Coffee with sugar
The coffee is a Starbucks K-Cup Breakfast Blend. This coffee comes from Latin America. The coffee bean is actually a cherry that is picked from a bush. The coffee farmer has harvesters that will pick the cherries from the bush when they are ripe. The cherries are either dried and then sent to a mill for hulling or there is a wet process where the bean is separated from the cherry using a machine and water (coffeeandhealth, 2012). The coffee beans are then purchased by Starbucks so that they may make their different blends of coffee.
The sugar we use is Wholesome Sweeteners Organic Sugar. This sugar is certified organic and fair trade certified. The sugar cane is grown in South America. The sugar cane is cut by the harvesters and then sent to the mill where the cane is pressed to remove the juice from the cane. The juice is added to water to make a syrup and then it is heated to create the evaporated cane sugar (wholesome, n.d.).
Fruit salad (bananas, strawberries, oranges)
Bananas that I purchase are generally grown in Central America. The bananas are grown on larger plantations. When they are harvested for export, they are picked when they are still green so they have time to ripen. They are taken to the processing plant where workers will cut them from the stalks and separate the good ones from the bad ones. They are washed in a solution to remove any bugs (essortment, 2011). They are then shipped off to their next destination.
I try to buy organic strawberries when it is possible. Most strawberries are grown in California. We try to buy our strawberries from local farmers when they are available. Strawberries are generally handpicked. They are picked at their ripest and strawberries do not ripen anymore after being harvested. Once they are picked, they are placed in their cartons and rushed to a cooling room to get the “field heat sucked out of them” (berries4u, 2003). The strawberries are cooled for 24 hours or so and then trucked off to be sold.
Being from Florida, I can only eat Florida oranges. They taste so much better than California oranges and so much better than South American oranges. Living in the Midwest, it is sometimes difficult to find Florida oranges, but I try. Oranges are picked by hand and there is also a mechanical harvester. The oranges are then taken to the processing mill to be rinsed and cooled before shipping to distributors.
Eggs
As you can tell from the rest of this paper, I try to buy organic/free range chicken eggs. I feel that hens that are treated better will produce better eggs. Hens will lay their eggs and then the eggs need to be gathered quickly. As soon as an egg is laid, the freshness starts to deteriorate. The eggs are gathered and then moved to a place where they can be cooled. Many egg producers will sell their eggs to other firms that will clean, size, grade, label, and carton the eggs to be sold at supermarkets (aeb, 2010).
Tyson chicken
Tyson chickens are actually raised on thousands of farms across the country. Tyson uses the chickens that are raised on family farms. The chickens are raised in large houses with many other chickens. Everything is automated. The chickens even drink from nipple drinkers that give water to the chickens. There are even automatic feeders that dispense food for the chickens (Tyson, 2012). The chickens are sent to Tyson plants when they have reached the appropriate size. These plants process the chickens into the different parts that can be bought at your local grocery store. Here is another item that I try to buy pastured chicken. Chickens raised by companies like Tyson does not allow the chickens to move around and live like chickens are supposed to. I believe in positive energy and if the chickens are able to run around freely and not be cramped together with other chickens, the meat should be better also.
Stonyfield organic yogurt
Stonyfield uses organic milk that comes from Organic Valley/CROPP, which is a