Do American's know where their food comes from?

Although on average a single person consumes 584 pounds of dairy each year, most of them still do not know where those dairy products come from.(farmers) Most think that their food comes from super markets. They do not know about the process of making those products or that those products are produce on farms. “American farmers feed about 155 people worldwide. In 1960, that number was about 26 people.” (Farmers)

Stated by Mario Cacciottolo, 22% of 1,073 adults questioned did not know bacon and sausages originate from farms. People who do not know that bacon originates from a farm are "idiots", according to Mr. O'Reilly, who "eats a lot of bacon". (cacciottolo) "They must be very naive, or just not interested. They're not bothered where food comes from so long as they can eat it." (cacciottolo)

I believe that most people do not know where their food comes from, is because of the industrialization of food. Food is now processed in large factories and then is shipped to supermarkets. But there are more than 24 million American workers in Agriculture, this is 17 percent of the total U.S. work force. (farmers) So why don’t more Americans know where their food comes from. This is because most Americans are so busy now days that the barley have time to fix a meal let alone think about where it comes from. “Packaged Facts forecasts supermarket/grocery prepared foods will achieved sales of $14 billion in 2010 and 2011 respectively, due to growth of 7% during both years.” (Prepared) Fast food sales for the 400 largest U.S.-based fast food chains were $277.2 billion in 2008 (6.8% increase from the year before).  Pre-packed meals and fast food sales, are also the cause of why people do not know where the food comes from, along with the busy life styles.

So how do we help to inform the American population about where there food comes from? By blogging about it and participating in agricultural programs, that bring children from the cities to the farms and teaching them about where there food comes from. Some colleges are creating Agricultural days to inform children about farms and where there food comes from.

Refrences

Cacciottolo, M. (2007, June 8). BBC NEWS | UK | What would Old MacDonald say?. BBC News - Home. Retrieved February 2, 2011, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news

Farmers Feed US - Fun Farm Facts. (n.d.). Farmers Feed US - From Our Farms To Your Table. Retrieved February 1, 2011, from http://www.farmersfeedus.org/fun-farm-facts/

Prepared Foods and Ready-to-Eat Foods at Retail: The New Competition to Foodservice : Packaged Facts. (2010, May 1). Consumer Goods Market Research and Analysis from Packaged Facts. Retrieved February 2, 2011, from http://www.packagedfacts.com/Prepared-Foods-Ready-2694891/