Sandy.
I really enjoyed reading your final essay, you made sure to cover some very important and insightful thoughts. While reading i noticed that you continuted to conntect everything back to this idea that "The general American way of life is like a factory, there is a certain procedure that needs to be conducted in order to save lots of time and money." I never really thought of it that way but i see where you are coming from, we try and get what needs to be done as fast as possible and will go to any means to do it for the least amount of money and time. You also said that "the poorest person in England will live longer than the richest person in America because of the "factory"-like lives we live which are unnatural and unsustainable." I liked the connection you made, like a factory which is dirty, and has many problems getting up and running, that is similiar to the way we live. It is unnatural in the sense that everything is product to supply the masses, we use chemicals and other resources to speed up the process. I also found it very interesting how you connected the "factory" idea to our unit on birth, after a baby is born it can not even spend time with their mother. Instead they are rushed off and tested, similar to the way products being produce are. Overall this essay lead me to think deeper about the units convered this year. GOOD JOB! :)
Lauren,
You made some really good points, looks like you expanded you thoughts cause i saw a first draft! I agree that the heath care system in the United Sates in "stupid" i might even be a little harsher and say criminal. The american governmnet is greedy, just like everyone else they just care about money. I think its an amzing idea to move to canada (Can I come?!?) You started a great point but i think there is alot you could have said about how we deal with it. Maybe including some information form the movie SICKO or even just sharing personal experiances. You brought up another great point that we are using a decreasing resource way too much. Fossil fuels are used in almost everything we do in out daily lives, to think we might one day not beable to flush a toilet! (kinda gross!) GOOD WORK! :)
Cindy,
I thought you did really good and soild job on covering most of the units we talked about over the course of the year. I agree we are very much controlled my the government, i really liked this point you made; "When power is not granted to the citizens of America, we citizens become scared. We are scared because we cannot fight back." I think that we have stopped fighting for what we believe in, we have been defeated because of the idiotic desisions the pervious president and party has made. They have made life for americans even worse. Hopefully with a new found sense of relief this country will start to see some needed change. GOOD JOB! :)
Friday, June 12, 2009
Final Essay- "How I make sense of the American Way of Life?"
Before this year I never really questioned why I lived life the way I do and what my motives were behind the life I lived. Overall I find myself to enjoy the way my life is run, but I don't know if I could say the same thing if i was being brought up in a small town in the south. I feel privlliged to live in New York City were I am surrounded by a wealth of culture and diversity although my life seems normal, it is not typical in anyway.The majority of americans grow up in the subarburbs were cars are needed to get everywhere, children and teenagers travel back to forth school participate in extracirculars and for fun meet at the local towns mall or find a free house and use it to their atvantage. I am lucky that thoes are not my only options, new york does not fit the norm of everywhere else. In gerneral we live in a country based on wealth that relies too much on the media for how to live the "american way of life" Commercials, magazines, tv shows, news stations,and newspapers are sublimity feeding us preceptions on how our lifes should be run. We base our lives on what will make us "look cool" and "fit in".
Every America has there own definition of their American way of life, a lot has to do with their background and experiences. Every one wants to achieve the “America dream”, but what defines that. We live in a land of opportunity and most want to take advantage of it. Status is very important to most people and it is most of their goals in life to make it to the top. America is supposed to be a place where everyone, people born dirt poor or filthy rich are given the same chances and opportunities to succeed in life. Financially it has become very difficult to support American family lifestyles “at this point in time the economic system is horrible. The Richer are getting Richer, the middle class is becoming smaller and more people are becoming poorer and poorer.” (Taylor) How much freedom and opportunity do we actually have? Generally speaking the lower class seems to have a much larger struggle.
Does everyone living in American dream the same dream? Is it to“ work hard, start families, try and make money, and pass down tradition and values to the next generation.” (Fanning) Is that the typical American Way of Life? Who is the one who determines the way we choose to live our lives? People all around the world go to great lengths to get to America because of the “freedom” and “opportunity” they hear we Americans have.
Population seems to be growing at a alarming rate, part of being an american is rasing a family. Little girls grow up caring for babydolls, playing house in a plastic model in their back yard or learning to cook from there mothers. From a young age we are surrounded by parternal instict and we out even relazing it we begin our training. Mothers always say it has always been their dream to "Finally" become a grandparent, and most women say they had always known their job in life was to be come a mother. In the united states their is controversy surrounded around the topic of Birth,what is the "American Way of Birth" ?
