Issues
The FOOD Museum celebrates
our global food heritage and
issues everyday, but October
16 is the UN's official designation.
|
Agriculture
and Environment: Overview
(Last updated August 2005)
Robert
Clark editor of Our
Sustainable Table…Essays
writes in the preface:
"Good
farming means good food; anyone who cares
about good food has a stake in good farming
and in methods of food production, processing
and distribution that accord with the
long term health and sustainability of
farmers, farming communities and the land
upon which they-and we-depend.
But
discussions of food and food policy in
America have been dominated for most of
this century, and certainly since WWII,
by questions of quantity rather than quality:
"How much and at what price?" has often
seemed more important than "how good and
at what cost?" Our criteria for evaluating
the ways in which we farm, market, shop,
cook and eat have largely been economic
in nature, whereas how food relates to
the land, our communities, and our public
and private selves has been a question
relegated to the margins of contemporary
concerns. "The discipline proper to eating,
of course, is not economics but agriculture."
writes Wendell Berry. "The discipline
proper to agriculture, which survives
not just by production but by the return
of wastes to the ground, is not economics
but ecology."
Questions
How
do we produce good, nourishing food for
all, and protect the land at the same
time?
Where in the world are examples of preserving
the land, rural life, and producing affordable
healthy food?
What is being done to preserve the oceans
and fish stocks?
What are the success stories about good
farming practices linked with good processing
and cooking practices?
Sources
Clark,
Robert, Editor. Our
Sustainable Table…Essays.
San Francisco: North Point Press. 1990.
Harris,
Mark. "Organic Futures" Vegetarian Times.
March 2001.
This
article reports on the organic foods
being discovered by corporate America.
Pros and cons are analyzed. Many familiar
organic food brands have been bought
by big food processors. This means more
organic items in mainstream supermarkets,
but trouble for organic farmers.
Timberlake,
Lloyd. Only
One Earth: Living for the Future.
NY. Sterling, 1987.
Case studies of success stories
around the world.
Rodale
Institute http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/
The Rodale Institute works with
people worldwide to achieve a regenerative
food system that renews environmental
and human health working with the philosophy
that "Healthy Soil = Healthy Food
= Healthy People
New Farm http://www.newfarm.org/
At NewFarm.org, the mission is to inform,
encourage, equip and inspire farmers
with the support they need to take the
important transition steps toward regenerative
agriculture. Newfarm.org is committed
to working for the achievement of an
important goal of The Rodale Institute:
to assist and witness the emergence
of 100,000 organic farmers in the United
States and 1 million organic farmers
worldwide, by the year 2013.
Henry A. Wallace Center for
Agricultural & Environmental Policy
http://www.winrock.org/what/wallace_center.cfm
Winrock's Wallace Center uses sound
policy analysis, research, and evaluation
to further sustainable and equitable
agriculture and food systems, promote
natural resources management, strengthen
rural communities, and shape U.S. agricultural
and food policy agendas. Educational
programs and policy reports foster debate
and understanding.
Land
Institute: www.landinstitute.org
The
Land Institute has worked for over 20
years on the problem of agriculture.
Our purpose is to develop an agricultural
system with the ecological stability
of the prairie and a grain yield comparable
to that from annual crops. We have researched,
published in refereed scientific journals,
given hundreds of public presentations
here and abroad, and hosted countless
intellectuals and scientists. Our work
is frequently cited, most recently in
Science and Nature, the most prestigious
scientific journals. We are now assembling
a team of advisors which includes members
of the National Academy of Sciences.
These scientists understand our work
and stand ready to endorse the feasibility
of what we have come to call Natural
Systems Agriculture.
Vegetarian Times http://www.vegetariantimes.com/
Back to the
Top
Urban
Agriculture
(updated
August 2005)
Organizations
like Seattle Tilth inspire and educate
people to garden organically, conserve
natural resources and support local
food systems in order to cultivate a
healthy urban environment and community.
