Have you ever thought about the safety of our food? How many people recognize where did our come from? And if you are the loyalty of fast food, do you know where does the hamburger come from? The answers of all these questions are really important for everyone because the food is the most important thing for people to survive. Most people never think about where the meat we eat comes from, how they are dealt with during the process, and does the quality of these food can be guaranteed by the slaughters? The drastic expansion of industrial animal production in the U.S. has been accompanied by the rapid consolidation of the meat industry. This industry is now dominated by a handful of huge corporations that process most of the country’s meat at enormous facilities, and consolidation continues to increase. As a result of this concentration, the food safety is becoming a big problem.
Since the widespread outbreak of E. coli, people began to notice the quality of our food because most E. coli illness are the result of eating contaminated food or undercooked ground beef. When animals are slaughtered and processed, several dangerous elements come into play. The first is the presence of fecal matter from slaughtered animals, which can contaminate meat with high levels of bacteria such as E. coli. For many consumers, the most worrisome aspect of our food will be the findings pertaining to food safety. One cause of particularly virulent cases of food poisoning is the E. coli 0157:H7 bacterium, which can cause “kidney failure, strokes, destruction of vital organs, and death.”(“About E. coli”) In fact, consumption of any food or beverage that becomes contaminated by animal manure can result in contracting the disease, especially cattle. The most common cause of food-borne outbreaks has been the consumption of undercooked ground beef. “But E. coli 0157:H7 outbreaks have also been caused by contaminated bean sprouts, salad greens, cantaloupe, salami, raw milk, and un-pasteurized apple cider.” (Schlosser, 200) All of those foods most likely had come in contact with cattle manure. According to Schlosser’s book, the wide dispersal of E. coli 0157:H7 in the nation’s meat supply can be traced to "the rise of huge feedlots, slaughterhouses, and hamburger grinders."(Schlosser, 217) Most cases of E. coli O157:H7 are sporadic cases. They are not part of a big outbreak that can be easily linked to one source. As a matter of fact, most cases of food poisoning are never linked back to their source. So the meatpacking industry has the advantage of accountability being really difficult to prove. In terms of what proportion of the illnesses are caused by ground beef, what proportion are caused by fruits and vegetables that have not been cooked, and all these food are very important for people to survive, so we have to look for the reason why these bacteria are widespread in our food system.
The unacceptable contamination of food are caused by the filthy conditions in which conventional food animals are raised, as well as the high speed at which meat is processed. The slaughterhouses that have are pretty unique in terms of the speed of production, and it’s that speed of production that can lead to food-safety problems. In order to maximize profits, meat processors have continually increased the speed of their production lines. Everyday workers of slaughter need to process millions of pounds meat, that meats they will “process 300-400 cattle per hour,” so they have to work really fast.(“Interview Eric Schlosser”) When workers are working very quickly, they may make mistakes, so the quality of meat cannot be guaranteed. And if a little bit of meat gets contaminated, when it's ground up, it can contaminate a lot of meat, so during that whole production system, there are many opportunities for the meat to be contaminated. In order to assure the safety of the meat supply, processors must take efforts to keep feces from spreading from the animals’ intestines or hides onto the tables and tools for butchering, along with the meat itself. But because the production lines are forced to move so quickly, it is exceedingly difficult to butcher the carcasses with the care necessary to prevent this kind of contamination. The result is meat contaminated with bacteria that cause food-borne illness. Therefore, the food processing could play a greater role in the spread of E. coli bacteria.
In fact, all the food-safety problems are basically caused by the centralized food system. Meat production in the US is controlled for a large part by just a handful of companies. Since the centralization of meat process has developed rapidly, the meat-safety becomes a big problem in the U.S. “Because of the mass-production process, scientists estimate that a single tainted cow can contaminate up to eight tons of ground beef.”(Jack Thompson: “From Farm to Fork”) Big may not always be better, the centralized meatpacking system is a significant example. According to Schlosser‘s book, he states that “American meat production, has never before been so centralized: thirteen large packinghouses now slaughter most of the beef consumed in the United States. The meat-packing system that arose to supply the nation’s fast food chains...to provide massive amounts of uniform ground beef so that all of McDonald’s hamburgers would taste the same has proved to be an extremely efficient system for spreading disease."(217) Today, because of the centralization of food processing, contaminated food poisons people throughout the nation, and even beyond our borders. Our highly centralized food economy is a dangerously precarious and vulnerable system.
Because of the increasing power of meat producing companies, the government is weaker to control the meat production. The government is overly influenced by the meatpacking industry. Not only in today, the meatpacking industry and the government working very closely together for almost a hundred years. “The USDA is enormously influenced by the meatpacking industry since its inception. And food safety has never been a top priority of the meatpacking industry when it comes to federal legislation.” (“Interview Eric Schlosser”) The USDA (US Department of Agriculture) regulates all meat production and sale in the US, and meat is the only consumer product in the US that comes with a government seal of approval on the package. All meat for commercial sale is produced with government employees present to protect the interests of consumers. But despite its mandate to act in the interests of consumer safety, the USDA has failed to effectively assure the safety of the US meat supply due to weak regulations and lack of control over meat companies. Upon discovery of contaminated meat, USDA cannot demand that a company recall its products and only has the power to consult with a company about how they should handle the situation. This slows down the recall process, and allows for unsuspecting consumers to buy and eat contaminated products even though authorities are aware of the contamination.
