On December 5, 2012, Daisy Luther, a journalist from Northern California wrote a blog entry on the conspiracy surrounding “certified organic” labels that is claimed by some companies and retailers. She brings up the question of whether these labels being stamped on food can really be verified or are they just a way to empty out the wallets of consumers. In the website The Organic Pepper, the blogger generally gives advice for different problems people encounter on a daily basis. Through her blog entries varying from ways to stay healthy to frugal living, Luther states her opinion of governmental interference on our food supply by citing sources from articles from Natural News and Time Magazine. She first starts out by arguing about how the …show more content…
For example, she lists some of the regulations from a food trade organization called Codex Alimentarius, whose purpose is to regulate fair trade both nationally and internationally and ensure the health of consumers. The Codex standards that are stated show that this organization does not follow its purpose, but does the exact opposite. According to natural news.com, “All food (including organic) is to be irradiated, removing all toxic nutrients from food (unless eaten locally and raw.” This is just one of the rules listed; the rest follow in a similar matter. Because farmers have to follow all these specific regulations and procedures, they find themselves paying ridiculous fees to get the “certified organic” label. Thus the greater expense of natural foods. To regular consumers, this may seem as added precautions to make sure the food is natural; however, by reading these guidelines, it is obvious that Codex is trying to trivialize organic standards so the organization can extract profits instead of protecting the health of consumers. There are some who believe that Codex regulations are justified because they really are trying to protect consumer health by thoroughly checking to make sure the food is organic. Yet there are still others who think that Codex is merely part of a larger issue, and that it’s really the multinational corporations like Big Pharma that are taking over the food industry. Throughout her blog, Luther does use a lot reasoning in her article to prove her point. One flaw in her logos however, is that she uses Codex to prove her point. While the institution is co-owned by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), two well-known ventures (Damato), I think she goes a little extreme by stating an organization that no one has heard of and expect people to believe her on the
Thankfully there are others who have investigated this mass production of food and the truth behind how it’s made. Cohen talks about other who have followed in the footsteps of Sinclair, “Documentaries like the scathing Food Inc. and the work of investigative journalists like Eric Schlosser and Michael Pollan are reprising Sinclair's work, awakening a sleeping public to the uncomfortable realities of how we eat. Despite increasing public awareness, sustainable agriculture, while the fastest-growing sector of the food industry, remains a tiny enterprise: according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), less than 1% of American cropland is farmed organically” (Walsh 4). By bringing the problem into the homes of families through television and even on the Internet these people have begun a movement. To illustrate our modern agriculture Walsh discloses, “Somewhere in Iowa, a pig is being raised in a confined pen, packed in so tightly with other swine that their curly tails have been chopped off so they won't bite one
Just because the animal is fed organic grains constitutes them labeling it as organic. Most people do not know this. Another organic item he mentions is chicken. These chickens are labeled as free-range chickens. In my mind free-range means the chickens can walk around freely and are not in cages.
The labels we see in our foods at grocery stores are not honest. The big companies put information that will make customers buy their product. In the essay “Don’t Blame the Eater”, written by David Zinczenko focuses on how bad customers are being informed about the food they consume. Zinczenko states “They would do well to protect themselves, and their customers, by providing the nutrition information people need to make informed choices about their products. Without such warnings we’ll see more sick, obese children and more angry, litigious parents,” (464).
In America, there are many things that are kept in the dark, which sometimes doesn’t come to the light, unless it is exposed. Michael Pollan and Jim Hightower both expose the truths that aren’t always too apparent in the eye of the beholder, which in this case, is Americans. They both unveil lies and tell truths, which in the end, is more than beneficial to the American society. In a letter to the future President of the United States, Michael Pollan acknowledges the troublesome in food in our society.
