HW 11 - FINAL FOOD PROJECT 1

Chosen Modality: Experiential

       The sharing of food, stories, and laughs at the thin glass dinner table set perpendicular to the wall is essentially second nature to my body, purely reacting to my expectations.  In my family, dinner time is like no other time, constituting its own sacred ritual where everyone eats and converses together.  The dinner table represents the connection between all those who are eating, as each person is present at one of the table's edges and is within arms reach of another person.  The literal feeling of the warmth shared between me, the food, and my family leaves my muscles less tense for the day.  The absence of this feeling and connection may leave me wandering like a confused foreigner in the streets of Time Square.  However, curiosity had struck me and the urge to find out whether I had enough will power to sit alone and eat, was stronger than the urge to do otherwise.  To separate myself from this comforting familiarity of gathering to eat, I ate dinner alone, secluded in my beige-colored room with the wooden door shut, for two days.  

       Before beginning this mere journey, my mother consented favorably while my sister choked on her snack and then proceeded to laugh at the supposed stupidity of my idea but, her lack of concern didn't heed my original incentives.  As I quietly shut the door to my room, creating the barrier between me and my family, I couldn't help but feel unusual and odd, as all the doors in my household are always open no matter the occasion.  Proceeding to sit on my cushioned chair, I placed the moderately big plate of food on my desk and worried that my neat desk would probably end up with food oil nevertheless, I began to eat with chopsticks.  These small movements and thoughts had taught me the value that I entrust into certain objects such as my work table and dinner table.  I began to question: Why do I exude such indifference toward sauce on the dinner table when I give the upmost concern about oil marks on my work table?  The change in location of where I would be eating made me realize how in the absence of my familiar dinner table and my family influences the way I react towards the same event. 

       In addition to a change in location, the silence that filled my room as I ate overwhelmed me as the only loudest things I could hear were the sounds of my gnawing on food.  The subtle sounds of my family talking only traveled slightly through the slits of the closed doors and there I was, close in literal terms but, distant mentally.  I only needed to walk a few paces to join the conversation but, of course, that would prohibit what I desired to obtain from this experience.  Hearing big hearty laughs, I wanted laugh and talk and, I could have probably played the role my own company but, I worried my sister would laugh me and I wouldn't be present to defend myself.  It was bizarre being alone during dinner time and led me to realize being a part of a task done together was important to me and so I had learned that the company of others plays a role in the enjoyment of my dinner.  If I were to change one thing about my experiment, I would have completely isolated myself from the subtle chatter of my family because there is a chance that this change could have had a influenced the path of my inquiry and so, I wouldn't have have thought about what my family might've been laughing about.

       In carrying out this fruitful experience, I had learned that gathering as a family and eating as one matters and serves a purpose to me not only as enjoyment but, as a necessity.  Without permitting me to do so, I'm left alone to experience food, filled with flavors I am unable to share.  In Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma, we learn we are accustomed to what our society portrays as normal therefore we rarely question the normal and stray away from this path.  We are bound to our morals and values therefore we base our decisions on them.  As all humans are burdened with the the omnivore's dilemma, they cannot help their inquiry of foods and the influence of society.  Eating together as a family is a ongoing social practice in this society and so, to deviate from such practice would be "weird."
       In my short two day experience, I had come to comprehend my values on a different perspective, realizing my decisions and desires not only rely on my opinion, morals, and values but, that of society's and its social practices.  From Pollan's book, we can relate because as we are omnivores, we are given the ability to eat almost anything but, also the ability to reason what is right and wrong, whether slaughtering an animal is unjust.  We can watch the line between what is normal and weird with a certain prudence but, we will never be able truly define such vague words.

HW 12 - FINAL FOOD PROJECT 2 - OUTLINE

Chosen Thesis for ARG 1:  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 people with whom we have trusted to scrutinize and assemble our daily foods have ignored the problems such foods have caused us, creating an overwhelming river of obscure food products that poison us to the point that labels are no longer trust worthy but, deceiving.

Supporting Claim #1: The industrial food industry does not clarify the ingredients of its foods to its consumers despite dangerous abnormalities that lie in the foods.

Evidence 1:   Lighter Fluid in Chicken Nuggets / TBHT
Evidence 1.2:   Cargill's dishonest labels
Evidence 1.3:   No Changes in Statistics of Food Borne-Illnesses in Ground Beef: Views from the Industry
Evidence 1.4:   Federal School Lunch Program uses more than 5.5 million pounds of ground beef, some contaminated with E. Coli and salmonella pathogens but agriculture department doesn't ban its sales to consumers

Supporting Claim #2: Industrial Food Corporations like Tyson and Cargill have continuously sold to their consumers, contaminated food, resulting in the advent of several food illnesses like E Coli. and Salmonella.  Our nation's food safety system has overlooked flaws in the foods that have been approved

Evidence 2:   Jack In the Box: Virulent Strain of E. Coli kills four children. (Story of Stephanie Smith)
Evidence 2.1:   Egg Recall
Evidence 2.2:   E Coli. Fight

