Blog #9: Food!

Applesauce, it is yellow, mushy, and DELICIOUS. The ingredients are fairly simple, apples, water, and ascorbic acid. Wait, what the heck is ascorbic acid? Let's find out what is in our food, where it comes from, and how it gets to our mouths.

So, my first question was about ascorbic acid. What is it?
     Ascorbic acid is the official name of Vitamin C. Vitamin C is found in many foods and helps our bodies absorb iron. Vitamin C is used to treat colds and other infections. A lack of Vitamin C can lead to health problems, like Scurvy. Arrrghh (pirate voice). Thus far we know that applesauce is made up of apples, water, and Vitamin C.

My second question is, well, where did those ingredients come from?
     The brand of applesauce my parents usually buy is called FirstStreet. The label reads "Quality since 1871." The brand is owned by Smart and Final, Inc. and distributed by AMERIFOODS TRADING CO. located in Los Angeles, CA. I was unable to find where the apples used in the applesauce actually come from, but I did come across some interesting apple facts. First off, the top apple producers in the world are the United States, China, Turkey, Poland, and Italy. Secondly, the US exports one out of every four apples harvested. The apple business is booming.

The search for information seems to be growing more and more difficult.
I found that Smart and Final is owned by Ares Management, a private investment firm. I find it strange that our food is being handled by a firm focused on secrecy. I'm not sure I like where this is going.

At the start of this blog I was hoping to find out where my food came from, and who it was handled by. The more I searched the more confused I became. The search made me see that an odd secrecy is behind our food sources. Even apples have secrets, for goodness sake!