How Beer Saved the World

The title of this post seems a little outrageous, doesn't it? You're probably thinking, "How could beer save the world? It's just beer!". Well, my friend, beer isn't just beer. Beer was probably one of the most key components in building the world as we know it. Let me explain.

     
It all started around the time that we were still living in caves. Humans were still very much nomadic and relied heavily on hunting and gathering for their food. As time went on they finally stumbled upon a little plant called barley. Barley, for the uninitiated, is a wheat like plant that was, and still is, used as a base for many beer products. When this plant was discovered, the no-longer-nomadic humans decided to gather it for its' nutrients. Some believe that the original purpose for gathering the barley was for making bread and other food like substances, but evidence shows that it was actually used to brew the first ever beer. Obviously these humans didn't have the knowledge or know-how to make this beer, so how did they stumble upon this fantastic ale? By pure accident. Unbeknownst to the early humans, if you are to leave barley in a container filled with rain water for a certain amount of time, a wonderful chemical reaction occurs creating alcohol and carbonation. This happy accident created what we now know is beer and started an "agricultural revolution" that would forever change the course of history.

Now that you have the back-story you're probably still wondering how this discovery "changed the course of history". Don't worry baby birds, I'll feed ya. Beer was a very well liked commodity, much like it is today. The only difference between now and then is availability. In this day and age we produce around 35 billion gallons of beer a year, leaving us with as much beer as we can possibly consume. When beer was new and still blossoming it wasn't anywhere near those numbers in production. This made beer a very highly sought-after commodity. With this high demand, beer was an excellent commodity to use as payment for other goods and services. It was a such a good bartering tool that it was used to pay the workers who built the pyramids! With daily wage of one gallon of beer per day, it is assumed that it took 231.414,717 gallons of beer to help fuel building the pyramids.

       Although there are a ton of other facts I can throw out here about beer, there's only one more that I would like to share. There's probably one more question that is really baffling your mind. That question, I'm assuming, is, "Why was beer so loved?". Besides the obvious reason that alcoholic beverages make you feel good, people back in those times knew that drinking beer was essential to their survival. "But Josh, beer can't be good for you. Shouldn't they just drink water to keep themselves hydrated and healthy?" No, they shouldn't drink water. Water was actually one of the leading killers for the longest time. Before they had the technology to purify water, water was very contaminated with pollutants and e coli. Beer, on the other hand, contained alcohol and was sometimes boiled, killing off any trace of e coli or other pollutants. That, combined with the nutrients from the barley, made beer a very nutritious and healthy choice in a typical person's life. Scientists today conducted an experiment where they took duck pond water, filled with e coli and duck poop and used it as the water for a beer they brewed. When comparing the beer and the pollutant filled water, beer had virtually no traces of e coli or any other harmful pollutants, unlike the plain water.

        Beer not only got us away from a nomadic way of life but it helped build the pyramids and saved millions of lives, changing the course of history. Here is an infographic of facts and the history of beer for those of you who are interested in finding out more about how beer saved the world. Also, if you get a chance, check out How Beer Saved the World! Cheers!

Ads R' Us

In the world of the food industry, as I've said before, everything comes back to money. Every product and advertising decision ever made was made in the name of money. That’s why you shouldn't

be surprised when companies aim their advertisements towards their biggest demographic or the demographic that brings in the most money. In the world of the food industry, however, this demographic happens to be children.

                As the years go on children are starting to become one of the biggest targets for companies to advertise to. Whether it is the way the boxes are designed, the toys the company offers with their products or the cartoon characters that capture their attention, advertisers are targeting the children in one way or another. The reason being is that children as a general population have become a powerhouse in consumer spending.  Studies show that the children population’s spending of their own money has increased from $6 billion in the 1980’s to $136 billion in 2001. In a mere 20-something years children spending has increased by more than 20 times. Over more than half of this money was spent on sweets, soft drinks and fast food.

                With this much profit, it’s no wonder why the food industry has targeted young children in their advertising. But does that make it right? Absolutely not. Children are susceptible to a range of influences and can be manipulated into liking whatever someone wants them to like. This is why parents need to start getting their children familiar with healthy life choices and healthy brands at a very young age. If the parents don’t take control, the food industry will.  

Money Makes the World Go 'Round

After reading the a good amount of the book, "Food Politics : How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health", I've come to realize that the food industry, including nutritionists, are just like every other profitable company; all they care about, is money. 

       In the world of advertising, companies must do what they can to reel in the most amount of consumers. Now, they can't just lie about what they're selling or what rates they offer, but they can definitely manipulate the truth. The food industry is very heavily involved in Congress and the Government in general (hence the book name, Food Politics). What the big companies do is fund the whatever research is being done on food and become very heavily involved in how those results can be released. If studies show that too much sugar or meat is bad for your body, the companies have the results released as "You should eat a moderate amount of sugar" or "You should eat a moderate amount of meat". If a study is released stating that too much sugar or meat is bad for you, the companies that provide those commodities may start to see a drop in sales. This angers the companies and causes a huge ruckus with Congress and within the food industry. 

       As it was stated in the book, the food industry has become the advertising equivalent of tobacco companies. The only difference is, smoking isn't needed for survival. Telling someone to stop smoking is as simple as that; "Stop smoking". But to tell consumers to not eat as much or eat less of this food or that food, it becomes a lot more complex issue. The fact that the food industry is even being compared to the tobacco industry is rather appalling. 

The Rollercoaster that is Weight Gain. (Food and You blog post)

Throughout my life I have had a pretty interesting relationship with food. Growing up as a tall, skinny kid with a fast metabolism I could pretty much eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. That is, until I left for college.          

          When I first came to Western I was a whopping 160lbs. This, combined with being six feet tall, I looked as if I had just been starved for the past month.  You could see my ribs from a mile away and my face could have been mistaken for one that belonged to Jack Skellington. And that didn’t change right away. My first semester here I was in the Bronco Marching Band, which seemed to help keep the weight off me, but only for a little while. The next semester Bronco Band was done and all I had to do was walk to class, eat and sleep (I guess studied sometimes as well). This is when the weight started to pile on. Within my first two semesters I had lost five pounds and then turned that around and gained 20 pounds during the spring. This was a little unsettling but nothing I couldn’t handle. I dropped most of that weight during my first college summer and was back down to 170lbs by the start of Fall 2011.

                Over the course of the next year I had gained another 20lbs but, again, lost half of that over the summer. If you’re keeping score at home, this put me at 180lbs at the start of Fall 2012. Now, this next year is a little better, that is, until summer hits. Over the year I only gain 10lbs which, for me, is a nice change in pace. Then I leave for the U.K and in the two weeks I’m there I gain another 10lbs. That’s right, 10lbs, in two weeks. This final push puts me at a total of 40lbs in my three years here. Welcome to College.