WORKS CITED PAGE / LINKS (listed respectively from 1 - 2.2)
  
1    Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan (Page 114)
1.2 NYT Article
1.3 NYT Article
1.4 NYT Article
2    NYT Article
2.1 NYT Article
2.2 NYT Article

HW 10 - Food, Inc. Response

     Precis
       Industrial food corporations have come a long way, succeeding in becoming the largest retailers and powerful companies that make more than half of the food we see at the supermarket and changing the way we eat compared to the last 50 years.  Several food advocates argue to pass a bill on closing factories that continue to produce contaminated products but, food corporations like Tyson cannot be easily destroyed due to their thousands of consumers and deskilling workers which created more profitable and less money to pay to illegal immigrant workers.  Not only does the mass production of meat create a problem but, the production of corn, that takes up 30% of the U.S. land base, cannot decline because of government policy that states corn must be sold below the cost of production that not only puts farmers at risk but, the limited amount of land we have to stockpile such cheap grains.  As consumers, we deserve to know what we are eating and so, eating healthier and change in government will allow reform that will decrease the amount food poisoning, mad cow disease, and e coli infections.  As of right now, because FDA cannot shut down factories due to multiple lawsuits and its lack of legislative authority, we must take initiative, starting with the most simplest of things, reading food labels and buying foods locally grown.

     What does this movie offer that the book didn't?  What does the book offer that the movie didn't?

       While watching Food, Inc., I could hear the tone of the voices of Michael Pollan and Schlosser and see actual videos of the processes of creating the final food product, which allowed information and opinions backed up by evidence sink into my mind more easily than if I were to have read and have to process the information then to create an opinion which would require confirmation.  Both book and movie held serious biases and in no way exuded to being objective in any extreme case.  Pollan offered humbly almost entirely one perspective of the food industry while Food, Inc. explored several.  Despite this, producers did not allow supporters, the opposing view points, of the industrial food industry to back up their opinions and statements.  Of course this is necessary because Food, Inc. serves an an argument not an impartial conversation disclosing the virtues of each side of the story.  Though the pictures and videos shown in the movie were alluring, colorful, and mind-blowing, Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan allows more room for details while Food, Inc. is composed of all the necessary and key aspects of its argument.  

     What insights or questions or thought remain with you after watching this movie?  What feelings dominate your response?

     After hearing how Food Nation and Omnivore's Dilemma have changed countless meat eaters to vegetarians, I wonder why it hadn't impacted me enough to become a vegetarian? I've seen the factories and processes in Food, Inc. but why is it that I could eat a sandwich with bacon right after?  Is it because I've accepted the industrial food industry or have I chosen to subconsciously ignore it? Change is fundamental and bound to happen at one point in time but with food corporations and their power in the economy, change isn't going to happen over night especially when capitalism is in play.  Advocates of Industrial Food Industry are not thinking about the several lives they have taken with food illness but, the millions of dollars stacking up in their bank accounts.  These advocates definitely have a conscious but, are willing to push away the guilt with money in the picture.  Honestly, who wouldn't chase money, especially a huge amount of it?  I'm not saying that everyone would but, I definitely would.  Am I trying to be empathic? Yes but, I'd say the virtues of naturally grown organics are much bigger in number than that of the industrial food industry. I have more of a motivation to eat healthier but, when it comes to excluding meat from my diet, there's no question that meat is always a part of my meal.  What can I say?  I want what I want.  Selfish? Maybe but these sharp pointy teeth aren't for chewing on some lettuce.

HW 7D

Book: Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Chapter 17 (The Ethics of Eating Animals)

     Precis

       As more meat eaters convert to vegetarians, the ethics of eating animals and talk of animal rights come into place.  Controversy stirs about the suffering that factory animals endure and how the animal's suffering is no different from that of any other human.  Big corporations, like Tyson, need to consider justifying their actions or else, their actions can be registered as discrimination against a creature capable of feeling pain and an animal who tries to avoid affliction as much as we humans do.  If Tyson were to stop their unjustifiable slaughtering, their profit and trust from consumers will decrease and so, they continually refuse bills against their mass production and hide the truths of the factories from peering eyes and inquiry.

     Gems

       "Half the dogs in America will receieve Christmas presents this year, yet dew of us ever pause to consider the life of the pig- an animal easily as intelligent as a dog- that becomes the Christmas ham" (Pollan 307).
       "Humans don't need to kill other creatures in order to survive; carnivorous animals do" (Pollan 310).

     Thoughts

       I'm surprised I'm still capable of eating meat without flinching after reading most of Omnivore's Dilemma.  I doubt there's a chance I can make any measurable change to the food industry, so why try to change what's been going on for the past few decades?  However, I don't believe I can justify the evil slaughter of factory animals yet, I can eat meat with no hesitation.  Am I a hypocrite? Of course.  Am I willing to go the distance to become a vegetarian and defend the animal rights? No but, that doesn't mean animal rights aren't important to me.  I was born a carnivore, why should I change?

