*Quote: Agriculture gave rise to rudimentary economic organization and specialization, to accounting and management, to trade and speculation, and ultimately, to an explicit economic paradigm - capitalism - . . . the move to labor-saving technologies, the shift to larger production scales, and the creation of a global system of food trade-"(xiii)
- This paragraph shows how drastically industry has been changed so far. This fast progress brought large amount of benefits as well as crisis which we should concern for our future.
- This ominus title let us be serious and concern about this crisis. The End of Food could be showed up in the future. I mean people are just concerning about productivity and efficiency of the product in the foodindurstry. I think we should take care more about how we solve potential problem, such as 'the end of food'.
Chloe Johnson : In terms of the impending collapse of the food system, I feel it is appropriate to talk about the food system with such heavy language. Upon reading this title, my first interpretation of this was not necessarily the end of all food, but the end of quality food. In a society in which the "social meal is obsolete" it is only natural that consequences such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes will occur. However, Roberts suggests it is the food system itself that created such a food-unconscious society. Ignoring external and socially undesirable outcomes "real food" and "nutritious food" have been replaced with meals that do not even exceed the basic necessities a body needs. In present day production methods are the reflection of a profit-driven point of view and at the lowest-cost possible. Though financially the return by be positive, its repercussions have been massively undesirable. I feel by this title, Roberts is not only alluding to the fact the food system will eventually fail, but that real food is almost non-existent as well. I feel this title could not be more appropriate. Chloe Johnson
The End of Food in my opinion is a great title because the food system today is not what it was when people got their food from a local farm or farmers market. Roberts explains that because of growth of large farms producing for large corporations the food quality has dropped significantly. These large farms are not concerned with the condition of their farms or their product. Their only concern is how much money is coming in. Though there are benefits from having these large scale farms producing large quantities of food for the U.S and other countries the negative externalities due to these farms are not worth it. The harmful effects on the environment due to the transportation of these products and the development of these products are exhausting the land and using large amounts of natural resources. "Physically, food is so unsuited to mass production that we've had to re-engineer our plants and livestock to make them more readily harvested and processed." (xiv). This quote is what i think of when I hear The End of Food. There will always be nasty processed food to eat, but the fresh, healthy, organic food is sadly coming to an end. The small farmers are strugging to get their products out that are of much better quality. But because people are un-educated about what food is being put into their body the consumption of processed food will continue to grow. With this being said I do agree with Roberts's choice in choosing this title. BW
Many of you seem to focus on the ominous title of the book. It's catchy, I admit. But I am glad that some of you do see a positive future for food as long as consumers change their preferences. As you note, much of this rides of the consumer's acceptance of paying the price of quality food. Hopefully in the future we will see government agricultural subsidies help to reduce the cost of food farmed and sold within a specific region. Right now most of that money goes to supporting larger agribusiness and food processors. Read here how the American Farmland Trust believes that the 2008 farm bill is making small-scale farming financially and logistically possible: http://www.farmland.org/programs/farm-bill/analysis/localfoodpolicy.asp --Brent W.
The state of agriculture and the very future of the food industry has been shifting. Up until the industrial revolution, most people had to dedicate a substantial portion of their time to the production of food. However, with the invention of new technologies like refrigeration and preservation, as well as the use of trains, food was much more readily available and people weren’t required to spend as much time cooking or preparing food. They could buy their food already made and spend their time doing other things. Food has become an inconvenience to many people so they want the quickest and cheapest way to get fed, which large corporate manufacturers were quick to capitalize on. "The very meaning of food is being transformed: food cultures that once treated cooking and eating as central elements in maintaining social structure and tradition are slowly being usurped by a global food culture, where cost and convenience are dominant."(Xii) Overprocessed foods have become cheaper and cheaper while fresh foods have been increasing in price. There has been a shift in power from the farmer to the manufacturer and the more processed a food is, the more a manufacturer can sell it for.
The title of the book is fitting because it really catches many peoples eyes. At first you may not think that the end of food would ever come but when reading through these chapters, you slowly realize that the end of food is possible and that our system is not perfect. ANd knowing that the system is not perfect, puts us as an educated community to begin to change the way we eat and produce things. This sounds almost impossible to me for a few reasons. one is that there is not enough natural resources to provide for a sustainable environment, especially with the larger corporations controlling a large portion of the food system.
Paul Roberts: Prologue in The End of Food “Physically, food is so unsuited to mass production that we’ve had to reengineer our plants and livestock to make them more readily harvested and processed (and even these updated materials remain so fragile they must be amended with preservatives, flavorings, and other additives).” (Paul Roberts, Prologue in The End of Food, xiv) Considering the quote above I feel that the title perfectly suits the material in Roberts book. I think that if people only have sugar-coated information about the food then no one will realize or understand the depth of the food situation the world has put itself in. I believe this quote alone is very strong and it is something to take into to consideration from every person that reads it. I agree with Roberts about food industries today and the consequences of mass produced food. If people were more aware of what was going on then hopefully they would look for alternatives for their primary food sources such as local farmers and organically grown food. In the end people are going to need to start paying more for better food because you really do get what you pay for, if you are buying produce from a supermarket, chances are, you are not getting the same quality produce you would from a local farmers market. The differences in quality would be the freshness, nutritional value, and taste, and to me these are very important factors and by buying locally, you are supporting local framers rather than money hungry corporations. Sigrid K.
