My thanksgiving followed the tradition of my typical thanksgiving, but for once my uncle Garry was not there. We go to RYE, NY and have a marvelous feast with friends (that I consider family).
This event for my family is mostly valued on its antibody experience and is enhanced by the body centered experience of feasting together. When I mean the antibody experience, I mean talking. We also do a lot of hugging and kissing, my family is a bunch of old hippies. the food enchances the sense of being together because we all eat the same food,at a table together.The food though delicious and healthy is not very important, we could have been eating pizza in a small apartment and the being together would make our event special.
Other pleasures practiced were watching my cousin’s play on television (it was taped), but I wouldnt neccesarily call it a pleasure because of the viewing. rather the joy and pride it instilled in my cousin. Other pleasures were also game playing. A game we really enjoy and heartbreaking-ly reminds me of my uncle is exquised corpse. One folds a paper in thrids and one person draws the head and then adds some connecting lines to the next section and fold over the head so it is not visble and passed on to someone who then draws a torso, who then fold it over with connecting lines and the last person draws waist down and you end up with an exquisite corpse. We also played a similar game but instead you do the same principle with words.
These games do not involve physical contact but it creates mental contact as the game goes on the ideas begin to intertwine. I find it a good represntation of how were are all borthers and sisters whether we like it or not. I enjoy this game because when there is no desire to talk one can communicate with art, and it symbolizes unity because you cannot play exquisite corpse if there are less than 3 people ! I belive physicality is important, but emotional closeness can be just as strong. I belive physicality is i9mportant when emotions for other beings are just not strong enough. My uncle helped me out this thanksgiving because after all the partying was done and I had nothing to occupy my brain I had a breakdown. The wise words he shared with me were helpful in the long wrong, but what ultimately help me sing my sorrows was his touch. Him holding me is what kept me together but let me share my broken train of thought. Anti body communication is also very important because if a relationship can not share what bothers them there issues clash until a broken thoughts splint everyone painfully and there is a crash, many times this also comes from a loss of physicality. I belive both are just as important for PERSONS HEALTHY MIND.
A weird background element that I belive resembles the fear of death is photography. At one point in the evening there were 4 people taking pictures and there were only 12 people at the party. The desire to capture a memory a moment so one can re-live it for ever. The fear of losing the past. I feel it connects to death because we want to reach for a sense of filling up loss. Death was also very connected to this event because of the recent loss of my uncle, so from time to time thoughts of him would come up and half fill the space empty because of his abscence.
November 29, 2010
November 24, 2010
II recently lost my Unlce to 3 types of cancer, and H.I.V, it was very hard for me and my family and was the first death I have encountered in mylife time that really pertained to someone I LOVED WITH ALL MY HEART. It was hard but to tell you the truth I have dealt with it really well. The reason in being so I belive is either because I am blocking it out (which I don't belive is the case) or is it because recentley I have come 2 terms that life ends and that that is what makes it so great and valuebale. If life went on forever there would be noneed for the sense of time. I also think its important that it to accept it because there is no other way and if people dread it if dying a slow death it only makes it that much harder.
What I find the saddest is when one has to die in a hospital it such an uninviting enviornment, with its bright florecent lights and white walls. Plastic chairs, and blasting ac at all times with windows that don't open. When my uncle was first admitted to the hospital for the first month he did nlt even have one doctor assigned to him. It is such alon unfamiliar place but for many people the end of there life is surrounded by such an enviornment.
The hardest experience I encountered with death was the last to days of my unclres death because not only was his soul trapped inside his body but you could see his body withering away. My uncle was a very loved man and had around 5 people in his room all the tim and people coming ang going and though he couldn't really speak make eye contact and the only movements he made were myscle spazms he was able to hear. And he must have gotten a million calls and peoples goodbyes. I've never heard of someone who was able to say goodbye before they died. Even tough he died of a young age I belive he was given this gift because he was an amazing man. In the end when he died I think its because he finally excepted that it was time for him to go. Since this experience I have had a diffrent outlook on death. I no longer see it as something horribly gruesome but something hard and important that is just part of life.
I do not belive in typical funerals but memorials, and I don't belive in wearing black, but wearing bright joyeux colors.
I belive in reincarnation, not really sure if it actually happens but I love the idea so I have faith in it. I also know the human body is something that withers away like any living matter eventually does. But soul is not a physicality but an energy, a force so whether each persons aurora transfers exactly to some other living matter I don't know. But I do think that auror at least infulences our world.
