Summary Of What Does Pollan Mean By The Industrial Food Chain

In the corn section of The Omnivore's Dilemma the author, Michael Pollan, goes on a journey to follow the industrial food chain and on his journey he finds out that corn is in nearly everything we eat. Since it is fed to cows, salmon and other animal corn ends up in places we would not think of like hamburgers, milk and soda. In one of the chapters Pollan tells the readers that for every bushel of corn it cost one dollar more to produce it than to buy it. The abundance of corn has caused the price to go down, however farmers are still producing corn due to government subsidies, even though they necessarily won’t make a profit off of it. This in turn keeps farmers in business but not out of debt.

With his Farewell Address in 1961, President Eisenhower warns the citizens of the United States about the dangers of the military-industrial complex’s growth in power. The military-industrial complex is the relationship between the nation’s military and defense industries, which was boosted greatly during World War II and previous wars. In our modern food industry, we deal with the “food industrial complex”. Michael Pollan, in his novel, The Omnivore’s Dilemma Part 1: “Industrial Corn”, speaks out about the problems in our food industry today. Eisenhower’s concerns of misplaced power, short term thinking, and imbalances in solving problems regarding the military-industrial complex are reflected in Pollan’s Part 1.

From 1865 to 1900 agriculture was at war, shifting from small, individual farms to larger commercialized farms because of the devaluing of currency, competition from corporate farms with more land and better technology, and government policies that proved detrimental to those clinging to old ways of life. To escape debt and seek profit in new lands, many farmers started working westward but so did corporations looking to expand. Because of westward expansion, companies like the union pacific railroad company built railroads that connected lands all across the U.S. and earned 10 miles of land in either direction of the railroad. This land put the railroad in control of many western lands and in control of the prices of land, travel and resource transportation.

Food is the fuel for humans, supplying energy and nutrients to get them throughout the day. But how has the way of getting food changed as a result of industrialization? Consider the tomato; it is ripe, farm fresh, and transformable to any desired recipe. However, today’s tomatoes are grown in places that consumers would probably not be able to locate on a map, ripened with assistance of ethylene gas, and picked while they are green. The process of obtaining food has undoubtedly changed.

Famous oil baron and philanthropist Lloyd noble once said: “No civilization can survive the time when its agricultural community is destroyed”. Why? He said this because agriculture may well be the single most important facet of the United States industry. Agriculture feeds people. And the biggest producer in agriculture?

Part A King Corn is a documentary film （directed by Woolf's agricultural, 2007) discusses two college friends Ian Cheney and Curtis Ellis, they notice that the amount of corn for American North American food system increasing in last few decades, they tried understand the value of corn for American society. They decided to farm a single acre of corn and see if they can turn a profit in a year. At the same time, Cheney and Ellis fund negative sides during the process: inhumane confined animal feeding operations, heavy use of a corn sweetener that may lead obesity, and vanishing family farms. As the film said, the corn’s value are based on government economic considerations rather than corn’s actual value. That means farmers will subsidize

Every year innovative technologies and practices are introduced to the agriculture industry, these advancements improve the quantity and quality of crops and can even be the solution to world issues. In this DBQ I will explain why the industrialization of the agricultural industry has been positive. The third document supports my argument because it shows how advances in agriculture have helped big issues like world hunger, Document three covers the green revolution that started in the 1940s. The green revolution introduced two different major branches of development, breeding, and new agriculture techniques. Breeding was introduced to the agriculture industry and created new plant varieties.

In the article “My Fast Food Meal” by Michael Pollan, fast food is explained In-N-Out. Pollan’s son, Isaac, convinces his reluctant mom to go to McDonald’s by telling her she can get a salad. The option for the whole family to get whatever meal they desire is a marketing tactic that makes sure there is something for everybody, so kids can convince parents to go and get fast food. Pollan’s family heads to the car to enjoy the meal, as many American families do. In fact, about 19 percent of American meals are eaten in a car.

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).

Corn yield has increased, so there are more corn plants per

He continues the rest of the chapter talking about how most foods have traces of corn in them, by following the industrial food chain. All foods by the FDA must have their ingredients posted on the wrapper, so buyers know exactly what they are eating. Michael Pollan knows he has to look at the wrapper and see where all those ingredients are from to really see where the food he is about to came from. 2. Pollan describes American farmers today as “the

The graph in document 1, a food/population report by the UN, shows a direct relationship between a growing population and the amount of food supply. This rapid increase is made possible by Norman Borlaug's genetically modified crops that made more food on less land and were able to fight off plant diseases. Document 2, a speech given by a president Truman to the struggling citizens, says that many people in a food crisis are in misery and would do anything to escape it. This is fuel for the Green Revolution and its colossal effects on human’s food supply. Document 7 contradicts this thesis because it states that the people who experienced its effects thought it was a contamination to their culture and natural way of life.

As Patel himself states, we need to get inside the hourglass and make the food system work for all of us, as farmers, producers, distributers, and consumers as a whole. Regardless of the confusion a first time reader may run across, this book does one thing undoubtedly right: it makes you think long and hard about everything you thought you knew about food. It goes far past GMOs and RoundUp, way beyond HFCS and the overproduction of soybeans, over and above those who are stuffed and those who are starved. Throughout the span of the novel, Patel not only helps you realize that there are many issues in our food economy, but also makes you feel how vital it is to take back what we did not even realize had long been

In the ‘Botany of Desire”, the author Michael Pollan introduced us a new perspective of relationship between human and plants. Especially in the potato chapter, Pollan focuses on interaction between human and potatoes in historical and modern perspectives, and points out human’s desire to control the earth. Pollan introduces the ideas of polyculture and monoculture to readers, and then he references to historical events for both ideas. He also focuses on the modern approach to potatoes agriculture, which includes GMO, traditional, and organic farming. The most striking strategy is Pollan’s comparison of the agricultural methods on planting potatoes throughout history.

Where are Family Farms going? The days of sitting on your front porch, watching the farmers pick the fields or the children play in the garden are seemingly disappearing. But why? A sector of our world is being lost, and with it go the little farmhouses, the small red barns, and the beautiful pastures our cattle graze.