Seattle
Tilth: www.seattletilth.org
"Promoting the art of organic gardening
in an urban setting":
Rio
Grande Community Farms
This organization preserves what is some
of America's oldest continuously
farmed land. The farm is in Albuquerque's
North Valley, one of the first farming
communities in the Middle Rio Grande valley,
now heavily developed. One of the
projects of RGCF is to provide forage
crops for the migrating flocks of endangered
sandhill cranes that winter in New Mexico.
The cranes increasingly find it hard to
find places to rest and eat during their
final flight days to their winter quarters
in and around Bosque del Apache National
Wildlife Preserve. For several years,
the RGCF has grown a stand of corn that
has a maze cut in it each year as a tourist
draw and fund raiser. RGCF also is developing
partnerships with area schools, etc.
Community
Shared Agriculture
At
their most fundamental level, CSA farms
provide a weekly delivery of organically
grown produce to consumers during the
growing season (approximately June to
October). Those consumers, in turn,
pay a subscription fee. But CSA consumers
don’t so much “buy”
food from particular farms as become
“members” of those farms.
CSA operations provide more than just
food; they offer ways for eaters to
become involved in the ecological and
human community that supports the farm.
How
did this get started?
Where is it operating and how is it
going?
What other sources are there from which
people can get freshly raised food?
Sources
Community
Shared Agriculture Directory
for MN and WI
This site has lots of information on
CSA with extended links.
US Department of Agriculture's alternative
agriculture pages: www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/csa
Biodynamic Farming & Gardening Association:
www.biodynamics.com
Farmers' Market Hotline: 800 384 8704
USDA's Farmers' Market site: www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets
Land Stewardship Project:
Food & Farm Connection
Local
Harvest is all about finding sources
of locally produced food.
Here's Local Harvest's
directory of farmers markets.
Back to the Top
Biotechnology
in Agriculture
(updated
August 2005)
Genetically
Modified Foods
Definitions
Genetically
Modified Foods are animals or
plants that have had genetic modification.
Genetic modification is
the insertion of DNA from one organism
to another, usually by molecular technologies.
Transgenic
crops are food plants that have
been genetically modified by insertion
of a foreign gene or transgene, i.e. a
gene from another species.
Agricultural
biotechnology employs biological
processes and living organisms to produce
food.
Overview
Our
ancestors first cultivated plants some
ten thousand years ago. They domesticated
animals later and then selectively bred
both plants and animals to meet various
requirements for human food. Humans discovered
natural biological processes such as fermentation
of fruits and grains to make wine and
beer, and yeast for baking bread. Manipulation
of foods is not a new story, therefore.
The latest agricultural discovery uses
genetic engineering technology to modify
foods.
Conventional plant breeding involves shifting
different forms of the same genes that
already exist in the plant's gene pool.
Genetic modification involves inserting
desired genes from one organism into that
of a food plant. This speeds up the results
considerably. While there are potential
benefits from this technology, many unpredictable
effects have sounded alarms among academic,
governmental and civic groups.
Many of us in the industrialized world
have already consumed foods from transgenic
crops. Soy and corn, some of the most
common ingredients in processed foods,
were some of the earliest plants to be
modified. These early foods were not labeled
and the public had no choice in the matter.
In the third world, GMF are a big issue
as well. Transgenic crops are considered
intellectual property and come under international
patent law. Thus those who control the
patents, control the flow of these modified
seeds and information about them to poorer
developing countries. This practice also
restricts or even removes seed ownership
from the farmers who for generations have
preserved this genetic plant heritage.
Pros
and Cons or who benefits and who loses?
Multinational
Corporations benefit because GMF can be
very profitable.
GMF
have taken hold quickly because multinational
corporations with the resources to make
large financial investments in research
and development, can profit directly.
Multinational companies can spread out
the benefit and profit to many branches
of their businesses. Many such corporations
combine the following: an agrochemical
company, a seed company, a pharmaceutical
company, a food processing company and
sometimes businesses involved with veterinary
products. Developments in one part of
the corporation can be used to sell products
in another branch. An example is the development
of a seed resistant to herbicides or chemicals
that kill weeds. This will help sell more
of the company's herbicides. One of the
license requirements for farmers wanting
to buy and use this seed is that they
must also buy and spray with the company's
herbicide. The main profit from all this
is the sale of seeds that produce high
yield.
