The article I chose to compare to our readings on migrant farming is titled Migrant Farm Workers: Our Nation’s Invisible Population. Migrant farming is necessary to market non-blemished produce to the public. Walking into a grocery store, nobody wants to grab a bag of squished, wrinkly grapes. Migrant farm workers rise at early hours in the day and spend their entire day in a field, harvesting and packaging produce. This work is done for extremely low wages, a median income of $7,500/year. Migrant farmers do their jobs mostly because it is necessary for them to provide for their family. A majority of migrant farmers are undocumented citizens that are not legally allowed to work at big corporations, so they do not have many other options. Working for low wages allows corporations and fast food companies that use the farmer’s products to sell their processed versions of these fruits and vegetables for very cheap. Processed foods, like noted in Food Inc., are inexpensive to make and to buy, but can be detrimental to our health. This article can also be paralleled to Tracie McMillan’s The American Way of Eating. McMillan discusses that she was the only “white girl” working in the fields, which were filled primarily with illegal workers from Spanish speaking countries. Their work is done with pride; they are proud to support their families and make low wages, because anything helps, “it adds up” (34).
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In the article I found titled "How Industrial Food Impacts Your Health", I was able to parallel a few of our recent readings and films in class. The opening statement of the article makes a point to say that industrial foods are now causing diseases that shorten the human lifespan, such as cancer, obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. The chemicals that are added into foods now are compromising the nutritional value of our meals. I found this similar to the Hispanic family in Food Inc., struggling to make the decision to feed their whole family at McDonalds, or to buy a small amount of healthier foods at the grocery store, on top of paying for their father's diabetes and heart medications. The cause of his illnesses is likely to be the food choices he has been making with low wages just to be able to survive. Although fast food may be cheaper, it ended up costing this family much more than they expected when it came to additional costs such as medical bills. The article also mentions that farmers and corporations are cutting corners in their methods of food productions because "the significant corporate consolidation of global food production has created a food system that values quantity over quality". This reminded me of chapter four of Pandora's Lunchbox, which discusses that cereal corporations began to use only the centermost parts of corn in order to cut cost and optimize profits. This in turn jeopardizes the nutritional value and overall safety of the product, because not even a whole kernel of corn is being processed to make the cereals that we eat and feed our families. |
Meet the Author: Rachel KonchalRachel is a sophomore Pre-Med Biochemistry & Molecular Biology major in the Honors College at Michigan State University. Rachel also is working towards a minor in Environmental Studies & Sustainability. This web page was created for use during her time in the class ISS 310 001H, Eating Industrial. Archives
November 2016
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