To raise the price, what did farming corporations spray on the oranges to make them unfit for human consumption?

To raise the price, what did farming corporations spray on the oranges to make them unfit for human consumption?

• A. Water
• B. Kerosene
• C. Muriatic acid
• D. Soap

Answer: (B)

The idea at work is how big farming interests manipulate food to boost profits, even by harming the edible quality of what they sell. In the story, spraying the oranges with kerosene is described as a tactic used to render the fruit unfit for consumption, which lets these corporations shape markets and prices to their advantage. The kerosene residue would make the fruit unsafe or undesirable to eat, creating a kind of manufactured scarcity or distrust that can drive prices higher or shift sales away from ordinary farmers to those who can afford the higher prices. This detail highlights Steinbeck’s critique of how powerful agribusiness can put profit over people, using chemicals and devious practices to control what people can buy and eat. Water, muriatic acid, or soap wouldn’t fit the same discriminatory, profit-driven purpose described in the narrative, and their use wouldn’t align with the specific tactic Steinbeck is illustrating. Kerosene is the element that matches the period’s grim reality and the book’s message about exploitation in agriculture.

The idea at work is how big farming interests manipulate food to boost profits, even by harming the edible quality of what they sell. In the story, spraying the oranges with kerosene is described as a tactic used to render the fruit unfit for consumption, which lets these corporations shape markets and prices to their advantage. The kerosene residue would make the fruit unsafe or undesirable to eat, creating a kind of manufactured scarcity or distrust that can drive prices higher or shift sales away from ordinary farmers to those who can afford the higher prices. This detail highlights Steinbeck’s critique of how powerful agribusiness can put profit over people, using chemicals and devious practices to control what people can buy and eat.

Water, muriatic acid, or soap wouldn’t fit the same discriminatory, profit-driven purpose described in the narrative, and their use wouldn’t align with the specific tactic Steinbeck is illustrating. Kerosene is the element that matches the period’s grim reality and the book’s message about exploitation in agriculture.