The Animals Practicing Complexity Analysis

What makes food organic or natural? People most often use organic and natural as interchangeable words to describe food; however, there is much more to these descriptions than meets the eye. In his essay, 106 Science Claims and a Truckful of Baloney, William Speed, deliberately states what he believes the word natural is in reference to food: only a mystic word used to describe food that is not completely made of synthetic materials. Commonly, organic food is referred to as the better choice, healthier for one’s life, but one cannot take this to heart without executing further research. Of course, whether organic food is reliable or not is not the only question to be asked.

“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”.

These eaters ignore the politics concerning food rather looking for esthetics and quick service. Due to these disregarding’s, the industrial eaters won’t ever realize that eating responsibly is a way “to live free” (2). Berry then lists off seven points regarding how to eat more responsibly for the passive consumers. These points range from “[participating] in food production to the extent that you can” to “[learning] as much as you can, by direct observation and experience if possible, of the life histories of the food species” (Berry 4-5). Berry also believes that it’s important for the animals that meat comes from to have lived a pleasant life.

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

In Blake Hurst’s “The Omnivore’s Delusion: Against the Agri-Intellectuals,” he opposes the accusations made by tofu-eating, recycled-toilet-paper-using, self-starving Michael Pollan and his followers. Throughout “The Omnivore’s Delusion…,” Hurst mentions how methods of farming have evolved to match demands of produce. The author states that “Only ‘Industrial farming’ can possibly meet the demands of an increasing population and increased demand for food as a result of growing incomes” (Hurst 4). This quote essentially means that “Industrial Farming” is the most efficient way to farm for today’s population level. A second point that is made by Hurst is that changes made by today’s farming are necessary.

Farming in the United States has changed in the last few decades from what most people would consider. Farms used to be small to medium size family run businesses but are now operated by a few large corporations, or agribusinesses. The industrialization of farming has created what is now known as factory farms or concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). “Factory farming is the process of raising large numbers of livestock in a high-density environment, where the farm operates as a factory rather than as a small business” (Hobson). Factory Farm Nation discusses the reason for and cost of America turning its livestock farms into factories.

I chose to write about factory farming because I’m with familiar with it. Growing up on a 500-acre farm has given me the chance to scrutinize the importance that they are to our community. Throughout my childhood there was always fresh meat and vegetables on the table. When other families were worrying about the recent recall on the type of meat they had just purchased or the chemicals being sprayed onto their fruits and vegetable, I was left wondering why these other families just didn’t do as we did. Having your own family farm not only saves money that you would spend in the grocery store, but also allows for your family to bond over something that’s not on TV.

In the novel The Omnivore's Dilemma, author Micheal Pollan talks extensively about corn. He discusses the ecological, economical, and biological effects it has on humans and our environments. Most often, he brings up the shocking statistic that twenty-five percent of all supermarket items contain corn. Pollan steers away from taking a stance on this, but the strong voice in his writing shows the reader how he feels about corn's prevalence. He, rather obviously, thinks of it as a problem.

In today’s world, we are seeing the sustainable family farm dying off. These farms provide high quality food and produce, challenge and compete between other small farms to create this high quality market, and don’t use up our natural resources. However, with the rise of corporate farms, food quality has been compromised, they kill off smaller farms and lessen the competition, and they are depleting the natural resources we have. On the flip side of each, though, sustainable farms cannot produce in mass quantities, it is much more labor intensive and harder to manage and take care of, and it there is much more to pay attention to.

In many ways, Farm City is a political book that touches areas that the city population didn’t know existed. When we imagine a farm we think large vast area with perfect sunny weather and huge sum of produce. What we learn from this book is that we can be a farmer with just planting a pot of vegetation by the windowsill or keeping a pet rabbit with intent to kill it and consume it. I spontaneously went to the flee market one Sunday and came across some rabbits. I currently am raising a bunny in my apartment that I adore and although I might not kill it myself, I heard rabbit’s meat is delicious.

Imagine being born into a beautiful world full of opportunity, and then suddenly, life ends at at a shocking 6 months old. This is the life of a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) pig. This short and tortuous life is equivalent to a human living to the age of 26 months. CAFOs are used all across the nation for mass production of meat and dairy. An average CAFO looks like a regular warehouse from the outside.

I know a lot of people don 't know how to farm nor do they want to. But a lot of people forget on caring about where and how they got their produce as long as it is on the market for them to feed themselves or their families. What they don 't know is more and more these days the animals are living in horrible factories their whole lives. Which means they aren 't being treated wrong. They are neglected with the proper food and are being drugged with medications like steroids.

Farm life is about production and usefulness.

Introduction Perdue Farms is one of the largest producers of broilers in the United States. The company was started in 1920 by Arthur Perdue on his farm in Maryland. The company began selling eggs in the beginning and in 1925 the company built its first hatchery and began specializing in layer chicks selling. It’s not out of the ordinary for a company to experience controversies during their success. Perdue Farms is one of those brand names that has had many difficulties in the form of environmental issues, workplace safety, government-regulation compliance, operations problems, and more commonly animal-treatment controversies.

As Patel himself states, we need to get inside the hourglass and make the food system work for all of us, as farmers, producers, distributers, and consumers as a whole. Regardless of the confusion a first time reader may run across, this book does one thing undoubtedly right: it makes you think long and hard about everything you thought you knew about food. It goes far past GMOs and RoundUp, way beyond HFCS and the overproduction of soybeans, over and above those who are stuffed and those who are starved. Throughout the span of the novel, Patel not only helps you realize that there are many issues in our food economy, but also makes you feel how vital it is to take back what we did not even realize had long been