Chapter 18 (Hunting)

     Precis

       In the face of a group of pigs, my rifle did not shoot willingly at first ultimately because I was not mentally prepared.  After a few outings, I had succeeded in killing in a pig but I was soon overwhelmed with the same horror when the time came to treat and prepare my meal.  This process was unbearable as first but then developed into acceptance of my claim of awareness, pride, and food. 

     Gems

       "Only the hunter, imitating the perpetual alertness of the wild animal, for whom everything is danger, sees everything and sees each functioning as a facility or difficulty, as a risk or protection" (Pollan 343).

       "So much of the human project is concerned with distinguishing ourselves from beats that we seem strenuously to avoid things that remind us that we are beasts too - animals that urinate, defecate, copulate, bleed, die, stink, and decompose" (Pollan 357).

     Thoughts

       After reading about Pollan's disgust, I wonder if we can't handle the truth now, what will happen to our food industry 50 years from now and how will we react?  I know for sure that I don't want to see a pig being slaughtered or a chick being vaccinated but, we are all responsible for the mass production of meat because we have all bought and eaten the meat one way or another whether we know it or not.  A label picturing a red barn and cow is the primitive picture we all have enamored in our mind as children and so, what feelings would a picture of a factory on a label induce in us?

 Chapter 19 (Gathering)

     Precis

       Hunting for mushrooms, one can find themselves lost but yet, extremely aware of one's surroundings or rather, the ground.   Mushroom is hidden, seeking no attention in obscure places in the wild.  As I scavenge for exceptional mushrooms, the chance of gathering a batch of poisonous mushrooms does not escape my mind, although, as I mitigate my knowledge of gathering mushrooms, I've come to realize that it is a peculiar skill, difficult to master.  However, this skill represents the self-reliance we are determined to keep although in reality we depend mostly what is most easily accessible to us without much labor.

     Gems

       "The mysteries of germination and flowering and fruiting engaged me from an early age, and the fact that by planting and working an ordinary patch of dirt you could in a few months' time harvest things of taste and value was, for me, nature's most enduring astonishment" (Pollan 365).

       "It was such a feeling of empowerment, to feed yourself by figuring out the puzzle of nature" (Pollan 380).

     Thoughts

       The idea of scavenging for mushrooms seems somewhat adventurous but, by no means, do I want to even step foot near poisonous mushrooms.  I try to be efficient and some may misconstrue my actions as stubborn but, I have very little patience when it comes to growing or foraging things.  Personally, I love mushrooms and maybe I might like the enduring process of picking out part of nature's bounty however, time is valuable and foraging my own food isn't as important to me.  It could be a hobby or just something I merely enjoy partaking in on occasions, but as a routine, I doubt I have the motivation to continue unless of course my incentives were to change.

Chapter 20 (The Perfect Meal)

     Precis

       There is a distinct difference between great meal and a perfect meal and luckily, I had the chance to experience the flavors of my own perfect meal composed of all the things I had hunted, gathered, and grown.  The entirety of the meal was realistic in the way that some of my exceptions and rules to my meal had to be broken and the experience was more valuable than the amount of calories in another food.  The gathering of all those who had contributed to the meal was prolific and most rewarding, allowing the full-consciousness of a meal to blossom.  However this meal cannot serve as a solution to the all important omnivore's dilemma.

     Gems

       "It occurred to me that the making of this meal, by acquainting me with these particular people, landscapes, and species, had succeeded in attaching me to Northern California, its nature and its culture both, as nothing I'd done before or since.  Eating's not a bad way to get to know a place" (Pollan 408).

       "Scarcely an ingredient in it had ever worn a label or bar code or price tag, and yet I knew almost everything there was to know about its provenance and its price" (Pollan 409).

     Thoughts

       The perfect meal seems impossible to me even though Pollan had achieved preparing and consuming it.  But after finishing Omnivore's Dilemma, I can say for a fact I am 400 pages less ignorant than I was in the beginning of this course.  This book has mitigated my knowledge of food that I know will make me step back from the shelves of food and read some labels and nutrition facts.  I hope that same day I will get to have my own realistic meal that's close to perfect and only then will I be able to experience a true attachment to my food.  

HW 9 - Freakonomics Response

         Steven Levitt and Stephan Dubner approach the truths and eccentricities of society through a number of ways: accidents and pure research. Unknowingly exploring incentives, Levitt had embarrassedly found that his own offspring of 6 years had outsmarted him.  In persuading or rather tricking his daughter to use the lavatory, Levitt provided a constellation of sweet M&Ms but, only if she were to use the toilet willingly, a bribe that all parents at one point or another present to their kids.  Young miss Levitt was thrifty: realizing acquiring her all-time favorite candy was no longer a hassle and tricking her father was even easier.  Soon after, Levitt, flabbergasted, could not believe his daughter had beat his scheme but, through this accidental experience, he had evaluated incentives.  The right incentives allow someone to flourish and allow us to predict a plausible outcome of situation and the amount of effort the person will put into something.  Incentives are what drive one to carry out a promise, a duty, morals, and ethics among other things.  

