Cally Martin, Anne Leeper, Annie Gleason

Natural Background

Over the past years the food industry has changed tremendously in terms of how farmers produce their crops and what products they need to help them grow. The food industry has gone from natural farming and processing in the home, to mass production and the use of additives, pesticides, and irradiation in our food to make it last longer and taste better. The government has not assited in ending this problem of chemical toxins in our foods, and there is so much that they could do to help but no one is willing to start the trend. The techniques farmers used to grow their crops a long time ago was far more basic and healthy than the processes we have now. Our food used to be grown organically and was not sprayed with all the pesticides that are used today. Farmers that grew food for a living produced much of the food that their families and neighbors bought in town. Food was not shipped to other countries and it was not stored on shelves for very long. The food was full of nutrients and all the nutritional value remained in it when people ate their meals.

1202 - The first English food law, known as the Assize of Bread, was enacted by King John. It strictly prohibited the substitution of peas or beans for the flour in breads.

1784 - The first general food law enacted in the US. Stiff penalties for kowingly selling "diseased, corrupted, contaigous, or wholesome poisons." (Elizabeth Whelan, pg. 125)

1891 and 1895 - Act requiring the inspection of animals before they were to be slaughtered. (Elizabeth Whelan, pg. 125) Meat was not prepared correctly and people were contracting diseases from eating certain foods.

1906 - A law was enacted to protect consumers from buying unclean meat and other products. This act was the Meat Inspection Act that required all meat shipped in interstate commerce to be inspected. (Benarde, Melvin A.) This was the Federal Food and Drug Act referred to as the "Pure Food Law." This was made to prohibit the manufacturing and shipping of adultered or misbranded foods and drugs. (Millichap, J. Gordon, pg. 94)

1913 - A law was passed called the Gould Amendment this required that a definite quantity of information appear on food packages.(Benarde, Melvin A.) Food labels were suppose to tell us everything that was added to our foods or what processing they had gone through.

1916 - The first experiments with irradiation were done in Sweden on strawberries.

1921- The United States took out the first patent in irradiation. Ever since then irradiation gas been found to make foods last longer.

1927 - The food industry was having a bad time with milk and importation's. A law was passed that declared imported milk to meet the domestic minimum standards. This law was to protect consumers from drinking unprocessed milk and getting diseases from bad milk and creams.

1946 - The Agricultural Marketing Act was enacted and this provided the companies to sell their products as well as individuals to sell the products that they grew at their homes. (Benarde, Melvin A.)

1953 - food irradiation became one of the "atoms for peace" technologies. US Army begins research further into irradiation and its effects.

1958 - food irradiation was banned in West Germany to limit chemicals and also the USSR permitted the use of irradiation on potatoes. US classed irradiation as an additive and now it requires safety testing. (Benarde, Melvin A.) In the 1960's special international efforts were made to breed new crop varieties that would produce better yields, thus giving more food from an average field to feed a fast growing third world country. These results are known as the "Green Revolution" and these results successful in breeding new varieties of wheat and rice. The productions of these basic foods has risen quickly in some countries. (Middleton, Nick Dr., ch. 5)

1984 - the USDA published proposals to eliminate the labeling of irradiated foods. With the many ways that we are changing our food and what is contained in it also comes the consideration if we should let the people know what they are actually putting in their bodies.

During the 20th century preparations of foods have changed from custom production in the home to mass production in processing plants. (Middleton, Nick Dr.) Up to the 1990's the government has enacted many laws that are designed to protect the consumers from getting diseases or getting spoiled foods.

1991 - FDA published proposals that state by May 8, 1993, nutrient content, serving size, descriptive terms and definitions related to fat and cholesterol are to be added to food packaging. Additives were used to make foods ripen quicker without being in the ground and make the life span on a product longer so that food would not spoil before it reached the consumers. Additives were also added to increase the good flavors in many foods. Another method that the agricultural industry used was pesticides and herbicides. These chemicals made sure that each crop was producing its fair share and that the insects couldn't destroy the crops that farmers needed to sell for profits. Pesticides were then used often to keep the crops safe and keep the bugs from ruining them, but it was worse to put chemicals on the crops. The farmers then found out that their crops weren't growing as well and the flavors in the foods weren't quite as good as before. Food regulation picked up in the 19th century with the passage of several state and federal acts calling for the inspection of food, tea, beverages, and of animals before slaughter. Today's food regulations developed around the turn of this century with the response to urbanization.

