One machine cleans the incoming carrots with water. The next polishes them, removing the stringy fibres. The last one gives the carrots a f...
One machine cleans the incoming carrots with water. The next polishes them, removing the stringy fibres. The last one gives the carrots a final wash. But those are only steps two to four. The process has already started by manually sorting the carrots according to size and shape. Before they are ready to be packed into transparent plastic bags and sent out to the shops, the vegetables will be ozone-washed to kill pesticides on the surface.
These Grade A hyper polished carrots are only one example of the push by food businesses to brand fruits and vegetables as “safe”, “organic” or “good”. Their aim? To assure discerning consumers that they are getting the very best produce.
As World Food Safety Day is marked on June 7, it provides the opportunity to take a look at what is deemed to be good food.
In India, that question is political and complicated because access and consumption have been shaped by historical caste and class practices. For their part, modern agri-businesses spotlight aesthetics, branding and traceability as safety. This shifts discussions on good food away from possible policy reform in agricultural production that could benefit farmers and consumers alike.
Grading process
Academic literature shows that consumers are being...
