Ndaganyo Daniela Mpakanira
Dr. Christina Francis
Writing 103
21 October 2026
Negative impact of consumerism on the global environment in the novel Feed
In the novel Feed, consumer culture goes far beyond human imagination; people spend as
they want, and corporations control them. Published in 2022 by Candlewick Press, this astonishing
novel, also named one of the New York Times Book Review's best, is by M. T. Anderson. The novel's
depiction of currency and marketing is very deficient. Although buying and selling goods shape our
society and personal identities, they can also have harmful effects, including environmental
damage, social and psychological impacts, and a lack of financial needs and stability. The novel
shows how the sales market creates negative connections to characters' environment, education,
health, finances, and personality.
Recommendations: advertising is one of the number one origins of consumer culture in the
novel by influencing the buying habits, self-perception, and industry standards. People are like
clowns. According to Titus, in the car at the moon, the feed keeps telling him, “This is the music you
heard. This is the music you miss. This is what is new. Listen. And it would be good to have
someone to download with” (5). Music influence and the boredom of loneliness give corporations a
chance to shape characters' behaviors and how they see the world. Titus feels lonely for a moment;
his friends are in a different car, and the feed acts as the best friend during lonely times. This
decreases human relationships and cultural connection. As the characters arrive at the Earth
Gravitation Zone on the moon, the feed jumps in with different suggestions and advertisements;
“When we got off the ship, our feeds were going fugue with all the banners,” says Titus (8). The feed
overseas controls what they listen to; it also tracks their GPS to provide ads and recommendations according to their location. Still in the Earth Gravitation Zone, when Titus and his friend were
walking to their hotel rooms, the feed fills his head with different banners: “I was trying to talk to
Link, but I couldn’t because I was getting bannered so forward with my carry-on. I can hardly
remember any of them. I just remember that everything in the banners looked goldy and sparkling”
(8). They make their products shine and look flashy to attract and influence buying, making people
obsessed with products rather than making decisions. This demonstrates corporations' power over
the characters' desires in different aspects of life. In the summertime, Titus and his friends show
off their different tattoos. Marty decided to get a Nike one, “Which was pretty brag. It meant that
every sentence, he automatically said ‘Nike’; he paid a lot for it” (277). They use people to advertise
their products and increase their sales. Corporations control people's decisions about what they
must wear or buy to increase sales through trends and by influencing people to act as their
advertisers and as products themselves, which decreases people’s personality and habits to fit
industrial standards.
The continuous buying in feed contributed to a lack of social and cultural behavior or
connection. Titus and his friends are having fun on the moon when he says, “Our feeds were clear
again from all the moon banners, so for a long time we all watched the football game while the girls,
they did something else on the feed. They were chatting with each other, and we couldn’t hear
them” (9). Also, at the hospital on the moon, after Titus and his friends were hacked, he states that,
“All of the feedcasts and the instant news, that on there, so there’s all the entertainment I was
missing without a feed, like the girls were all missing their favorite feedcasts” (48). The corps used
entertainment through the feed to control people; all entertainment must be paid, and messing up
the feed makes them feel like they are nothing without scrolling and all the advertisements. After a
conversation between Titus and Violet when they broke up because of her feed technical failure,
Titus becomes sad and pities her; he doesn’t know how to express his emotions, so he decides to do something to calm himself: “I ordered the draft pants from multitude. It was a real bargain. I
ordered another pair. I ordered another pair after pair. I ordered them all in the same color. They
were slates (293). The characters no longer have a sense of empathy; for him to feel better after
their fight, he orders pants after pants because he doesn’t know how to talk to Violet to comfort
her. In the conversation between Violet and Titus at the mall on Earth, she says, “Like they are
watching us right now. They can tell where you’re looking. They want to know what you want.” She
continues, saying, “Everything we’ve grown up with – the stories on the feed, the games, all the –
it’s all streamlining our personalities so we’re easier to sell to. Then she adds, “They keep making
everything more basic; it will appeal to everyone” (97). They control people's identity and desires;
they live like one being with the same personality and fashion sense, but different bodies, by
removing what everyone looks like and making them what they want them to look like. The
characters no longer know how to wear and differentiate clothing. The corporations produce
clothing from stored data in the feed. There is no unique sense or standard. This empowers
corporations to maintain constant control by watching the characters’ lives. In the Bebrekler & Karl
store, while Violet and Titus are asking for different types of searchlights, the feed shows them the
specs as they walk with the guy in the store (98). After their suggestions in the store about buying
the searchlight, Titus says, “She got him to send her all of the feedstats for the lamp, but then she
didn’t buy it” (100). This shows the feed's awareness of the character’s decisions and desires; it
also shows corporations' control over buying decisions. During a conversation between Titus and
Violet, Titus complains about what she was doing for asking prices but not buying; she then
describes her project: “What I’m doing, what I’ve been doing over the feed for the last two days, is
trying to create a customer profile that’s so screwed, on one market to it. I’m not going to let them
catalog me. I’m going to become invisible” (98). Constant control over characters' lives decreases
their personal security and health. This causes mental and physical problems and behavior without their knowledge. The organization controls people’s relationships and personalities, which
influences their buying decisions through catalogs and locations. This creates a great lack of
security and affects characters' self-awareness: how they think, feel, act, and interact with the
world around them.
