The history of food is as old as history itself. Human life has been dependent on food in every stage of life. Nonetheless, the function of food has changed vastly throughout time to meet the needs of the people living in that era. Humans have undergone a transformation from relying on hunting and gathering to relying on industrial agriculture. Because of the state that we are in right now, society is heading into a capricious direction. We cannot predict the future state of food unless we make drastic changes as soon as possible.
For thousands of years, humans were hunter gatherers. They thrived because they utilized many resources lightly rather than depending on just a few resources. This made sure there was an abundance of all resources. Hunter gatherers would adapt to every climate and condition that they faced, as well as enjoying a diverse diet. Gender roles were about equal as women did most of the foraging and men did most of the hunting. Since they were constantly on the move, hunter gatherers could not develop an economic specialization. (Washington State University)
Around 10,000 years ago, agriculture emerged around river valleys, altering society for years to come. According to Richard Heinberg, a centuries long food crisis triggered by the over-hunting of mega fauna, which are large animals living in a certain period or area, led to the development of agriculture. This caused humans to settle down in communities and use the resources just in that vicinity, as well as domesticating animals and plants. Agriculture helped support larger and more sedentary populations by increasing food per unit of land productivity. Moreover, domesticated animals were being raised by humans and also assisted the growing of the field crops.
As beneficial as it was, agriculture entailed many consequences to society. Heinberg’s ‘50 million Farmers,’ manifested these changes.
“Plowing fields was men’s work; women were forced to stay at home and
lost social power. Larger seasonal surpluses required management as well
as protection from raiders; full-time managers and specialists in violence proliferated as a result. Societies became multi-layered: wealthy ruling
classes sat atop an economic pyramid that came to include scribes, soldiers, and
religious functionaries, and that was supported at its base by the vastly more numerous peasants…”
Hence, Sexism, social stratification and warfare resulted from agriculture. Obviously, agriculture was meant to be for the good of all people, but the conditions inherent with agriculture caused social problems that still exist today.
The food system remained this way for a long time without many major changes. The only major changes in agriculture leading up to the 20th century were to put more land into production and more effective tools of farming. Finally, the beginning of the 20th century brought cheap fossil fuel energy and high tech farm machinery. By the time World War 2 was over, pesticides and fertilizers were introduced. The United States began having an industrial food system and created an agriculture policy that began favoring larger farms and the exportation of U.S. products.
Today, agriculture accounts for about 17 percent of the U.S. annual energy budget and large farms are growing so much of the same crops that the prices of the crops have gone so low. It is without question that there is enough food in this world and that there are places to buy food at such low prices. The problem is that food isn’t being divided equally to everyone. According to chapter 6 of Omnivore’s Dilemma, “the number of people suffering from overnutrition—a billion—had officially surpassed the number suffering from malnutrition—800 million”. This is largely due to the fact that many people are eating too much food high in calories and fat. Obesity and heart related diseases have become a huge health issue in the United States, whereas, starvation and natural diseases have become the biggest health issues in 3rd world countries.
As we prepare for the future, we have to cope with the problems that we have created ourselves by constructing an industrial civilization. We have used way too much fossil fuel and natural resources. In addition, our attempts to create biofuels such as ethanol are not enough. Furthermore, we have destroyed habitats and the soil to grow food. It is imperative to modify the industrial food system before our civilization collapses. How do we address this problem? We look at a neighbor that recently had a similar fate and was able to survive.
In the early 1990’s when the Soviet Union collapsed, Cuba lost its sources of cheap oil. The leaders had to devise ways to continue agriculture. Cuba broke up large, government owned farms, which are similar to the ones in the United States, and introduced small private farms and farmer markets. Urban gardens were encouraged and were a good way to ensure availability and accessibility to people living in cities. Universities quickly added courses on agronomy and many people were encouraged to move to the countryside. Permaculture and Biointensive farming were other techniques used. All of these farming methods required minimal energy.
The United States can follow this example by encouraging various farming methods, educating people about the crisis that we are in and how we can ameliorate our situation. It is critical for this country that we abandon large corporate farms, cheap commodities and fast food. Currently, only 1% of Americans are involved with farming. It is imperative that at least 25% of Americans engage in small farming methods and that these farmers are supported by the government so that they can grow fruits and vegetables, as well as raising meat and poultry. The soil will slowly replenish and rejuvenate but it is our responsibility to put aside millions of acres of land so that it can be enriched. Once we minimize the use of fossil fuel, the supply will slowly be able to increase again. The federal government needs to pass many laws to make all of this possible.
