Final Food Project 2 - Outline

Thesis: Dominant social practices have successfully taken over wiping out original social practices and have become modern atrocities.

Supporting Claim: Our food industry has been linked to many of our countries health problems, which is affecting the price of healthcare, which also affects the countries economy.

Evidence: In the past 30 years the country has had a significant growth in obesity, and that number is still on the rise. This food industry is responsible for most of this rise.

Every year, hundreds of billions of dollars is spent treating obesity, and type 2 diabetes, and other weight disorder illnesses. Every person with healthcare that is being treated for theses diseases cost about a million dollars, 30% of the United States population is obese is on the rise. If more Americans keep getting sick from over eating, than the United States will lose even more money because of bad eating habits, due to bad commercialized food.

Final Food Project 1

I’ve always had a good diet, because my mother normally makes something that would be considered “healthy”. The only times I eat junk food is when I’m hanging out with friends, but I normally try to get something that’s more “healthy” like fries. There are days where I crave junk foods, such as ice cream. While on this diet I ate nothing except for fruits, vegetables and grains, which wasn’t hard to do because I eat those things regularly, only difference is I couldn’t eat things that I craved. While on this diet I did have the urge to eat something I gave up, but I asked myself questions when I did. “Why do people crave things that aren’t good for them?” “Do past food experiences cause these urges?

The hard part about this diet was at school, the problem about is that around SOF there aren’t a lot of good options of places to eat, I’d normally would go to a deli near by and get a turkey sandwich, but because I gave up fish and poultry I couldn’t buy deli sandwiches. What I ended up doing was bringing things from home fruits, pita bread, hummus, and carrots, which wasn’t too bad but normally those things are snacks I eat at home. At home when my mom made dinner it was the same thing only difference no fish or poultry so I still enjoyed eating rice with vegetables. The second hardest part was late at night on the weekend, because when my friends bought sandwiches I ended up getting a granola bar which didn’t “hit the spot” while my friends got sandwiches. I was a bit jealous of the, and because they knew I was on a diet it was fun for them to watch me eat my little granola bar while they savored they’re sandwiches.

So how come we like things that is bad for us? Now a days we blame the cooperation’s that make these bad foods for being so addictive, because most things such as ice cream, aren’t made with simple ingredients like cream, milk, sugar but instead “high fructose corn syrup, gum sugar, etc. But that’s not the real cause of why people get addicted to food, and might become overweight, but because food is an essential factor to survival it’s not just the food that’s addictive it’s our natural instincts that causes us to eat things we need to survive. The problem with it is that today because people can eat on a regular basis that natural addiction to food causes people to over eat.
The reason people may also tend to crave foods that aren’t best for us is the fact that human beings are omnivores. Like Michael Pollan stated in his book “Omnivores Dilemma”, human being able to eat virtually anything have developed food preferences. The way people gain preferences is because of experience, if someone eats something new and likes it than that builds up their food preferences. When someone eats something that is considered good or bad, it’s because of his or her preferences.

Before this diet I’ve always been annoyed with the fact that’s easier to find something to eat that after you’re done eating you regret, such as fast food. In the movie Food Inc. at the end it said people should try to vouch for local markets, but does give a clear way how. I personally think that It’ll be a long time when food dishes can taste good and be made the regular long way, especially when people demand a lot, fast.

Food, Inc. Response

1. Please summarize the main ideas of the film in a single paragraph succinct precis.

In Food, Inc. the director uses both authors of Omnivores Dilemma, Michael Pollen and Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser to tackle the main issues about how food in the united states is given to consumers, and not being told from what and how they're made and processed. The movie was pretty on point with the book Omnivore’s Dilemma, but missed a few key elements, there were some parts of the book that weren’t supposed to be seen as happy and nice, but instead nightmarish and scary, but in the movie it was happy. For example when the movie was on the topic of organic foods.

2. What does the movie offer that the book didn't? What does the book offer that the movie didn't?

The movie gave viewers a more positive feeling about the secrets of our food, while in Omnivores Dilemma, it was hard to want to eat something, even though Pollen repeats many times in the book that he's not trying to change peoples eating habits, but it's somewhat hard not to do.