Large producers that operate filthy, inhumane operations should be regulated more harshly. Animal overcrowding and co-mingling fosters an environment that encourages the spread of disease and such conditions should no longer be allowed. According to Schlosser’s book, he lists as the primary causes of meat contamination: "the feed being given to cattle, the overcrowding at feedlots, the poor sanitation at slaughterhouses, excessive line speeds, poorly trained workers, and the lack of stringent government oversight." The reality of meatpacking is that almost all of the E. coli problems are with ground beef, and the ground beef emerging from pants is typically as anonymous and scattered in its origins as corn of soybeans. However, the widespread E. coli O157:H7 outbreak is even more dangerous and demands the government’s full attention. The spread E. coli has contaminated beef across the country to its various suppliers; not only from the meat, E coli illnesses even from fresh produce -- spinach, lettuce, and sprouts. If this situation is allowed to further deteriorate, the public harm is going to be immeasurable, both in terms of our lives damaged and businesses lost. Therefore, in meatpacking and processing plants, new ways are needed to control the spread of E. coli in beef, especially ground beef.
The solution to stopping outbreaks of E. coli and other kinds of bacteria is to clean up the industrial meat processing system. Industrial meat producers should no longer be permitted to force their animals from birth to slaughter as quickly as possible by using artificial hormones and antibiotics. These drugs are responsible for creating the digestive conditions that encourage E. coli to grow and thrive. On the other hand, increasing consumer awareness about the filthy industrial meat system and educating the public about how such a system increases the likelihood of contamination would also help to steer consumer preference towards smaller, cleaner, more localized sources of food that are healthier and generally free from contamination. Also, “increase legal consequences for causing food-borne illness and death, we should impose serious consequences for companies who don’t do enough to keep their products safe, especially if they are repeat-offenders.” (Marler Clark) All these methods are in order to improve the safety of our food because food is the most important thing for people to survive.
In conclusion, people should think about what we put in our mouth, where the food comes from and why we feel compelled to put it there. In order to make sure the safety of our food, we should promote research to develop better technologies to make food safe, and for testing foods for contamination. Also, the government should provide economic incentives, like tax breaks, that push food safety to companies, and invest in research and training. But the most important thing is to improve consumer understanding of the risks of food-borne illness and the knowledge of food safety, in order to avoid getting sick with the contaminated food.
Work Cited Pages:
Marler Clark,“E. coli,” of “About E. coli,” Web.
Eric Schlosser, “What is In the Meat” of “Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal." Houghton Mifflin Company. Web.
“Interview Eric Schlosser,” Modern Meat, Frontline. Web.
Jake Thompson, “From Farm to Fork: Ideas to solve problem plentiful, but cooperation scarce,” Omaha World -- Herald, January 21, 1998. Web.
Marler Clark, “William Marler Calls on Congress to Act to Protect Nation’s Food Supply,” Business Wire, July 28, 2008. Web.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Prospectus of Research Paper
In my research paper I would like to talk about the effects of meatpacking. Since the widespread outbreak of E. coli, people began to notice the quality of our food because most E. coli illnesses are the result of eating contaminated food or undercooked ground beef. Meat quality may be affected during the meat-processing, we should pay more attention on the meatpacking. Most people never think about where the meat comes from, how they are dealt with during the process. We should to recognize that what is the E. coli, and where it comes from, or what kind of sources will contain E. coli? The answers of all these questions are really important to everyone.
I will do my paper based on the following resources: “Interview Eric Schlosser.” In this article, it about Eric Schlosser talking about the modern meat, such as where hamburger come from, who is the driving force in making the meat industry what it is today, how we get our meat in a supermarket or at a restaurant, and how have highly centralized slaughter facilities changed or increased food-safety risks? The other article is named “About E. coli,” which is about what are they, where did they come from, and why are some so dangerous? Also, a resource from Eric Schlosser’s book “Fast Food Nation,” and one chapter which is named “What Is In the Meat” is from this book. Those sources help me to recognize more things about the effects of the fast food industry on restaurant workers, the meatpacking industry, and food safety standards. After reading these sources, especially Eric Schlosser’s book, it affects me a lot. In Schlosser’s book, he recommends that we do the same both as a prescription for improved health and as a means of forcing concessions from the fast food industry.
I will do my paper based on the following resources: “Interview Eric Schlosser.” In this article, it about Eric Schlosser talking about the modern meat, such as where hamburger come from, who is the driving force in making the meat industry what it is today, how we get our meat in a supermarket or at a restaurant, and how have highly centralized slaughter facilities changed or increased food-safety risks? The other article is named “About E. coli,” which is about what are they, where did they come from, and why are some so dangerous? Also, a resource from Eric Schlosser’s book “Fast Food Nation,” and one chapter which is named “What Is In the Meat” is from this book. Those sources help me to recognize more things about the effects of the fast food industry on restaurant workers, the meatpacking industry, and food safety standards. After reading these sources, especially Eric Schlosser’s book, it affects me a lot. In Schlosser’s book, he recommends that we do the same both as a prescription for improved health and as a means of forcing concessions from the fast food industry.
Fast Food Advertising Should Be Banned in Schools (Rewrite)
Today a lot of children are targeted by many commercial companies. The kid customers have become a huge consumption group to fast food companies. These corporations try to infiltrate teen cultures and find out what appeals to teenager in order to market their products more successful. For instance, some fast food companies have aimed schoolchildren, and they make their commercial activities in schools, such as selling and advertising their products. Fast food can obviously cause obesity, and the children are the major consumption group of fast food, so the government and schools should not allow fast food companies to advertise in public schools.