         To evaluate truth and clarify topics, Levitt and Dubner use comic book-like visuals and real life situations.  The visuals presented in front of us during the movie were beautiful, not riveting but, luring nonetheless.  Each transition from topic to topic, a new place and setting was humbly welcoming with its vibrant color and comic book animations.  The comic-book like cut out people were humorous and drew my attention to the conveyed main idea when Levitt portrayed his daughter as a tiny rudimentary drawing animated on looseleaf.  In doing the simplest task, he had come to find that even a 6 year old could trick a well educated economist into acquiring M&Ms easily.  Each reenactment of a situation was played almost perfectly allowing watchers to live what they saw on the big screen.  Reenactments could be seen when the protagonist was comparing how a real estate agent would wait longer to sell his house for a higher price compared to how he would go about advising his customer to decide to select an offer earlier than the agent would have chosen based on his different incentives.  These different approaches to society sparked the most interest and therefore allowed me to gain a new perspective of incentives.

         The Freakonomic's author's rely on statistics and not is what observably "obvious."  They seek patterns that repeat over and over again in the statistics and only then make a conclusion.  In trying to unveil the existence of yaocho in the sumo world of Japan, Levitt and Dubner needed factual data and they found exactly that in the winning to losing scores of each competitor.  In the family of sumos, the winner was always chosen before the match had even started because one sumo would fall to let his opponent advance but, when both encounter again, the opponent is in debt to the sumo.  The entirety of yaocho contains corruption and in turn, there are rigged matches therefore the purity of sumo has faded.  This analysis of statistics is innovative because several other researchers in Japan didn't dare to question the sumo world because it was a sanctuary of purity, where one fought to gain respect and the quavering of this abundant idea would be nothing but, chaos.    Levitt and Dubner found the factual data of the existence of yaocho while others could not see what was right in front of them.

         Freakonomics can serve as an inspiration and a good example to our attempt to explore the "hidden-in-plain-sight" weirdness of dominant social practices because as conscious members of this society, we all try to uncover the mysteries that haunt us and spark inquiry.  In society, we have created the ideal person, family, society, environment, morals, and values in order to stray away from foreign things.  But now as we watch Freakonomics, we can see ideal does not trail far away from weird.  Questioning the morals and ethics of cheating in the Sumo World isn't eccentric, it's our natural instinct to become wary of things "unmoral".  Although, in questioning such things has brought among several theories, research, and evidence about society and its social practices.  As we evaluate things on a number of variables such as morals, we can see how the idea of Freakonomics can directly correlate to Michael Pollan's Omnviore's Dilemma.  Our food ways reveal what is acceptable and unacceptable in society.  Our research and attempts to reconnect with nature in a forest of factories and chemicals will help us understand why we choose the foods we eat.  Research will not mitigate our knowledge but, instead expand its depths straying away from ignorance.  Yet, we cannot escape ignorance because we cannot see everything hidden in plain sight nor understand the reasons behind them. 

HW 7C

Book: Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Chapter 11 (The Animals)

     Precis

       Nurturing a pasture to its full health is possible.  In Salatin's polyfarm, each animal plays its own significant role and contributes to every other animal in a way that each animal can flourish and provide energy to the entire ecosystem.  The chicken is the source of fertility, feeding broilers, transforming then to feces which feeds the grass eaten by the cows.  Not only are these tasks are efficient but also, profitable.  The farm animals in Polyfarms not only represent a working population significant to the health of the farm but a path straying away from industrial agriculture.

     Gems

       "The thick June grass was silvered with the dew sequence of bright pastures stepping up the hillside dramatically set of by the broad expanses of blackish woods" (Pollan 209).

       "In an ecological system like this everything's connected to everything else, so you can't change one thing without changing ten other things" (Pollan 213).

     Thoughts

       A polyfarm is both fundamental and self-sufficient, welcoming us humbly into its abode, without secrets but open arms.  As to why there aren't more polyfarms, is obvious due to the food industry desire to increase their profits as much as they can by producing cheap foods to sell to consumers.  Nature seems complex and the idea of trying to put nature under control using pesticides and other chemicals seems just as crazy and difficult.  Why would we want to change something that sustained our ancestors just as well if not better?  Change is inevitable but to preserve the idea of all-natural farming would do more good than bad for humankind.  Is this ideal?  I can't say for sure, because in this society, technology and science are superior as to where rudimentary ideas do not survive for long.

Chapter 12 (The Slaughter: In A Glass Abattoir)

     Precis

       Slaughter is never what'd you expect it'd to be and trust that slaughter is no pretty sight.  The experience of slaughtering chickens was more than necessary in the event of my attempting to have a conscious and enjoyable meal.  Salatin, on the other hand, thought gutting and cleaning chickens was ultimately an animosity and but lived out his world views, promising his consumers that his chickens were never welcomed into an industrial abode but, rather the natural cycle of life and death.

     Gems

       "Slaughter is dehumanizing work if you have to do it every day" (Pollan 233).

