Matt Rinaldi and Taahir Henry - Food Project

Commercially grown carrots and Walnuts follow the same pros and cons of other commercially grown food; nuts specifically. 

Since lettuce is a vegetable, it is obviously first grown at a farm. Farmers produce crops to sell to big companies for packaging and distributing. There are a lot of steps to take for farmers to get their yield to the supermarket. From tending the soil to sowing the seeds and finally harvesting their crops, there are many steps to take to yield a successful harvest. As they stock up on vegetables, big companies either hire or make deals with them to produce their harvest at supermarkets for the general public. The vegetables go through a cleansing process to preserve its condition. Then, they are packaged up by machines or workers to sell.

Similar to Lettuce, walnuts must first be grown (from trees) to harvest later on in August. By using complex tree shaking machines, they are able to harvest walnuts by the thousands in a matter of a few hours. Most walnuts go through a quick and easy processing phase. The husk is removed since it is not edible and the nuts are dehydrated to optimum 8% moisture level. This is also to protect and preserve the quality of the nuts. Finally, they are packaged and sent to whatever food retailer.

It's really hard to actually pinpoint my exact role in the grand scheme of the food system, but I do know for certain that I am a contributor in the process of creating food. Of course by this, I don't mean that I actually grow my own food. Like everyone else, my contribution stems from my purchases. It's a cycle in which my purchases creates demand. When there is a demand (a market) for something, in this case food, companies will flock to increase their production output of food (I'm speaking generally here). They then buy from farmers and release more food into the world. Thus, making me and everyone else a small, yet significant part of the grand food system. 

Speaking of demand, it is a concept that is both good and bad. Let's start with the bad. As the demand for something increases, production increases. But the question is: at what cost? There is a large demand for Apple products right now. But if this means that workers are treated unfairly and are being worked to death to produce more Apple products, then does the value of money outweigh that of humans? In the case of food, it could be inhumane treatment of animals, disregard of fair work ethics, and etc. Money talks and the food system really brings that to light. As corporations get bigger, the workers (farmers) are sufferring in their wake. Farmers have become nothing more than prisoners of big companies. I strongly believe in the idea that biog companies should be stripped of their rights to carry out certain actions, whether it be legal or physical.

Now for the good: you get eat your Whoppers, play your iPads, and etc. But of course, not without the expense of others' rights.