Production of Food Revealed in the Readings - Term Paper Example

 Table of Contents Answer 1) 3 Answer 2) 4 Answer 3) 5 Answer 4) 6 Answer 5) 7 Bibliography 8 Answer 1) The traditional low- technologically enabled production system is an age old process prevailing since the initiation of agriculture in the human civilization. With the passage of time, and readily increasing demand world-wide, a major tendency started to evolve in the global economy. The world intended to get divided into agro-dominated nations and industrial nations. The less -industrialized nations have a tendency to dominate the regime of agriculture and vice-versa. This consequently started building major pressure on the agricultural countries to increase their production level and with a serious vision to attain the goal of high yield of food crops. The domineering nations in the agribusiness took the refuge of methods and approaches to factory farming. The traditional approach to the farming includes production of agricultural products at an organic level in the family, also known as sized farming. In this procedure, no genetically modified or biotechnologically developed pesticides or manures are used. The recent shift to the more corporate control agricultural production involved highly adulterated foods contaminated with heavy dose of chemical fertilizers, fumigants, growth hormones which is again processed with multitudes of additives. Answer 2) The shift of the process in the agricultural production from the traditional approach to the contemporary approach is very fast and quite worth noticing. The shift of agricultural production from family-sized farming to a more corporate controlled “factory farming” concept evolved competition in all of the major agro business dominated nations across the globe to meet the demand of the market. The shift occurred to maximize the profit. The agribusiness corporations started frequently “shooting in the dark” and are rendered “free-pride” by the public officials. Another vital socio-economic reason for the shift in the food production during the twentieth century has been the change in the life-style, quality and food habit of the generation. Fast food industry also throbs in this change of life-style and food habit. The policy makers for food production are largely carried away by the profit motivation but at the same time another typical reason too operates behind this encouragement for applying the modern approach in the production system. The relentless desire of the food controllers, the corporate houses and their policy makers to dominate the market of food production and their complex fantasies are responsible for encouraging heavy yield, and consequently involvement of new technologies and modern approaches to agribusiness becomes mandatory. Answer 3) The creation of mass production and more precisely, the extensive use of genetically-modified foods, have largely affected the health of the human beings. Increase in the obesity, epidemics and shocking rate of increasing juvenile and early adult onset diabetes are the effects of the genetically modified food products. Large number of incurable disease including cancer is evident as the after effect of the consumption of genetically modified grains and food products. The problems of genetically modified food products are precisely evident in the US at the present scenario. About 70% of the produced corn in US is GM. The same scenario is prevailing in the production of canola oil, soybeans, tomatoes, papaya and many other agricultural products. In United States, the more striking factor is that the biggest offender in this regime, the Monsanto Corporation, based at St Louis, Missouri has patents for many GMOs and is the largest GMO if compared to the any other entity in global economy. But very skillfully, they propagate the use for domestic purpose and try to curb the patents from the other corporates. The biggest misery is that they even try to mould the agenda by the public officials according to their will and wish and to the greatest surprise succeed in doing so to a considerable extent. Answer 4) The trends in the global system of food production and its impact on the food security and the quality of life prevalent within its population is different in the less industrialized nations as compared with the first world countries or developed nations across the globe. The current and probable impacts on the increasing agribusiness which dominates the food production system globally within the premises of the less- industrialized nations are thriving on the high yielding crops but often at a compromising quality. Use of extensive biotechnological phenomena inclusive of genetically modification and genitival engineering is also one of the major prevalent trends in the food production and global distribution system of the food. Attainment of the mass need and mass production and in the vision of attaining the mass-production, the technologically implementation of the GM Foods (or Genetically Modified Foods) is also a major trend setter in the production system and design in the less - industrialized nations. Apart from the changing trends in the biotechnological perspectives of the food production and distribution in the agribusiness dominated nations of the world, some major and evolving trends in the socio-political perspective of the food production and distribution system can be noticed. Major nations of the world like France and Germany vehemently refused the acceptance of the GM foods. Similarly at the same time, these nations only propagated the use of the GM foods extensively for their domestic purposes. The agreements pertaining to such refusal are defined as the “unfair trade practices” and all these initiatives are taken to regulate the agribusiness production of the GM foods. These are some general trends or impact noticed in the food production and distribution system of the domineering countries in the agribusiness sector which are less-industrialized at the same time. Answer 5) Any personal derivation, evaluation or reflection from first-hand experience, survey or study is always a value addition to life. This assignment shall completely enlighten an individual on the food production, distribution and consumption of the mass along with the harmful effects of the modified biotechnical implementations on various genetically structured foods and grains. The ill effect of the modified food on health and consequently evolution of many diseases occurring before time and subsequently leading to fatal consequences also acted as an eye-opener. The transformation of food habits and nature of consumption based on socio-economic paradigm is an innovative and novice contention in this regard. The difference between the traditional methods of low - tech approaches to the food production as compared and opposed to the agribusiness dominated factory farming is quite relative to the individual experiences and more precisely to an experience of generation which has witnessed the major transitory shift of food production techniques. The close reading and framing the assignment enabled to understand and accept the demerits and benefits of both the traditional and technical approaches to the farming and draw a valid comparison in this regard. Bibliography Schlosser, Eric. The Future of the Global Food Supply: Trends and Consequences. Introduction to Sociology. 2010. Read More