In conclusion, the food systems in our society are constantly changing and whatever we do to make sure there is enough food for ourselves; we must take care of the resources of the land because the resources are limited. It is important to change the current industrial food system for our society to survive.
Monday, June 25, 2007
CULTURE OF FOOD
Some people say that food in our culture is one aspect of a larger nightmare. This essay mostly agrees with this statement. Our world today has become an Industrial Civilization where industry is the source of every aspect of production in society, including food. Furthermore, Corporations set standards for what to eat and convince people to eat at fast food restaurants and to purchase readymade food from supermarkets because it is cheaper. The federal government strongly supports this way of life by buttressing the industries with benefits and subsidies. However, many people maintain traditions such as vegetarianism, kosher dietary laws and ethnic traditions.
Industrial civilization is civilization based on machinery and fossil fuels, which includes natural gas, coal and oil. Products of industrial civilization are mass produced in very large factories. Fast, mass production ensures large profits for corporations, which allows them to reduce the prices for the products, which subsequently attracts even more consumers. The government supports this practice because these corporations greatly help the economy and the GDP (gross domestic product). It can also be argued that unemployment is alleviated because many people are required to keep the factories going. Of course, there are many consequences of working in a factory such as unsanitary conditions, dangerous machinery and a low pay
Fossil fuels are quickly being used up by corporations and this is poses an important dilemma for the world. Oil is used for various purposes such as manufacturing products, the machinery itself, the production of food, and as gasoline for vehicles. The dilemma is that we are approaching or have passed peak oil. The theory of peak oil is that the extraction of oil will meet its maximum point, at the time where half of the oil will be exhausted. The United States reached peak oil in the 1970’s, and has since imported oil from all around the world. We are devouring our oil reserves and this has contributed to worldwide peak oil and record gasoline prices.
Not having enough natural resources such as oil is a scary thought, yet there are more things to worry about. Through immense advertising and the tens of thousands of fast food locations across the United States, the fast food industry has soared over the past few decades. Some of the most profitable public and private corporations today are fast food corporations, or prepare food for fast food corporations. The list includes McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Cargill and ADM. In addition, the people that run the franchisees for the fast food chains, struggle to get money for themselves. This is illustrated in the 4th chapter of Fast Food Nation. “It costs about $100,000 to open a subway restaurant, the lowest investment required by any of the major fast food chains. The annual royalty Subway takes from its franchisees—8 perfect of total revenues—is among the highest.” According to the 7th chapter of Omnivore’s Dilemma, fast food is directly linked to obesity Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Yet, one out of every three children eats fast food every single day. And to note, fast food isn’t only purchased at fast food chains, it can be purchases as readymade, microwaveable food at a supermarket.
Food is one aspect of a larger nightmare, but there are still many people who go against the large corporations by conforming to different ways of eating. For instance, vegetarians refuse to eat the meat, poultry, fish and dairy products, which are mass produced, and kosher dietary laws force some to slow the process of producing in order to follow the laws that are necessary. In addition, many ethnic groups prefer to cook their own food every day and to eat together as a family. This definitely does not support the fast food industry. As for corporations other than food corporations, some car manufacturers are now making Hybrid cars that have much more mileage per gallon. This at least attempts to conserve the use of oil.
Hence, we are living in an industrial civilization where corporations dominate our way of life, accumulate huge profits, and mass produce with the use of fossil fuels and machinery. Food in our culture is one aspect of a larger nightmare, but there is still hope to change this lifestyle.
Industrial civilization is civilization based on machinery and fossil fuels, which includes natural gas, coal and oil. Products of industrial civilization are mass produced in very large factories. Fast, mass production ensures large profits for corporations, which allows them to reduce the prices for the products, which subsequently attracts even more consumers. The government supports this practice because these corporations greatly help the economy and the GDP (gross domestic product). It can also be argued that unemployment is alleviated because many people are required to keep the factories going. Of course, there are many consequences of working in a factory such as unsanitary conditions, dangerous machinery and a low pay
Fossil fuels are quickly being used up by corporations and this is poses an important dilemma for the world. Oil is used for various purposes such as manufacturing products, the machinery itself, the production of food, and as gasoline for vehicles. The dilemma is that we are approaching or have passed peak oil. The theory of peak oil is that the extraction of oil will meet its maximum point, at the time where half of the oil will be exhausted. The United States reached peak oil in the 1970’s, and has since imported oil from all around the world. We are devouring our oil reserves and this has contributed to worldwide peak oil and record gasoline prices.
