Outline
Thesis: Many of the dominant social practices in our society-practices that define a "normal" life- on further investigation turn out to involve nightmares and industrial atrocities.
Major Claim: The food industry doesn't want people to know what is in the foods they are consuming, where it comes from and how it reached their plates so they are deliberately keeping them in the dark while making them unhealthy.
Supporting claim: The labels on foods are misleading.
Evidence : Genetically Modified Foods
Evidence : Feedlots and slaughter houses, animals mistreatment.
Evidence : Industrial farming
Evidence : Chemicals in the food
Supporting claim: It's all about succeeding in the market place.
Evidence : Mass production of corn and animals
Evidence : Cheap foods
Evidence : Farmers being paid subsidies by the government
Supporting claim: We are what we eat
Evidence: fast food and cheap foods
Evidence: obesity and diabetes
Works cited:
Genetically modified foods:
http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Food , inc
fast food and obesity:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/05/health/main591325.shtml
fast food and diabetes:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/healthscience/stories/043008dnnatfastfood.24f4a15.html
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Hw #11
As an experiment I decided to cut down of my meat consumption. I eat a lot of meat so it was hard to cut down on my intake at first, but instead off eating so much meat I started to eat more raw foods,like vegetables and fruits. I didn't eat chicken at all during this experiment and the other meats that I did eat I decided to only have small portions of. Eating a lot of vegetables like in a salad and fruits is a lot healthier than eating meat. After watching Food, Inc and reading The Omnivore's Dilemma on slaughterhouses and feedlots I wanted to stop eating meat based on the information I found out on how it's all processed. It grossed me out and made me want to change my diet.
I found that it's hard to just change your diet. It takes time, it's a process. Going from eating meat on a daily basis to completely cutting meat out is not going to happen overnight. So starting off small and slowly is one's best bet to being successful. I also found that I felt much better introducing more fruits and vegetables in my diet and eating other stuff instead of meat.
I found that it's hard to just change your diet. It takes time, it's a process. Going from eating meat on a daily basis to completely cutting meat out is not going to happen overnight. So starting off small and slowly is one's best bet to being successful. I also found that I felt much better introducing more fruits and vegetables in my diet and eating other stuff instead of meat.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Hw #10
Food companies are intentionally keeping consumers blinded about how food is processed and produced. But they need to be exposed and the public has to know what is going on behind closed doors. If there is any chance of changing the way people eat and finding alternatives for them to make better informative decisions on what they choose to eat. The consumers ultimately need to be informed about the food industry. So the companies and the government can feel pressure from the consumers to make changes to the laws and regulations regarding their food and health.
The book goes into more detail about certain topics ,whereas the movie just mentioned or touched on something about it. There's a lot more the book informs the reader about than the movie. I liked that the movie provided visuals that the book might have made hard to imagine while reading. For example like what goes on in a slaughterhouse and what a feedlot looks like and how the animals are treated. The book tells it( describes it), but the movie showed it.
The movie made me realize all the things that are wrong with the food industry. How there are only a few large companies that control they way that everyone eats. Who are deliberately keeping consumers in the dark about their products because if we knew then we wouldn't want to buy their products anymore which would be bad for business. There needs to be new ways of thinking about food ways and where our food comes from in order for changes to be made.
The book goes into more detail about certain topics ,whereas the movie just mentioned or touched on something about it. There's a lot more the book informs the reader about than the movie. I liked that the movie provided visuals that the book might have made hard to imagine while reading. For example like what goes on in a slaughterhouse and what a feedlot looks like and how the animals are treated. The book tells it( describes it), but the movie showed it.
The movie made me realize all the things that are wrong with the food industry. How there are only a few large companies that control they way that everyone eats. Who are deliberately keeping consumers in the dark about their products because if we knew then we wouldn't want to buy their products anymore which would be bad for business. There needs to be new ways of thinking about food ways and where our food comes from in order for changes to be made.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Hw#9
In the movie “Freakanomics” the protagonists look at certain topics in particular ways in order to make sense of them. In the movie one of the tools they used in order to make sense of their topics and theories was by conducting street interviews to find answers to their questions and get people’s perspectives on certain topics like “what are typical black names and what are typical white names”.
In the movie by the protagonists use the tool of conducting experiments, to use as evidence to prove their theories on certain topics. One of the experiments they conducted was to find out if they could bribe a ninth grader to succeed. So they went to one school to see if they could get the ninth graders to pick up their grades and pass all of their classes with a C or above by awarding them 50 dollars a month if their grades improved. They wanted to see if the incentive of giving the students cash would be motivation enough for them to want to do better in school. The results turned out to be surprising.
Another tool that was used was analyzing the data and results of the experiments they conducted. Going back to their experiment of seeing if bribery would work in getting ninth graders to do better in school, they analyzed the data to draw conclusion to see if their experiment actually worked. It turned out that only 5-7% of the students passed, who wouldn’t have passed otherwise. This meant that their experiment didn’t have the desired effect on the students as they hoped for. So they proposed targeting the experiment towards even younger kids to if they would get better results.
