In life, it always seems like the best things have the worst consequences. Driving 120 mph down I-5 would be quite fun, yet doing so would likely result in a prison sentence. Similarly, I enjoy eating pizza, but this combination of cheese, sauce and pepperoni makes for a meal that, if eaten enough, could result in a visit to the doctor’s office. Lately it seems like everyone’s goal in life is to eat healthier. There are grocery stores devoted to being natural and organic and food companies are constantly coming up with healthier options for restaurants and at home. Many people are now pushing towards an entirely organic society, that is, attempting to abolish the popular factory farm system for a more home-grown approach, replacing machines with workers; chemicals with love. However, this theoretical move towards an entirely healthy society is too drastic for us at this day in age. There are already millions of people suffering from hunger all around the country, and worrying eating healthy should be the last thing on their minds. Though not exactly ideal, our food situation in this country is not as bad as it may seem. Also, as a capitalist society, we have many choices as to what we buy. This should not be limited in order to make the country potentially healthier. Both large-scale factory farms and smaller organic farms have a place in our society. It is this combination that provides the consumer with the option to buy more expensive organic foods if they have the means, or to buy potentially cheaper food products mass-produced in a factory.
Over the last century there have been numerous technological advances in the field of agriculture. Chemical herbicides and pesticides, development of hybrid plant seeds, specially engine...
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...althy people buy Ferraris and fine wines, while the less fortunate of us buy Hondas and Five Dollar Footlongs™. Both lifestyles are perfectly acceptable, and if you are happy, it does not matter what you buy. So why can’t our food be like our possessions? There is a place for both food made in a factory and food made on a field. If we all had one choice for everything, life would be boring. Health is not only determined by what you eat, but by the emotions you feel. If restrictions on farming were put in place, our physical health may increase, but our overall emotional health would decrease. The stress some people have just trying to get by in life is enough, but to have these people forced to overpay for organic food that may or may not be noticeably healthier is unneeded. It is choice that drives us. Take that away, and we are no more human than the food we eat.
When I think of an industrial farm I think of a nasty, foul smelling plot of land. I also feel that the food produced from industrial farms is no good. After all, who would want to consume harmful chemicals from the very products that we are supposed to be getting nutrition from. Over the past few weeks I have been reading the book "Omnivore's Dilemma" and from reading it I have grown to hate the words "industrial farming". To me organic food seems like the ideal food choice. This article has challenged my original philosophy on industrial food.
With an ever increasing world population, massive third world hunger, and with an estimation that a child dies for every two seconds world-wide from starvation; this does not even take into account the number of people who are mal and undernourished, there is a great promise in the use of this technology to benefit not only the farmers, but also societies worldwide. We have been able to genetically modify plants so that they may be more resistant to insects, so that there is less pesticidal toxins sprayed. We have designed plants that require less water, less soil nutrients, preserving precious recourses. We have designed plants with higher yield, shorter seasons, plants that need less land to grow; we are said to be living in a time where we have the healthiest, most well-tested plants in the history of this
Michael Pollan and David Freedman are two reputable authors who have written about different types of food and why they are healthy or why they are damaging to our health. Michael Pollan wrote “Escape from the Western Diet” and David Freedman wrote “How Junk Food Can End Obesity”. Imagine Pollan’s idea of a perfect world. Everything is organic. McDonald’s is serving spinach smoothies and Walmart is supplying consumers with raw milk. The vast majority of food in this world consists of plants grown locally, because almost everyone is a farmer in order to keep up with supply and demand. How much does all this cost? What happened to all the food that is loved just because it tastes good?
Today’s economy and the environment are hurting due to the lack of nurture we have been providing. Conventional farming rules the world of agriculture, but not without a fight from organic farming. Organic farming is seen as the way of farming that might potentially nurture our nature back to health along with the added benefit of improving our own health. With her piece “Organic farming healthier, more efficient than Status Quo,” published in the Kansas State Collegian on September 3, 2013, writer Anurag Muthyam brings forth the importance behind organic farming methods. Muthyam is a senior at Kansas State University working towards a degree in Management. This piece paints the picture of how organic farming methods
The 2009 movie Food Inc. describes the major role that food production plays within many lives. This movie revealed that there is a very small variety of companies that consumers purchase their food from. These few companies actually control what is out on the shelves and what we put into our bodies. These companies have changed food production into a food production business. Many of these companies experiment with ways to create large quantities of food at low production costs to result in an enormous amount of profit for themselves. Some of the production cost cuts also result in less healthy food for the population. Instead of worrying about the health of the population, the companies are worried about what will make them the most money.
Organic has long since been a highly accredited term for food. To be organic is to be pure, natural, and above the dirty industrial system that food production has become. This definition however has become tainted. The truth is that organic foods are anything but healthier. In Michael Pollan’s research book The Omnivore’s Dilemma the validity of organic foods are discredited. Pollan argues about organic food, as it is misleading consumers.
“What are we going to eat?” is a big question that we ask ourselves three time a day. We are eating the same kinds of foods over and over again. Most of our foods come from the supermarket, but many of us do not know where the foods origins. Most people don't realize the nutrition facts behind the fact. They are just simply filling up the stomach. As Michael Pollan, the author of Omnivore’s Dilemma, states: “Industry food system is most important reasons that make people unhealthy and obesity. Yet, eating organic food are considering healthier than industry food.” I believed although industry foods have less nutrition, and bad effects on human, individual responsibilities serve as the most important factor of the obesity in United States.