Child birth and the job of raising a child is a life experience that should not be missed. Women are born with this amazing ability, your body is made to do it so we should take advantage,Women are following the social norm. Once we are married the next thing people expect is for a couple to have a baby, Family Pressure: Mothers want to see there sons and daughters having kids of there own. Grandchildren become a competition, the proud grandparents want to show off how "beautiful and perfect" there newest additions are, lastly teens think it seems like the "cool" thing to do, something to dress up and play around with. They see all the celebrities are want to follow in the same footsteps, not realizing how big a responsibility it is.
How many of the women in the world specifically in the united states are having kids for the right reasons? One idea that was tossed around was the theory that all people have some sort of "deep physical hunger" (something they cant live without), in this case it would be sex. According to Andy "Birth happens because of irrational reasons, a deep physical hunger for sex. People do not give birth because they want to have babies, but because they want more sex.
Why has the AWOB become so alienated? Technology has advanced us in ways that allow childbirth to be easier less painful, but that could lead to the reason why women today are having so many more children. In general women are scared the pain of going though a natural childbirth will cause them, that why they take medication, "its not natural, but its normal." The American way of birth has now become a battle between the "normal" vs. "natural" way to deliver babies into this world, it is becoming harder and harder to find couples that have have a "natural" birth and harder to find couples that have not have a "normal" one.
Years ago in the united states midwives where represented as dirty, unsafe, germ filled, poor people, they made sure to use propaganda to make everyone think that was true. So it is not a new idea in America that hospitals are the "safer" place to have a child. Are the American women the only reason for this dramatic change in the way we give birth or are the doctors to be blamed? American doctors are only taught one way, according to Susan Hodges from the Documentary The Business of Being Born "Very few doctors have ever seen a natural birth in medical school." Like in the tittle of the documentary, birth had become a business, it had become this very impersonal experience that is being rushed by doctors who want to make as most money in a days work as possible. If the mother's cervix is not dilating fast enough the doctors will speed things up, by inducing them with medicine, they want to get them in and out as fast as they can. A women interviewed said they liked the doctor aspect "surgery is easy, its a one, two, three step process." I think it goes unrecognized how manipulated the doctors really are, most of the time they have no real reason for injecting the women with medicine, inducing labor or calling for an "emergency c-section". in reality they are the ones putting the baby though distress causing things to go wrong. In most counties around the world their "normal" way of birth is our natural birth. according to Marsden Wagner an M.D "every where else in the world that's what they do. They lose less mothers and babies where midwives are used."
In our culture birth is considered a crisis, the women have got themselves in this mind set that they will not be able to go through the experience with out the help of medicine or the "comfort" of a doctor. In times of crisis, human beings (soon to be mothers) tend to do what the alpha male tells them to do, they follow the orders of ones in charge (the authority figure). Referring back to the documentary a source who's name i did not catch said "the medical field had convinced most women that they can not birth." The American way of birth has become this high paced rush for both mother and doctor, bright bright lights, medication and unnatural birth positions, its a race to see who can get out faster.
The media will go to any length not only influence us to do what is 'normal" they will sraight out lie to us, to get their way. Connecting this to another unit we covered which was the "American way of food" Everyone wants to enjoy what they eat, the smell, the appearance and the overall taste is what attracts people to their food, but do they really know where what they are eating comes from? what did they use to make is taste so good? but most importantly how healthy is actually is for your body? Taking trips to grocery stores is a weekly trip most people make, before hand; they raid there pantry's and empty refrigerators and begin making there lists. The average American household shops based on the price not the quality, everyone is looking for the best deal and the majority of the time its the concentrated foods that are sold for cheap because they are made in enormous quantities produced my major corporations.
While reading Micheal Pollan's book called The Omnivores Dilemma, he brought up a very interesting point that the average American has too many choices of food. To support that thought on a trip we took in class to a local supermarket we were asked to count the amount of a certain product, the numbers were really surprising, walking down the cereal isle i counted 76 different brands and types, the same thing happened when i counted the different types of pickles (37). Walking into a supermarket it is very hard to come across any fresh produce at an affordable price, people see the expensive price tags and walk the other way. We consume because it is in front of us, in actuality it is not curcial. We shop for packaged foods that come in bulk or is sold for a considerably cheaper price. Organic food seem to be harder to find, i think most people find the labels on the products comforting cause they think they know where its coming from when the reality is that its mostly lies.
