When we think of food what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Is it how well it’ll taste once we cook it? Maybe if you sauté it the juices will be more vibrant and ready to be served for dinner? Or are you more concerned with the quality and nutrition of your food?

Whether an experienced foodie or a newcomer to the ways of the food world these are all questions you’ll most likely have at some point while dining. Yet do we as consumers of all of these delicacies ever truly wonder what it is that we’re eating, where did it come from, who do we have to thank for the steak or lettuce on our plate?

Knowledge is power; it can build something up or tear something down. So maybe it’s time to stop believing everyone has your best interests in hand and to start taking action on what you believe is best for you. You are not just an average citizen but the person who buys the meat, the vegetables, the person who keeps the system afloat, the consumer and ruler of how our world should work.

The food industry has been on the burn for many years but it was only but until the past 10 years that we’ve seen a cry for awareness. There is a silent battle going on behind the supermarket lines and it’s time for the rest of America to know what’s going on. Documentaries such as Food Inc. have been filmed to show us the “nitty gritty” of the food industry, its ups and downs but mainly its downs. Whether it is the skyrocketing increase in diabetes within this country or how our economic status influences the quality of our food.

“I’m always struck by how successful we have been at hitting the bull’s-eye of the wrong target. I mean we have learned- for example, in cattle we have learned how to plant, fertilize and harvest corn using global positioning satellite technology, and nobody sits back and asks, “But should we be feeding cows corn?” We’ve become a culture of technicians. We’re all into the how of it and nobody’s stepping back and saying “But why?” – Joel Salatin (Food Inc.)

The documentary never shy’s away at showing us the grotesque and the stats behind conventional farming. There is also the abuse towards animals and the conditions in which they are thrown. The fact that we feed cows corn feed, knowing fully well that their bodies were not built for it just goes to show where we stand in the tide that is the food industry. Of course this is just one of many outlets that have reported about the food industry and it’s tricks of the trade. From an article about food safety and government regulation by Nestle to Consumer Reports tackling the meat industry in their article titled “You are what they eat”. There is a plethora of information and arguments when it comes to the double-edged sword that is our food industry. So where should you as a consumer stand amongst all of this chaos? Where do you begin your journey to educate yourself on what goes into your food and what expectations are reasonable and which ones aren’t?

The bigger companies that claim they run the food business in the best manner to the local farmers who would have you boycott these systems in lieu to their suffering and their animals suffering, there is no real right or wrong. There is only change. Our system needs to change but maybe not in the way  big bill industries would like, nor how the FDA would have it regulated. The same way we value teaching history to our children and value debating in college settings is the same way we should value educating ourselves in what goes on with the food we eat. What’s meant to go in our bodies and what doesn’t as the title of consumer reports article suggests “You are what they eat” but can’t we also say “We are what we think?” It took me all but a few seconds to plug in “chicken antibiotics” into a search engine and I got a plethora of information.

A website called www.nationalchickencouncil.org was one of many that caught my eye. It not only gives you information on chickens but also what certain food jargon means, such as antibiotic free compared to raised without antibiotics. It also contains many stats and surveys that convey where consumers stand when it comes to purchasing and consuming chicken. (As recent as of 2014.) So if people are willing to eat chicken more than ever as the consumer surveys suggest. Why is it that the idea of antibiotics not tackled more frequently? This is just one of many issues we as consumers seem to look the other way for. Ask yourself why that may be.

 

“Our investigation raises concerns that the federal government isn’t doing enough to protect the feed supply and that as a result the food we eat may not be as safe as it could be” –Consumer Reports

Ranging from issues with animal feed to antibiotics being fed to our chickens. Consumer Reports brings up many of the same issues Food Inc. does, however they cite many studies and also corporation’s (such as the FDA and CDC) own statistics to back up the claims they make on how we as a people deserve to know what goes into our food and we deserve to have a say in that process as well.

 “Whether this assertion is true is a matter of some debate. Safety is relative. The most authoritative estimate of the yearly number of cases of foodborne disease in the United States defies belief: 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, 5,000 deaths.” – Resisting Food Safety (Nestle)

Nestle chimes in with the numbers and political agenda that have plagued the food industry. There is a blatant problem with how the system works and the government knows it. Resisting Food Safety takes what Consumer Reports is trying to do (Educate the people.) and adds on what I’d call a wake up punch to the gut.