In the movie the protagonists address the issue of correlation versus causation. For example in the film when they addressed if a person’s name had anything to do with their success in life. If a person with a more unique name had less of a chance of making it than a person with a more traditional name. They did an experiment to find out if a person’s name has anything to do with their success in life. One professor argued that a person’s name does have an effect on their success. So he conducted an experiment to prove his theory by sending out identical resumes to companies, just changing the name on them by putting unique ( recognizably black) names on half and traditional ( recognizably white) names on the other half, to see which resume would get called back first. By doing this experiment he was trying to figure out if a person’s name has anything to do with if they will be more likely to get the job or not. It turned out that the resumes with the more traditional names got called back than the ones with the unique names. While another professor argued that a person’s name is correlated to their success in life but not what’s causing it. What causes a person to be unsuccessful is dependent on the type of neighborhood they come from, whether they live in poverty, family background, etc. He argues that a person’s success is based on where they come from not about the name they have. So success and a person’s name are correlated to one another but the causation of a person’s success is based on their backgrounds and where they come from.
I agree that “Freakonomics” served as an inspiration and good example of our attempt to explore the "hidden-in-plain-sight" weirdness of dominant social practices. In the ways that they took a look at social issues in a different way that got people thinking differently. It explored people’s behaviors and reactions that tested if incentives work and it turned out some incentives work better than others. This can be related to food ways because farmers are given incentives by the government. They are paid subsidies to grow lots of cheap corn that turns into all the unhealthy processed foods we consume, but if the corn growers weren’t being paid subsidies by the government then they wouldn’t have the incentive to grow corn. Therefore encouraging people to eat healthier.
In the movie by the protagonists use the tool of conducting experiments, to use as evidence to prove their theories on certain topics. One of the experiments they conducted was to find out if they could bribe a ninth grader to succeed. So they went to one school to see if they could get the ninth graders to pick up their grades and pass all of their classes with a C or above by awarding them 50 dollars a month if their grades improved. They wanted to see if the incentive of giving the students cash would be motivation enough for them to want to do better in school. The results turned out to be surprising.
Another tool that was used was analyzing the data and results of the experiments they conducted. Going back to their experiment of seeing if bribery would work in getting ninth graders to do better in school, they analyzed the data to draw conclusion to see if their experiment actually worked. It turned out that only 5-7% of the students passed, who wouldn’t have passed otherwise. This meant that their experiment didn’t have the desired effect on the students as they hoped for. So they proposed targeting the experiment towards even younger kids to if they would get better results.
In the movie the protagonists address the issue of correlation versus causation. For example in the film when they addressed if a person’s name had anything to do with their success in life. If a person with a more unique name had less of a chance of making it than a person with a more traditional name. They did an experiment to find out if a person’s name has anything to do with their success in life. One professor argued that a person’s name does have an effect on their success. So he conducted an experiment to prove his theory by sending out identical resumes to companies, just changing the name on them by putting unique ( recognizably black) names on half and traditional ( recognizably white) names on the other half, to see which resume would get called back first. By doing this experiment he was trying to figure out if a person’s name has anything to do with if they will be more likely to get the job or not. It turned out that the resumes with the more traditional names got called back than the ones with the unique names. While another professor argued that a person’s name is correlated to their success in life but not what’s causing it. What causes a person to be unsuccessful is dependent on the type of neighborhood they come from, whether they live in poverty, family background, etc. He argues that a person’s success is based on where they come from not about the name they have. So success and a person’s name are correlated to one another but the causation of a person’s success is based on their backgrounds and where they come from.
I agree that “Freakonomics” served as an inspiration and good example of our attempt to explore the "hidden-in-plain-sight" weirdness of dominant social practices. In the ways that they took a look at social issues in a different way that got people thinking differently. It explored people’s behaviors and reactions that tested if incentives work and it turned out some incentives work better than others. This can be related to food ways because farmers are given incentives by the government. They are paid subsidies to grow lots of cheap corn that turns into all the unhealthy processed foods we consume, but if the corn growers weren’t being paid subsidies by the government then they wouldn’t have the incentive to grow corn. Therefore encouraging people to eat healthier.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Hw # 7c
Chapter 11: Farmers like Joel Salatin's methods of farming are different to industrial farmers. Even though industrial farming is simpler and efficient , Salatin would argue that his system of farming the more natural way is just as efficient and minimizes his farming costs because he understand how everything is connected to one another on the farm and his animals can be used to help each other (feeding) and the farm stay healthy and produce better quality (tasting) foods.
Gems:"I'm just the orchestra conductor ,making sure everybody's in the right place at the right time" (212)
"Most of the efficiencies in an industrial system are achieved through simplification: doing lots of the same thing over and over.In agriculture, this usually means a monoculture of a single animal or crop."(214)
Thoughts: Why don't more farmers use the same natural system and methods of farming and caring for their farm as Joel ?
