The production of our food today

These pieces trace the history of our food and us in a similar manor. The main point being there has been a disconnection between our food and us. Food is all about mass production and visual appeal to a consumer. Because of this, everything but the final product is hidden from a consumer. Very few people today could say where their food came from and the process it went through to get to them. Very few people think of how they have fresh strawberries all year round, when, especially for me being from Minnesota, it is clear to tell it is not a local strawberry season. All types of food are available all year round as that’s what the customer expects. Because of this want from the costumer, our food is now chemically altered, preserved and produced in the most efficient ways possible. Food once had a must more personal connection, this can more easily be seen with fruits and vegetables but can still be applied to meat products. It was once very common to have a small garden at home to grow some fresh vegetables when they were in season, this much more natural process allowed people to actually see what went into the product, and it was most chemical free. This has grown less common creating a loss of connection to the process of getting food. This commercialization of farming food is made clear through Cook's piece "fowl trouble." Animals are now raised in poor conditions, pumped full of chemicals that maximize growth with no concern for health. The processes of storing and transporting food have improved drastically to transport this commercialized food. One can find fresh Alaskan salmon or crab from Maine in a restaurant in Minnesota. No one questions how this is possible, they just expect this luxury. This transportation and processing of food has not only broken foods connections to regions and season, it has created chemically filled and genetically altered food to help with these processes. People only know the food by its name, and nothing about the process of getting it. The most troubling part of both pieces was to think no one cares or asks about what is truly in our food and how industrialization of our foods has effected them and us nutritionally.