In order to keep of with the demand major corpurations use large factories to produce there product. Chickens and turkeys are crammed into tiny cages, while the cows and pigs live in similarly horrible conditions, they are fed antibiotics to speed up there developmental process and "help" them to stay strong despite the conditions they are put through. When it is time to kill them they are put into machines where they roll out dead or knocked out. They are slaughtered by being slashed in the throat or cut in half while they are still alive. These animals never see the sunlight or get to run around and smell the fresh air.
Like every other american, i did not think before putting food in my mouth, when you are little you eat what is put in front of your face. I am older and wiser now and can make my own desicions when it comes to the foods i put in my body. It has been about 9 years since i have had a peice of beef and pork, i made that desision based on thinkng the amimals were "too cute to eat" i am very happy that i made that desision, but i understand why is more important know. Although they are cute, the real reason i contiue to not eat them is cause i dont stand for how they are treated, they deserve a like just like humans. In the next year i am setting a goal to stop participating in the typical american eatting norm, and i will stop eatting mean all together.
Everything that we have studied and analyzed has lead to the last unit in this class, collapse (although it was short, it was very helpful in understanding the direct effect of how we live the way we do, and what it all really means) The word collapse can be imterpreted in many ways. In our class there was a little confusion as to which one we were refering to; Global warming, humans starving to death or the one "where everyone just dies and the world blows up" ? The possible collapse of the American society is a probable one and a sad reality at that. We like in a greedy nation where we value prosperity and anything that helps us gain more money (the wealthier the better!). Large demand leads to exploitation of our resources, oil is has been at its peak for many years in the united states and continues to decrease in not just this country but many other major oil countries. Oil seems to be what keeps out planet spinning, but at the same time is destroying it.
Fossil fuels are limited! but we do not treat them and preserve them like we are worried it will run out anytime soon. Almost everything you can think of involved the use of fossil fuel. What will we do when it runs out? Will the world turn to completely mechanical machines? and how will we be able to keep up with the demand if our resources and machines are slower? No matter how you look at it oil will be needed (even a little) for the human population to live.
The united states was a very subborn nation and made a mistake by not listening, we reached our peak oil in 1950, which is the point at which we have produce the maximum amount of oil. That may have seemed good at the time but from forever after that the amount produced each year will continually decrease. It is becoming harder and harder to find out most valuable resource, other countries have reached there peak as well and it will start to take affect on us negativly.
Although i dont believe the earth will blow up and everyone will die a tramatic death in the year of 2012, i do however believe we will face a major change in the way out cvilization lives. In class the other day we disccused possiblities for the future, a "loooooooonnnnnnnnnggggggg ression" the ecomony will stop growing. when we get out of college there will be less jobs for way lower wages. Massive inflation will affect everyone, things that once held value will become worthless. The key systems in the united states will start to break down. It is important that we prepare for it as best we can, having a set of back up skills will come in handy. Occupations that directly benfit people will be the most sucessful.
Every America has there own definition of their American way of life, a lot has to do with their background and experiences. Every one wants to achieve the “America dream”, but what defines that. We live in a land of opportunity and most want to take advantage of it. Status is very important to most people and it is most of their goals in life to make it to the top. America is supposed to be a place where everyone, people born dirt poor or filthy rich are given the same chances and opportunities to succeed in life. Financially it has become very difficult to support American family lifestyles “at this point in time the economic system is horrible. The Richer are getting Richer, the middle class is becoming smaller and more people are becoming poorer and poorer.” (Taylor) How much freedom and opportunity do we actually have? Generally speaking the lower class seems to have a much larger struggle.
Does everyone living in American dream the same dream? Is it to“ work hard, start families, try and make money, and pass down tradition and values to the next generation.” (Fanning) Is that the typical American Way of Life? Who is the one who determines the way we choose to live our lives? People all around the world go to great lengths to get to America because of the “freedom” and “opportunity” they hear we Americans have.
Population seems to be growing at a alarming rate, part of being an american is rasing a family. Little girls grow up caring for babydolls, playing house in a plastic model in their back yard or learning to cook from there mothers. From a young age we are surrounded by parternal instict and we out even relazing it we begin our training. Mothers always say it has always been their dream to "Finally" become a grandparent, and most women say they had always known their job in life was to be come a mother. In the united states their is controversy surrounded around the topic of Birth,what is the "American Way of Birth" ?
