Fixing the food system

You are what you eat. If this adage holds true, you are likely a petri dish with legs.

As our population has grown, so has the demand for food; however, this industry has developed far further than being just a means for sustenance. A look at any of our current--seemingly modern--food practices reveals an uncomfortable truth: our diets are filled with chemicals, pesticides, and things that are certainly not "food," marketed in a way to get us to eat more.

As Michael Pollan explores in The Omnivore's Dilemma, "we can eat anything, but how do we know what to eat?" And, perhaps, it's not even what we're eating, but how we got the food in the first place. Pollan outlines 4 main systems that develop our food: industrial, industrial organic, local sustainable, and hunter-gather. The industrial system is what Americans primarily rely on. It's what allows us to eat strawberries in the middle of winter and is responsible for why we consider Pop-Tarts a breakfast food. The vast scale and scope of the industrial system makes McDonald's proud of serving "over 99 billion"--a count that has been lost track of since 1994.

As a society, we enjoy being able to eat what we want, when we want it, and often at gross amounts. Consequently, this system (the industrial system) forces us to rely on a product that is readily available, cheap to produce, and easy to multi-purpose. Corn. Cyclically, we end up growing more because of our reliance on it. It's fed to both cattle and consumer and unless the government alters the way we subsidize farming, not a lot is going to change. Not the way we treat the animals. Not the way we make food. Not the way we treat the environment. And, certainly not the way we feed ourselves.

So, why does it matter?

Until the government begins subsidizing robot parts and I can transfer my consciousness into something that doesn't get sick, my body--our bodies--need to be taken care of. Arguably, we belong to a generation that values exercise more than any other before us. We try to count calories or "watch what we eat," but corporations are allowed to put just about anything into our food so long as it's marketable.

Of course, we can take the burden ourselves and read every label, complete extensive research on foods products, or grow our own food; however, the time or cost associated with this is unaccessible for most. If we claim to be an equitable society then we cannot expect all consumers to have the time or money to be able to research all ingredients eaten by their family--there must be a greater ethical obligation placed on food corporations.

Corporate food producers have proven through their actions (or, in this case, inaction) that they are unwilling to take this responsibility seriously. It's time the law does it for them.