Running head: FOOD INDUSTRY IN AMERICA

Issues Within the Food Industry in America

Christian Seade-Galindo
University of Texas at El Paso

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2
Abstract

Modern food in America has changed the lifestyle of hundreds of millions of people.
Food is now cheaper than it has ever been in human history. This has been achieved by
companies that continuously obtain more power trough various techniques. These techniques are
very complex, but they involve the manipulation of the government, the taxpayer, the farmer, and
the consumer. Food is now unhealthy and produced in an unsanitary manner. This new food
system is causing trouble for the average American in many ways.

Introduction
The food industry in America has changed dramatically in the last century. This has
changed the life of Americans in different ways. The food we consume day by day is now being
highly processed and mass produced by very few companies. This allows people to get cheap
and accessible food. This especially helpful for people living in poverty; but If it seems to good
to be true, it probably is. Much like the tobacco industry, the food industry today is deliberately
trying to keep the consumer in the dark. Deliberately manipulating the government, their
suppliers, and their own consumers.

Body
Government Manipulation. Big food companies are using the government to their
advantage. The government currently pays farmers to overproduce corn. This allows farmers to
sell their corn below the price of production. Big companies are interested in cheap corn since it
is used to feed cows, chicken, and even fish. This whole system turns meat and chicken into an
accessible and cheap product. The system makes the big companies even bigger. Meyer, S. &

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Steiner, L. (2013) In 2012 the top 4 beef packing companies controlled more than 80% of the
market. To illustrate how much power these companies have: Layton, L. (2009, July 31) The
FDA didnt have the power to close down corporations that didnt meet health standards until
2011 when the bill was passed. These companies were shipping out products infected with
different strains of E Coli and the government couldnt do anything about it. With the new law
the government can now forcibly recall contaminated meat and close down businesses that do
not meet health standards set by the government.

Farmer Manipulation. Food today is mass produced in a small amount of land. Big
companies use genetically altered animals that can grow twice the size of a regular animal in half
the time. The whole process is highly industrialized and efficient. Big food companies such as
Tyson have contracts with farmers. Farmers involved with these companies never own their
chicken or cattle. These big corporations force farmers to make changes to their farms, pushing
them to go into debt and preventing them from breaking ties with the companies. Cows live knee
deep in their manure until they are slaughtered. Chickens never see the daylight and thousands of
them live in small chicken farms. Making animals live in these conditions and the abuse of antibiotic allows for new mutations of bacteria to thrive, creating threats in our food system. Layton,
L. (2009, July 31) Food illnesses sicken one in four Americans and kill 5,000 each year,
according to government statistics.

Consumer Manipulation. The Coca-Cola Company is currently funding the Global

Energy Balance Network. The GEBN is an association of scientist specialized in health and
nutrition. OConnor, A. (2015) Records show that the networks website, gebn.org, is registered

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to Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta, and the company is also listed as the sites administrator.
Current studies conducted by the GEBN are trying to shift the blame for obesity from bad diets
to a lack of exercise. OConnor, A. (2015) A recent analysis of beverage studies, published in
the journal PLOS Medicine, found that those funded by Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, the American
Beverage Association and the sugar industry were five times more likely to find no link between
sugary drinks and weight gain than studies whose authors reported no financial conflicts. Much
like the tobacco industry in the 1900s which deliberately marketed their product as perfectly
safe even when studies were conducted that proved tobacco was a health hazard; food industries
are trying to market their product as having no health risks, when the opposite has been proven to
be true.

Health Risks. Todays highly processed food contains tons of macronutrients, such as
fats and carbohydrates, but lacks micronutrients. Pietrangelo, A. (2014) This type of food is not
nutritious and easily causes problems like acne, obesity, type II diabetes, bloating, puffiness, high
blood pressure, headaches, and even depression. Type II diabetes used to only affect adults, it is
now increasingly affecting children. Pollan, M.& Schlosser, E. (2008) 1 in 3 Americans born
after the year 2000 will contract early onset diabetes. Among minorities the rate will be 1 in 2.

Conclusion. The food industry is moving towards an oligopoly at an alarming rate.

Everyday the big companies get bigger and the small ones get smaller. Big corporations achieve
this rate of growth by manipulating everything they can, from politicians to farmers to
unsuspecting consumers. The big companies are starting to decide what we are able to eat and
what we arent allowed to. With the help of the government the corporations dictate which kind

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of food is cheap and which isnt. Things can be improved. In the end companies are just making
business and they will give to the people what the people want. Every time you pay for
something its a vote. Every time you buy products coming from huge corporations you are
giving your vote to them.

Pollan, M.& Schlosser, E. (2008) This isn't just about what we are eating, its about
what we are allowed to know, its not just our health thats at risk.

References

Layton, L. (2009, July 31) House Approves Food-Safety Bill; Law Would Expand FDA's Power.
Retrieved October 21, 2015
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2009/07/30/AR2009073003271.html?hpid=topnews

Meyer, S. & Steiner, L. (January 18, 2013) Daily Livestock Report

http://www.dailylivestockreport.com/documents/dlr%2001-18-13.pdf

OConnor, A. (2015, August 9) Coca-Cola Funds Scientists Who Shift Blame for Obesity Away
From Bad Diets. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/coca-cola-funds-scientists-who-shift-blamefor-obesity-away-from-bad-diets/?_r=0

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Pietrangelo, A. (2014, October 22) The Effects of Fast Food on the Body. Retrieved October 18,
2015.
http://www.healthline.com/health/fast-food-effects-on-body

Pollan, M.& Schlosser, E.(Authors), & Kenner, R. (Director). (2008) Food,Inc. [Documentary].
Magnolia Pictures, River Road Entertainment, & Participant Media.