The Current State Of America's Meat Industry

To depict the extent to which humans have twisted nature in the food industry, Michael Pollan offers anecdotes detailing modern slaughterhouses and the industrialization of meat, one of which is written about his personal connection with a steer raised for slaughter. Similar to the meat industrialization system he describes, the manner in which Pollan writes is clear and methodical, each animal designated by a number and their histories described succinctly; steer 9534’s name, for example, “signifies she was the thirty fourth cow born in 1995” (Pollan 69). However, this system greatly differs from the original nature of the process which Pollan describes. Before the mechanization of the meat industry, cattle grazed in

Factory farms having locked doors only reinforces what some of us already suspect. That they are engaging in activities appalling to the public. Their secrecy is seemingly sustaining their business. Consumers’ ignorance of the meat production business only encourages inhumane animal husbandry. Foer says, “the power brokers of factory farming know that their business model depends on consumers not being able to see (or hear about) what they do.” (pg. 87) This is why we need to educate ourselves on this matter extensively and start actively demanding where our meat is coming from. Advocating for animal welfare is one way we can begin the process of changing or ultimately ending factory farming.

This paper will review and discuss Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, A Natural History of Four Meals, which was named a New York Times best seller. Michael holds the prestigious title of the John S. and James L. Knight Professor of Journalism at Berkeley, as well as being a contributor to the New York Times Magazine. He also has the distinction of being named one of the one hundred most influential people in the world by Time magazine. The author will discuss the book, its references to the omnivores dilemma, but most importantly how the author views the content of the book. Which is how the government and the agribusiness have their hands on our dinner table deciding what and how American’s should eat.

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan brings to light the food choices Americans make on a daily basis. In chapters 1, 2, and 3, of The Omnivore's Dilemma, Pollan addresses the issues related to food to enlighten the reader of America's poor food production processes and its unhealthy consequences. After informing the reader where food really comes from, he educates the reader about healthy food options that one should take on a consistent basis. Near, the end of the book, the author takes a look into the past to demonstrate how food used to be processed.

Introduction: A summary of Omnivore's Dilemma and Pollan's critique of America's industrial food production and distribution system. Today's world agricultural system is controlled by a few large corporations that exploit the poor, the small farmers and peasants, and even use slave labor. They also control the seeds, prices, fertilizers, and even the genome of plants and animals, and this system should become more democratic and decentralized, with more power for producers and consumers, but it would be a mistake to regress back to a feudal or prescientific past.

In his journalistic investigation into the depths of industrial agriculture, Michael Pollan analyzes “what it is we’re eating, where it came from, how it found its way to our table, and what it really cost” in an effort to provide both himself and his readers with an educated answer to the surprisingly complex question of “what should we have for dinner?” (Pollan 411, 1). However, what appears as a noble attempt to develop a fuller understanding of the personal, social, and environmental implications of food choices soon reveals itself as a quest to justify Pollan’s own desire to continue eating meat despite its undeniable detriments to animals, human health, and the environment. Indeed, the mere title of Pollan’s book The Omnivore’s Dilemma as well as his assertion in the book’s introduction that “omnivory offers the pleasures of variety,” exposes the author’s gustatory preferences that prompt him to ask which meat to eat, rather than if to eat meat at all (Pollan 4). This preemptive refusal, due to mere gastronomic pleasure, to consider methods of eating responsibly that do not involve meat renders Pollan’s investigative endeavor essentially meaningless why would he take the time and effort to thoroughly examine the consequences of his food choices if he vowed at the outset to not allow his discoveries to truly shift his eating habits? Why would he write an entire book delving into the minute details of industrialized food production only to advise himself and his audience

What is the price of cheap meat? Is the mistreatment of animals, immigrants, manipulation of local politics, and monopolizing industry really something that people want to support just so they can purchase meat cheaper and in larger quantities? Ted Genoways book The Chain: Farm, Factory, and the Fate of Our Food dives into the meat packing industry, specifically Hormel and the Quality Pork Processors Inc. He investigates how the factory is run, how the employees are exploited and mistreated, the abuse of the hogs that are used for the meat, and the overall disgust that stems from the industry. Big business has always had a reputation for being shady and always looking for new ways to manipulate rules and regulations in order for them to maximize

Michael Pollan is the author of several New York Times bestseller books including the Omnivore’s Dilemma. He is a professor of journalism at UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Michael Pollan’s perspective on food is that we should know what is in it and where it comes from, who grows it and how. The theme of this book is the industrial revolution for food. Its purpose is to make awareness that our food is getting its energy from our resources. Michael Pollan’s goal with the omnivore’s dilemma was to shed light on the way we eat now by telling stories about how we ate then and explaining the pros and cons of our change. He introduces his book about food