Child birth and the job of raising a child is a life experience that should not be missed. Women are born with this amazing ability, your body is made to do it so we should take advantage,Women are following the social norm. Once we are married the next thing people expect is for a couple to have a baby, Family Pressure: Mothers want to see there sons and daughters having kids of there own. Grandchildren become a competition, the proud grandparents want to show off how "beautiful and perfect" there newest additions are, lastly teens think it seems like the "cool" thing to do, something to dress up and play around with. They see all the celebrities are want to follow in the same footsteps, not realizing how big a responsibility it is.
How many of the women in the world specifically in the united states are having kids for the right reasons? One idea that was tossed around was the theory that all people have some sort of "deep physical hunger" (something they cant live without), in this case it would be sex. According to Andy "Birth happens because of irrational reasons, a deep physical hunger for sex. People do not give birth because they want to have babies, but because they want more sex.
Why has the AWOB become so alienated? Technology has advanced us in ways that allow childbirth to be easier less painful, but that could lead to the reason why women today are having so many more children. In general women are scared the pain of going though a natural childbirth will cause them, that why they take medication, "its not natural, but its normal." The American way of birth has now become a battle between the "normal" vs. "natural" way to deliver babies into this world, it is becoming harder and harder to find couples that have have a "natural" birth and harder to find couples that have not have a "normal" one.
Years ago in the united states midwives where represented as dirty, unsafe, germ filled, poor people, they made sure to use propaganda to make everyone think that was true. So it is not a new idea in America that hospitals are the "safer" place to have a child. Are the American women the only reason for this dramatic change in the way we give birth or are the doctors to be blamed? American doctors are only taught one way, according to Susan Hodges from the Documentary The Business of Being Born "Very few doctors have ever seen a natural birth in medical school." Like in the tittle of the documentary, birth had become a business, it had become this very impersonal experience that is being rushed by doctors who want to make as most money in a days work as possible. If the mother's cervix is not dilating fast enough the doctors will speed things up, by inducing them with medicine, they want to get them in and out as fast as they can. A women interviewed said they liked the doctor aspect "surgery is easy, its a one, two, three step process." I think it goes unrecognized how manipulated the doctors really are, most of the time they have no real reason for injecting the women with medicine, inducing labor or calling for an "emergency c-section". in reality they are the ones putting the baby though distress causing things to go wrong. In most counties around the world their "normal" way of birth is our natural birth. according to Marsden Wagner an M.D "every where else in the world that's what they do. They lose less mothers and babies where midwives are used."
In our culture birth is considered a crisis, the women have got themselves in this mind set that they will not be able to go through the experience with out the help of medicine or the "comfort" of a doctor. In times of crisis, human beings (soon to be mothers) tend to do what the alpha male tells them to do, they follow the orders of ones in charge (the authority figure). Referring back to the documentary a source who's name i did not catch said "the medical field had convinced most women that they can not birth." The American way of birth has become this high paced rush for both mother and doctor, bright bright lights, medication and unnatural birth positions, its a race to see who can get out faster.
The media will go to any length not only influence us to do what is 'normal" they will sraight out lie to us, to get their way. Connecting this to another unit we covered which was the "American way of food" Everyone wants to enjoy what they eat, the smell, the appearance and the overall taste is what attracts people to their food, but do they really know where what they are eating comes from? what did they use to make is taste so good? but most importantly how healthy is actually is for your body? Taking trips to grocery stores is a weekly trip most people make, before hand; they raid there pantry's and empty refrigerators and begin making there lists. The average American household shops based on the price not the quality, everyone is looking for the best deal and the majority of the time its the concentrated foods that are sold for cheap because they are made in enormous quantities produced my major corporations.
While reading Micheal Pollan's book called The Omnivores Dilemma, he brought up a very interesting point that the average American has too many choices of food. To support that thought on a trip we took in class to a local supermarket we were asked to count the amount of a certain product, the numbers were really surprising, walking down the cereal isle i counted 76 different brands and types, the same thing happened when i counted the different types of pickles (37). Walking into a supermarket it is very hard to come across any fresh produce at an affordable price, people see the expensive price tags and walk the other way. We consume because it is in front of us, in actuality it is not curcial. We shop for packaged foods that come in bulk or is sold for a considerably cheaper price. Organic food seem to be harder to find, i think most people find the labels on the products comforting cause they think they know where its coming from when the reality is that its mostly lies.