The disbursement of money heavily influences characters’ existence and virtual market,
but forking conduct lacks budgeting skills. In the Stucco Mall at the moon, Titus and his friend were
buying things they didn’t want; he says, “After we walked around for a while, everything seemed
kind of sad and boring, so we couldn’t tell anymore what we wanted. Our feeds tried to help, and as
we were walking around, we were getting all the prices of things,” he continues, saying, “Marty
couldn’t think of anything he wanted, so he ordered this null shirt. He said it was so null it was like
ordering nothing” (31). They are wasteful and lack control over their spending. On the day Titus and
Violet broke up, Titus stayed up all night, shivering, ordering, and buying multiple pants in the same
color (293-294). This is what the corporation wants: to make sure they spend without thinking
about the cost; this contributes to a creepy lifestyle in the characters and a lack of understanding
between needs and wants. After buying all those pairs of pants to calm his emotions, his credit
account is empty when he places an order (294). The characters lack financial planning skills and
have no financial goals besides spending. In the bar at the moon, there were frat guys that were
wearing tachyon shorts, says Titus, “Which were $789.99 according to the feed, and they were on
sale for like $699 at the zone and could be shipped to the hotel for an additional $78.95, and that
was just one great thing that people were wearing. When I looked around, I wanted to much, that all
the prices were coming into my brain” (35). The Feed helps with online price comparison but also
puts discounts on products to make them cheap so that people can buy even though they don’t
have any plans. Slashing prices influences the characters' buying, even though the products have
no real value, which improves the corporation's sales and not people's financial position. It shows how corporations teach or influence people to become impulse buyers. In the conversation
between Titus and Violet in the car from their vacation, the feed interrupts with a suggestion: “It
was so awful and boring. I thought about anything else that I could. Are you low? Said a banner. Not
for long – not when you find out the savings you can enjoy at Weatherbee & Crotch’s Annual
Blowout Summer Fashion Sale!” (Feed) “It was a little embarrassing, but I did order a jersey” (274).
The feed requires Titus to pay extra cash for things that will make him excited in situations of
empathy. It also shows Titus’s dependence on spending to control his emotions and situation. The
coalition of Pity attacked Titus and his friends at the moon; his parents say he needed some
cheering up, so they bought him an upcar (118). Even parents don’t have a financial plan; they
spend according to their emotions and situation. They also teach their kids to do the same, using
money to reward and pleasure themselves in every circumstance. They can’t buy or sell anything
without feed credits, demonstrating corporations' control over money. In the conversation between
Titus and Violet at Violet’s house, Titus asks: “What am I, without the feed? It’s all from the feed
credits. My idea of real life” (217). This proves how powerful the corporation is in controlling
characters’ lives through financial situations; without feed and credit, they are nothing. In the
hospital at the moon, Titus says that, “Of course, everyone is like, da da da, evil corporations, oh
they’re so bad, we all say that, and we all know they control everything” (48). He continues,
“They’re still going to control everything whether you like it or not. Plus, they keep like everyone in
the world employed, so it’s not like we could do without them” (49). This means they work for
corporations, and there are no other jobs or employment besides factories. They control
characters' income and spending, which makes them rely on corporations for life support; also, the
corporation checks power that makes characters depend on them financially to achieve it is
practicing conscientious consumerism. Adults are also watched and controlled; they distract them from having a budget or financial plan through bargains, colors, and banners, which triggers a cycle
of psychological highs followed by severe financial, emotional, and social consequences.
Demand for financial stability in living situations is significantly needed; FeedTech's
explanation of financial stability is having enough credit and a good purchasing history; a bad
shopping history is a shortage of opportunities for financial and physical help or aid. When Violet
went to FeedTech, she couldn’t get help since her feed was expired (219). In the discussion of
Violet and Nina about her feed repair, Nina says, “We’re sorry, Violet Durn. Unfortunately,
FeedTech and other investors reviewed your purchasing history, and we don’t feel that you would
be a reliable investment at this time” (247). Continues by giving Violet tips on how to be invested in
by saying, “Maybe, Violet, if we check out some of the great bargains available to you through the
feednet over the six months, we might be able to create a consumer portrait of you that would
interest our investment team. How ‘bout it, Violet Durn? Just us, you and me – girls together! Shop
till you stop and drop!” (247). Nina wants to help her, and the only way is to convince her to shop
until she drops to impress the investors and Feedtech; she can win over the corporations and
investors by becoming a worthy consumer. She wasn't a good consumer and tried to play tricks on
them, so she isn't worth their help, just as you wouldn't give someone a scholarship if not eligible.
Violet decides to beg them. She even explains her need for financial assistance, but they did not
care at all (220). In the conversation between Violet’s father and FeedTech, he suggests they take
the payments for research and repairs. They insist FeedTech must, because it is about life, but he
cannot afford the repair payments (219). Her life was completely on the line because of the feed.
