Cynthia Grothe's resource list covers several topics related to contemporary diet and nutrition: - Food safety issues from The Jungle and Slaughterhouse which describe unsanitary meat packing practices and the influence of large farms and inspectors. - The Bad Bug Book which lists foodborne pathogens and their effects. - Cultural influences on food choices of the Amish, Mexican, and American diets. - Issues with industrial farming methods in large feed lots and poultry production versus contemporary small farms. - The role of Monsanto and GMOs in agriculture.

1. Unit 6 Project
Bachelor’s Capstone
Cynthia Grothe
Resource List for Topics from Contemporary Diet and Nutrition.
Food Safety and Food-Borne Pathogens-
My first introduction into this topic was by reading a book by Upton Sinclair called The
Jungle. The book discussed flaws in the safety inspection of the meat packing industry from the
perspective of an immigrant family who moves to Chicago to work in the meat packing plant
and the shocking practices that not only would make people deathly ill, but also the horrible
unsanitary conditions of this industry. With the advent of the feed lot farms in America today,
The message from this 1906 book is still very relevant today.
Sinclair, Upton. (1906- rereleased in 2001) The Jungle. Dover Publications.
The next book that I read on this subject was Slaughterhouse by Gail A. Eisnitz. This
book was very in depth about the practices in the beef houses that included slaughtering and
packaging beef that was not fit for human consumption because the cows were infected with E
coli. This book goes into detail about the shady practices of the inspectors whom were charged
with overseeing the slaughter and packaging of meat and how they would look away if they were
paid enough. This book also still has relevance to today’s practices as the FDA is pulling back
most of the inspectors and leaving meat inspection up to the owners of the industrial farms.
Eisnitz, Gail A. (2009) Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane
Treatment Inside the U. S. Meat Industry. Publisher: Prometheus Books.
The final book for this subject that I used is called Bad Bug Book: Foodborne
Pathogenic, Microorganisms and Natural Toxins, Second Edition. It was put out by the Federal
Food and Drug Administration. This is a reference book that describes all the known foodborne
toxins and their effects on humans. It is frightening how many are in the world that we know
about. It also lists precautions to take so that illness does not occur.
Food and Drug Administration. (2012) Bad Bug Book. Second edition. Published by The FDA.

2. Cultural Influences on Food Choices
This area concerns how a person’s culture influences the food choices that they make.
The first culture I researched was the Amish of Lancaster, PA. Their food storage and
preservation techniques consist of Pickling and heavy foods. The difference between them and
the choices that people who are not Amish is that they grow and raise their own foods and
animals. As a result, the surplus can last for at least a year or more as long as they preserve it
correctly.
This website discusses their lifestyle:
http://www.padutchcountry.com/towns-and-heritage/amish-country/amish-lifestyle.asp
The next culture I researched was the Mexican. Their diets consisted of corn products,
fresh fruits and vegetables, and foods prepared fresh. With the American companies moving
their food production to this country, the diets changed. They began eating more beef products,
as well as processed foods. As a result, their health changed and they now have increased
Diabetes, Obesity, and Heart disease.
This website describes the Mexican diets and culture:
http://ixtapacantina.com/mexican-eating-habits-you-didnt-know-about/
The last culture that I researched was the American. Our food consumption consists of
refined grains, high fat and sugar content, and low nutritional value. We now have a population
that schedules our eating habits around work schedules and the choices we make are for fast food
and snack foods. Our population has a high mortality rate from Heart Disease with Diabetes and
smoking closely behind.
This website provides a graphical analysis of the American Diet:
http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2014/01/standard-american-diet-sad-charts
Industrial Farming vs Contemporary Farming
One of the biggest changes to food production in this country came with the advent of the
Industrial Feed Lots. These lots consist of a large number of cows being crowded onto pieces of

3. land with no room to move or eat freely. They are forced to stand in their own feces all day long
and are given high quantities of antibiotics in order to enhance the meat they provide. Another
issue that plagues these farms is that of pollution due to inadequate waste disposal and the
dumping of animal carcasses incorrectly. Most of the water pollution is from the runoff of water
draining into nearby water sources.
This website illustrates what the issues of this type of farming are:
http://www.epa.gov/agriculture/ag101/printbeef.html
Another example of the industrial farming methods is how our poultry is grown. Many of
the chicken companies, such as Perdue, pay farmers to house chickens into cramped enclosed
buildings without ventilation. They regulate the food they are given and at what times, as well as
the times that chickens are harvested and slaughtered.
This website describes the conditions of these animals:
http://www.bornfreeusa.org/facts.php?more=1&p=374
Finally, we cannot talk about industrial farming without recognizing the role that
Monsanto and their GMO corn and wheat has had on the farmer’s and how they grow and
produce food. In many countries, GMOs have been banned because of concerns over the health
of the population eating them. In the United States, GMOs are allowed but there is no way to
distinguish what is GMO as there are no labeling laws in place. Monsanto has the reputation of
suing and putting conventional farmers out of business due to “copyright infringement” because
there has been cross pollination between GMOs and organic food products. For more indepth
information the following documentary is recommended:
Kenner, Robert. (Director) (2009) Food.Inc: Documentary. Studio: Magnolia Available for rental
from Amazon.com.