“Most of us do not worry much about the possibility that foods in our supermarkets might be contaminated and dangerous, and we act on the basis of what Nicols Fox calls the “unspoken contact” among food producers, government regulators, and the public to ensure that food is safe.” – (Nestle)

So maybe it’s not just the government who blatantly disregards the holes in the system but maybe it’s also our lack of knowledge and denial that the system needs changing. The information is there for the “harvesting”. We as day-to-day consumers need to stand up, make a stance, educate ourselves, and advocate for the changes our system needs! Whether you take a stance on how antibiotics are used, the treatments of crops, or even just the political pool of the industry; you have a voice and you should use it, just like Nestle, the people involved in Food Inc. and Consumer reports! Be a part of a needed revolution! You are what you eat; you are what you think, from the food on your plate to the laws of each state.

 

 

References:

 

• Food, Inc. Movie One, 2008.

 

• Nestle, Marion. Safe Food: The Politics of Food Safety. Berkeley: U of California, 2010. Print.

 

• “Consumer Reports Online.” Consumer Reports Online. Web. 27 Feb. 2016.

 

• “Home – The National Chicken Council.” The National Chicken Council. Web. 27 Feb. 2016.

 

 

Reflection Questions

Christopher Rivera

Unit I / 10%

Using the homework, in-class workshops, revision workshops, etc.

1. Describe your understanding of the “writer’s project”? How were you able to identify the texts’ “project”? Discuss your own “project” as it pertains to this particular blog article. The writer’s project incorporates a topic they’re talking about, why they are talking about said topic, and their main reasoning/opinion about said topic. I was able to look at the various texts we read in class and identified the projects by looking for where major facts were situated and what the writer’s thoughts on these facts were. My project was to use the sources and facts we came across in class and my own research to try and influence people into educating themselves more on what’s really going on in the food industry.
2. Describe your completion of the “Sorting it Out” workshop? What sections were most beneficial to the development of your ideas—and why? Discuss how this workshop assisted in development of draft and/or assignment organization? Working with brainstorming really helped. Also summarizing the main argument of each source also helped me condense my writing so I could hone in on the exact bits of the articles I was using.
3. Describe your understanding of synthesis. What is its importance? How did it manifest within your drafts and/or final blog article? Provide examples. Synthesis in my understanding is when the sources you have work well and build off one another. An example of this that I used in my final blog articles would be the connection of foodborne illness and how they are our rather aren’t addressed as they should (Nestle/Consumer Reports.)
4. Describe your own accomplishment (ofsomething) during this unit. I accomplished the ability to condense what I want to argue in fewer words than I’d usually do. As an ETS major we learn to give us much details as possible but this assignment required the opposite of that so it was a bit of a struggle. I overcame it though.
5. Discuss the evolution of the main idea. Where did you begin (include the example) and show its progress (again, include example) throughout the drafting/revision process. To what do you attribute its evolution? My main idea started off as mere rant about how people don’t educate themselves enough when it comes to food safety. As I incorporated my sources into my post I then realized I had the opportunity to maybe influence or even educate those reading my blog post. So although still at heart a sarcastic rant about how people are biased and in denial my post became more educational and argumentative as well. This came a long due to my use of synthesis with my sources.
6. Discuss what organizational strategies you implemented in order to structure this blog article. Provide examples from a section(s) of an earlier draft and other excerpts in later drafts to support your response. Going off of my response to question 5, I really used my sources to coincide with one another so they could build off each other and make the argument of the post stronger than if I were to have just used my own opinion or only one source.
7.  Provide an example of the final draft where you successfully synthesize 3 texts in a concise and direct manner. Discuss how this evolved throughout the drafting process for you. I successfully synthesize Food inc, consumer reports, and Nestle by the end of the blog post. After discussing each source on it’s own I used all of their main points and joined them together to push the idea of educating yourself about the industry further. It even helped me along the lines of my conclusion as well.
8. Discuss the evolution of the ‘lede’ in earlier drafts and its final version (provide examples of each): where did you begin, what feedback did you receive, and how did it end up in final blog article? At first I wanted to be funny or even sarcastic with my lede to catch the readers attention but then I thought, maybe I should structure my lede like the intro to a cooking show. Whenever you’re changing the channel on tv sometimes those intros catch your eye and you end up watching someone cook for 30 minutes. I thought I could do the same but for my blog post. Victoria thought it was a great idea compared to my draft I shared with her in class.
9.  Name a specific writing/researching/revision goal you’d like to work on during the next Unit projects. I’d like to really hone in on being able to condense more and also be more precise. I felt at times my ideas exploded and flew all over the place and I deleted a lot of my content to get back into the fray of things. I need to work on that.