Hazards of Processed Food - Essay Example

Hazards of Processed Food Number] In the modern world, people do not have a lot of time to spare forhousehold chores. Their work schedule makes it very hard to spare time for any personal activity. There are numerous families where both husband and wife work on regular bases. Such couples find it difficult to get time for anything else, even cooking food. It is for such busy, working couples that numerous companies started manufacturing processed food. Processed food is preferred by people because it saves time. These ready to eat meals are not only convenient to make, they have a long shelf life; thus, can be stored in the deep freezer for long time periods. In addition to this, their taste is almost always consistent. If we look at the process of manufacturing processed food, it can be divided into three basic processes. First is the raw material processing, which brings out the food in the form that is eaten. This is followed by packaging and finally transportation or logistics. Even though it sounds harmless, the process of manufacturing ready to eat meals has negative affects not only on the health of the consumers, but also on the environment. In the following essay, the use and production procedure of hamburger would be analyzed. The essay will show how producing a hamburger is accompanied by various processes which prove to be detrimental to the environment. Cheese is one of the condiments which always accompany a hamburger. Hardly any hamburger is eaten without cheese in it. Hilmar Cheese, a cheese production factory from California, has been in the business for over 20 years. As a result of its manufacturing process, the company has been constantly polluting both land and water. Approximately 2.5 million gallons of wastewater is discharged by the company every day. This water contains poisonous compounds like arsenic, barium compounds, nitrogen and other salts. Such elements are fatal to humans and animals. In addition to this, waste water from factories and production plants leads to two very serious types of pollutions, namely Barium pollution and arsenic pollution. The next component of a hamburger to be analyzed is the hamburger bun. These buns are made from wheat. With resources like land being limited, the same piece of land is irrigated repeatedly and its nutrition is exhausted. Over farming eventually leads to desertification. Since the same piece of land is irrigated repeatedly, it leads to over irrigation. This in turn leads to salinization. The farm land thus, gets covered with layers of salt. Most of the farming done today uses fertilizers to increase the crop health and yield. Of the total nitrous oxide emitted into the atmosphere, around 51% is emitted from agricultural soils, followed by cattle and feed – 26%. Next comes the most important part of a hamburger – the beef. Burgers patties are supposed to be juicy, tender, succulent and tasty all at the same time. For this purpose cattle is reared specially. Cattle, which are reared for commercial purposes, are fed a special diet which not only makes it extra plump, but also makes the meat taste better. At times the diets used are not appropriate for the cerebral health of the cattle. One very important issue related with cattle is deforestation. As the cattle population increases, more and more pasture land is required so that the cattle can graze and roam around. In America, during the period 1961-2000, the cattle population increased by 50%. It increased almost linearly till the year 1990, after which the population started declining. The spread of land used as a pasture area followed the exact same pattern as that of the cattle population. However, with this increase in cattle population and pasture area, forest area in the US decreased by almost 50%. This shows that cattle population is directly proportional to deforestation (Pojman, 148). Not only do cattle cause deforestation, it also causes and increases in the greenhouse effect. Cows produce various gases, which are a by-product of various body processes. One gas which cows produce is methane. Both methane and carbon dioxide have heat trapping properties. However, it should be noted that 1 pound of methane is able to trap the same amount of heat as 23 pounds of carbon dioxide. Thus, even a small amount of methane released into the environment has harmful effects. Furthermore, two cows produce around 504 pounds of methane every year; these 504 pounds of methane have the capability of trapping the same amount of heat as 11,500 pounds of carbon dioxide. This is roughly the amount of carbon dioxide which is produced by a car when it has been driven for 10,000 miles. The various greenhouse gases released into the environment have already helped deplete the ozone layer. Further introduction of greenhouse gases into the environment will increase not only increase pollution, but will also have huge adverse effects on the ozone layer (Pojman 103). The entire process of producing a pound of hamburger utilizes approximately 8000 gallons of water, with the most amount of water being utilized by the processing of the hamburger beef. The beef burger patties are grilled using electric grills. These grills not only utilize vast amounts of electrical energy, but also release harmful gases into the clean environment. Individually it may not be much, but when these by products from the numerous restaurants and delis are combined, they have adverse environmental effects. This also adds to the greenhouse effect. Paper is a vital part of packaging a hamburger. Paper is made from the wood. Thus, the more paper is used the more deforestation occurs. And even though, there are laws which state that it is essential to plant more trees to replace every tree which is cut, this is hardly ever followed by paper producing companies. Owing to the increased awareness and the desire of consumers to “go green”, many companies and franchises have started using recycled paper. The recycling rate for paper is 49%. McDonald’s is one company which uses recycled paper bags. After paper, plastic is another form of packaging. Hamburger patties, buns and cheese slices - they all come wrapped in plastic sheets. What manufacturers don’t pay attention to is the fact that plastics are non biodegradable. Even after long periods of time, their chemical composition is not altered and they are found in their original form. One way people tend to dispose plastic is by burning it. This is even more harmful than the plastic itself, because it releases harmful gases into the environment. Plastics form a large part of the ocean debris. Research shows that around 86% of the debris in the ocean comprises of plastics. This leads to the deaths of 1 million marine animals and sea birds, which die due to plastic congestion. The boxes used for packaging are made by laminating two to three materials together. This helps keep the food fresh and safe, however it makes recycling of these boxes a challenge for environmentalists. Processed food is transported via trailers and trucks. These require fuel to operate. Petrol or gas, whatever the choice of fuel may be, it adds to air pollution. The exhaust fumes from vehicles are rich in greenhouse gases, which add to the global warming and the greenhouse effect. One possible solution to overcome all these environmental problems is to consume the local produce. Producing food at home may lead to some amount of environmental pollution, but the pollution done as a result of producing processed food is 500 times more than that of producing food at home. Thus, homemade food is not only healthy, it is also environment friendly. Raw products can be bought from the farmers’ markets. These foods are bought fresh and even though preparing a meal using raw products may take some time, but the benefits make it worthy. References Top of Form Pojman, Paul. Food Ethics. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth, 2011. Print. Bottom of Form Read More