Week 1 Food Blog

In class this week we watched Food Inc. to get a quick overview of the history, politics, and economics of the current state of America’s food and agricultural practices. Likewise, readings for this week’s discussion showed me how the roles of big business, the government, farmers, and the consumer base affect the way food is grown. Technological advances have driven food production to highs that it has never met in history. The Green Revolution introduced the fertilizers, pesticides, machinery organisms that has allowed America to be able to feed the entire planet. But these advances have put money into the pockets of corporations but have come with serious implications for the public. One that I was surprised to learn was the huge influence big business has on food, such as how McDonald’s controls beef production through their consumption patterns. Also, heavy use of pesticides and fertilizers pollute the environment and affect crops. Another is how genetically modified organisms have taken over corn, soy, and canola production, foods that have been heavily subsidized by the U.S. to be used as main ingredients for a wide array of food products today, foods that are not always healthy or nutritional and cause Americans to suffer from disease such as diabetes. The article “Genetically Modified Food: Food Fights Amongst Adults” noted that genetically modified foods are not generally labeled either, leaving the public out of the loop on how their food is being processed. Despite the many progresses of food and agriculture in the U.S., there needs to be a revolution in how we create policy for the production and marketing of our food to reduce the costs it induces upon the public, and I think the least we can do it better educate the public on how our food is made and let them know the true ingredients on the label.