What I find the saddest is when one has to die in a hospital it such an uninviting enviornment, with its bright florecent lights and white walls. Plastic chairs, and blasting ac at all times with windows that don't open. When my uncle was first admitted to the hospital for the first month he did nlt even have one doctor assigned to him. It is such alon unfamiliar place but for many people the end of there life is surrounded by such an enviornment.
The hardest experience I encountered with death was the last to days of my unclres death because not only was his soul trapped inside his body but you could see his body withering away. My uncle was a very loved man and had around 5 people in his room all the tim and people coming ang going and though he couldn't really speak make eye contact and the only movements he made were myscle spazms he was able to hear. And he must have gotten a million calls and peoples goodbyes. I've never heard of someone who was able to say goodbye before they died. Even tough he died of a young age I belive he was given this gift because he was an amazing man. In the end when he died I think its because he finally excepted that it was time for him to go. Since this experience I have had a diffrent outlook on death. I no longer see it as something horribly gruesome but something hard and important that is just part of life.
I do not belive in typical funerals but memorials, and I don't belive in wearing black, but wearing bright joyeux colors.
I belive in reincarnation, not really sure if it actually happens but I love the idea so I have faith in it. I also know the human body is something that withers away like any living matter eventually does. But soul is not a physicality but an energy, a force so whether each persons aurora transfers exactly to some other living matter I don't know. But I do think that auror at least infulences our world.
November 01, 2010
Food OUTLINE !
OUTLINE
Overarching Thesis: In the United States capitalism has fostered the success of the elite, which they increase with nightmarish industrial atrocities and maintain through tatemae. Thus creating inferior social practices for the dominant population.
Argument #1: Food production and consumption in the United States is centralized around the producer’s fulfillment versus the consumer’s interest. Which has caused major mass industrializations, resulting in un-healthy and dangerous results for the consumer and workers(of industry).
Chunk #1(capitalism elite): The government supports and facilitates the corporations.
• “The Bush administration and the .. health.”
SOURCE: Fast Food Nation read on section pg. 7
• “Fast Food chains have accepted … gave job training to the poor.”
SOURCE: Fast Food Nation pg. 72
• “ a study of campaign contributions … any other congressman.”
SOURCE: Fast Food Nation Pg. 210
• “while the real value of the wages paid … a fast food hamburger”
SOURCE: Fast Food Nation pg. 73
Chunk #2(industrial): The CEO’s (not farmers or cooks or butchers) sole interest is to expand as far as possible, to receive the biggest profit for the cheapest cost. (quote corn man foodinc.)
• “Simplot, Lamb Weston … rivals.”
SOURCE: Fast Food Nation pg.116
• “but the extraordinary … who grew the potatoes.”
SOURCE: Fast Food Nation pg.117
• “it cost about 1,500 … single potato”
SOURCE: Fast Food Nation pg.117
• “The line is so fast … when you cut yourself”
SOURCE: http://www.hrw.org/en/node/11869/section/5
•
• -Nebraska Beef meatpacking line worker, Omaha, Nebraska, December 2003
Chunk #2b/3a(tatemae): A façade is created by the corporations to brain wash the consumers with the illusion that they are receiving the highest quality.
• “ a corporate memo…a trusted friend.”
SOURCE: Fast Food Nation pg.50
• Propaganda examples
SOURCE: http://www.mcspotlight.org/company/publications/nutrition_balance.html
• Farm images on lables
Chunk #3(inferior social practices): The American population has been tricked through the dominant discourse, now becoming inferior with how they nourish themselves .
• “The growth in children’s advertising has been … advertising strategies.”
SOURCE: Fast Food Nation pg.43
• ‘the labor structures of … workers.”
SOURCE: Fast Food Nation pg.78
• “a memo sought to explain the underlying … like a good parent”
SOURCE: Fast Food Nation pg.50
• “translate into … 5 times a week.”
SOURCE: Fast Food Nation
Overarching Thesis: In the United States capitalism has fostered the success of the elite, which they increase with nightmarish industrial atrocities and maintain through tatemae. Thus creating inferior social practices for the dominant population.
Argument #1: Food production and consumption in the United States is centralized around the producer’s fulfillment versus the consumer’s interest. Which has caused major mass industrializations, resulting in un-healthy and dangerous results for the consumer and workers(of industry).
