The Golden Arches That Rise Into The Sky Essay

The growing locavore movement suggests that local food is key for healthy eating and community growth. One would imagine that the closer the source of one’s food is from, the healthier and more sustainable it is, right? However, this is not the case. In the set of locavore articles, the authors provide information to show that the locavore movement brings about issues involving inefficiency, energy use, and impracticality.

Christina deeply cares for kids, to the point where she will only eat if there is enough food for her to consume. Christina says, “I eat lunch if there’s enough, but the kids are the most important. They have to eat first” (The New Face of Hunger). To go deeper into this family’s life, Jim, the husband of Christina, often works until eight at night, applying pesticides on commercial farms for $14 an hour. To continue, after reading simply the first part of this article, it is clear that both Christina and Jim want only the best for their kids. What one does not know, unless one has watched the video provided by “The New Face of Hunger”, is that the Dreier family, particularly Christina, are a bit over weight. Now, I asked myself, if one is low on food, how is one overweight? To follow up, this is where the “healthy resources” stated in the introduction come in to play. For many, “the extra pounds that result from a poor diet are collateral damage—an unintended side effect of hunger itself” (The New Face of Hunger). In other words, due to the fact that the food supply is severely limited to Americans, the healthy food supply is even more minuscule, making the limited (unhealthy) food cause long term damage to the

The problem with food production in America is the mistreatment of livestock, the overproduction of corn in America, and the amount of corn feeded to the animals ; these issues affect consumers’ health because of the amount of diabetes has been increasing over years. Michael Pollan in "When a Crop Becomes King” he explains that the government pays for corn to be grown a lot more then it should be ,David Barboza in the article “If You Pitch it , They will Eat It” the way companies just want to get into kids mind by tricking them into telling their parents to buy them unhealthy food just for the toy it comes with, In “Pleasures of Eating,” Wendell Berry most of the people just rather be eating out then making food. There is uncertainty about the way food is produce because we cannot control people on what they

There is no doubt that urban agriculture has many benefits people who are living in urban area especially fixing the food insecurity problem. According to the USDA Economic Research Service (2016), food insecurity can happened when a household loss access to fresh foods due the lack in social and low economic. When the population of people concentrated in an area with bad economic situation increases, it will later affects the employment opportunities and food insecurity might be a critical issue. This is supported by a

Many people have grown up around school lunches without knowing much about them. With these people trusting the schools to serve healthy lunches to students, not many people care to worry about what they are eating. Growing up ignorant about food is easy to do, but why settle for convenience if it harms the body? In Melanie Warner’s novel, Pandora’s Lunchbox: How Processed Food took over the American Meal, she goes over the history and science of many well-known food companies and the products these corporations sell to individuals. Warner explains how food science became popular to study and how progressive America’s food technology has come. Pandora’s Lunchbox is a remarkable read through its personal stories and demonstrations. Despite her fruitless comments about the science of food, Warner’s approach shows that her writing style and personal testimonies connect with the reader.

Journalist and novelist Michael Pollan writes about the trials and tribulations surrounding food in North America and raises questions regarding Western diet, which is mostly comprised of refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup and corn in general. He reiterates that chemically generated food is creating disease in North Americans; If we eliminate these factors and adopt the eating habits of less industrialized places in the world will we in our lifetime see rates of heart disease, type two diabetes and obesity decline dramatically? The western diet has evolved drastically in the last sixty years, so much so that people have become codependent on the government, dietitians and food agencies regarding their health and what to consume. The land is suffering from pesticides and singular plant farming, the alternative to this is to buy organic but at a higher price. Media has influenced the consumer to read the label and accept and trust the daily vitamin percentages on the box, as this is what is best for them. Money is the key factor in all of this and the government, scientific research and media know that, therefor the public is in for a shock when they realize that the very labels that are supposed to save them have fooled them.

(Parker-Pope, 2007) “If you have three dollars to feed yourself, your choices gravitate toward foods which give you the most calories per dollar.” said Dr. Drewnowski, Professor of the Department of Epidemiology and Medicine at the University of Washington. He further stated, “Not only are the empty calories cheaper, but the healthy foods are becoming more and more expensive. Vegetables and fruits are rapidly becoming luxury goods.” (Parker-Pope, 2007) Much of these cost are due to our Governments Farm Policy. Farm policy encourages the production of commodities for processed foods instead of healthy foods. Whether by intention or not, because of the low cost of commodities like corn and soybeans, sugars and fats like fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated vegetable oils, current farm policy has directed food industry investment into funding ways of using these cheap food additives in processed foods, thus causing consumers to eat more added sweeteners and oils than is healthy. Because these highly processed foods can be produced at a very low cost, they give significant profit for the food industry which creates an industry incentive to market “junk” foods instead of healthier foods. (Food without Thought:How US Farm Policy Contributes to Obesity)