Farmers benefit in the short term because
they can grow and sell more crops with
fewer problems due to weeds, pests, fungi
or frost. The genetically modified seed
is designed to resist these traditional
enemies.
Food processing companies benefit from
a ready supply of raw food ingredients
designed for specific processing needs.
Genetically modified tomatoes and potatoes,
for instance, have higher solid contents
and yield more sauces and French fries.
These foods take longer to ripen and rot.
Thus less food is spoiled and more gets
processed.
Supermarkets benefit for the same reasons.
The fresh produce lasts longer on the
shelves and is more profitable.
Consumers, to date, haven't benefited.
GMF have been developed for the convenience
of the producer and processor. Yet they
cost more to produce and the costs get
passed along to the consumer. Eventually
there will be some kind of designer novelty
foods for shoppers to try.
Who
loses?
Consumers
lose. Since WW II, food has been steadily
decreasing in price, but not any longer.
GMF are costly to develop and grow. The
consumer is destined to pay more for no
added quality. In addition, the risk to
the environment and individual human health
is unpredictable. People are concerned
over GM hydrogenated oils such as canal
being increasingly used in processed foods.
Supermarkets lose when they have to worry
about labeling these new foods and scaring
off their customers, who may be wary of
such labels.
Food processors lose when they have to
recall products that contained banned
or controversial genetically modified
ingredients. Processors then get caught
up in expensive litigation and public
relations operations.
Multinational corporations also lose when
they have to withdraw genetically modified
seed products that they have spent years
and small fortunes developing and marketing.
These corporations then spend more money
on litigation and public relations campaigns
as well.
What
are the risks and why are they so controversial?
Biologist
Stephen Nottingham in his book,
Eat Your Genes: How
Genetically Modified Food is Entering
Our Diet, explains the risks.
"Experimental
trials with transgenic organisms are usually
conducted strict regulations to minimize
the potential spread of genetic material…Even
given these regulations, however, no field
trial can be said to be 100 per cent secure.
This was illustrated when flooding struck
the American Midwest in July 1993 and
an entire field of experimental insect-resistant
maize was swept away in Iowa. …once
released accidentally into the environment,
plant material may prove difficult to
recover.
Micro-organisms
pose particular ecological risks because
of their short generation time and high
mutation rates and their ability to pass
genetic information between themselves
in a process called conjugation. Millions
of offspring, containing copies of a transgene,
could be produced within days or even
within hours.
Unique
ecological risks have been associated
with virus-resistant transgenic crop plants…leaving
crops more vulnerable to virus attack
and risking the spread of virus susceptibility
to other plants.
Transgenic
organisms might become more vigorous or
invasive and themselves become weeds or
pests. Many of the world's weed and pest
problems arose from exotic introductions…organisms
that were transferred from their native
habitats to ones in which they were not
normally found. These exotic introductions
provide a model for assessing a worst-case
scenario for the potential effects of
a modified organism that changes to become
more invasive.
However,
a potentially more serious ecological
threat than transgenic organisms themselves
becoming weeds or pests is that transgenes
will spread, through breeding with wild
relatives, to produce offspring containing
the introduced gene.
Genetically
modified foods are unlikely to present
direct risks to human health… There
are two main areas of concern: a) the
possibility of allergic reactions to genetically
modified foods, and b) the possibility
that bacteria living in the human gut
may acquire resistance to antibiotics
from marker genes present in transgenic
plants."
Nottingham adds that there are many other
concerns including ethical questions involving
animal welfare, whether DNA is actual
life, and intellectual property rights
and genetic resources from the Third World.
The
world's poorest nations account for around
95.7 per cent of the world's genetic resources.
