Engineered for Problems

While watching Food, Inc., I was surprised to learn exactly how much our food is altered and engineered to fit the growing demand for food. One of the most affected food groups is the meat industry. Cows are being fed corn, instead of grass, because corn makes cows grow fatter at a faster rate. The problem with feeding cows corn is that their stomachs are designed to break down corn; cows are meant to eat grass. Farmers might say that feeding cows corn is the cheaper alternative, but that might not be the case. When cows live in grass fields, rather than being locked up in manure covered fields, they are both fertilizing the ground and mowing the grass, while helping their bodies receive the proper nutrition. When cows are forced to be locked up in a small field where the ground is covered in manure, they are at risk of becoming contaminated with e coli, which will cause our food to be contaminated. People can, and will die from eating contaminated food, which is why we need to do more to ensure our food safety.

Another meat item that has been greatly altered is the poultry industry. Chickens are now being fed antibiotics in order to encourage rapid growth. Chickens are growing at a faster rate, and at a rate that their bodies are unable to withhold. The reason for the antibiotics is so chickens will not only grow faster, but also will have bigger breasts, so there will be more meat to sell. The chickens are not meant to eat growth hormones which speed up their growth, and neither are people. By eating chickens that have been fed antibiotics, people are putting themselves at risk of growth problems due to the antibiotics being passes on.

The food we eat is no longer safe. Most of the food at a supermarket is engineered to appeal to peoples senses, whether taste or sound. For example, when you bite into a potato chip, the wonderful crunching sound you hear has been designed to appeal to your hearing. By altering our food to fit our wants, businesses are profiting. Big businesses do not care about how healthy their food is, as long as they bring in money to the business, they are happy. We need to take a step back and consider what types of foods we are putting into our bodies before we harm them. People need healthy, natural food, not genetically altered and engineered plants or antibiotic feed animals. By altering the most simple and basic parts of our lives, we are designing more and more problems for the future.

Food, Inc. Dir. Robert Kenner. 2008.