Final Exam Question 2:
Write an essay that opposes, supports or qualifies this quote…
“Food in our culture is one aspect of a larger nightmare”
Food in our culture is one aspect of a larger nightmare. Well to give this quote definition, what does “our culture” and “larger nightmare” mean? The way I would define our culture is, based on the mix of capitalism and urban-pop. The larger nightmare falls under two completely different yet interactive aspects to the human being which are body & mind, or physical & mental. I am concentrated on the larger nightmare being in the topic of food. The larger nightmare means a physically harming consequence to the young growing body (keep in mind, my generation is adolescence), due to lack of nutrience in processed food. The larger nightmare is obesity in children and physical risks in human bodies. The mental consequence to the larger nightmare is a disconnection between the people and the food they are eating. The loss of emotion, value and appreciation in food, which can be blamed on the “mechanic way” food, is processed. So yes I support this quote, I don’t oppose it or qualify it because speaking on a larger and global context, food in our culture IS one harming aspect of the larger nightmare.
As discussed in my previous paper, the present of food is based on the IFS (Industrial Food System) where most of the foods we are eating today is processed or “raised” under factories. Food processed like what we eat, loses its basic nutrience and protein that earth grown plants and animals naturally have. Industrial food factories raises crops, kills animals, and “constructs” our foods at an extremely fast pace for the fast paced life that we all have in this society & culture. Also to feed the millions of us, which throws a demanding need for the excess of food. In my culture, teens my age, kids younger and of course the adults as well are eating extremely processed and unhealthy food, food containing preservatives as well as artificial flavoring. It is correct to say that these harmful foods come from machines and are artificially man-made rather than coming from the earth, from dirt and nature as it should. These companies putting unhealthy foods (like snacks and junk food) on the market naturally think of the profits they are making and what they are earning rather than the effect this has on the consumers. However, if I can speak for my generation, I would say that these consumers also are not taking the initiative to stop what they are eating and realize the consequences. Obesity is becoming large in adolescents, resulting from unhealthy eating habits from an earlier age. This causes serious health risks like respiratory and heart problems, which can lead to fatality later on in the future. However, who is to blame for this… the companies or that person’s own eating choices? The answer is both. The larger nightmare has been progressing since food became global and unnaturally processed.
When I talk of food in my argument, I talk of many things such as the way of eating food as well as where the food comes from and how it is processed. Most of the foods we eat, and I mean the basics such as milk from cows, animal meat, eggs etc. come from “Factory Farms.” These farms aren’t your typical red barn and green pasture but they are excessive in size, polluted and wasted, misusing in Pharmaceuticals and extremely disregardful to animal welfare (Harrison, Jeff.) Government owned, these farms are international, meaning they exist in various countries. In these farms cattle feedlots generally have thousands of animals cramped in one place. These animals are cattle, pigs, chickens, sheep, goats etc. The egg-laying area of the farm can house over one million chickens in one area. There is minimal room for these animals that can be large in size as well as no sunlight or fresh air. Animals like chickens are de-beaked and tails of cow and pigs are amputated. This is to adapt these animals to factory farm conditions and space. The misuse of Pharmaceuticals in animals means that hormones are fed as well as antibiotics to the animals in order to quicken the growth. The waste created by this large number of animals is handled in a way that can pollute air and water. Bacteria from waste contaminates waterways which disrupts aquatic ecosystems and kills sea creatures. What does this way of farming mean to us? How does it affect us? In terms of health, the same bacteria from this waste can contaminate the food we eat and seriously harm us. There have been reports of mad-cow disease and e-coli in meat from fast food restaurants such as McDonalds which has already resulted in fatality. The plants and fruits coming from industrialized factories are unnaturally grown with the use of chemicals such as pesticides, a chemical coming from a nerve gas. This in itself sounds like a nightmare and this is where our major foods come from.
The work in these factory farms shows a huge disconnection between the workers and what they are handling. The souls they kill and work they do which has no emotion. Nowadays in our society, we see people running down the street to catch the bus with their lunch in their hand. Or others working on their computer while eating their lunch so that they can quickly continue their work. During school we have 45 minutes to eat, so we go to the nearest, quickest and easiest place to eat which is usually a fast-food chain restaurant. In our society we are running a fast time schedule like the fast paced industrial farms or industrial factories. We, speaking on a large general context, have grown accustom to eating fast, eating without enjoying the food or eating without knowing where the food came from. We have lost the ability to make relationship with our food. In countries like Italy, there are old traditions like the siesta, where everything like stores close down for certain hours. During this time kids go home from school and workers stop working in order to sit down with family (or friends) and eat a meal. They like many people and civilizations around the globe, have built their relationship with food and take their time in eating and enjoying every bite. In smaller towns, those that farm and do the extra effort in raising and cultivating the food they eat at home have also made an emotional connection to what they are eating. Years ago, the cultural aspect to eating was a communal event where everybody can come together and enjoy the meal but in this culture, we seem to have lost that. That is the second half of this large nightmare.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Final Exam Question 1....
Final Exam Question 1:
• Describe the past & present of food. Predict the future, with reference to class materials and historical trends.
Focusing on the two Americas, North & South, groups of people or civilizations have lived years before the industrial revolution. They cultivated and grew their food. These inhabitants hunted animals, gathered plants and relied on nature for their survival & nutrience. Tribal groups such as the Diaguita or Guarani, that resided in various countries in South America like Argentina, Brasil and Paraguay, were agriculturists who used primarily a digging stick as their main tool for cultivating food. They cultivated foods like pepper and corn (Jonathan C. Brown.) Small groups like the Diaguita and Guarani throughout North and South America shared a basic similarity in the gathering and hunting of food; with no use of any fossil fuels, guns or man-made machinery. Foods like vegetable and fruit were grown naturally in season. Meaning the food cycle wasn’t rushed or pushed out of its normal growth time period. Food before the Industrial Revolution was locally grown. If a field of vegetables was growing on a farm, those that would eat these foods growing were the ones close by the farm. Food before industrial farming was something independent and a responsibility of each person, household or community. This is called subsistence farming. This still exists within small communities of South & North America. For example, in the Huorani tribe of Ecuador, the Huorani grow their plants, gather their bananas and catch the monkeys they eat. This means that it will be the Huorani community that eats this food; it won’t be imported for others to eat.