Traditional farming practices involve
farmers retaining seeds, from the harvest
of one year's crop, for planting in the
following year. This practice saves money
on buying seed and in itself represents
a continuous selection for yield and resistance
to pests and diseases. However, with genetically
modified seed, royalties are payable to
the companies holding the patent for the
seed. Under world trade agreement rulings,
farmers have to make substantial royalty
payments to multinational companies if
they keep seed for replanting, even if
the crop happens to be native to their
particular country.
Alan
McHughen, author of Pandora's Picnic Basket:
The Potential and Hazards of Genetically
Modified Foods (2000, Oxford University
Press, NY,) is a research scientist who
has developed genetically modified plants
and been involved in the regulatory processes
of various countries. He attempts to expose
the risks, benefits and myths surrounding
GM technology. In his introduction he
states:
"Make
no mistake: I am in favor of an orderly
and appropriately regulated introduction
of some GMOs into the environment and
marketplace, and I adamantly oppose others.
There are good reasons to ban certain
products of genetic technology, and good
reasons to allow, with management, certain
others; some may require no extraordinary
regulation at all. If your opinion differs
from mine after reading this book, I hope
you will be able to justify, if only to
yourself, why we disagree. My philosophy
is to be skeptical, be critical, even
cynical of claims by business interests,
government agencies, and activist groups.
But also keep an open mind and then decide
for yourself."
McHughen
lists numerous questions and answers in
his book. A few of his questions are included
here.
Are
you concerned about fish genes in tomatoes?
Will Brazil nut genes in soybeans result
in potentially lethal allergic reactions?
Will rapeseed plants resistant to herbicides
become uncontrollable superweeds?
Will genetic engineering really eradicate
starvation and malnutrition?
How does molecular genetics work?
How do they actually perform gene transfer?
What's the difference between conventional
and GM foods?
How are new varieties regulated and approved
for marketing?
Can we separate GM from non-GM grain?
Will banning GM foods eliminate food scares?
What else is in "pure" food?
Are you concerned with the process of
GM or with GM products?
Why is the public attitude toward GM in
America so different from that in the
UK?
What is the role of science in regulation?
Doesn't anyone listen to the consumer?
Are all academics in the pocket of private
industry?
What is the awful sounding "terminator
technology"?
Do multinationals control all GMOs and
GM technology?
Why are companies refusing to label their
GM products?
Is it possible to avoid GM foods completely?
What is the fuss over intellectual property
and GM technology?
What can I do to protect myself, my family,
and my environment from these new technologies
and products?
Sources
for more information/Links
Books
Mc
Hughen, Alan. Pandora's
Picnic Basket: The potential and hazards
of genetically modified foods.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
This book, described above, also contains
an excellent list of websites on all aspects
of this subject. A few are listed below.
Nottingham,
Stephen.
Eat Your Genes: How genetically modified
food is entering our diet. London:
Zed Books Ltd., 1998.
This contains an excellent bibliography
and glossary.
Raeburn,
Paul. The
Last Harvest: The Genetic Gamble that
Threatens to Destroy American Agriculture.
NY. Simon & Schuster. 1995.
Websites
EPA
http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/biotech/
FDA http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/biotechm.html
Biotechnology Industry Organization
http://www.bio.org/
Du Pont http://www.dupont.com/index.html
Monsanto http://www.monsanto.com
CNN http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/07/07/gm.qa/index.html
Union of Concerned Scientists http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_environment/biotechnology/index.cfm
Organic Consumers Association http://organicconsumers.com/
Institute for Food & Development
Policy http://www.foodfirst.org
Friends of the Earth
Friends
of the Earth is the U.S. voice of an
influential, international network of
grassroots groups in 70 countries. Founded
in San Francisco in 1969 by David Brower,
Friends of the Earth has for decades
been at the forefront of high-profile
efforts to create a more healthy, just
world. Our members were the founders
of what is now the world's largest federation
of democratically elected environmental
groups, Friends of the Earth International.
Starlink
Controversy
http://www.foe.org/safefood/overview.html
Canola
Oil Controversy
Canola Council of Canada: http://www.canola-council.org/
Shirley's Wellness Café: Holistic
Health Care:
http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/canola.htm
This site has many reports and articles
expressing concern about canola.
