Friday, December 31, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Damnnn
http://www.insubuy.com/guide/faq/pre-existing-conditions-visitor-medical-insurance.jsp
this is ridiculous. every single person who asked about getting treatment for their loved ones were denied before even getting the insurance. Looking at this makes me ask what the point of getting insurance is? I completely agree with the 6th anonymous person who asked:
" What is the point of buying insurance if it does not cover pre-existing medical conditions? These are the one we need to get covered. Probability of other illness is very low."
this is ridiculous. every single person who asked about getting treatment for their loved ones were denied before even getting the insurance. Looking at this makes me ask what the point of getting insurance is? I completely agree with the 6th anonymous person who asked:
" What is the point of buying insurance if it does not cover pre-existing medical conditions? These are the one we need to get covered. Probability of other illness is very low."
Monday, December 20, 2010
HW 25 - Response to Sicko
Precis-
My intention was to expose HMOs for what they really are; profit oriented scams. Americans buy health insurance for coverage and security yet it is in the HMOs best interest not to help them. HMOs get around securing the costumers by researching their pre-existing conditions so when they need operations, the health insurance companies can deny them coverage. The system is as messed up as it sounds, but the reason it hasn't been changed is because HMOs offer the government money for them not to change the health care policy. The government keeps us from questioning the system by assuring us that if we had universal health care, we might not be treated on time. I decided to see if this were true by visiting the many countries with universal health care such as Canada, the U.K., and France. From what I saw, their health care system ran more than smoothly seeing how every sick person was treated efficiently and equally. On top of that, their doctors were still well payed without having to break their oath to try their hardest to cure all patients. Most of all, their citizens were on average significantly healthier than Americans. Hopefully viewers will realize that universal health care is the best option for America and represents the unity of humanity.
Evidence-
A) i. Dr. Linda Pino testimony in front of US Congress May 30, 1996/ interview with Pino:
" I was told when I started that I had to keep a 10% denial. Then they were giving us reports weekly that would have all the cases we reviewed, the percent approved and the percent denied. And our actual percentage denial rate. Then there would be another report that compared me to all the other reviewers. The doctor with the highest percent of denials was gonna get a bonus."
"That was how they set it up. Any payment for a claim is referred to as a medical loss. That's the terminology the industry uses. I mean, when you don't spend money on somebody, you deny their care, or you make a decision that brings money in and you don't have to spend it, it's a savings to the company."
ii.
Tarsha Harris- example of how HMOs refuse to cover their costumers because of their pre-existing conditions- she had an operation to remove her tumor and it was once payed for by her insurance, but once the insurance company found a yeast infection in her record, they took their money back and made Tarsha cover the expense herself.
B) Both of these pieces of evidence provide real life examples, which is crucial for making a point.
The first example was from the perspective of a doctor, showing how the HMOs has effected her. It caused her to break the oath all doctors have to make and neglect her patients for her own personal gain( based on incentives given by HMOs). Her testimony proved that it is in HMOs best interest to pay for less services and they create bribes for doctors so that they too benefit disregard patients who actually need medical assistance.
Tarsha's example came from the other end of the spectrum; the perspective of the patients. It showed how HMOs had effected her which was negatively as well. The "pre-existing condition" she had was very common and unrelated to her operation so it exhibited how easily this could happen to many other Americans. What made this situation worse was that the insurance company had approved her operation, but they later found this flaw in her record and made her pay. This displays how health insurance companies go the extra mile to find insignificant information about a patients previous health conditions to avoid paying for treatments themselves. Not covering these expenses are the goal of these companies.
D) I thought the refference to Nixons tapes was a very good source of evidence. Unfortunately the recording was somewhat unclear, and although there sub-titles, I wanted to see how percise they really were. I researched the recording and found that there were slight differences between that one and the one used in the documentary. Differences you could hear in the tape as well; but even with the alterations made by Moore the tape still portrayed the same thing so I counted his evidence as accurate.
Film version:
My response-
My intention was to expose HMOs for what they really are; profit oriented scams. Americans buy health insurance for coverage and security yet it is in the HMOs best interest not to help them. HMOs get around securing the costumers by researching their pre-existing conditions so when they need operations, the health insurance companies can deny them coverage. The system is as messed up as it sounds, but the reason it hasn't been changed is because HMOs offer the government money for them not to change the health care policy. The government keeps us from questioning the system by assuring us that if we had universal health care, we might not be treated on time. I decided to see if this were true by visiting the many countries with universal health care such as Canada, the U.K., and France. From what I saw, their health care system ran more than smoothly seeing how every sick person was treated efficiently and equally. On top of that, their doctors were still well payed without having to break their oath to try their hardest to cure all patients. Most of all, their citizens were on average significantly healthier than Americans. Hopefully viewers will realize that universal health care is the best option for America and represents the unity of humanity.
Evidence-
A) i. Dr. Linda Pino testimony in front of US Congress May 30, 1996/ interview with Pino:
" I was told when I started that I had to keep a 10% denial. Then they were giving us reports weekly that would have all the cases we reviewed, the percent approved and the percent denied. And our actual percentage denial rate. Then there would be another report that compared me to all the other reviewers. The doctor with the highest percent of denials was gonna get a bonus."
"That was how they set it up. Any payment for a claim is referred to as a medical loss. That's the terminology the industry uses. I mean, when you don't spend money on somebody, you deny their care, or you make a decision that brings money in and you don't have to spend it, it's a savings to the company."
ii.
B) Both of these pieces of evidence provide real life examples, which is crucial for making a point.
The first example was from the perspective of a doctor, showing how the HMOs has effected her. It caused her to break the oath all doctors have to make and neglect her patients for her own personal gain( based on incentives given by HMOs). Her testimony proved that it is in HMOs best interest to pay for less services and they create bribes for doctors so that they too benefit disregard patients who actually need medical assistance.
Tarsha's example came from the other end of the spectrum; the perspective of the patients. It showed how HMOs had effected her which was negatively as well. The "pre-existing condition" she had was very common and unrelated to her operation so it exhibited how easily this could happen to many other Americans. What made this situation worse was that the insurance company had approved her operation, but they later found this flaw in her record and made her pay. This displays how health insurance companies go the extra mile to find insignificant information about a patients previous health conditions to avoid paying for treatments themselves. Not covering these expenses are the goal of these companies.
D) I thought the refference to Nixons tapes was a very good source of evidence. Unfortunately the recording was somewhat unclear, and although there sub-titles, I wanted to see how percise they really were. I researched the recording and found that there were slight differences between that one and the one used in the documentary. Differences you could hear in the tape as well; but even with the alterations made by Moore the tape still portrayed the same thing so I counted his evidence as accurate.
Film version:
February 17, 1971, 5:23 p.m.
[John Ehrlichman] We have now narrowed down the Vice President's problems on this thing to one issue, and that is whether we should include these Health Maintenance Organizations, like Edgar Kaiser's Permanente thing.
[President Richard Nixon] Now let me ask you, you know I'm not too keen on any of these damn medical programs.
[John Ehrlichman] This is a private enterprise one.
[President Richard Nixon] Well, that appeals to me.
[John Ehrlichman] Edgar Kaiser is running his Permanente deal for profit. And the reason he can do it, I had Edgar Kaiser come in and talk to me about this. And I went into it in some depth. All the incentives are toward less medical care, because the less care they give them, the more money they make.
[President Richard Nixon] Fine.
[John Ehrlichman] And the incentives run the right way.
[President Richard Nixon] Not bad.
My research:
My response-
This documentary brought up a lot of points that struck me and made me understand a lot more about American society in general. Although this was briefly discussed, Moore went over how the education system in America sets us up to need our jobs to pay off debt, and how health care and other benefits may keep us working until they day we die.
"By the time we graduate, our ass is so in hock, we're in debt before our first job.What employer wouldn't employ someone thousands of dollars in debt, because they won't cause any trouble? In addition to paying off your college debt, you need a job with health insurance. It would be horrible to lose that job, wouldn't it? If that one job doesn't pay all the bills, don't worry. You can get another one, and another one, and another one.If you're not sleeping, take pharmaceuticals. Yes, ask your doctor, and ask him for more drugs. That should keep you doped up until it's time to retire. Did I say retire? (laughs)If you make it to 80, your pension will still be there, unlike the new employees for these companies, who'll never see a pension."- (Michael Moore, Sicko 2007)
This exert really put things in perspective for me as it quickly summed up the American mentality; live to serve capitalist.
When he discussed how easily HMOs bribed the government, I had a flash back. It seemed that the government was very malleable seeing as the food corporations have done the same thing. We trust our government to keep us secure and think of what can benefit all of us, but it looks like they are just chasing dollar bills. In both these cases, large corporate bodies are providing the dollars. So it makes me wonder, who's really running our country? The government or the capitalist?
Sunday, December 19, 2010
HW 24 - Illness & Dying Book, Part 3
Tracy Kidder. Mountains Beyond Mountains. United States: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2009.
Precis: My book centers around one rather spectacular man who possess the talent of healing and curing infectious diseases. The most honorable thing about him is that he uses his knowledge and talent to those who need it the most. Together, Farmer and I travel from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia. He reaches out to many other foundations to help him and his organization on his quest to heal the world. He believes that "the only real nation is humanity", meaning that all of humanity should have equal treatment. The name of the book is based on the Haitian proverb "Beyond mountains there are mountains" which is a metaphor that represents how problems and issues are endless.
