Unit 6 Project

Bachelor’s Capstone

Cynthia Grothe

Resource List for Topics from Contemporary Diet and Nutrition.

Food Safety and Food-Borne Pathogens-

My first introduction into this topic was by reading a book by Upton Sinclair called The

Jungle. The book discussed flaws in the safety inspection of the meat packing industry from the

perspective of an immigrant family who moves to Chicago to work in the meat packing plant

and the shocking practices that not only would make people deathly ill, but also the horrible

unsanitary conditions of this industry. With the advent of the feed lot farms in America today,

The message from this 1906 book is still very relevant today.

Sinclair, Upton. (1906- rereleased in 2001) The Jungle. Dover Publications.

The next book that I read on this subject was Slaughterhouse by Gail A. Eisnitz. This

book was very in depth about the practices in the beef houses that included slaughtering and

packaging beef that was not fit for human consumption because the cows were infected with E

coli. This book goes into detail about the shady practices of the inspectors whom were charged

with overseeing the slaughter and packaging of meat and how they would look away if they were

paid enough. This book also still has relevance to today’s practices as the FDA is pulling back

most of the inspectors and leaving meat inspection up to the owners of the industrial farms.

Eisnitz, Gail A. (2009) Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane

Treatment Inside the U. S. Meat Industry. Publisher: Prometheus Books.

The final book for this subject that I used is called Bad Bug Book: Foodborne

Pathogenic, Microorganisms and Natural Toxins, Second Edition. It was put out by the Federal

Food and Drug Administration. This is a reference book that describes all the known foodborne

toxins and their effects on humans. It is frightening how many are in the world that we know

about. It also lists precautions to take so that illness does not occur.

Food and Drug Administration. (2012) Bad Bug Book. Second edition. Published by The FDA.

Cultural Influences on Food Choices

This area concerns how a person’s culture influences the food choices that they make.

The first culture I researched was the Amish of Lancaster, PA. Their food storage and

preservation techniques consist of Pickling and heavy foods. The difference between them and

the choices that people who are not Amish is that they grow and raise their own foods and

animals. As a result, the surplus can last for at least a year or more as long as they preserve it

correctly.

This website discusses their lifestyle:

http://www.padutchcountry.com/towns-and-heritage/amish-country/amish-lifestyle.asp

The next culture I researched was the Mexican. Their diets consisted of corn products,

fresh fruits and vegetables, and foods prepared fresh. With the American companies moving

their food production to this country, the diets changed. They began eating more beef products,

as well as processed foods. As a result, their health changed and they now have increased

Diabetes, Obesity, and Heart disease.

This website describes the Mexican diets and culture:

http://ixtapacantina.com/mexican-eating-habits-you-didnt-know-about/

The last culture that I researched was the American. Our food consumption consists of

refined grains, high fat and sugar content, and low nutritional value. We now have a population

that schedules our eating habits around work schedules and the choices we make are for fast food

and snack foods. Our population has a high mortality rate from Heart Disease with Diabetes and

smoking closely behind.

This website provides a graphical analysis of the American Diet:

http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2014/01/standard-american-diet-sad-charts

Industrial Farming vs Contemporary Farming

One of the biggest changes to food production in this country came with the advent of the

Industrial Feed Lots. These lots consist of a large number of cows being crowded onto pieces of

land with no room to move or eat freely. They are forced to stand in their own feces all day long

and are given high quantities of antibiotics in order to enhance the meat they provide. Another

issue that plagues these farms is that of pollution due to inadequate waste disposal and the

dumping of animal carcasses incorrectly. Most of the water pollution is from the runoff of water

draining into nearby water sources.

This website illustrates what the issues of this type of farming are:

http://www.epa.gov/agriculture/ag101/printbeef.html

Another example of the industrial farming methods is how our poultry is grown. Many of

the chicken companies, such as Perdue, pay farmers to house chickens into cramped enclosed

buildings without ventilation. They regulate the food they are given and at what times, as well as

the times that chickens are harvested and slaughtered.

This website describes the conditions of these animals:

http://www.bornfreeusa.org/facts.php?more=1&p=374

Finally, we cannot talk about industrial farming without recognizing the role that

Monsanto and their GMO corn and wheat has had on the farmer’s and how they grow and

produce food. In many countries, GMOs have been banned because of concerns over the health

of the population eating them. In the United States, GMOs are allowed but there is no way to

distinguish what is GMO as there are no labeling laws in place. Monsanto has the reputation of

suing and putting conventional farmers out of business due to “copyright infringement” because

there has been cross pollination between GMOs and organic food products. For more indepth

information the following documentary is recommended:

Kenner, Robert. (Director) (2009) Food.Inc: Documentary. Studio: Magnolia Available for rental

from Amazon.com.