Shaun Whitman addresses concerns regarding the chemicals used on regular produce by providing a solution to the problem and stating how the government comes into play. One solution that the article presents is that people can wash the produce thoroughly. For example, Paragraph 5 states, “Thoroughly washing fruits and vegetables under running water removes dirt, chemicals, and bacteria. You can also peel the skins off fruits and vegetables.” This delineates that people are able to address the concern of having chemicals on the produce by simply washing the produce or peeling its skin off. This is an example of the author giving a solution to this concern. In addition to giving a solution, the author also writes about how the government is checking
Tomatoland is a book written by Barry Estabrook, an investigative food journalist. Throughout the pages of Tomatoland, Estabrook explores the path of tomatoes, from the seed in South America to the hands of migrant workers in the fields of Florida. Through his exploration he discovers several issues that exist within the fresh tomato industry in Florida. Two of the major issues that he discovers include the use of highly toxic chemicals that cause severe damage to the health of humans and the environment, and the exploitation of migrant workers. Estabrook directly blames the continuation of such issues on those who support the tomato industry, “it’s a world we’ve all made, and one we can fix”; this includes consumers, crew bosses, the government and the corporate farm owners, like the executives and those who work in the business side of farming. Although there are many who are at fault, Estabrook directs his blame more towards the government and the farms corporate owners. Estabrook’s assessment of blame is substantial because the government and owners of the tomato corporations are the ones who have the strongest power towards regulations and production.
Poetry is a part of literature that writers used to inform, educate, warn, or entertain the society. Although the field has developed over the years, the authenticity of poetry remains in its ability to produce a meaning using metaphors and allusions. In most cases, poems are a puzzle that the reader has to solve by applying rhetoric analysis to extract the meaning. Accordingly, poems are interesting pieces that activate the mind and explore the reader’s critical and analytical skills. In the poem “There are Delicacies,” Earle Birney utilizes a figurative language to express the theme and perfect the poem. Specifically, the poem addresses the frangibility of the human life by equating it to the flimsy of a watch. Precisely, the poet argues that a human life is short, and, therefore, everyone should complete his duties in perfection because once he or she dies, the chance is unavailable forever.
This not only shows what the growers are doing to their workers, but what they are doing to that land as well. Pesticides and other harmful chemicals are used on the crops which damages the environment and can harm farmworkers. Caesar Chaves points out the growers blame the workers for the problems occurring, but the growers are the true cause of the problems. Chaves himself comments, “The growers only have themselves to blame as they begin to reap the harvest from decades of environmental damage they have brought upon the land--the pesticides, the herbicides, the soil fumigants, the fertilizers, the salt deposits from thoughtless irrigation--the ravages from years of unrestrained poisoning of our soil and water.” (Chavez, Address to the Commonwealth) The environmental damage the growers are causing are not only affecting the land around them. If the land becomes too bad to produce upon there will be no agricultural use for it,
It is true that growing foods on a farm show that there 's no bad “chemicals” added in the food which starts all out as seeds. If only it weren’t for the fact that again, college students just don’t have time. Along with that, some students live alone in an apartment complex and, I’m sure not too many apartments have an outside area big enough for a private garden. As a college student myself, I find it easier just going to the grocery stores and farmer’s markets to get my food; then again, I still live with my parents and they pay for the groceries. Thankfully, I don’t have to travel to the real farms to get farm-fresh produce; the food comes to local places like the hospital and downtown on certain dates. I suppose a tip for college students; in reality, traveling to the grocery store is easier because it’s a once-per-week-deal while keeping watch over a garden is an every-day-deal and students have things to keep up
Madeleine Thien’s “Simple Recipes” is a story of an immigrant family and their struggles to assimilate to a new culture. The story follows a father and daughter who prepare Malaysian food, with Malaysian customs in their Canadian home. While the father and daughter work at home, the mother and son do otherwise outside the home, assimilating themselves into Canadian culture. The story culminates in a violent beating to the son by his father with a bamboo stick, an Asian tool. The violent episode served as an attempt by the father to beat the culture back into him: “The bamboo drops silently. It rips the skin on my brothers back” (333) Violence plays a key role in the family dynamic and effects each and every character presented in the story
Michael Tortorello, a journalist for The New York Times, wrote the article “Heirloom Seeds of Flinty Hybrids?” in his article, he writes about a study done by the National Gardening Association that had a survey show that one in five Americans with a garden showed an interest in growing heirloom vegetables. According to the article “Benefits of Growing Your Own Fruits and Vegetables,” homegrown vegetables can cause us to use fewer pesticides or use natural pesticides. Using less or natural pesticides will cause less contamination to our environment (“Benefits of Growing Your Own Fruits and Vegetables”). In the article “Benefits of Growing Your Own Fruits and Vegetables” it is stated that growing our own vegetables can “turn unsightly lands into attractive landscapes.” Peels and waste from your homegrown vegetables can be recycled and used as composts to fertilize your garden instead of taking up stave in your garbage cans (“Benefits of Growing Your Own Fruits and Vegetables”). Imagining vegetable composts in your garbage may seem displeasing, but picturing vegetables on a plate of food would be much more
the chemicals. I believe that the Food Protection Act of 1996 meets both of these issues rather
American society has grown so accustomed to receiving their food right away and in large quantities. Only in the past few decades has factory farming come into existence that has made consuming food a non guilt-free action. What originally was a hamburger with slaughtered cow meat is now slaughtered cow meat that’s filled with harmful chemicals. Not only that, the corn that that cow was fed with is also filled with chemicals to make them grow at a faster rate to get that hamburger on a dinner plate as quickly as possible. Bryan Walsh, a staff writer for Time Magazine specializing in environmental issues discusses in his article “America’s Food Crisis” how our food is not only bad for us but dangerous as well. The word dangerous could apply to many different things though. Our food is dangerous to the consumer, the workers and farmers, the animals and the environment. Walsh gives examples of each of these in his article that leads back to the main point of how dangerous the food we are consuming every day really is. He goes into detail on each of them but focuses his information on the consumer.