They had to make informed decisions by conducting research experiments on her; it is expensive,
and no one seems willing to help. Titus’s family is rich, but they cannot help her because they have
no control over their own life. The corporation damaged the supportive connection between the characters, and they only help people with medical situations to show how they have power over
their lives even though it’s not free; they couldn’t help her with the feed issue because she was not
a humble, good customer and smart consumer in their sense, not her perspective.
Too much desire for sales leads to environmental pollution. In the novel, people lack
access to air because of factories and real estate construction. At the dining table in Titus’s home,
Violet and Titu’s father are complaining about trees. Titus’s father says people need air, and Violet
says, " But we need (125). Also, when Titus and Violet are in the countryside, they visit a mignon
farm where they grow meat. He says, “These tubes; they were bringing tissue blood, and we could
see the blood running around, up and down” (142). They eat artificial food because of a shortage of
animals or plants. There are no trees, natural air, vegetation, or animals apart from humans.
Artificial food contributes to diseases and environmental damage through aquatic pollution, waste
accumulation, and resource use. When Titus is buying the pants to comfort his emotions, he feels
them coming toward him as the night passes (293). This demonstrates how fast shipping increases
the risk of body damage by causing lesions and environmental pollution by increasing greenhouse
gas emissions and fuel usage through fully loaded vans and trucks. In education, corporations
control everything; they decide the academic materials and what to teach. Titus says that “And
now we do stuff in classes about how to work technology and how to find bargains and what’s the
best way to get a job and how to decorate our bedroom” (110). They learn in school to become
great consumers rather than acquiring knowledge and critical thinking. This results in a lack of
proper education, which limits critical thinking and risk management, such as overconsumption,
waste disposal, and air pollution. Consumerism in the novel involves malpractice that leads to
environmental pollution.
Beauty trends, promotional marketing, and giveaways in the novel portrayed a harmful
approach that harmed the characters' physical and mental health by turning them into products for advertisement and global marketing. According to Titus, lesions were hip; he says, “mine looked
like a million dollars” (147). In the conversation between Titus and Quendy, her lesions are all over
her hand and forehead. Titus describes how Quendy's lesions move when she moves her head; he
can see a lesion on her neck open and close like a fish mouth singing a country song (221). The
lesions on their bodies are open wounds; genetics, internal health, infections, and environmental
factors cause lesions. Corporations influence people’s health through products and teach people
that sickness in their bodies, which needs further attention, is a beauty, and they must be proud.
When Titus was listening to the feed-sim of Violet Sensation during her feed technical issues, the
feed jumps in with a suggestion: “I’m Nina, your FeedTech Customer Assistance representative.
Have you noticed panic can lead to big-time underarm odor? A lot of girls do. No sweat! Why not
check out the brag collection of perspiration-control devices at the DVS Superpharmacy
Hypersite? These ads have a strong awareness of Violet's emotions and situation; the AI assistant
says to Violet that she is smelling to her to influence her to buy stuff she didn’t need (246). The
corporation uses their situation to influence their buying, without concern for how they feel.
According to Violet, during the conversation with Titus, she says, “Music is marketing; they have
lists of key changes that get thirteen-year-old girls screaming. There’s no difference between a
song and an advertising jingle anymore. Songs are their own jingles, step lively. Over here” (100).
Corporations use teenagers as their music advertisers by controlling feelings, emotions, and
behavior through music. Corporations try to manipulate people’s minds and physical health by
turning them into products, by teaching and showing them how the diseases on their bodies are the
biggest pride to have, and controlling their emotions depending on their age through music. This
resulted in poor physical health, such as wounds and scars all around their bodies, and emotional
sickness such as crying and lack of self-control.
Feed consumer culture destroys people’s health, environment, personality, and
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connection. The corporation's ambition for sales and global markets leads to neglect of character
traits, needs, and restrictions on access to money and financial planning, which decreases their
understanding of currency and their ability to develop or gain knowledge of decision-making and
personal goals. Factories and real estate construction lead to a lack of air and food, body damage
like lesions, death, and excess waste disposal. Is consumerism good? Or bad? Does it help our
society or destroy it? As is it shown and described in the novel? However, people may support and
defend these practices, as the American president in the novel does; M. T. Anderson shows how
the world's obsession with money can lead to severe problems not only in our daily financial
decisions but in our physical or mental health and environment. His message is demonstrated and
clear from the beginning to the end of the novel: life filled with joy and enjoyment can turn into
sorrow and loneliness; with a sting in the eye, our lives can be destroyed in a minute if we don’t act
and become responsible in life, because how can someone control you if you have a sense of
understanding and awareness of life? M. T. Anderson wants us to stand at the peak of our own lives
by making decisions and respecting our values, for a safe environment and stable future, not as the
one in the feed. This connects to our modern world today with the rapid sea-level rise, climate
change, and plastic surgery in young adults. All these factors affect our environment and
sustainability today; without action, things can get worse.
