In conclusion...

What has this blog boiled down too?

Initially, I wanted to make it about how corporate America has taken food away from us, and instead left us with processed food, genetically modified organisms, and Twinkies. But in the reality of it all, it was not about how the corporate giant has demolished the local farm; but, it was about how food has changed in an ever changing world.

New Blog Title: The Progression of Food

    Summarizing briefly, this blog has been created in order to 1) encourage readers to think more thoroughly about what they eat, 2) give the facts about food, 3) provide a sense of direction for future production and consumption. My main topics for the blog ended up being additives in food/ and misinformed consumers.   

     Considering additives in foods, I wanted to give readers a reason to look at the nutrition label before buying or eating.  Food coloring, trans-fat, and sugar are just some of the many ingredients/ occurrences in “bad” food.  These are not necessary ingredients.  They are the byproducts of a nation that is used to getting what they demand.

     Misled or misinformed consumers could be one of the biggest draw backs to having a nation driven by profit oriented corporations. Most people are not aware of what their diets should consist of, making portion control, food selection, and food preparation a bottleneck of a healthy nation.  Milk, corn, and salads can be some of the most deceiving foods that are preached to support a healthy diet.  In reality, these are some of the most harmful ingredients in food for both the waistline and the environment.  

     The most interesting topic that i discovered was “uncertainty.” As a consumer, I believed that there was always an answer to how to stay healthy. Unfortunately, most of the time there is no crystal clear answer to the problems our nation is facing with health.  We are catching up though.  Each decade we find that what we were eating in the previous one was not as beneficial as we thought.  We are finding that fish farms, organic produce, and ready-made meals are not as valuable or destructive as we thought.

    In the future, I can guarantee a push to a new way of thinking.  It has happened continuously since the beginning of industrialization and will carry on.  Locavore, is a brand new term used for a person who eats locally. We will see an increase in words to describe consumers. We will see a new food pyramid with more specific guidelines, because as of today, I could be eating 2.5 cups of potatoes and 2 cups of bananas and be getting my recommended daily value of fruits and vegetables…but definitely more tubby.  Health and food will continue gaining momentum as our population increases,  as heart disease maintains its place at #1 for deaths in America,  and as our standard of living fluctuates.

    There is no clear answer to our nation's diet problems or environmental status, but we do have the ability to make changes to take us away from these issues.