What is genetically modified food, and is it dangerous? According to Mather’s article, she explains, “Genetic modification refers to the manipulation of DNA by humans to change the essential makeup of plants and animals. The technology inserts genetic material from one species into another to give it a new-quality, such as the ability to produce a pesticide.” Mather also states, “These toxins can produce a serious impact on the health of animals and humans.” Yes, the United States food industry is corrupt when it comes to modified food however, their corruption has yet to be revealed. This corruption includes mistreatment of farm animals, exploitation of food workers, and the lack of nutrition in public schools. Although, all these areas are devastating the biggest issue by far is genetically modified food. Genetically modified foods do not hurt only the animals that end up on one’s plate, but this food can also hurt the consumer. Genetically modified food should not be produced or sold due to the ill effects it has on livestock, human health, and the overall economy.
Genetic modification in livestock has steadily advanced since the 18th century and will continue to rise if there is no intervention. According to the source, Hormones: Here’s the Beef. Janet Raloff explains, “Many cattle are fed the same muscle-building androgens-usually testosterone surrogates-that some athletes consume. Other animals receive estrogens, the primary sex hormones, or progestin, semi androgenic agents that shut down a female’s estrus cycle.” Not only do these chemicals make the cattle infertile, but these growth hormones also enlarge the cattle up to three times their normal size in half the time. This genetic mutation caused by the cattle fed i...
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Section 1: Typically, we need a well-balanced meal to give us the energy to do day-to-day tasks and sometimes we aren’t able to get home cooked meals that are healthy and nutritious on a daily basis, due to the reasons of perhaps low income or your mom not being able to have the time to cook. People rely on fast food, because it’s quicker and always very convenient for full-time workers or anyone in general who just want a quick meal. Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation argues that Americans should change their nutritional behaviors. In his book, Schlosser inspects the social and economic penalties of the processes of one specific section of the American food system: the fast food industry. Schlosser details the stages of the fast food production process, like the farms, the slaughterhouse and processing plant, and the fast food franchise itself. Schlosser uses his skill as a journalist to bring together appropriate historical developments and trends, illustrative statistics, and telling stories about the lives of industry participants. Schlosser is troubled by our nation’s fast-food habit and the reasons Schlosser sees fast food as a national plague have more to do with the pure presence of the stuff — the way it has penetrated almost every feature of our culture, altering “not only the American food, but also our landscape, economy, staff, and popular culture. This book is about fast food, the values it represents, and the world it has made," writes Eric Schlosser in the introduction of his book. His argument against fast food is based on the evidence that "the real price never appears on the menu." The "real price," according to Schlosser, varieties from destroying small business, scattering pathogenic germs, abusing wor...
Fast food nation is divided into two sections: "The American Way", which brings forth the beginnings of the Fast Food Nation within the context of after World War Two America; and "Meat and Potatoes", which examines the specific mechanizations of the fast-food industry, including the chemical flavoring of the food, the production of cattle and chickens, the working conditions of the beef industry, the dangers of eating this kind of meat, and the international prospect of fast food as an American cultural export to the rest of the world. Chapter 1 opens with a discussion of Carl N. Karcher, one of fast food’s pioneers. Carl was born in 1917 in Ohio. He quit school after eighth grade and spent long hours farming with his father. When he was twenty years old, his uncle offered him a job at his Feed and Seed store in Anaheim, CA.
In Fast Food Nation, Schlosser goes beyond the facts that left many people’s eye wide opened. Throughout the book, Schlosser discusses several different topics including food-borne disease, near global obesity, animal abuse, political corruption, worksite danger. The book explains the origin of the all issues and how they have affected the American society in a certain way. This book started out by introducing the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station beside the Colorado Springs, one of the fastest growing metropolitan economies in America. This part presents the whole book of facts on fast food industry. It talks about how Americans spend more money on fast food than any other personal consumption. To promote mass production and profits, industries like MacDonald, keep their labor and materials costs low. Average US worker get the lowest income paid by fast food restaurants, and these franchise chains produces about 90% of the nation’s new jobs. In the first chapter, he interviewed Carl N. Karcher, one of the fast food industry’s leade...