Not having enough natural resources such as oil is a scary thought, yet there are more things to worry about. Through immense advertising and the tens of thousands of fast food locations across the United States, the fast food industry has soared over the past few decades. Some of the most profitable public and private corporations today are fast food corporations, or prepare food for fast food corporations. The list includes McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Cargill and ADM. In addition, the people that run the franchisees for the fast food chains, struggle to get money for themselves. This is illustrated in the 4th chapter of Fast Food Nation. “It costs about $100,000 to open a subway restaurant, the lowest investment required by any of the major fast food chains. The annual royalty Subway takes from its franchisees—8 perfect of total revenues—is among the highest.” According to the 7th chapter of Omnivore’s Dilemma, fast food is directly linked to obesity Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Yet, one out of every three children eats fast food every single day. And to note, fast food isn’t only purchased at fast food chains, it can be purchases as readymade, microwaveable food at a supermarket.
Food is one aspect of a larger nightmare, but there are still many people who go against the large corporations by conforming to different ways of eating. For instance, vegetarians refuse to eat the meat, poultry, fish and dairy products, which are mass produced, and kosher dietary laws force some to slow the process of producing in order to follow the laws that are necessary. In addition, many ethnic groups prefer to cook their own food every day and to eat together as a family. This definitely does not support the fast food industry. As for corporations other than food corporations, some car manufacturers are now making Hybrid cars that have much more mileage per gallon. This at least attempts to conserve the use of oil.
Hence, we are living in an industrial civilization where corporations dominate our way of life, accumulate huge profits, and mass produce with the use of fossil fuels and machinery. Food in our culture is one aspect of a larger nightmare, but there is still hope to change this lifestyle.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
IFS PAPER
The Industrial Food System (IFS) is the production of animals, fruits, and vegetables, with a focus on productivity and being able to sell the cheapest product, or in other words to produce the highest output at the lowest cost (Wikipedia). Thanks to the IFS, out-of-season fruits and vegetables have appeared in supermarkets all over the world. Meat is now readily available at a low-cost and most Americans eat it for three meals a day. Factory farming and industrial agriculture are responsible for this drop in the price of food, as well as the overall drop in nutritional content of food.
The IFS puts an emphasis on producing/harvesting the most food in the shortest amount of time and for the least amount of money. This “system” appears to be a blessing: it makes food affordable and diverse.
What, if any, will be the cost to the environment and its inhabitants? Some critics of the IFS would argue that its primary problem is being inherently reliant on fossil fuels that have devastating effects on the environment (e. g. global-warming). The IFS negatively impacts the environment in more direct ways than emissions from fossil fuels; overpopulated cattle facilities produce copious amounts of waste that lead to disease and water pollution. Soil, air, and water pollution are also due to the petroleum-based chemicals that factory farming is dependent on. The Union of Concerned Scientists says in Sustainable Agriculture -A New Vision 2001: “All the crop land around you is doused with chemicals: herbicides to control weeds, insecticides to control insects, and fertilizers to stimulate growth.” Synthetic, petroleum based fertilizers and pesticides are implemented routinely in industrial agriculture and produce waste that is hazardous to humans and the environment.
The reliance on synthetic chemicals in order to produce efficient and cheap fruits and vegetables is what keeps prices low and at a steady flow into supermarkets. It is especially important in this day and age to know and understand the industrial system that more or less feeds us everyday. An ever growing disconnect between humans and their food exists because of the IFS. No longer are people reliant on their local farms for fruits and vegetables or meat; instead mega-corporations are driving prices lower and lower, so low that the local farmer cannot compete and must eventually sell his or her farm. There is no doubt that the IFS is economically damaging to farmers in the short-tem, but it is in the long-run where humans will learn of the true cost of this cheap and abundant food, produced by the agricultural juggernaut.
The IFS is in its essence an economy based on cheap food. Michael Pollan explains in Omnivore’s Dilemma:
Farmers who get the message that consumer’s only cares about price will themselves only care about yield. This is how a cheap food economy reinforces itself. (Pollan 136)
This means that when cost is the number one concern to consumers, providing cheap food must in turn be the number one priority of farmers and agricultural giants. The “cheap food economy” is what drives farmers and corporations alike to institute chemical practices that are inexpensive, effective, and allow the most amount of food to be grown or produced in the minimal amount of time. All to satisfy the worlds “need” for cheap food.
