Reflection Essay

Andrew Beard

Mr. Wojewodski

14 October 2010

Reflection Essay

            I learned a lot about how food is produced and distributed in the United States and a lot of things stood out to me. First of all, I was saddened about the loss of the woman’s child because he died so young just because E-coli was in the food he ate. This made me realize that I should be careful of what I eat in case it has harmful things in it and the FDA did nothing to enforce food quality even though someone died because of poor food quality. I felt sorry for the woman because she was not allowed to say anything offensive about meat companies across America or she would be in a lot of trouble. In general, I think meat companies should handle their meat with a lot of care and I think they should follow sanitation regulations to ensure quality meat for the people who buy it.

            One thing that I thought was very interesting was that farmers feed the cows corn instead of grass, which is natural for them. I understand that the farmers want the cows to grow fatter so they can butcher them faster, but I think the cows should eat what is normal for them, which is grass. In the film, I liked how the farmer in Virginia fed his cows with grass and let them free unlike the cow ranches where they were trapped together and forced to eat corn. I definitely think it is better to eat meat from a cow that eats grass than to eat meat from a cow that eats corn because meat is fresh and healthy from cows that eat grass. When cows eat corn, they develop a bug that grows in their stomach and since they are crowded around so many other cows, they spread that bug. I think that is why eating organic meat is better since there could be many harmful chemicals in the meat most Americans eat.

            Another interesting thing that stood out to me was that in reality, it is more expensive to buy organic foods and healthy meat than it is to buy junk food and other unhealthy products. There are many poor families in the United States and they cannot afford to buy high priced organic food at the grocery store every week. Instead, they must go to fast food restaurants in order to save money on food every day. Many of the families that use this method are overweight because the fast food products are extremely unhealthy but this is the only way that families can provide for themselves. Many people in the United States would say that they would go to McDonald’s for a dollar cheeseburger instead of going to the grocery store and buying organic products that cost a lot more. This might be true, but buying organic products will save your health instead of buying a dollar cheeseburger in which you do not even know what is in it. If the FDA could just lower the prices of organic and healthy foods at grocery stores, than maybe the word about organic food might spread throughout the United States and our country could become healthy again.

            After learning all about food and how it is produced, I still wonder where all of it comes from. Much of the meat is made from cow ranches in the United States and then shipped to local grocery stores. This method uses a lot of gas, which is bad for the environment and contributes to global warming and it costs a lot of money for big rigs and trucks to deliver all the products since they get low mileage per gallon of gas. This is going to continue to happen unless Americans start to buy their produce and meat from local farmers. The products from local farms are usually higher quality than the products at a grocery store but the problem again is that most Americans are not willing to pay more for organic products. This is an undergoing problem in the United States because many farmers cannot sell their products if they are more expensive than the grocery store’s. I think Americans have to make a tough choice to buy local or go to the grocery store, but at this economic downfall, most people just cannot afford to buy local products.

            I had a lot of mixed feelings about the film we watched in class. I thought it was pretty disgusting about how the farmers butchered the cows in the factories and how they put their hands into the cow’s stomach to get the meat out. I do not like the idea that the farmers force the cows to eat corn and I like to see cows happily in the fields eating grass. I think organic is the way to go at local farms and markets and I think most of the meat in supermarkets has chemicals in it so people should be aware of what they are buying. I did not know there was a USDA permanent seal on foods that are 100 percent organic because I see a lot of food in the grocery stores that say they are organic but I guess they have to have the seal now. After watching the film, I will now be aware of everything I am eating, especially meat and I will limit the amount of fast food I eat.

            I might change my diet after everything I learned because I want to eat organic now and I will definitely try to eat local produce. There are many produce markets near my house that I can buy fresh grown fruits and vegetables that I know are organic. I do not think I will start eating local meat because it is expensive but I will look for fresh meat at my supermarket that I can rely on. I will eat fast food in moderation since now I know that it is has chemicals in it and I will buy organic as much as possible.