Chunk #1(capitalism elite): The government supports and facilitates the corporations.
• “The Bush administration and the .. health.”
SOURCE: Fast Food Nation read on section pg. 7
• “Fast Food chains have accepted … gave job training to the poor.”
SOURCE: Fast Food Nation pg. 72
• “ a study of campaign contributions … any other congressman.”
SOURCE: Fast Food Nation Pg. 210
• “while the real value of the wages paid … a fast food hamburger”
SOURCE: Fast Food Nation pg. 73
Chunk #2(industrial): The CEO’s (not farmers or cooks or butchers) sole interest is to expand as far as possible, to receive the biggest profit for the cheapest cost. (quote corn man foodinc.)
• “Simplot, Lamb Weston … rivals.”
SOURCE: Fast Food Nation pg.116
• “but the extraordinary … who grew the potatoes.”
SOURCE: Fast Food Nation pg.117
• “it cost about 1,500 … single potato”
SOURCE: Fast Food Nation pg.117
• “The line is so fast … when you cut yourself”
SOURCE: http://www.hrw.org/en/node/11869/section/5
•
• -Nebraska Beef meatpacking line worker, Omaha, Nebraska, December 2003
Chunk #2b/3a(tatemae): A façade is created by the corporations to brain wash the consumers with the illusion that they are receiving the highest quality.
• “ a corporate memo…a trusted friend.”
SOURCE: Fast Food Nation pg.50
• Propaganda examples
SOURCE: http://www.mcspotlight.org/company/publications/nutrition_balance.html
• Farm images on lables
Chunk #3(inferior social practices): The American population has been tricked through the dominant discourse, now becoming inferior with how they nourish themselves .
• “The growth in children’s advertising has been … advertising strategies.”
SOURCE: Fast Food Nation pg.43
• ‘the labor structures of … workers.”
SOURCE: Fast Food Nation pg.78
• “a memo sought to explain the underlying … like a good parent”
SOURCE: Fast Food Nation pg.50
• “translate into … 5 times a week.”
SOURCE: Fast Food Nation
October 31, 2010
HW #11 Final Food Project
I have chosen activism, I have unfortunately not accomplished anything physically in the past few days but my gears have been turning! I am already active in changing the industrial nightmarish atrocities by eating right and not purchasing anything mass-produced. I TRY! Step 2: Get the word out talking to everyone and anybody who is willing to listen to me and willing to join the movement because it is important to find others like you. Step 3: I have been working on the Added value farm in Red Hook New York City. Now to take this idea further. I live in an impoverished part of New York City, Washington Heights and most of the people from here are use to local produce because back where they came from, la Isla’s (THIS IS A DOMINICAN NEIGHBORHOOD, for the most part) most people don't go to a supermarket they grow there food buy it from the local farmer. When they come here they switch to mostly the cheapest mass-production available. My goal is to try and seese out all the locations that are abandoned and start building small urban farms. If it works here maybe it can spread, I love what added value is doing but it needs to go further than that, it needs to happen everywhere. I need to speak with the owners of added value but more importantly to the community centers in my neighborhood. I know plenty of organizations that would be willing to help and get this movement started. I also think many people around me would not like the farms for the simple fact of it bringing great value to their community but the guard it will put up against gentrification if their are no lots to take, no buildings can happen unless their abandoned (that’s another story). The question is will BLOOMBERG grant us these lots? I am not sure how all this works but that is why I need to get my thoughts transformed into action, but it is very hard for me to do so when I have so much going on around me. I WILL ACCOMPLISH MY IDEAS, I WILL. I was also riding the 5 train on Halloween morning coming from north-bubble-fuck and it was my favorite kind of ride, above ground and I saw this one huge lot completely green (ignoring pollution) and in a hill form I envisioned it as the farms the Aztecs would build with that looked like steps, gorgeous. Then 5 seconds later on the other side I saw THIS HUGE juvenile correctional facility all barbed wired up. I thought to think what are these poor kids doing in there, are they doing anything to get there minds working, and I thought WHAT IF WE COULD HAVE TROUBLED MINDS AS SUCH WORKING ON AN URBAN FARM? When will our society understand it must not simply be detention but attention? Step 4: I am part of the green roof committee at our school and am working with fellow colleges’ to get it running, with the help of parents and students. My main concern is once this happens because I know it will (the seniors will have a beautiful garden for the barbeque) is to get it really connected with the NYC cafeteria food, because I KNOW when we try and do this the official food provided by the government is not going to like it! I think it may be a great example to not simply expose their horrors but show that they could be using great ingredients.
