“The average grocery store has 47,000 products which makes it look like there is a large variety of choice – but it is an illusion – there are only a few major companies and a few major crops involved.”(Food Inc.) In the documentary Food Inc., multiple ideas about how big industrial corporations have taken over all the aspects of the food chain industry in the US are discussed. Initially, this film made me upset. It showed me a lot about the food chain industry that I didn't know about, such as how animals are raised and treated . As I was watching it, I felt as if a thick wool was being lifted from my eyes, showing me how completely oblivious I was to this growing problem. This documentary really sheds light on the food industry as a whole, …show more content…
Corn is the root of all evil in the food chain industry. Corn is in majority of the things we eat and drink, although people may not be aware of it. In the film it states, “Corn is the main component in feed ingredients whether it's chicken,hogs, cattle-- you name it. Increasingly, we're feeding the corn to the fish whether we're eating the tilapia or the farmed salmon. We're teaching fish how to eat corn. The fact that we had so much cheap corn really allowed us to drive down the price of meat. I mean, the average American is eating over 200 lbs of meat per person per year. That wouldn't be possible had we not fed them this diet of cheap grain. Since you're selling corn at below the price of production, the feedlot operator can buy corn at a fraction of what it costs to grow,so that all the animals are sucked off of all the farms in the Midwest.” (Food Inc.) Building on this the film goes on to talk about the meat industry and how because of corn they can afford to lower the price of meat. I personally think it's great that the film covers this topic because it shows people where their food comes from and how it is made. In the film it shows how corn among other things is fed to animals which diets did not in the beginning compose of corn. For example, cows are not supposed to be fed corn and a result of this is the cows getting infected with E. Coli which in turn makes humans sick, such as how …show more content…
In 1950, it took 68 days to raise a chicken to full size. In 2008, the number of days reduced dramatically to 47 days. This is a result of artificial stimulants and antibodies. Farmers feed chickens corn and other chemicals to make them grow faster so they can make more money for the big companies. The farmers don't really make a profit, are put in huge amounts of debt and are threatened by big name companies if they reveal or say anything they do not approve of. The chickens are put through horrible conditions just for profit. On a positive side to that one farmer raises his animals organically. They don't eat corn like the others, they eat grass as they were made to do originally. As a result of this his food costs more and some people don't like it. This in my opinion is better than the other farms that animals are raised on.
The film goes on more to talk about how the food chain industry is affecting humans.For example, one family shared their experience about the negative impacts that hormone-infused food had on them. The dad is a diabetic and his medication takes up most of their income and they have two mouths to feed so they go to the easiest thing which is fast food. They know fast food isn't good for them but that is all they can afford. I engaged more with this topic because of the fact that I have a lot of diabetics in my family and it is
Eric Schlosser disproves that theory with his book titled Fast Food Nation (2001). About a hundred years after the mistreatment in the Gilded Age occured Fast Food Nation describes the same if not worse conditions of industries in America. In chapter 8, Schlosser uses rhetorical strategies to unveil the dark side of meat-packing factories. Schlosser begins by explaining what happens to the animals
In the 2008 documentary Food Inc. Authors Eric Schlosser and Michael Pollan offer insight into the food industry in America, including how food is produced. Revealing to the normal everyday american all the things you don't know about how you get the food that in your figure right now. They reveal that the main thing that drives our current food system, like any big corporation, is cost efficiency. These cost cuts do make food cheaper for americans but it also puts their safety at risk.
Feeding animals, corn is not healthy for anybody, this process only affects the animal's ability to grow at their own pace. In Northern America, one particular Hispanic family tree, 70% of their family members are affected with both type one and type two diabetes, which can be associated with corn. A Hispanic family member changed the way he ate by becoming vegan. One of his main reasons was to stay healthy which meant cutting corn out of his diet.
Initially when reading the chapter, the reader would make the assumption that it is just about fruit. After some reflection, it is much more than that. This chapter is about humans playing god. They nurture and control their crops and then they destroy them because there are no buyers. Destitute people starve and are forced to watch food be destroyed before their very eyes.