       "The compost pile repulsed me, but what did that say?  Beyond my nostrils, the pile offered an inescapable reminder of all that eating chicken involves- the killing, the bleeding, the evisceration" (Pollan 237).   

     Thoughts

       When I take a bite out of a juice-filled cheeseburger, slaughter never comes to mind.  I'm not sure if I subconsciously avoid the thought but, I know that the thought is somewhere wandering around in my mind.  I don't do well in the presence of blood much less, guts and feces.  Slaughter isn't my forte and definitely not the subject I'd like marvel at but, I can imagine the look I'd present everyday if I had to slice, cut, or sever anything alive.  Quite honestly, I'd like to have been a little more ignorant of the process of slaughter but, I've accepted some aspects of it because the slaughter is the food on my plate and the meat on my bones and without these things, what would I be?

Chapter 13 (The Market)

     Precis

       Polyfarms strive to preserve the idea of community by limiting their sales to only local communities.  This insures the preservation of natural resources in the environment.   The industrial food industry has lured consumers in with its promise of convenience and low prices.  Salatin's farm offers quality over quantity, saving you from pollution and diseases that are likely to derive from industrial foods.  Polyfarms allow the relationship between seller and consumer to thrive and flourish unlike that of the industrial industry.

     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 their food?" (Pollan 240).

       "Yet this artisanal model works only so long as it doesn't attempt to imitate the industrial model in any respect" (Pollan 249).

     Thoughts

       Living in the city, reform from industrial foods to more healthy foods from polyfarm markets seems impossible.  New Yorkers are far more worried with other things besides their meal.  With shiny glass condos popping up around the city, where's there going to be places for more local markets?  The average New York would not be willing to commute for more than an hour just to a market with locally grown food when there is a local supermarket just two blocks away.

Chapter 14 (The Meal)

     Precis

       Artificial foods hold no promise while grass fed foods guarantee authenticity and nutrition.  Disease ridden industrial foods are unwelcoming and so, we should strive for the foods our ancestors ate with no hesitation.  Genetic breeding cannot offer the bounties grass fed foods carry such as mega-3's and vitamin E.

     Gems

       "When chickens get to live like chickens, they'll taste like chicken too" (Pollan 271).

       "Industrial diet of easy sugars has dulled your taste for the earthy sweetness of corn, now that it has to compete with things like soda" (Pollan 266).

     Thoughts

       After spending most of my life eating industrial foods, I wonder if I have ever really tasted the true flavor of chicken and if I did, would I realize a difference?  Tasting a food is truly a sacred experience I wish I hadn't tainted with all the chemical induced foods I've digested.  I'd spend more time marveling at a food of quality than a plate stacked high with unsatisfying commodities.

Chapter 15 (The Forager)

     Precis

       My experience foraging the food on my plate that would eventually end up in my stomach was fulfilling and prolific.  Uncomfortably, I explored the forests in search of foods and developed more of an appreciation for nature.  The idea of killing an animal processes no simple thought in mind instead induces stress.  However, this meal will be fruitful and will tie me to nature as I eat consciously. 

     Gems

       "Somehow I doubted I would feel quite at home stalking game in the woods, but it was reassuring to think that in doing so I would be contesting only my upbringing, not my genes" (Pollan 280).

       "By contrast the hunter, at least as I imagine him, is alone in the woods with his conscience" (Pollan 281).

     Thoughts

       The method of hunter gathering would be hard to sustain especially in this community where consumers are likely to buy more than they need, generally stockpiling.  The wilderness does not offer a constant supply we can indulge in.  We have evolved our society in which things that cannot be consistent, are out of the competition.  After adapting to eating an abundance of food for so long, I'm sure it'd be difficult to minimize our intake of food and surmount it onto the idea of hunter-gathering.

Chapter 16 (The Omnivore's Dilemma)

     Precis

       We omnivores carry the ability to be able to eat almost anything but, we tend to overlook the simplicity of food and stress which foods are good or bad.  Humans not only eat food to eat, but to feel the pleasure and luxuries of culture.  In addition, affordability and ethics play a big role in our choosing of which foods to eat among several other variables.
     Gems
       "Curiously, the one bodily fluid of other people that doesn't disgust us is the one produced by the human alone: tears.  Consider the sole type of used tissue you'd be willing to share"(Pollan 292).
       "The set of rules for preparing food we call a cuisine, for example specified combinations of food and flavors that on examination do great deal to meditate the omnivores dilemma"(Pollan 296).

     Thoughts  
       Taste is a significant factor especially a familiar taste that I know will do no harm but, allow my taste-buds to indulge in flavors and enamor itself fully.  Our taste for good foods has developed and most definitely changed over the course of time and I wonder if that is a good thing?  Has our taste for the good heightened or instead vice versa?  