Fast food companies are reliant on a particular class of consumer for maintaining their healthy profit margins--kids, because they have become a huge consumption group in their commercial areas. Fast food companies spend over $33 billion per year only in the US to advertise their products that could be classified as fast food. These corporations spend such a lot of money on advertising because they recognize that they will make much more than they pay. Those fast food companies recognize that their products are children’s favorite. Ninety percent of American youths consume at least one Happy Meal every month, they spend more of their money on fast food than anything else, on average, they eat three burgers and four orders of fries two-thirds of which come from fast food restaurants every week. Young children have trouble differentiating between commercials and regular programming and tend to believe everything they hear in advertisements. All better for Happy Meal sales and the sales of burgers and fries consumed by parents that get pestered into that trip to the fast food restaurant. “The heavy marketing directed towards youth, especially young children, appears to be driven largely by the desire to develop and build brand awareness/recognition, brand preference and brand loyalty. Marketers believe that brand preference begins before purchase behavior does.” In fact, McDonald's has focused its marketing strategies on kids in an effort to create “customers for life” since a few years ago. Most American children eat at McDonald’s at least once a month, some of them even eat them once a week. “The growth in children’s advertising has been driven by efforts to increase not just current, but also future, consumption.” (Schlosser, 43) Eric Schlosser points out that fast food companies like McDonald’s try to advertise their products in order to encourage more children to become their “customer for life.” “Unfortunately, fast food and fast food marketing continues to be abundant in and around our children’s schools.”(Fast Food in Schools)
Today with the rise in obesity widely in the world, especially in the U.S., many doctors and scientists are beginning to question whether fast food can cause obesity. Actually, fast food has harmful effects for people’s health. “The regular consumption of junk food is the leading factor in obesity and excess weight.” Fast food causes obesity by increasing amount of saturated fats and calories, they are packed with high amount of sugars, carbohydrates, and oils. Even small amount fast food can increase calories intake considerably. Children are loyal consumers of fast food, this is the reason the obesity rates is increasing rapidly in teenagers. While consuming fast foods, children may get tempted to have extra cheese and soda either. These food and drinks increase the risk of obesity greatly. Without knowing all these disadvantages of fast food, children consume a lot of calories. However, people who consume fast foods are less likely to eat healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, and milk. This change in eating habits can easily lead to obesity. On the other hand, children consume the new coming food by advertisements, and that is the reason billions of dollars are spent to advertise fast food every year. These advertisements subconsciously encourage children to indulge in high calorie foods. “Consumption of soft drinks containing sugar has been linked to weight gain and an increased risk for development of type 2 diabetes.” Not only the type 2 diabetes, “Studies have revealed that obese people have twice the rate of chronic health problems as people of normal weight. This includes a 100% greater chance of developing Type 2 diabetes, 50% increased likelihood of developing heart disease. Obese men are nearly 90% more likely to get colon cancer.” Therefore, the fast food advertising should be banned in public schools because it would decrease the consumption of fast food.
Public schools should not promote any particular products or service, and should not be used as a way of media for commercial activities because schools are sacred places for education. Schools play a significant role in providing food to children and in shaping children’s acquisition of life time dietary habits. In fact, “Our public schools are home to some of the most insidious fast food advertising.”(Fast Food in Schools) Advertising in schools has become big business. “The explosion in children’s advertising occurred during the 1980.” (Schlosser, 42) In the other words, commercial activities in schools have become increasingly common over the past decade. Schools should provide a neutral and impartial environment to educate students in a manner that allow them to make correct choices, even for their future lives. Students have to realize that education is not only science, math and languages, it also includes how to make correct choices of daily life in the future. “It’s our responsibility to make it clear that schools are here to serve children, not commercial interests.” (Schlosser, 55) Schools are institutions of education, not just a tool of persuasion. Fast food companies should not exploit schools to advantage for their profits, it is an unethical and improper business practice.
The government should make any policies to limit advertising and commercial activity in public schools because it can protect students from the collection of personal information from the advertising. Government should regulate to protect schoolchildren from predatory companies like McDonald’s and Burger King, parents need to be vigilant about marketing advertising aimed at children. There is no adult that these commercial advertising would have continued, and these fast food companies cannot pledge to stop advertising in public schools. Those fast food companies try many ploys to attack children to buy their products, so both parents and children should pay more attention to avoid walking into these commercial traps. The government should play a role to stop fast food advertising and selling in schools because it’s government’s duty to protect children’s health.
In conclusion, fast food facts are numerous, and the negative effects of fast food on health and wellbeing is undeniable. Fast food diet is the major reason to cause diseases, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Any commercial activities like advertising and selling fast food in schools are bad for these schoolchildren’s health. The government and schools should not allow fast food advertising in schools, it’s time to stop this activity.
Work cited page:
Eric Schlosser, “ ‘Your Trusted Friend’ Fast Food Nation: the Dark Side of the All-American Meal.” Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.31-58. Book.
Mary Story, Simone French. “Food Advertising and Marketing Directed at Children and Adolescents in the US.” The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. Division of Epidemiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN USA. Web.
“Fast Food in Schools.” Corporate Accountability International Challenging Abuse, Protecting People. Web.
