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Ethical and moral issues in the food industry
Arguments for industrial farming
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Recommended: Ethical and moral issues in the food industry
A common theme in entertainment today is the question “Just because I can, should I do it?” Usually this is applied to moral issues or controversial scientific breakthroughs. Yet, very little of the American public even bother to ask this about food science and production. As long as the food tastes good and is convenient, most people don’t really care. Melanie Warner, overall, was just like most Americans. In her book she documents how a former business journalist became infatuated with the longevity of cheese, guacamole, and other normal American cuisine. It’s a dark hole. Most readers will be horrified and confused with such production methods. While Warner’s book isn’t a scientific study, her neutral style and intriguing investigation …show more content…
Warner raises several main questions throughout her text. While she never directly asks the reader to consider the following questions, a reader will question the healthiness of eating processed foods, if there is proper moderation of additives, and what steps they can take to choose a healthier lifestyle. The main goal of the text appears to be to inform about processed foods and how they came to play such a major role in the American diet. This is demonstrated with the heavy amount of history and statistics intertwined in the book. Interestingly enough Warner claims that she wrote the book, “As an argument for eating foods closer to the ground” (Warner 223). Yet the book doesn’t feel like an argument. She effectively makes one question what they’re eating but her neutral tone keeps the book from being an …show more content…
Some might complain about the guilt they feel knowing they are willingly consuming sodium benzoate and soybean oil. Which, according to Warner, isn’t a bad thing. If one is buying a blueberry muffin, most likely, they’d be interested to know that those “blueberry” pieces are the result of an experiment. If it was common knowledge that out of the 5,000 additives found in food barely a half has been tested, American’s would ponder their diet. While change is never easy, it isn’t hard to spark a movement towards change. This is evident with the shift towards eating better. Perhaps it will amount to no more than a trend, but throughout history, science has never surpassed the natural world. That is why the natural world has survived as long as it can, because, in many ways, it’s the best you can get. Pandora’s Lunchbox possess the ability to spark something more than a general knowledge of cereal factories. As mentioned, Pandora’s Lunchbox is full of research. It is quite impressive. In chapter 5, Putting Humpty Dumpty Back Together Again, Warner goes into much detail about the way synthetic vitamins are made. The story about sheep’s wool grease being turned into vitamin D is especially disgusting. All throughout the book a reader will appreciate knowing Warner did her homework on companies, statistics, and chemicals. The only frustrating part is it is hard
“Food as thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating,” is an article written by Mary Maxfield in response or reaction to Michael Pollan’s “Escape from the Western Diet”. Michael Pollan tried to enlighten the readers about what they should eat or not in order to stay healthy by offering and proposing a simple theory: “the elimination of processed foods” (443).
While shopping at a local Trader Joe’s, Freedman spots a bag of peas, which have been breaded, deep-fried and then sprinkled with salt. Upon seeing this snack, he is in shock to know that this same store, which is known for their wholesome food, would sell such a thing. With a tone of exasperation, he admits that, “I can’t recall ever seeing anything at any fast-food restaurant that represents as big an obesogenic crime against the vegetable kingdom.” It was such an unexpected situation for him to come across this small snack that represented the opposite of what the wholesome-food movement is for. To settle his own confusion, he clarifies that, “…many of the foods served up and even glorified by the wholesome-food movement are themselves chock full of fat and problem carbs.” This further proves that just because a certain food is promoted by a health fad, it does not validate that it is genuinely better than fast-food itself. A simple cheeseburger and fries from any fast-food restaurant would more than likely contain less calories than a fancy salad from the next hole-in-the-wall cafe. Not only that, but the burger and fries will be tastier and much cheaper
...pened my eyes to the health risks of the food I consume. There is a lot of health risks associated with the foods on the shelves at the supermarket. A food product I ate as a child was Lunchables. At the time I just thought the food was good. Although, now that I am aware of what I put in my body I try to look at the ingredient and the food products I consume before I consume them. The book also informed me of the deceitfulness of people in order to make a profit. A prime example in Chapter eleven is the Kraft Company. The Kraft Company state they want to decrease the amounts of salt, sugar and fat in their products. On the other hand, Kraft creates new products with an increased amount of these ingredients. Many companies state that they try to fulfill the desires of consumers. This idea is wrong. The consumers study what our body craves and uses it against us.
