Beyond Chicken Nuggets
Next month in the New York City Wine and Food Festival there will be a panel run by some of the biggest culinary stars called “Beyond Chicken Nuggets: How to Raise a Healthy Eater. New York Times reporter Tara Parker-Pope interviewd the famed chef Alice Waters to learn more about the eating habits of american children. The main issue when it comes to children’s eating habits is that children are spending less time eating at home and more time eating fast food on the go. Our nations mindset on food is that it should be cheap, fast and easy; available 24 hours a day and with infinite resources. This, Waters says, “is a very narrow view that we have of the most important activity of our lives. Children are growing up learning incorrect values about food and food choices, how is the nationwide problem of obesity going to correct itself when the future of our nation do not know how to make good food choices. Alice Waters plan is to grow organic gardens in school, that the children will take care of, harvest and evantually eat. She wants to shift the way children think about food from something to grab on the go, to seasons and celebrations, harvests and culture. As children learn to truly enjoy and appreciate food, they will be aided in better enjoying healthy foods.
This article was very well writen. The question-answer style makes the piece very clear and informational. It would be nice if it could go more indepth on Waters opinions on Fast Food and healthy eating habits for the whole nation, not just children, because her opinions would be beneficiary for all to hear. The article brings up many points, that Eric Schlosser also brought up in his book Fast Food Nation. That our nation is growing up with the wrong mindset about food and its purpose. Waters tone on the “Fast Food Nation” and its advertising lure towards children is very critical. She obviously is not a supporter of these large food monopolies that control our nation, as neither is Schlosser. As the media learns more and more about the negative effects of fast food, the more people are able to understand and change their mindset about food.
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Meatpackagers Employing Under-age Workers.
Meat packaging industries are a dangerous, dirty place to work and it is horrible that they allow kids to illegally work there. In the article “Meatpacker Faces Charges of Violating Child Laws” Julia Preston reports on a meatpackaging company, Agriprocessors, that has been employing illegal and underage workers. In all they have been charged with 9,311 criminal misdemeanor charges involving 32 under-age worker charges. The plant employed workers under the age of 18 and even a few under the age of 16, who worked on dangerous machinery such as meat grinders, circular saws, power washers and power shears. These kids are put in horrible danger and should not be allowed to work for Agriprocessors. It is good that Agriprocessors had been caught and charged for under-age workers.
Eric Schlosser would be pleased to read this article because he strongly dislikes the dishonesty and lack of morals in the meatpackaging industry. In Schlosser’s book Fast Food Nation he exposes the companies that process meat for what they really are: horrible, dishonest, unsanitary places to work. Now meatpackaging companies are being unmasked to the general public in articles such as Preston’s in the New York Times. Schlosser would be very happy to know that the meatpackaging company is being fined for thousands of dollars for employing the young children, hopefully they will learn their lesson for the future.
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