Fast food companies are reliant on a particular class of consumer for maintaining their healthy profit margins--kids, because they have become a huge consumption group in their commercial areas. Fast food companies spend over $33 billion per year only in the US to advertise their products that could be classified as fast food. These corporations spend such a lot of money on advertising because they recognize that they will make much more than they pay. Those fast food companies recognize that their products are children’s favorite. Ninety percent of American youths consume at least one Happy Meal every month, they spend more of their money on fast food than anything else, on average, they eat three burgers and four orders of fries two-thirds of which come from fast food restaurants every week. Young children have trouble differentiating between commercials and regular programming and tend to believe everything they hear in advertisements. All better for Happy Meal sales and the sales of burgers and fries consumed by parents that get pestered into that trip to the fast food restaurant. “The heavy marketing directed towards youth, especially young children, appears to be driven largely by the desire to develop and build brand awareness/recognition, brand preference and brand loyalty. Marketers believe that brand preference begins before purchase behavior does.” In fact, McDonald's has focused its marketing strategies on kids in an effort to create “customers for life” since a few years ago. Most American children eat at McDonald’s at least once a month, some of them even eat them once a week. “The growth in children’s advertising has been driven by efforts to increase not just current, but also future, consumption.” (Schlosser, 43) Eric Schlosser points out that fast food companies like McDonald’s try to advertise their products in order to encourage more children to become their “customer for life.” “Unfortunately, fast food and fast food marketing continues to be abundant in and around our children’s schools.”(Fast Food in Schools)
Today with the rise in obesity widely in the world, especially in the U.S., many doctors and scientists are beginning to question whether fast food can cause obesity. Actually, fast food has harmful effects for people’s health. “The regular consumption of junk food is the leading factor in obesity and excess weight.” Fast food causes obesity by increasing amount of saturated fats and calories, they are packed with high amount of sugars, carbohydrates, and oils. Even small amount fast food can increase calories intake considerably. Children are loyal consumers of fast food, this is the reason the obesity rates is increasing rapidly in teenagers. While consuming fast foods, children may get tempted to have extra cheese and soda either. These food and drinks increase the risk of obesity greatly. Without knowing all these disadvantages of fast food, children consume a lot of calories. However, people who consume fast foods are less likely to eat healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, and milk. This change in eating habits can easily lead to obesity. On the other hand, children consume the new coming food by advertisements, and that is the reason billions of dollars are spent to advertise fast food every year. These advertisements subconsciously encourage children to indulge in high calorie foods. “Consumption of soft drinks containing sugar has been linked to weight gain and an increased risk for development of type 2 diabetes.” Not only the type 2 diabetes, “Studies have revealed that obese people have twice the rate of chronic health problems as people of normal weight. This includes a 100% greater chance of developing Type 2 diabetes, 50% increased likelihood of developing heart disease. Obese men are nearly 90% more likely to get colon cancer.” Therefore, the fast food advertising should be banned in public schools because it would decrease the consumption of fast food.
Public schools should not promote any particular products or service, and should not be used as a way of media for commercial activities because schools are sacred places for education. Schools play a significant role in providing food to children and in shaping children’s acquisition of life time dietary habits. In fact, “Our public schools are home to some of the most insidious fast food advertising.”(Fast Food in Schools) Advertising in schools has become big business. “The explosion in children’s advertising occurred during the 1980.” (Schlosser, 42) In the other words, commercial activities in schools have become increasingly common over the past decade. Schools should provide a neutral and impartial environment to educate students in a manner that allow them to make correct choices, even for their future lives. Students have to realize that education is not only science, math and languages, it also includes how to make correct choices of daily life in the future. “It’s our responsibility to make it clear that schools are here to serve children, not commercial interests.” (Schlosser, 55) Schools are institutions of education, not just a tool of persuasion. Fast food companies should not exploit schools to advantage for their profits, it is an unethical and improper business practice.
The government should make any policies to limit advertising and commercial activity in public schools because it can protect students from the collection of personal information from the advertising. Government should regulate to protect schoolchildren from predatory companies like McDonald’s and Burger King, parents need to be vigilant about marketing advertising aimed at children. There is no adult that these commercial advertising would have continued, and these fast food companies cannot pledge to stop advertising in public schools. Those fast food companies try many ploys to attack children to buy their products, so both parents and children should pay more attention to avoid walking into these commercial traps. The government should play a role to stop fast food advertising and selling in schools because it’s government’s duty to protect children’s health.
In conclusion, fast food facts are numerous, and the negative effects of fast food on health and wellbeing is undeniable. Fast food diet is the major reason to cause diseases, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Any commercial activities like advertising and selling fast food in schools are bad for these schoolchildren’s health. The government and schools should not allow fast food advertising in schools, it’s time to stop this activity.
Work cited page:
Eric Schlosser, “ ‘Your Trusted Friend’ Fast Food Nation: the Dark Side of the All-American Meal.” Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.31-58. Book.
Mary Story, Simone French. “Food Advertising and Marketing Directed at Children and Adolescents in the US.” The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. Division of Epidemiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN USA. Web.
“Fast Food in Schools.” Corporate Accountability International Challenging Abuse, Protecting People. Web.
Friday, May 7, 2010
MLA Annotated Bibliography on Meatpacking and E.coli
"E.coli shot attracts attention; If widely used, vaccine could be answer to meat safety." Lincoln Journal Star(Nebraska). January 4, 2010 Monday.
In this article, it is about Cargill, which is one of the nation's most prominent meatpacking companies, is positioning itself to test a vaccine meant tto protect the meat-eating public from the potentially deadly E.coli which is called Cargill Meat Solutions. It is could be regarded as one of the most ambitious efforts to solve meat safety problems. This initiative can be expected to command a lot of attention, which leads Nebraska in red-meat processing. Actually, the reality of meatpacking is that almost all of the E.coli problems are with ground beef, and the ground beef emerging from plants is typically as anonymous and scattered in its origins as corn or soybeans.
Cathy Pelletier. "Dream presents food Inc." Dunnville Chronicle(Ontario). December 2,2009 Wednesday. Final Edition.
This article is about the film "Food Inc." It was revealed that although the average American supermarket contains about 47,000 products, most of them come from the same source--a handful of multinational corporations. The companiew keep the farmers under their control because of the debt. The reason why giant companies force farmers to over-produce the versatile crop is that can be converted into countless products. Cheap grain drives down the price of meat. Cows are not designed by evolution to eat corn; they're disigned to eat grass. Funding and regulations regarding food processing were drastically reduced, and the FDA began relying on self-policing. All factors have resulted in widespread E.coli in spinach, tainted meat, and numerous other health hazards.
Leslie Reed. "Country OF Origin Rules Begin Safety isn't goal of labels Standards are the same for all food, but many will look for "USA." Why now and how much will it cost? New food labels." Omaha World-Herald(Nebraska). September 30, 2008 Tuesday. Iowa; Nebraska Editions.
