The Food Industry
Food is essential for human life. Most innovations and inventions that have ever been done by man have been motivated by the desire to provide food. Besides, the food industry is the largest in the world. Moreover, the food industry was responsible for the development of civilization. Also, food forms the foundation of pleasure and anxiety. Furthermore, the spread of slavery, colonization and eradication of certain populations was affected immensely by the food industry. Despite being the largest industry in the world, the food industry faces challenges that impact the development of growth of the country beyond the west.
Food has been made an abstraction for a long time. Belasco (1999) blames several reasons behind the abstraction of the food industry. First, technological utopianism has come as a challenge to the food industry. Moreover, the mechanization of food processing has contributed to the loss of food originality. Also, industries have been hiding the sources of food for political reasons leading to significant health and ecological costs. Generally, technology has been a significant setback to the food industry due to the disadvantages associated.
The food industry faces the challenge of a negative perception of processed food. According to Laudan (2001), media outlets and experts have been on the frontline advocating for the reliance of traditional unprocessed food products. The argument posed is that industrialized food is made less nutritious and more harmful owing to the fast procedures involved in the processing. Individuals have been preferring the original forms of food preparation dealing the food industry a major blow. Countries have been having challenges in developing the food industry due to the perceptions held by individuals. However, the food industry has continued to thrive despite the challenges.
The impact of culture on the food industry has been significant. The initial expectation is that the food industry should work in collaboration with culture to improve food production. However, different cultures have remained reluctant to allow for the introduction of technology into food production. According to Highmore (2009), culture has remained active to the extent of receiving support from outside countries. For example, Indian culture has continued to impact the food industry in Britain. Shaffer (2012) also agrees to the claim that traditional foods have taken a position in people’s mentality, and change may not happen smoothly as expected. Generally, the food industry has not enjoyed freedom in terms of development due to the impact of culture.
The impact of processed food on the health of individuals remains a major challenge for the food industry. The mentality of people has been impacted to believe that processed food plays a significant role in the health challenges facing the world. According to Guthman (2007), food processing has brought confusion on the choice between food and nutrients. People have been taking nutrients produced in the industries instead of food containing nutrients. Generally, the confusion has continued to affect the notion of people towards the operation of the food industry. Therefore, the food industry has been forced to remain focused on traditional food at the expense of the required developments in the industry.
In sum, the food industry faces challenges that impact the development of growth of the country beyond the west. Technology has been a major setback to the food industry due to the disadvantages associated. Also, the food industry faces the challenge of a negative perception of processed food. Generally, the food industry has been forced to remain focused on traditional food at the expense of the required developments in the industry.
References
Belasco, W. (1999). Why food matters. Culture & Agriculture, 21(1), 27-34.
Guthman, J. (2007). Can’t stomach it: How Michael Pollan et al. made me want to eat Cheetos. Gastronomica, 7(3), 75-79.
Highmore, B. (2009). The Taj Mahal in the high street: The Indian restaurant as diasporic popular culture in Britain. Food, Culture & Society, 12(2), 173-190.
Laudan, R. (2001). A plea for culinary modernism: why we should love new, fast, processed food. Gastronomica, 1(1), 36-44.
Shaffer, H. (2012). Dum Pukht. Curried Cultures: Globalization, Food, and South Asia, 34, 110.