Analysis of Food Inc. Essay

Studies brace shown that to a greater extent people all all over the world atomic number 18 unawargon of where their food comes from. When an individual goes to consume a food product, he or she could be completely oblivious to the methods of manufacture, processing, packaging or transportation gone into the bulgeput signal of the food item. It is often said that ignorance is bliss perhaps this rings current in the case of food, its origins and its economic consumption as well. In much(prenominal) a scenario, take in well could reckon like an unlikely prospect. The definition of eating well in modern times seems to tolerate gone from eating healthily, to eating ethically.The manner in which food is produced and consumed has changed to a greater extent rapidly in the past fifty years than it has in the previous ten universal gravitational constant years (Pollan and Schlosser, 2008). With this swift transformation, various ethical issues came to the fore. nutrient pr oduction is this instant done declamatory scale in factories, rather than in farms. aggregated production of various types of food, from crops and ve perishables to seafood and pith, is very much the norm. The fact that food is lot produced nowadays is already something that a lot of people do not know about. The reason behind this is that food producing firms do not trust the consumers their customers to know too much about the food manufacturing industry (Pollan and Schlosser, 2008), in the fear that customer loyalty could be lost upon their finding out various truths. To retain their customer base, tally to documentary film Food, Inc., narrated by Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser, the image associated with food in the joined States of America is that of an American sodbuster. mixed motifs plastered all over food packaging and advertisements for food products, much(prenominal) as green pastures for grazing cattle, picket fences, the typical farmhoexercising, vast meadow s and, most(prenominal) importantly, the farmer, lead consumers to believe that their food still comes from farms, or at least(prenominal) a pastoral version of small time cottage industries. With these motifs forever and a day pervading the sensibilities of the average American consumer, it is bitty wonder that the consumer continues to eat unethically they be simply in the dark. Because what these motifs represent could not be further from the reality. The presumable crop central to all muss food production, as shown on Food Inc (Pollan and Schlosser, 2008) and alluded to in Pollans book, In The Omnivores Dilemma (2006), is clavus. edible corn whisky whiskey whiskey is used in a vast assortment of ways in the food manufacturing industry. Besides, of course, being a food crop for direct consumption by humans, it is used to make a range of additives in neat food too, such as high fructose corn syrup, ascorbic acid, xanthan gum, et cetera. corn whiskey is also a signif icant constituent of sensual fodder, and is fed to most all kinds of livestock.These include animals that are not meant, by evolution, to eat corn, such as cattle and fish (Pollan and Schlosser, 2008). The surgeive demand for corn is besides counterbalanced by the massive supply of corn in the United States. This is due to the American government subsidising the personify of production of corn, encouraging corn farmers to produce more than the sum up is truly required. Because of such heavy subsidies, corn becomes extremely cheap, produced at merely a fraction of its cost of production, and results in an enormous scale of production of corn. This manner of overproduction and consumption of corn alone raises a few ethical issues. First of all, the nutriment of corn to cows and fish not the natural food of such animals causes commodious problems to these animals, which could bring about serious repercussions to humankind as well. Take for instance, the nutriment of corn to cows. Because corn is produced extremely cheaply, meat manufacturers are inclined to use corn as their choice of feed for their livestock, in order to get laid down on the selling price of meat. Studies have shown that feeding corn to cows has brought about the emergence of a new, acid resistant contrast of E.coli bacteria (Pollan and Schlosser, 2008). This, coupled with the terrible rearing conditions of the cows, causes the new strain of E.coli to get into the meat meant to be steadytually sold. This strain of bacteria has proven to be dangerous, having claimed the lives of many people. Knowing this, the expected public reaction would be an margin call against the food manufacturing industry, demanding answers and greater, better checks of food producing companies. However, even such reactions may not yield any permanent solutions. According to Food Inc., food regulative bodies are being led by people from the very firms they are meant to regulate. This has appeared to cause certain food