Saturday, April 2, 2016
4 Years Ago...
4 years ago I did not care at all what I ate, as long as it was good. I remember buying chips almost everyday after school and eating out with my family almost every weekend. Looking back that’s something I really regret. (Mostly because of how much money was spent. Yikes!) However, my eating habits weren’t that bad. I didn’t eat tons of junk food daily and dinner was mostly on the healthier side. But either way I didn't care about what I ate, at all. Looking back no one else around me seemed to care what they ate either and their first food choice was always junk food. Especially hot cheetos, they were (and still are) everywhere. It seems that it was until recently, that people began to develop an interest towards learning about food and what they themselves are consuming. And i think young people now are starting to develop this interest and knowledge earlier as well, not only about food, but about taking care of their bodies in general. Which I wish I did. 4 years ago, I was extremely ignorant. I didn’t know anything about food like who made it, who distributed it, or how important it really is. I didn’t really care as long as I had my bag of chips after school. But i did know that hunger was and is such a huge problem everywhere, especially in developing countries. Like everyone else, I wanted people everywhere to have food to eat three times a day everyday. I always knew that it was a basic right. Yet I never looked into it or figured out what was the reason for it. I thought “well what can I do?” Now, that question is still with me. I still don't know what to do or what we can do; except that ending global poverty needs to be a priority in order to end hunger globally . It's frustrating to know there is a surplus of food; food that is wasted or thrown out because it is not in demand; and to know that it has been this way for a long time. 4 years ago I also did not know that food could potentially kill us or that the government would protect "killer" corporations instead of protecting the people. 4 years ago, that's not something I thought the government would do.
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isn't it weird how much we can learn about a topic in such a short amount of time? Four years is a small percentage of human's life, but we manage to learn about the thing that can potentially affect someone's health and life. Food, for example, is something that everyone need to survive, and four years ago, we thought nearly nothing of it. However, now we learn about how just about everything around us is working against us in order to help a few companies make profits.
ReplyDeleteWhile it is nice and all to think about the past, I think the most important things we must do to improve the situation is to think about the future and take actions now. You said that you "don't know what to do", I don't think that anybody know exactly what sequence of action would yield the best result either, but isn't doing something and fail better than doing nothing at all?
For one thing, the group that you call "killer corporation" is not invincible. Sure, they are powerful and the government are actively helping them. But if we looked into the past, we can see that every few decades or so, these type of people show up, and the greater good manage to win every time through the help of government's intervention and people actively seek changes. We had something like the monopolists in the nineteenth century and the tobacco companies a few decades back, and they all failed because people realize that they want something better for themselves and stand up against them.
As a senior at a high school, most of us here are eighteen years old or about to turn eighteen. We can now vote for presidents and people who will represent us in the congress. What this mean is that we can change the way policies work and turn it into our favor. And that is just one of the many ways we can change the world. What we must do is start with ourselves first. We cannot just wait for something to happen before we act. Once one person fights for the changes, others will follow and eventually we can change the food industry for the better.
I'm glad we are gaining knowledge about the food industry now, as we should, to teach the younger kids as well. There is no reaction without an action, I know. Like I know these killer corporations are not invincible, which i did forget, so thanks for reminding me! I did not have the whole tobacco situation you mentioned in mind when I wrote this; but instead i thought of Kevin (the child that passed away due to contamination) and Monsanto.
Delete4 years ago and even today I also don't really care about what I eat and only care whether or not it tastes good. However, I don't necessarily regret my eating habits in the past, since I didn't really know anything about the food industry then, but now having learning more, I do now. I agree with you that everyone has basic right to have proper access to food and to combat world hunger we should focus on ending world poverty. But how do you propose we do this? Even though the US is one of the more developed countries there are still people living in poverty and don't get enough food. If one of the more well-off countries can barely feed all of its citizens how can less well-off countries end their hunger?
ReplyDeleteJust like everyone 4 years ago, I really had no knowledge of what the food industry was doing and how it affects our bodies. We thought that we could eat anything we want and it wouldn't even matter. I never thought of food causing so much trouble like world hunger and problems with our government. I only thought of it as something to replenish my strength. This unit on the food industry and how it can affect and change us has opened my eyes. Four years from now I hope to have changed my viewpoint on food and make it a more important factor in my life
ReplyDeleteHow weird. 4 Years ago I was very healthy. The healthiest I have ever been. The factor that played into that was where I lived which was Lafayette, California up north from our location. Everyone there was active and lived a healthy lifestyle. I lived there for about 3 years so during those 3 years junk food was a no go. I remember when I first moved there, all kids ate at snack were fruits, vegetables, and seaweed. It was different to the point where when I brought chips to a party for one of my classes, my classmate pointed out how she never got to eat any of that at home since her mom was strict about it. However moving back to Southern California changed my diet and lifestyle a lot. My diet actually downgraded. That is how I have come to the conclusion that our environment plays a huge factor in what kinds of food we are putting into our bodies. I hope that 4 years from now I'll be eating much healthier and becoming more active.
ReplyDeleteIt really is crazy to know that the government protects these industries that promote the unhealthy food choices instead of directing their attention to the bigger problem which is global hunger. However, with the new generations learning about all these regulations and problems that are in the food industry I can see a better future. With the knowledge to make better decisions on food choices, it's only a matter of time when everyone gets with the program that there truly is a problem within this industry. The older we get the more we understand that we are fortunate to have an abundance of food to eat while there are people around the world who barely have any or none at all. Hopefully, more people will get educated about this epidemic and will stand up for something that will benefit the whole world and not just a handful of people.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Maria, because 4 years ago I would buy chips from the people that would sell at our school. I realized how much money I was spending on chips, so I stopped for a while but I for like 3 months I went back to buying chips I don't know why there so addicting. If I would have the knowledge of how bad chips and other kinds of things. I would probably be more healthier than right now. It's scary to know that junk food can kill people, but that also how people often over eat and they end up killing themselves like that. There arteries are getting clogged, kidney stop working properly, heat attack, and just having way to much fat in your body.
ReplyDeleteI'd have to disagree with you on something. I still do not think kids are taking more consideration in their eating habits. Especially not younger kids. Maybe we are looking a little more into it because WE are on the section and talking about it in our ERW class, but I look around and I don't see a change. My brother (in 9th grade) loves eating out. He always asks me to take him to this fast food place and that and it's kind of ridiculous. I know he's only one example but his friends join him on Taco Bell runs before they go home from school and I hear it from plenty of kids at school. "I think I'm just gonna go down the street to *insert nearest fast food place* really quick before practice" or whatever activity or important thing you have to get to. But I do agree and also wish that we could've been more informed at a younger age. I think if this issue was brought up a lot more and people got more informed at an earlier time, they'd be just as concerned as we are now and SOMETHINGS could've been done.
ReplyDeleteI was actually having these exact same thoughts when I was writing my research paper! I started off stating how when I was younger, my perspective of food was never anything bad. I definitely did not believe that anything I consumed could potentially hurt me. As I grow older, my knowledge on the food production system has improved a large amount. Now as a senior, ERW was the biggest step in my realization. I now am definitely more conscious of the food industry and their deceiving ways. I also believe, we should be more aware of what we let into our bodies and how these foods can affect us.
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