Amalgamated Sugar

Amalgamated Sugar

When I first heard that the class was going to tour the sugar beat factory I didn't know what to expect, I just thought that it would smell. Having never been to a factory before I was totally unprepared for what happened. The image in my head that I had of what it might be like is from what I have seen from TV and the movies over the years, although similar in many ways this factory was different in many aspects too.

The part of the factory that interested me the most was the packaging part of the tour. Seeing how the sugar was refined down to white crystals was interesting true, but the final processes going into the production of sugar a found the most interesting. I thought that it was amazing to see how fast all the machines and people worked in that part of the factory. I enjoyed watching the sugar being packaged in the plastic bags and sealed within a matter of seconds. I don't know what I liked this process so much but I think it was because of how fast the whole process was. Seeing the packaging and realizing that the sugar that I see in the store is actually coming from the machine right in front of me.

It was also I surprise to me that many companies purchased there sugar from that plant. All a company had to do was place an order and that order could be filled within days. After taking this sugar I now realize that almost all sugar is exactly the same. The next time I buy sugar I am going to get the cheapest for sure because now I know it's the all the same. A thought that I have comes from that same thought it this: As I think about the sugar and how its all the same I wonder how many other products that we buy in America that are more expensive then others but are the exact same product. It's interesting to think about I think.

The operations of this plant were a lot more advanced then I had though and it was fun seeing all the processes