Upload
jkovachmn
View
214
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
7/29/2019 Horsemeat Hot Dish and Petroleum Pie
1/6
Jay Kovach
ESPM 3601 - Spring 2013
Writing Assignment #2
Horse-Meat Hotdish & Petroleum Pie:Outdated recipes for disaster.
The U.S. Food System
Every time I mention something that involves machinery to be grown, to be processed and preserved, or
to be prepared and served I am mentioning something that takes oil to function. The more machines used
in production the bigger the embodied chemical load of the product. Pesticides to packaging all rely on
persistent chemicals and petroleum and their chemical signatures are everywhere. Everything that we
eat has been touched by these things figuratively and if it has touched physically there is some trace that
remains. Approximately 1400 pesticides are currently approved for use in the United States, those are alot of chemical hopefuls for becoming the future DDT.
Environmental researcher Charles Benbrook estimates that switching to organic
food production would reduce our overall exposure to pesticides by 97%. His
report, Simplifying the Pesticide Risk Equation, concludes that the switch would
lead to more full-term births, fewer underweight babies, reduced rates of birth
defects and significant benefits for developing immune, reproductive and nervous
systems. He says the benefits of avoiding pesticide exposure begin about six
months before conception and continue throughout life, (Alterman, 2013).
Incredibly, we give subsidies to oil and industrial agriculture instead of the healthier alternatives. Theway things are done may have made sense at the time of inception and most likely saved more lives than I
could imagine but they dont anymore, in fact, theyre damaging society. Governments job is to foster
positive changes to maintain the well-being of its people, in order for Congress to do this they will have
to pull an 180 turn and take a few cues on food education from the First Lady, Michelle Obama. In the
U.S. 1 in 6 need food assistance and many are in situations where they cant grow their own food behind
their White House, we need to identify new, stronger leverage points than EBT and incentives for
corporations to make cheaper but not nutritionally valuable food.
Taxes would go down if chemical-agricultural supporting subsidies were eliminated leaving more income
for food. Give those same subsidies to renewable energy and organic farms (the two often go together)
and you encourage growth and development in the industry with unknown numbers of benefits toconsumers, at least for now. In a 2008 UN report, chem-farming yields were lower than organic-farming
yields, my theory is weve destroyed the soil with chemicals and many would agree. Organic is said to be
15% more labor intensive and has been said to hire 2.5 times the employees as its chemical counterpart -
creating more jobs and less dependence on food support.
In response to a 2013 incident involving horsemeat entering the food supply the Academic Health Center
at the UMN said, There are still many unknown aspects to the situation, but this incident of
7/29/2019 Horsemeat Hot Dish and Petroleum Pie
2/6
economically motivated adulteration (EMA), or food fraud, is notable for its scale and provides yet
another example of how globalized and complex our food supply chain is. It also illustrates how EMA
occurs and why it can be so difficult to prevent.
For EMA to occur there must be a perpetrator and an incentive, combined with a feasible method for
committing the fraud and vulnerabilities in our quality assurance/regulatory systems for food that allow it
to persist undetected. This concern is almost entirely bypassed by positive food choices like organics,
CSAs, local, and farmers markets as qualities like fresh and unprocessed are harder to fake.
Three quick things of note shared by the UMN:
EMA is a $10-15 billion per year problem in the food industry. EMA is essentially the mislabeling of food or the willful addition of
inferior or undeclared ingredients for economic gain.
NCFPD director Shaun Kennedy has stated that an estimated 10% of thefood we buy on the shelf may be adulterated.
Finally, the Academic Health Center mentions something else of interest on the UMN website: Ground
beef was not routinely tested for the presence of horsemeat because it was not an expected adulterant.
Because analytical methods for identifying adulterants in food can be expensive and are often tailored
toward specific known adulterants, unexpected or novel adulterants can be particularly difficult to detect.
This also means that if something isnt known about or considered harmful, it cannot and will not be
looked for.
Weve given up control and let the system run wild but the answer isnt more control, instead it is in
identifying strategic leverage points with holistic effects.
Diet Health Effects
What we eat is just as important as the act of eating itself.