monitoring measures to become relaxed, such as a sharp decline in number of checks conducted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States, from 50 000 in 1972, to 9164 in 2006. wholeness womans constant lobbying for better checks and regulation after her son, Kevin, passed past due to contaminated food brought about a Kevins rectitude, which, six years into her efforts, still had not been passed (Pollan and Schlosser, 2008). there is little wonder that the food produced nowadays is getting more and more dangerous for consumption. given over these circumstances, eating well has become even more unlikely the worldwide publics efforts to control the quality of their food gets constantly disappointed by powerful corporate and political institutions. Still, all does not seem to be lost. Some farmers are recognising the need to de-industrialise the production of foodstuff. Michael Pollans exclusively Flesh is Grass talks about a grass farmer, Joel S alatin, who is a non industrial producer of food, and whose methods of production revolve around grass. (2006). voluminous constituent(a), an separate article by the same author, describes how food products in the whole foods aisle are properly farmed, as opposed to mass manufactured, therefore being processed or refined as little as possible. There are 2 downsides to be noted in both instances. For one, Joel Salatin produces foodstuff tho for the local population, and expressly refuses to supply meat and other animal by-products from his relatively healthier farm animals all over the country. As a result, his ideas of rearing animals, as opposed to manufacturing them, by feeding them what they are meant to instead of cheaply obtained corn, are restricted to the borders of Swoope, Virginia (Pollan, 2008). On the other hand, to supply such products to various parts of the country, or the world, would fly in the face of the idea of sustainable food production practices. This prese nts quite a paradox. Another downside would be the added expense of consuming whole foods in the coiffure of processed and mass produced food.One of the core reasons for choosing to malnourish animals by concealment feeding them corn, despite the negative implications, was the resultant driving down of cost of production of meat. This is how the average American consumer is able to put away two hundred pounds of meat every year (Pollan and Schlosser, 2008), otherwise such large quantities of meat may not be as easily produced. pile nowadays have the option of buying meat and animal by-products derived from freerange animals referring to animals that are left to roam freely to feed, instead of restricting their motilityment in enclosures for slightly more money. In economic terms, consumers seek products that minimises costs epoch maximising benefit. In this case, consumers are ostensibly unmoved by the prospect of consuming meat and other products from ethically raised animal s, favouring instead, the cheaper, corn fed, mass produced alter indigenes. With this mentality to begin with, ethical eating habits would be difficult to foster. all giving up consumption of animal products and by-products entirely (i.e. graceful vegan) has becoming a rising phenomenon all over the world. It seems, to many vegan converts, to be the move that could galvanise the promotion of sustainable agriculture and animal welfare into action. However, according to an article on The Conversation, Ordering the vegetarian meal? Theres more animal blood on your hands, turning vegan, or even simply vegetarian, could be more detrimental than helpful (The Conversation, 2011). To provide the duplicate plants required to feed the changing diets of Australians alone would mean clearing native flora and fauna off arable land the size of capital of Seychelles plus Tasmania (The Conversation, 2011) already killing off a vast amount of animals and native plants to make way for plant based food. The above scenarios only serve to confuse the consumer even further. Most consumers do not have any way around purchasing food off the supermarket shelves that are, more often than not, tainted by ethical quandaries such as animal welfare issues etc. They also dont exactly have the option of changing their diets to spare the lives of animals, as the result could be more damaging that the current situation. As such, an ostensible impasse seems to present itself regarding this issue. In my opinion, eating well ethically, and with as little animal blood on consumers hands will never truly be viable in modern society.Bibliography Pollan, M. (2006), All Flesh is Grass, In The Omnivores Dilemma, Penguin pack New York, pp. 123-133 Pollan, M., Schlosser, E., 2008, Food Inc.,useable at Accessed 19th May, 2013 Pollan, M. (2006) Big Organic, In The Omnivores Dilemma, Penguin Press New York, pp. 134-184. The Conversation, 2011, Ordering the vegetarian meal? Theres more animal blood on your hands online Available at Accessed 19th May, 2013