“Trust is a Must”- Maddie Hinderstein
Producers and consumers are in need of some serious couples therapy.
When we put food into our mouths, our initial reaction is “I can’t wait to eat this!” It’s not like we think, “Hmm, I wonder what cow this hamburger came from?” But in that lies the problem. We shouldn’t have to question it because we should know where our food comes from right down to the cow.
Since we’re starting with the animal itself we have to go a little lower on the food chain to what the animals are eating. All farms are different, so there isn’t one overall way that they’re supposed to feed their animals. According to, “You are what they eat” by Consumer Reports 10-30% of animals diets are unknown. Cattle are allowed to eat processed feathers for protein and chickens can have meat and bone meal.
By doing this they fatten the animals quickly and cheaply. In addition to those tasty treats, animals are constantly being injected with steroids and other hormones to make their meet more profitable. I don’t know about anyone else, but personally I’d rather not be eating steroids and bones for dinner.
Even though those animals are most likely forced to eat the bones and take the steroids, there are industries where we can’t always control what the animals are putting in their bodies. Our seafood industry in huge especially because we import 80% of it, but the FDA only tests 2% of the imports for drug residues. Salmon and tuna are two of the biggest fish that we eat. Since there at the top of the food chain they eat everything that there prey has eaten. By the time that all of the toxins and chemicals build up and then get to us, it’s a disgusting amount of bad things to be putting in our body.
We shouldn’t be eating blindly and that’s what this author is trying to say. We should be able to know more about where our food is coming from, what the animals are eating, and in the long run what are we going to be putting into our bodies. Since many people eat from large conglomerate companies, it’s important for their reputation that the customers are confident in their products.
The author makes it very clear that there are dangers in the fact that consumers don’t know where their food is coming from or what it’s consuming. The only negative about this author is that it gives both sides of the story. I understand that that is what makes a good piece of writing, but since it’s coming from the perspective of the consumer it should be highlighting the problems and the ways that they can be improved.
There are many differences between different consumers and different producers. A big difference between producers is whether a business is small or large. Small businesses, like farmers markets, rely on loyal customers with good relationships. Large businesses have a huge base of customers and they don’t pay attention to whether or not someone starts using their products.
Another large difference is between the customers themselves. There are some people who have the luxury of being able to buy high end ingredients that are healthy and organic, but some people have to buy discounted things and don’t have the opportunity to properly nourish themselves or their families. Some people don’t really have the ability to choose what they eat. They have to just deal with what they’re given and that’s unfortunate because there are probably lower-class families that want to be healthy and be nourished and don’t have the ability to do so.
Although its thought to be “the way of the future” or “the only way to have a healthy lifestyle”, there are many secrets behind the organic industry that its consumers don’t know about. According to “Organic Illusions” by Blake Hurst, the organic industry isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Even though the industry itself is expanding, organic food sales only make up, “4% of the dollar value of all foods sold,” (Hurst). With his witty and sarcastic tone, Blake Hurst is able to connect with readers and make them see that not everything is so black vs. white in the food industry.
Companies can lose customers by the buzz that’s created about them, but if they prevent the buzz then nothing gets lost. That didn’t matter for one family featured in Food Inc., a documentary focusing on “America’s corporate controlled food industry. When a family was asked to be interviewed for the movie, they didn’t hesitate because they wanted to get their story out to public so that they could know the truth. The film captures the heartbreak and the struggles extremely well and has the ability to make viewers really feel something.
Barbara Kowalcyk is a food safety advocate and when her son, Kevin, was only 2 years old, he ate some bad meat and was stricken with E. coli 0157:H7. Within a matter of 12 days he was dead. She explains throughout her segment in the movie that she had a bill made, Kevin’s Law, that would give back to the USDA the power to shut down plants that repeatedly produced contaminated meat. President Obama eventually passed the law in 2011, but that was six years after the bill was introduced. And before the law even had to be made, the company the produced the meat tried suing the USDA because ‘they didn’t have the authority to shut down the meat plants.’