Americans today are no strangers to stretching every dollar earned in an attempt to live the American dream. Most people work long hours and eat on the fly with very little thought to what, or where, the food they have purchased came from. The reason food is so inexpensive has not been a concern to the average American, but the article written by Michael Pollan “The Food Movement Rising” attempts to convince the people that it is time to remove the blinders and take an accounting of the situation that America finds itself in. With obesity at epic proportions, and preventable diseases like

It’s no secret, Americans love their processed, energy-rich foods. And undeniably, this love affair has led to an obesity epidemic. In spite of the evidence against processed food, however, there are some who believe the problem may hold the key to the solution. David Freedman, author of “How Junk Food Could End Obesity,” criticizes Michael Pollan for his argument in support of unprocessed, local foods due its impracticality. Freedman’s criticism is based on the idea that “It makes a lot more sense to look for small, beneficial changes in food than it does to hold out for big changes in what people eat that have no realistic chance of happening” (Freedman Sec. 1). He contends that processed foods already play a big part in our diets, so instead of trying to expand the wholesome food business, we should try to make processed foods healthier. Freedman’s argument, however, overlooks many negative effects of processed foods and conventional farming. Michael Pollan’s wholesome food movements takes into account not only the obesity problem, but also the quality of the environment and the rights of farmers. Although Pollan’s solution to obesity may not seem the most efficient or time effective, the trades offs it provides in terms of environmental sustainability and the well-being of farmers outweigh the loss of efficiency.

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.

Have you ever thought, you 're doing a great job slowly killing yourself and the Earth while walking through the supermarket pushing a shopping cart filled with an assortment of western dietary staples? Probably not, right? If you 've recently watched the Netflix documentary Cooked, released in early February 2016, this self-analysis may be a part of your shopping trips for the foreseeable future. Cooked was produced by Alex Gibney, and narrated by the man whose book, by the same name, inspired the series itself, Michael Pollan. Michael Pollan is a professor of journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, and food activist with many accolades, including several New York Time best-selling books. Cooked is filled to the brim

I. IntroductionBecause of the omnipotence of fast food chains in America, when we feel the urge for an easy meal, Americans, in general, immediately look to the fast food nation for a quick suppression to their hunger. Because we live in a time-is-money society the most efficient means of hunger satisfaction is the almighty drive-through. Corporations spend billions of dollars advertising to enhance sales of their products. With American catching on to the lack of healthy food options in the fast food nation, fast food chains began campaigning healthier food such as their salads and fruit cups. However salads may sound healthy but a Southwest Salad with Grilled Chicken from McDonalds has 320 calories and 90 grams of fat. Where's the "healthy" in that. Now that Obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. we need to re-evaluate the importance of healthy eating. By increasing awareness of the

102). One might impugn that it is not poverty but lack of education that affects the obesity epidemic. It does not require a mathematician to comprehend that choosing a two dollar case of Honey Buns as opposed to a six dollar bag of apples will equal more food in the refrigerator. Generally, processed foods are more “energy dense” than garden-fresh foods; they contain less water and fiber but more added fat and sugar, which make them both less satisfying and more calorific (Pollan, 2006). Provisions similar to fruits and vegetables contain high water content that permits individuals to feel satiated rather swiftly. Nutritious meals are more expensive, less tasty, and are more time consuming to prepare, fostering unhealthy eating patterns. On special occasions, parents will treat their children to McDonalds where everything is “super-sized”. Adults and children can acquire debauched consumption patterns because they don’t comprehend the quantity they have enthusiastically ingested. Pollan (2006) stated that “Well-designed fast food has a fragrance and flavor all its own, a fragrance and flavor only nominally connected to hamburgers or French fries or for that matter to particular food” (p. 111).

Today’s society is becoming increasingly more health conscious. Consumers are aware of calories, obesity, sodium content and fatty food intake issues. Many restaurants have responded to the healthy eating trend by expanding the number of healthy food choices on their menus. A study found that American fast-food chains increased their healthy menu items by 65% during the second quarter of 2009 to the second quarter of 2010 (Midday, 2010). Another important social factor is the desire to be socially responsible. More restaurants are going green by choosing local ingredients, meats, and vegetables over those shipped from thousands of miles away. A study reports that around 80% of Americans consider themselves to be environmentally conscious. The same study found that over 60% of Americans prefer to eat at eco-friendly or green restaurants (Hubpages, 2010).

Nations are judged and measured by their production and selling of goods and services. Not only has increased consumerism resulted in ecological imbalance, it is also depleting earth’s natural resources, which in turn is creating an environmental crisis. One of the biggest products being consumed is food. Rapidly growing world’s population requires increased food production. Author Anna Lappe does an excellent job expounding on the impact that food production and distribution has on the environment. Lappe (2015) argues that modern practices of food production directly contribute to air pollution and increases carbon dioxide emissions (par. 11). Crop production uses an absurd amount of land, artificial fertilizer, and harmful pesticides that seriously pollutes the environment and threatens young children and wildlife species. Author Sandra Steingraber (2015) also argues that increased consumerism has led to a high usage of harmful chemicals to produce products for consumers (par.