Locavorism. A relatively new and enormously popular food craze sweeping across the developed world with an emphasis that food grown and produced locally is superior to food produced thousands of miles away. Though locavorism is beneficial in many aspects of our society, for example, promoting more competition between corporations, and locally grown food in developed nations, it could lead to potential disasters among largely impoverished and less developed nations of the world. This issue is not strictly black or white. Rather than suggesting that growing food locally is either ideal or not, this issue entirely depends on one overlooked detail: accessibility. Locavorism only works in nations in which the consumer has choice on what to eat. …show more content…
to look at their products and begin a slow shift towards organic food items. “For years, nutritionists have been urging Americans to swap out processed foods for fresh options like fruits and vegetables. People now seem to be listening, and deflation among fresh food products has made eating healthier a more affordable option.” (LaVito, 2017, p. 2). As a result, leading companies such as Kellogg, General Mills, Campbell Soup and J.M. Smucker have suffered great losses in their stock prices over the past 12 months. To stay afloat many name-brand companies are merging with other smaller companies while store chains such as Whole Foods has been profiting off this organic wave. By promoting locally grown foods in the marketplace the economy is able to maintain a healthy balance of competition. Corporations will not charge high prices if they are being undercut by farmers producing locally grown foods, because the consumer has choice, and easy access to different competitors. On an economic standpoint locavores are beneficial to the economy if they are promoted in a developed …show more content…
Congo, Zimbabwe, and Liberia are some of the most impoverished nations in the world and require the assistance of organizations such as UNICEF or AARP in order to receive food in order to survive. Locavores may suggest promoting the creation of local farms to provide food that is nearby, cost efficient, and organic. An argument one might hear may be how, the farther away your food is grown, the longer of time it will take to reach you, and the more likely you are to go hungry. While it is true that moving food from one place to another would take a longer period of time, it is important to realize the risk associated with locally grown organic foods. If an entire population is heavily reliant on local farmers, it begs the question. What would happen if there's a drought in the highly impoverished area? What if there is a flood, a disease ravages the plants, insects decimate the plant population, thieves steal from the field, not to mention the now growing population, the farmers would be forced to expand their land and maintain it. Smaller farmers are limited also by the soil. They cannot continuously plant the same type of crop because some crops take much of the nutrients out of the soil making it less fertile and forcing the farmers to wait rotate their crops on different fields in order to maintain a constant output of goods. If one
James E. Mcwilliams stated his aversion to the locavore movement in his essay “The Locavore Myth: Why Buying from Nearby Farmers Won’t Save the Planet”. The locavore movement is the concept of buying produce, meat, and other farm-grown food locally as opposed to having your vegetables or fruits shipped from across the world. This notion believes going local reduces harm to the environment by decreasing the miles food needs to travel before landing on your plate. From the title of his essay itself, the claim would seem obvious. The locavore movement does not essentially help save the environment through lessened food mileage. Don’t be easily swayed, in short. Mcwilliams presented several grounds and data for his justification on this issue.
The food market business is usually a difficult one, but online retailer Amazon's proceeding to purchase high-end chain Whole Foods changed the landscape. The new corporation is currently reducing prices, as well as Amazon is managing to reduce costs by taking its online expertise
In order to right the ship that is America’s food industry, we need to recognize the monopolies in the U.S food industry. These massive food conglomerates must be broken up in order to create competition in the market. This will allow the completion to dictate the market. More companies means more competition, and when companies compete, the consumer wins.
Former editor of Us News and World Report and recipient of Guggenheim Award,Stephen Budiansky in his article, “Math Lessons For Locavores”,published in August 19,2012 addresses the topic of locally grown food and argues it as a more sustainable choice in terms of freshness and seasons.I agree with Budiansky for growing food locally,however; with three other reasons: we can reduce food waste,(which will benefit the environment), and obesity(which will help an individual mentally and physically), and improve our economy. The purpose is to illustrate why locally grown foods would be a finer option for an American lifestyle. Budiansky adopts an informative,persuasive,and insightful tone for his audience,readers
Environmental advocate and cofounder of Eatingliberally.org, Kerry Trueman, in her response to Stephen Budiansky’s Math Lessons for Locavores, titled, The Myth of the Rabid Locavore, originally published in the Huffington Post, addresses the topic of different ways of purchasing food and its impact on the world. In her response, she argues that Budiansky portrayal of the Local Food Movement is very inaccurate and that individuals should be more environmentally conscious. Trueman supports her claim first by using strong diction towards different aspects of Budinsky essay, second by emphasizes the extent to which his reasoning falls flat, and lastly by explaining her own point with the use of proper timing. More specifically, she criticizes many
...struggling to earn any income at all and sometimes do not even get the opportunity to eat. Another issue that Raj Patel did not touch on is the lack of care consumers have for the farmers. It seems that consumers care about farmers about as much as the corporations do, which, in my opinion, is not a lot. When consumers only care about low prices and large corporations only care about making a profit, the farmers are left out to dry. Many consumers believe “food should be available at a bargain price, a belief that relies on labor exploitation and environmental exhaustion at multiple points along the commodity chain.” (Wright, 95) Corporations as well as consumers generally tend to be selfish and I think Raj Patel is afraid to mention this. If only these people cared a little bit more about each other I believe the hourglass of the food system will begin to even out.