October 23, 2010
FREAKONOMICS - Response
#2:
The directors seems to pretend that correlation is causation, when that is a fallacy, simply there needs to be correlation to have causation. I believe the directors know this but illustrate their data in a manner that correlation is causation to over-simplify their data so that the viewers can understand their points easily. I believe their arguments would have been stronger if they demonstrated the correlation and then the actual causation, and then if the correlation is correspondent to the causation, explain and if not why? At times they do prove that there must be a correlation to have causation but they illustrate such as “correlation is causation”. Such as a realtor is helping you sell your house, the price is 30k and you receive an offer for 29k he tells you to take it, he then sells his house which is the exact same, and gets 30k. The correlation is the realtor is selling your house and receiving a profit. The causation for him receiving more with the same opportunity is because the realtors job receives a profit of how much you make, but the quicker he can makes the money the better it is for him, because 1k won’t make difference worth his while. So he just wants to sell the house the quickly for his own interest. In one part of the movie they contradict their demonstration that correlation is causation, they state that the correlation is not the causation. They did a study on how you name your child, and where that child will end up in life, and it turns out that the name of our child has no effect upon weather they will be successful in life or not, it is how the child is raised. The cause for a name affecting your child is an outside factor such as someone who is racist and assumes that a person with an African-American name will not be qualified for the job. They explicitly show that the correlation between the child and the name is not the causation for their success or not.
#3: The sources of evidence that the Freakonomics directors rely on the most is statistics and finding patterns in those statistics and from their making conclusions, at times leading to theories. This is seen over and over in the movie with sumo wrestling results, Kind of name and resume call backs, incentives with children, and abortions correlation with violence rates. This is an innovative method when there are other sources of evidence to back up the patters as seen with the sumo wrestling. I think that this is not an innovative technique when there isn’t much evidence supporting the pattern besides the statistics like with legalizing abortion and violence rates. I think the patterns need to be backed up with causation and cannot only rely on the correlation of the statistics and the pattern.
Class correlation: Andy stated, "Freakonomics serves as an inspiration and good example to our attempt to explore the "hidden-in-plain-sight" weirdness of dominant social Practices." I agree with this statement, Freakonomics is a good example of the oddity accepted as normal in dominant social practices because it unveils multiple social practices and shows the true weirdness of it. Such as a real estate agent whom one hires to help you receive maximum profit from the sale of your house when it does the opposite. I think that Freakonomics itself is a strange movie and left me with un-settling thoughts. I think they stated their theories and the causation in odd manners and not very clearly for the viewers. I do think they did a good job at getting the point across that every human as a citizen of a country should not accept all that is happening around them and simply live by what the dominant discourse tells them to see. It is important to see everything from a different viewpoint to truly understand it. I don’t believe the movie is a great "inspiration" because they don’t seem to get to the core of humans emotions and what someone may hold dear but I believe it is a good example of why we need to question everything. Honne and tatamae seem to really explain our society and how we hide things from our people, but at least the Japanese have words stating it exist. We don’t! I think that food production in the United States simply works because of their tatamae tactics backed up with the propaganda, literally changing people’s lifestyles. Honne is disregarded so that they can make money and in doing so they use tatamae to act as if the consumers best interest is in mind so life can be simpler and cheaper for them.
The directors seems to pretend that correlation is causation, when that is a fallacy, simply there needs to be correlation to have causation. I believe the directors know this but illustrate their data in a manner that correlation is causation to over-simplify their data so that the viewers can understand their points easily. I believe their arguments would have been stronger if they demonstrated the correlation and then the actual causation, and then if the correlation is correspondent to the causation, explain and if not why? At times they do prove that there must be a correlation to have causation but they illustrate such as “correlation is causation”. Such as a realtor is helping you sell your house, the price is 30k and you receive an offer for 29k he tells you to take it, he then sells his house which is the exact same, and gets 30k. The correlation is the realtor is selling your house and receiving a profit. The causation for him receiving more with the same opportunity is because the realtors job receives a profit of how much you make, but the quicker he can makes the money the better it is for him, because 1k won’t make difference worth his while. So he just wants to sell the house the quickly for his own interest. In one part of the movie they contradict their demonstration that correlation is causation, they state that the correlation is not the causation. They did a study on how you name your child, and where that child will end up in life, and it turns out that the name of our child has no effect upon weather they will be successful in life or not, it is how the child is raised. The cause for a name affecting your child is an outside factor such as someone who is racist and assumes that a person with an African-American name will not be qualified for the job. They explicitly show that the correlation between the child and the name is not the causation for their success or not.
