Aziz Hamid Exploration 4

                                             Response to Fresh

In the documentary film Fresh, they compared agricultural production with industrialized production.  In the film farmers and businessmen shared their opinion on food production. The farmers lean more toward agriculture production, while the businessmen lean toward  industrialized production. Even though producing industrialized food is inexpensive, fast, and convenient, it is also very harmful to people as time goes on. In restaurants like McDonald’s, they use harmful chemicals to help keep their food fresh longer and to enhance the taste.  Many consumers are unaware of this, but eventually this can lead to obesity, diabetes and heart disease

In the beginning of the film, the word “monoculture” is introduced. Monoculture occurs when a lot of the same species are growing together. In nature there is no such thing as monoculture. Animals and plants work together well. The only way monoculture can exist is by using chemicals like antibiotic. In nature different species are supposed to be mixed together. Most chemicals are used to eliminate risks. Chemicals can eventually create pollution and can be a risk to a consumer’s health.  Monoculture creates a lot of problems, but is necessary for inexpensive food.

The farmers are against industrialized production. The farmers believe in the idea of respecting nature.  For example, raising chickens has changed tremendously over the years. Years ago there were not a lot of chickens. Now there are thousands of chickens.  Now industries feed the chickens good nutrient food to help them to grow bigger, feed them antibiotics, and keep them in a controlled environment.  In nature, herbivores are always moving and they eat plants. Now cows are fed dead cows, which can lead to mad cow disease. Farmers believe herbivores should be treated as herbivores and everything else will fall in place.  For instance, in industries chicken’s beaks and claws are cut off to make them grow faster and bigger. You need to respect the chickens. The chicken’s beaks and claws are meant to dig up dirt and worms to fertilize the grass.

The big difference between industrialized and natural production is that the farmers are against using chemicals. They grow their food the natural way in order to keep all the good nutrients in it, while business uses mass production to grow food quicker and easier. 

      One person I admire the most is Will Allen. He is a example of a  visionary. After college he build his own farm market in his small town.  Not only does he grow fresh food, he shares his knowledge to the community. He talked about how worms play a great role in breaking down waste.

We can apply these ideas to today’s world.  This trend continues. Small markets are going away and being replaced by stores like Wal-Mart and Giant Eagle. We as a society need to respect nature and let nature do its job.  We should not consider money when buying food, we should consider our health. Not always cheaper and more food are better. We should be more careful about our food choices. 

A question I have is, what is the difference between eating organic and regular food? For example eating a regular banana or a organic banana.