Text Summary: What's Eating America By Michael Pollan

Eating food produced within a hundred-mile radius has never been a prominent concern historically, though there has been a recent increase in this trend. Those that are rigorously set on this new ideology are being labeled “locavores”. Christophe Pelletier, being a proficient individual on the topic of food production had an educated opinion on the locavore’s predicted way of life. Pelletier’s, “The Locavore’s Dilemma”, provides multiple examples to support his belief that informing every resident of the carbon footprint their food contains would realistically carryout the locavore’s ideology to a more viable agriculture. His blog post on this ideology goes into depth about the physical and economical destruction they would provoke. This would include: the possibility of famine, lack of needed nutritional supplements,

Buying local is the new slogan of producers and sellers selling their foods in the food market. There are a few stances that can be taken such as not bothering to care about where the food came from, getting what can be purchased within reason, and the extreme locavore. Although eating local and organic is desirable, it is improbable to create a sustainable lifestyle with the given difficulties.

Does the origin of where our food is being produced really matter? Is there actually a difference between locally produced food and food bought from supermarkets? How can one truly find a difference? Locavores, question this issue by providing reasons as to why one should join this movement. The locavore movement has become a progressing trend, which many people choose to follow around the world. A locavore is somebody who prefers to eat locally grown products rather than products sold in supermarkets. They believe that food grown locally is more nutritious, better in taste and greatly supports the community. However, what most people do not realize is the negative impact it has on a

A new type of agriculture, locavore, is becoming larger and larger, the locavore lifestyle is promised to give anyone who lives it a healthy life. locavore is the practice of only consuming locally grown foods. Joining the locavore movement and eating locally grown foods is more healthy and helpful to the human body, but forcefully changing Americaʼs diet would prove to be dreadfully difficult, not to mention the negative impact it will have on the economy, including the fact that eating local foods is not the only way to stay healthy .There are many issues that must be taking into account before determining whether a transition so large would truly benefit any community or wreak havoc.

In the educative essay “What’s Eating America,” Michael Pollan designates the history of corn, a good and healthy food if cultivated properly. This essay is very informative because it talks about American’s diet. In this essay, Pollan examines the way of growing the corn as an influential example of using the chemical fertilizers in food. Also, He complains “Growing corn, which from a biological perspective had always been a process of capturing sunlight to turn it into food, has in no small measure become a process of converting fossil fuels into food…” (Pollan 302). While it might be very useful when used in a prudent way, in reality the usage of chemical fertilizers is higher and the farmers are feeding their corps more than it needs which affect the ecology’s system. In other words, his focus is on corn and not only does him just points out corn presence in nearly all food products; but he comes up with other matters like fossil fuels and the factories polluting the atmosphere. Thus, it’s astonishing when someone stops and thinks about how many things are composed from corn.

Nations are judged and measured by their production and selling of goods and services. Not only has increased consumerism resulted in ecological imbalance, it is also depleting earth’s natural resources, which in turn is creating an environmental crisis. One of the biggest products being consumed is food. Rapidly growing world’s population requires increased food production. Author Anna Lappe does an excellent job expounding on the impact that food production and distribution has on the environment. Lappe (2015) argues that modern practices of food production directly contribute to air pollution and increases carbon dioxide emissions (par. 11). Crop production uses an absurd amount of land, artificial fertilizer, and harmful pesticides that seriously pollutes the environment and threatens young children and wildlife species. Author Sandra Steingraber (2015) also argues that increased consumerism has led to a high usage of harmful chemicals to produce products for consumers (par.

Global warming, pollution, and dwindling fossil fuels will always be the conservational problems if nobody starts to buy local grown foods. Katherine Spriggs, author of the essay, “On Buying Local,” explains how having a large variety of foods at all times of the year is not worth the negative effects in the communities and their economies (Spriggs 92). As a community, many environmental challenges are being faced; Buying local will help bring advantages to not only the environment, but also the small towns and the

Consumers have become increasingly detached from their food as America’s food system grows larger and continues to ruin the environment. The main problem is that most consumers do not know how their consumption habits affect the ecosystem around them. Nor do they know about how their food was produced. Information about how and where the food is being produced and wasted is essential, so people can shop responsibly. Short of legislation, Americans make choices at the grocery store. It is essential for all Americans to cast in a vote with their dollars to change the way that food is produced in the United States resulting in more sustainable food being more accessible in the aisles of the grocery store for all Americans.

