Food is a necessity to life, an indisputable statement that has long been glorified. Yet again, are all of us sure that the foods we ate are safe and healthy. We devoted our full trust to the so-called regulatory body like Food & Drug Administration (FDA), but still the birth of factory farming and mechanization of food are at alarming rates, posing an utterly significant threat to health and environment. The impacts of food mechanization are clearly evinced through the direct illness to food consumers, outbreak and widespread of new diseases and degradation of water resources and aquatic life.
One of the effects of food mechanization is the direct illness it brings to consumers through food. The food contains deadly bacteria and pathogens that results to health problems among consumers. For instance, the presence of E. coli in corn-fed meat would cause kidney failures. “In the United States E.coli O157:H7 is the major cause of acute kidney failure among children, 100,000 Americans infected and 36,000 deaths reported yearly” (Greger). Other discerning examples include salmonella which accounts for food poisoning, “Salmonella Enteritidis-contaminated eggs were sickening an average of 182,000 Americans annually, by the beginning of 21st century” (Greger). Furthermore, the mechanization of food makes food less nutritious, thus promoting an unhealthy society. An example would be the high fructose corn syrup, found in wide range of food and beverages, that leads to a skyrocketed epidemic of obesity, “In the 40 years since the introduction of high-fructose corn syrup as a cost-effective sweetener in the American diet, in 1970, around 15 percent of the U.S. population met the definition for obesity; today, roughly one-third of the Ameri...
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...ills water organism such as fish. For example, the pfiesteria piscicida are killing the aquatic life “It (pfiesteria) causes lesion in fish and has caused massive fish kills in rivers, including the Neuse River, where 14 million fish are killed and 36400 acres of shellfish bed are closed” (Miller, 114). These conclude that food mechanization has caused our water quality and aquatic life to be in jeopardy.
All in all, mechanization of food is clearly deleterious to the world today as it brings direct illness to food consumers, outbreak and widespread of new diseases and degradation of water resources and aquatic life. We say that we are moving towards modernization, civilization, technological revolution etc. Yet, we overlooked matters that used to be so important to our heart, our own health and our mother nature. Consequently, we are the victim of our own mishap.
Although there are many dangers in the world, the necessity of eating shouldn’t be considered something that is dangerous. Bryan Walsh talks about the dangers of eating food in his article, “America’s Food Crisis,” that proves how the food industry has changed dramatically in recent years. Factory farming has become the new way of producing food for America, one that is slowly putting millions of people’s health at risk.
Food is an essential part of everyday life without it one could not survive. Every day we make choices on what we put in to our bodies. There are countless varieties of food to choose from to meet the diverse tastes of the increasing population. Almost all food requires a label explaining the ingredients and the nutritional value allowing consumers to make informed decisions on what they are consuming. However, many may not be considering where that food is coming from or how it has been produced. Unfortunately, there is more to food than meets the eye. Since 1992, “ the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruled, based on woefully limited data, that genetically modified foods were ‘substantially equivalent’ to their non-GM counterparts” (Why to Support Labeling). GM food advocates have promised to create more nutritious food that will be able to grow in harsh climate conditions and eventually put an end to world hunger in anticipation of the growing population. There is very little evidence to support these claims and study after study has proven just the opposite. GM crops are not only unsafe to consume, but their growing practices are harmful to the environment, and multinational corporations are putting farmers out of business.
Almost every angle of the food industry can be considered dangerous. It is dangerous to make the food, as a meatpacking job is one that is viewed as having abnormally high risks; however when the food is handed over a counter on a tray or prepared in a family of four’s kitchen, it poses a huge risk to humankind. Foodborne illnesses are all too common and almost everybody has the possiblity of contracting a foodborne illness. These are life threatening diseases that need to be monitored and regulated; therefore the enforcement of government regulations in the fast food industry could potentially save many lives that are lost annually due to the numerous factors that need regulation.
In recent studies, it was discovered that most of the foods that Americans consumed are foods which had gone through so many processes and thereby losing most of its nutritional values. Unhealthy nutrients are also been added to foods as additive during production to either preserve flavor or enhance its taste and appearance. An individual cannot simply trust what he or she is consuming at a fast food restaurant or even a cheap prepared meal at a grocery store. Processed food or western diet needs to be replaced and totally taken out of the American life and diet; this will help the Americans to live a healthier life, and spend less on medical bills.
Furthermore, food safety is a major issue in the United States. Foodborne illness has caused an estimated 1 and 6 Americans to be sickened, 128,000 hospitalizations, and cause 3,000 deaths each year (http://www.sustainabletable.org/). These numbers may seem shocking, but they are all too real. All of the high levels
Every day in the United States, 200, 000 people are sickened by a food-borne disease. Schlosser’s urge for the consumer to assume responsibility for the travesties waged against American society by the fast-food industry is not a new idea.
