Dangers in Daily Food | Teen Ink

Dangers in Daily Food

March 14, 2012
By michaella barton BRONZE, Grand Rapids, Michigan
michaella barton BRONZE, Grand Rapids, Michigan
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Have you ever realized that there are no seasons for food any more? For example, tomatoes are in the grocery store even in the middle of winter. Since people can’t grow them here in the winter they have to them grown half way around the world, and they use ethylene (a chemical) to ripen the tomatoes completely. This means we are eating preservatives that could cause us to get sick or could possibly kill us. We need to change our food industry starting with what we put on our plates.



We eat chickens alot and for most of us it has become a common food, but do we know the truth about how they are raised? The chickens you will find in a grocery store have been modified to fit our needs. We mostly eat the breast of a chicken so the companies will modify the chicken so it will grow faster and with more breast meat. Most of the time, the chickens can barely stand up by the time they are done growing. Some farmers know this is bad but the company they work under won’t let them have a say in how they farm, so they are basically slaves to the companies. Do you really want to be eating chicken raised like this?

Cow’s are being treated just as bad. They are being raised in a foot deep of their own manure. The cow’s are being fed corn, which is not well digested and leads to E. coli infections. This means that if one cow gets E. Coli the infection will get to all those surrounding the sick one. Cows are meant to eat grass and the only reason they are feeding them corn is because it is cheaper and corn can be used for almost anything.

As you just heard corn is used for almost any thing and is one of the cheapest grown things in our generation. Corn can be cooked down into other things, and it can be used in its natural form. There are so many things corn is used in such as, ketchup, cheese, Twinkies, batteries, peanut butter, Cheese-Its, salad dressing, Coke, jelly, Sweet and Low (chemical sweetener), syrup, juice, Kool-Aid, charcoal, diapers, Motrin, meat, and fast food. Having 18 products made out of corn is crazy. The problem is that repeated exposure to corn can effect our bodies. It can lead to inflammation and food allergies.

On the other hand, with our economy some may not have the money to buy the more expensive, Organic food. Moreover, some don’t know enough to change how they eat. I hope that this will change their minds. A 2½ year old went on vacation with his family. He had three hamburgers and then his parents started finding blood in his stool. He ended up having Hemorrhagic E. coli, which causes sever diarrhea. His parents were only allowed to give him water from a sponge, and once he actually bit the sponge he was so thirsty. The boy died 12 days later.

We need to try to change the way our food industry works. The sooner we change, the less people will have to suffer from E. coli, like the 2½ year old boy. It would reduce animal abuses and improve their quality of life by allowing the animals to get there natural food sources instead of being fed corn or other substances.



Works Cited:
Food, Inc. (movie)


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on Mar. 31 2012 at 2:17 am
Aeliss-Novak-the-Zombie-Space-Pirate BRONZE, That Place With All The Trees And Stuff, Oregon
1 article 3 photos 150 comments

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Impossible is not a word, just a reason not to try.~Kutless

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I was allergic to corn, wheat, soy, carrots, and avacado. I am still allergic to carrots and avacado. I can now eat corn wheat and soy. I know how much food has corn, I couldn't eat it for six years. Basicly I could hardly eat anything.

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