Food Final Question 1

Some people say that food in our culture is one aspect of a larger nightmare. This essay mostly agrees with this statement. Our world today has become an Industrial Civilization where industry is the source of every aspect of production in society, including food. Furthermore, Corporations set standards for what to eat and convince people to eat at fast food restaurants and to purchase readymade food from supermarkets because it is cheaper. The federal government strongly supports this way of life by buttressing the industries with benefits and subsidies. However, many people maintain traditions such as vegetarianism, kosher dietary laws and ethnic traditions.
Industrial civilization is civilization based on machinery and fossil fuels, which includes natural gas, coal and oil. Products of industrial civilization are mass produced in very large factories. Fast, mass production ensures large profits for corporations, which allows them to reduce the prices for the products, which subsequently attracts even more consumers. The government supports this practice because these corporations greatly help the economy and the GDP (gross domestic product). It can also be argued that unemployment is alleviated because many people are required to keep the factories going. Of course, there are many consequences of working in a factory such as unsanitary conditions, dangerous machinery and a low pay
Fossil fuels are quickly being used up by corporations and this is poses an important dilemma for the world. Oil is used for various purposes such as manufacturing products, the machinery itself, the production of food, and as gasoline for vehicles. The dilemma is that we are approaching or have passed peak oil. The theory of peak oil is that the extraction of oil will meet its maximum point, at the time where half of the oil will be exhausted. The United States reached peak oil in the 1970’s, and has since imported oil from all around the world. We are devouring our oil reserves and this has contributed to worldwide peak oil and record gasoline prices.
Not having enough natural resources such as oil is a scary thought, yet there are more things to worry about. Through immense advertising and the tens of thousands of fast food locations across the United States, the fast food industry has soared over the past few decades. Some of the most profitable public and private corporations today are fast food corporations, or prepare food for fast food corporations. The list includes McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Cargill and ADM. In addition, the people that run the franchisees for the fast food chains, struggle to get money for themselves. This is illustrated in the 4th chapter of Fast Food Nation. “It costs about $100,000 to open a subway restaurant, the lowest investment required by any of the major fast food chains. The annual royalty Subway takes from its franchisees—8 perfect of total revenues—is among the highest.” According to the 7th chapter of Omnivore’s Dilemma, fast food is directly linked to obesity Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Yet, one out of every three children eats fast food every single day. And to note, fast food isn’t only purchased at fast food chains, it can be purchases as readymade, microwaveable food at a supermarket.
Food is one aspect of a larger nightmare, but there are still many people who go against the large corporations by conforming to different ways of eating. For instance, vegetarians refuse to eat the meat, poultry, fish and dairy products, which are mass produced, and kosher dietary laws force some to slow the process of producing in order to follow the laws that are necessary. In addition, many ethnic groups prefer to cook their own food every day and to eat together as a family. This definitely does not support the fast food industry. As for corporations other than food corporations, some car manufacturers are now making Hybrid cars that have much more mileage per gallon. This at least attempts to conserve the use of oil.
Hence, we are living in an industrial civilization where corporations dominate our way of life, accumulate huge profits, and mass produce with the use of fossil fuels and machinery. Food in our culture is one aspect of a larger nightmare, but there is still hope to change this lifestyle.