Food Inc: The Global Impact Of The Food Industry

Too many Americans are unaware of the journey their food products have undergone to reach the grocery store shelf, placing them in their shopping cart unseeingly. After watching a distressing documentary called "Food Inc," the food industry began to disgust and worry me. Our food is no longer being produced in an all American farm, instead is it’s produced by money hungry companies, many of which place their products profit above its safety of consumption. Not only is the food produced, unhealthy for us, but the workers and animals rights are being violated. Part of the problem began fifty years ago when the food industry changed from being grown naturally to being produced in massive supplies and packaged for convenience, because after all,

They were kept in a barn with their families and were tended to at all hours of the day. "We focus on treating our birds and the land we raise them on with respect and environmentally sound practices. Our bottom line is responsible farming and minimizing our global impact, not profit!" says the Fikel family, owners of a farm in California. They were used to lay ends and occasionally get killed for their meat. That was the way that most Americans did and still do imagine a farm. But this image that is embedded in our heads is not a reality any longer. Chickens are now property of the food industry and have increased their size by 100%, reaching maturity in half the time. To carry out this their breasts is injected with chemicals, making the full-grown bird the inability to walk. Tyson Foods, the world 's largest meat processor and the second largest chicken producer in the U.S., has admitted that it injects its chickens with antibiotics before they hatch and then labels them as raised without antibiotics. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has told Tyson to stop using the antibiotic-free label, but the company has sued for the right to keep using it. Poultry farmers regularly treat chickens and other birds with antibiotics. But scientists have become increasingly concerned that the routine use of antibiotics in animal agriculture may accelerate the development of antibiotic-resistant

Many Americans choose this as an option because of its convenience and cheap prices, but doesn’t it make you wonder why it is that way? Health issues and obesity have grown rapidly in our country and these come mainly from the processed food that is served at these fast food restaurants. Processed foods have large amounts of sodium and fat and are unhealthy for your body. These restaurants have made it so convenient that they are there to satisfy your craving whenever you’d like, twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week, the best part being that you don’t even have to step out of your car. “Obesity meaning that you are 20% or more over your ideal body weight” (Stockley 1). Being overweight can lead to endless health issues: high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, osteoarthritis, cancer, gallstones, etc. Making these kind of processed foods a habit and a part of your daily routine are how you end with an illness or even dead. I believe that to deter Americans from making poor and unhealthy decisions they should have a higher tax. Maybe then they will think twice before stuffing their face with a Big Mac and Large