It seems that more natural ways of farming and using the animals to work together is less unhealthy for the animals and the conditions on the farm itself unlike industrial farming which is harmful to the animals and unsanitary.
Joel's farming methods appear to cut costs of things that industrial farmers need and use on their farms that he doesn't , but his methods seem to take longer unlike on industrial farms.
Chapter 12: When it comes to the final stage of the animals on the farm -the slaughter house. Taking into consideration how these animals are slaughtered is important. The USDA is responsible for inspecting the environments the animals are killed in ,but they take issue with farmers like Joel who prefers killing the animals he grows on his own farm, which turns out to be cleaner and the animals are more humanely killed than if they were in other slaughter houses.
Gems:"Processing but a few days a month means we actually think about what were doing, and be as careful and humane as possible." (pg 233)
"we do not allow the government to dictate what religion you can observe, so why should we allow them to dictate what kind of food you can buy?" (236)
Thoughts: Just reading about how these animals are slaughtered made me nauseous,what if people were able to see how the food they buy from supermarkets are slaughtered behind closed doors? Would there be as many meat eaters?
I don't think the government should interfere with the way the animals are slaughtered on Joels farm because if he were doing anything wrong or if it were inhumane then he wouldn't open it up for his customers to watch and inspect how their dinner is being killed.
Chapter 13: Salatin believes in finding ways to change the food system. He believes people need to change the way they eat and buy their foods. That supporting local foods is better because they factor in all the costs and are honest with the consumers about the food they are eating.
Gems: “Don’t you find it odd that people will put more work into choosing their mechanic or house contractor than they will into choosing the person who grows their food. –pg 240.
“If we could just level the playing field-take away the regulations, the subsidies, and factor in the health care and environmental cleanup costs of cheap food-we could compete on price with anyone.”
“You can buy honestly priced food or you can buy irresponsibly priced food.”
Thoughts: I don’t think that many people are willing to pay more for local foods (buying directly from their food source) because they tend to pick cheaper and more convenient food choices.
The big companies that control the food system have the power over the consumers while the farmers are trying to fight for theirs. The farms don’t have the advantage in this case.
If organic food cost less I think more people would become healthier eaters.
Chapter 14: There’s nothing better than the satisfaction of eating a delicious meal. The taste is everything, but not everything we eat is the same. We are deceived by what’s in our foods and how it reached our plates.
Gems: “The species of animal you eat may matter less than what the animal you’re eating has itself eaten.”
“When chickens get to live like chickens they’ll taste like chickens.”
Thoughts: This made me think, why don’t people usually consider the quality of their meals or the food they buy instead of focusing on the cost?
I don’t think that organic food necessarily tastes better than conventional foods even though eating organic maybe the better choice.
Food would taste so much better if the food we ate were handled differently by the farmers, the way Salatin handles his farm animals and crops.
Chapter 15: We’re in trouble; agriculture has eliminated any chance we have of living longer and healthier lives. Our food chain and the way we see food has changed because of agriculture. Now people aren’t aware of what is involved in our foods the way hunter-gathers did. Now we may never get the chance to return to hunting and gathering our food they way it used to be.
Gems: “ To look as far into the food chains that support us as I could look, and recover the fundamental biological realities that the complexities of modern industrialized eating keep from our view.”
For most of us today hunting and gathering and growing our own food is by and large a form of play.”
Thoughts: Agriculture has ruined our food chain. If people were able to hunt and gather their food instead of moving toward agriculture people would be so much healthier and live longer lives. Why isn’t the food system changing?
Chapter 16: Humans are able to eat almost anything thanks to natural selection, but deciding exactly what to eat is the problem. With so many different choices, how does one determine which to choose? We decide by following a couple of food rules and whether or not what we are eating is good for both our bodies and minds.
Gems: “"The fact that we humans indeed omnivorous is deeply inscribed in our bodies, which natural selection has equipped to handle a remarkably wide ranging diet."
“Being an omnivore occupying a cognitive niche in nature is a boon and a challenge, a source of tremendous power as well as anxiety."
Thoughts: We are facing many health issues because of the dilemma of what we choose to eat. I think people need to weigh the pros and cons of different foods like organic vs. conventional. I thought it was interesting that the author mentioned that our food not only has to taste good but we think about whether or not it is “ethically defensible to eat meat”.
Chapter 17: The less people know about the way meat is processed the better off the meat industry is and the less they seem to care. People don’t focus on how the meat as once being a living animal but rather something that just tastes good. Some would argue that animals shouldn’t be cruelly slaughtered and eaten by humans because it causes them suffering and is inhumane.
Gems: “We tolerate this schizophrenia because the life of the pig has moved out of view; when’s the last time you saw a pig in person? Meat comes from the grocery store, where it is cut and packaged to look as little like parts of animals as possible.”