The three essays assigned this week had several common threads running through them. The strongest core theme is the rapid change in the food cycle in America and the vast changes that have taken place in the way by which we grow, produce, and process the food that average Americans eat. The food we eat now is drastically different from what our grandparents grew up eating and the three essays each examine that in a different way. Another theme is the loss of knowledge by the average consumer about where their food comes from, what it is composed of, and what, if any, danger it might pose to them. “Monsanto’s Harvest of Fear” by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele is a harsh look at the realities of food production in a country where large corporations, like Monsanto, have been allowed to exploit laws and loopholes to bend farmers and consumers to their
“Today in the United States, by the simple acts of feeding ourselves, we are unwittingly participating in the largest experiment ever conducted on human beings.” Jeremy Seifert certainly knows how to get viewers’ attention, as exemplified by the film blurb describing his 2013 documentary, GMO OMG. The frightening depiction of the food industry is one of many efforts to expose consumers of the twenty-first century to the powerful organizations that profit from national ignorance and lack of critical inquiry and involvement. Seifert effectively harnesses the elements of rhetoric throughout his phenomenal argument against remaining complacent about the food industry’s act of withholding of information about genetically modified organisms from
He continues the rest of the chapter talking about how most foods have traces of corn in them, by following the industrial food chain. All foods by the FDA must have their ingredients posted on the wrapper, so buyers know exactly what they are eating. Michael Pollan knows he has to look at the wrapper and see where all those ingredients are from to really see where the food he is about to came from. 2. Pollan describes American farmers today as “the
Instead of growing natural foods, food companies have found an easier, more profitable way of selling food to us: they take these plants and process them into something that tastes better and seems more appealing. And they’re also filled with artificial flavoring, preservatives, and all sorts of synthesized chemicals that make our food sweet but are harmful to us. With these processed foods, we can’t rely on tastes preferences to tell us what to eat, because if we want something sweet, we can eat it any time, which is the exact opposite of why we’ve evolved into liking something sweet. Pollan observes that we’re told to rely on science instead, but this ‘science’ keeps on changing. It seems like the only effect of this ‘science’ is that it helps the food companies make more money.
Rhetorical analysis Do you believe in order to understand other culture you need to try different food ? These are some ideas of this article from Amy S. Choi a freelance journalist. She wrote this article,“What americans can learn from other food cultures”. Choi betters her argument by providing real stories from other countries.
In the infamous prose “Attention Whole Foods Shoppers” Robert Paarlberg, a Harvard international affairs expert divulges on the ongoing warfare with the issue of sustainability. Paarlberg focuses on how the rise in global starvation increases in less developed nations, but it is often ignored by those in developed countries because of their fixation with the green revolution. He asserts many claims as to why Africa and Asia still have high food deprivation rates, which quite contrary to popular belief has nothing to do with overpopulation. This stems from lack of investment into agricultural infrastructure and investments. His criticism of whole foods shoppers seeks to bring awareness to the issue of world hunger and how the quest to eat organically
Supermarkets are using a variety of methods to increase profits. Marion Nestle, a teacher of food and health studies at New York University, wrote the article, “The Supermarket: Prime Real Estate,” to put the tricks of the super market industry into perspective. Nestle earned a PhD in molecular biology and a Master of Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley. She has written many different pieces on food and politics, making her knowledgable on the topic. Through her article, Nestle hopes to “guide readers to make healthier food choices.”
“Are you really putting in what’s right for your body?” “Ingesting pesticides can inhibit brain development.” “Only organic foods can keep you safe.” Catch cries such as these seem to plague the media. However, consumers do not need to constantly worry about eating a strictly organic diet.
The company P&G have a product line called Old Spice, it contains deodorants, shampoos and, other man focused products. This line of products has been around for 75 years. Since this is a product for men the commercials that are produced are geared towards men and their confidence. In June of 2016 P&G released an old Spice commercial.
Organic Food In the society where people are getting more concerned about one 's health organic food has become a widely spread and followed by many people tendency. Organic food is believed to have better impact on person 's well-being and not to cause harm to people and the surrounding world due to its ecological nature. The debate that has been recently developed around this topic cannot be solved easily since both supporters and their counterparts provide reasonable arguments supporting their positions. However, to get into the problem and find the answer to a question that concerns many people it is necessary to identify organic food at first.
Had he gone further into the report he would have found that organic fruits and vegetables are significantly closer in price to conventionally grown ones. We are all paying extra for the fallout from GMOs. This case indeed shows that food labeling issues are not only vital and extremely important today, but also that there is very hard to come to a solution. It would be very easy to label everything, require companies to let consumers know every single ingredient and in turn, hope to increase global health levels. However, it seems that opposing side has very strong arguments and companies are reluctant to sacrifice their profits in order to improve consumers health, which, very interestingly, is sometimes argued would not be achieved by doing so