Araina Rowe

8/18/08

Social Justice

Social justice is when a form of justice is reached at every point of society. It is often split up into different topics such as politics or religion, anything that has to do with society and the way we live. Instead of having laws in different aspects of society, people often compromise, share ideas or make work efforts to express their opinion toward a social issue to them. Because everyone is entitled to their opinion, and if their opinion isn’t necessarily incorrect or unjust, society works its way to find the most just resolution.

Food production is a social justice issue that I’m passionate about. In the world today, the majority of people aren’t aware of the contents of the food they are eating. Throughout the United States many cases of BSE or mad cow disease have been found and other diseases such as E-coli have been found in food caused by bacteria.

Some causes of these diseases are simply poor regulation of the meet processing plants and whether they actually listen to the USDA’s standards of how the meat should be processed. Meat processing plants are often careless and tend to slack off on rules set by the USDA. Rules are often created for a reason and when they are not being followed, it can lead to unhealthy things, like the BSE that developed in infected meats. If there is no action taken toward this problem, then mad cow could become an even more threatening disease that could sweep through our country.

Often you will find brands of food that are organic or naturally healthier for you cost more. This isn’t fair because families with lower income or who want to have a healthier diet have to pay more, or choose the brands that have injected antibiotics or other chemicals that aren’t as good for you because they have no choice because they can’t afford it.

To help our foods to become healthier, the government also needs to regulate what the cows are being fed and processed before they are killed because mad cow disease often come from cows that are poorly fed and mistreated in plants. Once the government makes a bigger effort to be involved with this industry, and then there will be no need for the people to fear what they eat or have to pay more for healthier foods because it will create a safer healthier nation.

In conclusion, the problem of food safety is an important issue in the nation’s current events today. We should not ignore it. It is important because we eat food everyday and if people are getting sick from a something that is supposed to a necessity to you than that isn’t very good at all. It is important to acknowledge the problem now before it becomes bigger than it is now. If the government increases their security and knowledge about what is going on in meat processing plants and farms, then diseases such as mad cow or E. Coli will be less common and we will have a healthier America.