“The one all-important interest humans share with pigs, as with all sentient creatures, is an interest in avoiding pain.”
Thoughts: If people actually got to see the way these animals are slaughtered less people will be willing to eat meat which would be bad for the meat industry business. It’s easier for people to not think about the slaughtering of animals. It makes the connection less personal. They just see it as a meal available for purchase.
Chapter 18: Hunting brings us closer to who we really are. Hunting should be seen valuable because it brings us closer to nature. Hunting for your food is an exhilarating feeling. The animals are there for us to eat them but we should still pay them gratitude.
Gems: “Humanity sees itself as something emerging from animality, but it cannot be sure of having transcended that state completely. The animal remains too close for us not to feel mysterious communication with it.”
“The experience of hunting suggests another theory. Could it be that the cannabinoid network is precisely the sort of adaptation that natural selection would favor in the evolution of a creature who survives by hunting?”
Thoughts: The hunt is what the hunter lives for, that feeling they get after capturing their prey successfully. I don’t think that people should mercilessly hunt animals for sport. Hunting is a good way for people to naturally eat. They can be sure their prey has been kept from the industrial factories.
Chapter 19: Hunting mushrooms is a difficult task because there is a lot you need to know about them first. Picking and eating the wrong mushrooms can end up being fatal. We hunt and eat what we want but we have to make sure it’s safe to eat it.
Gems: “Just imagine if had to decide every such edibility question on our own; only the bravest or most foolish of us would ever decide to eat a mushroom.”
“The field guides contain our culture’s accumulated wisdom on the subject of mushrooms. Curiously, though, the process of imparting and absorbing this life-and-death information works much better in person than it does on paper, whether through writing or even photography.”
Thoughts: Hunting and gathering a meal provides one with a connection to food. They know directly where it comes from. Nature plays a huge role. Knowing exactly what we are eating and if it is potentially dangerous to our health is important like eating wild mushrooms or foods produced by industrial food companies.
Chapter 20: It has finally all come together, everything to make the perfect meal. All the hunting, gathering and research I have done over a period of time has prepared me for this meal. It’s a meal that I had everything to do with from the start.
Gems:” Another thing cooking is, or can be, is a way to honor the things we are eating, the animals and plants and fungi that have been sacrificed to gratify our needs and desires…”
““The meal was more ritual than realistic because it dwelled on such things, reminding us how very much nature offers to the omnivore, the forests as much as the fields, the oceans as much as the meadows. If I had to give this dinner a name, it would have to be the Omnivore’s Thanksgiving.”
Thoughts: This reminded me of the sprouts we grew and ate and the feelings we had about growing our own foods. What it’s like to have that connection with our food. The author used his knowledge on food in order to prepare this meal which made it that more special to him. It’s important to know where our food comes from and what we are nourishing our bodies with in order to make changes.
Gems:"I'm just the orchestra conductor ,making sure everybody's in the right place at the right time" (212)
"Most of the efficiencies in an industrial system are achieved through simplification: doing lots of the same thing over and over.In agriculture, this usually means a monoculture of a single animal or crop."(214)
Thoughts: Why don't more farmers use the same natural system and methods of farming and caring for their farm as Joel ?
It seems that more natural ways of farming and using the animals to work together is less unhealthy for the animals and the conditions on the farm itself unlike industrial farming which is harmful to the animals and unsanitary.
Joel's farming methods appear to cut costs of things that industrial farmers need and use on their farms that he doesn't , but his methods seem to take longer unlike on industrial farms.
Chapter 12: When it comes to the final stage of the animals on the farm -the slaughter house. Taking into consideration how these animals are slaughtered is important. The USDA is responsible for inspecting the environments the animals are killed in ,but they take issue with farmers like Joel who prefers killing the animals he grows on his own farm, which turns out to be cleaner and the animals are more humanely killed than if they were in other slaughter houses.
Gems:"Processing but a few days a month means we actually think about what were doing, and be as careful and humane as possible." (pg 233)
"we do not allow the government to dictate what religion you can observe, so why should we allow them to dictate what kind of food you can buy?" (236)
Thoughts: Just reading about how these animals are slaughtered made me nauseous,what if people were able to see how the food they buy from supermarkets are slaughtered behind closed doors? Would there be as many meat eaters?
I don't think the government should interfere with the way the animals are slaughtered on Joels farm because if he were doing anything wrong or if it were inhumane then he wouldn't open it up for his customers to watch and inspect how their dinner is being killed.
Chapter 13: Salatin believes in finding ways to change the food system. He believes people need to change the way they eat and buy their foods. That supporting local foods is better because they factor in all the costs and are honest with the consumers about the food they are eating.
Gems: “Don’t you find it odd that people will put more work into choosing their mechanic or house contractor than they will into choosing the person who grows their food. –pg 240.
“If we could just level the playing field-take away the regulations, the subsidies, and factor in the health care and environmental cleanup costs of cheap food-we could compete on price with anyone.”
