Part V Apple Juice: Product of Michigan China

Inspection of imports; pesticides

Pesticides are great for killing insects or other bacterias that can harm other plants or animals. The benefits of inspection of imports is that there is less harm to the one's consuming the product. Kelsey Timmerman touched about this subject in his book "Where Am I Eating?" There many excellent example that he gives from before the FDA began inspecting the imports and after FDA starting inspecting the products. "Each year 5,000 Americans are killed and 325,000 hospitalized by contaminated food" (Timmerman 200). This is a reason why the FDA passed a law called FSMA which is The Food Safety Modernization Act. The purpose of this law is to give authority the FDA to check that the importers verify their supplies have proper food safety. The purpose of that is the consumers won't be eating contaminated food. EPA regulates pesticides by the law FIFRA which is the  Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. If there was a lot of pesticides that would also harm the products that are going to be imported. The importer must take it to Notice of arrival (NOA) to get the products checked for the amount pesticides, time arrived and where the product can be inspected. I believe all of the products should be check whether it is food or pesticides so we can avoid all of these dangerous situation. Foods are contaminated because they might have come from a dirty environment or whatever may be the case because that happens because the food is not being inspected beforehand. Then if you have a large amount of pesticides that's bad too because it can harm humans and animals that consume the products. Which is why I believe the inspection of imports; pesticides should be more enforced for our safety. There are laws that regulate the inspection of imports; pesticides but I don't feel like it is being enforced as much as it should be because you still hear about people going to the hospital because they ate contaminated food. In my opinion people should be going to the hospital in that amount of rate that should be down the minimum since we have all of these resources to use. What do you think we should do about the inspection of imports and pesticides?  

Part IV- Lobster: Product of Nicaragua

Do People Care

The Lobster business is a main occupation in Nicaragua even though it is a very dangerous job. Many of the divers are struck with bends and end up with paralysis or even dead. What is bends you may ask? Bends is a disease caused by divers descending or ascending rapidly which nitrogen gases are
dissolved which creates bubbles in your body. So what happens to the divers? Well the government don't pay them if they are injured or killed nor does the companies. The companies don't really care about the divers who get the products they buy because still get their product no matter what. People care but there's nothing they can do because they having to make a living to provide for their families. Unfortunately nobody wins other than the companies because the divers die, and then their families lose a love one and are left with no choice but to marry somebody else or move somewhere else. The captain of the boats can't do anything because they aren't getting paid enough money to help the families in need. The people can't do much either because they can't afford to do anything other than watching their love ones die. The companies don't do much because they just don't care what happens to them just that they make money. So do you think people care?  Even though people are dying from diving in the depths of the oncean the divers still continue to work because they need to make a living for themselves and their families. They still because it's the only job they really have so even though it means their death they still work. I believe people do care but they can't do anything about the death because they just can't afford to do anything. What would happen if the people would have money to afford getting out of the bad system that they are in? Do you think people would care and actually do something about it if they had enough money? The one thing that is for sure is that the companies would never care what happens to the people who do all of the hard work. That is why the lobster business is a very dangerous job and unfortunately it is all they have to live off.

Part III Bananas: Product of Costa Rica

The American Pallet 8/23/2016

There are many different kinds of bananas in the world but we most know about one or two kinds of bananas. Why is this you may ask? Well Kelsey Timmerman explains this in his book "Where Am I Eating." He learns that there are many different kinds of bananas and he discovered this because of a banana farmer in Costa Rica. There are plenty types of bananas around the world but the industries only pick one banana to sell. "People don't know that there are these options, but the Cavendish is highly productive and [the industries] is looking just for the money"(Timmerman 148).  Most people don't know there are more choices other than the Cavendish because that is what the industries put out in the market because it makes more money. Which could be a huge reason why the American pallet doesn't have a wide range of different taste of  bananas since they only eat one type of bananas. "All consumers are demanding Cavendish because it is the only banana they know" (Timmerman 148). So many countries are a big consumer of bananas the industries only put Cavendish in the market could be another reason why people don't have a wide range of taste when it comes to that. Since the indusries only pick one product to sell which leaves the consumers without knowledge of other types of banana that exist. Do you think we should have different types of bananas or stay with the Cavendish? What happens to the other kinds of bananas? If people were allowed to taste other kinds of bananas would they like it or not? If they taste other kinds that would probably change the American Pallet. Then the American pallet would have a wide range of taste for bananas. Which can contribute a better pay for farmers because if the American Pallet changes that would mean other productions of bananas not only the Cavendish. Then they would be able to taste different varieties of bananas from "big and small, and blend and sweet" (Timmerman 149). That way the American pallet can be diverse and it helps everyone in the process.

