Which of Michael Pollan’s four food chains would best feed the U.S.? In “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” by Michael Pollan he mainly focuses on four food chains in which our foods come from and they are local sustainable,industrial organic, hunter-gatherer, and Industrial. Out of all four of these food chains local sustainable is the best for the U.S. because it protects the environment from harmful chemicals and grows its food organically without preservatives. Local sustainable protects the air around us from getting polluted like industrial farms do. Regular industrial farms cram there animals into tight spaces and leave their manure on the ground until it is necessary to clean up which is not disposing it properly causing toxic smells and chemicals …show more content…
They feel regular industrial farms are the best to feed the U.S. because it provides a quicker route to growing food and has a larger amount of food production. Over the years industrial farms have got bigger and better over time causing small local farms to go bigger also. With industrial farms we are able to grow crops way more faster multiplying the amount of crop production in a year. In a recent article by Enotes titled “Benefits of Industrial Agriculture” it states, “A modern form of agriculture which involves the industrialized production of livestock such as poultry and cattle, fish and crops. ... Techniques include planting multiple crops per year, increasing the use of fertilizers, plant growth regulators, and pesticides.” This shows how much and more food we are able to get due to the new technology and techniques that industrial farms are taking on. Another reason why industrial farms are better for the U.S. is because they are able to turn crop waste into electricity and other good uses. They take in and use lots of livestock waste causing it better in some type of way of getting rid of all the toxic waste. They came up with a better alternative on what to do with animal waste. For example in a article by “New Fashion Pork” it states, “ Farmers watch the evolution of crop prices and track thunderstorms on their smartphones. They use livestock waste to create electricity using anaerobic digesters, which convert manure to methane.” This shows not only with new technology they are able to track crop grow and other sorts but they are also able to turn aout livestock into something better than having it around for awhile. These are reasons why people may disagree with me and feel industrial farms are better to feed the
Thread 1: In The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Pollan describes what the omnivore’s dilemma actually is. He begins his book as a naturalist in a supermarket trying to decide “what to eat?”. This question is harder to answer without asking where the food originates. Knowing where food comes from is very difficult, unless it is locally grown or clearly states it on the package. Processed food is more complicated to understand where it comes from.
Teshaeva Shakhlo 17 of May 2018 English 101 A Richard Cartwright Paper 3 The book "Omnivore's Dilemma" is one of the most important books about food industry politics in the past fifty years. The author of the book Michael Pollan doing his report for New York Times magazine decided to research from where is his food comes from. He started following the food back to the source to clarify his doubts. Basically Omnivore's dilemma describes the food in America describing three main food chains like corn, grass and the forest.
He says that the human race should go back to the diets and lifestyles of our ancestors or in other words go back to the bush. Pollan however disagrees with Burkitts drastic solution and instead agrees with Gyorgy Scrinis’s (2008) solution to the problem, “the most important fact about any food is not its nutrient content but its degree of processing.”
The fast food industry also hurts environments around farms in general. It has created an unsustainable cycle that farmers cannot escape. In order to feed themselves and their family, farmers play it safe and buy more fertilizer than needed. When the farmers do not use all of it, they must dispose of it, because that fertilizer will not be as effective next year, so they dump the fertilizer in the areas surrounding their farms. But what this causes is too much nitrogen in the environment because too much nitrogen can kill plants and throw the nitrogen cycle out of balance, in turn hurting the environment.
“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”.
Animal rights and livestock farming Many of us, nowadays, eat and enjoy eating meat but many would agree that this is actually not an ethical action. Michael Pollan, in his persuasive style article “An Animal's Place" published in The New Work Times Magazine, on November 10, 2002 intends to persuade his audience that humans should respect animals and as long as they are treated well in farms and give them a more peaceful life and death it will be fine to eat them. According to Pollan, in today's huge industrial farms, cruel and unbearable things happen that are against animals rights. There is a high possibility that in the future these actions will stop as already some protest for animal rights have begun, because animals have feelings and farms take advantage of them thinking that they are mere machines, making them suffer. The solution to this conflict according to the author who supports friendly farms that respect and give a fun and secure life for animals.
The article was written in response to the statement farming and food production is leading to climate change. Niman, being a rancher who raises cattle, goats, and turkeys, effectively frames the situation logically by providing credible statistics and examples to help the reader better understand the impacts of different methods of food production. She does this by providing specific information regarding the greenhouse gases involved, being carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxides. Niman, the rhetor, has written this article to try and inform the readers about the differences between traditional style and industrial style methods of food production. She has directed the article towards those concerned about the carbon footprint, we as individuals, are leaving
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.
The procedure of how food is made does not come into concern, only the results do. That is how large industrial farms are accepted, because they provide proficiently. The outcome of industrial farms outweighs the negative impacts, at least to industrial farmers. Pollan responds to Berry’s statement by agreeing with him on the issue of the current industrial model being acceptable to some consumers, only due to the fact that
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 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.
The Omnivor’s Dilemma by Micheal Pollan talks about four different food chains such as industrial, hunter-gathering, local sustainable, and the industrial organic food chain which covers the secrets of the United States food system and what our food actually contains in the book. But have you ever wondered what food chain was the best for America? The industrial organic food chain is the best to feed the US because it’s better for our bodies and the environment. The first reason why the industrial organic food chain is better out of all the other three food chains is from this quote which argues: “It meant being free from the control of corporations.”
With no laws to stop it, moral concern surrendered entirely to economic calculation, leaving no limit to the punishments that factory farmers could inflict to keep costs down and profits up.” (Scully, 159). Factory Farming in itself is a way get more profit and lower cost but also put animals in unclean places and with machines that emits lots of chemicals in the air which harms both animals and the environment. One can infer that if these farms have no rules to how the animals should be treated, then how is the food processed, is the meat even cleaned properly? Referring back to the quote Scully says that there are no regulations therefore people in charge of running the farms can do as they please to maximize profit and cut down
Ambar Delacruz Essay 1: The Omnivore’s Dilemma. 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”?
Resources that are needed are obtained through people harvesting and raising their own food as well as going to the stores to get whatever else is needed. The tools and technology used are tractors, plows, animals, and anything else needed to help make farming as easy as possible for the community. The impact that this strategy have on the environment is the dirt keeps getting more healthy by rotating the crops every so often to put whatever was taken out of the soil back in. Also, some of the grass wouldn’t need to be cut due to animals keeping it down which would allow for less pollutants to be let out. Instead of using fertilizer the animal dun can be used as a natural fertilizer which allows for less chemicals being put into the