Social Issues Of Food And Food

Throughout the book “Stuffed and Starved”, Raj Patel, the author, makes connections between the current state of the world food system, and the Malthusian and Rhodes dilemmas, the first, proposing that the world population is growing exponentially, but the resources to feed this growing population are finite, whereas the second suggests that hunger leads to unrest, hence as long as people are kept fed, they won't revolt. Patel sections the system and points out to the defects at all levels—starting from the fundamental unit—the seed, going broader touching upon redistributors, consumers, corporations, and, above all, governments and policies. The five major areas Patel criticizes I would like to emphasize are: prevalent selection of desirable

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.

Food, the true driving force behind mankind and all of its glory, has been a focus of the recent decades in America because of its adverse effect on the populace. The reason being is that food has more control over the public than people tend to realize. Food in the United States is taken for granted because of its abundance and as such gets little thought put into it. When the government plasters guidelines on what to eat, people semi-acknowledge it while continuing to buy things that seem delectable to them. Food companies run the show; the government more or less sways its view away from the things that happen behind closed doors. So what does this mean for society as a whole?

Prior to the War, the American diet heavily consisted of “red meat, butter, wheat flour, and sugar.” Red meats, wheat flour, sugar, and butter were all consumed by many American families on a weekly basis, which is why the United State Food Administration felt the need to place restrictions on consumption and encourage the consumption of “milk, vegetables, nonwheat cereals, fish and poultry.” The American diet consisted primarily of these foods because these foods could be grown and harvested in America.

both argue that food issues should be addressed by public policy. To combat hunger, malnutrition, and growth deficiencies in children, Frank argues that public policy relating to food has to be changed. Poor families should be supplemented with federal grants such as WIC vouchers to care for their young ones. Robertson et al. take a slightly different approach in their article “Food is a Political Issue” by not only holding the government accountable for reducing issues associated with food, but also the food producers and suppliers. Who should decrease the health disparities and care for the disadvantaged members of society? Robertson et al. advocate that although health disparities caused by food have to be primarily tackled through government policies, the health disparities are everyone’s problem and have to be addressed by everyone— from government officials, to religious groups, to the farmers and food suppliers

He brings up a multitude of disputes between poverty, hunger, and even the discrepancy within our fast food nation. Though the topics may be bold, the purpose of it all requires all to listen given the importance dawning on the simplistic idea of how anyone can end up in the exact category of in need (Berg 45). Nonetheless, much more can be expanded upon.

From gangs around the world to the food industry in America, there are always struggles for the control of power. The film Food Inc. looks at the mass production of food in America, from meat products to corn and soy. The battle to control the production of these crops is never pretty. Another example of the conflict theory is portrayed in this film in several ways. Large companies within America are aloud to patent life, and this has turned into an a battle to control the production of corn and soy. One company, Monsanto, does everything in their power to control these products. One man owned a machine that cleaned and recycled seeds, and he used this machine to run his business. The man was not in violation of Monsanto's patent, but the company was not happy about the

Richard Robbins explores and analyzes the creation and the upkeep of hunger in his book “Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism. Each day, over a billion people in the world lack basic food needs. Common misunderstandings about world hunger are that it is the result of insufficient food production, famine is the common reason for hunger and that hunger is caused by overpopulation. Robbins argues against that theory and says that famines is not the leading cause of hunger and hunger is not due to overpopulation or insufficient food production. “Food production is not determined by the global need for food; it is determined on how many people have the means for it” (page 176). The documentary “The End of Poverty” reinforces Robbins belief that food is a commodity.

In the Sex and Social Justice by Martha C. Nussbaum, She believes that without certain traits, a life will fall short of being a good life. She calls these traits, “Central Human Functional Capabilities”, and there are ten in total. She argues that the role of public policy should focus on those capabilities in order to ensure and promote a good quality of life for a society or country. If public policy focused on the Human Capabilities she discusses, than that is a way of creating an environment where everyone has an equal opportunity at a good life. So, she is also promoting a chance of survival, equality, and a good life. Before goodness can be defined, two things must exist: the ability to survive and an equal chance to do so for everyone. When good can be simplified to mean healthy, an environment for all must be created to be good or healthy. There is a typical group that does not meet one of the Human Functional Capabilities, bodily health and integrity which is “being able to have good health, including reproductive health; being adequately nourished; being able to have adequate shelter” (Nussbaum). Nourishing or providing shelter to homeless people is an example of a good act because it provides people an opportunity to have a central human functional capability that they are lacking of, and promoting a healthy environment.

Brian’s unhealthy eating habits have caused his body to either be receiving inadequate amounts or a surplus of water-soluble vitamins. Brian is taking in to much Thiamin or Vitamin B1 because the Recommended Daily Amount (RDA) is 1.2 mg/day, the Daily Intake Value for adults is 1.5 mg and he is consuming 3.18 mg. He is also taking in to much Riboflavin or B2 because he is consuming 3.29 mg, his RDA is 1.3 mg/day and his Daily Value for adults is 1.7 mg. Brian is also taking in to much Niacin or B3 because his RDA is 16 mg NE/day, the Daily Value for adults is 20 mg and he is taking in 45 mg/day. He takes in 2.41 mg of Vitamin B6, which is too much, compared to

One of the largest areas of concern around the globe is the poverty levels. Over the last 40 years governments have been influenced by neoliberal ideologies and poverty has increased on a

Too many people pick up food products off of the shelves and put it into their shopping cart without knowing what exactly it is or what the product has been through. After watching an absolutely disturbing documentary called "Food Inc." I started to feel strongly about the problems of the Food Industry. The problem is that our food is no longer being produced in an all American farm, but in dirty abusive factories. Not only is the food unhealthy for us after all of the processing, but the workers and animals are being abused. I know that I single handily cannot change all of the problems with the twisted food industry, but I know that I can do my part by making others aware so that they can make sure that they can make fully informed decisions about what they are putting into their carts at the grocery store and eventually into their bodies.

We live in an age in which we have come to expect everything to be instantaneously at our fingertips. We live in an age of instant coffee, instant tea, and even instant mashed potatoes. We can walk down the street at 5 in the morning and get a gallon of milk or even a weeks worth of groceries at our discretion. Even though it is great that food is now readily available at all times, this convenience comes at a price, for both the producer and the consumer. Farmers are cheated out of money and are slaves to big business, workers and animals are mistreated. And, because food now comes at a low cost, it has become cheaper quality and therefore potentially dangerous to the consumer’s health. These problems surrounding the ethics and the

Proper nutrition is one of the most essential elements to being healthy and living a long life. People deal with food every day, and food has been a part of life since the beginning of civilization. What we eat becomes our diet, and our diet plays a major role in deciding how healthy we are and how well our body functions. Without proper diet, our body cannot carry out the functions it needs to perform. Most people have some common knowledge on what is good and what is bad for the human body to consume. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains are some common items people think of when they think of healthy foods. However, it is not enough just to know what foods are good for your body, it is also important to understand why certain foods are

In the food industry there have been many issues and processes that have brought a large amount of question to the industry overall, like the meat packing process in its early stages. I can 't think of a more heated issue in the last few passing years then the controversy over Genetically modified organisms in the food industry. Some countries are for it some are against it. Many sides will argue that genetically mutated organisms (GMO) are bad for the food industry while others will argue the opposite. While genetically mutate organisms have proved to provide many positive uses on today 's earth the question still remains the same are GMO 's good for us, the environment, or at all. Also if they yield more negative