Word: agricultureã
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...formidable intellect remains preoccupied with the nature of violence and how a thinking person should go about dealing with it in the world. A recent father, Foer undertook the research for “Eating Animals”—an examination of the various aspects of animal agriculture??in order to come to an informed decision about whether or not to feed meat to his newborn son. What follows is a harsh portrayal of the modern factory-farming industry and an unflinching investigation of the implications that it has both for human morality and life...
Foer devotes most of this book to providing a detailed condemnation of industrial animal agriculture??or factory farming—which provides more than 99% of the meat consumed in America today and which has exactly nothing to do with the pastoral image most people associate with the word “farm...
...could not be more expensive.” The American corn industry, which produces grain en masse, relies on monoculture: growing one crop on the same land year after year, which depletes soil and requires large quantities of fertilizers. As Pollan writes, this lack of “diversified agriculture?? creates incredible dependence on nitrogen—leading to detrimental environmental effects: “By fertilizing the world, we alter the planet’s composition of species and shrink its biodiversity.” Consuming high-fructose corn syrup, a key product of this industry, reinforces...
Tellingly, even the supposed success stories have been unconvincing. In India, alongside tales of gluttonous middle classes, reports emerge that—as a consequence of a cocktail of policies that attend to the interests of commercial agriculture??almost 150,000 farmers committed suicide between 1997 and 2005 (the equivalent of one every 32 minutes). In China, despite surging growth rates, peasant incomes have reportedly stagnated. This has generated mass discontent, as evidenced by a steep increase in the number of protests recorded nationally (87,000 in 2005, up from 8,700 in 1993). And while rural distress...
...leading cause of death in the U.S. The mortality rate was also slightly lower in the group that reduced sodium intake, although not statistically significant. Most Americans consume much more than the recommended maximum amount of 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture??s annual dietary guidelines. Yet Cook said the problem is difficult to address because it depends on more than consumer choice. “Most of the sodium we eat comes from processed food and restaurant meals, so if we can reduce the sodium in those foods...