“You can buy honestly priced food or you can buy irresponsibly priced food.”
Thoughts: I don’t think that many people are willing to pay more for local foods (buying directly from their food source) because they tend to pick cheaper and more convenient food choices.
The big companies that control the food system have the power over the consumers while the farmers are trying to fight for theirs. The farms don’t have the advantage in this case.
If organic food cost less I think more people would become healthier eaters.
Chapter 14: There’s nothing better than the satisfaction of eating a delicious meal. The taste is everything, but not everything we eat is the same. We are deceived by what’s in our foods and how it reached our plates.
Gems: “The species of animal you eat may matter less than what the animal you’re eating has itself eaten.”
“When chickens get to live like chickens they’ll taste like chickens.”
Thoughts: This made me think, why don’t people usually consider the quality of their meals or the food they buy instead of focusing on the cost?
I don’t think that organic food necessarily tastes better than conventional foods even though eating organic maybe the better choice.
Food would taste so much better if the food we ate were handled differently by the farmers, the way Salatin handles his farm animals and crops.
Chapter 15: We’re in trouble; agriculture has eliminated any chance we have of living longer and healthier lives. Our food chain and the way we see food has changed because of agriculture. Now people aren’t aware of what is involved in our foods the way hunter-gathers did. Now we may never get the chance to return to hunting and gathering our food they way it used to be.
Gems: “ To look as far into the food chains that support us as I could look, and recover the fundamental biological realities that the complexities of modern industrialized eating keep from our view.”
For most of us today hunting and gathering and growing our own food is by and large a form of play.”
Thoughts: Agriculture has ruined our food chain. If people were able to hunt and gather their food instead of moving toward agriculture people would be so much healthier and live longer lives. Why isn’t the food system changing?
Chapter 16: Humans are able to eat almost anything thanks to natural selection, but deciding exactly what to eat is the problem. With so many different choices, how does one determine which to choose? We decide by following a couple of food rules and whether or not what we are eating is good for both our bodies and minds.
Gems: “"The fact that we humans indeed omnivorous is deeply inscribed in our bodies, which natural selection has equipped to handle a remarkably wide ranging diet."
“Being an omnivore occupying a cognitive niche in nature is a boon and a challenge, a source of tremendous power as well as anxiety."
Thoughts: We are facing many health issues because of the dilemma of what we choose to eat. I think people need to weigh the pros and cons of different foods like organic vs. conventional. I thought it was interesting that the author mentioned that our food not only has to taste good but we think about whether or not it is “ethically defensible to eat meat”.
Chapter 17: The less people know about the way meat is processed the better off the meat industry is and the less they seem to care. People don’t focus on how the meat as once being a living animal but rather something that just tastes good. Some would argue that animals shouldn’t be cruelly slaughtered and eaten by humans because it causes them suffering and is inhumane.
Gems: “We tolerate this schizophrenia because the life of the pig has moved out of view; when’s the last time you saw a pig in person? Meat comes from the grocery store, where it is cut and packaged to look as little like parts of animals as possible.”
“The one all-important interest humans share with pigs, as with all sentient creatures, is an interest in avoiding pain.”
Thoughts: If people actually got to see the way these animals are slaughtered less people will be willing to eat meat which would be bad for the meat industry business. It’s easier for people to not think about the slaughtering of animals. It makes the connection less personal. They just see it as a meal available for purchase.
Chapter 18: Hunting brings us closer to who we really are. Hunting should be seen valuable because it brings us closer to nature. Hunting for your food is an exhilarating feeling. The animals are there for us to eat them but we should still pay them gratitude.
Gems: “Humanity sees itself as something emerging from animality, but it cannot be sure of having transcended that state completely. The animal remains too close for us not to feel mysterious communication with it.”
“The experience of hunting suggests another theory. Could it be that the cannabinoid network is precisely the sort of adaptation that natural selection would favor in the evolution of a creature who survives by hunting?”
Thoughts: The hunt is what the hunter lives for, that feeling they get after capturing their prey successfully. I don’t think that people should mercilessly hunt animals for sport. Hunting is a good way for people to naturally eat. They can be sure their prey has been kept from the industrial factories.
Chapter 19: Hunting mushrooms is a difficult task because there is a lot you need to know about them first. Picking and eating the wrong mushrooms can end up being fatal. We hunt and eat what we want but we have to make sure it’s safe to eat it.
Gems: “Just imagine if had to decide every such edibility question on our own; only the bravest or most foolish of us would ever decide to eat a mushroom.”
“The field guides contain our culture’s accumulated wisdom on the subject of mushrooms. Curiously, though, the process of imparting and absorbing this life-and-death information works much better in person than it does on paper, whether through writing or even photography.”
Thoughts: Hunting and gathering a meal provides one with a connection to food. They know directly where it comes from. Nature plays a huge role. Knowing exactly what we are eating and if it is potentially dangerous to our health is important like eating wild mushrooms or foods produced by industrial food companies.
