Reading Response #2 – Mercury in My Oatmeal

It would be a pretty safe statement to say that most people aren’t too concerned about what is in their food. So it’s no big surprise that there was a possible contamination of 17 brand name food and beverages with mercury, and no public outrage. Part of the reason is that the claims of contamination have been thoroughly denied by the CRA (Corn Refiners Association), who claim that the information raised against them is shaky at best. The entire thing has become one large bickering contest, and it seems as if people are losing sight of the big picture.

First off, what is mercury? Mercury is an element which at room temperature and pressure, is a liquid metal. While it looks very neat, I assure you that you don’t want to be close enough to it to enjoy it. In high enough quantities it is highly toxic to humans and can cause a variety of damage to your body. There is a degree of mercury found naturally in fish, but most people don’t need to worry about this unless they are eating a lot more fish than average. Needless to say, mercury isn’t something I would be excited to hear about being found in my food.

It’s understandable that the CRA wishes to defend themselves in the public eye, that they don’t want to look like people who can’t even keep contaminates out of their product. This does not outweigh, however, their obligation to keep the consumer safe. By this I mean; at the point when a group has spent enough time to make a study, you should at least acknowledge the possibility of contamination, and look into it. If it turns out that the study was false, then that’s what you can announce to everyone. What I’m reading in this article is that they aren’t even considering the possibility that they are wrong.

Web Response #1 More Organic Fast Food!

More Fast Food!
Spring 2010
Response to Website
Environment/Food
The audience for Local Burger is young adults 18-29, or anyone who likes to eat fast food. The main point of this website is to explain why Local Burger is better for you than other fast food restaurants, and to entice you to buy their product. With all the awards printed on the front page it must be good, right? I think the website is very effective. It has company goals and sums up things they do for the environment and community it surrounds. Environmentally wise, their business declares it recycles, and composes its organic wastes. No other fast food recycles their organic waste. I bet the burgers at other fast food joints are so loaded with preservatives they will not compose. The niche Local Burger has is cooking organic fast food at a descent price. Cooking healthy seems to be a lost art in this fast paced economy. Some pros I see from this business are cooking healthy with all natural ingredients, recycling both materials and organic waste. Also buying raw materials from local markets helps their community’s economy. I am sure most fast food joints buy their materials from companies outside their communities. Support your local markets! Some cons might be that most the food might be seasonal, meaning they will not always have meats/veggies on stock. Another might be price. It’s very hard to compete with Burger King/ McDonalds across the street because their prices are so low. If you want quality, you have to pay for it.