Chen Sun
Professor Stahlbrand
NEW101H: Food Matters
Thursday, October 8th, 2015
Understanding Food
The book The No-Nonsense Guide to World Food, by Wayne Roberts introduces us to the concept of “food system”, which has been neglected by many people in today’s fast-changing and fast-developing global food scene. Roberts points out that rather than food system, more people tend to recognize food as a problem or an opportunity. And he believes that instead of considering food as a “problem”, we should think first and foremost about food as an “opportunity”.
In Chapter One of Roberts’ book, he first gives an example about hunger and food problems. By stating the statistics, Roberts demonstrates that although there are quite a number of people
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It is the whole process and infrastructure that cause the problem. I believe that food can be described as the tip of an iceberg, while the whole food operation is represented by the ice hidden below the water surface. Therefore it becomes invisible to see which part is wrong, and then people just simply blame food. When I was young, I have raised silkworms. To feed them, I need mulberry leaves and I found some mulberry trees with extremely fresh green leaves in the park beside my house. However, all of my silkworms died after eating those beautiful leaves I picked for them. Later, I learned that the park custodian had sprayed pesticides on the leaves to keep them from worms. Thinking about the food we eat today, I cannot imagine how much pesticide has been sprayed on the crops only to keep bugs away. Not to mention that some producers even put other chemicals in the food to keep them from going bad and to make them look fresher and more attractive. People always blame what they see, but the food we eat today has been through many procedures which need to be …show more content…
Roberts believes that “food is a solution, a cause for joy and positive energy” (Roberts, page 18). Most of the time, it is more costly to waste the food than to use the food as a tool, which can bring new opportunities. As the example he provides in the book, Will Allen, a gardener from the US, uses spent grain as an opportunity to make compost for sale and to heat his own greenhouses using the heat generated from the composting process (Roberts, page 21). This way, he has also helped find an effective way to dispose of used food rather than treating it as trash which is actually not cheap to manage. Hence, Roberts concludes that there are so many hidden resources in the world, which can be used to work with food to create opportunities and to benefit the society, economy and environment while saving money (Roberts, page
In “Called Home”, the first chapter of the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year in Food Life, Barbara Kingsolver presents her concerns about America's lack of food knowledge, sustainable practices, and food culture. Kingsolver introduces her argument for the benefits of adopting a local food culture by using statistics, witty anecdotal evidence, and logic to appeal to a wide casual reading audience. Her friendly tone and trenchant criticism of America's current food practices combine to deliver a convincing argument that a food culture would improve conditions concerning health and sustainability. I agree with Kingsolver that knowing the origin of food is an important and healthy benefit of developing a true food culture, but it is impractical to maintain that everyone is able to buy more expensive food. Kingsolver presents a compelling argument for developing a food culture, however this lifestyle change may not be practical or even possible for a poverty-level citizen. The following essay will summarize and respond to Kingsolver’s argument to demonstrate how “Called Home” is a model for novice social scientists.
In the book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan challenges his readers to examine their food and question themselves about the things they consume. Have we ever considered where our food comes from or stopped to think about the process that goes into the food that we purchase to eat every day? Do we know whether our meat and vegetables picked out were raised in our local farms or transported from another country? Michael pollen addresses the reality of what really goes beyond the food we intake and how our lives are affected. He does not just compel us to question the food we consume, but also the food our “food” consumes.
In the documentary, Food Inc., we get an inside look at the secrets and horrors of the food industry. The director, Robert Kenner, argues that most Americans have no idea where their food comes from or what happens to it before they put it in their bodies. To him, this is a major issue and a great danger to society as a whole. One of the conclusions of this documentary is that we should not blindly trust the food companies, and we should ultimately be more concerned with what we are eating and feeding to our children. Through his investigations, he hopes to lift the veil from the hidden world of food.
In the book, “Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals” by Michael Pollan, Pollan writes about the mad-made problems associated with our food chain that compromise the quality of the food we eat. The journey was from the industrial farms of Iowa and feedlots in Kansas to organic farms and slaughter houses in Virginia to finally, the supermarkets in which we all shop at. Pollan not only traced the ecological path of food from cultivation to consumption but also the evolutionary path of our diet over the years. His points show how we as humans have so many dietary options but so little information about what we should eat and where our food comes from.
All in all, this book is a great read for those seeking to learn more about food and how it relates to all aspects of life and history as well as find that extra push in taking the initiative in improving one’s eating habits and lifestyle. It serves as an easy to follow introduction into a healthy relationship with food including with simple guidelines that are not too forceful or complex to understand.
