What's In Our Food
What 's In Our Food
Research Paper
Introduction
America is one of the unhealthiest developed countries in the world. About 36% of Americans are obese (Michael, 2012). Our diets have led to 16.3% of our nation 's resources being spent on healthcare (White, 2013). There are antibiotics and growth hormones in our meat, Genetically Modified Organisms and pesticides in our produce, and high fructose corn syrup in most of the foods that are packaged and canned (Kenner, 2009). This leads to a higher rate of diabetes, cancer, and other chronic diseases, which proves that food manufacturers are killing us with these additives.
Antibiotics
The average American eats over 200lbs of meat every year. That 's two times the amount of meat that citizens of any other country consume (Springen, 2008). Studies have shown that eating red meat can substantially increase the risk of heart disease and cancer. In a study of 23,926 deaths, 5,910 of which were from heart disease and 9,364 from cancer, a connection was made between the premature deaths and meat consumption. The Guardian reported on this study that went on for more than 20 years: Each additional daily serving of unprocessed red meat, equivalent to a helping of beef, lamb or pork about the size of a deck of cards, raised the mortality rate (number of deaths per 1,000 people per year) by 13%, while processed meat increased it by 20%. When deaths were broken down into specific causes, eating any kind of red meat increased the chances of dying from heart disease by 16% and from cancer by 10%. Processed red meat raised the risk of heart disease death by 21% and cancer death by 16%”. The idea that red meat consumption leads to chronic illness is becoming a common known fact, but we have to look at the reasons why this is the case. David Kirby (2010) explains it in his article for the Huffington Post, Drugs, Poisons and Metals in Our Meat -- USDA Needs A Major Overhaul. He states that beef in the
Research Paper
Introduction
America is one of the unhealthiest developed countries in the world. About 36% of Americans are obese (Michael, 2012). Our diets have led to 16.3% of our nation 's resources being spent on healthcare (White, 2013). There are antibiotics and growth hormones in our meat, Genetically Modified Organisms and pesticides in our produce, and high fructose corn syrup in most of the foods that are packaged and canned (Kenner, 2009). This leads to a higher rate of diabetes, cancer, and other chronic diseases, which proves that food manufacturers are killing us with these additives.
Antibiotics
The average American eats over 200lbs of meat every year. That 's two times the amount of meat that citizens of any other country consume (Springen, 2008). Studies have shown that eating red meat can substantially increase the risk of heart disease and cancer. In a study of 23,926 deaths, 5,910 of which were from heart disease and 9,364 from cancer, a connection was made between the premature deaths and meat consumption. The Guardian reported on this study that went on for more than 20 years: Each additional daily serving of unprocessed red meat, equivalent to a helping of beef, lamb or pork about the size of a deck of cards, raised the mortality rate (number of deaths per 1,000 people per year) by 13%, while processed meat increased it by 20%. When deaths were broken down into specific causes, eating any kind of red meat increased the chances of dying from heart disease by 16% and from cancer by 10%. Processed red meat raised the risk of heart disease death by 21% and cancer death by 16%”. The idea that red meat consumption leads to chronic illness is becoming a common known fact, but we have to look at the reasons why this is the case. David Kirby (2010) explains it in his article for the Huffington Post, Drugs, Poisons and Metals in Our Meat -- USDA Needs A Major Overhaul. He states that beef in the
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