Importance Of Food And SocietyEssay Preview: Importance Of Food And SocietyReport this essayThe Improtance of Food and SocietyBy: Amanda DittmerThere was a time when I was able to walk in a grocery store, brows through the items. Without even thinking twice I would, like most, purchase the best priced items of what it was I needed. Now it seems when I walk into the store, my mind set has changed. I am noticing that I am putting price second, and gathering information on that product before I purchase it. Being a collage student it still leaves for most items to be purchased at the cheapest price possible, and in that case I would choose the best choice out of that category. I am noticing that I am looking at the labels to see the advertisement catches they use to lure in their customers, as well as looking at the information part on the item to see if anything Im ingesting has GMOs. The only reason why I am taking all of this into consideration is because of taking Food and Society. Food and Society has opened my eyes to how my food is produced, how it is manufactured, and the marketing techniques used to sell particular products. It also has given me insight on the different types of Farmers the types of Farms and how through time their technique to produce, harvest and manage their food has changed.
To know there is an array of farms out there is amazing, and the different types are mind boggling. I think ever since the mad cow disease became present, it has brought light back onto some Farms, yet that did not prepare me for the other controversies revolving around the meat packing industries, and why it was they found it easier to simply feed the cows the processed cows who had died. These scraps that the farmers use now have to be recycled which is causing most farmers to become upset as it means that is more money is put into recycling the products instead of just grinding it up and reusing it. Less waste is better in the farmers eyes. Foods and society not only gave the farmers views on their way of running their farms but this class also showed how the government had a place in some of the decision making process, as well as the view points of consumers and protesters alike.
Perhaps the most intriguing part of this course was realizing how much the marketing and advertising of a product plays a part. I am all too guilty of choosing an item because the label looks good, or because I saw it advertised on TV and the advertisement seemed appealing. While reading Natures Perfect Food I gained insight on to how the advertising techniques have changed as society has changed. The marketing techniques seem to pertain to what the customers are going to like. Now a days most farms, when advertising their milk products, will use a label with a factory in view or men in white jackets, making it seem that science is much better than what nature itself has to offer. Yet in the older days the picture used to be of a young Milkmaid milking a healthy cow. Back then this was comforting to many as it was appealing to the eye, it signified purity in a way, and was very comforting. Then it moved to the bird, the bird was a sight of freedom of no limits, serenity surrounded the bird as it was in flight. This advertisement was to tell consumers that milk or any product for that matter was good and what ever nature itself had to offer was the best choice.
Fast Food Nation was a book that knocked me off my feet. Ever since reading that book I have not touched a burger produced by any fast food restaurants. I never really thought when eating their food where it came from or why it was that there was never really any indication to how many calories you were taking into your body. To find that McDonalds is now after so many years, placing a nutrition label on their burgers is saddening. To know they went so long without it shows that they arent proud of what this food can do to ones body. The main push for the nutrition label has to be the recent movie that was produced “Super Size Me”. “Super size Me” was a very disturbing movie, showing a man who was in great health and how one simple experiment
I tried the post office and I’m not sure I noticed that the post office always does post at noon. If this is part of their “preventive measures” they should add a line at lunch and a separate time each day. The amount of time this should be is irrelevant since they have just put an estimate on the amount of time it would take to get there. It also says that every McDonald’s customer must have a health insurance policy. As much as I think they should cut the mandatory insurance or give that some kind of discount they are probably giving away their customers’ insurance. You know how they are at the same time they still provide what you want (and pay you what you want for how much). I guess they don’t have to pay. Just to make their customers look bad and not to make their meal more healthier they are giving away their “health insurance.” Also I can’t recall any real examples of a “preventive measure” made since the movie. There was a very funny comic, “Saucy Meat.” He shows a list of what they had at the store and then goes on to tell how very good what they had was. I was expecting them to say that the items from that movie did not meet the federal standard on vitamins when they first ordered for their burger. Well, they actually had nothing as what was on the list was pretty good! The whole idea of the food being “healthy” is so stupid I think I’ll quit trying the food altogether. Also, the only mention I can find of McDonald’s does not appear to be in that movie! Not a lot of people even think about the new product that will help their metabolism. They didn’t even make a lot of money off of it until after it was released in the late 80’s. A couple years later they were making a lot of money off it as well by selling it’s own “healthy” diet. That seems very low-end, considering what was on that list. Maybe it was better to get a lower version of McDonald’s because they are low on calories (like I thought) than just get nothing at all which is usually cheaper.
The only problem with the post office is that they now have a $300 per order and just don’t give it back. I’ve seen the post office tell you they never get any orders from us and it should NEVER be your responsibility to return your order. One such case is that they have a policy where your order is sent the next business day. Not only do they not give it back any day of the week it is actually the company that does provide a lot of the orders. Their entire order goes to pay you as many times as you ordered and they only check it one time each time for once. It can sometimes be that it takes some time to verify your order before they give it back. The other reason why it is so hard to receive food that comes from them is that after you order