Certainly, there are those enlightened enough to realize some of the inherent consequences of the IFS, and there are those affluent enough to make a conscious decision to buy organic food from either local farmers or the health food giant that is Whole Foods.
Anyone who has ever ventured into a Whole Foods supermarket has surely seen an abundance of poultry, livestock, fruits and vegetables claiming to be “organic,” “natural,” “cage-free,” and “grass-fed”. This is not because Whole Foods feels some sort of moral obligation to provide the customer with the healthiest and cleanest product but, instead, it is a pure marketing scheme which allows the consumer to believe “…By buying organic he is returning to a utopian past,” but with “…The positive aspects of modernity intact.” This idea has worked quite well considering that Whole Foods has seen a 12 percent rise in sales during the first quarter of 2007 (Gross 5). Through “…farmers and consumers working together…” the organic market has become an $11 billion industry “…Without any help from the government… (And) is now the fastest growing sector of the food economy.” (Pollan 136). During the Vietnam War era, before the modern “boom” in the organic sector of the food market, it was common practice by critics of the military action to farm their own “organic” fruits and vegetables in protest of Dow and Monsanto. Both companies are among the world’s largest producers of pesticides, as well as the manufacturers of Napalm and Agent Orange, which was used to devastate the ecology of Southeast Asia during the 1960s-1970s (Pollan 143). Pollan describes, “…Eating organic…” as a way that the Anti-Vietnam War protesters “…Married the personal to the political”(143). Despite the IFS being based on productivity and quantity, it is also based largely on the idea of Monoculture, or farming one or very few species of fruit or vegetable at a time. A recent 2007 farm bill press conference on C-Span called the monoculture of today’s farms “devastating” to the ecology, but Joel Salatin has managed to accomplish a “Farm of many faces” (Pollan 128). The sustainable foundation that “Salatin has assembled at Polyface (farm), where a half dozen different animal species are raised together in an intensive rotational dance on the theme of symbiosis” (126) is a model farm for a positive future of agriculture. The companies mission statement declares that they “…Are in the redemption business: healing the land, healing the food, healing the economy, and healing the culture…(Polyface Farms).”
The IFS puts an emphasis on producing/harvesting the most food in the shortest amount of time and for the least amount of money. This “system” appears to be a blessing: it makes food affordable and diverse.
What, if any, will be the cost to the environment and its inhabitants? Some critics of the IFS would argue that its primary problem is being inherently reliant on fossil fuels that have devastating effects on the environment (e. g. global-warming). The IFS negatively impacts the environment in more direct ways than emissions from fossil fuels; overpopulated cattle facilities produce copious amounts of waste that lead to disease and water pollution. Soil, air, and water pollution are also due to the petroleum-based chemicals that factory farming is dependent on. The Union of Concerned Scientists says in Sustainable Agriculture -A New Vision 2001: “All the crop land around you is doused with chemicals: herbicides to control weeds, insecticides to control insects, and fertilizers to stimulate growth.” Synthetic, petroleum based fertilizers and pesticides are implemented routinely in industrial agriculture and produce waste that is hazardous to humans and the environment.
The reliance on synthetic chemicals in order to produce efficient and cheap fruits and vegetables is what keeps prices low and at a steady flow into supermarkets. It is especially important in this day and age to know and understand the industrial system that more or less feeds us everyday. An ever growing disconnect between humans and their food exists because of the IFS. No longer are people reliant on their local farms for fruits and vegetables or meat; instead mega-corporations are driving prices lower and lower, so low that the local farmer cannot compete and must eventually sell his or her farm. There is no doubt that the IFS is economically damaging to farmers in the short-tem, but it is in the long-run where humans will learn of the true cost of this cheap and abundant food, produced by the agricultural juggernaut.
The IFS is in its essence an economy based on cheap food. Michael Pollan explains in Omnivore’s Dilemma:
Farmers who get the message that consumer’s only cares about price will themselves only care about yield. This is how a cheap food economy reinforces itself. (Pollan 136)
This means that when cost is the number one concern to consumers, providing cheap food must in turn be the number one priority of farmers and agricultural giants. The “cheap food economy” is what drives farmers and corporations alike to institute chemical practices that are inexpensive, effective, and allow the most amount of food to be grown or produced in the minimal amount of time. All to satisfy the worlds “need” for cheap food.
Certainly, there are those enlightened enough to realize some of the inherent consequences of the IFS, and there are those affluent enough to make a conscious decision to buy organic food from either local farmers or the health food giant that is Whole Foods.
