The following blog post was created for Writing, Research an Technology which I am taking at Rowan University. After watching the movie Food Inc. we were asked to choose and consider 3 questions from a list of 17 questions based on issues that were discussed in the movie. I have included the questions that I chose and my opinion on what the answers are/should be.
3. Whose responsibility do you think it is to inform us about what is in our food? Is it our responsibility to find out, the producer's responsibility to make it more clear, or both? Why do you think so?
I chose this question because it is one that I feel very strongly about. In the past, I have stopped eating certain foods after finding out what was in them. I believe that many educated consumers would do the same thing once they knew exactly what was in their food. I think it is the producer's responsibility to inform us about what is in our food. As a consumer who has no choice but to purchase food to survive, allowing these companies to turn huge profits, the least they can do is make consumers aware of what they are putting in our food. Producers should make the composition of ingredients, as well as the process they put these ingredients through before they are put in our food, a matter of common knowledge among consumers. They appear to have made profits their main concern and in the mean time they have lowered their regard for the consumer. Seeing how producers fight to limit what must be on food labels in Food Inc. indicates that they think they might lose sales if consumers were better informed. These companies have the funds and resources to inform consumers, and it is my opinion that a percentage of profits should be dedicated to doing just that.
4. Kevin's mother says, "Sometimes it feels like industry was more protected than my son." What do you think of her words?
I think that she means since her son could die from eating a hamburger and the company that was responsible for the tainted meat could remain open, even if they showed consistent issues with food safety, that the government seemed to be more concerned with protecting the rights of the industry than making sure that innocent consumers, like her son, were protected from becoming ill and/or dying just because they purchased something to eat. I think she is right. When a child, or anyone, dies as a result of eating something that should never have made it off of the kill room floor, it is the government's responsibility to protect the consumer from having this happen again. The government should not be concerned with the rights of the company at the point when consumers are found to be in danger, especially when they have been put in danger multiple times by the same company.
9. Do you think healthy eating should be a right, a responsibility, or a privilege?
I think healthy eating is a right. As discussed in the movie, healthy food is much more expensive than unhealthy food. As a result, poor people tend to eat less healthy foods, sometimes having to make the choice between life-saving medications and fruits and vegetables. I do not think this is fair. I have often heard my parents discussing how easy it is to find a coupon for a bag of chips, when there is never a coupon that can be used for fresh produce. As discussed in Food Inc., since it is more profitable for companies to sell non-fresh items, they have no motivation to lower the cost of produce. I believe this imbalance should be corrected, especially since these packaged foods are killing us. It is not okay for the poor among us to not be able to eat in a way that is beneficial to their health. I believe this is especially true in a country that prides itself in the rights of its citizens. There is no reason why companies should be able to make billions selling food when all citizens do not have proper access to any kind of food that they want to buy. If profits have to be lowered to accomplish this, so be it.
3. Whose responsibility do you think it is to inform us about what is in our food? Is it our responsibility to find out, the producer's responsibility to make it more clear, or both? Why do you think so?
I chose this question because it is one that I feel very strongly about. In the past, I have stopped eating certain foods after finding out what was in them. I believe that many educated consumers would do the same thing once they knew exactly what was in their food. I think it is the producer's responsibility to inform us about what is in our food. As a consumer who has no choice but to purchase food to survive, allowing these companies to turn huge profits, the least they can do is make consumers aware of what they are putting in our food. Producers should make the composition of ingredients, as well as the process they put these ingredients through before they are put in our food, a matter of common knowledge among consumers. They appear to have made profits their main concern and in the mean time they have lowered their regard for the consumer. Seeing how producers fight to limit what must be on food labels in Food Inc. indicates that they think they might lose sales if consumers were better informed. These companies have the funds and resources to inform consumers, and it is my opinion that a percentage of profits should be dedicated to doing just that.
4. Kevin's mother says, "Sometimes it feels like industry was more protected than my son." What do you think of her words?
I think that she means since her son could die from eating a hamburger and the company that was responsible for the tainted meat could remain open, even if they showed consistent issues with food safety, that the government seemed to be more concerned with protecting the rights of the industry than making sure that innocent consumers, like her son, were protected from becoming ill and/or dying just because they purchased something to eat. I think she is right. When a child, or anyone, dies as a result of eating something that should never have made it off of the kill room floor, it is the government's responsibility to protect the consumer from having this happen again. The government should not be concerned with the rights of the company at the point when consumers are found to be in danger, especially when they have been put in danger multiple times by the same company.
9. Do you think healthy eating should be a right, a responsibility, or a privilege?
I think healthy eating is a right. As discussed in the movie, healthy food is much more expensive than unhealthy food. As a result, poor people tend to eat less healthy foods, sometimes having to make the choice between life-saving medications and fruits and vegetables. I do not think this is fair. I have often heard my parents discussing how easy it is to find a coupon for a bag of chips, when there is never a coupon that can be used for fresh produce. As discussed in Food Inc., since it is more profitable for companies to sell non-fresh items, they have no motivation to lower the cost of produce. I believe this imbalance should be corrected, especially since these packaged foods are killing us. It is not okay for the poor among us to not be able to eat in a way that is beneficial to their health. I believe this is especially true in a country that prides itself in the rights of its citizens. There is no reason why companies should be able to make billions selling food when all citizens do not have proper access to any kind of food that they want to buy. If profits have to be lowered to accomplish this, so be it.
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