Most people never give a second thought to where their food comes from, or how it was produced--and that is exactly what the fast food industry wants. When someone thinks of fast food, pictures of giant burgers and fries probably come to mind, but they do not stop to think about the tremendous amount of resources required to produce those foods, the animals that were involved, the adverse effects on the environment, or the detrimental impact on our health. The money-hungry food industry is taking over the Earth, much at the expense of our health and wildlife.
Major fast food corporations have disrupted the natural ecological system by growing animals at “concentrated feeding operations,” which are areas where animals are raised in a way that completely goes against their natural instincts, forced to eat whatever the food industry finds most profitable.
The food industry also has pernicious effects on the environment. As a matter of fact, food choices are a key determiner of an individual’s environmental footprint. The growing industry has found a way to “trap” farmers, by paying them more to grow cheap crops, like corn and soy, that will be used in processed foods. The farmers will not be paid enough if they grow other crops, so they are forced to primarily grow crops that benefit the industry. However, as they do this, they are providing the giant corporations with the materials they need, further decreasing the value of any other goods the farmer produces. This growing of crops undoubtedly requires an increased number of resources, which means that there will be more deforestation to clear ground for crops, larger farms with more machines, leading to increased air pollution, and more fertilizer pollution from the heaps of fertilizer applied on crops to get them to grow at an accelerated rate.
The primary cause of deforestation is the conversion of land for feed crops and grazing. Deforestation is another issue all on its own, and has many harmful effects, including habitat loss, increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere contributing to climate change, and worsened soil erosion, to name a few.
The fast food industry is environmentally disastrous, and if people do not begin understanding that even the simple food choices they make can have an impact on their own ecosystem, the future of planet Earth may be in danger.
Works Cited
Buss, Dale. “Is the Food Industry the Problem or the Solution?” The New York Times, 29 Aug. 2004, www.nytimes.com/2004/08/29/business/news-and-analysis-is-the-food-industry-the-problem-or-the-solution.html.
Kemmerer, Lisa. Eating Earth : Environmental Ethics and Dietary Choice. Oxford University Press, 2015. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspxdirect=true&AuthType=ip,custuid&custid=s8455861&db=e862xna&AN=842826&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore's Dilemma. Young Readers Edition, Penguin, 2009. Print.
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