Week 6: Hungry for Change?

In class, we viewed Food Inc. a documentary focused on food ethics in the United States.

Food ethics involves ethical and moral issues within the food industry.  This documentary was pretty compelling.  It made me think of the expression that you don't want to know what goes on in a sausage factory.  The camera panned an entire grocery store focusing for a moment on different departments to include dairy, produce, and meat.  Graphics popped up with interesting factoids and in depth examination of different food items.   Some of it appeared beneficial; Tomatoes are offered year round and have no seasons anymore, meat is mostly boneless, food and produce is rarely grown on individual farms anymore, but rather in massive factories.  It is quite an achievement that food can be produced on a mass scale with relatively few workers.  The economies of scale achieved is mind boggling. Slaughterhouses that used to number in the thousands has been reduced to just thirteen and production is higher.  Some fruits and vegetables are genetically modified so that they grow bigger, are resistant to pests, and shorter ripening times for quicker turnover.   

However, like most "Frankensteinian" experiments there is a dark side.  Chickens and livestock live their entire lives in small booths where they are pumped up with antibiotics and hormones to hasten their maturation period.  I was surprised to learn of quick chicks and triple breasted poultry to yield greater white meat.   

One aspect of the film that really resonated with me was the tragic death of a little boy after eating an e coli tainted hamburger.  A family vacation turned nightmare.  Kevin's passing inspired his mom and grandmother to appeal to the US Congress to regulate genetically modified beef.   

Advances is food development and preparation is an important field to meet the challenge of feeding a growing world population.   However, it is important that food ethics are adhered to and both government and industry cooperate and collaborate to develop foods that are nutritious and safe to consume for all not just the affluent that can afford to buy the best.