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

The movie left me with very few questions, but did leave me thinking about a few things for instance, why didn't the movie change some of the authors views, and didn't go by what the book fully said, why didn't the authors cover that when they spoke in the movie?

ODYR Reading Response Chapter 13, 14, 15, 16

Chapter 13 was about the difference of grass, and it’s effects on the environment. The differences of grass is that not all grass is the same, and how to a cow that can be important, because the same way human beings are omnivores and have a taste of variety cows are herbivores and have a taste in variety of grass, which is why having a field and variety of grass is important to growing healthy cows. The effects grass has on the environment is that it cleans the air, the same way trees remove carbon dioxide, but better. Which I found interesting because I didn’t know something as simple as grass can be so significant to cleaning up the environment. Chapter 14 showed the amount of labor a farm like Polyface has to put in to maintain a healthy sustainable farm, from early in the morning to late at night the farm family starts work from feeding, cleaning and maintain the land, unlike regular farms almost everything is done by human being cept for the part when they use a tractor. Which I found significant because like the saying you are what you eat, it’s almost as your food as what you put in it, so the amount of work and dedication you put into your food is what you’ll get when you eat it, it’s a cycle. Chapter 15 explained how Polyface slaughters the animals, but compared to regular slaughterhouses that slaughter thousands of animals a day, Polyface’s slaughter house is not that bad. When a farm like Polyface slaughters it’s chickens it uses it’s leftover body parts to mix with old woodchips to make fertilizer for it’s crops, and grass, to make natural nitrogen for it’s plants, which is much better than using bomb chemicals for nitrogen. Chapter 16 explained the difference of regular market food, organic food, and local farm market food travel. Regular food is travelled hundreds of miles into supermarkets ready to be bought and sold, and goes through huge processes to be packed and delivered to the consumer, and the same thing for organic food only difference is that it’s sold in a nicer market, and has a little logo and a story about the dedication the company puts to bringing its customers organic food, and locally grown farm food is shipped a couple of miles to a city, or local area, and is sold in a farmers market that takes place every few days or so, and is shipped by the actual farmers, and if that local farm is pretty well known with dedicated customers, the customers would travel to the farm and pick up their provisions. Chapter 16, also explained how in other places in the world such as in Europe that the food has regulations to say how, when and where it was grown.

Question/Response

How come in the United States our food isn’t regulated to give information as to how our food is cultivated and where it’s from?

The difference of the United States and Europe is that in Europe their food is taken cared of a little better than here, by better more sanitary. And if the united states kept on cultivating the it’s food the way it normally still does than having information on how it’s grown and where it’s grown wouldn’t be that appealing.

Freakonomics Response

2. How do the Freakonomics authors address the "correlation versus causation" issue? Do they pretend correlation IS causation? Do they prove that some correlation is causation, and if so, how? Or do they explicitly acknowledge the lack of proof of causation?

The authors of Freakonomics addressed correlation as it causes causation, because in the movie they we’re showing how something’s actions can affect the future and have a connection for example the crime rates in the 90’s, one of the authors believed that row v. wade in the 70’s had a lot to do with crime going down. And in a way they did pretent that correlation was causation because, they were trying to explain how they both rely on each other. Because with every action connects has a connection to the outcome.

3. What sources of evidence do the Freakonomics authors most rely on? Why is this innovative?

Most people when they try to show evidence of things they use statistics to prove their point, but in Freakonomics they used history and it's connection to the present. For example they sued examples on how majority of people are given an image of things in life, and if that image is showed doing something that we’re not used to seeing than it’s hard to believe it’s true. Like the example of sumo wrestling in japan, when cheating was suspected many Japanese did not believe the accusations made because sumo wrestling is seen as an honorable sport, and that was later connected to how here in the United States Americans find it hard when well known successful people or leaders do dishonest things.

I think Freakonomics does a good job at showing the “hidden-in-plain-sight”, but it didn’t do a good job at showing what exactly it was explaining, or the different arguments someone was saying. Like if someone’s name affects their lives, or what we should do to make society better. It just left us thinking that people are becoming more honest and that we’re getting better.