According to this article, it is about the typical U.S. supermarket contains a cornucopia of produce from around the world. After E.coli, mad cow disease and other food scares of recent years, people want to know where meat and poultry which they eat comes from, and they also want to know theses things are as safety as they can be. But USDA officials say the new labels are no guarantee of food quality. Both imported and domestic food will continue to be subject to existing food safety standards. USDA regulations take effect requiring stores labels for meat and produce to include the country wherethe product originated.
Ben Steelman. " 'Food, Inc.' is sales pitch, disguised." Star-News(Wilmington, NC). July 16, 2009 Thursday. First Edition.
According to the article, the author talk about his thoughts about the fiml "Food, Inc." What it's selling in the doctrine of the "local food" movement. Both Pollan and Schlosser appear in this film, their argument, basically, is that American corporate agriculture has grown too big for its own good. the corporate giants have taken factory organization as far as it can go, and possibly further. Corn now finds its ways into hundreds of products, it is an extremely efficient system, but it has its problems. It's now far cheaper to live on diet of burgers, chips and sodas than on fresh vegetables and fruits. Americans thus become the epidemic of obesity and diabetes. Also, the massive quantities of antibiotics being pumped into overcrowded livestock has meant that several nasty bacteria have been bred with an immunity to human drugs--the ordinarily harmeless digestive bug which is called E.coli.
In this article, it is about Cargill, which is one of the nation's most prominent meatpacking companies, is positioning itself to test a vaccine meant tto protect the meat-eating public from the potentially deadly E.coli which is called Cargill Meat Solutions. It is could be regarded as one of the most ambitious efforts to solve meat safety problems. This initiative can be expected to command a lot of attention, which leads Nebraska in red-meat processing. Actually, the reality of meatpacking is that almost all of the E.coli problems are with ground beef, and the ground beef emerging from plants is typically as anonymous and scattered in its origins as corn or soybeans.
Cathy Pelletier. "Dream presents food Inc." Dunnville Chronicle(Ontario). December 2,2009 Wednesday. Final Edition.
This article is about the film "Food Inc." It was revealed that although the average American supermarket contains about 47,000 products, most of them come from the same source--a handful of multinational corporations. The companiew keep the farmers under their control because of the debt. The reason why giant companies force farmers to over-produce the versatile crop is that can be converted into countless products. Cheap grain drives down the price of meat. Cows are not designed by evolution to eat corn; they're disigned to eat grass. Funding and regulations regarding food processing were drastically reduced, and the FDA began relying on self-policing. All factors have resulted in widespread E.coli in spinach, tainted meat, and numerous other health hazards.
Leslie Reed. "Country OF Origin Rules Begin Safety isn't goal of labels Standards are the same for all food, but many will look for "USA." Why now and how much will it cost? New food labels." Omaha World-Herald(Nebraska). September 30, 2008 Tuesday. Iowa; Nebraska Editions.
According to this article, it is about the typical U.S. supermarket contains a cornucopia of produce from around the world. After E.coli, mad cow disease and other food scares of recent years, people want to know where meat and poultry which they eat comes from, and they also want to know theses things are as safety as they can be. But USDA officials say the new labels are no guarantee of food quality. Both imported and domestic food will continue to be subject to existing food safety standards. USDA regulations take effect requiring stores labels for meat and produce to include the country wherethe product originated.
Ben Steelman. " 'Food, Inc.' is sales pitch, disguised." Star-News(Wilmington, NC). July 16, 2009 Thursday. First Edition.
According to the article, the author talk about his thoughts about the fiml "Food, Inc." What it's selling in the doctrine of the "local food" movement. Both Pollan and Schlosser appear in this film, their argument, basically, is that American corporate agriculture has grown too big for its own good. the corporate giants have taken factory organization as far as it can go, and possibly further. Corn now finds its ways into hundreds of products, it is an extremely efficient system, but it has its problems. It's now far cheaper to live on diet of burgers, chips and sodas than on fresh vegetables and fruits. Americans thus become the epidemic of obesity and diabetes. Also, the massive quantities of antibiotics being pumped into overcrowded livestock has meant that several nasty bacteria have been bred with an immunity to human drugs--the ordinarily harmeless digestive bug which is called E.coli.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Fast Food Advertising Should Be Banned in Schools
Today a lot of children are targeted by many commercial companies. The kid customers have become a huge consumption group in a lot of commercial areas, especially fast food companies. These corporations try to infiltrate teen cultures and find out what appeals to teenager in order to market their products more successful. For instance, some fast food companies have aimed schoolchildren, and they even advertise in public schools. Fast food can obviously cause obesity, so the government and schools should not allow fast food companies to advertise in public schools.
Fast food companies have aimed schoolchildren because they have become a huge consumption group in their commercial areas. Fast food companies spend “over $33 billion per year only in the US” to advertise their products that could be classified as junk food. “The US food system is the second largest advertiser in the American economy (the first being the automotive industry) and is a leading buyer of television, newspaper, magazine, billboard, and radio advertisements.” These corporations spend these so much money on advertising because the balances they make are much more than they spend. These junk foods are children’s favorite, and they may get these foods a lot every day. “The heavy marketing directed towards youth, especially young children, appears to be driven largely by the desire to develop and build brand awareness/recognition, brand preference and brand loyalty. Marketers believe that brand preference begins before purchase behavior does.” In fact McDonald's, for many years, has focused its marketing strategy on kids in an effort to create “customers for life.” Most American children eat at McDonald’s at least once a month, some of them even eat them once a week. Fast food companies try to use advertising in order to encourage children to buy more their products, even though they know that their products may cause obesity, they still claim their foods are not unhealthy.
