Rise in Technology, Drop in Quality(Blog Post #3)

Rise in Technology, Drop in Quality

Historically, life has revolved around the gathering and cultivation of food. For many thousand of years, men hunted and women gathered and they ate what they acquired. With the agricultural revolution that changed as there was a guaranteed source of food in the form of crops. Soon, trade emerged and the major goods being traded were spices and other food related goods. Those with the purchasing power were able to enjoy better meals with spices from all over the world. There have been a few times in history when technology has completely changed the culture of food. First came the agricultural revolution, which allowed people to eat different foods at whim. The next great leap in food technology came with the invention of electricity and all of its applications to the kitchen such as refrigeration, microwave technology and television. The next advancement in food technology came with genetic engineering; scientists have been able to modify plants and animals to make them survive in conditions they otherwise would not be able to survive This has made food even more accessible to common people. With every great leap, a greater amount of people are able to enjoy a larger quantity of food.

Before the agricultural revolution, humans would rely on the hunting of wild animals to survive. This meant that they did not know when they would get their next meals, they relied on those few people who would go out and hunt and gather the food. In this scenario, it is plain to see that there is a correlation between the power you have in society and the quality of food that you can get. At this point, currency did not exist. As time went on certain technological improvements led onto the agricultural revolution.
The agricultural revolution laid down the foundations for the way current society works. With the agricultural revolution, humans discovered a way in which there could be a constant and stable food source in order to be able to survive. This change spurred on massive changes in society, people who would gather food did not have as much power as they did in the past even though food had become more accessible to the general public. Social classes became more apparent as those with higher status and power would be able to get their hands on the better crops. There was also the domestication of animals at this point, which tremendously decreased the amount of effort required in order to eat meat as there was no need to go out in the wild and hunt. It was only those people who could afford to eat the meat who would be able to get their hands on it. These people would be the people at the top level of society back then such as royalty and aristocrats. By this point in time, currency had also been invented and people with more of it were able to have more options in terms of what they could eat.

There were no major changes in terms of food technology for centuries, people learned new modes of preparation and what not but nothing beyond it until the emergence of the applications of electricity in the kitchen. Until this point in time there was no real way to preserve food unless it was being pickled and stored for later. With the invention of the refrigerator food was able to last longer which meant people could store higher quantities of food. They now had the option of purchasing more varieties of food and storing in their refrigerator but they did not have any say in the quality of food that they were getting their hands on. With refrigerated foods, it became essential to know how long the food would last as it is very easy to pick up food that has already become spoilt. This is the point in time where there became a clear distinction in the market for fresh food and the market for foods, which had additives to last longer. Unfortunately, the produce that is fresher and more nutritious turns out to be the one, which costs more. Despite having food that is more accessible to the general public, there is a strong correlation between the amount of wealth and the quality of food available to the individual.
With the invention of the microwave, people were able to heat and reheat any type of food within minutes, as opposed to reheating over an open flame, which is the way, it was done in the past. With the microwaves along came a very unique food product that made life much easier for people. It was called microwavable meals; people were able to have full meals ready within minutes, just by placing a package in the microwave oven and allowing to be heated for the allotted time. Within minutes you had a complete meal sitting on the table, which was perfect for people who had very hectic schedules and did not have time to prepare full meals in the kitchen.

A novel application of the television in the kitchen is cooking shows. These television shows taught people how to cook at home in real time. It gave the viewer all of the ingredients required and showed them how to prepare gourmet meals from scratch. These television shows were a great improvement for those people who wanted to try out new dishes and without much effort people were able to create culinary masterpieces. These improvements in technology allowed food to become much cheaper and more widely available than it was before. These gadgets have improved the lives of several people worldwide, only those people who can afford to have such technology in their households. For those who are unable to afford such technology, they rely on old modes of preparation for their food.

In recent times, there has been great debate about genetically modified foods. These are plants and animals that have been optimized for output through genetic engineering. Scientists replace certain genes of these organisms with genes of other organisms in order to give them certain characteristics, which allow them to grow faster, taste better and survive in non-native environments. A generic example of this would be putting the genes from a fish into a tomato in order to allow the tomato to survive in lower temperatures. Although, this may sound harmless, there are is no evidence to show that this type of food is not harmful and dangerous to health. There may be no adverse effects in the short-term yet the long-term consequences of these are unknown. For this reason alone, genetically modified food can be sold for much cheaper. Currently there are major changes being made to the genes of several animals. In today’s time one cannot be sure if they are eating real meat or some genetically modified version that tastes very similar to the real deal. This is extremely unfortunate, as people who do not have means to purchase real meat will often accept this genetically modified version as a substitute as it would be cheaper.
On the other hand, there is organic food. Organic food is the antithesis of genetically modified food. This is food grown completely naturally without pesticides even. There are stringent standards that need to be followed for food to be considered organic. Cultivating organic crops requires much more effort than genetically modified crops. For this reason alone the consumer ends up paying more money for organic food even though it is the healthier option. In today’s market, the consumer must consider their personal health as well and it is unfortunate that the healthier option in terms of produce is the more expensive one. This means that there is a major disparity between the types of food people of different socioeconomic classes consume and it clearly evident that those with more wealth are those who are able to afford better quality food and enjoy it better.

Today, there is a huge global market for food, it is considered to be a commodity, which is traded, in high volumes on a daily basis. Fluctuations in prices cause huge shocks to the economy in the short run. It is unfortunate that the more technology gets involved with the food manufacturing process, the more commercialized food becomes, as there are gigantic corporations who are out there taking advantage of the people who do not have the means to buy high quality food. The human race has come a long way from their simple hunter-gatherer ways, through constant innovation they have been able to make access to food easier yet they have lost the high quality of food that used to exist. The ease of access today has allowed the population to grow exponentially, unfortunately food is a finite resource and as there are more mouths competing for a limited quantity it is only going to cost more for people to get their hands on the good high quality food that they deserve.