Quotes:
"Never underestimate the ability of a small group of committed individuals to change the world."(Margaret Mead, Kidder pg.164)
The most common excuse individuals use to avoid making change is that they believe that they are not enough to make a difference. It is true that there are power in numbers but how are these numbers supposed to accumulate without one person leading the pack? When you think about it, most of the things that were made the status quo were established by a small number of people and influenced other people like a chain reaction. So, maybe it take that one person to speak up for change and make a new normal.
The problem is, if I don't work this hard, someone will die who doesn't have to. That sounds megalomaniacal. I wouldn't have said that to you before I'd taken you to Haiti and you had seen that it was manifestly true. (Paul Farmer, Kidder pg.191)
To make the changes you want to see in the world you have to make a lot of sacrifices, but these sacrifices should be wroth it once you see your vision come to light.
"In his mind, he was fighting all poverty all the time, an endeavor full of difficulties and inevitable failures. For him, the reward was inward clarity, and the price perpetual anger or, at best, discomfort with the world... "( Kidder pg.210)
I can see why he can grow so angry at the world because in his eyes, in mine as well, all the things he is fighting so hard for should have been already established. When you live in a world that chooses to be illogical and immoral, it's easy to be upset with it.
My thoughts:
This book was truely inspiring and made me think about the changes I want to see in the world. Farmer is truely commited to what he does and although there are many things I'm pasionte about changing, I really wonder how far I will go to make a change. American society makes it easy for us to focus o ourselves and our personal lives which makes us forget about the big picture and whats going on around us. I admit to having that very fault, but after reading this book it made me think about what I really have to do to make change. The most important thing for me to do now is to build and education about all of these topics, which is why I am thankful for this class. In the future I will definitly be fighting for what's right.
Precis: My book centers around one rather spectacular man who possess the talent of healing and curing infectious diseases. The most honorable thing about him is that he uses his knowledge and talent to those who need it the most. Together, Farmer and I travel from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia. He reaches out to many other foundations to help him and his organization on his quest to heal the world. He believes that "the only real nation is humanity", meaning that all of humanity should have equal treatment. The name of the book is based on the Haitian proverb "Beyond mountains there are mountains" which is a metaphor that represents how problems and issues are endless.
Quotes:
"Never underestimate the ability of a small group of committed individuals to change the world."(Margaret Mead, Kidder pg.164)
The most common excuse individuals use to avoid making change is that they believe that they are not enough to make a difference. It is true that there are power in numbers but how are these numbers supposed to accumulate without one person leading the pack? When you think about it, most of the things that were made the status quo were established by a small number of people and influenced other people like a chain reaction. So, maybe it take that one person to speak up for change and make a new normal.
The problem is, if I don't work this hard, someone will die who doesn't have to. That sounds megalomaniacal. I wouldn't have said that to you before I'd taken you to Haiti and you had seen that it was manifestly true. (Paul Farmer, Kidder pg.191)
To make the changes you want to see in the world you have to make a lot of sacrifices, but these sacrifices should be wroth it once you see your vision come to light.
"In his mind, he was fighting all poverty all the time, an endeavor full of difficulties and inevitable failures. For him, the reward was inward clarity, and the price perpetual anger or, at best, discomfort with the world... "( Kidder pg.210)
I can see why he can grow so angry at the world because in his eyes, in mine as well, all the things he is fighting so hard for should have been already established. When you live in a world that chooses to be illogical and immoral, it's easy to be upset with it.
My thoughts:
This book was truely inspiring and made me think about the changes I want to see in the world. Farmer is truely commited to what he does and although there are many things I'm pasionte about changing, I really wonder how far I will go to make a change. American society makes it easy for us to focus o ourselves and our personal lives which makes us forget about the big picture and whats going on around us. I admit to having that very fault, but after reading this book it made me think about what I really have to do to make change. The most important thing for me to do now is to build and education about all of these topics, which is why I am thankful for this class. In the future I will definitly be fighting for what's right.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
HW 23 - Illness & Dying Book, Part 2
Tracy Kidder. Mountains Beyond Mountains. United States: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2009.
Precis: Paul Farmer is a very dedicated to his work and he keeps a close relationship with all of his patients. When he discovers that one of his patients, Morne Michel has not shown up for his monthly appointment, he diligently goes to the country side to find him. This is in respect of one of Farmers rules which is to always go and find a patient when they don't appear. The trip there was long and difficult; the country side could be described as "mountains beyond mountains". On our journey there, we made detours and revisited the history of the sights we saw. Farmer explained to me how the history of this dam we visited was what lead to Haiti's downfall. The dam was built by the U.S army Corps of Engineers with the "intention" of improving irrigation and generating power but in reality it cost Haitians their homes and property.
Quotes:
"We can spend sixty-eight thousand dollars per TB patient in New York City, but if you start giving watches or radios to patients here suddenly the international health community jumps on you for creating nonsustainable projects."( Kidder pg. 42)
Americans seem to be consumed with the idea that only the rich should have the best there is to offer while those who aren't should have as little as possible . Being comfortable is important to ones healing process and if a watch or a radio provides this to patients, then they are indeed "sustainable".
My thoughts:
I really think its admirable how much Farmer cares about his patients and their well being. He definitely isn't in this field for money; he gets satisfaction in helping people in need and on top of everything, he is good at what he does. He proved his loyalty to patients when he went to find Monre Michel on the country side of Haiti. I don't know of any other doctor who would be concerned enough to go out of their way to find a patient after they missed a monthly check in. Missing a doctor's appointment is a normal occurrence for me and I'm pretty sure that my doctor has never thought twice about me when this happens. Then again I've never had a serious condition or illness so I can't say my doctor wouldn't care for certain. I was also impressed with his knowledge of Haiti's history because it shows how much he cares about the countries well being as well as its health.
Precis: Paul Farmer is a very dedicated to his work and he keeps a close relationship with all of his patients. When he discovers that one of his patients, Morne Michel has not shown up for his monthly appointment, he diligently goes to the country side to find him. This is in respect of one of Farmers rules which is to always go and find a patient when they don't appear. The trip there was long and difficult; the country side could be described as "mountains beyond mountains". On our journey there, we made detours and revisited the history of the sights we saw. Farmer explained to me how the history of this dam we visited was what lead to Haiti's downfall. The dam was built by the U.S army Corps of Engineers with the "intention" of improving irrigation and generating power but in reality it cost Haitians their homes and property.
Quotes:
"We can spend sixty-eight thousand dollars per TB patient in New York City, but if you start giving watches or radios to patients here suddenly the international health community jumps on you for creating nonsustainable projects."( Kidder pg. 42)
Americans seem to be consumed with the idea that only the rich should have the best there is to offer while those who aren't should have as little as possible . Being comfortable is important to ones healing process and if a watch or a radio provides this to patients, then they are indeed "sustainable".
My thoughts:
I really think its admirable how much Farmer cares about his patients and their well being. He definitely isn't in this field for money; he gets satisfaction in helping people in need and on top of everything, he is good at what he does. He proved his loyalty to patients when he went to find Monre Michel on the country side of Haiti. I don't know of any other doctor who would be concerned enough to go out of their way to find a patient after they missed a monthly check in. Missing a doctor's appointment is a normal occurrence for me and I'm pretty sure that my doctor has never thought twice about me when this happens. Then again I've never had a serious condition or illness so I can't say my doctor wouldn't care for certain. I was also impressed with his knowledge of Haiti's history because it shows how much he cares about the countries well being as well as its health.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
HW 22 - Illness & Dying Book Part 1
Tracy Kidder. Mountains Beyond Mountains. United States: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2009.
Precis: Paul Farmer is a kind man who is an expert of sorts when it comes to healing the sick. He broke out of Americas health care system by moving to Haiti and at a hospital that he runs off of donations. He lives there eight months of the year, healing the citizens of one of the worlds poorest nations. I had the pleasure of following him around and witnessing him do what he does best, which is to revive the people who were once withering away due to their sickness. He grows very close to his patients and even considers him family. A lot of his patients believe in using Voodoo healing methods, which is very popular and important in Haitian society, but they still embrace Farmer's medicines.
Quotes:
"My local hospital in Massachusetts was treating about 175,00 patients a year and had an annual operating budget of a$60 million. In 1999 Zanmi Lasante had treated roughly the same number of people, at the medical complex and out in the communities, and spent about $1.5 million, half of that in the form of donated drugs." (p.22).
"Sorcery is, at bottom, the Hatians' way of explaining suffering, but the allegations themselves can cause suffering."
My thoughts:
I thought the quote about the Hatians' way of dealing with suffering through sorcery was very interesting because it can be easily connected to how we handle death in our society. We tend to avoid such topics because they are negative but we do this because when we over think illness, dying and suffering, we suffer mentally ourselves. This proves that suffering from thinking about suffering is a universal action. It also proves how we bring suffering upon ourselves
Precis: Paul Farmer is a kind man who is an expert of sorts when it comes to healing the sick. He broke out of Americas health care system by moving to Haiti and at a hospital that he runs off of donations. He lives there eight months of the year, healing the citizens of one of the worlds poorest nations. I had the pleasure of following him around and witnessing him do what he does best, which is to revive the people who were once withering away due to their sickness. He grows very close to his patients and even considers him family. A lot of his patients believe in using Voodoo healing methods, which is very popular and important in Haitian society, but they still embrace Farmer's medicines.