The present of food is basically the complete opposite of the past of food. In the two Americas, there exists people, families, communities, etc. that eat and grow food the way it was eaten and grown years ago. But looking at those people and then looking at the general population of major cities and small towns within the countries, there are more that eat in a modern day matter. The modern or urban way of eating food, getting food and “raising” food is much easier and faster than it used to be. Machines, fossil fuels, chemicals have taken over the role of digging sticks making the work of harvesting and farming faster. This resulting in more food to feed the abundance of people that need to be fed. Machines and chemicals (like pesticides) are not just used for plants, BUT they are also for the cattle, pigs and other animals. The machines in industrial food factories like seen in the movie “Our Daily Bread” are transporting these animals for the workers to kill. The chemicals are put in animals, like the hormones put in cows, which makes them, reproduce faster and thicken their meat. Natural cycle in plants and fruit has been crushed. For example, any fruit or vegetable is available yearlong. This natural cycle is pushed in order for bigger industrial companies to keep making their profits. These industrial factories work fast and the food is what feeds the country, contrasting how local food used to be before industrialization.
My prediction of the future of food… well I don’t think that we will see in our future, the elimination of big corporations, mainstream food companies or the industrial factories. These are corporations that make global profits and capitalists who won’t be willing to back down. In spite of the tremendous pressure of the cheapest food and manufacturing at a fast pace in order to gain more money, in our culture at least there will be more of an awareness of the importance of local grown food. Also awareness to forming connections between one and the food they are eating. In other words, developing trends in the opposite direction of the direction we are at now. HOWEVER, before we reach that state and if we reach that, I have my prediction of peak oil or a decrease in resources like what happened in Cuba during the early 90’s. With the chemicals, use of fossil fuels, and with the wastefulness in our food system, it will happen and as a result we will have to begin to turn our actions around, and not because we want to. The general stubbornness of this culture’s present society is overwhelming to think of there being a possibility of drastic change coming from one’s own choice rather than from a consequence like peak oil.
• Describe the past & present of food. Predict the future, with reference to class materials and historical trends.
Focusing on the two Americas, North & South, groups of people or civilizations have lived years before the industrial revolution. They cultivated and grew their food. These inhabitants hunted animals, gathered plants and relied on nature for their survival & nutrience. Tribal groups such as the Diaguita or Guarani, that resided in various countries in South America like Argentina, Brasil and Paraguay, were agriculturists who used primarily a digging stick as their main tool for cultivating food. They cultivated foods like pepper and corn (Jonathan C. Brown.) Small groups like the Diaguita and Guarani throughout North and South America shared a basic similarity in the gathering and hunting of food; with no use of any fossil fuels, guns or man-made machinery. Foods like vegetable and fruit were grown naturally in season. Meaning the food cycle wasn’t rushed or pushed out of its normal growth time period. Food before the Industrial Revolution was locally grown. If a field of vegetables was growing on a farm, those that would eat these foods growing were the ones close by the farm. Food before industrial farming was something independent and a responsibility of each person, household or community. This is called subsistence farming. This still exists within small communities of South & North America. For example, in the Huorani tribe of Ecuador, the Huorani grow their plants, gather their bananas and catch the monkeys they eat. This means that it will be the Huorani community that eats this food; it won’t be imported for others to eat.
The present of food is basically the complete opposite of the past of food. In the two Americas, there exists people, families, communities, etc. that eat and grow food the way it was eaten and grown years ago. But looking at those people and then looking at the general population of major cities and small towns within the countries, there are more that eat in a modern day matter. The modern or urban way of eating food, getting food and “raising” food is much easier and faster than it used to be. Machines, fossil fuels, chemicals have taken over the role of digging sticks making the work of harvesting and farming faster. This resulting in more food to feed the abundance of people that need to be fed. Machines and chemicals (like pesticides) are not just used for plants, BUT they are also for the cattle, pigs and other animals. The machines in industrial food factories like seen in the movie “Our Daily Bread” are transporting these animals for the workers to kill. The chemicals are put in animals, like the hormones put in cows, which makes them, reproduce faster and thicken their meat. Natural cycle in plants and fruit has been crushed. For example, any fruit or vegetable is available yearlong. This natural cycle is pushed in order for bigger industrial companies to keep making their profits. These industrial factories work fast and the food is what feeds the country, contrasting how local food used to be before industrialization.
My prediction of the future of food… well I don’t think that we will see in our future, the elimination of big corporations, mainstream food companies or the industrial factories. These are corporations that make global profits and capitalists who won’t be willing to back down. In spite of the tremendous pressure of the cheapest food and manufacturing at a fast pace in order to gain more money, in our culture at least there will be more of an awareness of the importance of local grown food. Also awareness to forming connections between one and the food they are eating. In other words, developing trends in the opposite direction of the direction we are at now. HOWEVER, before we reach that state and if we reach that, I have my prediction of peak oil or a decrease in resources like what happened in Cuba during the early 90’s. With the chemicals, use of fossil fuels, and with the wastefulness in our food system, it will happen and as a result we will have to begin to turn our actions around, and not because we want to. The general stubbornness of this culture’s present society is overwhelming to think of there being a possibility of drastic change coming from one’s own choice rather than from a consequence like peak oil.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)