The talk by Frank Rossi at the Bethe house today about food was both informative and inspirational. I had no intimation to think of food beyond the nature of what it says on its label. At the talk, I learned that while a product in a supermarket may be labeled as “organic,” it does not mean it is immune to pesticides. In fact, being organic may mean it has even more harmful products applied to it than its non-organic counterpart. This is extremely concerning as a consumer as I attempt to put the best fuel into my body as possible to be the best version of myself possible. To think that my food may be doing me less justice than my intention feels like an injustice. The speaker’s definition of the hopes of the millennial generation speaks best to this philosophy, we want transparency. 

In the hopes of achieving said transparency, I believe political action and legislation overhaul is necessary. This talk by Rossi has inspired me to support the changes necessary in US FDA law to force the transparency of our food. With that said clarity, we hopefully will find out the truth behind the curtain and eliminate the malpractice and societal poison fed to the masses. Evidence that change follows transparency can be found after the movie Super Size Me. After a month, Morgan Spurlock proved that McDonald’s’ popular products and limited availability of healthy alternatives were responsible for the destruction of his once healthy lifestyle through his controlled experiment. This forced the McDonald’s industry to change the way they marketed their products and offer healthier alternatives. Either through legislation forcing the change or through proven, well-documented experiments such as Spurlock’s, I believe we can instigate this change and fundamentally change the FDA standard of food in the United States in our lifetimes.