#3: The sources of evidence that the Freakonomics directors rely on the most is statistics and finding patterns in those statistics and from their making conclusions, at times leading to theories. This is seen over and over in the movie with sumo wrestling results, Kind of name and resume call backs, incentives with children, and abortions correlation with violence rates. This is an innovative method when there are other sources of evidence to back up the patters as seen with the sumo wrestling. I think that this is not an innovative technique when there isn’t much evidence supporting the pattern besides the statistics like with legalizing abortion and violence rates. I think the patterns need to be backed up with causation and cannot only rely on the correlation of the statistics and the pattern.
Class correlation: Andy stated, "Freakonomics serves as an inspiration and good example to our attempt to explore the "hidden-in-plain-sight" weirdness of dominant social Practices." I agree with this statement, Freakonomics is a good example of the oddity accepted as normal in dominant social practices because it unveils multiple social practices and shows the true weirdness of it. Such as a real estate agent whom one hires to help you receive maximum profit from the sale of your house when it does the opposite. I think that Freakonomics itself is a strange movie and left me with un-settling thoughts. I think they stated their theories and the causation in odd manners and not very clearly for the viewers. I do think they did a good job at getting the point across that every human as a citizen of a country should not accept all that is happening around them and simply live by what the dominant discourse tells them to see. It is important to see everything from a different viewpoint to truly understand it. I don’t believe the movie is a great "inspiration" because they don’t seem to get to the core of humans emotions and what someone may hold dear but I believe it is a good example of why we need to question everything. Honne and tatamae seem to really explain our society and how we hide things from our people, but at least the Japanese have words stating it exist. We don’t! I think that food production in the United States simply works because of their tatamae tactics backed up with the propaganda, literally changing people’s lifestyles. Honne is disregarded so that they can make money and in doing so they use tatamae to act as if the consumers best interest is in mind so life can be simpler and cheaper for them.
Food, Inc. SPITBACK
Summary:
Food Inc. (2008) by: Robert Kenner's purpose was to illustrate that "the way we eat has changed more in the last 50 years, than in previous centuries." and for the worst. The food industry is no longer about producing great produce from our earth but inventing food giving the company owners the best profit, at the expense of the consumer’s quality. The first agenda of this movie is to convince the viewer to eat healthy by exposing the antagonist’s food process. Food corporations objectify the product and de-skill the worker, to end up selling the product below the cost of production. The second agenda of this movie is to change the government, which simply encourages such a food system. This is done by laws such as the farm bill and capitalism fueling evil billionaires to receive what they want with bribing. Also laws facilitating their demeanors such as no health inspections, the FDA and USDA being run by share-holders and previous CEO’s and it being illicit to expose such factories.
Text vs. Movie:
The 2 forms of information both have different pros and cons, and the media forms should be used for different purposes. Most bluntly text is better at getting a lot of detailed information to the user. Movie is better for aiming at a more general population and less intelligent. This is because you can get a pretty good general knowledge about a subject in a short amount of time watching a movie. Now a day’s text is for a more dedicated and intelligent population because it takes time in our face paced society and you learn a lot more.
The movie offered an easy concept of percentages and numbers whereas when reading about numbers it is harder to realize the actual effect the numbers have, especially with percentages. For example when the movie had the pigs, cows, chickens going on an assembly line into the factory they showed how the companies dominated the market with shading the animal. This really gives the viewer how much they dominate the industry. Whereas when you simply read about it is less ingrained in your brain.
Books when you read them create a personalized image in your brain that you create, these images are more personal to one self, and have a personal feel to them. For example when reading about the slaughterhouses and the workers conditions you imagine it for your self so you feel like you are there and can really feel the workers pain and struggle. A movie creates an image for you so it is less personal and in this sense more factual because it is actually how it looks, or how they make it look. This can create a more shocking image because it is one you see but it gives you a sense of perceiving it from an exterior's view, as when reading its a view as if you were actually there, since you create it.
