A Letter on Industrial Food
To: John R---- <[email protected]>
From: Lindsay Mensch <[email protected]>
Subject: Learning about industrial food
Dear Mr. R----,
I hope you are doing well! How has the fall semester been going for you? I’m sure you’re busy as classes start to pick up; I know that they are for me.
From: Lindsay Mensch <[email protected]>
Subject: Learning about industrial food
Dear Mr. R----,
I hope you are doing well! How has the fall semester been going for you? I’m sure you’re busy as classes start to pick up; I know that they are for me.
I’m writing to you to tell you a bit about a book I’ve been reading for one of my classes at MSU; the book is called Pandora’s Lunchbox, and the focus of the course is the industrialization of American food systems – looking at how we got to this point in our food history and what it means for us now! In my class, when I was assigned to write an email to someone about Pandora’s Lunchbox, I immediately thought of you! I will always remember watching Food Inc. for the first time in your AP Environmental Science class, and it called up the memory again when I watched a part of that documentary again in my current food class.
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Anyway, this book was published in 2013 by investigative journalist Melanie Warner after she explored the practices of various food processing companies and the nutritional benefits of their foods. Much of the book is spent subtly pushing against processed foods, which she defines as “something that could not be made, with the same ingredients, in a home kitchen” (xvi). She chooses to build her book as a case against purchasing/eating processed foods because they often have little/no nutritional value and can sometimes be addictive. Lots of processed foods are particularly high in sodium, but not necessarily salty; some food additives, like sodium citrate or sodium phosphate “[n]either [add] flavor or nutrition,” but they still have a sodium content that the body perceives (Warner 46). In a complementary New York Times article my class read, Michael Moss expressed that salt can be addictive for people, and food companies have been taking advantage of that fact to get consumers to continue to purchase their foods (13). Humans, who have an inclination for salty foods, don’t perceive sodium additives; but if we are already suffering health problems from excess sodium consumption (just from our desire for that salty taste), imagine how hidden sodium is contributing to this adverse health picture.
Lots of the processed foods we have today began from an ideal to promote safer, healthier, more convenient foods to the consumer. For instance, Kraft Singles were once trumpeted as the “‘safe and clean way to buy cheese,’” since this product was once canned and pasteurized to preserve its shelf life (Warner 41). However, the manufacture of Kraft cheese shifted from a way to extend the product’s shelf life to something that no longer can be labeled “cheese” or “food”; in fact, when the company began using milk protein concentrate instead of real milk, they had to start calling it a “Cheese Product” instead of a “Cheese Food” (Warner 45). It took some time for the FDA to even get wind of this ingredient shift, which also puts into question the faith that we have in our government agencies.
Lots of the processed foods we have today began from an ideal to promote safer, healthier, more convenient foods to the consumer. For instance, Kraft Singles were once trumpeted as the “‘safe and clean way to buy cheese,’” since this product was once canned and pasteurized to preserve its shelf life (Warner 41). However, the manufacture of Kraft cheese shifted from a way to extend the product’s shelf life to something that no longer can be labeled “cheese” or “food”; in fact, when the company began using milk protein concentrate instead of real milk, they had to start calling it a “Cheese Product” instead of a “Cheese Food” (Warner 45). It took some time for the FDA to even get wind of this ingredient shift, which also puts into question the faith that we have in our government agencies.
When we watched FLOW in your APES class, I remember that one of the people interviewed for the documentary discussed how little regulation/monitoring the FDA does of our bottled water: something like “less than one person” (since the person in charge of this has other duties on their plate as well). This is surprisingly similar to the regulation that goes into food additives in our country. According to Warner, there are about five thousand different additives that have been approved to go into our foods. How they were approved, however, is not the complex and cautious process that one might think goes into the allowance of synthetic chemicals in our food. Once upon a time, the FDA created a list of additives that were “Generally Recognized as Safe” – “things like spices, salt, vinegar, and yeast” (Warner 107). These commonsense additives pose few adverse health effects, but when the FDA opened the list to other chemical additives, there was little need for a stringent approval process. Now, the process is voluntary and has essentially become a nonexistent practice; on top of that, simply notifying the FDA of new additives is voluntary as well. The testing of these substances is very lax, and with so many that exist and coexist in our everyday diets, many of the health impacts of these additives are unknown.
Although a lot of the book was discouraging in regards to how we put our faith in food companies and government administration, the ending was hopeful. Learning how to cook with real, whole foods can help a lot of people improve their health and escape from the additive and unhealthful trap of processed foods. I thought this was interesting since it’s not really something we talked about in your class, nor is it ever explicitly stated as a solution in Food Inc. We tended to focus a lot on the environmental impacts of our foods – even the whole and fresh foods that we can buy at a supermarket. However, this class (and several other college courses I’ve taken) have been opening my eyes to the ways that humans are an important part of the picture. With a growing population, we have growing health problems and the way that we interact and are affected by our environment is an important factor that affects the way we live.
If you are ever looking for a supplement to your APES curriculum, or are just interested in learning more about industrial food, I would highly recommend Pandora’s Lunchbox. It was pretty eye opening for me! If you have any questions or want to hear more about the book/class, let me know.
Hope to hear from you soon!
Best,
Lindsay
About the Author
Lindsay Mensch. Studying English at Michigan State University. Obsessed with Radiohead, cats, and carbohydrates.
Published in 2016.
Published in 2016.