Industrialization of Food

Industrialization of Food

In today’s society, the influence of popular, universal culture is more prevalent than before. Many objects of consumption are being mass produced and industrialized. The trend now is to not stop moving and constantly ‘be on the go’. Fewer people are slowing down to eat a family dinner, or enjoy a home cooked meal. To respond to this, food corporations have industrialized their products, making them cheaper to produce and have more food per plant. In doing this, they have lowered the quality of food.

Quality is defined by dictionary.com as, “The standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind; the degree of excellence of something”. When judging food quality, one has to look at the difference between modern food and the food of our grandparents. 70 years ago, the food was a lot different. Most of everything was grown locally and not genetically engineered to produce a large yield. Yield is the amount of substance a plant produces on a fruit or vegetable. Recently however, nearly everything you buy in a grocery store is enhanced to be bigger, brighter, and have a sweeter flavor.

In the 1940’s, scientists began doing food research to create fruits and vegetables with larger yield, easier. They changed hormone balances to create a more full looking produce. The idea originally sounded too good to be true. More fruits, vegetables, and grains with less effort and less cost were the best advancements in agriculture ever made. However, what researchers then and now have failed to mention is that we are exchanging size and color for nutritional value.

When a fruit grows naturally, there is a certain size that they usually achieve. Within this average fruit, there are a balance of vitamins, minerals, sugars, and carbohydrates. This perfect balance is what makes the fruit a quality sample. The vitamins and minerals are usually stored in the skin and core of the product. The sugars and carbohydrates are stored in the...