A movie also has a sense of brainwashing to it because it plays music behind it the scene, which can sway your emotion and create a way point of view that you might not be true to what you believe. A con from movies are that you can hear the persons tone of voice and see the expression they are making whereas in reading it is described to the reader, so the imagine it. This relates back to a book letting you create the image and a movie creating the image for you. I also think with text you really value words more and their meaning. When watching visuals you value them but on the surface one tends not to find their deeper meaning because they go by to quickly.
Thoughts: I believe the ending of the movie was intense because of the background sound and because of the words but that were powerful, but I believe the solution to their problems were made to simplistic. In thought this is what we need to change the world, we all take part by not indulging in their products because obviously the big corporations would be nothing without our money. But most viewers like Naima stated can't change their life style because of one movie, even though the incentive is clear and worth it. I believe the movie creators should have included easier things for the public to do such as the web links they provided. I also think it is very saddening that we as Americans are so brainwashed by branding and "what we 'know' is what is good" that we can't make lifestyle changes to save our health, our country, our government, or freedom, and our PLANET.
Text vs. Movie:
The 2 forms of information both have different pros and cons, and the media forms should be used for different purposes. Most bluntly text is better at getting a lot of detailed information to the user. Movie is better for aiming at a more general population and less intelligent. This is because you can get a pretty good general knowledge about a subject in a short amount of time watching a movie. Now a day’s text is for a more dedicated and intelligent population because it takes time in our face paced society and you learn a lot more.
The movie offered an easy concept of percentages and numbers whereas when reading about numbers it is harder to realize the actual effect the numbers have, especially with percentages. For example when the movie had the pigs, cows, chickens going on an assembly line into the factory they showed how the companies dominated the market with shading the animal. This really gives the viewer how much they dominate the industry. Whereas when you simply read about it is less ingrained in your brain.
Books when you read them create a personalized image in your brain that you create, these images are more personal to one self, and have a personal feel to them. For example when reading about the slaughterhouses and the workers conditions you imagine it for your self so you feel like you are there and can really feel the workers pain and struggle. A movie creates an image for you so it is less personal and in this sense more factual because it is actually how it looks, or how they make it look. This can create a more shocking image because it is one you see but it gives you a sense of perceiving it from an exterior's view, as when reading its a view as if you were actually there, since you create it.
A movie also has a sense of brainwashing to it because it plays music behind it the scene, which can sway your emotion and create a way point of view that you might not be true to what you believe. A con from movies are that you can hear the persons tone of voice and see the expression they are making whereas in reading it is described to the reader, so the imagine it. This relates back to a book letting you create the image and a movie creating the image for you. I also think with text you really value words more and their meaning. When watching visuals you value them but on the surface one tends not to find their deeper meaning because they go by to quickly.
Thoughts: I believe the ending of the movie was intense because of the background sound and because of the words but that were powerful, but I believe the solution to their problems were made to simplistic. In thought this is what we need to change the world, we all take part by not indulging in their products because obviously the big corporations would be nothing without our money. But most viewers like Naima stated can't change their life style because of one movie, even though the incentive is clear and worth it. I believe the movie creators should have included easier things for the public to do such as the web links they provided. I also think it is very saddening that we as Americans are so brainwashed by branding and "what we 'know' is what is good" that we can't make lifestyle changes to save our health, our country, our government, or freedom, and our PLANET.
October 19, 2010
#7d
Chapter 9 – What’s in the meat?
In 1997 an outbreak of E. Coli 0157:H7 hit Colorado and contaminated 35million pounds of Hudson beef. The nations industrialized and centralized food system is causing more breakouts because of the mass-production system. Many new food born pathogens are being discovered because of this production system. The hamburger was originally considered food for the impoverished and White castle changed the face of the burger. This caused beef consumption to be pushed beginning mass production, causing major E. Coli 0157:H7 breakouts. E. Coli 0157:H7 is mutated bacteria found in the digestive system. It kills children and harms adults producing bad stomach aches, cramps, anal bleeding and diarrhea can cause harmful diseases overtime, it gets into the meat through the animal fesses. Meatpacking industries filthy factories in early 1900’s caused change but quickly they dominated the FDA ultimately giving it no authority. Slaughterhouses constantly have E. Coli 0157:H7 breakouts and suitable meat is distributed anyways. Instead of changing their procedure companies simply “clean” the meat with ammonium nitrate. The cheapest meat in the U.S.A is cooked in the public school systems and causes many E. Coli 0157:H7 outbreaks.