The second module focuses on the importance of obtaining food justice in order to understand how changes need to be made within the global food system. In order to have food justice present, individuals need to focus on concepts such as food security and food sovereignty to examine the deeper problems embedded within our society. For instance, this module has presented how the terminology of words can create certain limitations on trying to achieve change. In both Pinstrup (2009) and Maxwell’s (1996) articles they explore the term food security and the different ways this term can be viewed. Maxwell (1996) explores three different shifts in thinking about food security and the problems that come about with this thinking. I believe it is important
The second our spoons come near our mouths, we instantly start to think about indulging in the deliciousness that is our food; however, we don’t tend to think beyond the taste of our food as we should. Nearly all of us do not take a moment out of our dinner to think in depth about all the details of what went into producing our food. Wendell Berry and Michael Pollan would agree that when people look at their food, they do not stop to think about the life it had, the ingredients that went into it, the effects it may have on our health and the environment, or the shady business behind it all. We have become a prey in this society as we don’t realize how we are being fooled and unknowingly participating in the destruction of the world and ourselves.
In the text, “Opinion: Ending world hunger by stopping food waste in the fields” by Bjorn Lomborg, it states, “Today, only $5 billion is spent annually on research to improve the seven major global food crops. Just one-tenth of that is targeted to help small farmers in Africa and Asia. Investing an extra $88 billion in agricultural research and development over the next 15 years would increase food yields an additional 0.4 percent each year.” This excerpt conveys that people are already changing their stances and beginning to think about how to prevent food waste in the first place rather than attempting to fix the problem later. If people start thinking about production first rather than belittling it, then losses could be avoided or dealt with more
In order for us to maintain our lives, we need to consume food to supply nutrient-needs for our bodies. As the global population increased, the demand for food also increased. Increased population led to mass production of foods. However, even with this mass production, in under-developed countries, people are still undernourished. On other hand, in developed and developing countries, people are overfed and suffering from obesity. In addition, the current methods of industrial farming destroy the environment. These problems raised a question to our global food system. Will it be able to sustain our increasing global population and the earth? With this question in my mind, I decided to investigate the sustainability of our current global food system.
A documentary film “Wasted! The Story of Food Waste” is about famous chefs from around the world sharing their thoughts about food waste. In like manner, the chefs describe waste as a n ugly form of food but every chef’s goal is transforming them and making it to something that people would be appreciate and be engaged on eating it again. Furthermore, waste should be looked differently because it needs more attention for it to be properly cooked and serve to others. With the creativity that most chefs do, food waste will decreased in restaurants around the world. This movement will inspire not just the other chefs who do it as a profession but also the people who cook at home to be creative when dealing with leftovers and be successful when recycling it so that there will be no waste to be made. As an old school chef, Anthony Bourdain said that he follows the method of “use everything, waste nothing” because for him it’s a disgrace to waste food since its has been his passion all his life (Wasted! The Story of Food Waste). Additionally, we can start this through the amount of groceries we buy when shopping because if we start minimizing our shopping carts, it will force us to use what we have rather than overusing food just because we have an abundant supply of
As the world has evolved through technological advancements, immigration, and international affairs, globalization has become a significant and inevitable part of life in the 21st century. According to Manfred Steger, globalization is “a set of social processes that are thought to transform our present social condition into one of globality...[it 's] about shifting forms of human contact”(Steger 8). Perhaps the most influential aspect of this globalization is the spreading and sharing of foods; which is something I’ve been able to see and experience firsthand. From the time of my upbringing in the West Indies during the late 90s to early 2000s and migration to the United States in 2004 to now, globalization
During this research paper, the point is to analyze a specific food issue: food waste, and how to help reduce it. Most people agree that food waste is getting out of hand, but they are not trying hard enough to prevent it because they do not know well enough what is really happening. “The Ugly Truth about Food Waste in America,” gives many interesting facts about this issue. It says that 40% of the food in the U.S. is uneaten, meaning Americans throw out $165 billion worth of food each year. As food waste decays, it produces methane; a potent greenhouse gas, which causes our planet to overheat. Not only is this gas being released, but tremendous amount of petroleum, and water are being wasted. Over 80% of water is consumed into producing food,
The growing world population is demanding more and different kinds of food. Rapid economic growth in many developing countries has pushed up consumers' purchasing power, generated rising demand for food, and shifted food demand away from traditional staples and toward higher-value foods like meat and milk.
Globalization has influenced almost each aspect of life in almost every nation. From economic to social to culture, this widespread exchange of goods, services and ideas have affected changes around the world. Even though the cultural influence in globalization is of slight significance to policy makers, its power has tremendous consequences to the nations involved and its people. Food is the oldest global carrier of culture.” Any changes in the foods that we eat, in its preparation, the way it is served and consumed diminishes the traditional beliefs of the people.
This can not be done with the same ineffective tactics that were used in the past, so that’s why people are developing new ways to eradicate hunger. When the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) was held, they discussed the nutrition component and how important it is that it is not overlooked. By paying attention to nutrient-dense foods and recognizing the different entry points for improving nutrition, the ICN2 argues the world will be one step closer in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal. Some of the entry points they discussed include “the promotion of crop diversification…, strengthening local food production and processing, and exploring regulatory or voluntary instruments for promoting healthy diets” (goals 2). Promoting the nutrition aspect of the goal can help achieve it because nutrients are what keep people alive and