Anyone who has ever ventured into a Whole Foods supermarket has surely seen an abundance of poultry, livestock, fruits and vegetables claiming to be “organic,” “natural,” “cage-free,” and “grass-fed”. This is not because Whole Foods feels some sort of moral obligation to provide the customer with the healthiest and cleanest product but, instead, it is a pure marketing scheme which allows the consumer to believe “…By buying organic he is returning to a utopian past,” but with “…The positive aspects of modernity intact.” This idea has worked quite well considering that Whole Foods has seen a 12 percent rise in sales during the first quarter of 2007 (Gross 5). Through “…farmers and consumers working together…” the organic market has become an $11 billion industry “…Without any help from the government… (And) is now the fastest growing sector of the food economy.” (Pollan 136). During the Vietnam War era, before the modern “boom” in the organic sector of the food market, it was common practice by critics of the military action to farm their own “organic” fruits and vegetables in protest of Dow and Monsanto. Both companies are among the world’s largest producers of pesticides, as well as the manufacturers of Napalm and Agent Orange, which was used to devastate the ecology of Southeast Asia during the 1960s-1970s (Pollan 143). Pollan describes, “…Eating organic…” as a way that the Anti-Vietnam War protesters “…Married the personal to the political”(143). Despite the IFS being based on productivity and quantity, it is also based largely on the idea of Monoculture, or farming one or very few species of fruit or vegetable at a time. A recent 2007 farm bill press conference on C-Span called the monoculture of today’s farms “devastating” to the ecology, but Joel Salatin has managed to accomplish a “Farm of many faces” (Pollan 128). The sustainable foundation that “Salatin has assembled at Polyface (farm), where a half dozen different animal species are raised together in an intensive rotational dance on the theme of symbiosis” (126) is a model farm for a positive future of agriculture. The companies mission statement declares that they “…Are in the redemption business: healing the land, healing the food, healing the economy, and healing the culture…(Polyface Farms).”
WHAT'S GOOD TO EAT?
The obesity rate in America has risen for the past few years. The leading cause of this is because most do not watch they eat. People don’t recognize what foods are necessarily healthy and what type of foods are unhealthy. Also, when people eat their foods, they don’t really pay attention to the taste of it or how it actually got to the table. It’s almost like the video we watched in our class “Our Daily Bread” when the woman who was cutting up the pig had no relationship with it. She was just doing her job, chewing gum and not feeling any disgust while cutting up the different organs of the pig.
I was always told that vegetables are very healthy for you, in which everybody should have at least 2 and a half servings of it every day. I was told that people should cut down more on eating meat to eating none at all and more on vegetables. A person who practices vegans abstains from the consumption or use of meat, fish, daily products, etc. These all come from a variety of different animals. “People become vegans for a variety of reasons, including ethical concerns for animal rights or the environment, as well as more personal reasons such as perceived health benefits and spiritual or religious concerns”( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegan). I believe that a person who undergoes the Vegan diet is in the border line of being healthy and not healthy. According to Bruce Friedrich, he says, “It also occurred to me that animals are made of the same stuff as humans—flesh and blood and that they suffer just as we do. I grew up in Minnesota and Oklahoma, and it always saddened me to see trucks loaded with turkeys, chickens, pigs, or cows driving through the bitter Minnesota winter or the sweltering, arid Oklahoma summer, taking the animals, through all weather extremes, to what I knew would be a gruesome death.” (http://www.goveg.com/veganism.asp). Many reasons why people become vegans are because they think that it is the only way to protect humans and the animals in this environment and/or for religious purposes. Many believe that sticking to vegetables is healthy because of the rich contents it has to offer for the body. They believe that meat is the ones that are making people sick. Bruce Friedrich supports this by saying, “They have absolutely no fiber or complex carbohydrates in them, and they are packed with saturated fat and cholesterol. In the short term, eating meat, dairy products, and eggs is likely to make a person fat and lethargic.” (http://www.goveg.com/veganism_health.asp). The accessibility for purchasing vegetables is very convenient and is everywhere, which makes it so easy to get. The majority of the vegetables that can be found are also very cheap. This essay will help to argue why the vegan diet is a good way to eat.
