“700 FDA inspectors are in charge of overseeing 30,000 food manufacturers and processors, 20,000 warehouses, 785,000 commercial and institutional food establishment, 128,000 grocery and convenience stores and 1.5 million vending operations.” This quote by Marian Nestle brings up the important note that the FDA has a limited number of inspectors that inspect more than they can handle which results in the many outbreaks of foodborne illness because not ever meat or produce is inspected properly. Food regulatory agencies have trouble inspecting all of the meats and produce we come in contact with due to the overall scale of our food systems. Also big companies have almost total control over our food system.

The articles we read in class have shown that our food regulatory agencies are not on top of inspecting our food systems for illnesses and sanitation. The articles show us the hidden truths of what really happens to the food we eat as it goes through the processes between farm to fork. Food Inc., “Resisting Food Safety,” and “You Are What They Eat” focus mainly on the hidden truths of our food system such as the poor living condition and the diseases that the farm animals can get. “Organic Illusions” discusses more of the conventional vs organic argument but also discusses some of the unhealthy aspects of organic foods such as having to use more pesticides and having a higher risk for e coli.  All of them show what the food systems can get away with.

The articles all discuss the inner workings of the food system. They give us a closer look into where our food starts off at to the many processes it goes through before ending up on our plates. More specifically the articles and movie point to all the negative points of the food system. Examples include the poor health conditions chickens are grown in to the possibly cannibalistic food feed to cows. The movie Food Inc. showed that chickens are grown at a rate so fast their bones and organs cannot keep up with them. The chickens in the movie could barely take a few steps before their legs gave way. The article “You Are What They Eat” mentions that there is no regulation on animal feed so it is alright if meat scraps from chickens or pigs are in feed for cows to eat.

The argument of conventional vs organic foods are also brought up by the articles. Conventional means the animals and produce are grown by using standard farming methods. Organic means the produce seeds are GMOs that help bring out desirable traits in the produce such as being resistant to herbicide or pesticides and making them contains vitamins and nutrients that produce would not normally contain so it is “healthier” to us.  The article “Organic Illusions” by Blake Hurst in particular discusses the argument that conventional foods are just as good as organic foods.  “Organic Illusions” discusses more of the conventional vs organic argument but also brings up some details about organic foods having higher e coli content than conventional foods. The use of pesticide is also brought up in “Organic Illusions” with the article saying that much more pesticides are used on organically grown foods. The pesticides used are organic and not as strong as inorganic pesticides as a result more has to be used to get the same effect. This leads to the produce also having higher pesticide content.

Food Inc. said that there are former employees of big farming companies working in congress and Supreme Court and as such have leeway. Monsanto was a company the movie focused heavily on. Monsanto is huge company that makes seeds, herbicides, and pesticides. Monsanto has former employees that hold seats in office and as a result have the support of these people. Other small companies don’t have this kind of support from the government. In the movie Monsanto bullied and sued farmers that did not stick there their strict guidelines about what they could and could not due with the products they were given. The movie also showed that Monsanto kept a private list that contained all the names of the farmers that did anything Monsanto did not like such as reusing seeds the next year or not throwing away all ungrown seeds at the end of the harvest. On Monsanto’s website they have a section that addresses what we saw in the movie about their company. The most important question they answered was about former Monsanto employees working for the government and about the influence the may have over food policies. The website says former employees do not influence the decisions of the government to help the company. The website goes on to say that the movie says a lot of incorrect statements about their company such as their policies for suing farmers. They even tell us more about the case between Monsanto and Moe Parr. In the movie Moe Parr was shown being sued by Monsanto for cleaning Monsanto seeds. The website say the movie left out some information about the trial such as Moe selling the cleaned Monsanto seeds for profit which is illegal.

All the information given from the articles, movie, and website show that there is a lot to our food system. From companies like Monsanto having former employees work in the government to more pesticides being used in organic foods, there are many problems with our food system. If more people were aware of these problems, maybe the way our food system could change. In Food Inc. a mother lost her son to contaminated meat. Through her determination she was able to get congress to pass Kevin’s law, named after her son. This law requires the USDA to search and identify any pathogens in food and makes it easier for the USDA to shut down any food plants that fail quality standards. With enough outcries from people our food system can change Kevin’s law proves this.

Reflection

1. The “writer’s project” is the main idea of paper. The projects are what the author is trying to convey the reader. In class we talked used the example of Kanye’s music video blood diamonds. We said his project was to show how people receive these diamonds without knowing where there from and the work that’s put into mining them. To find the project we context clues given in the lyrics and the actions seen in the video.
2. The “Sorting it Out” workshop was helpful for getting my ideas out and brainstorming what I wanted to focus on in my essay. The section we worked on in class was the most helpful. In that section we started with one idea and expanded it with evidence and a claim to pull it all together. And we got peer feedback on our claim which helped improve it. After making adjustments to the clam I used in my essay as a thesis.
3. Synthesis is a short summery of the material. It is important because it gives all the important ideas and details to those who have not read or seen the material. I used synthesis in my essay when I talked about the articles we were given in class. I had to synthesize the information given so my reader could get a better understanding of what each article was about an example of this is in my fourth paragraph where I had to give a short synthesis about the organic illusions article.
4. During this unit I learned about the writer’s project. I am now able to identify a writer’s project from reading or seeing the material.
5. My main idea started out with the food system is terrible because of what we saw in the movie Food Inc. The movie showed us chickens that are cooped inside and never see daylight, chickens are made to grow at an accelerated rate and their bones and organs cannot keep up with the growth, the horrible conditions of slaughter houses, and that our food system is mainly owned by five or six big companies. As we read the articles my main idea changed to the food system needs to change. There are many problems but a lot of the problems can be changed with public outcry. Kevin’s law was passed due to one mother’s determination. And it was through public outcry that organic foods became as popular as they are.
6. I organized my essay by the issues in our food system that I thought were the most important.
7. I synthesized the articles we used in class in my third, fourth and fifth paragraphs. In paragraph three I synthesized from the “You are what they eat” article. I discussed the issues with animal feed and the infections found in animals due to the feed. Paragraph four was about “Organic Illusion” and the debate between organic vs conventional. Organic foods having more pesticide used and having higher e coli content then conventional foods. Finally paragraph six is about the issues Food Inc. brought up about Monsanto. Originally I was not going to synthesize the texts and instead just quote from them but I wanted to explain why each article was important.
8. At first I didn’t have a lead. In my draft I went right into the information. However in my final I use a quote by Marion Nestle that fits with what my claim form the sorting it out worksheet.
9. For the next unit I would like to be better at organizing my essay and better at synthesizing the next articles we read.