Quotes:
"My local hospital in Massachusetts was treating about 175,00 patients a year and had an annual operating budget of a$60 million. In 1999 Zanmi Lasante had treated roughly the same number of people, at the medical complex and out in the communities, and spent about $1.5 million, half of that in the form of donated drugs." (p.22).
"Sorcery is, at bottom, the Hatians' way of explaining suffering, but the allegations themselves can cause suffering."
My thoughts:
I thought the quote about the Hatians' way of dealing with suffering through sorcery was very interesting because it can be easily connected to how we handle death in our society. We tend to avoid such topics because they are negative but we do this because when we over think illness, dying and suffering, we suffer mentally ourselves. This proves that suffering from thinking about suffering is a universal action. It also proves how we bring suffering upon ourselves
Friday, December 10, 2010
Comment on Amber S.' "HW 21 - Expert #1" post
My favorite point that you made was how we use religion to help us deal with death and dying because it gives a clear answer and makes our deaths significant. As you said, "We don't want to believe the bleak, depressing reality of just laying 6 feet under when we die, as the idea of sitting a fluffy white cloud in heaven with everything we could ever want sounds so much better." I can personally relate to this having been raised with a religious background. I recall having a conversation about death with my grandmother after telling her I had a recurring dream of her dying. These dreams put me in instant tears every time I had them, especially because they seemed so vivid and real, but when I discussed them with my grandmother, her reaction shocked me. She told me never to worry or be upset when she died because she knew she was headed to a better place. It was weird because she actually seemed excited about her own death, and she is very accepting of death in general. To be honest, when she told me this it did make me feel a lot better knowing my grandmother had a reserved spot for her in heaven. But unfortunately, I am very loosely religious, so I too question whether or not I use the idea of heaven as a crutch.
I'd like to point out that the amount of insight you put into this post went above and beyond the requirements and it proves how important this topic this is to you. It also shows the vast amount of ideas you have on the topic. I also want to say that your use of language is exquisite and that you have a very good sense of language beautification.
I'd like to point out that the amount of insight you put into this post went above and beyond the requirements and it proves how important this topic this is to you. It also shows the vast amount of ideas you have on the topic. I also want to say that your use of language is exquisite and that you have a very good sense of language beautification.
Comment on Sam J.'s "HW 21 - Expert #1" post
I thought you're outlook on death is very interesting. You've accepted death yet you'd rather not think or talk about it and let nature take its course. This seems to be the outlook of most people but I find it interesting people think of it as an avoidable topic. I think that you could have expanded on that idea because it is a common is an idea shared by many other people. One thing you could discuss thinking and talking about death personally affects you and why it makes you uncomfortable. I personally believe that over thinking about the topic is what causes all of the negative connotations that go along with it. We instinctively think about how we are supposed to feel because death is always a big deal, but if we gave death less significance, such as something that just occurs naturally, we probably would feel as uncomfortable about it.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
HW 21 - Expert #1
I was not there the day of so the list is derived from Michelle in section 4 (http://michelle-normalisweird.blogspot.com/):
- Most men don’t get medical attention right away because they are in denial at first.
- Wanting to seem invincible: that death will never “catch” us and to continue to be positive until the end.
- Movies don’t show the reality of how a disease or cancer can affect the patient
- Remember to do nice things to people even those who you’ve never met because you will never be able to once you die and can sometimes regret leaving unfinished business with those close to you.
- The best times of the 26 years of marriage were weirdly the ones spent when he was sick because did not have to focus on anything but her husband.
- Was to be paralyzed all he said was “ If I can still move my hands and paint than I’ll be alright.” (Art was his passion, this was his way to me of leaving an imprint in the world)
- TIME; something one shouldn’t waste especially on silly things (when one is a teenager we can do this) and spend it more on the important and fulfilling moments in life.
- Keeping it “human” as possible was important; making sure people saw him as a real person, a husband, and a father not as cancer.
- Went to Buddhist monk and he told her the signs to know when it was coming; one was pushing his hands out as if he were pushing away death and he did! (During the final weeks)
- Stillness that was felt in the room and in his body was indescribable when he died.
I also believe that Hollywood portrays illness and dying in a very bland way. Based on all of the movies I've seen, the patients that are going through the process of dying all have the same response of acceptance toward it. The movies make everything very one tone and create the same old character who believes its their time to go and doesn't want anyone to be sad about it. This character has always been admirable, but not every one who is dying has the same thought process. In fact, I'm sure everyone reacts differently when, and if, they go through it themselves. It makes sense that Hollywood portrays this character repeatedly because they give a positive perspective. Though it is unrealistic, it is inspiring.
In regard to the sixth and seventh point, I think it proves how through death and weakness, our appreciation for the things we love grows and overshadows everything else that used to upset us. Knowing that you might never paint again makes you realize how much you really loved to do it and realizing that you have a limited time with the people closest to you makes you appreciate them being around more. This is true at least for the people lucky enough to have loved ones and passions. It makes me wonder what runs through the minds of those who are sick or dying that spent their whole life doing a job they hated? How do you feel when you have a distant family that doesn't care whether you're dead or not? Also, how would it feel to have to visit a family member you were never fond of while they are sick or dying? I don't think I'll ever have to be put in such tough situations because I have a very tight knit family, but I truly feel bad for the people who do and I acknowledge that they are out there.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
HW 19 - Family Perspectives on Illness & Dying
My family has two sides that have conflicting ideas about illness and dying. My mother did the majority of raising me so her incite on health care was the most influential to me. She never talked to me about illness and dying because, although it is a very important topic, it is considered morbid. But she made it clear that being sick or injured was not something I wanted to experience. I believe that her lack of enlightenment was due to me never having been severely injured or ill. Why discuss something you don't necessarily want to think about when it isn't happening? In terms of common illnesses my mother has a very mainstream approach. In our society, the norm is to take pills or shots to cure whatever harms us. The only thing my mother has always been strongly against, although they are very popular in this country, are prevention drugs. She always thought they were gratuitous because the shots and pills they give you to prevent this worse disease has side effects of their own. It's not worth it to harm your body in hopes to prevent a sickness that you were not guaranteed on getting in the first place. For example, I have never gotten a Flu shot and I have also never gotten the flu.
My father had very different views on the topic. He is very into holistic methods to stay healthy and it has worked for him because he rarely gets sick. I remember him telling my once when I was younger that he hadn't even had a common cold in 5 years to prove that he is very good at maintaining his health. He told me that if I came to him about being sick he would first ask of my symptoms, then he would call his close friend, my "uncle" Ike who is a doctor, to tell him how serious the problem is. If he felt he could treat it himself then he would, but if he had no clue, then he would have to take me to the hospital. His approach to sickness was definitely derived from his family's. His mother never gave him pills or allowed him to have any vaccinations and she usually had an herbal method to heal him. He stated that he had never been to the hospital (like me) and that he was raised on health food so he was always in a pretty healthy state.
When I brought up death and dying my dad somewhat froze up. He was very uncomfortable discussing this topic because it was one he usually avoided. No one really close to him has died before (this is also true for me). He even admitted to being afraid of funerals. It was a topic he didn't really have to deal with so he never thought about it deeply but he pointed out that in the Rastafarian community, death was never focused on.
Both my parents had different perspectives but they did share some common ground as well. They both believed that in severe cases, hospitals were necessary. They also thought of death as a negative topic that shouldn't be discussed. A common theme I've noticed during this unit is that everyone believes that the ill and the dying should be taken care of by another person because they are in a weaker state. My discussion with both of my parents continued to prove this generalization true.It makes complete sense to reach out for other peoples help while they are weak, but what happens if you are in a situation where everyone is sick and no one can help the other? Or if you are sick and alone? Shouldn't we have an idea of how to treat ourselves? Is this only true of our society? I should have asked these questions of my parents but I never did, sadly. It seems as if this system of helping the weak works well in our society though.
My father had very different views on the topic. He is very into holistic methods to stay healthy and it has worked for him because he rarely gets sick. I remember him telling my once when I was younger that he hadn't even had a common cold in 5 years to prove that he is very good at maintaining his health. He told me that if I came to him about being sick he would first ask of my symptoms, then he would call his close friend, my "uncle" Ike who is a doctor, to tell him how serious the problem is. If he felt he could treat it himself then he would, but if he had no clue, then he would have to take me to the hospital. His approach to sickness was definitely derived from his family's. His mother never gave him pills or allowed him to have any vaccinations and she usually had an herbal method to heal him. He stated that he had never been to the hospital (like me) and that he was raised on health food so he was always in a pretty healthy state.
When I brought up death and dying my dad somewhat froze up. He was very uncomfortable discussing this topic because it was one he usually avoided. No one really close to him has died before (this is also true for me). He even admitted to being afraid of funerals. It was a topic he didn't really have to deal with so he never thought about it deeply but he pointed out that in the Rastafarian community, death was never focused on.