Back to the
Top
Cooks, Restaurants and the Food Service Industry
(updated
August 2005)
If
we are what we eat, then the people who
feed us surely bear scrutiny, as well
as praise. Few sources until now have
invited us to enter the world of the professional
cook. Those of us who cook for our families,
too, provide a service that goes well
beyond simple slinging of hash.
Sources
Bourdain,
Anthony. Kitchen
Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary
Underbelly. NY. Bloomsbury Press.
2000
Ruhlman,
Michael. The
Soul of a Chef: The Journey Toward Perfection.
NY: Viking, 2000.
Spang,
Rebecca L. The
Invention of the Restaurant: Paris &
Modern Gastronomic Culture. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press, 2000.
Symons,
Michael. A
History of Cooks and Cooking. Urbana
and Chicago: University of Illinois Press,
2000.
Internet
Slow
Food Movement: www.slowfood.com
Through its understanding of gastronomy
with relation to politics, agriculture
and the environment Slow Food has become
an active player in agriculture and
ecology. Slow Food links pleasure and
food with awareness and responsibility.
The association’s activities seek
to defend biodiversity in our food supply,
spread the education of taste, and link
producers of excellent foods to consumers
through events and initiatives.
Slow Food USA
Recognizing
that the enjoyment of wholesome food
is essential to the pursuit of happiness,
Slow Food U.S.A. is an educational organization
dedicated to stewardship of the land
and ecologically sound food production;
to the revival of the kitchen and the
table as centers of pleasure, culture,
and community; to the invigoration and
proliferation of regional, seasonal
culinary traditions; and to living a
slower and more harmonious rhythm of
life.
Professional Chefs site: www.starchefs.com
More links chefs links:
About food, restaurants etc:
Back to the
Top
Eating:
Diets, Habits, Phobias, Disorders
(updated August 2005)
Overview
Every
human body is different one from the other.
Each person has a responsibility to figure
out how to take care of his/her health.
Everyone needs to be informed, listen
to his/her body and develop sound, appropriate
eating, breathing and exercise habits.
Humans want to look and feel right. We
are susceptible to the influence of what
others are doing and saying. We spend
money on quick fix diets, exercise programs,
products and advice.
In the case of nutritional diseases, eating
disorders and obesity, there are numerous
sources of information and help. Nutritional
labeling of products is a step in the
right direction, but can leave people
bewildered and still uninformed.
Processed foods vs. whole foods is an
important topic when considering diet
and health. Processed/convenience foods
are increasingly replacing meals cooked
from scratch at home. Whole foods generally
cost as much or more and frequently require
more preparation time and skill.
There are many issues to explore here.
Questions:
What
are the primary eating disorders and what
are their causes?
How do cultural stereotypes and advertising
influence people who develop eating
disorders?
Did the Terri Shiavo story help inform
the public about the issue of eating
disorders?
What is the history of dieting fads and
which ones are enduring and effective?
What are the main diet help organizations
and which ones seem the most cost effective?
Where can I get the most commonsense answers
about control?
Do body typing and blood typing explain
the most appropriate food choices?
Is body typing or blood typing just the
latest fad?
What is the history of nutritional labeling
and where can I get it mostly explained?
Is it true our fast food diet leads to
obesity, heart disease, diabetes and premature
death for more and more Americans?
What are the issues surrounding processed
vs. whole Foods?
Sources
Arenson,
Gloria. A
Substance Called Food: How to Understand,
Control and Recover from Addictive Eating.
Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Tab Books, Inc.,
1989.
D'Adamo,
Peter J. Eat
Right 4 Your Type: The Individualized
Diet Solution to Staying Healthy, Living
Longer and Achieving Your Ideal Weight.
New York, Putnam, 1996.
Mein,
Carolyn L. Different
Bodies Different Diets. San Diego:
Vision Ware Press, 1997.
Powter,
Susan. Stop
the Insanity! Eat, Breathe and Move. Change the way you look and feel forever.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993.
Robbins, John.
Diet for a New America. Walpole,
NH. Stillpoint Publishing, 1987.