HW 7B

Book: Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Chapter 6 (The Consumer: A Republic of Fat)

     Precis

       In the nineteenth century, the only way to chomp through the corn surplus was to create an abundance of cheap corn whiskey to sell to consumers.   The corn whiskey of the 1820s had brought an obesity epidemic among its consumers in The Alcoholic Republic much like that of America's Republic of Fat, where super-sized meals reign and our desire for sweet calorie filled foods have become important.  Food that becomes more accessible and abundant overtime no longer holds demand or value but instead, take its place in the diets of people who can afford the high-fat western diet. As a result of the success in the production of cheap super-sized meals, such as the McDonald's Big Mac and 7/11's Big Gulp, big food corporations are determined to keep its bounty of corn running prolifically and its consumers fed with cheap detrimental calories.

     Gems

       "Our bodies are storing reserves of fat against a famine that never comes" (Pollan 106).

     Thoughts

       When the topic of super-sized meals rose, I began to think of the movie Supersize Me.  I had watched this movie at a very ripe age and was utterly terrified but, honestly that didn't stop me from sneaking a fry or two.  The temptation of foods filled with cheap calories, is far too hard to resist even for those who are wealthy and can afford obscenely priced organic foods.  Even though we are the Republic of Fat, have we reached an extent to which there is a stopping point?  How much farther can we sink into the "virtues" of synthetic foods and stray away from natural foods?  If there are cheap calories, what are rich calories?  Will this bounty of corn endure throughout the entire course of my life from beginning to end?

Chapter 7 (The Meal)

     Precis

       In 1983, the famous McNugget branded itself into the fast food industry, making convenience more accessible and supplanting beef as the most popular meat in America.  Just as the nugget made its mark in the food industry, the generic fast-food taste became a distinct childhood past time of many adults.  Even now, the taste of a McNugget has no distinguishable relevance to chicken because the nugget had established itself as a entirely different genre of food.  As we blindly bite into the fruitful tree of the fast food industry, we forget we are eating animals.  The industrial food chain obscures the histories of the foods it produces along with our sight for all-natural foods.

     Gems

       "According to A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives, TBHQ is a form of butane the FDA allows processors to use sparingly in our food: It can compromise no more than 0.02 percent of the oil in a nugget" (Pollan 114).

     Thoughts

       As a young child, I loved the greasy fries and crunchy chicken nuggets.  It's no lie that I still do.  Fast food is a distinct memory in my childhood.  The smell of fries made me impulsively inhale the smell for as I long as I could.  As I read this chapter and found out that nuggets contain butane, I felt ignorant followed by disgust.  I had eaten nuggets this summer and I can't bear knowing I had consumed butane.  Quite honestly, I'm not as utterly disgusted as I say I am because the talk of chemical additives in foods has become a repetitive song in my head.  If the talk of unhealthy synthetic ingredients go into foods, why do most people try to ignore the facts?  If people are aware, why do some choose to be ignorant when the consequences are more than obvious?  Will knowledge overcome fear or will our fears just be consumed?

Chapter 8 (All Flesh is Grass)

     Precis

      The pastoral idea is very much alive serving more than just a utilitarian purpose but a necessary factor in our lives.  Grass is the foundation of our food chain and ultimately our sustenance.  Through biophilia, we are naturally bonded with plants, animals, and landscapes with which we coevolved.  Joel Salatin allowed us to see diversity of animals on a farm is possible without the use of industrial machinery.  The term "organic" has been misconstrued and used improperly as there are organic farms that claim they produce all-natural foods while using the very industrial methods they arrogated as detrimental to the environment.  

     Gems

       "Our species' coevolutionary alliance with the grasses has deep roots and has probably done more to ensure our success as species than any other, with the possible exception of our alliance with the trillion or so bacteria that inhabit the human gut" (Pollan 128).

     Thoughts

       The idea of several pastoral farms sounds fundamental but, the fact that farmers like Salatin refuse long distance shipping, the production of more pastoral farms would be hard to achieve.  The organic food chain wouldn't be ideal if organic farmers export their foods to america's supermarkets and fast-food outlets.  Is the ideal the enemy of the good?  Is industrial organic really a contradiction all on its own?

Chapter 9 (Big Organic)

     Precis

       The many health accompanying names on food products alleviate us and lead us to believe that "certified organic" or "humanely raised" is directly correlated to its speciality among other foods.  A foods value increases if it is accompanied by stories that tell of grassy scenery and stress-free environments.  The term organic has completely changed over the course of time and consumers can be easily sucked into the implicit narratives that go along with the overpriced "organic" food.  Organic is merely a label to increase profits and disguise its true nature, the entirety of an industrial artifact.  We, the consumers, conjure up the virtues of organic foods thereby, creating a distinct difference between good and bad foods.  

     Gems

       "The organic food industry finds itself in a most unexpected, uncomfortable, and, yes, unsustainable position: floating on a sinking sea of petroleum" (Pollan 184).

     Thoughts

       Has the "industrial" part of industrial organic farm hidden itself in the eyes of the consumers?  Is it our fault we overemphasize the meaning of organic?  What qualifications does a food need to fit in order to be considered organic?  When the word organic comes to mind, I think of Whole Foods. What does my first thought of organic food tell me about my food perspective? I look into my own cabinets and refrigerator and wonder which foods have been processed or rather, passed through an industrial food factory?  As these questions stump me, I know one thing is for sure, the boat of simplicity has sailed.