Both my parents had different perspectives but they did share some common ground as well. They both believed that in severe cases, hospitals were necessary. They also thought of death as a negative topic that shouldn't be discussed. A common theme I've noticed during this unit is that everyone believes that the ill and the dying should be taken care of by another person because they are in a weaker state. My discussion with both of my parents continued to prove this generalization true.It makes complete sense to reach out for other peoples help while they are weak, but what happens if you are in a situation where everyone is sick and no one can help the other? Or if you are sick and alone? Shouldn't we have an idea of how to treat ourselves? Is this only true of our society? I should have asked these questions of my parents but I never did, sadly. It seems as if this system of helping the weak works well in our society though.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
HW 18 - Health & Illness & Feasting
This break offered me a very clear perspective of the ideas discussed in class. My family and family friends all gathered at my grandmothers house to celebrate the holiday. My grandmother worked really hard preparing the Thanksgiving meal and all she asked of us in return was to dress up nicely. One of my grandmothers friends had a history of eating for comfort and pleasure. This habit made her so overweight that she had to get a surgery to shrink her stomach. As a result of this surgery, she has to eat very small meals frequently, so at the dinner table she took a lot of eating breaks.
After the Thanksgiving feast, everyone seemed to have the same stuffed feeling. We were all very tired and continued to sit at the dinner table for another hour or so. Afterword, our family split up the girls from the boys and the boys went to watch sports while the girls went to watch movies. The rest of my break was very similar to this, I stared at screens all day, ate, and made close to no physical movement. I was in a very anti-body mindset because I felt like there was nothing better to do.
I was not around when this happened, but apparently my little brother got very sick after our Thanksgiving meal. He threw up four times. I found out about this from eavesdropping on my parents conversation about what may have caused my brothers sickness. My mom concluded that it must be the ham because it was the one thing my grandmother did not cook. It is very easy to connect sickness to food but it is not always the leading cause. I felt that if one out of nine people got sick then it might not be the hams doing.
After the Thanksgiving feast, everyone seemed to have the same stuffed feeling. We were all very tired and continued to sit at the dinner table for another hour or so. Afterword, our family split up the girls from the boys and the boys went to watch sports while the girls went to watch movies. The rest of my break was very similar to this, I stared at screens all day, ate, and made close to no physical movement. I was in a very anti-body mindset because I felt like there was nothing better to do.
I was not around when this happened, but apparently my little brother got very sick after our Thanksgiving meal. He threw up four times. I found out about this from eavesdropping on my parents conversation about what may have caused my brothers sickness. My mom concluded that it must be the ham because it was the one thing my grandmother did not cook. It is very easy to connect sickness to food but it is not always the leading cause. I felt that if one out of nine people got sick then it might not be the hams doing.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
HW 17 - First Thoughts on the Illness & Dying Unit
I have very little personal experience with illness and dying because my family and I have always been healthy. I've only been to the hospital once apart from when I was born, and that was because I had a minor ear infection. No one I've been really close to has died, which makes me feel lucky but I know that when this occurs it will only hurt me more because I'd be closer to them. I have friends who have had their close relatives die and it seemed to have really upset them and although I had empathy, I couldn't imagine what was going through their heads and how they were able to handle it.
Illness and Dying on a personal level is a topic that is avoided because no one want to think about themselves or their loved ones being sick or dead. On the other hand, causes of illness and death are popular topics because everyone wants to avoid them to live longer. I believe our society views illness and death a negative topic when they are actually pretty inevitable. The norm is to send someone to the hospital when they are sick or dying because there are trained professionals waiting to help them.
This topic raises a lot of questions for me and makes me wonder why everyone doesn't have the basic knowledge of taking care of an ill person because it seems to be a crucial skill. Also, if everyone different, how effective is it to have general idea of how to heal them. How often does a doctors treatment actually do the patient more harm?
Illness and Dying on a personal level is a topic that is avoided because no one want to think about themselves or their loved ones being sick or dead. On the other hand, causes of illness and death are popular topics because everyone wants to avoid them to live longer. I believe our society views illness and death a negative topic when they are actually pretty inevitable. The norm is to send someone to the hospital when they are sick or dying because there are trained professionals waiting to help them.
This topic raises a lot of questions for me and makes me wonder why everyone doesn't have the basic knowledge of taking care of an ill person because it seems to be a crucial skill. Also, if everyone different, how effective is it to have general idea of how to heal them. How often does a doctors treatment actually do the patient more harm?
Saturday, October 30, 2010
HW 12 - Final Food Project 2 - Outline
Thesis: The nightmarish effects of the industrial revolution have been widely overlooked and excepted due to the dominant social practices making life easier and more convenient for most Americans.
Major Claim- Americans continue to go to ignore the negative impact of the food industry by going to fast food restaurants and grocery stores because it is convenient and the social norm in the country.
Major Claim- Americans continue to go to ignore the negative impact of the food industry by going to fast food restaurants and grocery stores because it is convenient and the social norm in the country.
HW 11 - Final Food Project 1
For this project, I chose to take an activist stance because learning about the corruption of the fast food industry made me extremely disheartened. What made me the most upset was that those who were in poverty do not have an option and were limited to these foods that they can afford. I thought about the strength of numbers and how if everyone who could afford to stopped eating fast food in hopes to better the ingredients used, the decrease in profit would be so massive that food cooperations would be forced to make the changes to make an income.
This sounded like the perfect solution; a strike! My intention wasn't really to illuminate these corporations, which I know I couldn't have possibly done, but they were to better the ingredients so that those in poverty didn't have to subject themselves to such rubbish. But I had one major problem, how do I accumulate such a large amount of people to be apart of this "movement"?
I turned to social networking because I knew how effective it could actually be. In fact, I personally knew of a girl who made it on the New York Times because of a Facebook group she made to convince her parents to un-ground her. I figured that if they got so much popularity off of her Facebook group, which was frankly insignificant, then maybe I could actually receive as much popularity and support for making a page that matters.
So with bright eyes and an overly optimistic attitude, I created a Facebook event named "NO FAST FOOD FOR A WEEK". I made this group for such a limited time because I knew that it would be a struggle for some people to give up Fast food completely. I invited friends and told friends to invite their friends and so on. I spoke to friends personally to persuade them to join or to at least tell someone about it. I even promoted the event on other social networks including my Tumblr blog where I asked followers to please join and reblog the advertisement. I reached out to other Tumblr bloggers with a lot more followers than me to do the same as well. I admit, I probably could have done more to get the word out there but I do believe I put a significant amount of effort into this group.
Once the seeds were all planted, I patiently waited for the whole thing to come together, make it on the New York times and change America (or at least raise more concern about the topic in America) forever. I checked the group constantly seeing how many people were apart of this movement. It turned out that the amount of people "attending" were only 10 more than the When I logged on to my Facebook about two days after I made the group I get a notification regarding it. Once I go and check it, I see a wall post stating "Fuck this". I was a little taken back but I immediately deleted the wall post.It seemed to be to late though because the amount of people not attending started to surpass the amount of people who were.
I got more and more criticism about the group from people who either didn't care, loved fast food, or were upset with my way of going about protesting. I believe that most people from SOF thought I was just doing this for Andy's class to get a good grade, but the truth is I actually did care. But in retrospect, I felt really moronic to believe that making a Facebook group that only made people change for a week was going to do anything. I had to take into account that people are realists (which I am clearly not) and also that not everyone knew as much about the Fast food industry as I did. I also did not give myself nearly enough time to properly promote this "strike". It brought me to tears once I realized I alone can not make such a positive impact on this country but for the approximately 150 that did join the group, I was glad that I could make a little speck of difference in their lives. Maybe those who will avoid fast food this upcoming week will discover new places to eat that they really enjoy.
This sounded like the perfect solution; a strike! My intention wasn't really to illuminate these corporations, which I know I couldn't have possibly done, but they were to better the ingredients so that those in poverty didn't have to subject themselves to such rubbish. But I had one major problem, how do I accumulate such a large amount of people to be apart of this "movement"?
I turned to social networking because I knew how effective it could actually be. In fact, I personally knew of a girl who made it on the New York Times because of a Facebook group she made to convince her parents to un-ground her. I figured that if they got so much popularity off of her Facebook group, which was frankly insignificant, then maybe I could actually receive as much popularity and support for making a page that matters.
So with bright eyes and an overly optimistic attitude, I created a Facebook event named "NO FAST FOOD FOR A WEEK". I made this group for such a limited time because I knew that it would be a struggle for some people to give up Fast food completely. I invited friends and told friends to invite their friends and so on. I spoke to friends personally to persuade them to join or to at least tell someone about it. I even promoted the event on other social networks including my Tumblr blog where I asked followers to please join and reblog the advertisement. I reached out to other Tumblr bloggers with a lot more followers than me to do the same as well. I admit, I probably could have done more to get the word out there but I do believe I put a significant amount of effort into this group.
Once the seeds were all planted, I patiently waited for the whole thing to come together, make it on the New York times and change America (or at least raise more concern about the topic in America) forever. I checked the group constantly seeing how many people were apart of this movement. It turned out that the amount of people "attending" were only 10 more than the When I logged on to my Facebook about two days after I made the group I get a notification regarding it. Once I go and check it, I see a wall post stating "Fuck this". I was a little taken back but I immediately deleted the wall post.It seemed to be to late though because the amount of people not attending started to surpass the amount of people who were.