Cause and Effect

Cause #1 - The demand for higher yields This tidy little phrase is a disguise for a major discussion. According to Websters Dictionary, a demand is a request made with authority, and which is heard, remembered and acted upon; and this is exactly what the food industry has done. With the coming of W.W.I, the baby boom, and other such prosperous times in American history, so has become the overpopulation of people. These people want food, they want it fast, and they want it ready for them when they get home from work. These wants and needs are exactly what a demand for higher yield is as a whole. It is the public's need for food and their obsession with needing it quickly or right away. This demand is a cause because it has effected our food, our economy, and our environment. As farmers became aware of their need to produce food at a faster rate in order to receive profit, they threw out their mixed agriculture processes and focused towards monoculture. Farmers began selling to supermarkets, who sold to people. This supermarket monopoly led to the use of pesticides, conventional farming practices, and food additives. The farmers began to plunge into the new wave of demand at full force, without even recognizing the trail of tears they were leaving behind. Pesticides promoted many political problems for farmers, for the pesticides were not at all safe for the environment or humans. Government regulations were slapped on, but farmers kept right on spraying the chemicals. "Time is money... they say." Unfortunately, most of the government action was taken to protect human health, not the environment. As conventional farming has continued, so has the public's need for food. As organic farmers have learned organic farming takes a lot of time and money. Both time and money are the babies of conventional farms, they would never risk that as long as the resources are available. If the demand continues, the farmers will continue. They won't even have the time to see if their resources may be running low, or completely out.

Effect #1 - To look at the effects of cause #1 would be to look at a pile of dirt: you must dig through all the outer layers to reach the core problems. Conventional farming is the basic effect of a demand for higher yield. Farmers wanted to satisfy consumers and gain profit. Along with conventional farming came pesticides- as far as the environment is concerned, pesticides play a big role in the destruction process.

Pesticides can...

1) seep into soil leading to the possibility of unneeded chemicals reaching our watersheds.

2) infect wildlife living around the farms and threaten to wipe out a species or even deplete a food chain.

3) infect plants that can not resist the harsh toxins and then carry them to stores.

4) allow farmers to mass produce and gain profit on their crops.

5) cause health problems for humans which can lead to birth defects, sickness, and in rare cases even death.

6) cause our government to change regulations and protect human safety along with the environment.

7) ruin healthy soil before farming.

Conventional farming can...

1) lead to the use of pesticides and herbicides.

2) lead to pollution of the air due to the use of machinery.

3) ruin land for future use.

4) waste natural resources such as water they use to water their fields.

5) produce enough food to feed our entire country.

6) push the government to put up regulations making sure our food good quality.

Cause #2 - The demand for "perfect" food The demand for perfect food has increased over the years and has pushed many farmers into using alternative chemicals for growing their crops. Pesticides have been used to limit or stop the amount of insects that ruin the crops. Farmers spray harmful pesticide chemicals to keep all crop eating insects off their products. What most people don't realize is that they are being intoxicated with harmful or deadly chemicals that are infected with pesticides. It is probably healthier to have eaten the insects than it is to eat the chemical pesticides. Additives are also used to make foods more "perfect." Additives are put into foods to make them last longer on the shelves and have a more appetizing appearance. When additives are put into foods to make them last longer the nutrients that were once in them are now lost and replaced by harmful chemicals. The taste of foods now depend on what is put into them rather than the taste of its natural flavors. The food industry has put chemicals on the foods we eat so they appeal to the consumers and the flavors will please the people as well. This is all done as the demand for food increases. Irradiation is another way we protect our foods. Irradiation kills off all the fungus' or germs that might be lingering in the food and infecting them. Want their meals to be fast. We want our food to take a minimum amount of time to cook or shall I say defrost as we sit in front of the t.v. and wait impatiently for our t.v. dinners to be microwaved. Convenience food is such a large demand since we have grown accustomed to being served quickly and sometimes we forget to eat healthy. Our big demands for convenience foods makes the farmers grow more food thus using more toxic chemicals to keep pest control to a low. Farmers want to grow more food, quicker. Thus having more of a demand for "perfect" foods from the consumers.