Chapter 10 (Grass: Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Pasture)

     Precis

       As a society, we overlook the importance grass holds.  Grass that spreads across the pasture not only creates a scenic view but, allows us to capture solar energy.  Agriculture surrounds this idea of converting solar energy into quality human energy.  Management-intensive grazing guarantees efficiency without higher capital and petroleum energy inputs.  Through Salatin's farm, we can see simplicity is possible and natural methods of farming can be carried out efficiently and can increase the diversity of species in pastures.  However, this productivity cannot not be achieved several times because the success of industrial farms is far too large.

     Gems

       "Cows eating grasses had themselves eaten the sun: The food chain at work in this pasture could not be any shorter or simpler" (Pollan 195).

     Thoughts

       I have a vivid memory of my pushing out my hand with pellets of food to the sheep on the other side of the fence.  I was more terrified about the well being of my hand than worried about whether the sheep in front of me was going to get the pellets I shoved into his sight.  My composure is stiff when in the presence of animals much larger than me and so, my memory of the farm itself, was blurry.  However, nursery rhymes would always put the idea of farming at ease.  A picture of a red barn and cows grazing over a pasture was a part of my childhood.  If farming was put out to be so natural, beneficial, and easy-going, why can't there be more polyfarms?  What would come out of a drastic transition from industrial to non-industrial?  If farmers like Salatin refuse to FedEx or ship their goods, how do they expect to expand their successes?

HW 8 - Growing Our Own Food

     Reaching out with my emptied salsa jar in hand, I watched the tiny brown seeds skitter down the glass concave curves.  I had decided then that I would commit myself to nurturing my plant. The first few days of nurturing my sprouts, I stood examining my jar restlessly, jostled and annoyed that my sprouts were still ripe seeds while that of my classmates were sprouting tinted yellow and white stems, escaping its brown shell.  Though this didn't hinder my determination to rinse my sprouts routinely.  I was committed to my sprouts just as much as I was militant about getting a good education. Soon enough my sprouts were more than eager to break out of their bitter brown shells and greet me.  Seeing the abundance of my sprouting seeds, I knew I had done my job and in return, the sprouts had offered me happiness and pride.  I held my jar up to peering dubious faces with a self-sufficient pride that no one could ease me out of.  Having grown my own food, I had gained a fruitful and prolific experience.  The feeling of self-sufficiency was more than valuable but sacred because I had acquired the same feelings as our hunter-gatherer ancestors felt.

HW 7 - Reading Response Monday

Book: The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Introduction

     Precis
       In the advent of agriculture, our efforts to become more efficient have complicated the process of choosing foods to eat and in turn, have made us extremely cautious of foods that could potentially kill us.  As a species capable of eating almost anything, even ourselves, the abundance of food has developed our reliance on certain aspects, all pertaining to the ways we evaluate what foods to eat: ethics, health, rituals etc.  To achieve full-consciousness of the foods we eat, we must be aware of the three principal food chains that sustain us and engage us with the natural world.
     Gems
       I found some profound lines of writing: "Many of these species have evolved expressly to gratify our desires, in the intricate dance of domestication that has allowed us and them to prosper together as we could never have prospered apart" (Pollan 10).  Through this line of writing, the author resonated with me through beautifying his writing using metaphors like "the intricate dance" while describing agriculture.
     Thoughts
       Hesitant at first, I read the first chapter and wondered about the difficulty I go through every day when choosing what to eat.  Agriculture really has developed our perspective of foods as poison and medicine.  The idea of tracing our foodways then, to gain a better understanding of how our foodways became, sounds practical but, questionable because accurately tracing back to our old foodways is difficult.

Chapter One (The Plant: Corn's Conquest)

      Precis
       Though there may be aisles and aisles of foods to choose from in your local supermarket, these foods cannot be categorized as a variety because most of what we eat is ultimately corn in different arrangements.  This manifestation of corn plays a big role in our food culture because corn has provided us with an almost undying food that flourishes and thrives with its ability to adapt and grow rapidly in changing climates.  Without corn, many of america's great victories and hardships would have never been conquered.  The virtues and versatility of corn did not go unnoticed and so, we had indulged in its benefits and have somehow been domesticated by corn itself, participating in its success.
     Gems
        Insightful lines: "There is every reason to believe that corn has succeeded in domesticating us...it makes just as much sense to regard agriculture as a brilliant evolutionary strategy on the part of plants and animals involved to get us to advance their interests.  By evolving certain traits we happen to regard as desirable, these species got themselves noticed by the one mammal in a position not only to spread their genes around the world, but to remake vast swaths of that world in the image of the plants' preferred habitat"(Pollan 24).
     Thoughts
       I had always thought that science and agriculture had allowed us to conquer plants to modify them in any way, or rather, any capable way possible and agriculture had.  The idea of plants domesticating us had never registered considerable in my mind but, now that I think more about it, this idea is potentially plausible and not terribly crazy.  Our reliance on corn scared me more than it shocked me.  Now as a conscious member of "the corn people," I wonder, where we would we be without corn?

