The Food Industry, A Savage Injustice Research Paper Samples

The food industry, with its many promises and pitfalls, appears to be on an increasing crusade to give people more food, as well as healthier dietary options. How is this manageable when an estimated half of the world is starving? Bioengineering create genetically modified organisms, enabling farmers to grow more food. This food, though engineered, is considered natural and, therefore healthy. It is marketed as such. Consequently, the food industry is able to feed more people for less, pocketing more profits while boasting healthier options for their customers. However, food industries such as Monsanto have neglected to share these genetically modified organisms could be a detriment to our bodies. Industries marketed the crops under false pretenses, contriving the image they truly cared about world hunger when in reality they only wanted to pocket extra funds at the expense of our immune systems and our health in general, which is unjust.
Initially, the idea of more healthy food for a slightly cheaper price makes many people happy; the world has been in the depths of a food crisis for decades and GM crops appeared to be a possible, seemingly healthy solution. However, most do not understand the detriment genetically modified organisms do to the environment and the food industry commissioning the bioengineering of the organisms do not make the information easily accessible to the public. According to, “Framing GM Crops as a Food Security Solution,” the initial debate over GM crops began as an argument about food security . People in poor or desolate areas were starving, and GM crops granted the possibility of feeding them. It was assessed upon the initial launch of GM crops whether bioengineering was ethical or not, but was later founded upon the terms that the foods could save human lives, that it was far more unethical to not use available scientific methods to help those in needs. In later reports, Monsanto, among other corporate food industries, had been found guilty of leaving many damning facts out of reports pertaining to the quality of GM food they claimed to be healthy, making the marketing grossly unfair .
Not only was the marketing itself unfair, but the details kept from the public made the release of GM crops to the public unjust. It was stated in “Food Safety Risk: Consumer Perception and Purchase Behavior,” food industries had used surveys and other tactical measures to understand what customers responded to the most when purchasing food . Most studies found customers responded to flashy gimmicks, but primarily were attracted to phrases such as, “low-fat,” “no-carbs,” “less sodium,” and related terms. Food industries masked these studies as an attempt to win back the public’s confidence after losing it partially because of the havoc GM crops were already wreaking on society, but none of this was publicized at the time. Instead, the results were used not only to market known foods, but also GM crops that were packaged as healthy foods consumers could always rely on as part of their diet.
Many misunderstand why the food industry saturating every store with GM crops is so unfair. The marketing of genetically modified organisms and denial of what they really are is part of it, but the real injustice is the impact they is having on our bodies, as well as the impact they will continue to have as we grow, and as we procreate. “Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria: A Challenge For the Food Industry,” explains that, as a genetically modified organism created to withstand most forms of weather, pestilence, pesticide, and weed, the crops are also resistant to antibiotics . Antibiotic resistant organisms, first noticed in the 1940’s, were of little consequence to scientists because new antibiotics were being discovered all the time. In addition, individuals were not consuming GM crops for nearly 80% of their diet in the 40’s. Genetically modified foods are in almost everything we eat, as the majority of the average person’s diet is based on processed food, which contains genetically modified corn and soybeans. The concern now is that the population has been consuming GM crops for so long that our systems will soon be resistant to antibiotics, and the antibiotic resistant strain will also be passed on to our children, leaving us completely defenseless to many illnesses. Why were consumers never told? Because the food industry wanted to make more money, putting the lives of the entire planet on the line, which is possibly the most unfair, savagely unreasonable thing a corporation could do.
In sum, while the food industry perpetrates many actions upon the public that are unfair, the omissions of what GM crops are doing to our bodies in an attempt to make more money is perhaps the most unfair. GM crops are more sustainable in drier regions, and they do live throughout pestilence and pesticides. However, they are antibiotic resistant, and this information was not shared with people eating the crops until it was possibly too late. Antibiotics are not being discovered with the fervor they once were, making antibiotic-resistant organisms a true threat to humanity; if we are passing this strain on to our children it could mean a severe thinning of the human population entirely because the food industry did not want to find a sincere and healthy way to fix the world’s food shortage. Not only is it grossly unfair, but it is inhumane and arguably illegal for food industries to keep crucial information like this from consumers in the interest of making extra money.

Works Cited

Capita, Rosa and Carlos Alonso-Calleja. "Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria: A Challenge for the Food Industry." Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition (2012): 11-48. Article.
Didbe, Jacqui, David Gibbs and Chris Cocklin. "Framing GM crops as a food security solution." Journal of Rural Studies (2013): 50-79. Article.
Yeung, Ruth M. and Joe Morris. "Food safety risk: Consumer perception and purchase behaviour." British Food Journal (2013): 170-187. Article.