The End of Food By Paul Roberts Quote: “Although the processing industry the Nestle dominates is largely a twentieth century phenomenon, the underlying obsession with convenience would have been quite familiar to our ancestors.” This is especially interesting to me, because in today’s society the market is so driven by what we consider to be a convenience product, when in reality we have had convenience products all along its simply the concept or idea of what convenience is that has so drastically changed with the twentieth century. To our grandparent’s convenience product was a pot roast that didn’t have to be managed all day long, or pre-canned tomatoes or bread baked at the store, things they normally would have done themselves. To my parents it was casseroles and the blue box Mac and cheese. In the twentieth century and mostly for my generation the concept of a convenience product is anything from entire prepackaged meals to things made to eat in the car and on the go. No one is unfamiliar with the concept; it’s just how you interrupt it. Samantha H.
Paul Roberts said that, "there were many other possible causes for the contamination- irrigation water, farm runoff, and fertilizer, to name a few- and thus plenty of reasons to worry that other break outs were waiting to happen"(prologue page 1. This summed up the reading for me because it shows that there is always a danger of contamination of our food source as well as the possibility of our agricultural system failing. There is a problem of contamination based on the centralization and mass production that is prevalent in farming today. There are also many arising problems with our water sources and the ability to distribute foods. Our agriculture system is hanging by a thread and it could have major problems any day. I agree with the author in the fact that we are facing rough times in the agriculture business and with the task of supplying people with food. But, I have a slightly brighter outlook with a belief of human perseverance and adaptability. I think that we will be able to make new ways to grow foods, or go back to the old ways of traditional farming throughout the country. I feel that the increasing water shortage is a serious problem and that it is important to inform the public of these problems. I think that it would be more feasible to help starving nations to set up local farming operations that will grow native thriving plants.
Test comment!
ReplyDeleteBrent W.
From. Sang Hyun Park. (Tue/Thu: 6:30pm-8:00pm)
ReplyDelete*Quote: Agriculture gave rise to rudimentary economic organization and specialization, to accounting and management, to trade and speculation, and ultimately, to an explicit economic paradigm - capitalism - . . . the move to labor-saving technologies, the shift to larger production scales, and the creation of a global system of food trade-"(xiii)
- This paragraph shows how drastically industry has been changed so far. This fast progress brought large amount of benefits as well as crisis which we should concern for our future.
- This ominus title let us be serious and concern about this crisis. The End of Food could be showed up in the future. I mean people are just concerning about productivity and efficiency of the product in the foodindurstry. I think we should take care more about how we solve potential problem, such as 'the end of food'.
Chloe Johnson :
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the impending collapse of the food system, I feel it is appropriate to talk about the food system with such heavy language. Upon reading this title, my first interpretation of this was not necessarily the end of all food, but the end of quality food. In a society in which the "social meal is obsolete" it is only natural that consequences such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes will occur. However, Roberts suggests it is the food system itself that created such a food-unconscious society. Ignoring external and socially undesirable outcomes "real food" and "nutritious food" have been replaced with meals that do not even exceed the basic necessities a body needs. In present day production methods are the reflection of a profit-driven point of view and at the lowest-cost possible. Though financially the return by be positive, its repercussions have been massively undesirable. I feel by this title, Roberts is not only alluding to the fact the food system will eventually fail, but that real food is almost non-existent as well. I feel this title could not be more appropriate.
Chloe Johnson
The End of Food in my opinion is a great title because the food system today is not what it was when people got their food from a local farm or farmers market. Roberts explains that because of growth of large farms producing for large corporations the food quality has dropped significantly. These large farms are not concerned with the condition of their farms or their product. Their only concern is how much money is coming in. Though there are benefits from having these large scale farms producing large quantities of food for the U.S and other countries the negative externalities due to these farms are not worth it. The harmful effects on the environment due to the transportation of these products and the development of these products are exhausting the land and using large amounts of natural resources. "Physically, food is so unsuited to mass production that we've had to re-engineer our plants and livestock to make them more readily harvested and processed." (xiv). This quote is what i think of when I hear The End of Food. There will always be nasty processed food to eat, but the fresh, healthy, organic food is sadly coming to an end. The small farmers are strugging to get their products out that are of much better quality. But because people are un-educated about what food is being put into their body the consumption of processed food will continue to grow. With this being said I do agree with Roberts's choice in choosing this title.
