March 29, 2010

So far in our English class we have been assigned certain assignments in which we have had to research and use outside sources in order to validate and strengthen our argument. However, not just "any" source would suffice. We have had to use sources that are appropriate in our argument and ones that have been scholarly certified.

When I first receive an assignment in which I must use sources, I go through multiple steps in which I seek and determine whether sources are reliable and sufficient. I first decide which stance and side I will argue in the assignment and then try and decide which quotes or statistics would best help my argument. I then start my search by using the EBSCO search engine which I have just recently found to be a useful source in order for research thanks to this class. When using this search engine I first start very narrow in my search and if I have no success in finding the perfect quote I broaden my search until I find the appropriate article. I then run this article through Ulrich in order to determine whether it is peer reviewed and scholarly. Once I have decided the sources and quotes that I will use in my paper I then go about deciding on how to incorporate them accordingly into my paper in an effective way in which they will support my argument. I first decide which three main arguments I will make throughout my paper. Once I have done this I decide which quotes will best support these arguments and I place them accordingly. I can improve this process however by not looking for such specific quotes because I find myself sometimes not able to find "exactly" what I was looking for which leaves me empty handed sometimes. I also could use more search engines other than EBSCO in order to widen my options.

Norman Borlaug

This article was very interesting to me in that it provided a counter argument which it supported genetically modified food. Throughout this course we have been reading the Omnivore's Dilemma which has seemed to have a negative view and approach to GM food. I also agree with Norman in that it is easy to discourage genetically modified food when you are not hungry. I see GM food as being strong and potentially very beneficial to the future of the world. As long as it will save lives I have no objections toward it.

When watching Penn and Teller's bull shit and they interviewed the Vegans on the board walk, it was easy to see that they had never really experienced hunger like that of those in third world countries. They seemed rather ignorant to the fact that even though GM foods are not "organic" they still are saving thousands of millions of lives around the world, which is a lot more than their "salad burritos" are doing.

In these last three chapters of the book omnivore's dilemma, Michael Pollan addresses the issue in which human beings obtain their food and attempts to answer the question, as humans, what should we really be eating. In chapter 18, Pollan writes about his quest to hunt and successfully kill a wild pig. He also talks about the process in which after killing the pig, they obtain the meat from it. Then in chapter 19, since he just focused on the hunting part of eating in chapter 18, Pollan directs his focus to the gathering aspect of eating by writing of his experiences of foraging for mushrooms that were edible. He described the process as more of hunting than gathering because there was the potential that the mushroom's would be poisonous. This was somewhat enlightening to me because I have been hunting and have shot game and used the game for meat. However, I have never foraged or gathered my food such as mushrooms because the process seems rather boring and unnecessary.

In chapter 20 of the omnivore's dilemma, Pollan sets out to prepare and consume what he deems the "perfect meal". He first sets a list of rules in which the "perfect meal" must follow and follows them and goes through some pretty extreme measures in order to do so. After reading this I have a newfound longing to recreate and even eat this "perfect meal" on a regular basis. However, for most americans, like myself, this goal is unobtainable due to our fast paced lifestyles. This fast paced lifestyles has contributed to the capitalist styled agricultural system we have in America today that Pollan has written about throughout the book

February 22, 2010

In chapter 16 of the Omnivore's dilemma, the author, Michael Pollan describes how and why humans are omnivore's due to the ability of our brain to mentally understand what we are eating and how our digestive track has adapted to the wide variety of food being put into our body. Pollan also goes on to explain that our ability to be omnivores is also somewhat evolutionary, such as rats. He states that "the rat and the human can live just about anywhere on earth and when their familiar foods are in short supply, there's always another they can try". This is very interesting to me because it has never occurred to me that humans really do have the ability to consume a wide variety of food compared to other, less sophisticated life forms.

In chapter 17, Pollan addresses the ethics in which we consume animals in a chapter appropriately named "The Ethics Of Eating Animals". In this chapter, Pollan quotes animal rights activist and philosophers such as Singer, who goes as far as comparing animals being owned by people in the same way that white farmers owned african american slaves. I find this a bit ridiculous and extreme and is my personal belief that the two cannot be compared on the same level because livestock are not the same as humans. The chapter also talks about animal cruelty in so called "death camps". However, I believe that the animals on these farms most likely live behind a veil of ignorance in that they don't realize that there is a better life outside the walls of farm because they have no knowledge of that life. And when addressing the issue of whether the way in which the animals are killed, the result is the same no matter how its done.

February 8, 2010

In chapter 12 of The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan visits a farmer named Joel who raises and slaughter's his own chickens. Pollan goes into detail of how the process in which Joel raises and butcher's the chickens is more of a productivity process rather than a  humane process. It is a process more focused on producing a high yield than quality. This chapter was interesting because it shed light on the actual process of how  livestock are slaughtered and processed, which has made me think twice about eating food slaughtered on mass production lines. The process in which Joel slaughtered his mere 300 chickens seemed like an "assembly line" sort of process, and I can't even imagine how a large production slaughter house butcher's their chickens.

In the I Say, section of They Say, I Say, it gave helpful hints and ideas on how to effectively introduce your argument and help support your argument using tips and tricks such as agreeing and disagreeing with your argument. This section also provides ways in which to incorporate other's words and idea's into your own writing. I personally found the templates on page 60 very useful because I have always had trouble finding creative ways in agreeing and disagreeing with my argument at the same time in order to increase the effectiveness of my view.

February 3, 2010

In chapter nine, the author, Michael Pollan addresses and questions the validity of the title "organic" when pertaining to food sold in the super markets. Pollan argues that many of the food companies and producers of the United States that claim to provide "organic" foods are in fact no more "organic" than those of the mass food producers themselves. I agree with Pollan's arguments in this chapter in that stores such as Whole foods over price their foods for essentially the same product you could find at any other grocery store only because the label claims it to be "organic". Growing up on a farm and owning cattle, I don't trust store's claims for "organic" because you never really know where a cow was raised and what it was fed before being placed on the production line. On my farm, I know what foods the cattle ate and the conditions in which they were raised and only then do I consider the food to be truly "organic".

The writer's resource book is very informative in that it helped me understand how one can use visuals in an effective manner in order to support what one is arguing. It also provided a lot of useful tools on how to start a paper and help avoid common fallacies.

January 25, 2010

The author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan, starts off by describing how the corn we know today has come to be such an essential part of our daily lives. He goes on to describe how in today's society, one farmer produces enough food for 129 consumers. Pollan also describes how farming use to be before the inventions of hybrid corn, gasoline powered tractors and nitrogen enriched fertilizers. Pollan effectively demonstrated and made it clear to me how much technology has influenced the way in which we produce our food. No longer do we concentrate so much on the quality we are producing, as we do the quantity.

In They Say, I Say, the authors demonstrate ways in which to incorporate the critics views and ideas into your introductory statement in order to effectively state not only the direction of your arguments, as well as the reasoning behind them. Another useful tool that this chapter presented was how to use quotations in the right fashion. Rather than just having quotes placed in a "choppy" matter, this chapter taught me effective ways to place quotes so they flow with my sentence, and thus, better support my argument. This chapter proved to be very informative and has already affected my writing style in that it has helped to produce more effective and clear arguments.