Today with the rise in obesity widely in the world, especially in the U.S., many doctors and scientists are beginning to question whether fast food can cause obesity. Actually, fast food has harmful effects for people’s health. “The regular consumption of junk food is the leading factor in obesity and excess weight.” Fast food causes obesity by increasing amount of saturated fats and calories, they are packed with high amount of sugars, carbohydrates, and oils. Even small amount fast food can increase calories intake considerably. Children are loyal consumers of fast food, this is the reason the obesity rates is increasing rapidly in teenagers. While consuming fast foods, children may get tempted to have extra cheese and soda either. These food and drinks increase the risk of obesity greatly. Without knowing all these disadvantages of fast food, children consume a lot of calories. However, people who consume fast foods are less likely to eat healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, and milk. This change in eating habits can easily lead to obesity. On the other hand, children consume the new coming food by advertisements, and that is the reason billions of dollars are spent to advertise fast food every year. These advertisements subconsciously encourage children to indulge in high calorie foods. “Consumption of soft drinks containing sugar has been linked to weight gain and an increased risk for development of type 2 diabetes.” Not only the type 2 diabetes, “Studies have revealed that obese people have twice the rate of chronic health problems as people of normal weight. This includes a 100% greater chance of developing Type 2 diabetes, 50% increased likelihood of developing heart disease. Obese men are nearly 90% more likely to get colon cancer.” Therefore, the fast food advertising should be banned in public schools because it would decrease the consumption of fast food.
Public schools should not promote any particular product or service, and should not be used as a way of media for commercial activities because schools are sacred places for education. Schools play a significant role in providing food to children and in shaping children’s acquisition of life time dietary habits. Advertising in schools has become big business. “The explosion in children’s advertising occurred during the 1980.” (Schlossor, 42) In the other words, commercial activities in schools have become increasingly common over the past decade. Schools should provide a neutral and impartial environment to educate students in a manner that allow them to make correct choices, even for their future lives. Students have to realize that education is not only science, math and languages, it also includes how to make correct choices of daily life in the future. “It’s our responsibility to make it clear that schools are here to serve children, not commercial interests.” (Schlosser, 55) Schools are institutions of education, not just a tool of persuasion. Fast food companies should not exploit schools to advantage for their profits, it is an unethical and improper business practice.
The government should make any policies to limit advertising and commercial activity in public schools because it can protect students from the collection of personal information from the advertising. Government should regulate to protect schoolchildren from predatory companies like McDonald’s and Burger King, parents need to be vigilant about marketing advertising aimed at children. There is no adult that these commercial advertising would have continued, and these fast food companies cannot pledge to stop advertising in public schools. Those fast food companies try many ploys to attack children to buy their products, so both parents and children should pay more attention to avoid walking into these commercial traps. The government should play a role to stop fast food advertising and selling in schools, it’s government’s duty to protect children’s health.
In conclusion, fast food facts are numerous, and the negative effect of junk food on health and wellbeing is undeniable. Fast food diet is the major reason to cause diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Any commercial activities like advertising and selling fast food in schools are bad for these schoolchildren’s health. The government and schools should not allow fast food advertising in schools, it’s time to stop this activity.
Work cited page:
Eric Schlosser, “ ‘Your Trusted Friend’ Fast Food Nation: the Dark Side of the All-American Meal.” Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.31-58. Book.
Mary Story, Simone French, “Food Advertising and Marketing Directed at Children and Adolescents in the US.” The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. Division of Epidemiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN USA. Web.
Fast food companies have aimed schoolchildren because they have become a huge consumption group in their commercial areas. Fast food companies spend “over $33 billion per year only in the US” to advertise their products that could be classified as junk food. “The US food system is the second largest advertiser in the American economy (the first being the automotive industry) and is a leading buyer of television, newspaper, magazine, billboard, and radio advertisements.” These corporations spend these so much money on advertising because the balances they make are much more than they spend. These junk foods are children’s favorite, and they may get these foods a lot every day. “The heavy marketing directed towards youth, especially young children, appears to be driven largely by the desire to develop and build brand awareness/recognition, brand preference and brand loyalty. Marketers believe that brand preference begins before purchase behavior does.” In fact McDonald's, for many years, has focused its marketing strategy on kids in an effort to create “customers for life.” Most American children eat at McDonald’s at least once a month, some of them even eat them once a week. Fast food companies try to use advertising in order to encourage children to buy more their products, even though they know that their products may cause obesity, they still claim their foods are not unhealthy.
Today with the rise in obesity widely in the world, especially in the U.S., many doctors and scientists are beginning to question whether fast food can cause obesity. Actually, fast food has harmful effects for people’s health. “The regular consumption of junk food is the leading factor in obesity and excess weight.” Fast food causes obesity by increasing amount of saturated fats and calories, they are packed with high amount of sugars, carbohydrates, and oils. Even small amount fast food can increase calories intake considerably. Children are loyal consumers of fast food, this is the reason the obesity rates is increasing rapidly in teenagers. While consuming fast foods, children may get tempted to have extra cheese and soda either. These food and drinks increase the risk of obesity greatly. Without knowing all these disadvantages of fast food, children consume a lot of calories. However, people who consume fast foods are less likely to eat healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, and milk. This change in eating habits can easily lead to obesity. On the other hand, children consume the new coming food by advertisements, and that is the reason billions of dollars are spent to advertise fast food every year. These advertisements subconsciously encourage children to indulge in high calorie foods. “Consumption of soft drinks containing sugar has been linked to weight gain and an increased risk for development of type 2 diabetes.” Not only the type 2 diabetes, “Studies have revealed that obese people have twice the rate of chronic health problems as people of normal weight. This includes a 100% greater chance of developing Type 2 diabetes, 50% increased likelihood of developing heart disease. Obese men are nearly 90% more likely to get colon cancer.” Therefore, the fast food advertising should be banned in public schools because it would decrease the consumption of fast food.
