In America, we are very separated from our food. The production of common foods, such as tomatoes or chicken, is something the average American doesn’t know much about. The market has lowered the cost of high demand foods at the expense of the workers and by lowering the quality of the products.

Barry Estabrook, in his book Tomatoland, addresses some of the issues seen in food production today. He discusses how the standards that the country has for tomatoes in our supermarkets all have to do with looks. If the tomatoes are not the right color, shape, or size, they are not allowed to be shipped. A company could grow the most delicious tomatoes in the world, but if their appearance does not meet the market’s regulations, it cannot be sold. Estabrook explains that tomato production these days “has everything to do with marketing and nothing to do with biology.” The industry is sacrificing quality and defying nature in order to mass produce “perfect”, tasteless tomatoes.

Christopher Cook, in his infographic “Fowl Trouble”, discusses similar problems seen in the chicken industry. He points out how, due to the increase in demand, the amount of meat processed per minute has gone up from 40 pounds to 91 pounds in the last forty years. The industry is producing meat as fast as they can—which is probably leading to lower quality of not only product, but also working conditions for the laborers.

Cook and Estabrook both address the issue of poor working conditions throughout the food industry. Workers are often immigrants, which allows companies to pay them close to nothing and give them no benefits whatsoever. The pieces both describe the horrific conditions that these workers deal with every day.

  While we may enjoy our flawless, inexpensive food at the grocery store, we must take a step back and think about what this convenience is actually costing our country. We should eat according to our own standards, not the standards of corporate agriculture.