Food Inc.: Externalized Costs

Society has become obsessed with the idea of consumption however, if you knew its effects, you might not want to buy these things. These are known as externalized costs. By purchasing the same products repetitively, the consumer encourages the corporation to mass produce in order to keep up the supply for the demand. This entices the companies to create shortcuts which ultimately lead to the externalized costs that the consumers indirectly pay for. Without realising it, consumers pay for costs that aren’t associated with the product upon its purchase. In other words, we pay for things in more ways than one thanks to externalized costs. The movie food Inc. illustrates two major externalized costs like the impact on the environment by the mass production of animals and the result of ones health due to their income level. …show more content…
As discussed in class, the XL Foods Inc. recall of 2012 shows what the harmful effects on humans can be if companies don’t focus on quality but quantity instead. Similarly, in the documentary Food Inc. the viewer sees the devastating effects when major corporations like Tyson own animal “farms”. The malnourishment of animals and use of genetically modified organisms produces harmful effects on human health which in turn is an externalized cost of producing these products. This was seen when a boy from New Jersey named Kevin contracted a deadly disease known as E.coli from a piece of meat he ate. Kevin died within 12 days of contracting this disease (PBS, Online). When companies destroy the environment to mass produce, it is often swept under the rug because would consumers continue to pay for a company’s products knowing that they’re paying for these externalised