Foodinc

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Environmental Issues Global Warming and Greenhouse effect The average food product travels about 1,500 miles to get to the grocery store, which means that transporting food accounts for 30,800 tons of greenhouse gas emissions every year. Approximately 1 billion people worldwide do not have secure access to food, including 36 million in the US. National and international food and agricultural policies have helped to create the global food crisis but can also help to fix the system. In addition to this, approximately 10 billion animals (chickens, cattle, hogs, ducks, turkeys, lambs and sheep) are raised and killed in the US annually. Nearly all of them are raised on factory farms under inhumane conditions. These industrial farms are dangerous for their workers, pollute surrounding communities, are unsafe to our food system and contribute significantly to global warming. Factory Farming Approximately 10 billion animals (chickens, cattle, hogs, ducks, turkeys, lambs and sheep) are raised and killed in the US annually. Nearly all of them are raised on factory farms under inhumane conditions. These industrial farms are also dangerous for their workers, pollute surrounding communities, are unsafe to our food system and contribute significantly to global warming. Use of pesticides is related to cancers, autism and neurological disorders especially amongst farm workers and their communities. 2. Social Issues Relation between low income families and unhealthy food There is a definite desire of the food companies to sell more products to these people because they have less time, theyre working really hard and they have fewer hours in their day to cook. And the fast food is very reasonably priced. Coke is selling for less than water. So when these things are happening, its easier for lowincome families sometimes to just go in and have a quick meal if they dont get home until 10 oclock at night. At the moment, our food is unfairly priced towards bad food. These facts created obesity in the US. Eventually unprivileged people might result in losing their health by consuming unhealthy subsidized food from Food Inc.
High demands for illegal immigrant workers and their poor working conditions
Farm workers are the backbone of our agricultural industry, bringing fresh food everyday to our tables. They deserve basic workplace protections like good wages, access to shade and water.
However, there is no workers union that can represent workers right in food industry nowadays. Meat packing immigrant workers suffered from lower income in seriously poisoned working environment not knowing much detailed information on what they are doing. While only a handful companies make billions of dollars, those immigrant workers often ended up being either slavers or criminals as illegal immigrants. Health, Food Safety Issues, and less control/options for consumers Health and safety (of the food itself, of the animals produced themselves, of the workers on the assembly lines, and of the consumers actually eating the food) are often overlooked by the companies, and are often overlooked by government in an effort to provide cheap food regardless of these negative consequences. One hamburger patty may include mixture of over 1,000 of different cows, which means that if one among 1,000 is contaminated, the whole patties would be contaminated. The production of food overall has more drastically changed since that time than the several thousand years prior. Controlled primarily by a handful of multinational corporations, the global food production business with an emphasis on the business has as its unwritten goals production of large quantities of food at low direct inputs (most often subsidized) resulting in enormous profits, which in turn results in greater control of the global supply of food sources within these few companies. Eventually it results in less choice for consumers, and we are expected to consume whatever they provide. The global food supply may be in crisis with lack of biodiversity as well as lack of choice. 3. Discussion Question
How the agricultural system might be transformed in a way that preserves its efficiency and productivity while at the same time avoiding the environmental and social costs identified above. The discussion question sounds a bit tricky because it should be increasing both quality and quantity avoiding environmental and societal problems. Shifting the production of food plants from major factory farming operations to large, urban, technical facilities called vertical farms might be considered one of the alternative ideas in achieving sustainable agricultural goals. The advantages of vertical farming may include year-round production, isolation from pests and diseases, controllable resource recycling, and on-site production that reduces transportation costs. While a vertical farm has yet to become a reality, the idea is gaining momentum among those who believe that current sustainable farming methods will be insufficient to provide for a growing global population.
As another alternative, there has been considerable debate about which form of human residential habitat may be a better social form for sustainable agriculture. Many environmentalists advocate urban developments with high population density as a way of preserving agricultural land and maximizing energy efficiency. However, others have theorized that sustainable ecocities, or ecovillages which combine habitation and farming with close proximity between producers and consumers, may provide greater sustainability. The use of available city space (e.g., rooftop gardens, community gardens, garden sharing, and other forms of urban agriculture) for cooperative food production is another way to achieve greater sustainability although it might sound like it might contribute to only a small amount of food supply. However, more importantly, proper education should be spread to consumers to enhance the level of their food choice. Whenever, we purchase things, it is literally we vote and we support their products including their production methods and price. Based on economic supply and demand function, if less people want the unhealthy subsidized food, and more people become conscious and want the healthy organic farm-produced food, it makes a big impact on current Food production system and ignite to change it make it better.

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