In order to keep of with the demand major corpurations use large factories to produce there product. Chickens and turkeys are crammed into tiny cages, while the cows and pigs live in similarly horrible conditions, they are fed antibiotics to speed up there developmental process and "help" them to stay strong despite the conditions they are put through. When it is time to kill them they are put into machines where they roll out dead or knocked out. They are slaughtered by being slashed in the throat or cut in half while they are still alive. These animals never see the sunlight or get to run around and smell the fresh air.
Like every other american, i did not think before putting food in my mouth, when you are little you eat what is put in front of your face. I am older and wiser now and can make my own desicions when it comes to the foods i put in my body. It has been about 9 years since i have had a peice of beef and pork, i made that desision based on thinkng the amimals were "too cute to eat" i am very happy that i made that desision, but i understand why is more important know. Although they are cute, the real reason i contiue to not eat them is cause i dont stand for how they are treated, they deserve a like just like humans. In the next year i am setting a goal to stop participating in the typical american eatting norm, and i will stop eatting mean all together.
Everything that we have studied and analyzed has lead to the last unit in this class, collapse (although it was short, it was very helpful in understanding the direct effect of how we live the way we do, and what it all really means) The word collapse can be imterpreted in many ways. In our class there was a little confusion as to which one we were refering to; Global warming, humans starving to death or the one "where everyone just dies and the world blows up" ? The possible collapse of the American society is a probable one and a sad reality at that. We like in a greedy nation where we value prosperity and anything that helps us gain more money (the wealthier the better!). Large demand leads to exploitation of our resources, oil is has been at its peak for many years in the united states and continues to decrease in not just this country but many other major oil countries. Oil seems to be what keeps out planet spinning, but at the same time is destroying it.
Fossil fuels are limited! but we do not treat them and preserve them like we are worried it will run out anytime soon. Almost everything you can think of involved the use of fossil fuel. What will we do when it runs out? Will the world turn to completely mechanical machines? and how will we be able to keep up with the demand if our resources and machines are slower? No matter how you look at it oil will be needed (even a little) for the human population to live.
The united states was a very subborn nation and made a mistake by not listening, we reached our peak oil in 1950, which is the point at which we have produce the maximum amount of oil. That may have seemed good at the time but from forever after that the amount produced each year will continually decrease. It is becoming harder and harder to find out most valuable resource, other countries have reached there peak as well and it will start to take affect on us negativly.
Although i dont believe the earth will blow up and everyone will die a tramatic death in the year of 2012, i do however believe we will face a major change in the way out cvilization lives. In class the other day we disccused possiblities for the future, a "loooooooonnnnnnnnnggggggg ression" the ecomony will stop growing. when we get out of college there will be less jobs for way lower wages. Massive inflation will affect everyone, things that once held value will become worthless. The key systems in the united states will start to break down. It is important that we prepare for it as best we can, having a set of back up skills will come in handy. Occupations that directly benfit people will be the most sucessful.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Extra Credit -THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA
Chapter 2 - Michael Pollen the author of The Omniviores Deliemma talked about how he investigated first hand how the corn feilds were run. He met with a farmer named Geore Naylor who worked as a corn husker. One of Pollans many observations was that his motions were almost hypnotic, plowing the corn and gathering it up day in and day out. Pollan also notice the quality of the corn which he described to be growing in very fertilized soil. In the midwest where the weather is not always so great pesticides and other unatural procducts are used to speed up the process. The chemicals used act as the sun and give off the false impression that they are grown the "natural" way According to Pollan, this is why there is hardly any "ecological" process of farming crops these days-it takes too long for them to be produced and the crops aren't sold and become wasted food. Pollan also talks about the economic toll it takes on the farmers who are in charge of growing the crops. An example would be if the price of vegetables drop, corn for instance, used to be $3 and now its $2 therefore the farmers are making less money than they produce the price of the food. There is major competition between farmers in areas that are mainly farmland. The farmers see who can get most of the profit and sell the most amount corn. Farming is hard work and a slow process if done the right way.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The Big Collapse - Assignment #2
When the topic of "collapse" is brought up, controversy is begins to brew. What collapse are we talking about? Global warming, humans starving to death or the one "where everyone just dies and the world blows up" ? The possible collapse of the American society is a probable one and a sad reality at that. We like in a greedy nation where we value prosperity and anything that helps us gain more money (the wealthier the better!). Large demand leads to exploitation of our resources, oil is has been at its peak for many years in the united states and continues to decrease in not just this country but many other major oil countries. Oil seems to be what keeps out planet spinning, but at the same time is destroying it.