ODYR Reading Response Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

Chapter 12 was about a local farm called Polyface farm where crops, and livestock are cultivated naturally, meaning the crops aren’t gown all year around, they’re grown during their season, and all locally in a farm, and the cows are fed what cows would typically eat such as grass. Farms such as these take more care of the environment than a typical mass produce farm, because they use regular compose, and pesticides to get rid of bugs, rather than toxic fumes that get in the soil that affects the crops and the biodiversity around the farm.

Question/Response

Why aren’t most farms like Polyface farm?

There are many reasons as to why that is, one of the main reasons is because of demand, if people want a certain fruit or crop during a time of year it doesn’t grow than that company makes less money because there’s certain limit to how much it can produce, and it takes too long, and as the saying goes time is money.

ODYR Reading Response Chapter 11

Chapter 11 explained how organic meats are cultivated, and is even more surprising. Many of the organic meats and vegetables with USDA logos on them, are technically organic, but aren’t fictional farm happy farm organic. One of the examples give in the book is about cage free and free range chickens, the chickens are “cage free” and “free range”, but not exactly legally the chickens are suppose to have 15 feet of outside space, but the reason they don’t is because they’re over 20,000 chickens in a huge shed, rather a cage, cramped together so no chickens choose to go outside since they spent most of their lives in, and 20,000 chickens can’t fit in 15 feet of outside space, but because the chickens are given that 15 feet of space, they’re free range.

Question/Response

Is organic food, regular food with regulations that is manipulated?

I personally would say yes that organic food is regular food with regulations being manipulated, because they’re twisting words and making consumers believe that their food is as happy and fairy tale like people we’re raised thinking and even after “regular” food was exposed organic food is told to be the happy fairy tale people think it is.

ODYR Reading Response Chapter 10

Chapter 10 to me was the most surprising chapter, because I actually learned something that was a bit surprising and interesting about organic food. One of the things that were shown was how organic food is very much the same as non-organic food. A lot of the organic food companies are owned by big corporations that own non-organic food and use corn for almost everything. What made this chapter significant is that organic food became more successful after Americans started to care about what to eat, so organic food because a way for big companies to clear their tracks by coming out with “organic food” which is food with growing regulations, like natural pesticides.

Question/Response

Do corporations make more money by selling organic products?

Yes, for two reasons it cost companies more money to produce organic foods, and because it cost more to produce them they can sell it for more money to make more profit. Also people would rather pay more money to live longer, and be healthier.

Growing Our Own Food

When I found out that we we’re going to grow our own sprouts I didn’t really know what to expect at first when I heard bird seeds I didn’t even think they could grow into sprouts with ¼ of jar of water, and filter it out right after they soak up a bit, so I would think why not eat them as seeds. But after the first two days when we started sprouting I became somewhat attached into taking care of my sprouts not knowing what to expect. What made it more meaningful to me was when I started to notice that it was starting to grow some leaves or sprouts, and at that point I wanted to make sure it’d keep sprouting. On the weekend when we had to take the sprouts home with us, I was even more protective of my sprouts watered it in the morning and before I left home to hang out or whatever. Than after we we’re done with our sprouts when we could either eat it or throw it out or whatever someone choose to do with them, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to maintain them, and see what would, but at the same time I was curious to how they’d taste, so I ate them. At firs I was a bit nervous about eating them but than, I rinsed them and ate them with a tuna sandwich. It was good it had a bit of a spicy taste, and I wanted to grow some more. This small project was a bit interesting because I wasn’t really thinking about the sprouts as food or as something I’m growing I was more surprised on how something as simple as birdseeds can easily grow with water and didn’t take much energy to grow, and thought about how life is not as complicating as it seems.

ODYR Reading Response Chapter 6, 7, 8 , 9

Chapter 6 mainly explained the different things corn is used for, such as high fructose corn syrup, which is used in almost every sugary thing in the United States from a Twinkie to soda. The amount of money spent to make processed foods, and where all of it goes. And the different products made from corn to make processed foods that make more money for the company than feed/serve the consumers. Chapter 7 mostly explained the United States obesity rate, and the many causes to why that is. The reason is big things, bigger drinks, and meaning cheaper and easier ways to make products, which aren’t healthy for you. Chapter 8 mainly explained what an omnivore is and how human beings (who are omnivores) are different from other animals, because we have a wide selection of foods to eat, and shows why it’s easy for human beings to eat stuff that aren’t really good for us. Chapter 9 basically was chapter 6, 7 & 8 but in depth, it showed how fast food has grown within the years, and how it’s been so successful and the different techniques used to make “fast food”, and what fast food actually is, which is mainly corn.