Chapter 20: It has finally all come together, everything to make the perfect meal. All the hunting, gathering and research I have done over a period of time has prepared me for this meal. It’s a meal that I had everything to do with from the start.
Gems:” Another thing cooking is, or can be, is a way to honor the things we are eating, the animals and plants and fungi that have been sacrificed to gratify our needs and desires…”
““The meal was more ritual than realistic because it dwelled on such things, reminding us how very much nature offers to the omnivore, the forests as much as the fields, the oceans as much as the meadows. If I had to give this dinner a name, it would have to be the Omnivore’s Thanksgiving.”
Thoughts: This reminded me of the sprouts we grew and ate and the feelings we had about growing our own foods. What it’s like to have that connection with our food. The author used his knowledge on food in order to prepare this meal which made it that more special to him. It’s important to know where our food comes from and what we are nourishing our bodies with in order to make changes.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Hw # 7
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Chapter 1: We are what we eat and that is processed corn,lots of it. Everything we consume traces back to corn which is our most important crop. It plays a major role in our food chain and daily diets. Corn has done extremely well in this industrial age of consumer capitalism.
Gems: "Several human societies have seen fit to worship corn, but perhaps it should be the other way around: For corn, we humans are the contingent beings." (pg 27)
"Corn is the protocapitalist plant." (pg 26)
"We North Americans look like corn chips with legs."
Thoughts: When we eat we never really stop to think about how our food is made or what it's made of or where it comes from as long as it tastes good and we enjoy it, but to come to read and find that almost everything we eat comes from corn was rather surprising.It's funny how we depend on this plant species(Zea mays/corn)so much. We live for corn by growing, producing and consuming it. It's such a huge staple in our diets.I wonder what else our food is made up of?
Chapter 2 : Growing corn in no easy job. It's important to go straight to the source of the corn-the farmers and their farms. Corn is a business, a money making and a money losing business.
Gems: " The demand for food isn't elastic; people don't eat more just because food is cheap."
"Agriculture’s always going to be organized by the government; the question is, for whose benefit? It's certainly not for the farmer.
"The free market has never worked in agriculture and it never will."
Thoughts: I found it interesting that the author is going straight to the sources of our food to find out where it comes from? Farmers supply all the corn we consume but are they making money or losing money over corn? since they grow so much of it but it's sold cheap. It's all about the supply and demand of the crop. It’s all about who benefits from the business and who doesn’t which in this case would be the farmers. Agriculture is not on their side.
Chapter 3: Corn is a commodity that no one cares where it comes from (what farm or farmer)as long as it gets to the consumers. Corn is part of a system that is designed to keep having it produced and then selling it cheap,with the farmers not reaping the benefits as much.
Gems: " Ecology teaches that whenever an excess organic matter arises anywhere in nature, creatures large and small inevitably step forward to consume it, sometimes creating whole new food chains in the process." (62)
Thoughts: I found it interesting how the author is making the distinction between "corn-the-food" and corn-the-commodity" and really breaking it down in the chapters. So much corn is being produced and sold (cheap) and everyone is consuming it from humans to livestock. Corn has one destination and that is to end up on our plates.
Chapter 4: The government and the CAFO -Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation have taken animals like cattle off of the farms and placed them in feedlots. Forcing them to consume corn. While creating more problems and using these animals for their own benefit.
Gems: "Today the most serious environmental harm associated with the cattle industry takes place on the feedlot." (pg 70)
" What gets a steer from 80 to 1,100 pounds in fourteen months is tremendous quantities of corn, protein and fat supplements, and arsenal of new drugs." (pg 71)
Thoughts: I think it's unfair how these animals are taken off the farms where they can roam round and eat grass, only to be placed in feedlots and forced to change their diets. All in the name of making a profit. The feedlots don't sound like a good idea. The cattle are being mistreated.
Chapter 5: Corn has finally reached the stage where it is sent to what is know as "wet mills" where leftover corn is broken down in many different molecules,sugars,vitamins and starches to be processed for consumption.Leading corn to become the most important crop and us to become the ultimate industrial eaters.
Gems:"And so it goes, the rushing stream of ever cheaper agricultural commodities driving food companies to figure out new and ever more elaborate ways to add value and so induce us to buy more." (pg 96)
"Nature has cursed the companies working the middle of the food chain with a recipe for falling rates of profits." (pg 94)
"Exactly what corn is doing in such foods has less to with nutrition or taste than with economics." (pg 93)
Thoughts: I think it's surprising how we have become so dependent on corn considering we eat the most of it (processed foods). Everything is made with processed corn now. It would be interesting to find out what foods aren't made with corn? that is if there are any.
Chapter 6: Corn is being overly produced, therefore making the price of corn drop. Which is being turned into cheap consumer products of calories. Which is being consumed on a daily basis leading us to develop health problems such as obesity and diabetes.