Reclaiming Our Health. Tiberon, CA.
H. J. Kramer. 1996.
Weil,
Andrew. 8
Weeks to Optimum Health. New
York: Knopf, 1987.
Internet
National
Eating Disorders Association
NEDA is dedicated to expanding public
understanding of eating disorders and
promoting access to quality treatment
for those affected along with support
for their families through education,
advocacy and research.
Eating
Disorders Coalition
We have identified the following
federal policy goals:
Increase resources for research, education,
prevention, and improved training. Promote
federal support for improved access
to care.
Promote the national awareness of eating
disorders as a public health problem.
Promote initiatives that support the
healthy development of children.
National
Institutes of Health: www.nih.gov
American Medical Asso:www.ama-assn.org
Ask
Dr. Weil: www.drweil.com
Oldways Preservation & Exchange
Trust: http://www.oldwayspt.org/pyramids/med/p_med.html
This
site offers an alternative to the USDA's
food pyramid" by publishing pyramids
that focus on different diets: Mediterranean,
Latin American, Asian and Vegetarian.
USDA's
Food Pyramid
Why
Terri Died. The Story Behind the News
Story
Schiavo Had an Eating Disorder
Back
to the Top
Farm
and Farm Labor
(updated
August 2005)
Issues
covered in this section:
Agribusiness
vs. Family Farms
Factory Farms vs. Communities
Shrinking Farmland
Farm Labor History
Agriculture Worker Safety
National Food Security and Transportation
International Case Studies---i.e. Zimbabwe:
the clash of two different agricultural
systems, white settlers vs. native African.
Gender: Women Farmers in the Third World
Overview
Americans
are accustomed to paying far less for
their food than citizens of most other
nations. We may have to re-examine this
if we want healthy food, and if we want
to preserve a viable family farm tradition
and protect the environment.
Low food prices in America are also a
factor of the wage structure paid to farm
laborers who are often recent immigrants
who work more for less.
Internationally, farm and farm labor issues
often center more on issues of equality
of land distribution, food shortages,
inadequate technology transfer, and women
doing much of the work.
Questions
Corporate
vs. Family Farming
Is
it inevitable that big replaces small
and more efficient operations take over?
What is there about family farms that
warrants our concern?
What is the size of agribusiness vs. family
farm in terms of US food production?
How do we determine a fair balance between
large corporate food production and family
farming?
How has the federal government's role
since WWII contributed to the troubles
of farmers?
What is being done to preserve viable
family farm operations?
What is the future of food production
in the USA?
Who protects our soil, water and air better?
Corporate or family farmers?
Sources
Goldberg, Jake. The
Disappearing American Farm.
New York: Franklin Watts, 1994.
Ulrich,
Hugh.
Losing Ground: Agricultural Policy and
the Decline of the American Farm
Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 1989.
Shrinking
Farmland
Whether
corporate or family….are we losing
farmland?
What are the factors contributing to shrinking
farmland?
What are the implications to our national
welfare to have valuable farmland lost
to development?
What do we have to show our children about
our agricultural heritage?
Sources
American Farmland Heritage Trust: www.farmland.org/
Land Stewardship Project
The
Land Stewardship Project (LSP) is a
private, nonprofit organization founded
in 1982 to foster an ethic of stewardship
for farmland, to promote sustainable
agriculture and to develop sustainable
communities.
National
security issues with major production
in the west
What
are the facts concerning where the majority
of our food comes from?
How did this happen, that a concentration
of food production is far from some of
our largest metro areas?
What happens when fuel crises threaten
transport of foods across the country?
Farm
Workers/Immigration
What
is the history of farm workers in this
country? For a long time, we had farm
families, slaves or indentured workers
doing the work. Now we have hired labor,
many of them legal or illegal immigrants
from Latin America.
What are the numbers? Who is doing the
work?
What is the history of the Farm Labor
Movement?
What is being done to help the people
who grow our food?
If we enforce our immigration rules strictly,
who will do the hard farm work?
What new immigration ideas are developing?
What are the issues concerning ag chemicals
and the safety of farm workers?