I got more and more criticism about the group from people who either didn't care, loved fast food, or were upset with my way of going about protesting. I believe that most people from SOF thought I was just doing this for Andy's class to get a good grade, but the truth is I actually did care. But in retrospect, I felt really moronic to believe that making a Facebook group that only made people change for a week was going to do anything. I had to take into account that people are realists (which I am clearly not) and also that not everyone knew as much about the Fast food industry as I did. I also did not give myself nearly enough time to properly promote this "strike". It brought me to tears once I realized I alone can not make such a positive impact on this country but for the approximately 150 that did join the group, I was glad that I could make a little speck of difference in their lives. Maybe those who will avoid fast food this upcoming week will discover new places to eat that they really enjoy.
Monday, October 25, 2010
HW 10 - Food, Inc. Response
#1-
Our purpose in making this movie was to remove the curtain that is shielding us from learning what is actually in our food. Industrial food companies put up this veil because they know if consumers knew what was in the food they were purchasing, they probably wouldn't want to buy it. Most of the food American’s buy in grocery stores have been processed with chemicals, pesticides or have been genetically modified. They also abuse the animals that are used with unfair living conditions and unfit diets. This movie shows all of this corruption that happens behind the scenes of the food industry and contrasts it with local and completely organic farms as well as huge organic companies. The dramatic changes made to agriculture in the passed 50 years has only caused economic, environmental, and physical health struggles but when it comes down to it, we have the power to change all of this. The consumers as a whole have the authority to demand change because the food industry has to supply our needs if they are looking for a profit.
#2-
I believe that this movie and the book “Omnivore’s Dilemma” by Michael Pollan offered very different things. The movie informed me more about the governments influence on modern Agriculture. Because the food industry pulls in so much money, it seems like the government stands out of its way. In fact, they support these major food companies despite the major health concerns regarding some of their product. The government does this by creating the FDA, which agrees to conceal where food was made and how it is made for these companies sake. Major food corporations’ even abuse the law making it illegal to criticize their food.
The book on the other hand offers more first hand experiences from the author. Pollan shares many facts about the food industry but he also shares his reactions to many different types of food, and his encounters with farmers who raise and grow food for a living. He also puts himself in the shoes of an actual hunter gather which is important for him to do because he argues that agriculture was the downfall that led to the food industry.
#3-
I know that one of the main reasons why people in America get sick is because of what we eat. A government that doesn’t immediately ban a food product that causes death is not a government I think I can look up too. Obesity is a clear epidemic in this country and what these corporations argue is that it is the nations choice to eat how they do. This is true for some people but for those who can’t afford healthier food, there is no alternative but to starve. It isn’t fair that the poor who cant afford any better get sick and on top of that have to pay so many hospital bills and get poorer. It is a vicious cycle. But if the nation changed its food ways, would this cycle be ended? Would it be possible to have free health care in this country if eventually there were a drastic decrease in the amount of sick people? It seems as if everything revolves around the food we chose to eat and if we make positive changes then there would be a chain reaction of progression in other aspects such as the environment, the economy and our health.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Hw 7d- Reading Response
Chapter 17-
The reason behind the increase of vegetarianism is due to more and more people who are discontent with animal treatment and slaughtering of animals. People argue that cruelty to animals is just as bad as cruelty to humans and in a society where people are more open minded about equality, this might actually the case. I became a vegetarian myself to gain perspective on the issue and not have a biased point of view.
Gems-
"The industrial animal factory offers a nightmarish glimpse of what capitalism is capable of in the absence of any moral or regulatory constraint whatsoever." (Pollan 318)
"Vegetarianism doesn't seem an unreasonable response to the existence of such an evil" (Pollan 319)
My thoughts-
Many vegetarians believe that cruelty to animals is just as harmful as cruelty to humans. The thing that separates us the most is our language beerier but just because an animal cannot communicate their feelings to us does not mean that those feelings do not exist. We both have the ability to feel pain and are inclined to avoid it. I understand all of this but I do not agree that humans and animals should be considered as equals. I am a meat-eater and I believe that slaughtering animals for food is justified if the animals were raised freely and naturally which is an opinion shared by the author.
Chapter 18-
My first experience hunting by myself put me in an altered state where I was very alert and aware of my surroundings which grew my respect for nature and the animals I was hunting. I then went hunting with Angelo and his three friends and there I was more successful. The first opportunity I had I took advantage of. I shoot a pig and the first time I missed but that was due to my lack of experience with firearms. On my second try, I killed the pig which led to the next step of "dressing" the pig which I found very disturbing.
Gems-
"If for me this venture was about taking ultimate responsibility for the animals I eat, their deaths included, well, I hadn’t done that yet, had I?” (Pollan 349)
" The one emotion I expected to feel but did not, inexplicably, was remorse, or even ambivalence. All that would come later, but now, I'm slightly embarrassed to admit, I felt absolutely terrific."(Pollan 353)
My thoughts-
I believe that hunting should not receive as much disrespect because it removes the shield made by corporations to hide where our meat comes from. Meat has been slaughtered one way or another and I don't think hunters should be looked down upon for mimicking the actions of people before agriculture was popularized. Meat eaters would rather not think about the the death of the animals they are eating because it makes them feel vicious. To refer to the quote summarizing Pollan's initial reaction to hunting, I believe the reason why he felt "terrific" afterword was due to humans instinctively being hunter gatherers. Therefore, our minds are programed to feel accomplished when we capture prey.
Chapter 20-
I set a goal to prepare the ideal meal, including meat, vegetables, and fungi, for my 10 additional friends and I. I made a list of rigorous rules that I had to follow in making this meal, which I either ended up breaking or feeling large amounts of pressure from the tedious and even life threatening work. So I asked myself, why am I putting myself through so much to make this meal and why was I so ambitious? I started to realize that the meal I was making meant more than I thought it had; it was actually my token of appreciation to all of those who educated me about my food ways. The more effort I put into making the food the more it will mean to the people I eat it with.
Gems-
"No, little if anything about this meal was what anyone would call 'realistic'. And yet no meal I've ever prepared or eaten has been more real" (Pollan 392).
"It's impossible to prepare and eat a meal quite so physically, intellectually, and emotionally costly without thinking about the incalculably larger debts we incur when we eat industrially"(Pollan 410)
My thoughts- I really respect Pollanthan they would if they were just ordered in. The food has more purpose that way and has a spiritual connection as well. Eating food surrounded by the people you love the most sends positive vibes throughout. For example, my grandmother's Christmas ham tasted a lot better when I ate it on Christmas night with my family than it did the next afternoon for lunch by myself.
The reason behind the increase of vegetarianism is due to more and more people who are discontent with animal treatment and slaughtering of animals. People argue that cruelty to animals is just as bad as cruelty to humans and in a society where people are more open minded about equality, this might actually the case. I became a vegetarian myself to gain perspective on the issue and not have a biased point of view.
Gems-
"The industrial animal factory offers a nightmarish glimpse of what capitalism is capable of in the absence of any moral or regulatory constraint whatsoever." (Pollan 318)
"Vegetarianism doesn't seem an unreasonable response to the existence of such an evil" (Pollan 319)
My thoughts-
Many vegetarians believe that cruelty to animals is just as harmful as cruelty to humans. The thing that separates us the most is our language beerier but just because an animal cannot communicate their feelings to us does not mean that those feelings do not exist. We both have the ability to feel pain and are inclined to avoid it. I understand all of this but I do not agree that humans and animals should be considered as equals. I am a meat-eater and I believe that slaughtering animals for food is justified if the animals were raised freely and naturally which is an opinion shared by the author.
Chapter 18-
My first experience hunting by myself put me in an altered state where I was very alert and aware of my surroundings which grew my respect for nature and the animals I was hunting. I then went hunting with Angelo and his three friends and there I was more successful. The first opportunity I had I took advantage of. I shoot a pig and the first time I missed but that was due to my lack of experience with firearms. On my second try, I killed the pig which led to the next step of "dressing" the pig which I found very disturbing.
Gems-
"If for me this venture was about taking ultimate responsibility for the animals I eat, their deaths included, well, I hadn’t done that yet, had I?” (Pollan 349)
" The one emotion I expected to feel but did not, inexplicably, was remorse, or even ambivalence. All that would come later, but now, I'm slightly embarrassed to admit, I felt absolutely terrific."(Pollan 353)
My thoughts-
I believe that hunting should not receive as much disrespect because it removes the shield made by corporations to hide where our meat comes from. Meat has been slaughtered one way or another and I don't think hunters should be looked down upon for mimicking the actions of people before agriculture was popularized. Meat eaters would rather not think about the the death of the animals they are eating because it makes them feel vicious. To refer to the quote summarizing Pollan's initial reaction to hunting, I believe the reason why he felt "terrific" afterword was due to humans instinctively being hunter gatherers. Therefore, our minds are programed to feel accomplished when we capture prey.
Chapter 19-
Mushrooms are a very strange and unpredictable organism so you could imagine the anxiety I had while foraging for them myself. The fungi varies from poisonous to hallucinogenic and they are easily concealed in their natural habitat of the forest. Although mushrooms are such an erratic growth, they are still popular and are one of the only food products that are still grown naturally in the mainstream food industry.
Gems-
“The field guides contain our culture’s accumulated wisdom on the subject of mushrooms. Curiously, though, the process of imparting and absorbing this life-and-death information works much better in person than it does on paper, whether through writing or even photography.”(Pollan 372)
"It was such a feeling of empowerment, to feed yourself by figuring out the puzzle of nature" (Pollan 380)
My thoughts-
Its good that there are some foods that I could eat without worrying about corruption of the food industry. It makes me wonder though. Why not try and industrialize mushrooms too? I'm sure some do, but if most food cooperation's found it unnecessary then why not do this with other products?
