Issues such as the Live Animal Export trade in Australia garner much attention and debate on social networking sites such as Facebook. Organisations such as PETA (People for the Prevention of cruelty To Animals) use shock tactics to counteract the media-storm advertising that fast-food giants such as McDonald's and KFC utilise to keep the multi-national ball rolling.
But PETA's is a loud voice compared to that of UNICEF and other humanitarian organisations. According to Raj Patel, author of 'Stuffed and Starved' "...hunger, abundance and obesity are more compatible than they have ever been [before]" (Patel, 2007). So the production, consumption and distribution of food has become a major issue of the 21st century- it can make you happy and it can make you healthy; but it can also make you sick through over-eating and poor diet while at the same time be in deserately short supply in other parts of the world.
Personally, I resent the 'golden arches ' and their psychological imprinting. As an ex-junk-food-junkie I find I still have the craving for an overdose of fat, sugar and salt, served in a soft, warm package that has an uncanny resemblance to a female breast (reference needed-lol!). But at least the McDonald's franchise doesn't insult my intelligence with it's television commercials. KFC on the other hand makes me violently ill/angry with it's crude drug references and dumbed-down colloquialisms (without even touching it!).
But as the 'Case of Rum' study shows, we have a long history of food profiteering, and the more suffering at the production end of the process, the more profit would seem to come from the distribution. Despite the surge of 'foodie' programs on television (Atkins, 2007) that have us craving weird and wonderful dishes created by our own hands, our consumption of food has more guilt attached to it than ever before. But as individuals we are limited in our control of world market forces. It is only through better choices and 'trade treatys' (Patel,2007) that eating with a clear conscience can be a forseeable future.
Fair trade@Facebook
Bibliography-
Patel, Raj. 'Stuffed and Starved', Black Inc., Melbourne, Australia, 2007.
Atkins, Peter. 'Food in Society', Oxford University Press Inc., New York, 2001.
Burger Image- https://www.facebook.com/officialpeta
McDonald's Logo Image-http://www.grimes.lib.ia.us/images/mcdonaldslogo/image
Fair Trade Image- http://oliveonblonde.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/world-fair-trade-day-logo.jpg
I agree that food has become a major issue for today's society. The consumption and distribution of the healthy lifestyle food is a major issue in today's society. Transnational corporations like McDonalds and KFC are having a tremendous power and affect on how we choose and eat our food (Patel, 2007). Capitalist markets embrace these fast food giants all in the name of profit and governments deregulate everything that could diminish profit (Patel, 2007). But the affordability, convenience and the profit it brings to a nation is not going to slow down the distribution of these fast food giants. This obesity epidemic I think can only be won by the power of the individual.
ReplyDeleteReferences
Patel, R. (2007). Stuffed and starved: Markets, power and the hidden battle for the world’s food system. (pp.1-19). Melbourne, Vic: Black Inc.
Great Blog. It's such a viscous cycle that we are perpetuating. The production end of the process is always the one to suffer and I agree that it is innocent animal or the less fortunate that bear the brunt of the exploitation, in relation to your blog. However, we are fickle, as Facebook only goes crazy with activists when the stories are in the media. Each individual needs to be responsible and constant if any change is to happen.
ReplyDeletePatel, R. (2007). Stuffed and starved: The hidden battle for the world’s food system, Introduction (p.1).
Toronto, Canada: Harper Perennial