John Taylor
Production Draft #1
English 101
One of the biggest challenges our country faces today, is the over consumption of corn based products. Ever since the 1820’s, America has been literally obsessed with anything made of corn. Expanding throughout the years, the processer is more versatile than ever. With hundreds of ways to create processed foods, food chains all across America have more ways to “hook” a customer than ever before. Companies such as McDonalds can now produce addictive foods, such as the ever so famous Big Mac, or Chicken nuggets. So I guess a question one might ask themselves is, “Why produce so much processed foods?” Quite simply, it all comes down to price and profit. Like every other business out there, fast food restaurants sole purpose is to keep themselves afloat and make money in the process. Processed food is the key to success. Not only are the ingredients cheap to produce and purchase, but customers will be constantly drawn towards these addictive and appealing foods. In other words, people like cheap food and companies realize that.
Good quality food is brought up in Pollen’s novel when he debates on whether organic food is more beneficial then conventionally grown food. According to Pollen, the organic food industry has seen a significant rise in popularity in the past 30 years. Why switch to organic you may ask? First off, everything is “all natural”, which means your food isn’t going to be covered in pesticides. Also, switching to organic means you’re helping the environment as well, in the sense that you’re supporting the farming practices that farmers use to help limit the pollution and conserve water and soil. Even though all of these are positive points, the growth of organic foods results in a more expensive sale price. In this case, the higher quality food is seen as the more expensive item for obvious reasons. As we look at organic food and the consumption of it, we realize that it has a surprising...