Public schools should not promote any particular product or service, and should not be used as a way of media for commercial activities because schools are sacred places for education. Schools play a significant role in providing food to children and in shaping children’s acquisition of life time dietary habits. Advertising in schools has become big business. “The explosion in children’s advertising occurred during the 1980.” (Schlossor, 42) In the other words, commercial activities in schools have become increasingly common over the past decade. Schools should provide a neutral and impartial environment to educate students in a manner that allow them to make correct choices, even for their future lives. Students have to realize that education is not only science, math and languages, it also includes how to make correct choices of daily life in the future. “It’s our responsibility to make it clear that schools are here to serve children, not commercial interests.” (Schlosser, 55) Schools are institutions of education, not just a tool of persuasion. Fast food companies should not exploit schools to advantage for their profits, it is an unethical and improper business practice.
The government should make any policies to limit advertising and commercial activity in public schools because it can protect students from the collection of personal information from the advertising. Government should regulate to protect schoolchildren from predatory companies like McDonald’s and Burger King, parents need to be vigilant about marketing advertising aimed at children. There is no adult that these commercial advertising would have continued, and these fast food companies cannot pledge to stop advertising in public schools. Those fast food companies try many ploys to attack children to buy their products, so both parents and children should pay more attention to avoid walking into these commercial traps. The government should play a role to stop fast food advertising and selling in schools, it’s government’s duty to protect children’s health.
In conclusion, fast food facts are numerous, and the negative effect of junk food on health and wellbeing is undeniable. Fast food diet is the major reason to cause diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Any commercial activities like advertising and selling fast food in schools are bad for these schoolchildren’s health. The government and schools should not allow fast food advertising in schools, it’s time to stop this activity.
Work cited page:
Eric Schlosser, “ ‘Your Trusted Friend’ Fast Food Nation: the Dark Side of the All-American Meal.” Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.31-58. Book.
Mary Story, Simone French, “Food Advertising and Marketing Directed at Children and Adolescents in the US.” The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. Division of Epidemiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN USA. Web.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Persuasive Essay #1 Outline and Two Paragraphs
Outline
Thesis Statement: Fast food can obviously cause obesity, so government and schools should not allow fast food companies to advertise in public schools.
Body Paragraph 1: Fast food companies try to use advertising in order to encourage children to buy more their products, even though they know that their products may cause obesity, they still claim their foods are not unhealthy.
Body Paragraph 2: Public schools should not promote any particular product or service, and should not be used as a way of media for commercial activities because schools are sacred places for education.
Body Paragraph 3: The government should make any policies to limit advertising and commercial activity in public schools because it can protect students from the collection of personal information from the advertising.
Two Body Paragraphs:
Public schools should not promote any particular product or service, and should not be used as a way of media for commercial activities because schools are sacred places for education. Schools play a significant role in providing food to children and in shaping children’s acquisition of life time dietary habits. Advertising in schools has become big business. “The explosion in children’s advertising occurred during the 1980.” (Schlossor, 42) In the other words, commercial activities in schools have become increasingly common over the past decade. Schools should provide a neutral and impartial environment to educate students in a manner that allow them to make correct choices, even for their future lives. Students have to realize that education is not only science, math and languages, it also includes how to make correct choices of daily life in the future. “It’s our responsibility to make it clear that schools are here to serve children, not commercial interests.” (Schlosser, 55) Schools are institutions of education, not just a tool of persuasion. Fast food companies should not exploit schools to advantage for their profit, it is an unethical and improper business practice.
Fast food companies try to use advertising in order to encourage children to buy more their products, even though they know that their products may cause obesity, they still claim their foods are not unhealthy. Does fast food cause obesity? Today with the rise in obesity widely in the world, especially in the U.S., many doctors and scientists are beginning to question whether fast food can cause obesity. Fast food causes obesity by increasing amount of saturated fats and calories, they are packed with high amount of sugars, carbohydrates, and oils. Even small amount fast food can increase calories intake considerably. Children are loyal consumers of fast food, this is the reason the obesity rates is increasing rapidly in teenagers. While consuming fast foods, children may get tempted to have extra cheese and soda either. These food and drinks increase the risk of obesity greatly. Without knowing all these disadvantages of fast food, children consume a lot of calories. However, people who consume fast foods are less likely to eat healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, and milk. This change in eating habits can easily lead to obesity. On the other hand, children consume the new coming food by advertisements, and that is the reason billions of dollars are spent to advertise fast food every year. These advertisements subconsciously encourage children to indulge in high calorie foods. Therefore, the fast food advertising should be banned in public schools because it would decrease the consumption of fast food.
Thesis Statement: Fast food can obviously cause obesity, so government and schools should not allow fast food companies to advertise in public schools.
Body Paragraph 1: Fast food companies try to use advertising in order to encourage children to buy more their products, even though they know that their products may cause obesity, they still claim their foods are not unhealthy.
Body Paragraph 2: Public schools should not promote any particular product or service, and should not be used as a way of media for commercial activities because schools are sacred places for education.
Body Paragraph 3: The government should make any policies to limit advertising and commercial activity in public schools because it can protect students from the collection of personal information from the advertising.
Two Body Paragraphs:
Public schools should not promote any particular product or service, and should not be used as a way of media for commercial activities because schools are sacred places for education. Schools play a significant role in providing food to children and in shaping children’s acquisition of life time dietary habits. Advertising in schools has become big business. “The explosion in children’s advertising occurred during the 1980.” (Schlossor, 42) In the other words, commercial activities in schools have become increasingly common over the past decade. Schools should provide a neutral and impartial environment to educate students in a manner that allow them to make correct choices, even for their future lives. Students have to realize that education is not only science, math and languages, it also includes how to make correct choices of daily life in the future. “It’s our responsibility to make it clear that schools are here to serve children, not commercial interests.” (Schlosser, 55) Schools are institutions of education, not just a tool of persuasion. Fast food companies should not exploit schools to advantage for their profit, it is an unethical and improper business practice.
