4/13/2010

My group's essay is on agriculture in ancient cultures. Some cultures we decided to research include the Egyptians, Mayans, Aztecs, Incas, and Romans. To start I typed in “Maya” into Griffin and found an E-book, “The Managed Mosaic: Ancient Maya Agriculture,” by Scott L. Fedick. This source talks about traditional Maya agriculture and the different uses and techniques in agriculture. This source stresses the importance of agriculture and goes into depth on the religious aspect of food in ancient Mayan society. The author states “Traditional Maya agriculture was characterized as dependent on long-fallow, slash-and-burn cultivation of maize within an undifferentiated landscape.” Although times have changed, the methods of this ancient community still remain as some of the only agriculture techniques in the American wet tropics. This source could be used for my paper because it urges the importance of maize in society that is comparable with that of today. Maize was held to a high standard religiously, economically, and as part of a daily diet. I can use this information and compare it to Michael Pollan’s chapter on corn in “The Omnivore’s Dilemma.”

Then, thinking of corn, I looked up articles for corn. I found one article from a 2007 report on soil and water management. The frame of the article consisted of objectives, approaches, and accomplishments on how corn is being made into biofuel and how this if affecting America’s corn belt. One objective is to “develop farming systems that permit the removal of biomass for energy production while protecting soil resources.” One approach is to develop completely new strategies in rotation and examine the soil sustainability of corn. One accomplishment includes a cleaner environment and minimizing the CO2. This information is not as relevant as the first source, but it provides a good base for facts about America’s modern techniques in agriculture.

3/30/10

When looking at the prompts for this class, there is usually a minimum source requirement. Back in the beginning of the semester you had a research professional guide us through searching on Griffin and WordCat on the WSU libraries website. This information was useful, however it didn’t stick.

It seems like whenever I try to search for very narrow subjects (for example: Organic food’s effect on race) little to no articles or journals come up. Even after learning the proper uses of “AND” and “OR,” narrow topics like in the essays we are assigned are extremely hard to look for. Because of this, I try to look for books about the broader topic (for example: Organic foods in the last decade). If I cannot find information about the narrower topics I use a lot of Internet sources (web pages, online encyclopedias, company sites) because they are easy to access. Before writing the paper I open a separate Word document and type out the facts I thought we interesting. When writing the paper, I try to place the quotes were I see need extra support or where exact facts are needed. For example: when I talked about class and income in paper 3, I used a quote from the census to support what I was trying to prove.

I should learn more about Griffin and WorldCat because I can’t always rely on book and Internet resources. I should also use the note card method where I write the facts on note card with their sources. I should filter out he pointless filler facts and use only the ones that support the point I am trying to make. I feel that as far as writing papers go, finding legitimate sources is my weakest point. I also think before our next draft for paper three is due, we should have another day to learn about the online library resources.

3/9/2010

This article, by Norman Borlaug, goes along with the positive part of genetically modified foods. In recent news, scientists have made important crops such as "cotton, maize, oilseed rape, soybeans, sugar beet, and wheat" that have immunities to herbicides so cost of crops will decrease and environmental health will increase. Like the hippies did in the video, some may oppose to genetically modifying foods because the whole concept is still foreign. Borlaug is putting things into perspective by thinking of the future. At the rate Earth's population is increasing, it is important to continue making technological advances to keep up with the growing hunger. Because there are so many anti-science eaters in American, scientific advancement is struggling to find funding. People in wealthy places, like the hippies, need to realize the greater good this may have on poorer countries. The author asks, "what would the world be like without the technological advances that have occurred?"

American legislation is trying to correct all the problems that are arising in the environment, pollution, global warming, and world hunger. Reading this and watching the video about how this movement improves life of millions has got me torn. While on the other hand, reading Omnivore's Dilemma makes me want to try to buy all organic foods and advocate against GM foods to save the farmer and the consumer.

3/1/2010

Chapter eighteen was a particularly interesting chapter to me because Pollan starts off talking about the thrill and adrenaline rush of hunting. Being a suburban girl my whole life, I have never gone hunting. The idea probably seems so foreign to me because my food has always bee bought. How can someone get pleasure out of killing an animal? It also was interesting how Pollan made humans sound like an animal, sneeking up on prey and attacking.