     

Chapter Two (The Farm)

     Precis

       Having to farm food for a large number of people, farmers carry a big responsibility on their shoulders.  While corn and soy beans are high in demand, farmers struggle to keep their farms because of the growing number of advance modern factories that harvest specialized foods.  As time went on, policies and laws began taking place stating an alloted number of vegetables that could be grown as well as the number of animals that could be raised.  However, the hybrid corn allowed farmers to plant more resulting in a bigger surplus.

     Gems

       "A mere 2 percent of the state's land remains what it used be...every square foot of the rest having been completely remade by man.  The only thing missing from the man-made landscape is...man" (Pollan 38.) 

     Thoughts

       I'd be lying if I said I really understood the importance of farming.  Had I not lived in the city for most of my life, maybe I would have said differently.  I am not fond of either farms or big factories but, I do fear as more factories develop, the more foods I will not be able to identify.  In the near future, will food just be packaged in plastic bags with obscure labels I don't understand? How many hybrid foods will develop 10 years from now?  Are we in danger of a food revolution?  Are government food restrictions legitimate?

Chapter Three (The Elevator)

     Precis

       The surfeit of corn in the Iowa Farmers Cooperative is overflowing while the government's aim is only to keep production high and drive prices of corn down to its fullest extent.  Farmers are struggling and losing their farm land because their profit is less than the cost of production, however, corn will live on because of its massive abundance and on-going production.  Quantity has ruled over quality and so, the surplus of cheap corn, in large heaps around the world, must be consumed, processed, and farmed again and again because corn is our sustenance and is essentially one of the many things that keep farmers employed.

     Gems

       "In America before the 1850s a farmer owned his sacks of corn up to the moment when a buyer took delivery, and so bore the risk for anything that went wrong between farm and table or trough.  For better or worse that burlap sack linked a corn buyer anywhere in America with a particular farmer cultivating a particular patch of earth" (Pollan 59).

     Thoughts

       The entirety of abundance scares me.  The more and more corn that will be farmed and processed need to be utilized in a sort of way and I wonder, how many ways can we actually utilize corn and is there a limit to our consumption of corn?  I'd like to say I disagree and heed the government's decisions and choices but, if I did, where would I be without the food and produce I buy from my local grocery store?  How far can our main source of the nutrients of corn go?  Am I really processed corn, walking?

Chapter Four (The Feedlot)

     Precis

       As Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations begins taking its toll on farmers, more factory farms have utilized the surplus of corn through cattle feed.  Although cows possess the rumen, which help them make grass into high-quality protein, they are taken away from their once grass filled prairie to teeming feedlots, confined in pens and taught to eat foreign foods.  Scientists never registered the idea that corn-fed cattle was unassailable, therefore, scientists had disturbingly introduced mad cow disease to their own species. 

     Gems

       "Hell, if you gave them lots of grass and space, I wouldn't have a job" (Pollan 79).

     Thoughts

       If the cons of feedlots are apparent, why does the industry try so hard to disguise them?  In having such a huge reliance on corn, we sacrifice many things that are necessary for progress and efficiency but, along with progress, comes several problems.  I'm sure over the years, researchers will resolve small sanitation problems but, by then there will be more problems than there are resolutions.  We are stuck in a limbo, where all we can do is produce more corn while also attempting to be rid of it.  There is a line the industrial food industry has passed, which is not considering sanitation as a major issue.

Chapter Five (The Processing Plant)

     Precis

       A fifth of the corn river at Iowa Farmers Cooperative's elevator makes its way to wet mill plants to become numerous products that we feed off of.  The wet milling process allows us to retrieve various vitamins, nutritional supplements, oil, and rich carbohydrates from corn.  Though Cargill and ADM rejected our request to observe the wet mill process, Larry Johnson from The Center for Crops utilization Research told us the process is the industrial version of digestion where all the rules of regular digestion pertain except the additional bath of sulphur dioxide.  In the advent of wet mills in 1840s, came Corn Syrup, the cheapest domestic substitute for sugar.  As more processed foods began to arise in the market, food security changed and the work that goes into making the goods became highly secretive.

     Gems

       "The problem is, a value-added product made from a cheap commodity can itself become a commodity, so cheap and abundant are the raw materials" (Pollan 96).

       "When fake sugars and fake fast are joined by fake starches, the food industry will at long last have overcome the dilemma of the fixed stomach: whole meals you can eat as often or as much of as you like, since this food will leave no trace.  Meet the ultimate-- the utterly elastic!-- industrial eater" (Pollan 99).

     Thoughts

       Our dependence on corn makes me question: If not corn then what?  What happens when our supply of corn completely wipes out?  What will we depend on then?  Although, I highly doubt our supply will wipe out due to the overflowing river of corn, even with our constant consuming of it.  In the future, will everything just be processed fake foods?  Will I be able to distinguish processed foods from all natural foods in the next 20 years?  What am I really consuming? Is it really as healthy as it is advertised to be?