The vegan diet can be a very healthy diet in many ways. Vegans believe that eating vegetables is healthier than consuming meat which comes from different animals that are given different antibiotics and growth hormones. According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegan, it states that “"well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence." This proves that going on a vegan diet is very healthy for people who have health problems, children who are still growing and also, for pregnant ladies. People who undergo the vegan diet have a rare chance of getting heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, etc. A lot of these health problems are due to a person’s diet. The leading cause of these health problems comes from the consumption of meat. Eating a lot of meat causes a persons arteries to clog. A person who abides by the vegan diet is known to have a mass decrease in their cholesterol compared to a meat- eater. Also, many vegetarians are most likely to be “one-third as likely to be obese as meat-eaters, and vegans are about one-tenth as likely to be obese. You can be a fat vegan, of course, and you can be a skinny meat-eater. But vegans are, on average, 10 to 20 percent lighter than meat-eaters” according to http://www.goveg.com/veganism_health.asp.
A person who is under the vegan diet has many different ways in purchasing their required foods. It’s accessible and can be very cheap. Vegetarian food is a bit new to the American lifestyle. It has not been around for such a long period of time. According to Bruce Friedrich, he explains how when he became a vegetarian, some foods didn’t taste so great. He explains how today, Silk-brand soy milk is in every grocery store in the country. (http://www.goveg.com/veganism_conclusion.asp). There are a lot of local supermarkets that sells organic products for a reasonable price also. Throughout the food course, when you see the word organic in a local Whole Foods Market, it isn’t what it seems to be. When vegans think about their moral part of being a vegan, why do they think that organic food is such a great thing? How do these organic foods really get to the supermarket? Easy to answer question. From a truck that delivers it from a place outside of New York City. This means there is some industrial side. Industrial, as in what Americans are living off of. The variety of foods that are bought in a supermarket is not locally grown. It also deals with fossil fuels, which is definetly not a good thing. A lot of the vegetarian food can come up to be a lot cheaper than buying meat all the time. Also, according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegan, it states that “a person switching from the typical American diet to a vegan diet would, on average, reduce CO2 production significantly more than switching to a hybrid vehicle. They go on to recommend a vegan diet for this reason, as well as the potentially adverse health effects of dietary animal fats and proteins.” This proves how going on a vegan diet is very helpful to our environment, which can also be a very helpful way to have mass production of more vegetables.
Vegans are generally against the violence and cruelty of animals. The meat that a lot of people consume comes from these animals that are being slaughtered. When it comes to the ethical reasons, vegans have a real big say. Vegans believe “that animals have the ability to feel pleasure so killing them is wrong, because it destroys any hope of future pleasure. He claims that it is therefore unethical to treat them as property or a means to an end.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegan). This quote is significant because it is saying that animals are just like humans. They all have the right to live and be treated as if they are human, because we do not really differ from them. It is wrong to kill animals because they are just like one of us. Vegans argue that animals do not deserve to be slaughtered. They have emotions just like humans and are made up of flesh and blood. Therefore, they don’t deserve to be treated the way they do to satisfy a human. Vegans also think about the availability of water. “According to the National Audubon Society, raising animals for food requires about as much water as all other water uses combined, even as many areas are experiencing drought conditions. It requires about 300 gallons of water to feed a vegan for a day. It requires about four times as much to feed a vegetarian, and 14 times as much to feed a meat-eater. Of course, if you have to feed animals, you have to irrigate the crops that you’re feeding them. You have to give them water. The systems that keep animals today use water to hose down both the factory farm and the slaughterhouse. It’s a water-intensive operation,” according to http://www.goveg.com/veganism_environment.asp. Those who work in the factories where animals are being slaughtered has to be one of the most dirty and most cruel jobs ever. They watch the animals have every part of their body ripped apart while they are doing their job. To get a clear vision of what the working issues are like, http://www.goveg.com/veganism_welfare.asp clearly states, “their throats are slit, their limbs hacked off, and their skin torn from their bodies, while they are still conscious. Pigs routinely go into the scalding hot water for hair removal still conscious. Chickens are scalded alive in the feather removal tank.” Any vegan would say that people who eat meat is un-ethical because they don’t think of the procedure it takes to have the meat end up in their local supermarket. They don’t realize the sufferings they go through.