Question/Response

Why do farmers make very little money, and if almost everything in fast food is made of corn why is fast food unhealthy?

The reason farms make less money than people actually think is because too many things is being supplied than demanded and if farms don’t over supply than they won’t make money at all, the second reason is because of the amount of money it cost to grow the food, pack the food, and ship the food. The reason fast food and many products that is seen as unhealthy is unhealthy is because it’s not pure corn; they’re made of other things that are processed from corn, basically corn substitutes.

ODYR Reading Response Chapter 5

Because the United States is a large country that has a lot of demands, almost everything is mass-produced including the livestock. Which is why we mass-produce crops mainly corn. Animals like cows are fed a lot to gain a lot of weight to produce more meat but are fed mainly corn, mixed with other things that have antibiotics in them. The problem with feeding cows corn all the time is that their body was not made to eat corn, unlike human beings a cows stomach doesn’t have the ability to eat a variety of different foods, which is why many of their meals are mixed with other things.

Question/Response

Why do farms put antibiotics in cow’s food?

Cows need antibiotics in their food for many reasons, one of the main reason is because of the environment the cows are in, because cows are in cramp areas with thousands of other crows the ground is mainly filled with animal waste which is full of germs. The other reason is because the food that the cows eat is not just corn bur other things as well, those things being chicken waste, some grass, probably other cows, cow waste, and cow parts from the slaughter house.

ODYR Reading Response Chapter 4

In the Midwest where most of the United States crops is mas produced lays hundreds of thousands of corn fields where, they’re processed packed and ships all over the country. In the past corn was grown not too far from a city, and was sent to a mill in a Manhattan, but now corn is grown and milled in the same place, to make the process faster. So much corn is produced daily that there’s no room to process all of them, but because corn is processed for almost everything spoiled corn is used to make other stuff.

Question/Response

Why do farmers mass-produce something they know they know they have to much of?

Farmer’s mass produce corn because the more corn they grow the more money they get from the American government.

ODYR Reading Response Chapter 3

The Omnivores Dilemma By Michael Pollan

Chapter 3:

Corn in the United States is mass-produced to the point that we have to find ways to use every part of it; farmers use more energy growing food than we do when we use it. A lot of times so much corn is grown that they’re idled and wait to be used or wasted, in countries such as Mexico is seen as sacred, and wasting corn is seen as almost sinful. Not all corn is grown equally, when corn is produced they’re put in category or “types” where if they’re left on fields for weeks they’re processed and “cleaned” to be consumed or used for other things.

Questions/ Responses

Is it normal to grow so much food and let them almost rot, when there are millions and billions of people who can consume it?

Can corn being valued in Mexico, and respected to the point when dropping on the ground is disrespectful be considered as sacred, and what does that mean about countries that don’t see corn the way Mexicans would?

ODYR Reading Response Monday

The Omnivores Dilemma By Michael Pollan

Chapter 1:
Corn today produces almost everything we see everyday, mainly because it can be used for almost anything and is easy to produce, especially if you have a lot of fields to grow it. One of the key reasons corn is so popular and dominant, is because of number of kettle it can produce, the other reason is because we only cultivate the bigger breed of corn. Because of people corn has been able to be distributed all around the world and is grown everywhere.

Response/Question:
Does the rest of the world use corn in almost everything like the United States, and if not how come?

Chapter 2:
In the last 80 or so years, corn has now become the most grown crop in the United States. They’re has also been new ways of growing corn, with the help of science. Because of science farmers are able to genetically modify corn (GMO) to grow double the amount of kernels it normally would, and be able to grow close to each other. Besides the variety of crops being gown declining the number of farmers have declined as well, in the past majority of Americans were farmers today only 2,000,000 out of 300,000,000 Americans are farmers, that's 0.66% of the population.

Response/Question:
If the average farmer can feed 140 people, but is now able to genetically modify they're corn and have double the amount, how are they still able to feed a lot of Americans?