Technology
The use of certain technological advances to enhance the production of food has become a controversial political issue. The increasing use of factory farming techniques have resulted in criticisms, as opponents believe these methods increase the risk of foodborne illnesses and other risks to the food supply as well as severe environmental degradation with regards to extreme levels of ammonia and greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane being released. With factory farming (aka Combined Animal Feeding Operations or CAFOs; or feedlots) many have open air manure lagoons that create major problems when they often leak or the run-off enters local bodies of water, sending toxins into the water supply. The introduction of genetically modified food has likewise become controversial, and there has been much criticism about the risks of gene transfer and food consumption. Finally, there are political activist groups who have concerns about the proper handling of animals, such as the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Read more about this topic: Food Politics
Famous quotes containing the word technology:
“Radio put technology into storytelling and made it sick. TV killed it. Then you were locked into somebody else’s sighting of that story. You no longer had the benefit of making that picture for yourself, using your imagination. Storytelling brings back that humanness that we have lost with TV. You talk to children and they don’t hear you. They are television addicts. Mamas bring them home from the hospital and drag them up in front of the set and the great stare-out begins.”
—Jackie Torrence (b. 1944)
“Primitive peoples tried to annul death by portraying the human body—we do it by finding substitutes for the human body. Technology instead of mysticism!”
—Max Frisch (1911–1991)