The Unseen Food-Makers
Humans must eat, all the time. And, once that was a truly massive problem, but the world nowadays, barring unfortunate obvious examples, has made it easier and much more fun to eat with all the recipes and concoctions we’ve made over the years. But, though many appreciate the various ways flavor can come to the masses, little thought goes to the people who make it all possible in our country.
Behind every grocery store, behind every little packaged snack, there is a group of people and advanced machines and booming business that makes it happen. That makes our wide pallets feasible. And it’s the world of food manufacturing.
Think about it, someone, the food manufacturing people, through their efforts, make it so in one day you can have foods from all over the country. Florida oranges in your glass, Idaho potatoes mashed and served with your steak. The meat you eat, be it from cows or chickens or pigs or even goats, may have never even lived in the state you reside. It used to be that most humans had to deal with only the foods that would grow naturally in their place of residence—or rely on old-school methods like trading. Food options were often limited by the season, the climate, the region—all of it could mean you would not get, for instance, the vegetable you want for a salad, when you want a salad.
Food manufacturing is a solving force. So, let’s give them a little appreciation. Let’s give thanks to these men and women. That moment, after a long hard day, when you truly and honestly could not be asked to cook—or even deal with a real human long enough to order out—and just pop something into the microwave, it’s because of them. When you enjoy foods that have no business being in the location you are, it comes to you because of these people.
The world runs on invisible work. Garbage does not just disappear, roads do not get paved without some help, and our hungry, fast-moving world is supported by food manufacturing employees who take the time to work for everyone.
And, if you too want to be involved in the process, if you want to help quite literally make our first world country run the way we like it, then consider a job in food manufacturing. It’s necessary work—and it’s a broad field. Unless we all get robot bodies, and somehow get around the whole metabolism and energy-requirement thing, then we will need someone to work in food manufacturing, to make the food that we all eat.
Someone driven, someone efficient, someone—perhaps—like you.