Chapter 20-
I set a goal to prepare the ideal meal, including meat, vegetables, and fungi, for my 10 additional friends and I. I made a list of rigorous rules that I had to follow in making this meal, which I either ended up breaking or feeling large amounts of pressure from the tedious and even life threatening work. So I asked myself, why am I putting myself through so much to make this meal and why was I so ambitious? I started to realize that the meal I was making meant more than I thought it had; it was actually my token of appreciation to all of those who educated me about my food ways. The more effort I put into making the food the more it will mean to the people I eat it with.
Gems-
"No, little if anything about this meal was what anyone would call 'realistic'. And yet no meal I've ever prepared or eaten has been more real" (Pollan 392).
"It's impossible to prepare and eat a meal quite so physically, intellectually, and emotionally costly without thinking about the incalculably larger debts we incur when we eat industrially"(Pollan 410)
My thoughts- I really respect Pollanthan they would if they were just ordered in. The food has more purpose that way and has a spiritual connection as well. Eating food surrounded by the people you love the most sends positive vibes throughout. For example, my grandmother's Christmas ham tasted a lot better when I ate it on Christmas night with my family than it did the next afternoon for lunch by myself.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Hw 7c- Reading Response
Chapter 11-
Joel Salatin farm is self-functioning due to his little interference with the natural arrangement of his farm. The animals and plants all work with each other, like they are mentally and physically engineered to do. By letting his farm run uncultivated, it allows an increase in efficiency because these organisms are genetically inclined to work the way they do. This is better than forcing efficiency on the creatures from "refining" because it goes against natural which ultimately causes a downfall.
Gems-
"But in a biological system you can never do just one thing, and I couldn't add many more chickens without messing up something else" (Pollan pg. 213).
“By contrast, the efficiencies of natural systems flow from complexity and interdependence-by definition the very opposite of simplification...To measure the efficiency of such a complex system you need to count not only all the products it produces but also all the costs it eliminates: antibiotics, warmers, pesticides, and fertilizers.”(Pollan pg. 214).
“Relations are what matters most, and the health of the cultivated turns on the health of the wild.” (Pollan pg. 225).
My thoughts-
Joel understands that everything has an effect and an outcome. I understand that most farms aren't self ran like Salatin's, but they are working for larger corporations and they are the ones who set these rules. Why aren't they aware of the outcome of their cheaper methods? If they are aware why don't they care? Why doesn't it effect them?
Chapter 12-
Unfortunately, animal slaughter is apart of the farming process and is something Salatin has to do. The USDA prevents him from slaughtering cows and pigs, and even though they are against the way he slaughters his chickens, there are no rules prohibiting it. Although I considered slaughtering chickens brutal, I contributed to the process because I am a meat eater and it is necessary to participate and kill chickens if I am going to eat them. Salatin on the other hand enjoys slaughtering because he has more piece of mind killing chickens himself rather than sending them away to be processed industrially.
Gems-
"We do not allow the government to dictate what religion you can observe, so why should we allow them to dictate what food we buy?" (Pollan pg. 236)
"It was hard to watch. I told myself the spasms were involuntary, and they probably were, I told myself that the birds waiting their turn appeared to have no idea what was going on in the cone next to them. I told myself that their suffering, once their throats were slit , was brief." (Pollan pg. 231)
My thoughts-
I really respect Pollan for killing those chickens because it is important as a meat eater to experience what goes behind the meat you eat. If the opportunity ever presents itself, I believe I should contribute too because I definitely love eating meat.
Chapter 13-
Salatin's food cost more than industrial food does but this is because the food quality is better. The reason why local farmers like Salatin aren't as popular is because the industrial food industry is based on convenience and lower prices so food quality isn't really payed attention to. The polyface farm sells its meat to local markets rather than shipping it around the country like industrial food is delivered. A lot of energy is taken to industrialize food and ship it out across the nation it is a fact that is overlooked.
Gems-
"So it makes evolutionary sense that pastured meats, the nutritional profile of which closely resembles that of wild game, would be better for us." (Pollan pg.267)
My thoughts-
I don't get it. Food is industrialized, packaged, and shipped around the country to lower prices and add convenience but in a way, convenience has decreased. To my it makes more sense to have several local farmers rather than several super markets. It seems like a lot of energy is being put into lower quality food which blows my mind! Not only are we affecting our bodies health but we are also damaging the health of the planet. And for what? A quick buck for corporations and the appeal of having all our food in one place for consumers.
Chapter 14-
At my last week at the Polyface farm, I cooked a meal for Joel and his family using only food from the farm. I made two slow roasted chickens, cooked corn, a salad, and a souffle. The meal was very good and the chickens from the farm had added omega-3 and vitamin E so the meal was more nutritious.
Gems-
"When chickens get to live like chickens, they'll taste like chickens, too" (Pollan pg. 270).
My thoughts-
Quality food has a spirit to it and makes you feel a certain way. Sometimes after eating very good food, I am put in a certain mood lively mood. I get the opposite feeling from eating food like McDonald's. Although I grew up loving McDonald's, I feel heavy, tired, sick, and gross after eating it now. And this led me to ask, is the way meat is raised (and processed in most cases) affect the feeling you have after you eat it? Maybe the author was happy after eating an organically grown chicken because the chicken was raised happily and freely!
Chapter 15-
The next step in my journey of understand food was to hunt and gather it myself. Like the vast majority of the nation, I too was raised on the industrial food chain so I felt uncomfortable adjusting to foraging food in the forest. Thankfully my friend Angelo put me through a hunter education coarse to help with my lack of preparation. Although I was having trouble adapting to the gathering my own food from the wild, I did gain a respect for nature through this experience.
Gems-
"... it's hard to explain why humans would have ever traded such a healthy and comparatively pleasant way of life for backbreaking, monotonous work of agriculture." (Pollan pg. 279)
"....hunting and gathering (and growing) a meal would perforce teach me things about the ecology and ethics of eating that I could not get in a supermarket or fast-food chain or even on a farm" (Pollan pg.280)
My thoughts-
How would life be different if agriculture never became popular and the most dominant resource for food? It makes me questions how much does food really effect? Has agriculture made us more or less civilized?
Chapter 16-
Humans do not only eat to gain energy but we eat for satisfaction, comfort and to experience culture. This is due to the fact that our minds are relatively larger than our stomachs. We judge food based on how familiar we are with it and how our taste buds react to it. As omnivores, we are able to eat a variety of things which leads to the separation of good food and bad food and ultimately begs the question, "what should I eat?"
Gems-
But rats and humans require a wider range of nutrients and so must eat a wider range of foods, some of them questionable. Whenever they encounter a potential new food they find themselves torn between two conflicting emotions unknown to the specialist eater, each with its own biological rationale: neophobia, a sensible fear of ingesting anything new, and neophilia, a risky but necessary openness of new tastes" (Pollan pg. 288)
My thoughts-
I find it interesting that rats share the same approach to food as we do. We apparently eat "with our brains" which is something that rats do as well. I like the fact that we are able to enjoy and adapt to many different foods and I believe if that weren't the case, food processing would be even more popularized. What would be the need for any real food if we aren't searching for the pleasurable benefit? We could be fed industrialized, bland slop for breakfast lunch and dinner with artificial nutrients and not have anything to complain about, because in that case food would be more of a necessity and what ever gives us energy, we will take.
Joel Salatin farm is self-functioning due to his little interference with the natural arrangement of his farm. The animals and plants all work with each other, like they are mentally and physically engineered to do. By letting his farm run uncultivated, it allows an increase in efficiency because these organisms are genetically inclined to work the way they do. This is better than forcing efficiency on the creatures from "refining" because it goes against natural which ultimately causes a downfall.
Gems-
"But in a biological system you can never do just one thing, and I couldn't add many more chickens without messing up something else" (Pollan pg. 213).
“By contrast, the efficiencies of natural systems flow from complexity and interdependence-by definition the very opposite of simplification...To measure the efficiency of such a complex system you need to count not only all the products it produces but also all the costs it eliminates: antibiotics, warmers, pesticides, and fertilizers.”(Pollan pg. 214).
“Relations are what matters most, and the health of the cultivated turns on the health of the wild.” (Pollan pg. 225).
My thoughts-
Joel understands that everything has an effect and an outcome. I understand that most farms aren't self ran like Salatin's, but they are working for larger corporations and they are the ones who set these rules. Why aren't they aware of the outcome of their cheaper methods? If they are aware why don't they care? Why doesn't it effect them?
Chapter 12-
Unfortunately, animal slaughter is apart of the farming process and is something Salatin has to do. The USDA prevents him from slaughtering cows and pigs, and even though they are against the way he slaughters his chickens, there are no rules prohibiting it. Although I considered slaughtering chickens brutal, I contributed to the process because I am a meat eater and it is necessary to participate and kill chickens if I am going to eat them. Salatin on the other hand enjoys slaughtering because he has more piece of mind killing chickens himself rather than sending them away to be processed industrially.