Fossil fuels are limited! but we do not treat them and preserve them like we are worried it will run out anytime soon. Almost everything you can think of involved the use of fossil fuel. What will we do when it runs out? Will the world turn to completely mechanical machines? and how will we be able to keep up with the demand if our resources and machines are slower? No matter how you look at it oil will be needed (even a little) for the human population to live.
To bad for all of us, the united states reached its peak oil, which is the point at which we have produce the maximum amount of oil. That may have seemed good at the time but from forever after that the amount produced each year will continually decrease. It is becoming harder and harder to find out most valuable resource, other countries have reached there peak as well and it will start to take affect on us.
This can very easily be related to the collapse of Easter island, they continued to cut down tress because they thought there were more "over the hill", just like them we continue to drill barrels and barrels (enough to touch the moon 250 times a year) of oil thinking there is more in another place. Like the people of Easter Island who did not think their resources would run out. They cut down trees for stupid reasons (rolling large statues from place to place). although we do not use the resources for completly useless reasons we could learn to use them is a more efficient way.
Fossil fuels are limited! but we do not treat them and preserve them like we are worried it will run out anytime soon. Almost everything you can think of involved the use of fossil fuel. What will we do when it runs out? Will the world turn to completely mechanical machines? and how will we be able to keep up with the demand if our resources and machines are slower? No matter how you look at it oil will be needed (even a little) for the human population to live.
To bad for all of us, the united states reached its peak oil, which is the point at which we have produce the maximum amount of oil. That may have seemed good at the time but from forever after that the amount produced each year will continually decrease. It is becoming harder and harder to find out most valuable resource, other countries have reached there peak as well and it will start to take affect on us.
This can very easily be related to the collapse of Easter island, they continued to cut down tress because they thought there were more "over the hill", just like them we continue to drill barrels and barrels (enough to touch the moon 250 times a year) of oil thinking there is more in another place. Like the people of Easter Island who did not think their resources would run out. They cut down trees for stupid reasons (rolling large statues from place to place). although we do not use the resources for completly useless reasons we could learn to use them is a more efficient way.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Extra Credit -THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA
Chapter 5 - The Processing Plant: Making Complex Foods
In this chapter Michael Pollan investigates how corn is processed, i was very surprised to see how big of a staple corn is in our diets and most of it we don't even realize we are eating. Although most Americans don't actually eat a lot of corn, we consume it is ways most would not expect. Some of the many examples include the cattle we each such as chickens, turkeys, pigs, and the cows were are feed corn, many alcohols are made from corn, a lot of the fried foods we eat are cooked in corn oil and last but not least fossil fuels. More specifically corn enzymes are broken down carbohydrates that start of as a long chain of different organic compounds. Pollen also talked about how corn is found amongst most processed food; when reading the back of any product just look for glucose, fructose, maltodextrin and methanol, if you come across any of those just to name a few, think corn! Because so much corn is needed a lot of energy is used to keep up with the high demand, if a tractor is run about ten calories of fossil fuel is burned (that's a lot) that will only produce about a ton of corn, that may seem like a lot but not in the big picture. The most interesting thing i read in this chapter was about how the large corporations will straight out lie to the consumers and are able to get away with it, without any consciences. Its all a trick, if the cost of soy or corn goes up they (the company) will switch to cheaper ingredients (fats) but call it the "natural" stuff. If on the back of a box it says something like "contains one or more of the following..." listing three or more things they just don't want to be specific with which one they used, most times its the ingredients that cost the company the least amount of money to produce. The longer the list of ingredients on the back of the box means the less healthy is actually is. Cheaper products are used to re-create the final outcome. Overall there is not a lot of truth on the back of any box, they mix ingredients to make it appeal more to the consumer. Companies to not like to share there secrets because they don't want other people (companies) to steal their tricks.