Part II Chocolate: product of Africa

Slavery 8/18/16

Slavery has been happening since we can remember. You would think that slavery is gone but no, in some countries slavery still exist. Kelsey Timmerman goes on a journey to Africa discovering the truth behind the Chocolate business. In this journey Timmerman meets a slave named Solo who he tries to free but with a country that allows slavery It was hard to do so. They sold Solo a dream that when he was finished with his year working at the coco farm that he would get paid but all of that is a dream because they promised slaves their money but at the end the slaves wouldn't get nothing at all. It was a false hope system because the slaves wanted to get out of the coco farm but couldn't because they had no money to go anywhere and at the end of their contract they wouldn't receive the money that they were promised. Timmerman felt in need to help Solo because he was a slave. Timmerman asked Solo all these question like if he was abused and many more. So Timmerman started to jump to conclusions without really knowing all of the story also along the way there were lost of communication between Timmerman and Solo. Timmerman makes this plan to free Solo which was to take Solo as his translator for a couple of days. His plan was to buy Solo and have him be free again so he can see his family. Well Solo's owner didn't like the idea that Timmerman was going to take one of his slaves. All that Solo wanted was his freedom and he even spoke to his owner about it. The owner told Solo that after he finished helping Timmerman he would return to the farm then after that he was going to get paid so he could go home. But of course that was a false hope for the slave. Timmerman gives Solo forty dollars which Solo spends on two alcoholic drinks and after that he says he is going to the bathroom and he escapes. It was weeks until he heard news of Solo. When Timmerman finally heard about Solo, they said that he was back on the coco farm. Moral Timmerman wanted to help but in reality he couldn't because Solo had no papers or enough money to make it through the journey. Was it worth all the trouble that Timmerman went through to make an escape plan for the slave? What would have happened if Timmerman brought the slave as his own? I believe it wouldn't have changed much if he bought Solo because he didn't have papers so he wouldn't be able to leave the country at all. I can see why Timmerman wanted to help but there was just no way that he could have free a slave especially in a country who allows slavery. If he had freed the slave the owner wouldn't been so happy which just means harsher punishment for Solo. So was Timmerman helping or hurting Solo more?

Part I Coffee: Product of Columbia

Are we or aren't we helping with purchase 8/15/16

Are we or aren't we helping with purchase? Most of the products people buy are from other countries around the world. Most of the time the farmers don't get the fair share for their work which is brought to light in the four chapters of "Where Am I Eating?" by Kelsey Timmerman. He stated in chapter one "About one cent of a fancy mocha at Starbucks make its way back to the farmers in Colombia." The farmers don't receive much out of the purchase of that fancy mocha at Starbucks. Which we aren't helping much with the purchase because they don't get fair share. Even with all of the purchases we make it's still not enough for the farmers to make a good living. "[B]ut not so impolite or to imply that I'm an idiot for paying such a price for a 12-ounce bag of beans. They get less than a dollar for selling that amount of beans." They would still make less than what Timmerman bought the beans for. A concept that we need to understand before deciding whether or not if we are or aren't helping with purchase is we the people pay more money for the product and the producers get the bare minimum while the companies are getting money from the producers and the consumers. It's  just a matter how one sees it because partly we are helping with buying the products and that same time we aren't because they don't earn much from the purchase but is that our fault or the companies. "The world is drinking more coffee--- and paying more the privilege to do so--- but that unfortunately doesn't mean that farmers like Felipe are seeing their livelihood increase on the scale." People are drinking and buying more coffee while farmers don't see their life progressing. Even though people are buying more coffee it doesn't really help the farmers because they don't see that money but the ones who see all of that money is the companies. "I hope the new agreement between the United States and Colombia can help me earn more for my coffee." This person hopes that the new agreement would help their coffee business. Who is there to say that the farmers don't deserve half of the money for the purchase we make. They deserve half of the money of the purchase we make since they are the ones who do all of the hard work to bring us the coffee we drink and purchase. The coffee we buy is all thanks to the farmers who harvest them and bring the coffee beans to us so in return they should be earning more than what they earn for a living. How would you feel if you were in that situation? Would you want the purchases of the consumers to help or not?  It makes you question if we are helping or not. In a way we are helping with our purchase because they still have a job even though they earn a lot of money. So do you think we are helping with purchase are helping or aren't?