the health of our nation and the environment
Some environmental facts:
After energy production livestock is the second biggest contributor of greenhouse gases
- cows produce methane
- livestock creates land segregation
- 1/2 of antibiotics in America are given to animals
- 10,000,000,000 animals a year a produced in the United States
Now let's define agribusiness:
Agribusiness:a generic term for the various businesses involved in food production
Now wont it be comforting to know that 1/2 people who developed the food pyramid are apart of agribusiness?
We've covered what the production and manufacturing of food can do to our environment
What can it do to the people consuming it at these recommended portions?
-heart disease
-stroke
-some cancers
So what do we do?
Some specialists have advised we go back to eating locally.
Local farms with enough production to sustain the surrounding communities.
HOWEVER
there are many things stopping this from happening:
- demand has changed
- the desire for low cost foods
- demand for produce year round
- location and environmental barriers
In reality, when we take away the mass production of food, we endanger those in developing nations of food deprivation and starvation. These are people who would have to spend their days finding food, instead of working or going to school.
What is the solution?
I don't know.
But what do you think?
Jess, I'm really glad you presented both sides of the argument and you did it well too. I find it alarming that some of the "healthy" food I put in my body has been genetically altered to benefit production purposes. I'd like to think that as our technology and sciences improve over time, our ability to reproduce food without negative effects would also improve. You're spot on in saying that local farms can't be the solution. As a country we continually move forward in industrialization which doesn't leave much room for growth in agriculture as we would like it. Instead, like you mentioned, agribusiness is taking its place. I don't know what the solution is either when I focus on the issue at large. However, when I focus on myself I find a solution more manageable. On a personal level, I plan on eating a "balanced diet" (as suggested by those influenced by agribusiness unfortunately) as well as maintaining a healthy level of exercise. Hopefully, that will be enough to prolong my life despite the chemicals I consume with today's food items. I don't want to be ignorant on the matter but my hope is that through awareness of the situation, more people would focus on what their eating and the market would auto-correct itself. Movies like Food Inc. and The Future of Food have done an excellent job at exposing the food industry for what it is. But so far, spreading awareness is the only solution to this problem that I see in the near future.
ReplyDeleteYes! Thanks for your comment Justin. I know that eating a balanced diet can be hard for some people who do not know what balanced means...
ReplyDeleteBut the future of what our food industry is definitely a big question, but we cannot sustain our current practices without seeing major issues.