Impacts of a Borderless Society
Impacts of a borderless society
As a country that prides itself on options, we tend to buy what we want and expect the market to provide us with a multitude of choices. Food selections are no different. We plan a meal and seek out those items on our list. Or we select from what is available and plan a meal around those selections. We rarely think about where our choices originated. Some of our purchases may originate here in the United States, while others come from outside our borders. This can be both an advantage and a disadvantage.
A substantial advantage is that products grown and utilized within our borders help to stimulate our national economy. For example, milk produced from cows is collected at the farm and transported to the plant for pasteurization processing. This is usually done in a specific geographic area since milk has a short shelf-life, usually about two weeks. It is tested for antibiotics and then pumped into the plants holding tanks where it will be processed in 24 to 72 hours of arrival. It is kept below 45 degrees from the time it enters the truck until it is processed. After processing, it is then packaged in cartons or plastic containers for shipment to the store in refrigerated trucks. Because milk should be kept refrigerated, shipping is not advisable over very long distances, such as other countries. (Milk Processing, 2007)
A disadvantage of a global market is that outside the borders of the United States, developing countries may develop crops that pertain to forward thinking technology, like sugar in Brazil in response to the demand for ethanol, lending themselves to a limited variety of crops. (Dean, 2007) This tends to materialize in ways that undermine the potential growth of the underdeveloped country, leading to vast clearing of land for development of crops or singularization of crop variety. This can contribute to a surplus of one or more crops leading to unstable prices in the international market.
Another
As a country that prides itself on options, we tend to buy what we want and expect the market to provide us with a multitude of choices. Food selections are no different. We plan a meal and seek out those items on our list. Or we select from what is available and plan a meal around those selections. We rarely think about where our choices originated. Some of our purchases may originate here in the United States, while others come from outside our borders. This can be both an advantage and a disadvantage.
A substantial advantage is that products grown and utilized within our borders help to stimulate our national economy. For example, milk produced from cows is collected at the farm and transported to the plant for pasteurization processing. This is usually done in a specific geographic area since milk has a short shelf-life, usually about two weeks. It is tested for antibiotics and then pumped into the plants holding tanks where it will be processed in 24 to 72 hours of arrival. It is kept below 45 degrees from the time it enters the truck until it is processed. After processing, it is then packaged in cartons or plastic containers for shipment to the store in refrigerated trucks. Because milk should be kept refrigerated, shipping is not advisable over very long distances, such as other countries. (Milk Processing, 2007)
A disadvantage of a global market is that outside the borders of the United States, developing countries may develop crops that pertain to forward thinking technology, like sugar in Brazil in response to the demand for ethanol, lending themselves to a limited variety of crops. (Dean, 2007) This tends to materialize in ways that undermine the potential growth of the underdeveloped country, leading to vast clearing of land for development of crops or singularization of crop variety. This can contribute to a surplus of one or more crops leading to unstable prices in the international market.
Another
References: Milk Processing. (2007, January 3). Retrieved March 13, 2011, from Cornell University: http://www.milkfacts.info/Milk%20Processing/Milk%20Processing%20Page.htm Gnismer Farms. (2010). Retrieved March 13, 2011, from Gnismer Farms: http://www.gnismer.com/index.htm Dean, A. (2007, October 25). Local Produce vs. Global Trade. Retrieved March 13, 2011, from Policy Innovations: http://www.policyinnovations.org/ideas/briefings/data/local_global Lotenzetti, D. (n.d.). Ten Steps to Coffee: from the seed to the cup. Retrieved March 13, 2011, from National Coffee Association of U.S.A., Inc.: http://www.ncausa.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=69 Oelke, E. A., Oplinger, E. S., Bahri, H., Durgin, B. R., Putnam, D. H., Doll, J. D., et al. (1990). Rye. Retrieved March 13, 2011, from Purdue University: Alternative Field Crops Manuel: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/rye.html Pretty, J. (2001, November 2). Some Benefits and Drawbacks of Local Food Systems. Retrieved March 13, 2011, from Sustain Web: http://www.sustainweb.org/pdf/afn_m1_p2.pdf Rice Processing. (n.d.). Retrieved March 13, 2011, from Rice Trade B2B: http://www.rice-trade.com/rice-processing.html Rost, T. L. (1997). Where Rice came from... Retrieved March 13, 2011, from Rice Anatomy: http://www-plb.ucdavis.edu/labs/rost/Rice/introduction/intro.html Starbird, E. A. (1999). The Bonanza Bean: Coffee. Retrieved March 13, 2011, from National Geographic: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/coffee/ax/frame.html Taggart, J., & MacDonald, D. (2008-2010). Burgundy Pasture Beef. Retrieved March 13, 2011, from BurgundyPastureBeef.com: http://burgundypasturebeef.com/public_home.php