In this chapter Michael Pollan investigates how corn is processed, i was very surprised to see how big of a staple corn is in our diets and most of it we don't even realize we are eating. Although most Americans don't actually eat a lot of corn, we consume it is ways most would not expect. Some of the many examples include the cattle we each such as chickens, turkeys, pigs, and the cows were are feed corn, many alcohols are made from corn, a lot of the fried foods we eat are cooked in corn oil and last but not least fossil fuels. More specifically corn enzymes are broken down carbohydrates that start of as a long chain of different organic compounds. Pollen also talked about how corn is found amongst most processed food; when reading the back of any product just look for glucose, fructose, maltodextrin and methanol, if you come across any of those just to name a few, think corn! Because so much corn is needed a lot of energy is used to keep up with the high demand, if a tractor is run about ten calories of fossil fuel is burned (that's a lot) that will only produce about a ton of corn, that may seem like a lot but not in the big picture. The most interesting thing i read in this chapter was about how the large corporations will straight out lie to the consumers and are able to get away with it, without any consciences. Its all a trick, if the cost of soy or corn goes up they (the company) will switch to cheaper ingredients (fats) but call it the "natural" stuff. If on the back of a box it says something like "contains one or more of the following..." listing three or more things they just don't want to be specific with which one they used, most times its the ingredients that cost the company the least amount of money to produce. The longer the list of ingredients on the back of the box means the less healthy is actually is. Cheaper products are used to re-create the final outcome. Overall there is not a lot of truth on the back of any box, they mix ingredients to make it appeal more to the consumer. Companies to not like to share there secrets because they don't want other people (companies) to steal their tricks.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Response to Jared Diamond - Easter Islands Collapse
The article on Easter Island was very boring to me, that could be because i either did not really understand the points that Jared Diamond was trying to make or because i found it to be very repetitive and it did not seem to catch my interest. It took a lot for me to focus on the reading but overall i was able to find a few interesting things he had to say. It was interesting to see how the people of Easter island is similar to ours, In the article Diamond mentioned that the island was insufficient in their supply of foods and lacked a lot of natural resources for food. The water did not have very many coral reefs and there were no lagoons which meant that fish and shellfish was extremely limited. The people of Easter Island ate mostly carbohydrates which was not a balanced enough diet to be considered healthy. Although we are exposed to protein foods like chicken, pork and fish a large part of most Americans diet consists of unhealthy carbs that are very high in calories and bad for your health. There lack of nutritious food caused the natives to suffer from many health problems from a young age, one of the biggest challenges they had was incidents of cavities and tooth decay which were at an all time high. If the had access to more protein (meats) and fruits the problem most likely would have gone down significantly. It sounded like there priorities were a little questionable, their competitive nature could have possible lead to their collapse, Instead of keeping the crucial resources for themselves they used them to make bigger statues (just to prove a point). One of the first things i noticed when i picked up the article was the picture of the large statues, they had me thinking about the kind of civilization they lived in was like but the people who were descried my Diamond did not seem like the people who would spend all there time building something like that. Similar to the United States there were a society that valued wealth and status before anything else. In America we show out social and financial status by expensive houses, clothes, jewelry and properties that we brag about. "the bigger the better" For them their source of status were the statues, putting that before anything else. Is it too late for us to do something about the collapse that is headed out way? We bring so much media attention to controversial topics like global warming, and we say we will do something to change it and make it better but nothing seems to happen. Why do we wait until the problem is to great to fix it? We take for granted the warning we have a head of time. We live in a extremely selfish world where we only care if it effects us or the people closest to us.
Extra Credit - Wildman Steve Brill
I found the trip to be pretty fun and very interesting, I meet up with everyone on the Conner of west 72ND and central park west and was really surprised to see how many people had heard about the tour and more importantly were actually interested enough to spend most of the day with a man who seemed kinda weird. He greeted everyone with a bizarre song (if you can call it that) using his mouth and a clapping motion, in one hand he held on to all the gear he would need for the journey he was about to lead us on and in the other hand he pushed his five year old daughter Violet in a stroller while taking long odd steps through central park.
Wildman Steve Brill definitely knew everything there was to know about what was growing in central park, he knew the good plants from the bad and was able to show us by identifying very small but significant details. One of the first plants we stopped at was about 100 feet away from the busy city streets It was known as the poor mans pepper, it is a member of the mustard family. Not only does its spicy flavor and leafy texture go good in salads and in sandwiches its medicinal purpose is extremely affective preventing peoples chances in being diagnosed with cancer.He brought up a good point he said you would be better off eating the stuff in central park than buying the industrialized food that you find in all of the supermarkets. Who knew you could survive on what is literally in our "version of" a backyard. That made me think, why do we insist on buying produce that is overly produced in chemically and artificially made factories when we could eat food that is grown in small amounts the right way? As Americans we eat the way we are taught and what is put on our plates, for hundreds of years the "normal" way is to eat is the commercial way. If When the population was smaller and families were living off the local farms foods was instilled as technology advanced we may have been less dependent on industrialized foods.
