Will S. Hylton's A Bug In The System

The film begins with an introduction scenery of acres and large amounts of crops (corn and wheat), along with cattle and other forms of animals used in the production of the meat industry. During the agricultural featured scene, Mr. Schlosser elucidated how food preferences and the way we eat is evolving at a rapid speed, while others still perceive the food industry as an agrarian corporation. The film then makes its emotional appeal towards the audience by providing images and videos of chickens in multiple repulsive situations. The chickens were thrown onto conveyor belts by primarily African American workers, which now accounts for a fine percentage of employees in the food industry. Schlosser elaborates on the unseen dilemma of animal and worker abuse in these corporations. He then exemplifies his realization of how the abuse is enacted in numerous ways, one of which is implementing restrictions as to what workers are allowed to do and say. They use these restrictions as a way of controlling their workers and providers in such industries, because the workers/providers can’t risk losing the income they receive from these multi-billionaire companies. The above said scenes justifies how Schlosser uses emotional appeals to the viewers in order to enhance the initial

He supports his claim by first explaining the history of Plauen, Germany and how in December of 1990, McDonald’s opened its first restaurant there, but now has over one hundred and seventeen restaurants in foreign countries, and growing, with the help of U.S. State Department and Germany being the most profitable overseas market, then he talks about the fast food industry targeting children in foreign countries also because they are the ones least connected to tradition in their respective country, yet people wait for hours to eat the McDonald’s restaurants opened in their cities because they stopped caring about receiving healthy food, but this also has a consequence, “Wherever America’s fast food chains go, waistlines start expanding” (Schlosser 242), even on countries that have never faced this problem like Japan, but others like Sweden, Belgium, Holland, Ireland, and Norway have banned ads for kids and Helen Steel and Dave Morris, part of the London Greenpeace, sued McDonald’s and has been in a Libel with them for years since some of the things they accused McDonald’s of are true but majority being false, he also talks about adults being obese too, that about two hundred and eighty thousand Americans die every year because they are obese, including children aged six to

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.

The book Poisoned by Jeff Benedict was not only enjoyable but also has a lot of information concerned food safety. The author writes chronologically a story about the Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak that took place in Washington State on 1993 because that event change the way American eating habits. The outbreak was confirmed by Dr, Phil Tarr after he was receiving many patient who were children under 10 years old, and had the same symptoms. The number of patient and the brutality of the symptoms leaded to Dr, Tarr to contact an old friend that they used to work together particularly in E.coli. Tarr's friend was John Kobayashi who has the high position in the Department on the public heath Washington State Public Department (Benedict, 2011).

Schlosser's essay is just over 750 words in length, which is amazingly short when one pauses to consider the amount of information covered in it. The article attempts to disseminate "widespread public awareness" (Schlosser 2006) about the ills of the United States food system for what approximates to about the past 50 years, culminating in legislature that, at the time of writing, was attempting to "prevent states from having food safety"¦ requirements stricter than those of the federal government" (Schlosser 2006). And though the author manages one sentence with statistical data to back up his assertions regarding the nefariousness of this proposed legislation, he depends on far too many broad

Have you ever been in a rush, low on cash, and looking for something to eat so you didn’t really have a choice but to grab a burger with fries at your local fast food place? Have you ever paused or stopped to think about where the burger really came from, or the process that went in to be made? The Food Inc documentary investigates and exposes the American industrial production of meat, grains, and vegetables. Robert Kenner the producer of the film makes allegations in this film and he explores how food industries are deliberately hiding how and where it is our food is coming from. He emphasizes that we should find out where our food comes from and why is it that the food industry does not want us to know. Food Inc. does not only uses compelling images, such as hundreds of baby chickens being raised in spaces where they do not see an inch of sunlight, it also includes the speeches and stories of farmers, families, government officials, and victims of the food industry. The four current problems facing today’s food industry are the reformed usage of the false advertisement within the labeling of products , mistreatment of farmed animals, and the harmful chemical in our meats. The documentary Food Inc uses very persuasive tactics that demonstrates strong elements of pathos, ethos, and logos make an effective appeal, while uncovering the dark side of the food industry.