According to the FAO, 36 million people die each year of hunger and poor
nutrition. An estimated 868 million people 12 percent of the population are
undernourished, (UMNews, 2013).
What this really breaks down into is what we do and what we dont get and negatives are hard to quantify
so lets start with one of the things we can really see obesity overweight and undernourished. In a
2010 TED Talk Jamie Oliver, celebrity chef and activist delivered a passionate talk on the food system in
the United States in which he used obesity and its consequences as an example of the system runningrampantly in the wrong direction.
7/29/2019 Horsemeat Hot Dish and Petroleum Pie
3/6
In his talk Oliver dropped a lot of pertinent information:
Children today, because of what they are eating, are predicted to have alifespan 10 years less than their parents
2/3 of North America are obese In the 18 minutes his talk took, 4 Americans died obesity related deaths 10% of U.S. healthcare costs are caused by obesity which totals about$150 billion That $150 billion dollar price tag is set to double in 10 years Diet is the leading cause of death in the United States The biggest difference is that food, when healthy, was fresh and local but
now it is poorly labeled and full of additives
At one point he shows a video clip of children unable to even identify vegetables
in their natural forms and then shared that it only took two 2 hour sessions to fix
with education
You can also end up with a weakened immune system, making you more vulnerable to allergies
and illness. Mark Holbreich collaborated with German researchers in 2010 and their findings
were later published by theJournal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in 2012. They found
that 50% of the general population will test positive for an allergy test, 25% of Swiss farm
children will test positive, with only 7% of Amish children testing positive. The more exposed
to nature, what is natural, or what is raw, both as a developing fetus and a child, the better off the
childs immune responses.
To borrow from a 2013, Mother Earth News piece (77) by Megan Phelps:
How exactly this works is still unfolding, but exposures early in life, including in
the womb, seem to be important. Theres also some question of whether its
simply that we are exposed to microbes that matters, or if there are specificprotective microbes. Or both. In any case, farms are a great place to study this.
The farms are rich in microbial environments, Liu [Dr. Andy Liu at National
Jewish Health in Denver] says. A lot of it seems to be related to animals or the
other people were around. To the extent that we can quantify microbial
burdens, its much higher in farm homes. You also find richer microbial
environments in homes with pets or many young children.
We didnt evolve for an urban environment.
Its not so much what were exposed to thats causing these diseases, its the
conditions we evolved with that are now missing.
Going back to the chemical residues you receive from certain food choices, chemical fertilizers,
pesticides and herbicides are bad for our health and the health of the environment, in addition to
costing money. In a 2012 statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics advised parents to
reduce or eliminate prenatal and early childhood exposure to pesticide because of their
association with pediatric cancers, decreased cognitive functioning and behavioral problems,
(Star, 82, 2013). Pesticide exposure has been linked to multiple types of cancer from brain to
7/29/2019 Horsemeat Hot Dish and Petroleum Pie
4/6
colon, nervous system damage, reproductive and metabolic problems, diabetes, obesity, several
neurological diseases typically associated with aging, and other chronic conditions. Children are
particularly susceptible due to their development being in process.
With organics and sustainable, positive food choices we avoid all of this. Nothing is a hard thing
to quantify, but a happy, healthy life is more meaningful than all the disconnected numbers andstatistics anyway. The biggest win with better diet choices and rebooting the food system is
what we dont do to the health of ourselves, our environment, and future generations; however,
there are a few things that can be documented now. Some fruits contain high levels of
antioxidants that have cancer fighting properties. Alpine strawberries, blackberries, blueberries,
grapes, and plums can be grown just about anywhere in the U.S. and all of these contain higher
than average amounts of antioxidants. Their wide range of growth and availability make them a
perfect local or organic choice. Some of the antioxidants found in the 5 fruits:
beta-carotene coenzyme Q10 flavonoids glutathione
lipoic acid manganese phenols phytoestrogens
polyphenols selenium vitamin a vitamin e
This goes well with findings from the Human Nutrition Research Center in the UK who found
that organic, on average, contains 12% more defense-related compounds than conventional
produce.