He tells an experience he had when he went to a healthy food place on a trip once, he got a smoothie that was good, but had a lot of calories and cost a lot more than what was reasonable. David then brings up his second try with eating healthy foods and specific healthy places. He tried a different flavor, which he could barely handle to consume, and the price was barely lower than the first experience with a longer producing time period. Finally, he finds the perfect smoothie, low in calories as well in price, thanks to McDonalds. After telling his readers about these experiences he brings up Pollan, another author in They Say/I Say, who is very against processed foods, who expresses that organic and whole foods is the way Americans should eat to become healthier. He states “The fact is, there is simply no clear, credible evidence that any aspect of food processing or storage makes a food uniquely unhealthy” (518). This leads into his last main point, about how changing diets should not be the huge change of completely eliminating fast food and going strictly organic/whole foods, but making small, unnoticeable changes in the processed food industries, fast
In the article “The End of Food,” Lizzie Widdicombe describes an advancement of our food culture through a new product developed by three young men living in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district. After failing to produce new inexpensive cellphone towers on a hundred seventy thousand dollar investment, the three men went on to try and develop software with their remaining funding. While trying to maximize their funding’s longevity, they realized that their biggest budget impediment was food. In fact, it reached the point where their diet comprised of mostly fast food, and eventually they despised the fact that they had to spend so much time and money on eating. Due to this hardship, Rob Rhinehart, one of the entrepreneurs, came up with the
Every year millions of American’s purchase chemicals intended to clean their home, remove weeds from lawns, and promise to eradicate various insects and other household pests. It is a deadly love affair with scientific advancements to create larger crops, more appealing food items and the promise of cleaner environments. Yet until recent years and the noticeable focus on organic and natural foods, very few have questioned these advancements. Rachel Carson was one of the people who had the courage and determination to stand up and question just how healthy these new advancements truly were for living creatures. Mrs. Carson’s effort to bring these things to light in her most well-known book, Silver Spring, a book that exposed just how dangerous the chemical dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and other synthetic chemicals was to the environment, animals, and humans. There was much more to her efforts and her concerns than just her coverage of DDT. Through her valiant devotion, Rachel Carson’s work lives on and the world is wiser to the potential hazards associated with scientific chemical advancements. Her life and her work is a reminder that the human populace is not lone entities on this planet.
In the article I read today called No food is healthy. Not even kale. The author Michael Ruhlman, indulges his thoughts about the food industry in the US and what is considered “healthy” and “unhealthy”. The language he uses is very modern and simple, as if you were actually having a conversation with him in person. The language he used was informal, I enjoyed this because I could really grasp his feelings about common misconceptions about “healthy” foods. Ruhlman’s rhetoric in the piece was to persuade readers to know more about the foods they were purchasing then just throwing it in the basket. In the article he mentions that he asked the lady if she knew what was replaced in her fat-free milk and she had no clue. He says “The woman apparently
Barbara Kowalcyk, a food safety advocate, became involved in the fight to regulate safety in the food system after her two year old child died in 2001. Kevin, Barbara Kowalcyk son, was diagnosed with E.coli after eating three hamburgers from a fast food restaurant. His kidneys quickly started to fail after the incident. Kevin died in twelve days, it took that one time after eating a hamburger to end a precious child’s life. Because of cases like these some meat plants have to put their meat into ammonia in order to keep the bacteria off. Another problem that American families face is the growth of fast food consumption. The documentary presents a family who challenges with this problem. They rather go to a fast food place and spend a few dollars, than have to spend more time and money in making homemade food. The increasing consumption of fast food not only encourages the mass production of industrial food, but also increases the risk of American deaths. When the American Family in the documentary goes to the supermarket they realize that a hamburger is cheaper than buying a couple of fruits and vegetables. The food system has leaned towards the bad calories, since those are the ones that are being produced extensively. The mass production of industrial food creates cheaper prices, which in turn encourages people to buy these unhealthy
Michael Pollan’s “The American Paradox” discusses the views Americans have developed on eating. In the past Americans ate based on culture and community; moms chose and managed what they ate. Now Americans are eating based on the ever changing nutrition science. They have become dependent on basing their eating on the facts that nutritionists throw at them. Culture and community no longer have part in American’s eating habits. People are becoming reliant on biology to guide their food choices because it has over powered the thinking of the past. Biologists developed this food science to aid the American population to become healthier. This has caused the American diet to be based solely on nutrition. Pollan has introduced these views as the
Subsequent to viewing the narrative, I have turned out to be more mindful about the sustenance I purchase and eat, nature, poultry and domesticated animals. Nourishment eaten once a day may influence wellbeing later on. I have additionally understood that the nourishment I eat may have microorganisms which can harm me. I additionally understood that only one out of every odd item that is promoted on TV and in daily papers is not good enough for me. For getting healthy, the kind of food you eat is everything, and particularly in the event that you eat industrial sustenance.
