.6 billion pesticide markets (111-112).” Monsanto, being one of the ten companies that controls the world’s seed supply, is a company that has patents on all of its seeds and products. It produces genetically modified crops that are resistant to its own pesticides and herbicides, so that when a pesticide or herbicide is sprayed and it destroys all plants, the Monsanto seed survives because of its resistance. The reason that Monsanto is able to stay in business is because of the economic benefit it poses for the farmers. They are able to produce their crops at a much higher yield because they are losing less of their crops to pests. This higher yield results in lower costs for the consumers as well (Planes). As discussed

Consumers have become increasingly detached from their food as America’s food system grows larger and continues to ruin the environment. The main problem is that most consumers do not know how their consumption habits affect the ecosystem around them. Nor do they know about how their food was produced. Information about how and where the food is being produced and wasted is essential, so people can shop responsibly. Short of legislation, Americans make choices at the grocery store. It is essential for all Americans to cast in a vote with their dollars to change the way that food is produced in the United States resulting in more sustainable food being more accessible in the aisles of the grocery store for all Americans.

Food insecurity is a major issue in Canada, affecting millions people across the country especially minorities. In 2012, four million Canadians experienced some form of food insecurity (Tarasuk, Mitchell, & Dachner, 2014). This paper aims to focus on how food insecurity affects women and children, and the costs associated with it. The results of food insecurity can be serious mental, and physical health problems for women and children. It shall demonstrate the need for government intervention, job security, prices of food, and public policies to protect low income families. This topic was chosen as it is an issue which often gets overlooked by many middle and upper class Canadians. Often times when people think of starvation, they picture children in Sub-Saharan Africa. The reality is that women and children in Canadian communities are affected by food insecurity daily. Action needs to be taken immediately in order for food insecurity to be fully eradicated, and justice to be achieved.

People today believe that the government is supposed to eliminate any possible danger from the food they consume, but that is not the case. In the book Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of The All-American Meal written by Eric Schlosser, he discusses numerous problems with food production. Some of these issues are discussed in the “Epilogue”, “What’s In Meat”, and “Most Dangerous Job” chapters where Schlosser elaborates on the government’s role and how workers are mistreated. In the article, “U.S. Meatpacking Under Fire: Human Rights Group Calls for Line Speed Reduction, ERGO Standards,” it explains how the working conditions in the meat packaging industry are hazardous and are violations of basic human rights. Although workers are affected by the government’s role in the food industry, consumers are affected as well. The consequences of the lack of governmental oversight, like food contamination and others, are discussed in the film Food Inc. “Escaping the Regulatory Net: Why Regulatory Reform Can Fail Consumers”, an academic journal written by Henry Rothstein, explains how “putting consumers first” is difficult for the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to accomplish because with consumer’s interests that means regulatory reforms are most likely going to fail.

These powerful alliances requires the consumer to navigate through the confusing food environment and to pay close attention to nutritional facts, labels, and to carefully and consciously be mindful of advertisement of all sorts of media. For farmers, its a crippling business system that destroys their profession. For consumers, who do not make a conscious effort where they shop and what they eat subjects themselves to a lifestyle that can progressively lead to obesity and many other life threatening diseases. The politics of obesity and disease within the food industry is a public health concern.

It has been claimed in class that this treatment results from the nature of capitalism as an economic system, not merely from the doings of “bad people”. Maltreatment of workers, animals, and the environment are depicted in the film “FOOD, INC”. Capitalism also known as “The Free Enterprise System” and “The Market Economy” is a mode of production under which social classes are determined by ownership or control of the means of production. A mode of production is a system by which material production in society is organized. Under capitalism individual rights are emphasized, everything used except human labor is privately owned, and income is based on marketplace competition. In regards to food, food has

In her book “Going Against GMOs: The Fast-Growing Movement to Avoid Unnatural Genetically Modified Foods”, author Melissa Diane Smith does not hesitate to warn against the use of GMOs, which, in her view, “threaten our environment, food security, and agricultural system”. Most GMO crops are treated with herbicides, which have been found to contaminate both soil and water sources as well as pose health risks once the foods are consumed by humans or animals. To complicate things further, chemical companies, such as Monsanto, Cargill, and DuPont are purchasing vast quantities of the world’s seeds. They modify them genetically and then patent them so they can control food and seed supplies—which means that farmers can no longer collect seeds from their own crops to use in subsequent seasons (Smith 53). If farmers want to stay in business, they must purchase seeds from one of these companies. Many small farmers cannot afford the expense and must seek employment elsewhere.

In food service it is important to realize and address hot button issues within the industry to begin to understand what the target market wants, increase revenue and decrease cost centers. In researching the increasingly pressing issue of food sustainability in global food service it was discovered that implementations are initially expensive and require large amounts of dedication but are ultimately huge factors in increasing brand loyalty and recognition and gaining popularity within the “green” market segment. It was the goal of this paper to outline specific concerns posed by the issue of food sustainability as well as methods of the industry’s participation in its solutions and to analyze the progress made to increase awareness of

The food industry does not want you to know anything more than what you think about what goes on within our farms, because if you knew, you wouldn’t want anything to do with it and they would lose millions of dollars. The reality of it is, these are not farms we are getting our food from, it is a factory. Your image of the cows, pigs, and chickens running around freely is not what “farms” are like today at all. Our meat is being produced by huge corporations that have all the power in the food industry to do whatever they please to. The fruits and vegetables are being picked while still green all over the world wherever the food is in season after being sprayed with harmful chemicals so it stays fresh till it hits our kitchen tables. Our food is coming from factories, mass farming, and assembly lines, where the food has become a danger to us and the people producing it. This issue has a personal meaning for me because, I

In terms of looking at what is necessary for social change concerning social issues of food and food consumptions, there are two key aspects. One of the key items in which an individual must have is a strong belief in life issues including human rights. Along with this, it is also necessary to have a collective rather than individual enterprise. With this question in mind, we will look at world hunger, food insecurity as well as gendered food practices in relation to neoliberalism, social inequalities and finally social justices for each of the instances.