Barbara said that all she wanted was an apology from the company for the loss of her son, but she didn’t even get that. She just wanted to feel protected and she didn’t get that either. No matter how much power we think we have, it may never be enough to stand up against big companies. It’s sad to think that the death of someone’s child didn’t even make the company feel sorry for that poor family. It goes to show how screwed up the system is, just because you’re big and mighty doesn’t mean you get to step all over people.
As humans, we’re programmed to want to know things. The absence of knowing leads to suspicion, worry, and lack of trust, which is exactly what people, are feeling towards many companies. According to, “Consumers Want Food Companies to Pull Back the Curtain,” by Charlie Arnot the only way to earn a consumer’s trust is through transparency. Companies have to be honest with their customers and if they’re not honest it’s because they’re trying to hide something. This source had an excellent view from a passionate consumer that wanted to be part of the conversation with producing companies. They want there to be a good relationship between producer and consumer so that loyalty never has to be compromised or questioned.
Another thing that a lot of companies hide is their information on illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths. According to “The Politics of Foodborne Illness” in 1999 there were millions of illnesses, thousands of hospitalizations, and hundreds of deaths due to foodborne illnesses. One of the worst parts about this is that the chart in the article only lists the best-known pathogens that cause foodborne illnesses. There are so many more bacteria or other things that could be causing the illnesses the consumers don’t know about.
It’s unfair that the consumers and the victims of the illnesses aren’t even aware of why they’re becoming sick. It’s pretty sick and twisted that the relationship between the consumer and the producer isn’t strong. It’s unfair that consumers have to suffer and producers can just slide underneath the cracks like nothing has happened. Consumers need to have a voice in the conversation!
With the chart, the article is able to inform the readers of the statistics that stand. It’s one thing to hear about an illness or a death in the news, but to know that the numbers are so large is another thing.
Trust is a must. It’s crucial for any functioning relationship even if it’s such a large relationship in the food industry. For it to succeed, it needs work and effort from both sides. Consumers need to trust, but producers need to give them a reason to trust. There needs to be constant communication and equal communication from both sides or else the relationship will fail and the food industry will collapse.
Unit 1 Reflection
To me, a writer’s “project” is a culmination of a few things. The most important thing about a project is the point that one trying to get across to the readers and what is trying to be proven. The more secondary things are the types of genres one uses, the tones, the word choice and other things that help support the point that is trying to be made. For my blog, my project is that consumers need to be able to trust producers that are giving them food.
Especially since I got a late start on the project, the “Sorting it Out” workshop was a life saver for me. It helped me organize my thoughts in a really concise way and helped me figure out what message I wanted to get across.
Synthesis is crucial when reading something because you want to be able to grasp the meaning that the author was putting into their writing. The point of synthesizing is to figure out what the author meant and why they said something. They wouldn’t have said it if it didn’t have importance.
This unit I was able to become confident in my writing again. When I took WRT 105 last semester I wasn’t confident in my work and that made me want to share less and it didn’t make me want to be honest in my work. I usually just faked it til I made it and I now understand that that’s not the way to succeed.
From the beginning this was going to be my main idea. I know it sounds like I made no improvements on it but that’s what it is. For a while now I’ve been very passionate about my main idea the issue behind it and I knew from the beginning that this was what I wanted to do.
I started with talking about examples from each of the sources I used. I then synthesized them and gave my opinions. Then I talked about the article itself, meaning the aesthetics of it like the tone and word choices.
Throughout the blog I talk about each of my articles and the authors projects. I go into detail about their tones and how they come across to the readers.
Originally my lead was very long and choppy and it didn’t seem like it was going anywhere. Since I started my project so late I really just sat down and started writing and I never really had a traditional first draft. But when I was reading over my lede to make sure it made sense, I didn’t. So I looked at other leads on Huffington Post and I was able to get some inspiration.
I’d like to learn how to revise better on my own. I usually rely on others for revisions and I’d like to learn how to use myself as a resource and no depend on other people.