The more we are educated about what we are eating, the better food choices we will make, therefore, the healthier we will be. Pollan introduces the 4 food chains to us, industrial, industrial organic, locally grown, and hunter gatherer. Throughout the book, Pollan educates us about these food chains, and references them, Helping us to make the correct choices. For example, the industrial food chain is quick, easy to get access to, and efficient, but is it healthy? When talking about the effects of the industrial food chain, Pollan says, “When food is abundant and cheap, people will eat more of it” (77). This is a direct answer to today’s problem- America’s epidemic of obesity. That doesn’t mean we can’t have Mcdonald’s ever again, Pollan just is telling us we need to be more conscious and educated about what we are eating from each food
When we think of our national health we wonder why Americans end up obese, heart disease filled, and diabetic. Michael Pollan’s “ Escape from the Western Diet” suggest that everything we eat has been processed some food to the point where most of could not tell what went into what we ate. Pollan thinks that if America thought more about our “Western diets” of constantly modified foods and begin to shift away from it to a more home grown of mostly plant based diet it could create a more pleasing eating culture. He calls for us to “Eat food, Not too much, Mostly plants.” However, Mary Maxfield’s “Food as Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating”, argues differently she has the point of view that people simply eat in the wrong amounts. She recommends for others to “Trust yourself. Trust your body. Meet your needs.” The skewed perception of eating will cause you all kinds of health issues, while not eating at all and going skinny will mean that you will remain healthy rather than be anorexic. Then, as Maxfield points out, “We hear go out and Cram your face with Twinkies!”(Maxfield 446) when all that was said was eating as much as you need.
Berry does not hesitate in using harsh words and metaphors like “the hamburger she is eating came from a steer who spent much of his life standing deep in his own excrement in a feedlot”(Berry 10). This provokes the readers to feeling horrible about industrial eating. He uses our pride while pointing to the lies of the make-up of industrial foods. He plays on human self-preservation when writing about chemicals in plants and animals which is out of the consumer’s control. He tries to spark a curiosity and enthusiasm, describing his own passion of farming, animal husbandry, horticulture, and gardening. The aspect of feelings and emotions is, perhaps, the strongest instrument Berry uses in making his
The second our spoons come near our mouths, we instantly start to think about indulging in the deliciousness that is our food; however, we don’t tend to think beyond the taste of our food as we should. Nearly all of us do not take a moment out of our dinner to think in depth about all the details of what went into producing our food. Wendell Berry and Michael Pollan would agree that when people look at their food, they do not stop to think about the life it had, the ingredients that went into it, the effects it may have on our health and the environment, or the shady business behind it all. We have become a prey in this society as we don’t realize how we are being fooled and unknowingly participating in the destruction of the world and ourselves.
American Journal of Food Technology 6.6 (2011): 441-59. Print. The. Gonzalez, Julina. A. Roel. " "The Philosophy of Food," Edited by David M. Kaplan.