Work in the Food Industry

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Work in the Food Industry
Introduction
The various forms of work have differed across the years as the demands of people grew and changed as they evolved with the world. The global good industry has changed a lot since the initial development of agriculture, and it has evolved to become a more inventive and efficient system relative to the past. Humans went from hunter-gatherers to farmers in a matter of years and decades, and all of these transitions came in little by little with innovative improvements in the art and practice of acquiring food (TheMrGranito). Despite the constant evolution of the food along with the changes in food trends and demands and the increasing automation of the food production and service processes, food service and production workers remain at the heart of the food industry because they do everything from the production and/or cultivation of raw materials, they support production processes, and they keep the industry alive by providing quality work.
Large Scale Food Production and Impact on Work
With the rising populations in the world and the changes in food consumption trends, the food industry has slowly replaced small-scale food production to large-scale food production to cater to the increased demand for quality and cheaper foods. Large-scale production ultimately ends to bringing down costs in the long run (Englund et al.). For example, agricultural sectors all over the world, especially those controlled or managed by corporate organizations, bring costs of production of mass-produced end products by reducing production costs and risks of failure by implementing standards that apply to the whole production systems, eliminating the need for costly processing and the need for a great amount of manpower (Tittonelli et al.). The mechanization of farms started this significant shift as to how farming is done, from the replacements of horses used for farming to mechanized tractors that did the work faster and more efficiently (Iowa PBS). The same phenomenon happened with the replacement of skilled workers with automated robots in the food industry.
Issues in the Service Industry
The different types of food service systems differentiate how food production and delivery is done. With these come the potential issues that may arise anywhere from sourcing of materials/ingredients to the final service of food to the final consumers. Most of the current issues revolve around sustainable and environment-friendly practices. Many advocates criticize the negative effects of large-scale production and fast foods on the success of smaller producers like family farms (Boyd). The shift to large-scale production streamlines the process, but also keeps the production momentum that can keep up with consumer demand, but sacrifices some components like nutritive quality or employment opportunities, not to mention that cheaper mass-produced products are overtaking local or sustainably-produced food or food products that can be significantly costlier than mass-produced alternatives (such as the practices exemplified in the farm-to-table social movement (Week 3). Furthermore, smaller farms are more likely to adapt sustainable and environment-friendly practices c...