Sources
Atkin, Beth S. Voices
from the Fields: Children of Migrant Farmworkers
Tell Their Stories. Boston: Little
Brown & Co, 1993.
Collins,
David. Farmworker's
Friend: The Story of Cesar Chavez.
Minneapolis: Carolrhoda, 1996.
Factory
Farms vs. local community environmental
quality
What
occurs when large poultry or hog farms
are established near residential communities?
Isn't it a predictable consequence of
trying to fit food production nearer the
consumer base?
What are some of the more celebrated case
histories that have made the news in recent
years?
What is being done to balance the food
producers' needs and the local community's
environmental quality?
International
Case Studies
The
media recently covered the embattled nation
of Zimbabwe in which poor African farmers
were depicted as victims of an unequal
land distribution system that was a holdover
of the colonial era.
Is
there more to this story and what are
both points of view?
What
are the solutions and lessons to be learned
from examining this conflict?
Gender:
the role of women farmers in the developing
world
What
is the situation in much of the world
in which the primary food producers are
female?
What is being done to improve their lot?
Access to information, financing and other
assistance has been traditionally withheld
from women farmers, particularly in Africa.
Sources
Creevey, Lucy. Women
Farmers in Africa. Syracuse: Syracuse
University Press, 1986.
Food
and Agricultural Organization of the United
Nations. Gender:
Key to Sustainability and Food Security.
Rome. 1995.
United
Nations World Food Program: www.wfp.org/newsroom/
News releases, fact sheets, reports on
helping women end hunger and poverty.
Fast
Food
(updated
August 2005)
For
a definition and brief overview of this
issue we quote from Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser.
"To
a degree both engrossing and alarming,
the story of fast food is the story of
postwar America. Though created by a handful
of mavericks, the fast food industry has
triggered the homogenization of our society.
Fast food has hastened the malling of
our landscape, widening the chasm between
rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity,
and propelled the juggernaut of American
cultural imperialism abroad. (From the
dust jacket.)
Over
the last three decades, fast food has
infiltrated every nook and cranny of American
society. An industry that began with a
handful of modest hot dog and hamburger
stands in southern California has spread
to every corner of the nation, selling
a broad range of foods wherever paying
customers may be found. Fast food is now
served at restaurants and drive-throughs,
at stadiums, airports, zoos, high schools,
elementary schools, and universities,
on cruise ships, trains and airplanes,
at K-Marts, Wal-Marts, gas stations, and
even at hospital cafeterias. In 1970,
Americans spent about $6 billion on fast
food; in 2000, they spent more than $110
billion. Americans now spend more money
on fast food than on higher education,
personal computers, computer software,
or new cars. They spend more on fast food
than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers,
videos, and recorded music-combined. (From
the introduction, page 3.)"
Questions
What
are the implications for the economy/minimum
wage?
What do employment statistics showing
age, educational background and income
averages of fast food workers reveal?
What are the fast food health implications
in the USA and in nations such as Japan
where they are substituting a naturally
low fat food tradition with one heavily
fat and dairy laden?
What is the status of environmental issues,
such as the practice of cutting down rainforests
for cattle production for the fast food
industry?
What are the implications for multinational
corporations developing genetically modified
crops such as potatoes for the fast food
industry in the US and elsewhere?
What have been the benefits, if any, of
fast foods?
What is the impact on our landscapes and
lifestyles that we as a society might
want to reconsider?
What trends in fast food might be taking
us in new, possibly healthier, directions?
Source
Spurlock,
Morgan. Don't Eat This Book!
Fast Food and the Supersizing
of America, New York, G.P. Putnam's,
2005
Schlosser,
Eric. Fast
Food Nation. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin Company, 2001. This
book contains 60 pages of densely packed
notes documenting every section of the
book as well as six pages of bibliography.
Gladwell,
Malcolm. "The Trouble with Fries: Fast
Food is Killing Us. Can it be Fixed?"
The New Yorker Magazine. March 5, 2001.
Gladwell describes how in 1990, reacting
to the public's concern about the health
