Economy on Food

Many Americans consume food at an alarming rate without even stopping to think of what they really might be eating or how it ended up on their plate. If we just took the time to see how our food systems worked, we would notice the domino affect trickling down from government to average day Americans. In order for us to be able to grow and produce food, farmers are paid by our government in the form of subsidies. These crops often times do not grow naturally from the ground. Chemicals are pumped into the Earth causing problems for our environment. That food is than sent on journeys all over the world, including stops at feed lots. Animals are fed the crop which has more cons than pros to their digestive system and their bodies causing meat to have a higher concentration of fat. Of course these products are then distributed to our grocery stores and we buy them without the slightest bit of hesitation. Each one of these steps has an affect on the other and it might all be controlled by one problem - government subsidies. Without this control farmers might have the initiative to grow with their minds set on quality over quantity which in turn will have healthier affects on each level of our food economy.
Farmers are large contributors toward the food for our society. The government pays farmers by controlling the supply and demand through subsidies keeping the farmers their jobs. However, the subsidies are based on how many bushels a farmer can grow, which leads to an overproduction. An example of a highly subsidized crop is corn. Alone, this crop causes environmental, animal farming, and society health issues. According to Michael Pollan, an author, activist, and Professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, for farmers to grow an abundant amount of corn it requires more chemicals and pesticides to maintain growing conditions. These chemicals eventually find its way into the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, killing marine life (45). When