Gems:"The united nation's reported that in 2000 the number of people suffering from over nutrition-a billion-had officially surpassed the number suffering from malnutrition-800-million."(102)
"When food is abundant and cheap, people will eat more of it and get fat."
Thoughts: Not everyone can afford healthier food choices. It cost more to eat healthy while processed foods are cheap.We consume a lot of corn (in our foods) because it's cheap. All this corn is causing health problems for many.
Chapter 7: Not many people know how their food is made or where it comes from. It's like a secret, that most of our meals are made with ingredients derived from corn. It's a major source of all the calories we eat ,thanks to fast food and super size options.
Gems:" processing cheap corn into 45 different McDonald's items is an impressive accomplishment.It presents a solution to the agricultural contradictions of capitalism, the challenge of increasing industry food profits faster than America can increase it's population." (pg117)
"the nugget is the reason chicken has supplanted beef as the most popular meat in America." (114)
Thoughts: Fast food is a cheap option and almost everything on the menu is made with corn. It's a meal that is convenient and it tastes good which makes you want to eat more. It's no surprise it's a huge hit with consumers.
Chapter 8: Grass is important to farmers because it feeds their farm animals. Farmers have a special relationship with their grass. They nurture and care for their grass because it turns into thousands of pounds of meat. Farmers choose to operate their farms differently by going down the more natural route.
Gems:"I kept hearing about this organic farmer in Virginia who had no use for the federal government's new organic standards. I also kept hearing about the exceptional food he was producing." (PG 131)
Thoughts: Organic farms produce natural and more healthier foods than other farms. How "organic" is their food? What are the differences between organic farms and industrial farms?
Chapter 9:Organic food markets are more behind the story of their foods and appeal to their consumers by labeling their products with how their food is made like "naturally grown" and "humanely raised".Is what is printed on the label really true?
Is organic foods that much different than non -certified organic products in terms of how they are grown and produced? The organic food movement is still a
Gems:"We have to go back to nature and to copy the methods to be seen in the forest and prairie." (149)
"The notion of imitating whole natural systems stands in stark opposition to reductionist science, which works by breaking down such systems down into their component parts in order to understand how they work and then manipulating them-one variable at a time."
Thoughts: 1.Are organic farms really "better" than industrial farms?
2.If "organic" is better why isn't everyone eating organic foods?
Chapter 10: Grass and sunlight produces many of the products/foods that grass farms grow on their farms. Grass is dependent on to flourish the farms and in return the products provide us with food energy.
Gems: "All agriculture is at its heart a business of capturing free solar energy in a food product that can then be turned into high-value energy".
" Very much on his own in a very particular place, the grass farmer must continually juggle the various elements of his farm in space as well as time,relying on his powers of observation and organization to arrange the appointed daily meeting of animal and grass in such a way as to ensure maximum benefit for both."
Thoughts: Why don't farmers feed their animals with more grass instead of corn?
It seems grass is better than corn but corn is cheaper.
Chapter 1: We are what we eat and that is processed corn,lots of it. Everything we consume traces back to corn which is our most important crop. It plays a major role in our food chain and daily diets. Corn has done extremely well in this industrial age of consumer capitalism.
Gems: "Several human societies have seen fit to worship corn, but perhaps it should be the other way around: For corn, we humans are the contingent beings." (pg 27)
"Corn is the protocapitalist plant." (pg 26)
"We North Americans look like corn chips with legs."
Thoughts: When we eat we never really stop to think about how our food is made or what it's made of or where it comes from as long as it tastes good and we enjoy it, but to come to read and find that almost everything we eat comes from corn was rather surprising.It's funny how we depend on this plant species(Zea mays/corn)so much. We live for corn by growing, producing and consuming it. It's such a huge staple in our diets.I wonder what else our food is made up of?
Chapter 2 : Growing corn in no easy job. It's important to go straight to the source of the corn-the farmers and their farms. Corn is a business, a money making and a money losing business.
Gems: " The demand for food isn't elastic; people don't eat more just because food is cheap."
"Agriculture’s always going to be organized by the government; the question is, for whose benefit? It's certainly not for the farmer.
"The free market has never worked in agriculture and it never will."
Thoughts: I found it interesting that the author is going straight to the sources of our food to find out where it comes from? Farmers supply all the corn we consume but are they making money or losing money over corn? since they grow so much of it but it's sold cheap. It's all about the supply and demand of the crop. It’s all about who benefits from the business and who doesn’t which in this case would be the farmers. Agriculture is not on their side.
Chapter 3: Corn is a commodity that no one cares where it comes from (what farm or farmer)as long as it gets to the consumers. Corn is part of a system that is designed to keep having it produced and then selling it cheap,with the farmers not reaping the benefits as much.