Current public concern is the result of a wide-ranging, well-financed propaganda campaign of negatives – negatives intended to strike fear in the hearts of countless consumers "over there" and now, over here. Government agricultural agencies of var...
There is more than two-thirds of U.S. population who buy organic products at least occasionally, and twenty eight percent of consumers buy organic products weekly (Reganold et al., 2010). Organic produce is generally recognized as plant food produced without using growth hormones, antibiotics, or petroleum based, or sewage sludge based fertilizers (McWilliams, 2012). On the other hand conventionally grown produce uses synthetic fertilizers, hormones, and genetically modified Organism (GMO). Genetically Modified Organism referred to as plant or animal foods developed by genetic manipulation to alter nutrient levels or other characteristics such as increasing the antioxidant content in some vegetables or produce higher yield (McWilliams, 2012). The increasing popularity of consuming organic produce may be attributed to its perception of health related benefits, higher vitamins and nutrient levels, better quality, less pesticide residue, more environmental friendly, and concerns about the effects of conventional farming practices on the environment. (Uematsu, Mishra, 2012). The U.S. Department of Agriculture administeres the National Organic Prog...
What follows is some common misconceptions about pesticides and their use. Humans ingest about 10,000 times more naturally occurring pesticides than they do man-made ones. In fact, the risk you expose yourself to by drinking a daily glass of apple juice from fruit treated with the pesticide Alar is 58 times less than the hazard of consuming natural carcinogens in one mushroom. Pesticide residues remain only on the surface of produce. They are not absorbed by fruits or vegetables. Rinsing with clear running water will remove most of any trace residues. Organic food growers often use pesticides derived from natural sources to protect their crops. Many man-made pesticides are less toxic than naturally-occurring ones. Without the availability of crop protection products, it is estimated that current world fruit and vegetable production would decline by as much as 40% and fruit and vegetable prices would increase by up to 70% (Crop Protection Institute, 1997). Even with today's technology, food production would be considerably lower and the number of individuals suffering from malnutrition would be dramatically increased if pesticides were not used.
To help keep crops from being destroyed, conventional farmers use many methods such as pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. Nearly 1 billion pounds of these chemicals are used every year (“pesticides”). Because of this excessive use, some scientists express concern that using artificial chemicals in the farming process could produce unhealthy crops. People who ate it over a long period of time could suffer from degraded health and stunted growth (“Organic Foods”). For example, in 1989, the EPA banned the use of Alar which was a chemical used to ripen apples (“Farming, Organics”). This chemical proved to be carcinogenic after causing tumors in mice after several laboratory tests (“Organic Food”). As a result of these findings there was a dramatic increase of the sales for organic food (“Organic Food”). Another study found that Atrazine (one of the most widely used herbicides in the United States) has the potential of being carcinogenic and reducing sperm counts in males (“Organic Food”). This was further proven when evidence was found that chemicals u...
Every year, the average person in America consumes over 1,996 pounds of food and the majority of this consists of packaged and highly processed products. This is almost a ton of food that we devour constantly throughout the year, along with an enormous intake of unwanted fats and chemicals. The organic verses nonorganic food process has always been a prime controversial issue between farmers, industrial producers and their buyers due to the vast definition of healthy eating and the supposed benefits to both sides. Organic products though, prove to be more helpful than damaging unlike nonorganic foods for the following reasons. They do not contain pesticides like the majority of America’s food supply, they provide a healthier meal for those who decide to consume these organic foods, and supply a safe environment for ecosystems along with their inhabitants. While eating these products, one never needs to worry about having a guilty conscious of what they are putting into their body as well as how these organic foods may affect our planet.
There are standards in place by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for growing, processing, and labelling of organic products. Organic products do not use pesticides, petroleum-based fertilizers, or sewage sludge (Brooks 1). By doing this, they preserve natural resources and biodiversity (“Organic Agriculture 1). These products also do not include products that have been bioengineered, also referred to as genetically modified, and cannot be under the use of ionizing radiation (Brooks 1). The radiation used in conventional, non-organic foods has led to cause various types of cancer among its consumers. Plants and even animals are also affected by the usage. Animals are affected by other forms of genetic modification. They are given antibiotics filled with steroids and other drugs which we end up ingesting when we eat a product of those particular animals. Every product we eat that is non-organic contains pesticides and even the antibiotics full of steroids. The steroids also have shown to effect the growth of children and stunt their development. Organic farming and production does not support antibiotics being given ...
As demand increases, so does the quantity of supply; this is a concept known as supply and demand. The organic food industry has successfully perpetuated this notion. The popularity of organic foods in the United States has increased exponentially since 1990, with an annual growth rate of twenty-percent. Its marketability can be strongly attributed to the complexity involved in production as well as perspective health benefits. A parallel exists between the monetary value and health benefits; product desirability and value simultaneously increase. Health deficits of the latter alternative also assist in underscoring the importance of the organic food industry. Many conventionally produced foods contain pesticides, antibiotics, and other extraneous chemicals; all of which organic food industries strive to eliminate. Farming techniques such as soil fertility maintenance, “ crop rotation, tillage and cultivation practices, cover crops, and natural products.” Nonetheless, each of these precise methods work cohesively to eliminate the harmful factors traced to conventional food production methods. (Winter & Davis,