The reason we chose to do this was because many people eat fast food and they don't know where it comse from. For example, in the the research that we found, we learned that one-third of young people dont know where eggs, milk, or bacon comes from. Moreover, the overweight/obesity epidemic in America alone has skyrocketed to very dangerous percentages. Much of this is due to the rise in fast-food monopolies, such as McDonalds, forcing people to buy cheaper food for lower quality, and vice versa. This is very well discussed and shown in Food, Inc., a documentary regarding the entire topic of modern-day food epidemics. In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that's been hidden from American consumers with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies; the USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers, and our own environment. We have babnormally large-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, insecticide-resistant soybean seeds, and even tomatoes that won't expire. But we also have new strains of E. coli, the harmful bacteria that causes illnesses for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults. According to Food, Inc. Barbara Kowalcyk's 2 1/2-year-old son, Kevin, ate a hamburger and died 12 days later. He had been killed by complications from a foodborne pathogen, E. coli, that he consumed in a contaminated hamburger. In less than two weeks, Kevin had gone from a healthy, happy boy to one of the approximately 3,000 Americans who die each year from foodborne illnesses.
In conjunction with producing myriads of food and creating larger animals in a shorter span of time, companies will inevitably use potentially harmful chemicals. Obviously, they won't apply them in fatal doses. However, they use these smaller doses in nearly every product. Consumers are unaware and generally aren't conscientious of what they eat. Such disregard essentially allows corporations to take advantage of the consumer and use cheaper, but more harmful ingredients. This concept is known as false advertising. A major issue in today's food industry lies in the consumers' hands as well as the corporations'. On one side, consumers don't take responsibility and seek out what the ingredients actually are in their foods. For example, corn-based syrups have a plethora of counterparts and offshoots that are easily disguisable in the nutrition tables of products. Simply based off of one core ingredient, companies use fallacious advertisement to promote their product as healthy. In another sense, the graphics on labels of products are deceitful. In Food, Inc., the image on packages of meat depicts the old-fashion, typical red barn with greenery and fields of farm land. The innocent and traditional image of what used to be the norm subconsciously fools consumers. This is the facade companies use as trickery for the common consumer. In reality, the fallaciousness maintains that the companies use unethical and inhumane factory farming to produce their meat. Essentially, the misleading advertisements and commercials are just a single contribution to the many issues of today's food industry.
That is why we MUST be aware of what is in our food. And that is why we have the app thats just right for you.
Our solution to this food epidemic is an app that will allow you to scan your food and help you live a healthy lifestyle. It will tell you the location of where you can get certain foods, and their nutrition facts. Unlike other apps that have previously been made, our app uses your location to recommend the nearest and best places for you to purchase organic food. Our priorities are to keep America's citizens informed of the consequences of blindly eating foods from monopolies, as well as the benefits of an alternative healthy lifestyle. Users of the app will get a free, year-round service that will act as their guide to anything and everything regarding healthy, organic foods. This does not include any fast-food restaurant chains, sicne the whole concept of this app is based on ideas against unhealthy fast-food eating choices. Advertising will exist throughout the app, but in limitation for the consumers' convenience. Also, advertisements will solely be based on organic food markets, along with documentaries, books, and artcles regarding the topic.
We hope that we will spark vital change in the way people eat and the way food is currently produced. Our goal is to make our food analysis system available to everyone, everywhere, and to encourage others to use our app to invent more great ways to improve human health. As our population continues to rise, big food corporations will continue with their monopolies, using pesticides and other chemicals that are harmful to us. To avoid this problem, we have to be aware of what's in our food. And the perfect way to do so is to have an app that will allow you to scan your food and list its nutrition facts for you. Because of today's vast use of smartphones, this app will be very convenient to use for the majority of the public, tracking and breaking down you food, whenever and wherever.