Effect #2 -The effects for cause #2 come with a big price that costs the environment to lose its resources. The effects of farmers using chemicals on their crops is that the soil is them infected with toxins and make the growing conditions even worse than before. The demand for "perfect" foods leads to unhealthy people and profit motive farmers. The effects on the human body are the chemicals being put into them. Also another effect on the farmer is that their crop land will be ruined within so many years of adding pesticides, but the immediate wants for cash will be satisfied. Only a short term goal will be met because the demand for quick and easy food will have left the fields in bad condition. These effects are caused by the high demands that we as consumers put out and expect to be met by our wants to have the " perfect" food.

Cause #3 - Meat vs. Grain Since the beginning of time man has depended on meat to satisfy his hunger. Man is demanding in most cases one type of meat a day, and pushing aside his need for grain. Cattle farming is a growing career and farms are popping up everywhere. Not only do we have an excessive demand for meat, we are also not eating enough grain to fulfill the daily requirements that we need. All this cattle raising is putting a major strain on our environment. The cattle are stripping the ground of all its nutrients and as that land is depleting the herds are moved closer and closer to our forests. This massive amount of cattle raising is due to the consumers demands. Americans want beef and lots of it. The cattle industry is becoming a growing concern related to the food industry. Our diets are over thrown by too much red meat so eating less cattle would not hurt our bodies at all. We should use cattle meat as a delicacy rather than a product that is over used or over eaten by many Americans.

Effect #3 - With all these thousands of people eating more and more meat, we end up with a society that is very nutritionally imbalance. Red meat is not a necessary part of a balanced diet and can easily be replaced with beans or grains. Many people do not realize this fact. Red meat is a very fatty meat that is high in cholesterol, and is very unnecessary for all humans to eat. Also, these cows are depleting the ground they graze on and are taking the crucial nutrients out of the ground that we need for other crop growing land. After eating all these nutrients away the cattle let off a harmful gas called methane that is depleting our ozone. It is obvious that these cows do more harm that good and what do we get in return. An over eaten food that is bad for us and we can do without it.

When finding solutions to all of the problems that are included in the food industry, there are many different perspectives to look at them from. A few of which are, solutions from the perspectives of corporations, grassroots organizations, the role of education, the government and of our own individual responsibilities.

Solutions #1 - Farmers and corporations can create buffer zones to plant trees in to divert the chemicals from the streams and rivers. A way that an individual can help is to buy only organic foods that are farmed without the use of chemicals or additives. Another way an individual can help is to get laws or bills passed that can protect the water ways.

Solutions #2 - In order for farmers to cut down on the amount of chemicals used to grow crops consumers can decrease their needs for fast foods, and start cooking nutritional meals instead of the regular frozen dinners. Companies can help support the farmers by reducing the amount of additives and chemicals that are put into foods while they sit on the shelves. All together consumers can buy organically produced foods instead of conventional products.

Solutions #3 - To stop the amount of good land being used for cattle farming companies can rotate the heards of cattle from one land to the other and in the mean time plant new grass and let it grow. When the grass is regrown then the farmers can move the cattle back and replant the last area of land that cows grazed on. By doing this it will cut down on the amount of land that is wasted and destroyed. From a social perspective people can get educated on the nutritional value that we get from cattle. They can learn about how to gradually take red meat out of their diets and see how cattle are damaging our planet. The individual can personally cut down on the amount of red meat intake and find alternative foods that are healthier for them. Grass Roots organizations can have classes available that inform people about the right foods and the wrong foods. To sum it up we don't need cows to survive and all they are doing is taking up precious land and letting off methane that is hurting the ozone. With all of this background and history on the food industry and the causes and effects with the problems of the food industry hopefully the world will take these solutions into mind with solving the problems.

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