When we look at food, we should sit and wonder, “What is in this food, how was it raised, and what benefits are provided by it?” When we buy food at a big box store or from a restaurant we may not get these answers. Big box stores will try and tell you that they provide the best and safest foods in their stores, but they are providing a product that is mass produced. When something is mass produced, the quality control suffers and we must wonder what is seen as okay and what could be seen as detrimental. Either way you are allowing companies to tell you what is good for you instead of trusting yourself. When we buy local or grow our own, we are left without questions and instead feel satisfaction from the wholesome meal we just consumed. When

As Americans gain more and more options in the food industry, many are wondering where the best place to purchase meals to put on their table. Upon going to the supermarket they can look around not knowing which of the many brands and types of the same product are more healthy, how long they have been sitting out, and if they are even safe to eat. There is a very simple solution to this problem: becoming a locavore and eating goods that are grown locally. By going to farmer’s markets a customer can be certain they know their food is fresh, help boost their local economy by buying their groceries locally, and help prevent the air pollution caused by carting food long distances. Communities should make the healthy,

One key issue addressed by the locavore movement is how the economy is affected locally. Many believe that the movement allows for a better local economy, since the produce is being bought from nearby farms. In fact, one study done by the New Economics Foundation discovered that locally spent money “generates 2 times as much income”, an extremely significant amount (Source A). It has already been found that money put into locally grown products stays within the community, allowing the economy to further grow and support other local businesses. With the movement’s growth rate, small farms have seen a “revival.” As more people look for locally grown food, more farms are needed to keep them fed. The impact has been so great that even American politicians have included

Bryan Walsh claims that most of our food is increasingly bad for us even dangerous. The world is killing 10 and thousands of cattle, chickens,and pigs. Everyone in the world think that farmers are the enemy there are not but they need help to prove that they aren’t what you think. Organic food continue to cost on average several times more than it’s counterparts, and no goes the farmers markets for bargains. Some south americans are heeding such warning and working to transform the way the calories of potato chips or 875 calories of soda but just 250 calories of vegetables or 170 calories of fresh fruit. As the developing world grows richer, hundreds of millions of people will want to shift to the same calorie-heavy, protein-rich diet that has made Americans so unhealthy but the Earth can no longer delivery. The U.S agricultural industry can now produce unlimited quantities of meat and grains at remarkably cheap prices. Now I just talked about how corn took over america, fat from corn, and getting real about the high price of cheap food.country eats, ranchers and farmers who are raising sustainable food in ways that don’t bankrupt the earth. A study in the american journal of clinical nutrition found a dollar could buy

According to Brainyquote.com, chef Tyler Florence once said,”The concept of being a locavore, or one who chooses whenever possible to incorporate locally grown or locally produced food into one's nutrition plan, is of great importance.”In the early 20th century, large corporate farms became a big thing in america, and that pushed aside the small locally grown farms. Then in the 1960s and 1970s people began to grow relationships with farmers, which led to the trading of goods, and locally grown farms began to come back. Plus, locally grown food is better for the environment and for your health. That is what you will read about in this essay. You will about three main points, how locally grown food is better for the environment than conventional

Aisles are lined with a majority of junk foods while fresh produce has become scarce. Most processed foods “contain highly refined ingredients like wheat flour, corn syrup and vegetable oils” (Gunnars). The government does not require a certain amount of natural resources to be used in the production of foods in a market economy. However, the government does require that companies list the ingredients their products contain on the package (Duffy). This allows the consumers to determine if the companies are producing their products with “enough” natural ingredients. Therefore, the companies can use few and inexpensive ingredients to make their products and the government cannot limit them, but their consumers can. In 2015, corn was planted across 87.9 million acres of the United States (Source). The extreme abundance of corn results from its “incredibly high yields, [growth] nearly anywhere in the country” and the ability to “[turn it] into a staggering array of products” (Foley). Therefore, the other crops are left very little room to grow. This leads to a scarcity in fresh vegetable and fruits which are high in vitamins and a plethora of junk foods with little to no nutritional

We can save energy by purchasing locally grown and produced foods. Consumption local means, more money stays within our community. Every dollar expended generates twice as much revenue for the indigenous economy. Local crop is fresher and tastes better because it is typically sold within 24 hours of being selected. If we purchase food at a conventional grocery store, it may have been kept in storing for days or weeks. When we buy local foods, we create an extra near relationship with the persons who grow