Food Inc Research Paper

Food Inc.

The growth of food and the fast food industry has increased tremendously since the 1950s. “In the 1970’s, the top five beef packers controlled 25% of the market. Today, stunningly, these beef packers control more than 80% of the market.” (Food Inc. Quote) These handful of corporations have goals to produce large sums of food at minimum inputs resulting in large amounts of profit, which allows for market power within these top companies. Food Inc. shows how these companies have grown so big that the health and safety of the workers and food have been overlooked by the company itself and the government which as a result has a negative outcome of consequences. The advancements in technology, machinery, and science have increased
the production of the fast food industry and have been seen as a crisis for the need of biodiversity. Food Inc. is a movie that did well describing the technological advancements, risks, and the increase in production of the fast food industry. On an economic standpoint, Food Inc.
shows the power of companies and their power in the market. 80% of the meat that can be bought in the United States is supplied by the four companies who act like monopolies. Each of these companies has diminished the incentive for other companies to enter the market, and the incentive with the quality of their food, because of such few competitors. The lack of competition in the meatpacking industry is a known market failure. The more the customers know about a product, such as the meat in the fast food industry, the better. The meat packing industry holds back information from the public for its own good. The central theme of Food Inc. is the corn industry. 30% of the land in the United States is used for growing corn. Corn is used in products such as ketchup and batteries, used as animal feed, and used as a food additive. Food Inc. explains how corn has been massed produced and harvested in large quantities because of how cheap it is. Corn is a multipurpose crop which can be fed to livestock and used in food, which was mentioned before. Due to corn being a multipurpose crop, it was heavily subsidized by the government. Subsidizing corn, since it is so cheap, has ensured that the unhealthiest food is the cheapest. This is the cause of obesity and bad
health. I think we watched this movie because, as mentioned before, it shows the economic standpoint of market power within monopolies in the United States. It shows how the power of huge companies, or monopolies, have affected the market. The other reason we watched the movie was to learn how the meat packing industry and fast food industry work. Not many know the logistics, or ins-and-outs, of what a meat packing industry produces or what a fast food industry gives us. As an entertainment experience, I would recommend this to a friend because it the meaning behind the movie will shock and disgust many people, and will show them what they are really buying from McDonalds and Taco Bell. As an educational experience, I would highly recommend this to a friend to inform them of the diseases and unhealthy decisions one can make from buying food from a fast food industry. Food Inc. can teach people that cheap is not always the best. Do the meat packing industries have monthly or yearly health tests or safety inspections? Is it safe to eat something from a fast food industry without worrying what was made to make it? Is it fair that the top four meat packing producers control the market? Do these meat packing companies use corn as a multipurpose crop for feeding to livestock? These are some of the questions I still have after watching the movie. What I would like to learn more about from watching Food Inc. is what other different technological advancements would help the production of the meat packing industry but at the same time reduce the risk of getting a disease from meat.