Gems-
"We do not allow the government to dictate what religion you can observe, so why should we allow them to dictate what food we buy?" (Pollan pg. 236)
"It was hard to watch. I told myself the spasms were involuntary, and they probably were, I told myself that the birds waiting their turn appeared to have no idea what was going on in the cone next to them. I told myself that their suffering, once their throats were slit , was brief." (Pollan pg. 231)
My thoughts-
I really respect Pollan for killing those chickens because it is important as a meat eater to experience what goes behind the meat you eat. If the opportunity ever presents itself, I believe I should contribute too because I definitely love eating meat.
Chapter 13-
Salatin's food cost more than industrial food does but this is because the food quality is better. The reason why local farmers like Salatin aren't as popular is because the industrial food industry is based on convenience and lower prices so food quality isn't really payed attention to. The polyface farm sells its meat to local markets rather than shipping it around the country like industrial food is delivered. A lot of energy is taken to industrialize food and ship it out across the nation it is a fact that is overlooked.
Gems-
"So it makes evolutionary sense that pastured meats, the nutritional profile of which closely resembles that of wild game, would be better for us." (Pollan pg.267)
My thoughts-
I don't get it. Food is industrialized, packaged, and shipped around the country to lower prices and add convenience but in a way, convenience has decreased. To my it makes more sense to have several local farmers rather than several super markets. It seems like a lot of energy is being put into lower quality food which blows my mind! Not only are we affecting our bodies health but we are also damaging the health of the planet. And for what? A quick buck for corporations and the appeal of having all our food in one place for consumers.
Chapter 14-
At my last week at the Polyface farm, I cooked a meal for Joel and his family using only food from the farm. I made two slow roasted chickens, cooked corn, a salad, and a souffle. The meal was very good and the chickens from the farm had added omega-3 and vitamin E so the meal was more nutritious.
Gems-
"When chickens get to live like chickens, they'll taste like chickens, too" (Pollan pg. 270).
My thoughts-
Quality food has a spirit to it and makes you feel a certain way. Sometimes after eating very good food, I am put in a certain mood lively mood. I get the opposite feeling from eating food like McDonald's. Although I grew up loving McDonald's, I feel heavy, tired, sick, and gross after eating it now. And this led me to ask, is the way meat is raised (and processed in most cases) affect the feeling you have after you eat it? Maybe the author was happy after eating an organically grown chicken because the chicken was raised happily and freely!
Chapter 15-
The next step in my journey of understand food was to hunt and gather it myself. Like the vast majority of the nation, I too was raised on the industrial food chain so I felt uncomfortable adjusting to foraging food in the forest. Thankfully my friend Angelo put me through a hunter education coarse to help with my lack of preparation. Although I was having trouble adapting to the gathering my own food from the wild, I did gain a respect for nature through this experience.
Gems-
"... it's hard to explain why humans would have ever traded such a healthy and comparatively pleasant way of life for backbreaking, monotonous work of agriculture." (Pollan pg. 279)
"....hunting and gathering (and growing) a meal would perforce teach me things about the ecology and ethics of eating that I could not get in a supermarket or fast-food chain or even on a farm" (Pollan pg.280)
My thoughts-
How would life be different if agriculture never became popular and the most dominant resource for food? It makes me questions how much does food really effect? Has agriculture made us more or less civilized?
Chapter 16-
Humans do not only eat to gain energy but we eat for satisfaction, comfort and to experience culture. This is due to the fact that our minds are relatively larger than our stomachs. We judge food based on how familiar we are with it and how our taste buds react to it. As omnivores, we are able to eat a variety of things which leads to the separation of good food and bad food and ultimately begs the question, "what should I eat?"
Gems-
But rats and humans require a wider range of nutrients and so must eat a wider range of foods, some of them questionable. Whenever they encounter a potential new food they find themselves torn between two conflicting emotions unknown to the specialist eater, each with its own biological rationale: neophobia, a sensible fear of ingesting anything new, and neophilia, a risky but necessary openness of new tastes" (Pollan pg. 288)
My thoughts-
I find it interesting that rats share the same approach to food as we do. We apparently eat "with our brains" which is something that rats do as well. I like the fact that we are able to enjoy and adapt to many different foods and I believe if that weren't the case, food processing would be even more popularized. What would be the need for any real food if we aren't searching for the pleasurable benefit? We could be fed industrialized, bland slop for breakfast lunch and dinner with artificial nutrients and not have anything to complain about, because in that case food would be more of a necessity and what ever gives us energy, we will take.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
HW 9 - Freakonomics Response
In Freakonomics, correlation vs. causation is mentioned a lot, but in most cases people who argued both sides had no real resolution in the end. In the first section of the movie where it focused on how names affect a child's life. One person who studied the subject argued that having an "African American" name does not affect the child's life growing up, it is how the child is raised that determines their outcome. Another person who also was studying the subject discreetly disagreed with the other person saying that a person with an "African American" name and a person with a "White" name can have the same qualities and qualifications but they will still be treated differently because of their names. Both cases were expressed with some evidence but there was no solution! I saw the same thing happen in the last section of the movie where they showed examples of how incentives did and didn't work. There was no clear conclusion as to what was really causation and really correlation in the movie. Maybe this was supposed to leave us feeling ambiguous to the topics brought up, or maybe the creators weren't to sure themselves what was really correlation and causation.
Majority of the evidence used in the film was either based on real life examples, personal experience and generalizations. I believe that the least reliable pieces of the evidence was used to prove that abortion possibly led to the decrease in crime rate in the late 80's. Although it was a beautifully put together theory, I believe in that case the movie showed lack of proof. The idea was interesting but was it was based on generalizations saying that most women who want abortions can't take care of a child and that most children raised by mothers who considered abortion will grow up to become criminals. The movie also contrasted this theory with an example of a country where women were forced to become pregnant and their children grew up to become criminals. This example seemed very extreme seeing as no one was forcing women to produce babies before abortion was completely legal in the state of New York. In the end, I didn't think there was enough strong evidence to convince me that this was causation rather than correlation.
I disagree with the statement: Freakonomics serves as an inspiration and good example to our attempt to explore the "hidden-in-plain-sight" weirdness of dominant social practices. This is because the movie's focus wasn't on exposing the strange things we do normally without considering how strange they might be. The movies main goal was showing the importance of incentives and how opportunities/consequences can alter our actions. Although the topics are loosely related, the movie doesn't directly adress what we are trying to do in class.
Majority of the evidence used in the film was either based on real life examples, personal experience and generalizations. I believe that the least reliable pieces of the evidence was used to prove that abortion possibly led to the decrease in crime rate in the late 80's. Although it was a beautifully put together theory, I believe in that case the movie showed lack of proof. The idea was interesting but was it was based on generalizations saying that most women who want abortions can't take care of a child and that most children raised by mothers who considered abortion will grow up to become criminals. The movie also contrasted this theory with an example of a country where women were forced to become pregnant and their children grew up to become criminals. This example seemed very extreme seeing as no one was forcing women to produce babies before abortion was completely legal in the state of New York. In the end, I didn't think there was enough strong evidence to convince me that this was causation rather than correlation.
I disagree with the statement: Freakonomics serves as an inspiration and good example to our attempt to explore the "hidden-in-plain-sight" weirdness of dominant social practices. This is because the movie's focus wasn't on exposing the strange things we do normally without considering how strange they might be. The movies main goal was showing the importance of incentives and how opportunities/consequences can alter our actions. Although the topics are loosely related, the movie doesn't directly adress what we are trying to do in class.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Hw 7b- Reading Response
Chapter 6-
There is a definite correlation between the high amounts of alcoholism during the 19th century and the increase in obesity today. They are both linked to the abundance of cheap corn in America. So much corn is being grown but it is all being used thanks to the invention of super-sizing which is a clever marketing scheme to get Americans to eat more food without feeling gluttonous.
Some gems found in this section of the text-
"Much as today, the astounding productivity of American farmers proved to be their own worst enemy, as well as a threat to public health...Sooner or later, clever marketers will figure out a way to induce the human omnivore to consume the surfeit of cheap calories" (Pollan pg. 101).
"Considering that the human did animal did not taste this particular food until 1980, for HFCS to have become the leading source of sweetness in our diet stands as notable achievement on the part of the corn-refining industry...."(Pollan pg. 103).
"You might think that this growth would have been offset by a decline of sugar consumption, since HFCS often replaces sugar, but that didn't happen: During the same time period our consumption of refined sugar actually went up by five pounds."(Pollan pg. 104).
My thoughts-
Super-sizing has increased the portions that Americans eat regularly and has made us conditioned and used to larger meals although we shouldn't be consuming so many calories so often. A question I have to ask is is it even possible to reverse the effect of super-sizing at this point? Would Americans who have been conditioned all of their lives to eat large portions of processed food ever want to try lowering their meal portions? Is it even healthy to make such a drastic change so radically?
Chapter 7-
The experience from eating fast food brings nostalgia and also a sense of ease. Most of the McDonald's menu is considered comfort food because of the amount of fat in the meal which relieves our stress. The fast food chain offers many different options on the menu including chicken McNuggets, Cheeseburgers and Salads. Even if the meals are eaten together as a family, there is isolation because each individual is indulging in their own meal.
Gems-
"19 percent of American meals are eaten in the car."(Pollan pg. 110).