Thirty years later, organic farming was in high demand, but suffered developing pains. Although there was agreements being made, there was no regulations put forth towards organic farming. Fast forwarding to present time, many consumers are starting to purchase organic food products even making it a trend. Written in Inouye, Alena, and McCauley’s 2006 article “Organic Farming Should Be Pursued”, “organic farming is gaining in popularity due to Americans ' increasing concern about food safety and environmental protection.” This quote assumes the reasoning behind the sudden popularity in organic farming is society’s attraction towards the idea of a cleaner food industry and environment. The article also mentions, “As a result, sales of organic foods in the United States have increased by more than 20 percent every year since 1996, reaching $7.8 billion in 2000.”(Inouye, Alena, McCauley) The fact that popularity towards organic farming grows at a rate of 20 percent every single year further proves how its movement has such an impact towards the consumers of
As you walk through the grocery store, your eyes get crowded with images of “organic” and “non-GMO” labeling. Many people are quick to think that organic means it is healthier and more Eco. friendly than conventional foods. Moms wonder “Should I spend the extra three dollars to ensure my child’s health and well-being?”. Unfortunately, some try to educate themselves by watching documentaries like Food Inc.. These movies demonize conventional farming with images of conveyor belt chickens, ammonia strained beef, or farmers wearing gas masks as they walk through fields. Although it is never said out right, Food Inc. gives the impression that conventional farming is the root of all our problems such as environmental, and health problems. The problem
Many consumers and farmers have discovered that living in an industrialized culture where the focus has become faster, bigger, and cheaper is not the best way to produce our food. Obsessed with productivity, the agriculture industry is reaping the negative consequences of creating an unsustainable environment for food production. Time and time again, the media captures stories regarding deadly bacterial contamination and dangerous pesticide contamination causing illness and death in our communities. The environment is also damaged and contaminated. This devastating trend, due to irresponsible farming practices as a result of the industrialization of the food industry, has become all too common. Returning to organic farming, which our grandparents referred to as farming, and reclaiming our food is not only our choice, it is our right.
Rachel Cernansky said “His group’s study also found that conventionally grown farm crops are four times more likely than organic crops to contain pesticide residues.” Other people will say when you grow organic food they are helping out the environment. “Research is beginning to show organic foods can be better—and not only for the people who eat it. Growing foods organically also can help the environment, new data show.” Maybe the organic food people grow will not have the right fertilizer and will grow unhealthy for people. Rachel Cernansky says “For instance, organic fruits, vegetables and other crops must not have been treated with synthetic fertilizers, certain pesticides or sewage sludge.” Some people will say that a plant or animal will not have a disease but what if someone forgets to check that animal if they had a diseases and a person eats it than that person will get a disease. Rachel Cernansky says “Meat, eggs and milk must come from animals that have been raised according to specific health and welfare standards. Also, farmers may not treat these animals with antibiotics or growth hormones and must raise them on organic feed. Products with multiple ingredients must contain 95 percent or more organic content.” Other people might say that there are not any pesticides or diseases in any types of foods but there is diseases and pesticides in organic
The term “organic” is almost everywhere in modern society, whether it’s used to promote a product or it’s debated on whether it really benefits the human diet. Organic food is heavily debated on as it appears more and more in local grocery stores and farmers markets begin to populate, it raises questions such as “Is organic food better than food grown with pesticides and biologically engineered genes?” and “Are there benefits to eating organically over foods grown in any other way?” In terms of what data and results show in research may help lead to answers to most of the heavily debated issues throughout discussions on organic food.
“Organic” and “natural foods” are a part of a trend that is growing quickly, but how much do we consumers really know about the difference between natural food and non-organic foods? Food that is considered organic can be defined as being produced without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or other artificial agents. Processed foods are defined as foods that are packaged in bags, boxes or cans. Authors like Pollan and Foer, in their essays “Escape from the Western Diet” and “Against Meat” respectively, argue that organic food and a vegetarian diet are better for humans and the environment. Contrastingly, others like Shapin, author of “What Are You Buying When You Buy Organic” believe that we are too fixated on whether or not to buy
“Some people live to eat, others eat to live,” as rightly said by an anonymous author. Food is a source of life, we need to consume food everyday to survive and having nutritious food is essential to have a healthy living. Food that we consume today is an outcome of industrial farming which uses lot of chemical and pesticides to grow plant and use hormones and antibodies in animal and also to store food for longer period. So in this we have a question, what options do we have, this could be simple by consuming organic food, naturally grown vegetables and animal sources and sustainable growing methods. When we talk about organic food, we might not know much about it but we know it is good for our health and might consider it to consume everyday if readily available. So what is organic food? According to Allen, Gary J. & Albala, ed. (2007). Organic foods are produced using methods of organic farming, with limited modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, though organic pesticides, such as Bt toxin, are still used. Organic foods are also not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical additives. Thus organic food is comparatively nutritious, use less pestisides and is sustainable and less harmful to the environment
Life truly is precious. The majority of people around the globe hope to live a happy and healthy life. Reaching these goals is what most people spend their entire life trying to achieve. There are basic needs that every person has: shelter, clothing, water, and food. In the past when individuals were able to provide for themselves and their families they were able to be content. In the present day however, there is an increasing concern about what type of food is best. Another question is, what type of food should one provide for their family? There are pros and cons to almost every situation. Eating organic food leads to a healthier lifestyle. More and more people are drawing the conclusion that eating organic food leads to a healthier lifestyle.