Fast food companies try to use advertising in order to encourage children to buy more their products, even though they know that their products may cause obesity, they still claim their foods are not unhealthy. Does fast food cause obesity? Today with the rise in obesity widely in the world, especially in the U.S., many doctors and scientists are beginning to question whether fast food can cause obesity. Fast food causes obesity by increasing amount of saturated fats and calories, they are packed with high amount of sugars, carbohydrates, and oils. Even small amount fast food can increase calories intake considerably. Children are loyal consumers of fast food, this is the reason the obesity rates is increasing rapidly in teenagers. While consuming fast foods, children may get tempted to have extra cheese and soda either. These food and drinks increase the risk of obesity greatly. Without knowing all these disadvantages of fast food, children consume a lot of calories. However, people who consume fast foods are less likely to eat healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, and milk. This change in eating habits can easily lead to obesity. On the other hand, children consume the new coming food by advertisements, and that is the reason billions of dollars are spent to advertise fast food every year. These advertisements subconsciously encourage children to indulge in high calorie foods. Therefore, the fast food advertising should be banned in public schools because it would decrease the consumption of fast food.
Monday, April 19, 2010
MLA Annotated Bibliography on the Food System and Disease
Dominique Patton, "Poultry Workers may Spread Antibiotic-Resistant E.coli." Breaking News on Food Processing & Packiaging, Food Productiondaily, Web. 02 Jan. 2008
This article is about the drug-resistant bacteria are common in the industrial environment, and these kinds of bacteria such as E.coli are accuring among industrial poultry workers at a high level, and a new study was to show this exposure. Occupational exposure to E.coli maby be an important route of entry which is from industrial meat processing to the community.
"Slautherhouses and processing." The Issues. Serving Up Healthy Food Choices. Sustainabletable.org, Web. September, 2009
In this article, the author mentions that the meat industry is consolidated and dominated by a few huge corporations, and this consolidation is still increasing in the U.S. The meat can be contaminated during the industrial meat processing, the the food safety cannot be pretty assured. Several dangerous elements may come into the food during the process. In order to ensure the meat safety, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) stringently controls and manages all meat production for commercial sale in the U.S.
Michael Pollan, "The Vegetable-Industrial Complex." The New York Times Magazine. October 15, 2006
Pollan states in his article is about the industrial farming and processing method have been "industrialized and centralized over the last few decades," and both of them are putting our health at peril. He also makes a case for eating local because we want to support farmers in our communities and eat seasonal fresh food. This article relates to the current industrial food issue.
William Marler. "William Marler Calls on Congress to Act to Protect Nation's Food Supply." Bussiness Wire, Web. July 28, 2008
In this article, the author states that the present E.coli O157:H7 outbreak becomes more dangerous, and the spread of E.coli contaminates beef across the country. During the past five years, E.coli illnesses from fresh produce. The public harm will be immeasurable in both lives damaged and businesses lost. The author also lists some his suggestions for where congress should focus its efforts.
Alex Avery. "Food Wars" National Review, Web. January 8, 2007
According to this article, Avery states that natural nasties like E.coli woule vanish from our food supply. Harmful bacteria are rampant in meatpacking, more regulations and farm inspections would face to recent E.coli outbreaks. The reason for the E.coli outbreaks is the increased popularity of pre-cut salad greens. There is noany guarantee about E.coli is not in any bag and any particular bag will be safe. Harmful bacteria literally surround us.
This article is about the drug-resistant bacteria are common in the industrial environment, and these kinds of bacteria such as E.coli are accuring among industrial poultry workers at a high level, and a new study was to show this exposure. Occupational exposure to E.coli maby be an important route of entry which is from industrial meat processing to the community.
"Slautherhouses and processing." The Issues. Serving Up Healthy Food Choices. Sustainabletable.org, Web. September, 2009
In this article, the author mentions that the meat industry is consolidated and dominated by a few huge corporations, and this consolidation is still increasing in the U.S. The meat can be contaminated during the industrial meat processing, the the food safety cannot be pretty assured. Several dangerous elements may come into the food during the process. In order to ensure the meat safety, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) stringently controls and manages all meat production for commercial sale in the U.S.
Michael Pollan, "The Vegetable-Industrial Complex." The New York Times Magazine. October 15, 2006
Pollan states in his article is about the industrial farming and processing method have been "industrialized and centralized over the last few decades," and both of them are putting our health at peril. He also makes a case for eating local because we want to support farmers in our communities and eat seasonal fresh food. This article relates to the current industrial food issue.
William Marler. "William Marler Calls on Congress to Act to Protect Nation's Food Supply." Bussiness Wire, Web. July 28, 2008
In this article, the author states that the present E.coli O157:H7 outbreak becomes more dangerous, and the spread of E.coli contaminates beef across the country. During the past five years, E.coli illnesses from fresh produce. The public harm will be immeasurable in both lives damaged and businesses lost. The author also lists some his suggestions for where congress should focus its efforts.
Alex Avery. "Food Wars" National Review, Web. January 8, 2007
According to this article, Avery states that natural nasties like E.coli woule vanish from our food supply. Harmful bacteria are rampant in meatpacking, more regulations and farm inspections would face to recent E.coli outbreaks. The reason for the E.coli outbreaks is the increased popularity of pre-cut salad greens. There is noany guarantee about E.coli is not in any bag and any particular bag will be safe. Harmful bacteria literally surround us.
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