"The marketers have a term for what a salad or veggie burger does for a fast food chain: 'denying the denier. These menu items hand the child who wants to eat fast food a sharp tool with which to chip away at his parents' objections" (Pollan pg. 110)
My thoughts-
Is the fact that fast food is comforting apart of its appeal? How long does this satisfying and relaxed feeling last after eating fast food? Does the feeling change over time?
Chapter 8-
Many farmers have claimed that their food has been grown and raised organically yet the term has been used very loosely. Joe Salatin on the other hand takes the extra step other famers don't to have a truly organic farm. Grass is the foundation of his farms ecosystem and because cows are not being raised on corn, their excrements are not toxic and are able to be used as manure. Salatin also doesn't condone the use of industrial machinery to grow and raise his food.
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 pg.128).
"...the Western mind can't bear an opt-out option. We're going to have to refight the Battle of the Little Bighorn to preserve the right to opt out, or your grandchildren and mine will have no choice but to eat amalgamated, irradiated, genetically prostituted, barcoded, adulterated fecal spam from the centralized processing conglomerate" (Pollan pg.132).
My thoughts-
Will the need to further process food ever be diminished? I am somewhat afraid of what the future holds in store in terms of food and I want to understand what it will take for the entire country to choose a better path for themselves. It seems that the extremely high rate of obesity in this country has not struck a cord because Fast food still produces the most profitable and rich franchises. The problem is that the food quality has gone down, and will continue to if a change isn't made.
Chapter 9-
The market for organic food has increased due to the people's want to better their diet.The fact that food has a short summary of its background makes buyers feel better because there is a story behind what they are purchasing. This makes label's such as "natural" and "humanly raised" much more successful because consumers are associating what they buy with a happy farm that people could sing about, which makes them feel better about spending the few extra dollars on food. The problem is that some of these labels aren't true and these farms, which they also use industrial machinery, are only portraying an image to increase the value of their food.
Gems-
"We were part of the food industry now," he told me. "But I wanted to leverage that position to redefine the way we grow food--not what people want to eat or how we distribute it." (Pollan pg.133).
"The organic movement, as it was once called, has come a remarkably long way in the last thirty years, to the point where it now looks considerably less like a movement than a big business" (Pollan pg.138).
My thoughts-
It upsets me that money continues to be the center of motivation for cutting corners. If they aren't concerned with decreasing quality or effecting the ecosystem for profit it makes me wonder what they heads of these corporations put in their stomachs? Do they eat their own food?
The other day I saw an example of these labels and how they actually work. My mom brought home four packs of "organically grown beef" and before reading this book I would have been equally content with her choice in meat but after reading this book I had to look for more information. Right underneath the big "organically grown label" was a slightly smaller "corn feed cows" label. From this book I know that cows aren't meant to digest corn and it causes them to produce toxic diarrhea. For most consumers who don't know this fact that label would have flown right over their heads. It also made me question what kind of corn they used to feed the cows, naturally grown or type two corn?
Chapter 10-
Although it is much cheaper to run a farm on corn, Joel Salatin refuses to in hopes of creating his "beyond organic" farm. His farm is strictly based on grass. As Bianca Chu from section one had put it, "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." Though this is true the success of industrial farms far surpasses the success of Salatin's which causes the government give all their financial support to the higher producing farms.
Gems-
"The animals come and go, but the grasses, which directly or indirectly feed all the animals, abide, and the well - being of the farm depends more than anything else on the well - being of its grass." (Pollan pg.187).
"If the sixteen million acres now being used to grow corn to feed cows in the United States became well managed pasture, that would remove fourteen billion pounds of carbon from the atmosphere each year, the equivalent of taking four million cars off the road." (Pollan pg. 198)
My thoughts-
I really admire Salatin's organic farm work but I don't get why there isn't more support from the government! Supporting completely organic food would be a very different shift in American society but maybe a dramatic change will be the only thing to make a significant difference.
There is a definite correlation between the high amounts of alcoholism during the 19th century and the increase in obesity today. They are both linked to the abundance of cheap corn in America. So much corn is being grown but it is all being used thanks to the invention of super-sizing which is a clever marketing scheme to get Americans to eat more food without feeling gluttonous.
Some gems found in this section of the text-
"Much as today, the astounding productivity of American farmers proved to be their own worst enemy, as well as a threat to public health...Sooner or later, clever marketers will figure out a way to induce the human omnivore to consume the surfeit of cheap calories" (Pollan pg. 101).
"Considering that the human did animal did not taste this particular food until 1980, for HFCS to have become the leading source of sweetness in our diet stands as notable achievement on the part of the corn-refining industry...."(Pollan pg. 103).
"You might think that this growth would have been offset by a decline of sugar consumption, since HFCS often replaces sugar, but that didn't happen: During the same time period our consumption of refined sugar actually went up by five pounds."(Pollan pg. 104).
My thoughts-
Super-sizing has increased the portions that Americans eat regularly and has made us conditioned and used to larger meals although we shouldn't be consuming so many calories so often. A question I have to ask is is it even possible to reverse the effect of super-sizing at this point? Would Americans who have been conditioned all of their lives to eat large portions of processed food ever want to try lowering their meal portions? Is it even healthy to make such a drastic change so radically?
Chapter 7-
The experience from eating fast food brings nostalgia and also a sense of ease. Most of the McDonald's menu is considered comfort food because of the amount of fat in the meal which relieves our stress. The fast food chain offers many different options on the menu including chicken McNuggets, Cheeseburgers and Salads. Even if the meals are eaten together as a family, there is isolation because each individual is indulging in their own meal.
Gems-
"19 percent of American meals are eaten in the car."(Pollan pg. 110).
"The marketers have a term for what a salad or veggie burger does for a fast food chain: 'denying the denier. These menu items hand the child who wants to eat fast food a sharp tool with which to chip away at his parents' objections" (Pollan pg. 110)
My thoughts-
Is the fact that fast food is comforting apart of its appeal? How long does this satisfying and relaxed feeling last after eating fast food? Does the feeling change over time?
Chapter 8-
Many farmers have claimed that their food has been grown and raised organically yet the term has been used very loosely. Joe Salatin on the other hand takes the extra step other famers don't to have a truly organic farm. Grass is the foundation of his farms ecosystem and because cows are not being raised on corn, their excrements are not toxic and are able to be used as manure. Salatin also doesn't condone the use of industrial machinery to grow and raise his food.
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 pg.128).
"...the Western mind can't bear an opt-out option. We're going to have to refight the Battle of the Little Bighorn to preserve the right to opt out, or your grandchildren and mine will have no choice but to eat amalgamated, irradiated, genetically prostituted, barcoded, adulterated fecal spam from the centralized processing conglomerate" (Pollan pg.132).
My thoughts-
Will the need to further process food ever be diminished? I am somewhat afraid of what the future holds in store in terms of food and I want to understand what it will take for the entire country to choose a better path for themselves. It seems that the extremely high rate of obesity in this country has not struck a cord because Fast food still produces the most profitable and rich franchises. The problem is that the food quality has gone down, and will continue to if a change isn't made.
Chapter 9-
The market for organic food has increased due to the people's want to better their diet.The fact that food has a short summary of its background makes buyers feel better because there is a story behind what they are purchasing. This makes label's such as "natural" and "humanly raised" much more successful because consumers are associating what they buy with a happy farm that people could sing about, which makes them feel better about spending the few extra dollars on food. The problem is that some of these labels aren't true and these farms, which they also use industrial machinery, are only portraying an image to increase the value of their food.
Gems-
"We were part of the food industry now," he told me. "But I wanted to leverage that position to redefine the way we grow food--not what people want to eat or how we distribute it." (Pollan pg.133).
"The organic movement, as it was once called, has come a remarkably long way in the last thirty years, to the point where it now looks considerably less like a movement than a big business" (Pollan pg.138).
My thoughts-
It upsets me that money continues to be the center of motivation for cutting corners. If they aren't concerned with decreasing quality or effecting the ecosystem for profit it makes me wonder what they heads of these corporations put in their stomachs? Do they eat their own food?
The other day I saw an example of these labels and how they actually work. My mom brought home four packs of "organically grown beef" and before reading this book I would have been equally content with her choice in meat but after reading this book I had to look for more information. Right underneath the big "organically grown label" was a slightly smaller "corn feed cows" label. From this book I know that cows aren't meant to digest corn and it causes them to produce toxic diarrhea. For most consumers who don't know this fact that label would have flown right over their heads. It also made me question what kind of corn they used to feed the cows, naturally grown or type two corn?
Chapter 10-
Although it is much cheaper to run a farm on corn, Joel Salatin refuses to in hopes of creating his "beyond organic" farm. His farm is strictly based on grass. As Bianca Chu from section one had put it, "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." Though this is true the success of industrial farms far surpasses the success of Salatin's which causes the government give all their financial support to the higher producing farms.
Gems-
"The animals come and go, but the grasses, which directly or indirectly feed all the animals, abide, and the well - being of the farm depends more than anything else on the well - being of its grass." (Pollan pg.187).
"If the sixteen million acres now being used to grow corn to feed cows in the United States became well managed pasture, that would remove fourteen billion pounds of carbon from the atmosphere each year, the equivalent of taking four million cars off the road." (Pollan pg. 198)
My thoughts-
I really admire Salatin's organic farm work but I don't get why there isn't more support from the government! Supporting completely organic food would be a very different shift in American society but maybe a dramatic change will be the only thing to make a significant difference.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)