“I think using animals for food is an ethical thing to do, but we 've got to do it right. We 've got to give those animals a decent life and we 've got to give them a painless death. We owe the animal respect.” ― Temple Grandin. Temple Grandin brings up a brilliant point, it’s okay to eat meat but it’s not okay to treat these animals throughout their life as just something that you will be killing. They have the right to live healthily and in a property environment. Throughout the novel The Chain by Ted Genoways it brings a light to all the dangerous conditions animals and workers go through and what actually goes into the meat you buy in stores. Although low prices on farm produced meat sound enticing, the abused caused to animals and the dangerous working conditions for workers cause dangerously poor sanitation, and can affect many Americans health.

Pollan states that meat we eat “comes from grocery store, where is cut and packaged to look as little like parts of animals as possible.” The article is interesting because it looks at two sides of an argument that apparently has no end in sight. In addition, it is written by an individual who is an animal rights activist and also a meat eater. Pollan has taken a look and given a thought to lot of issues and has arrived at the following conclusion: there is an alternative to both vegetarianism and looking the other way as regards meat production, that will allow him to go on eating meat, while refraining from participating in a system which subject’s animals to huge cruelties in order to place them on people ‘s plates. Although pollan brings

The consumption of meat over recent decades has become more than just a means of nutrition for the body, but also a game of hunting animals for recreation and sport. Along with the popularization of hunting animals for sport came the early endangerment and extinction of certain species. With this hobby the question arose, is it ethical to hunt and or eat meat? After reading “Consider the Lobster” written by David Foster Wallace, a person may consider the history any meat goes through before it is ready for consumption. However, the consumption of meat is seen as a normal thing to do on a daily basis, especially in America because our meals are typically centered around the meat being the main item of the meal. After reading “Ethics and the

The answers Pollan offers to the seemingly straightforward question posed by this book have profound political, economic, psychological, and even moral implications for all of us. Beautifully written and thrillingly argued, The Omnivore’s Dilemma promises to change the

People today believe that the government is supposed to eliminate any possible danger from the food they consume, but that is not the case. In the book Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of The All-American Meal written by Eric Schlosser, he discusses numerous problems with food production. Some of these issues are discussed in the “Epilogue”, “What’s In Meat”, and “Most Dangerous Job” chapters where Schlosser elaborates on the government’s role and how workers are mistreated. In the article, “U.S. Meatpacking Under Fire: Human Rights Group Calls for Line Speed Reduction, ERGO Standards,” it explains how the working conditions in the meat packaging industry are hazardous and are violations of basic human rights. Although workers are affected by the government’s role in the food industry, consumers are affected as well. The consequences of the lack of governmental oversight, like food contamination and others, are discussed in the film Food Inc. “Escaping the Regulatory Net: Why Regulatory Reform Can Fail Consumers”, an academic journal written by Henry Rothstein, explains how “putting consumers first” is difficult for the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to accomplish because with consumer’s interests that means regulatory reforms are most likely going to fail.

In addition to his solutions, Pollan’s modern narrative sheds light on the façade of our food industries; asking us to rethink what we know. Despite the mention of certain inhumane acts in All Animals are Equal, Pollan takes us one step further to uncover the reason for which we continue to purchase our corrupt food. We all know animal abuse exists, but the average consumer like myself is more worried about the best price and the fastest way to get a burger rather than how fairly the animals are treated in the process. Whether it be the confined living space of chickens or the mental and physical torture of pigs, we continue to blind ourselves from reality. Is it purely out of selfishness? Or are we too ignorant to come to terms with our wrong doings? Like Pollan explains, it takes seeing the abuse before the shame of our disrespect can be felt (pg.6). After seeing Pollan’s truth, I might now think twice before eating out and the choice to support organic produce can make a dramatic difference for those farmers who promote the ethical lifestyle.

As humanity becomes more civilized, many of us perceive that eating livestock is morally incorrect, but aren’t we are designed to be an omnivore? Our teeth and digestive system serve the purpose of breaking down animal and plant foods and to bring these important nutrients to every part of the body. Despite the fact that, in 2011, U.S. meat and poultry production reached more than 92.3 billion pounds, the ethic of killing and eating animals as well as the concern of the environmental burden caused by the production of meats is debatable. However, animal based diet is necessary for the human body to function properly and we can choose the meat produced from environmentally sustainable farms to avoid the moral ambiguity.