Name 12th Grade Reading Comprehension
exploring large-scale organic farming, small self-
sufficient farms, and hunter-gatherer societies. In all
of his books, Pollan reminds us that food — obtaining
it, preparing it, cooking it, eating it — is not primarily
a business or an industrial activity, it is an inherently
cultural and deeply personal activity with which
many of us have lost connection.
Where eating was once a fairly straightforward
activity, people raised, bought, sold, and ate
animals and plants that were produced close to
home, there are now many movements and
philosophies surrounding the way we eat, and
modern agriculture has become extremely
controversial. One of the significant aspects of our
current agricultural system is that it is not just growing
food, it is growing crops — most notably corn, soy,
and canola — for the purposes of being processed
into edible items that many do not consider to be
food at all. Because of the popularity and
ubiquitousness of these products, apparently, we
need to be reminded how to eat. American fitness,
exercise, and nutrition expert Jack LeLanne tells us:
“If man made it, don’t eat it.” Michael Pollan offers
this advice in his Eater’s Manifesto: “Eat food, not
too much, mostly plants.” Countless documentaries
advise us to avoid the center aisles of the
supermarkets and to shop around the perimeter,
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where the produce, meats, and dairy are located.
Documentaries like Super Size Me and Fast Food
Nation reveal the dangers of overconsuming fast
food, whose cheap products are made possible by
industrial agriculture, as well as the human toll of the
fast food industry as a whole. Genetic engineering
of fruits and vegetables has raised serious questions
about the safety of our foods, as well as about the
integrity of the companies who are producing them.
Pesticides have become increasingly more lethal.
Large cattle farms, called factory farms, are
believed to play a role in global warming. And
corruption abounds: a contemporary series on
Netflix called Rotten explores corruption in the food
production industry.
Research and decide for yourself if you think that
our modern industrial agricultural system is a
success. With the average farmer producing
enough “food” to feed nearly a hundred people,
according to dosomething.org, one in six people in
the U.S. still battle hunger daily. Approximately 33%
of U.S. adults are obese, 9% have diabetes, and one
in every four deaths is attributable to heart disease.
These figures have risen dramatically in the past 30 -
40 years, and are projected to get even higher, a
trend that coincides with the domination of big
agriculture.