The global population is constantly on the rise, and there is an immense need to produce more food to meet the increasing demands. Agricultural food production requires enormous amounts of land to grow enough crops, and this has been associated with other negative aspects of the environment and human health. Global food production has also been linked to some health related issue. The paper thus discusses the world food production and its effects on people’s health.
First, I feel that pesticides and other chemicals applied to crops may leave some residues, which can trickle down into the food systems. Scientific evidence supports this, and it is clear that most crops are fumigated to lower the effects of pests and other damaging insects. However, studies show that exposure to this chemical are harmful to human health and can cause food poisoning as it happened in California some years back (Aktar et al. 6).
Second, biotechnology, through the process of recombinant DNA techniques and genetic engineering has been adopted as a way of increasing food production to meet the global needs. Nonetheless, my stance is that this method of food production can cause health challenges to the populace, especially when the whole process is not monitored adequately. Empirical studies show that genetically modified foods can bring serious health problems such as allergic reactions and even carcinogenesis, which are dangerous to humanity (Uzogara 179).
Third, microbial agents are ubiquitous; they can be found in restaurants, homes, food-processing plants, and many other places. These microbial agents are pathogenic and can cause massive foodborne illnesses when they contact food. These organisms may encompass Salmonella, Clostridium botulinum, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and many others. Scientific research shows that bacterial agents cause diseases when they find their way into the food (Havelaar et al. 79). Food poisoning has been reported in North America as result of consuming food with bacterial agents.
In conclusion, the pieces of evidence presented above confirms that world food production has various effects on people’s health. Pesticides, microbial agents, and incorrect use of biotechnology in the global food industry indeed have health effects.
Works cited
Aktar, Wasim, Dwaipayan Sengupta, and Ashim Chowdhury. “Impact of pesticides use in agriculture: their benefits and hazards.” Interdisciplinary toxicology vol. 2.1 (2009): 1-12.
Havelaar, Arie H., et al. “Future challenges to microbial food safety.” International Journal of Food Microbiology vol. 139 (2010): 79-94.
Uzogara, Stella G. “The impact of genetic modification of human foods in the 21st century: A review.” Biotechnology advances vol. 18.3 (2000): 179-206.