Blog 9 Food safety

Food safety 

With the increases in industrial farming and corporate consolidation in the U.S food production system, mass production (quantity) has become of high importance. Because of this, the quality and standard of the food being produced suffers greatly which can lead to serious health concerns.

 Two areas, of the production process, where this quantity over quality approach has become most apparent are in the areas of Waste Management and Processing.

Concentrated farming creates situations where massive amounts of animal waste are produced in very small areas. Because of this, the waste produced is not disposed of properly. According to the USDA “ One dairy farm with 2,500 cows produces as much waste as a city with around 411,000 residents^. Unlike human waste, however, in most cases the law does not require that livestock waste be treated.” A more scale back approach to production would allow for waste to be disposed of in a more appropriate manner, but this is not the case with the current system.

Apart from this waste management issues, the processing part of this mass production approach has equally poor standards. Serious sanitation lapses occur that leads to “the presence of fecal matter from slaughtered animals, which can contaminate meat with high levels of bacteria such as E coli.”

As I have shown, serious issues can arise in the areas of waste management and processing due to the mass production of the food we eat. These problems will continue to exist with serious health consequences if this quantity over quality approach continues.