Most people do not realize how many things are made from corn products and Pollan does a great job of breaking down what types of products contain corn. It is obvious that Pollan has a sort of admiration for corn, it’s hardiness, it’s versatility, but at the same time he understands that total dependence on one crop can be dangerous. However, the thesis of the essay is not really corn, but rather the fertilizer we use to grow it, specifically nitrogen right products such as ammonium nitrate. Pollen’s essay is a really interesting look at the history of how nitrogen-based fertilizers came to be so predominant in America and around the world. He discusses both their benefits and incredible dangers, such as the runoff pollution which boosts growth of algae causing the death of ocean life (903).
Well let me tell you how bad the chicken farms are treated, how they cannot defend themselves at all, and all of the debt they have with no money to pay it back with. So should we give farmers more support or are they fine the way they are? I believe they need our support now. First, there are a four biggest chicken raising companies in the USA and they are Tyson, JBS USA, Cargill Meat Solutions, and Smithfield Foods.
In the second act, adversity and conflict are disclosed usually through facts. In the movie Food, Inc. (2009), directed by Robert Kenner, the issue of how food is produced and distributed wrongly. Animals are bred and injected with hormones for mass production. Some animals are forced to live in the dark all their lives, and then are slaughtered. The conflict is what keeps the audience engaged.
In Food Inc. documentary the filmmaker Robert Kenner unveiled and exposed our nation’s food industry highly mechanized unsafe food production that have been hidden from the American consumer with the support and consent of our government’s regulatory agencies. I belonged to school of thought that believed that food is life, and life is food. Food production and safety supposed to be a serious business, which l believed everybody needed to be conscious of how it was be produced and processed. After I viewed the documentary “Food Inc.” I was highly disappointed and disgusted about how food farmer treated the livestock, poultry, and vegetables that we eat in a sickening manner. Modern mass food production supposed to be based on meeting the consumer needs and safety but nowadays, they are mainly focused on profit making.
Robert Kenner shows in his film that corporations only care about the end goal of producing the product, not the food nor the workers. The industry acts as a double edged sword. The products the corporation yields to feed the citizens are not quite the healthiest. Food Inc. displays the grinding of the meat and several ammonia cleanings. The traditional way of industry that many people attest to is contrary to reality.
This documentary opens the publics eyes to what food insecurity really looks like. The documentary shows that people who live a poor quality of life often have issues with getting the right about of nourishment, the price of proceed food continues to decline. Making proceeded food more obtainable to people living in poverty. Most people in poverty are children, lack of nutrition in a child diet can have an impact on a child’s development. Processed foods tend to be more calorie dense and nutrient poor.
In the world, there are one billion people undernourished and one and a half billion more people overweight. In this day and age, where food has become a means of profit rather than a means of keeping people thriving and healthy, Raj Patel took it upon himself to explore why our world has become the home of these two opposite extremes: the stuffed and the starved. He does so by travelling the world and investigating the mess that was created by the big men (corporate food companies) when they took power away from the little men (farmers and farm workers) in order to provide for everyone else (the consumers) as conveniently and profitably as possible. In his book Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System, Patel reveals his findings and tries to reach out to people not just as readers, but also as consumers, in hopes of regaining control over the one thing that has brought us all down: the world food system.
Corn’s Conquest I can 't say that I had thoughts about corn before this chapter. I just ate my chicken nuggets, and basically anything and everything with corn in it, without a care in the world. As an American I usually don 't think about what I am eating or look at all the ingredients. I never put much thought in the early American diet. Ordering chicken nuggets from McDonalds is not a foreign concept to say the least.
Countless social issues within America today can be traced back to the food industry. Although
In times of war and food scarcities man will chow down into anything to survive. That is why we are top of the food chain. It also puts the point across in times of war some will chose to survive on amphibians and snails. However in the Delicatessen world one can also survive on one 's own family members. There are many food references throughout the movie and even some product placement, one scene shows an advertisement for Kraft on the television.