Fast food industry not only causes illness for people but also create problems to American agriculture since “The fast food chains now stand atop a huge food-industrial complex that has gained control of American agriculture.” (Schlosser). The fast foods companies need to purchase a vast of the agriculture products such as potatoes or cattle, and so they create corporate farms to provide products to their demands. Famer and cattle ranchers are being replaced by giant agribusiness companies which take over their lands. The independent famers are vanishing, and the gap between a small amount of wealthy elites and the large numbers of the working poor is getting bigger. When the fast foods companies control a vast of agriculture products, they also control prices of those products, which has driven down the prices and benefits that are offered to American farmers. According to Eric Scholosser, Nation Magazine Award winner, “In 1980, about thirty-seven cents of every consumer dollar spent on food went to the farmer. Today, only twenty-three cents goes to the farmer -

The first section of this book traces a meal at McDonalds back to its basic ingredient-corn. From the corn that feeds the chickens to the xanthan gum in the milkshake to the sweetener in the ketchup and oil in which the fries are cooked, McDonalds is mostly corn. Since Fast Food Nation and the other exposes, I don’t think there’s anyone who cares who doesn’t know how gross fast food is, and Pollan admirably stays away from the yuckiest. Instead, he goes to accusing Americans who eat food of having become like koalas, capable of absorbing

A lot of so called healthy food industries are funded by large corporations for example, American Society for Nutrition is receiving more than generous funds from McDonalds. How can you believe any information they are telling you when they are literally being paid under the table by the Evil Empire themselves! In Mark Bittman’s speech he takes an example of yogurt and how it is portrayed to be a healthier option, except is more equal to ice cream. Mark states the fact that we choose a granola bar as more of a healthier option, but if you compare the ingredients on the back it’s more similar to a snickers bar. Every day we are being lied to by food corporations and it makes me sick. Another lie we are being fed include, diet soda is better than regular soda. According to Top 10 Food Lies, a fourteen year old study found that diet sodas actually raise the risk of diabetes more than sugar sweetened sodas. You might also think foods labeled as low Fat or Whole Grain are good for you, wrong. The low fat advertisement might be true, but what they don’t tell you is that they actually replaced the fat with more sugar. When do we decide to end this slow torture to our own bodies and animals? Mark Bittman is absolutely correct on how food production is now industrial and

the growing concern about the quality of food in America the government took action to

Aunt bessie as you know i was sick from food poisoning for two weeks as a child which could give me a bias against food industrialist which is why i want to give s food safety charity 600,000 dollars. I was investigating like a sleuth when i read a novel by Upton Sinclair that stated something terrible i may have gotten sick from poison bread or a rat that the shovelers don't care about they won't even go through a simple effort to take them out. (Doc D). I read the entire novel and it had some interesting information about the hanging racks it is apparently so dark that the rats climb all over and drop their feces right on the meat ! (doc D picture). The food industrialist even have the brawn to lie on the cans to people about the type of meat most have white lies on the cans.

The most prominent concern of the takeover of fast food restaurants is the toll it will take on American’s health. Schlosser mentions: “The obesity epidemic that began in the United States during the late 1970s is now spreading to the rest of the world, with fast food as one of its vectors.” Obesity is only the beginning to a long line of health problems, including diabetes, many different types of cancer, and arthritis. One of the main sellers of Schlosser’s argument was the fact that a high intake of fast food will result in a multitude of health issues. His facts and figures regarding health issues related to fast food was one of his tactics used to get readers to believe his ideal that a “fast food nation” is a bad thing.

The film Food Inc., like many other films of its category is not so much of an informative documentary, rather more of a slanderous exposé which blows the lid off of the food industry and its operations. To say that the film is neutral and tends towards more of an educative approach would be a misinterpretation to say the least. Throughout the entire movie it is always evident that the movie aims not solely to educate its audience about the truth of their food, but to convert the misinformed and inspire a rebellion against food industry practices. The movie does this through a tactful approach of bombarding its audience with gruesome clips, facts and testimonial story lines. The film asserts it claim through a thrilling critique of the horrific meat production process which is most prevalent in the U.S food industry and its impact on humans and the environment, while extoling alternative practices which seem to be more sustainable and humane, yet are underutilized. The film goes on to highlight the different players in the food politics arena, emphasizing the role that government agencies play. Also the film divulges the reality that is the monopolization of the food industry by big multinational corporations such as Monsanto Company, Tyson Food, Perdue Farms, Smithfield Foods, etc.

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.

Watching the documentary Food Inc, there were a few points that stood out most to me. I think one of the most important concerns that were brought up is the consumers not knowing the truth behind the food. Whether there is actual harm in our food or not, we still need to know what is going into our food. The harm that may actually be inside our food can be caused by how easy it is to produce crap food now days. Making mass produced food is a lot easier than it has been in the past because genetics have changed animals into growing faster and fatter. This causes harm to the environment by creating factories for these foods to be made, which causes pollution by emitting many CO2 gasses. However this isn’t a concern for the producer. The producer is mainly focused on money they receive even if it causes harm to the environment or the consumers. The use of pesticides and other substances are used in foods, whether it’s in the production of corn growing or in the food in general to help keep germs out. This also causes harm to the consumer and environment that we should be aware of.