ReplyDeleteBW
Many of you seem to focus on the ominous title of the book. It's catchy, I admit. But I am glad that some of you do see a positive future for food as long as consumers change their preferences. As you note, much of this rides of the consumer's acceptance of paying the price of quality food. Hopefully in the future we will see government agricultural subsidies help to reduce the cost of food farmed and sold within a specific region. Right now most of that money goes to supporting larger agribusiness and food processors. Read here how the American Farmland Trust believes that the 2008 farm bill is making small-scale farming financially and logistically possible: http://www.farmland.org/programs/farm-bill/analysis/localfoodpolicy.asp
ReplyDelete--Brent W.
The state of agriculture and the very future of the food industry has been shifting. Up until the industrial revolution, most people had to dedicate a substantial portion of their time to the production of food. However, with the invention of new technologies like refrigeration and preservation, as well as the use of trains, food was much more readily available and people weren’t required to spend as much time cooking or preparing food. They could buy their food already made and spend their time doing other things. Food has become an inconvenience to many people so they want the quickest and cheapest way to get fed, which large corporate manufacturers were quick to capitalize on. "The very meaning of food is being transformed: food cultures that once treated cooking and eating as central elements in maintaining social structure and tradition are slowly being usurped by a global food culture, where cost and convenience are dominant."(Xii) Overprocessed foods have become cheaper and cheaper while fresh foods have been increasing in price. There has been a shift in power from the farmer to the manufacturer and the more processed a food is, the more a manufacturer can sell it for.
ReplyDeleteDan T
The title of the book is fitting because it really catches many peoples eyes. At first you may not think that the end of food would ever come but when reading through these chapters, you slowly realize that the end of food is possible and that our system is not perfect. ANd knowing that the system is not perfect, puts us as an educated community to begin to change the way we eat and produce things. This sounds almost impossible to me for a few reasons. one is that there is not enough natural resources to provide for a sustainable environment, especially with the larger corporations controlling a large portion of the food system.
ReplyDeletePaul Roberts: Prologue in The End of Food
ReplyDelete“Physically, food is so unsuited to mass production that we’ve had to reengineer our plants and livestock to make them more readily harvested and processed (and even these updated materials remain so fragile they must be amended with preservatives, flavorings, and other additives).” (Paul Roberts, Prologue in The End of Food, xiv)
Considering the quote above I feel that the title perfectly suits the material in Roberts book. I think that if people only have sugar-coated information about the food then no one will realize or understand the depth of the food situation the world has put itself in. I believe this quote alone is very strong and it is something to take into to consideration from every person that reads it. I agree with Roberts about food industries today and the consequences of mass produced food. If people were more aware of what was going on then hopefully they would look for alternatives for their primary food sources such as local farmers and organically grown food. In the end people are going to need to start paying more for better food because you really do get what you pay for, if you are buying produce from a supermarket, chances are, you are not getting the same quality produce you would from a local farmers market. The differences in quality would be the freshness, nutritional value, and taste, and to me these are very important factors and by buying locally, you are supporting local framers rather than money hungry corporations.
Sigrid K.
The End of Food
ReplyDeleteBy Paul Roberts
Quote: “Although the processing industry the Nestle dominates is largely a twentieth century phenomenon, the underlying obsession with convenience would have been quite familiar to our ancestors.”
This is especially interesting to me, because in today’s society the market is so driven by what we consider to be a convenience product, when in reality we have had convenience products all along its simply the concept or idea of what convenience is that has so drastically changed with the twentieth century. To our grandparent’s convenience product was a pot roast that didn’t have to be managed all day long, or pre-canned tomatoes or bread baked at the store, things they normally would have done themselves. To my parents it was casseroles and the blue box Mac and cheese. In the twentieth century and mostly for my generation the concept of a convenience product is anything from entire prepackaged meals to things made to eat in the car and on the go. No one is unfamiliar with the concept; it’s just how you interrupt it.
Samantha H.
Paul Roberts said that, "there were many other possible causes for the contamination- irrigation water, farm runoff, and fertilizer, to name a few- and thus plenty of reasons to worry that other break outs were waiting to happen"(prologue page 1. This summed up the reading for me because it shows that there is always a danger of contamination of our food source as well as the possibility of our agricultural system failing. There is a problem of contamination based on the centralization and mass production that is prevalent in farming today. There are also many arising problems with our water sources and the ability to distribute foods. Our agriculture system is hanging by a thread and it could have major problems any day.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the author in the fact that we are facing rough times in the agriculture business and with the task of supplying people with food. But, I have a slightly brighter outlook with a belief of human perseverance and adaptability. I think that we will be able to make new ways to grow foods, or go back to the old ways of traditional farming throughout the country. I feel that the increasing water shortage is a serious problem and that it is important to inform the public of these problems. I think that it would be more feasible to help starving nations to set up local farming operations that will grow native thriving plants.
Luke Y.