Genetically modified organisms are “an organism whose genome has been altered in order to favour the expression of desired physiological traits or the output of desired biological products.” http://www.merriam-webster.com/concise/genetically%20modified%20organism%20(gmo). The United States were first approved for human consumption of genetically modified foods in 1995. The techniques used for producing the genetically developed organisms include cloning recombinant DNA technology. Primary uses of genetically modified organisms are mostly in areas of agriculture and biomedical research. GMOs compromise numerous aids to society, including enlarged crop yields and the development of fresh therapeutic agents which prevent and treat a wide variety of human diseases . However there are some concerns around the use of genetically modified organisms which include the risks stood to human health and the initiation of insecticide resistant superbugs. This essay will provide evidence to support the evidence that the genetic modifications of crops produces better results than selective breeding or mutation.
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. New York: Perennial, 2002.
According to Ronnie Cummins in “Genetically Engineered Foods Are Hazardous” he talks about a British molecular scientist named Dr. Michael Antoniou that points out how there is “unexpected production of toxic substances” in genetic modification that can be very harmful to us humans. Many people believe that since a couple Doctors have labeled them as toxins, why do we even allow these to be put in the foods that we eat? In an article titled “The Threats From Genetically Modified Foods” by Robin Mather, he has said that the use of glyphosate, a herbicide, can “significantly increase the severity of various plant diseases” which are very hazardous to the environment. In the same article “The Threats From Genetically Modified Foods” Robin Mather has stated that genetic transfers cannot occur in nature and are not as precise and predictable as people say they are. In another article called “Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering” from Issues & Controversies, it has been shown that genetic modification can affect many plants.
In the book Fast Food Nation: The Darks Side of the All-American Meal, Eric Schlosser claims that fast food impacts more than our eating habits, it impacts “…our economy, our culture, and our values”(3) . At the heart of Schlosser’s argument is that the entrepreneurial spirit —defined by hard work, innovation, and taking extraordinary risks— has nothing to do with the rise of the fast food empire and all its subsidiaries. In reality, the success of a fast food restaurant is contingent upon obtaining taxpayer money, avoiding government restraints, and indoctrinating its target audience from as young as possible. The resulting affordable, good-tasting, nostalgic, and addictive foods make it difficult to be reasonable about food choices, specifically in a fast food industry chiefly built by greedy executives.
The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, a work examining the country’s fast food industry (Gale). Schlosser sets off chapter 5: “Why the Fries Taste Good,” in Aberdeen,
Genetic modification is very harmful for human beings; it has a huge negative effect on animals’ and humans’ health. The manipulation of the genes of crops and animals may cause health damage. “Animal toxicity studies have shown that genetically modified foods may toxically affect several organs and systems” (Arvanitoyannis, 162, 2011). These studies concluded that genetically modified foods are dangerous and they may become one of the most harmful issues in the world. According to Arvanitoyannis research genetically modified foods cause some common toxic effects such as: hepatic, pancreatic, renal or reproductive effects and may alter the hematological, biochemical and immuno...
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Print.
How many of you hear the words “genetically modified food” and immediately think “BAD”? How many of you scorn the idea that genetically modified foods are useful? How many of you have been manipulated by the media to think that all biotechnology is evil? Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are organisms that have been genetically spliced to achieve a certain trait. As the demand for a larger food supply is increasing due to population growth, the benefits that GMO foods provide are being hailed as the only solution to the food crisis. However, many people are making inadequately informed decisions, and are pushing them to the back shelf. I will inform you on why genetically modified organisms may be the only way to a stable, safe future for the less fortunate.
Over the last three decades, fast food has infiltrated every nook and cranny of American society and has become nothing less than a revolutionary force in American life. Fast food has gained a great popularity among different age groups in different parts of the globe, becoming a favorite delicacy of both adults and children.
Plants and animals are injected with hormones and genes from other organisms in order to create something completely different. By doing this the DNA structure is completely altered into something new (Rings). The American Academy of Environmental Medicine proved GMO foods have serious health effects: infertility, immune system problems, accelerated aging, disruption of insulin and cholesterol regulation, gastrointestinal problems, and organ problems (Smith, Against The Grain Nutrition). By genetically modifying food, it cuts farmers and other producers work in half. With using mutant seeds, food companies are able to produce food twice as fast and much easier. It cuts costs and requires less work. The USDA allows GM foods for human consumption without proper testing. They are aware of the health effects of these types of foods (Rings).
Works Cited Schlosser, Eric. A. Fast Food Nation. N. p. : Harper Perennial, 2001. Print.