Gems: " Ecology teaches that whenever an excess organic matter arises anywhere in nature, creatures large and small inevitably step forward to consume it, sometimes creating whole new food chains in the process." (62)
Thoughts: I found it interesting how the author is making the distinction between "corn-the-food" and corn-the-commodity" and really breaking it down in the chapters. So much corn is being produced and sold (cheap) and everyone is consuming it from humans to livestock. Corn has one destination and that is to end up on our plates.
Chapter 4: The government and the CAFO -Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation have taken animals like cattle off of the farms and placed them in feedlots. Forcing them to consume corn. While creating more problems and using these animals for their own benefit.
Gems: "Today the most serious environmental harm associated with the cattle industry takes place on the feedlot." (pg 70)
" What gets a steer from 80 to 1,100 pounds in fourteen months is tremendous quantities of corn, protein and fat supplements, and arsenal of new drugs." (pg 71)
Thoughts: I think it's unfair how these animals are taken off the farms where they can roam round and eat grass, only to be placed in feedlots and forced to change their diets. All in the name of making a profit. The feedlots don't sound like a good idea. The cattle are being mistreated.
Chapter 5: Corn has finally reached the stage where it is sent to what is know as "wet mills" where leftover corn is broken down in many different molecules,sugars,vitamins and starches to be processed for consumption.Leading corn to become the most important crop and us to become the ultimate industrial eaters.
Gems:"And so it goes, the rushing stream of ever cheaper agricultural commodities driving food companies to figure out new and ever more elaborate ways to add value and so induce us to buy more." (pg 96)
"Nature has cursed the companies working the middle of the food chain with a recipe for falling rates of profits." (pg 94)
"Exactly what corn is doing in such foods has less to with nutrition or taste than with economics." (pg 93)
Thoughts: I think it's surprising how we have become so dependent on corn considering we eat the most of it (processed foods). Everything is made with processed corn now. It would be interesting to find out what foods aren't made with corn? that is if there are any.
Chapter 6: Corn is being overly produced, therefore making the price of corn drop. Which is being turned into cheap consumer products of calories. Which is being consumed on a daily basis leading us to develop health problems such as obesity and diabetes.
Gems:"The united nation's reported that in 2000 the number of people suffering from over nutrition-a billion-had officially surpassed the number suffering from malnutrition-800-million."(102)
"When food is abundant and cheap, people will eat more of it and get fat."
Thoughts: Not everyone can afford healthier food choices. It cost more to eat healthy while processed foods are cheap.We consume a lot of corn (in our foods) because it's cheap. All this corn is causing health problems for many.
Chapter 7: Not many people know how their food is made or where it comes from. It's like a secret, that most of our meals are made with ingredients derived from corn. It's a major source of all the calories we eat ,thanks to fast food and super size options.
Gems:" processing cheap corn into 45 different McDonald's items is an impressive accomplishment.It presents a solution to the agricultural contradictions of capitalism, the challenge of increasing industry food profits faster than America can increase it's population." (pg117)
"the nugget is the reason chicken has supplanted beef as the most popular meat in America." (114)
Thoughts: Fast food is a cheap option and almost everything on the menu is made with corn. It's a meal that is convenient and it tastes good which makes you want to eat more. It's no surprise it's a huge hit with consumers.
Chapter 8: Grass is important to farmers because it feeds their farm animals. Farmers have a special relationship with their grass. They nurture and care for their grass because it turns into thousands of pounds of meat. Farmers choose to operate their farms differently by going down the more natural route.
Gems:"I kept hearing about this organic farmer in Virginia who had no use for the federal government's new organic standards. I also kept hearing about the exceptional food he was producing." (PG 131)
Thoughts: Organic farms produce natural and more healthier foods than other farms. How "organic" is their food? What are the differences between organic farms and industrial farms?
Chapter 9:Organic food markets are more behind the story of their foods and appeal to their consumers by labeling their products with how their food is made like "naturally grown" and "humanely raised".Is what is printed on the label really true?
Is organic foods that much different than non -certified organic products in terms of how they are grown and produced? The organic food movement is still a
Gems:"We have to go back to nature and to copy the methods to be seen in the forest and prairie." (149)
"The notion of imitating whole natural systems stands in stark opposition to reductionist science, which works by breaking down such systems down into their component parts in order to understand how they work and then manipulating them-one variable at a time."
Thoughts: 1.Are organic farms really "better" than industrial farms?
2.If "organic" is better why isn't everyone eating organic foods?
Chapter 10: Grass and sunlight produces many of the products/foods that grass farms grow on their farms. Grass is dependent on to flourish the farms and in return the products provide us with food energy.
Gems: "All agriculture is at its heart a business of capturing free solar energy in a food product that can then be turned into high-value energy".
" Very much on his own in a very particular place, the grass farmer must continually juggle the various elements of his farm in space as well as time,relying on his powers of observation and organization to arrange the appointed daily meeting of animal and grass in such a way as to ensure maximum benefit for both."
Thoughts: Why don't farmers feed their animals with more grass instead of corn?
It seems grass is better than corn but corn is cheaper.
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