Some of the other plants we stopped to take a closer look at were called the common spice bush; Wildmans advice was that it was best used as tea, taking a handful of leaves of the steams crushing them in your hands and then sticking them in a pit of boiling wait for about 20 minutes, it medicinal purpose is that is can help cure fevers. This plant was ironically 15 feet from a hot got stand. Another plant we saw prevented gas and flatulence and served as helpful aids during pregnancy and child birth. Throughout the tour he dropped useful hints for anyone who loved the outdoors and spends a lot of time exploring "natures possibilities". For example he said the best time for finding mushrooms is after heavy rain, they tend to grow well when surrounded by wood chips, or under trees. While walking along the bike path we came across a plant found on a grassy hill,little did we know it would have to do a lot with out unit on industrialized foods. The plant (although i can not recall the name) was originally discovered by the Johnson brother,after they were bitten by mosquito's. They needed something to relieve the itchiness and irritation. That one small discovery made in the woods by natural resources turned out to become a multi million dollar corporation known as Johnson and Johnson, who know not only have one product but thousands.
I was really surprised to see how much there was to learn about our natural environment and resources. I was only with him for a few hours and learned more in that time than i have in my life anywhere else, i cannot imagine how much more there is to know. If people were to eat from only things that they could find in parks, forests and the woods it would take a lot of time to learn what is okay for your body.I think most Americans see it as a commitment to eat the natural way, people hear the word "vegan"or "vegetarian" and think it will take too much time out of their "busy and hectic" schedules to take the time and shop a little differently to in the end benefit their health. We as Americans are really lazy even when it comes to out health.
Wildman Steve Brill definitely knew everything there was to know about what was growing in central park, he knew the good plants from the bad and was able to show us by identifying very small but significant details. One of the first plants we stopped at was about 100 feet away from the busy city streets It was known as the poor mans pepper, it is a member of the mustard family. Not only does its spicy flavor and leafy texture go good in salads and in sandwiches its medicinal purpose is extremely affective preventing peoples chances in being diagnosed with cancer.He brought up a good point he said you would be better off eating the stuff in central park than buying the industrialized food that you find in all of the supermarkets. Who knew you could survive on what is literally in our "version of" a backyard. That made me think, why do we insist on buying produce that is overly produced in chemically and artificially made factories when we could eat food that is grown in small amounts the right way? As Americans we eat the way we are taught and what is put on our plates, for hundreds of years the "normal" way is to eat is the commercial way. If When the population was smaller and families were living off the local farms foods was instilled as technology advanced we may have been less dependent on industrialized foods.
Some of the other plants we stopped to take a closer look at were called the common spice bush; Wildmans advice was that it was best used as tea, taking a handful of leaves of the steams crushing them in your hands and then sticking them in a pit of boiling wait for about 20 minutes, it medicinal purpose is that is can help cure fevers. This plant was ironically 15 feet from a hot got stand. Another plant we saw prevented gas and flatulence and served as helpful aids during pregnancy and child birth. Throughout the tour he dropped useful hints for anyone who loved the outdoors and spends a lot of time exploring "natures possibilities". For example he said the best time for finding mushrooms is after heavy rain, they tend to grow well when surrounded by wood chips, or under trees. While walking along the bike path we came across a plant found on a grassy hill,little did we know it would have to do a lot with out unit on industrialized foods. The plant (although i can not recall the name) was originally discovered by the Johnson brother,after they were bitten by mosquito's. They needed something to relieve the itchiness and irritation. That one small discovery made in the woods by natural resources turned out to become a multi million dollar corporation known as Johnson and Johnson, who know not only have one product but thousands.
I was really surprised to see how much there was to learn about our natural environment and resources. I was only with him for a few hours and learned more in that time than i have in my life anywhere else, i cannot imagine how much more there is to know. If people were to eat from only things that they could find in parks, forests and the woods it would take a lot of time to learn what is okay for your body.I think most Americans see it as a commitment to eat the natural way, people hear the word "vegan"or "vegetarian" and think it will take too much time out of their "busy and hectic" schedules to take the time and shop a little differently to in the end benefit their health. We as Americans are really lazy even when it comes to out health.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