Chapter nineteen talked about how we, as humans, gather food. When the author went mushroom picking, he pointed out that the fungi hides and some in the patch may be poisonous, which is why gathering should be rephrased as "hunting." Each and everything we take to eat needs strategy and skill, much like hunting.

Pollan closes the book with chapter 20, titled "The Perfect Meal." The book opened with the question: what is the right thing to eat? By this chapter, Pollan answers his own question. He states that he would cook, hunt, gather everything himself so that every dish on the table would be wholesome and worthwhile. In the end I conclude that Americans should live like the pilgrims, live life around the production of food. However, if everyone did this, it would take days to make and prepare a single meal. Maybe we can't completely separate from the supermarket, maybe we can't to everything ourselves. All we can do is try our best to be independent from the market, and buy organic to help the well being of animals, workers, farmers, and ourselves.

2/23/2010

At the beginning of chapter 16, Pollan explains the "omnivore" part of the Omnivore's Dilemma. He explains how our bodies are made to be omnivorous; every part of our body caders to both meat and plants. He also explains a connection with brain size and food variety in the diet. Since humans have big brains, we get more variety. Koalas have small brains, they are picky eaters. This situation kind of made me think of small children and how picky they are. For example, most children do not like salad or sea food, however most adults enjoy such foods. It seem that as one grows mentally, the eating pallet expands as well.

In chapter 17, Pollan addresses the common American diet fads. This includes vegetarianism which is "finding its way into the cultural mainstream" (pg. 305). We, as humans, are made for eating both meat and plants and have been doing so for tens of thousands of years. Why the sudden change? How is eating meat ethically bad? One quote that stood out was "For at the same time many of us seem eager to extend the circle of our moral consideration to other species, in our factory farms we're inflicting more suffering on more animals than any time in history," (pg 307). By this, the author is explaining the two sides of our country and how they are getting more extreme. While vegetarians strive to save all the animals, the omnivores give into the big companies' animal abuse.

2/16/2010

Reading about the farm in chapter 8, we get to see how the world gives back to each other. In this case, the farmer puts animals on the land so they can eat the grass. From there, compost is made to plant the grass again. By the time the new grass is grown these animals have been slaughtered. This cycle continues to rotate, giving this farm no endpoint. I think it was insightful on how Pollan observed this because that is the whole purpose of life on Earth. Each species, plant or animal or human has a purpose and it creates a cycle.

My favorite quote in chapter 10 was, "All agriculture us at heart a business of capturing free solar energy in a food product that can be turned into high-value human energy." (pg.188) The whole subject surrounding this is that nature gives us sun and food. Now society has put a value on food, but everything is food. To a cow, grass is extremely valuable. To us, however the grass is just seen as a middleman to get our beef. All grass does is feed the cow that gives me food.

2/9/2010

Chapter twelve of the Omnivore's Dilemma centered around the slaughtering process. Pollan described it in disgusting detail, including comments on the smell, sight, and feeling of the meat getting scalded, plucked, and then ripped apart. An interesting quote I picked out from this chapter was, "It could be that [the farmer] finds a certain beauty in that compost pile, or at least in its redemptive promise" (237). By this, Pollan is referring to how meat factories recycle their resources by spreading the compost, made from dead animal parts, to grow grass to feed the new growing animals. Knowing this alone, makes me not want to eat meat again. I never took into consideration how much meat Americans consume and how mass killing of animals is necessary for the production of meat.

Chapter thirteen in the novel describes how the "non barcode people" get their meat. Through "sales at the farm store, farmer's markets, metropolitan clubs and small shops" (240) the consumers prefer small-scale meat because it is hardy, fresh, and clean. The local farms "pile it high and sell it cheap" which keeps customers regular. I have always liked farmers markets, however I appose what the consumers in the book say. Chicken from the back of a truck probably hasn't been pasteurized and cured for the public like the chicken in a grocery store.