What You Can Do
Its easy, in fact, youve already started. Informing yourself is arguably the most important thing
you can do, the second would be actively putting what you learn to work. Some people will give
you lists upon lists, I ask you to think about it, where it comes from before you and where it goes
after you, does it even leave you? The final component is to share what you find and when you
do lead with what you are most interested or excited about because passion is infectious.
7/29/2019 Horsemeat Hot Dish and Petroleum Pie
5/6
References
Alterman, T. (March/April, 2013). 5 antioxidant-rich fruits that grow anywhere. Mother Earth Living,
1(3), 86-87. Also accessible as of 03.05.13 through:
http://www.motherearthliving.com/gardening/vegetable-gardening/5-antioxidant-rich-fruits-
zmgz13mazmel.aspx
Alterman, T. (March/April, 2013). Why its still smart to buy organic. Mother Earth Living, 1(3), 51-
54. Also accessible as of 03.05.13 through: http://www.motherearthliving.com/food-and-
recipes/food-for-health/why-eating-organic-is-still-smart-zmfz13mazmel.aspx
Baehr, B. (2013, April 16). Whats wrong with our food system. [Downloadable TED Talk]. Retrieved
from http://www.ted.com/talks/birke_baehr_what_s_wrong_with_our_food_system.html
Can we feed the world? : UMNews : University of Minnesota. (n.d.). Twin Cities - University of
Minnesota. Retrieved March 14, 2013, from
http://www1.umn.edu/news/features/2013/UR_CONTENT_430583.html
Eskenazi, B., Bradman, A., & Castorina, R. (1999). Exposures of children to organophosphate pesticides
and their potential adverse health effects. Environmental Health Perspectives, 107(supplement
3), 409-419. [UMN Library accessed journal used for research per criteria]
Horsemeat: A food safety expert's perspective. (n.d.).Academic Health Center - University of Minnesota .
Retrieved March 14, 2013, from http://www.health.umn.edu/healthtalk/2013/02/22/horsemeat-in-
the-food-supply/
Oliver, J. (2013, April 16). Jamie Olivers TED Prize wish: Teach every child about food.
[Downloadable TED Talk]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html
Phelps, M. E. (March/April, 2013). The farm effect. Mother Earth Living, 1(3), 74-78. Also accessible
as of 03.05.13 through: currently unable to access some of the articles online.
Siple, J. (August 22, 2012). More MN farmers markets accepting EBT. MPR News. Retrieved on
03.06.13 from: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/08/22/more-minnesota-
farmers-markets-accepting-ebt
7/29/2019 Horsemeat Hot Dish and Petroleum Pie
6/6
Siple, J. (February 03, 2013). Farm to Cafeteria events planned in MN. MPR News. Retrieved on
03.06.13 from: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/02/03/regional/farm-to-school-
workshops
Siple, J. (March 05, 2013). More fruits, veggies for food stamp recipients goal of MN program. MPR
News. Retrieved on 03.06.13 from:
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/03/05/news/fruits-veggies-food-stamp-
recipients
Star, L. L. (02.28.13). Donate excess produce to food pantries. Mother Earth Living. Retrieved
03.06.13 from: http://www.motherearthliving.com/in-the-garden/donate-excess-produce-to-food-
pantries.aspx
Star, L. L. (March/April, 2013). Zero-Waste Gardening. Mother Earth Living, 1(3), 84-85. Also
accessible as of 03.05.13 through: http://www.motherearthliving.com/gardening/gardening-
tips/zero-waste-gardening-zmgz13mazmel.aspx
To protect and defend...our food : UMNews : University of Minnesota. (n.d.). Twin Cities - University of
Minnesota. Retrieved March 14, 2013, from
http://www1.umn.edu/news/features/2013/UR_CONTENT_434622.html
Zerbe, L. (2010). Organic is worth it - and heres why. Rodale: Where health meets green. Retrieved on
03.01.13 from: http://www.rodale.com/organic-food-benefits
Zerbe, L. (2011). Lower taxes! And 4 other surprising reasons to save the Earth by going
organic. Rodale: Where health meets green. Retrieved on 03.06.13 from:
http://www.rodale.com/buy-organic-food