Gems
• “The USDA plan, however has been significantly watered down during negotiations with the meat packing industry and Republican members of Congress. The new system would shift many food safety tasks to employees. The records complied by those employees-- unlike the reports traditionally written by federal inspectors -- would not be available to the public trough the freedom of information act. And meat-packing plants would not be required to test for E. Coli 0157:H7, a pathogen whose discovery might lead to immediate condemnation of their meat. Instead, they could test for other bacteria as a broad measure of fecal contamination levels; the results of those test would not have to be revealed to the government; and meat containing whatever organisms the test found could still be sold to public.” • “The USDA chose meat suppliers for its National School Lunch Program on the basis of the lowest price, without imposing additional food safety requirements.”
Thoughts & Reflections
This brings back memories from when I was in middle school and elementary school. I felt the pressure to fit in so I would have my parents stop packing my lunch and eat the horrible cafeteria lunch. Fellow students and me always wanted to protest this food and attempted to change the quality of food in our school but we had no idea as to why the food was so horrible and, now I FULLY GET IT! We didn’t even get REAL PLATES OR FORK AND KNIFES, OR WATER. Only milk, Styrofoam trays, and sporks. The government does not care about the people. This also brings me back to my “health” classes where we were brain washed. All the information our P.E teacher gaves us came from the U.S.D.A so if the supposedly know what is best for us, then why do they ignore this fact when it comes to the money. We should have been educated on the TRUTH!!!
Chapter 10 - Global Realization
After Communism collapsed and WWII ended Mc Donald’s opened its visit franchise abroad in Plauen, Germany. This was the first symbol of their Globalization. Many natives of the countries opposed Mc Donald’s but with time gave in because of the corporations dominating monstrosity. Countries such as Turkey whom highly opposed it became a country dominated with Franchises highly imitating American "culture". The Mc Donald’s raised the obesity rates in many countries, and brought with them their mass-production methods for their ingredients changing the face of the earth. Many people tried destroying Mc Donald’s but in doing so were intimidated and hushed by the corporations, giving Mc Donald’s the leeway to continue domination.
Gems
• “The success of McDonalds, Pizza Hut, and T.G.I Fridays in Germany has helped spark a franchise boom.” • "Today 44 million American adults are obese. An additional 6 million are 'super-obese'; they weigh about a hundred pounds more than they should. No other nation in history has gotten so fat so fast"
Thoughts & Reflections
I come from an itsy-bitsy town in the south France, St. Raphael. I’ve visited every summer since I was 5. The feeling I love when landing and sense the motherland, its indescribable. One summer I realized the place I loved so much for its cultural roots was no longer the same, WE NOW HAD MC DONALDS! I didn’t even realize the tremendous difference between the bloods inside of me until; one root began growing in the other. Mc Donald’s was the opposite of the culture we come from especially my family who is in the business of food, and now here it was taking over. It made me so mad to see it and to eat it when I was there. I remember once my whole family had a huge event and for some reason there was no food and we were all starving so my aunts husband thought hey, Mc Donald’s, so we ate Mc Donald’s on my grandmothers dinning room table, all 17 of us. She was the only one who didn’t eat it. I look at it now and see it as the utmost disrespect. It pains me and ingrains in my head even more that I will never eat fast food again. It is one thing to hurt your own culture, but to hurt others that’s where I draw the line!!
Epilogue – Have it your way
Dale Lasater raises cattle the old-fashion American way very un-conventional compared to the dominant discourse. There is still chance of natural farming; Red Top and In-N-Out are fast-food restaurants that use higher quality ingredients and better staff conditions. Corporations don’t have all the power they also have to obey the laws, and with change in legislation the American people can make a change. We can also vote to change every time we eat by choosing the right food and not giving our money to mass-production.
Gems
• "Throughout the Cold War, America's decentralization system of agriculture, relying upon millions of independent producers, was depicted as the most productive system in the world, as proof of capitalism's inherent superiority" • "Every month more than 90 percent of the children in the United States eat at McDonald's.”
Thoughts and Reflections
I thought this book was amazing and it has truly inspired me to get involved in changing American legislation and food ways. I am starting with baby steps by putting love into our schools roof garden and hopefully we can start a project exemplifying how all NYC roof tops should be covered in green, imagine how many acres that would be!! I am also participating at added value an urban farm, and getting the word out there to who ever will listen. I also think the further information at the back of the book is really insightful.
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