Nutritionism and Today’s Diet Nutritionism is the ideology that the nutritional value of a food is the sum of all its individual nutrients, vitamins, and other components. In the book, “In Defense of Food” by Michael Pollan, he critiques scientists and government recommendations about their nutritional advice. Pollan presents a strong case pointing out the many flaws and problems that have risen over the years of following scientific studies and government related warnings on the proper amount of nutrients needed for a healthy diet. Pollan’s main point is introducing science into our food system has had more of a negative impact than a positive one, we should go back to eating more of a traditional diet. I believe food science has given us
Within these past few years, more and more people have tried to use their community’s grown produce instead of large company-based products. These ‘locavores’ have grown in numbers as people have taken into account the health related, environmental, and economic consequences of choosing locally grown products. The key issues associated with the locavore movement are the economic effects and the change made in the environment of a community.
Michael Pollan makes arguments concerning the eating habits of the average American. Pollan suggests, in spite of our cultural norms, we should simply “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly Plants.”
So is going through the drive thru of your favorite fast restaurant really cheaper than making a meal at home for your family? In today’s time it has become more relevant to get what is more convenient and cheapest regarding to food. People are less concerned with the health benefits, whether that means going by McDonalds for dinner than making a home cooked meal or eating junk food than healthy alternative snack. People are doing what seems to be the most convenient and inexpensive route, but the problem is that Americans lack knowledge regarding junk food and real food which is interfering with their health. High amounts of processed foods are being consumed by Americans because they are tight budgeted
To most consumers Whole Foods is known as a chain grocery store specializing in organic and natural foods. Some may go as far as say the name is synonymous with quality. This comparison is the result of Whole Foods’ marketing their brand successfully to consumers demanding their specialized foods. As with any organization, Whole Foods may consider evaluating their strategic objectives and decide if necessary course corrections are needed to reach their objectives and goals. Through a fundamental and technical analysis, I will discuss Whole Foods’ mission, vision, and goals, their competitive environment, and some factors within their strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat analysis. With such data and information I will recommend, if needed, and strategic changes in order to sustain a competitive advantage.
Nutritionism is an ideology that believes that the nutrients in foods are the key to understanding them. Nutritionism believers are so focused on the nutrients that food contains that they forget about all other aspects of food. The problem is that consumers rely on packaging to tell them what nutrients a food provides, since nutrients cannot be obviously seen, and they rely on science to tell us what nutrients are good and which are “evil”.
"The Locavore's Dilemma" is a piece written by Christophe Pelletier, owner of the consulting firm The Happy Future Group Consulting Ltd. and creator of the agricultural blog, "The Food Futurist". The Locavores, a growing group of humans in favor of eating locally grown food, believe that 100-mile food is the way to a more sustainable agriculture and consumption. Pelletier, on the other hand, feels that the Locavorian lifestyle is foolhardy as well as too ideological for society as a whole. The audience for my evaluation, I believe, is primarily low to middle class citizens that are exploring self-sufficient, healthy, alternative lifestyles that are affordable, manageable, and permit them to grow their own produce rather than relying on the norms such as grocery stores or farmer’s markets that sell mass produced commodities. From an evaluative standpoint, I feel that Pelletier’s article is useful for research when trying to gain a better understanding of the pros and cons of locally grown
An omnivore diet involves taking both animal and plant foods. It is the most common diet among humans. The diet consists of lean meats a good source of high-quality proteins, vitamins such as Vitamin B and E, minerals such as zinc, magnesium and iron. These vitamins and minerals function to fight serious diseases such as heart disease, stroke obesity among others. In other words, this diet is complete, it consist of foods from the five food groups. While people take a balanced diet (all essential nutrients), they also consume other harmful nutrients such as excess intake of sodium, saturated fat, added sugar and trans fats that increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. People who take more red meat and processed meat are at risk of heart
Through various observations and assumptions, there have been conversations on whether or not overconsumption of food is an addiction. However, many have come to the conclusion that food is an addiction if it is overconsume excessively than it is necessary for an individual’s diet. Nevertheless, food addiction can create health issues that can affect an individual’s body. Even though, many individual may have such knowledge of overconsumption of food; however, many may choose to ignore the consequences that comes with food addiction. Becoming a food addict is harmful and dangerous to an individual’s health.