After researching and comprehending the vegan diet, I agree with most of their concepts they follow. I agree that eating a lot of meat will lead to a lot of health problems. And I also agree on their position on the slaughter of these animals. For the most part, I believe that being on the vegan diet is healthy. I still believe that people should still eat meat, but it should be organic. Because if you were to be in a very strict vegan diet, that wouldn’t be considered as being “healthy” because you still are missing out on a lot of nutrients that are needed in the body which comes from animals. You could also take it from vitamins, but I don’t think that would be such a great source of getting the nutrient in your system. Animals are treated very differently when they are sold as organic. Meat carries a variety of different nutritional needs in a human. The sources that I addressed were very accurate and reliable. I can say this because they referenced a lot of surveys and actual experiences. It is important to know what’s good for people to eat because diet is a major cause of the high death rate around the world. A person’s health mainly depends on what they are consuming. Therefore, food plays a very important role in the body.
I was always told that vegetables are very healthy for you, in which everybody should have at least 2 and a half servings of it every day. I was told that people should cut down more on eating meat to eating none at all and more on vegetables. A person who practices vegans abstains from the consumption or use of meat, fish, daily products, etc. These all come from a variety of different animals. “People become vegans for a variety of reasons, including ethical concerns for animal rights or the environment, as well as more personal reasons such as perceived health benefits and spiritual or religious concerns”( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegan). I believe that a person who undergoes the Vegan diet is in the border line of being healthy and not healthy. According to Bruce Friedrich, he says, “It also occurred to me that animals are made of the same stuff as humans—flesh and blood and that they suffer just as we do. I grew up in Minnesota and Oklahoma, and it always saddened me to see trucks loaded with turkeys, chickens, pigs, or cows driving through the bitter Minnesota winter or the sweltering, arid Oklahoma summer, taking the animals, through all weather extremes, to what I knew would be a gruesome death.” (http://www.goveg.com/veganism.asp). Many reasons why people become vegans are because they think that it is the only way to protect humans and the animals in this environment and/or for religious purposes. Many believe that sticking to vegetables is healthy because of the rich contents it has to offer for the body. They believe that meat is the ones that are making people sick. Bruce Friedrich supports this by saying, “They have absolutely no fiber or complex carbohydrates in them, and they are packed with saturated fat and cholesterol. In the short term, eating meat, dairy products, and eggs is likely to make a person fat and lethargic.” (http://www.goveg.com/veganism_health.asp). The accessibility for purchasing vegetables is very convenient and is everywhere, which makes it so easy to get. The majority of the vegetables that can be found are also very cheap. This essay will help to argue why the vegan diet is a good way to eat.
The vegan diet can be a very healthy diet in many ways. Vegans believe that eating vegetables is healthier than consuming meat which comes from different animals that are given different antibiotics and growth hormones. According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegan, it states that “"well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence." This proves that going on a vegan diet is very healthy for people who have health problems, children who are still growing and also, for pregnant ladies. People who undergo the vegan diet have a rare chance of getting heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, etc. A lot of these health problems are due to a person’s diet. The leading cause of these health problems comes from the consumption of meat. Eating a lot of meat causes a persons arteries to clog. A person who abides by the vegan diet is known to have a mass decrease in their cholesterol compared to a meat- eater. Also, many vegetarians are most likely to be “one-third as likely to be obese as meat-eaters, and vegans are about one-tenth as likely to be obese. You can be a fat vegan, of course, and you can be a skinny meat-eater. But vegans are, on average, 10 to 20 percent lighter than meat-eaters” according to http://www.goveg.com/veganism_health.asp.
A person who is under the vegan diet has many different ways in purchasing their required foods. It’s accessible and can be very cheap. Vegetarian food is a bit new to the American lifestyle. It has not been around for such a long period of time. According to Bruce Friedrich, he explains how when he became a vegetarian, some foods didn’t taste so great. He explains how today, Silk-brand soy milk is in every grocery store in the country. (http://www.goveg.com/veganism_conclusion.asp). There are a lot of local supermarkets that sells organic products for a reasonable price also. Throughout the food course, when you see the word organic in a local Whole Foods Market, it isn’t what it seems to be. When vegans think about their moral part of being a vegan, why do they think that organic food is such a great thing? How do these organic foods really get to the supermarket? Easy to answer question. From a truck that delivers it from a place outside of New York City. This means there is some industrial side. Industrial, as in what Americans are living off of. The variety of foods that are bought in a supermarket is not locally grown. It also deals with fossil fuels, which is definetly not a good thing. A lot of the vegetarian food can come up to be a lot cheaper than buying meat all the time. Also, according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegan, it states that “a person switching from the typical American diet to a vegan diet would, on average, reduce CO2 production significantly more than switching to a hybrid vehicle. They go on to recommend a vegan diet for this reason, as well as the potentially adverse health effects of dietary animal fats and proteins.” This proves how going on a vegan diet is very helpful to our environment, which can also be a very helpful way to have mass production of more vegetables.
