Exam 1 Assignmnet: New York Times Magazine - The Food Issue

FOOD SYSTEMS AND EMERGING MARKETS EXAM 1ByInstitution
Food Systems and Emerging Markets Exam 1
The industrial revolution and the desire to profit from the growing population led to mechanization and subsequent large-scale production of crops and animals. However, unethical practices mar the system and leads to consequences that are dangerous to the human population but cunningly concealed in the corporate practice. This study examines the food system, the legal implications of federal practices, and the alternatives that may be useful.
* Food Systems
Michael Pollan offers an avid description of the evolution of food systems since the beginning of the 19th Century. Food systems refer to the processes and activities associated with the movement of food from the farm to the consumers’ table. They include cultivation, harvesting, storage, processing, marketing, distribution, purchasing, and branding among other activities. In Omnivore’s Dilemma, the author posits that the eating disorder experienced by the American society is because of wrong information perpetuated by nutritionals over the years. It is funny how the nation has a great assortment of foods that the public could freely choose from but still finds difficulty on what to eat at a particular time.
This eating disorder, according to the author, presents the omnivore’s dilemma. The author states that other animals with specific dietary requirements are not worried with what to eat, but man and other omnivores struggle with food choices due to the large varieties at our disposal. The demand for food has led to commercialization of the production, processing and selling of food, with the main aim of satisfying the increasing appetite of the rapidly growing population. Commercial production of crops and animals is on a large scale in the United States., combined with even larger factories specialized at different processing stages of the final product.
In his analysis, Mike Pollan identifies that the large-scale production of agricultural products has a very great influence on the eating behaviors in the country. Some large firms such as the Rosendale Dairy in Wisconsin that produces approximately a million gallons of milk per year, and Fair Oaks Farms producing 90,000 piglets per year and 30,000 calves per year, represent the commercialized nature of the American agriculture that struggles to satisfy the growing populations’ demand. In this food system are firms that process the various farm output into other products such as cheese, butter, French fries, buggers, beer, bread and corn syrup among others.
The author provides a worrying trend in the agricultural sector which heavily depends on the oil industry for fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, fuel for farm machines and other products developed using petroleum that find their use in the agricultural sector. The heavy use of such unhealthy products causes soil and water pollution, and may travel to the consumer through the unhealthy products. Although America’s agricultural lands are constantly producing healthy foodstuff such as vegetables, fruits, corn, and animal meat; the population highly consumes processed foods while the healthy foodstuffs come at very high prices. The food system depends more on generating profits without caring about the general health outcome of the American population.
Large stores like Costco that sell processed foods and farm produce to the general population characterize the food system. Such stores represent the final point of the production, processing and marketing journey of foodstuffs from the farms. However, according to Michael Pollan, several cultures and nutritionals dictate the eating behavior of the population, which may not be knowledgeable on the healthy foods they are supposed to eat. The population is suffering from diseases such as diabetes and obesity, which mainly come from eating processed foods full of carbohydrates and fats. It is therefore important to refine the food system to ensure the quest for profitability does not surpass the need to have a healthy and productive population.
* Political Perspective in Operation of Food Systems
The development of commercial farms in the United States began after the Great Depression and the onset of the Second World War. Before this time, the American farms were mainly family farms meant for subsistence output and for light commercial activities. According to Imhoff, these...