Corn In Omnivore's Dilemma

In early 1900, specifically, 1906, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair was written. This novel told the story of a Lithuanian immigrant who worked in a filthy Chicago meatpacking plant. It exposed the meatpacking industry by stating their vile practices not only towards their meat but their workers as well. This was a result of the combination of many immigrants in the United States to pursue a better life, and the fact that many big industries were looking for ways to maximize their profit.

In the book, The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, Pollan claims we should be more knowledgeable about what we consume as omnivores. As omnivores we have a variety of food, we can choose from, however, we don’t regularly make the best decisions for ourselves. Pollan argues this by showing us where our food really comes from and how we can find many unwanted extras. Pollan shows us that we’ve evolved as humans from how we used to eat to how we eat now. Pollan argues this by introducing us to all the food chains we value today, some much more than others.

Most humans do not think of the consequence that processed foods have on our bodies. The big name food producers have manipulated the youth by offering products that go along with their favorite television show. The farming aspect of food production is horrible.   The animals are treated very poorly. The process of slaughter is unsafe and very unsanitary. The farmers are treated poorly by the big name companies.  The health in the United States is declining severely, 16% of children are obese,have diabetes, and other major health problems.

Intro: When people eat food they do not think about what is in it, or how it is made. The only thing people care about is what the food tastes like and how much they get. During the 1900’s the meat packing industry had not regulations of any kind. All that mattered to the industry was that they made as much money as possible with as little expenditure as possible. During this times people were often made sick and died either from working conditions or poor food quality. Although it may seem that the meat packing industry is still in turmoil because of their unwillingness to make known what foods have Genetically Modified organisms present, the meat packing industry was much worse during the 1900’s because of the unsafe working conditions, and uncleanliness of the food.

“Thou shouldst eat to live; not live to eat”, is a famous quote by the well known philosopher Socrates, who believed this is the perspective we should take when we are eating food.Unfortunately, the times have changed and so has the way we eat. We no longer have to go hunting for our food, or grow crops to receive all of our fruits and vegetables. Because we have become a society that has grown into the new world of technology, there would be no need to rely on ourselves for what we need-- we can simply gather our resources from other people. In the book, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”, written by Michael Pollan, takes us on a journey full of concerns of the “Food Industrial Complex”. Even though the novel speaks mainly of the issues with the food on our plate, these issues are more deeply connected and reflected in former President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s “Military

Food production has become a problem in america because food companies selling fast food to america and its unhealthy for us. America should also be aware that marketing fast food and snacks that's is unhealthy to children will lead to obesity. Kids need to stop eating fast food because they are getting desicise with they are too young to get. Children are getting sick from the product from eating unhealthy snacks and fast food because the food companies are putting unhealthy things in product. The problem with this because we are eating animals that we should never eat. The problem of industrial farming is dangerous to the land to our health because there are children who are getting sick from the food they eat. America should be concerned about food production because they don't know what’s in it and that could be dangerous for the children and everyone else.

“The great corporation which employed you lied to you, and lied to the whole country—from top to bottom it was nothing but one gigantic lie” (Upton Sinclair).The revolutionary figure that will be addressed in this essay is the one and only Upton Sinclair. Through most of his life, starting from the age of 14, Sinclair was invested in voicing his opinions through fiction. He did this by taking a real-life issue and integrating it into the plot of his literature while a point of view in that literature is given to a fictional character representing something or someone related to the real-life issue. Although Upton Sinclair didn’t intend to, he improved the meat-packing industry’s cleanliness and ethics by revealing unethical practices and being

1. Explain why Michael Pollan finds the questions “What am I eating? And where in the world did it come from?” so difficult to answer.

Several problems are revealed in the Industrialization Period through Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. One of them is the the things that go on behind the walls of the food industry. The conditions here during this time were particularly awful in several ways and for many reasons. Some troubles that surface during this time in the meat packing plants are the use of spoiled, dirty or rotten meat, poor wages for the workers there and the conditions of the working area.

In the early 1900s, food safety was an incredibly unfamiliar and overlooked part of America’s food industry. Written by muckraker Upton Sinclair, The Jungle, was a controversial novel that depicted the harsh living and working conditions of immigrants working in the food industry. After the release of The Jungle, thousands of meat-eating Americans were horrified at what had been happening in factories. Disgusting yet accurate details presented in The Jungle were the basis for the creation of laws to stop food production from becoming so unsanitary.

In February 1906, Upton Sinclair would write and publish his fictional novel The Jungle. This book, which was intended to focus on the exploited workers in the meat industry would depict the unsanitary conditions for a mere 10 pages. Missing the point of the novel, Americans were disgusted by the conditions of the packing plants, rather than outrage at the mistreatment of the workers at these plants (Kauffman). The Jungle spurred new legislation, but this legislation wasn’t the first that called for such standards. In 1641, the Massachusetts Colony had passed the Meat and Fish Inspection document which prohibited selling “diseased, corrupted, contagious or unwholesome provisions” (Massachusetts Act against Selling Unwholesome Provisions). The

In the early 1900’s, the conditions in the slaughterhouses were ghastly. First of all, the basic surroundings of the workers were horrid. The floors of the killing floors were layered in blood. It smelled bad and was unsanitary. Also, there were blood-curdling screeches of dying animals constantly ringing throughout Union Stockyards ("Slaughterhouse to the World" 5).

Behind all the social media we have seen today and heard about, there must be a story behind them all. For the good or for the better. Muckraking journalists helped to point out the wrongs in the society and politics at the end of the nineteenth century because of the start of the Progressive Era exposed abuse of power, child labor, and to help change the US National policy today. Influence modern muckrakers to expose today’s issues like sterilization in female prisons and Ferguson.

Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma addresses a variety of concerns about food production and consumption. One might ask what exactly is the omnivore’s dilemma? And the basic answer to this question is “what should we eat for dinner”? Being humans makes us omnivores, which means we can at whatever we want. Part of the dilemma is figuring out what is safe to eat and what its safe to think. This is all determined by what your culture tells you to eat. In some cultures it is normal to eat horse while in others it is illegal. This shows how diet varies by region and culture. For example in the Dominican Republic they eat a meal called “Mondongo” and this dish is basically pig or cow intestine including the stomach, feet, and many other inner parts. To the people of the Dominican Republic this meal is part of their tradition and it’s a type of delicacy. On the other hand in many other places it’s seen as dirty or something that shouldn’t be eaten. Being a poor country all parts of the animals are not to be wasted thus making it a norm. Another example of the Omnivore’s dilemma is deciding what to eat and what not to eat based on the condition of how what they are going to consume was grown or raised. Many people choose to eat only organic because it’s said to be healthier but when compared to non-organic food the difference is slim. Regardless people continue to buy organic products. People get emotionally connected to

“What should I eat” “What am I eating and where in the world did it come from?” These are the questions we often ask every time we buy our food. What is it made of and if they are healthy or not? I am one of the “healthy crazy people” that will search for every single content of the food before I buy it. I always look for the “Nutrition Facts” - calories, fat, cholesterol, sodium, and carbohydrate. Just to make sure that I am serving my family the healthy kind of food that is good for their health. On the other hand, I rifle for those nutrient facts but I don’t know where they came from and how it has developed. In this book The Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan, He is trying to prove a point that all the food that we placed