Vegans are generally against the violence and cruelty of animals. The meat that a lot of people consume comes from these animals that are being slaughtered. When it comes to the ethical reasons, vegans have a real big say. Vegans believe “that animals have the ability to feel pleasure so killing them is wrong, because it destroys any hope of future pleasure. He claims that it is therefore unethical to treat them as property or a means to an end.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegan). This quote is significant because it is saying that animals are just like humans. They all have the right to live and be treated as if they are human, because we do not really differ from them. It is wrong to kill animals because they are just like one of us. Vegans argue that animals do not deserve to be slaughtered. They have emotions just like humans and are made up of flesh and blood. Therefore, they don’t deserve to be treated the way they do to satisfy a human. Vegans also think about the availability of water. “According to the National Audubon Society, raising animals for food requires about as much water as all other water uses combined, even as many areas are experiencing drought conditions. It requires about 300 gallons of water to feed a vegan for a day. It requires about four times as much to feed a vegetarian, and 14 times as much to feed a meat-eater. Of course, if you have to feed animals, you have to irrigate the crops that you’re feeding them. You have to give them water. The systems that keep animals today use water to hose down both the factory farm and the slaughterhouse. It’s a water-intensive operation,” according to http://www.goveg.com/veganism_environment.asp. Those who work in the factories where animals are being slaughtered has to be one of the most dirty and most cruel jobs ever. They watch the animals have every part of their body ripped apart while they are doing their job. To get a clear vision of what the working issues are like, http://www.goveg.com/veganism_welfare.asp clearly states, “their throats are slit, their limbs hacked off, and their skin torn from their bodies, while they are still conscious. Pigs routinely go into the scalding hot water for hair removal still conscious. Chickens are scalded alive in the feather removal tank.” Any vegan would say that people who eat meat is un-ethical because they don’t think of the procedure it takes to have the meat end up in their local supermarket. They don’t realize the sufferings they go through.
After researching and comprehending the vegan diet, I agree with most of their concepts they follow. I agree that eating a lot of meat will lead to a lot of health problems. And I also agree on their position on the slaughter of these animals. For the most part, I believe that being on the vegan diet is healthy. I still believe that people should still eat meat, but it should be organic. Because if you were to be in a very strict vegan diet, that wouldn’t be considered as being “healthy” because you still are missing out on a lot of nutrients that are needed in the body which comes from animals. You could also take it from vitamins, but I don’t think that would be such a great source of getting the nutrient in your system. Animals are treated very differently when they are sold as organic. Meat carries a variety of different nutritional needs in a human. The sources that I addressed were very accurate and reliable. I can say this because they referenced a lot of surveys and actual experiences. It is important to know what’s good for people to eat because diet is a major cause of the high death rate around the world. A person’s health mainly depends on what they are consuming. Therefore, food plays a very important role in the body.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Cooking Grains:
The grain I picked to cook was pasta. Before I could even cook the pasta I had to boil a pot of water. When the pot of water came to a boil, I placed the pasta in the pot and stirred. I left the pasta to cook for about 9 minutes, then I tasted it to see if it was done and it need a couple more minutes. After another minute or two I tasted the pasta again to see if it was done and it was. I then poured the pasta into a strainer, so that I could drain the water. After draining the water I then placed to pasta back into the pot and added tomato sauce on the pasta, because I don’t like plain pasta.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
What's in my Fridge...
Mint Jelly
Tomato Sauce
Butter
Cream Cheese
Grape Jelly
Barbecue Sauce
Steak Sauce
Ranch Dressing
Italian Dressing
Hoarse Radish
Honey Mustard
Mustard
Ketchup
Mayonnaise
Parmesan Cheese
Pickles
Salsa
Aloe Vera
Orange Juice
Bottled Water
Chocolate Frosting
Black and White Cake
Eggs
Steak
Onions
Garlic
Cucumber
Ham
American Cheese
Turkey
Tomato Sauce
Butter
Cream Cheese
Grape Jelly
Barbecue Sauce
Steak Sauce
Ranch Dressing
Italian Dressing
Hoarse Radish
Honey Mustard
Mustard
Ketchup
Mayonnaise
Parmesan Cheese
Pickles
Salsa
Aloe Vera
Orange Juice
Bottled Water
Chocolate Frosting
Black and White Cake
Eggs
Steak
Onions
Garlic
Cucumber
Ham
American Cheese
Turkey
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