The Ugly Relationship Between Economics And Food Essay

Thinking about the importance and significance of food respective to our health, ethnic culture and society can cause cavernous, profound, and even questionable thoughts such as: “Is food taken for granted?”, “Is specialty foods just a fad or a change in lifestyle?”, and even “Is food becoming the enemy.” Mark Bittman, an established food journalist, wrote an article called “Why take food seriously?” In this article, Bittman enlightens the reader with a brief history lesson of America’s appreciation of food over the past decades. This history lesson leads to where the social standing of food is today and how it is affecting not only the people of America, but also the rest of the world.

Through this, it can be seen that the ‘white’ consumer often assumes that the choice of what to eat is similar for all, and is ignorant that “levels and practices of food consumption have been shaped by social ranking and

For centuries, the United States has been seen as a food and food-product paradise; with a constant bombardment of daily specials, “two-for-one” deals, and never ending combo options oozing from every corner of the food-scape. For many Americans, over indulgence is a frequent occurrence-studies show more than 50% of adults say they eat out at least once a week (“58% Eat at A Restaurant”, 2013). Even in this scene of gluttony, the poverty stricken and systematically oppressed find themselves in food deserts across The States; that’s more than 45 million Americans without access to healthy, reasonably priced foodstuffs. Of this group of 45 million, the African American community holds the seat for the highest poverty rate among various racial and ethnic groups at an astounding 26.2% in 2014 (DeNavas-Walt, 2015).

In Lisa Miller’s essay “Divided We eat,” she describes her usual morning breakfast that consists of fancy foods and claims that she is a food snob. She then goes into detail about what her neighbor's routine is like, and what Alexandra Ferguson’s morning routine is like. Food is typically a big issue for these families and the parents will usually spend hours thinking about how they will feed their families. Miller and Ferguson later discuss that some children don’t get enough eat, and some of these children are within five miles of them. Miller then tells us that seventeen percent of Americans are food insecure. The income gap has increased and now more Americans are becoming obese because of this.

Individuals of higher income levels often have private insurance that allows them to see a physician on a regular basis. These individuals are able to prevent many diseases before they exacerbate. They often eat low fat diets or plant based diets. They are educated on their nutritional health and often make better choices when choosing the different types foods to eat. Due to their income, they can afford to eat healthy food and make healthy food choices. Even though these individuals may be predisposed to certain diseases, their diets prevent them from becoming prevalent in their lives. Due to the individual’s socioeconomic status they make enough money that they don’t stress about the necessities in life. These individuals live in areas such as Roswell, Johns Creek. Alpharetta, Buckhead, Kennesaw, and Stockbridge. Individuals of a poor economic status have limited access to healthcare. These individuals often have Medicaid, Medicare, or no health insurance at all. They often eat diets that are high in fat. Individuals of poor economic status aren’t often educated about eating healthy. They often eat unhealthy because it is too expensive to eat healthy. These individuals often receive government subsidiaries such as WIC and SNAP benefits for themselves and their children. There aren’t many healthy food stores if any at all in these neighborhoods. Stores such as Whole Foods, Sprout, and Trader Joe’s aren’t located in poverty stricken communities because the individuals can’t afford the prices. It is a disadvantage that the grocery chains in the neighborhood don’t offer the resident a healthier option. Individuals of poor economic status often fight chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and often cancer. They often live sedentary lifestyles that contribute to these diseases. They eat diets that are high in red meats one that contributes to

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

Obesity is a problem in different areas throughout the world; obesity is a major problem in the United States of America. The food industry in the U.S. has changed. Food is cheaper and easier to access, but food is lower in quality and is massively produced (Kenner, 2008). Food is no longer as hard to come by as it once was and is not as expensive, but healthy food is more expensive and, most of the time, requires trips to the grocery store. In American society today, American are busy and have minimal time to exercise, cooking, or even go to the grocery store. The lower socioeconomic classes are notably affected as a result of individuals and families of lower socioeconomic classes often can’t afford healthy food from local grocery stores

Individuals who live in low-income areas have to rely heavily on fast food and cheap food from convenience stores because it is the only food close and affordable to them. People in poor neighborhoods are, “Confronted with a high concentration of poor diet choices” and, “End up eating a less healthy diet” because, “Few markets” offer, “Fresh fruit and vegetables” (Cortright 1). Even if

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 is a strong unifier amongst the nation because regardless of one’s class, race, or gender, everybody eats and everybody needs food to survive. However intersecting factors such as geography, economic class and most importantly race are causing fundamental structures of inequality within our food system. The United State’s global structure of white privilege and supremacy has led to the marginalization of African-Americans and people of color. Race and racism continues to have a major impact on every institution in American society and all of its systems including the food system. The impact of white supremacy and racism on the food system has led to health discrepancies impacting marginalized groups. Marginalized groups have been defined as “groups that have been peripheralized from the center of society”. The fundamental racism within society has caused these groups to be faced with higher rates of diabetes, worst diabetes control, and greater rates of complications.

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 the article, Place, Ethics, and Everyday Eating: A Tale of Two Neighborhoods written by Josèe Johnston, Alexandra Rodney, and Michelle Szabo questions of how ‘ethical eating’ is different based on the neighborhood a person is in and eats at. Also, part of their research question includes how class plays a part in ethical eating. Interviews of families from two different Toronto neighborhoods, those who have a high income and those who have low income, was the method used to obtained evidence for their research question. Participants were interviewed twice, and asked to take about 20 photos of their food. Johnston, Rodney, and Szabo are trying to illuminate on how eating places are not direct in maintaining and reproducing two different classes through food practices.

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

The food security of some developing countries remain stable with sufficient food to sustain the nations people.Many countries will continue depending on international trade to ensure their food security.The fight against hunger targets and deliberate action in the form of comprehensive social services, including food assistance, health and sanitation, as well as education and training; with a special focus on the most vulnerable.Climate change and increased biofuel production represent major risks for long-term food security.

One of the most important management activities in today’s economy is to improve performance, especially labor productivity, because almost every manufacturing process involves human work. Not only the physical work, but also the mental manpower is crucial to achieve the objectives of the organization. Increased productivity includes greater motivation, personal participation and better performance of work in the foodservice organization. For institutional food service, improving labor productivity can be more challenging because of budget pressure and strict regulations. Many studies have been done on working environment, management skills, vocational training and so on. Some general management skills, such as vocational