Suckling From the Industrial Food Complex

Food, regardless of where you live in the world or how much money you have, it is the common thread between a rich banker living on wall street and a guy living in a mud hut in rural Kenya. Yet when we look at our food choices in the developed world, we are afforded the opportunity to eat for more than just survival; but for pleasure as well.

When I make my own food choices, I go through a variety of factors depending on the situation. If I am in a bind between going to class or getting somewhere fast, usually fast food or something frozen would better fit the situation. However, say I was on a nice date night with a friend or so, choosing a finer quality option such as something upscale or more unique like Ethiopian or Japanese would fit the bill. However in a majority of cases, environmental concerns are not the first thing that comes to my mind when I am choosing to eat something. I do not heavily research how sustainable the food that I am eating unless the fact is noted to me like Chipotle’s “Food with Integrity” or a special note on a restaurant’s menu written by the chef. While I do feel good that my meal is benefiting the environment, I would not simply boycott a place because they were unsustainable or were not environmental friendly.

Over the last few days, I have been at home for a family event and have had the opportunity to eat out often on my parent’s dime. In thinking about this assignment as I ate my meals, I would have to think that the item with the biggest environmental impact would most likely be the steak that I ate for dinner last night. While some steak- those that are grass fed and open range, do not have a large impact on the environment, the steak that I had was most likely corn fed. All the processed mush that the corn ate was a direct result of the industrial food complex lowering the price of corn to allow for cheap, quick, and fat beef. Additionally, the size of the steak was massive-enough for two people, so all of the calories and grains that it took to raise the cow from birth to its final size was much more then the ratatouille I had on the side or the pasta I had for lunch today.

So while I do understand the issue of food and being environmentally conscience, at time my stomach overrules my head and thus I simply suckle from the industrial food complex we should all avoid.