Advertising for fast food disproportionately targets children, obesity rates are going up, there are labs dedicated to creating food flavors, and the cleanliness of the restaurants where the food itself is served is questionable. The negative impacts the fast food industry has on the world have their roots in biology. The taste of the food is engineered to appeal to our taste buds, and after the access to fast food increased, our bodies began to crave it. Clearly, the fast food industry must undergo significant change to ensure its impact on the world is a positive one. It’s imperative that this change must be made within the near future, should the mass consumption of unsanitary food be prevented, and ensure that cheap food is somewhat
The food system is more concerned with profit, production, and efficiency, and this is why very little has changed in the last few decades. Although profit is a valid argument for many people, the means by which to gain a high profit has become extremely unethical and hazardous to the general population health. Works Cited Schlosser, Eric. A. Fast Food Nation. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002.
In our fast pace society, we base everything on time and money. This need to save money and time has transformed the way we see food and purchase food. Food is an essential part of all cultures. It plays a role in every person’s life. The population has the power to choose what we eat and how the food industry is shaped. There are many important questions that we need to ask ourselves in order to keep the food industry in check. These questions are: How do we know our food is safe? What should we eat? How should food be distributed? What is good food? These are simple yet difficult questions.
In the United States, Food is one of the basic needs of life.We tend to spend tons of money every year to buy food. Consuming food reflects America’s culture in the United States. In America, Fast food is a way to enjoy delicious food made with sugar, fat and salt. It’s impossible to back away from eating good tasting food. Unfortunately, this is leading to major destruction. In the human life, food procurement, preparation, and consumption have devoted to an art form.Spite the terms of “America has a food problem,” it shows that our nation is unable to produce and supply safe, nutritious food in a way where it sustains our global population. Health Issues are a result of over consumption, which lead to portion sizes, and food production.
Schonwald, Josh. "Engineering the future of food: tomorrow's genetically modified food and farmed fish will be more sustainable and far healthier than much of what we eat today--if we can overcome our fears and embrace it. Here's how one foodie learned to stop worrying and love 'Frankenfood.'." The Futurist May-June 2012: 24+. General OneFile. Web. 29 Nov. 2013.
Food safety is an increasingly important public health issue. Governments all over the world are intensifying their efforts to improve food safety. Food borne illnesses are diseases, usually either infectious or toxic in nature, caused by agents that enter the body through the ingestion of food. “In industrialized countries, the percentage of people suffering from food borne diseases each year has been reported to be up to 30%. In the United States of America, for example, around 76 million cases of food borne diseases, resulting in 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths, are estimated to occur each year.” (Geneva 2)
...esity is becoming an epidemic, nanotechnology could be used to create foods which are low in fat, salt and sugar but are still nutritionally dense and taste great. Food is naturally nanostructured material – simply boiling an egg causes many changes; the proteins in the egg white change shape and tangle together to form a solid. We now have the opportunity to study what exactly happens in these nanoscale changes. Nanotechnology gives us many ways to ensure our food is safe and waste is cut down. However, there are many concerns that this form of processing is another way to put more power into the hands of large food companies- yet food has never been safer than it is today largely due to the strict hygiene and sanitation practices these companies follow. As the population continues to grow – so too will the importance of new food technologies like nanotechnology.
It became so clear that junk foods lead to a punch of catastrophic diseases like obesity, type two diabetes, vascular diseases and cardiac disorders. Those kinds of diseases cost more than $150 billion annually, just to diagnose, treat people who suffer from them. That disease is chronic and leads to many health-related issues, for example, obesity considers a risk factor for type two diabetes, and high blood pressure, joint disorders and many others (The Denver Post 2012). The key of preventing many chronic problems is nutrition. Low income plays an important role of limiting most people to buy and eat a healthy diet and in the other hand, it is easy for people budgets to purchase junk foods. So controlling the prices of healthy foods to be suitable for all people make good nutrition available for everyone. Adequate diets mean decreasing the epidemic of those serious diseases, and stopping the spread and break the bad sequences that may happen. Long-term exposure to junk foods that are full with chemicals like additives, preservatives have led to chronic illnesses difficult to treat. Also, the chemical added to junk foods are tasted unique and made millions of people becoming addicted to them and are available everywhere for example in restaurants, cafes, lunchrooms (The Denver Post
New opportunities and challenges of human health are presented by the application of biotechnology to food. Biotechnology helps improve the quality and nutrition of foods consumed by people,this helps their health. Foods produced through biotechnology has been around for more than 15 years but people are still debating about how safe the food is. Biotechnology still have to plays its role by increasing agricultural productivity,especially in light of climate change. I believe that biotechnology is still going to help better th nutritional value of food. It can also assist farmers to increase their productivity so that they can feed their families and many people across the globe. The whole world should be using the food biotechnology because it has the ability to change the world,it can be to end world hunger .