HW 26 - Looking back & forward in unit

From this unit i have learned that:

1. There are 50 million americans without health insurance

source: http://sickothemovie.com/checkup/

2. The sicker you become, the less dignity you have

source: Beth, evans mother

3. We as humans take the simple things for granted

source: tuesdays with morrie

4. Canadians live three years longer than americans

source: http://sickothemovie.com/checkup/

The sources that have been the most helpful for me in coming to a deep understanding of our culture's dominant social practices around illness and dying have been Michael Moores documentary: Sicko and evans mother: Beth, speaking on her experiences with illness and dying. These sources have been the most helpful for me because one source was a factual cinematic retelling while the other was a retelling of an actual experience one has had with illness and dying. The two combinations helped me understand how one person handled the situation personally (Beth) While the other helped me understand how all different types of people handle illness and dying.

In the final two weeks of the unit, we should explore the topic/question of how people receive illnesses/how people die (the causes of illness and dying) by possibly watching a documentary/visual representation on that topic

HW 25 - Response to Sicko

1. A one paragraph precis of 125 words or less - Michael Moore's 125 word version of the film, proportional to the film. -

Sicko is a documentary of the american health care system in contrast to the UK, Canada and France. Director Michael Moore examines how the health care system in america got to be the way it is today by using HMO's (Health Maitenence Orginizations) that focus more on profit than the actual concern of the person. He travels to the UK, Canada and France and interviews several people with health care plans on how they live their lives. The film asks how we got here, why we got here and gives a slightly biased look on the american healthcare system.

2. Evidence -

a. Argument: People who have basic health needs are not being attended to

b. 1. 50 million americans live without health insurance

2. The more people that are denied health insurance, the bigger the bonus.

The first piece of evidence is important to supporting Moore's thesis because when a majority of the american population is living without health insurance, this already shows that a majority of people have basic health needs that are not being attended to. The second piece of evidence is important for supporting his thesis because it goes to show that even people with health insurance were denied basic health needs.

c&d. In the CNN article: CNN's Gupta Fact Checks Michael Moore's 'Sicko' by Brad Wilmouth, Dr. Sanjay Gupta states in an interview with Anderson Cooper, Michael Moore and Karen Ignagi that "So Americans do pay more, but the United States also ranks highest in patient satisfaction. And Americans have shorter wait times than everyone but Germans when seeking non-emergency elective procedures like hip replacement, cataract surgery or knee repair". After researching this fact I found that Dr. Sanjay Gupta was partially correct. After researching Gupta's first point about the United States ranking highest in patient satisfaction, i could nowhere find any evidence of this point. Although In an article by Bob Doherty: "the U.S. does better than most on having shorter wait times for diagnostic procedures, elective surgery, and specialty care" (http://getbetterhealth.com/wait-times-for-medical-care-how-the-us-actually-measures-up/2010.02.02)

3. Response -

As a response to the movie, to me the most important excerpts of Sicko were

1. The smoking gun behind Michael Moore's argument, the Nixon tape

2. The interviews of the people who had lost their lives due to the American health care system

3. The interviews of the people who had free health care (U.K, France etc...)

4. Dr. Linda Pino's speech before congress of denying health care to a man, and earning the company more profit

This movie affected my perspective on the dominant social practices around illness and dying in our culture greatly. I might have always known as a general fact of what i hear around me that the american health care system is terrible but never till i watched Sicko did i really understand why.

HW 24 - Illness & Dying Book, Part 3

Title: tuesdays with Morrie

Author: Mitch Albom

Publisher: Doubleday

Year Published: 1997

Precis:

The book is a look at a guilt trip of one man for another through a sweet lense. Loved professor Morrie Schwartz has ALS, a terrible disease that leaves Morrie unable to move. As the disease slowly moves throughout his body, old students come to visit Morrie to visit him for one last time and pay respect to the man who enjoys the simple things in life.

The book follows Mitch Albom, a particular student of Morrie who is now an accomplished sports journalist. After hearing about Morrie's horrible disease, Mitch tells his story of his final visits with Morrie every tuesday where they discuss a certain topic and explore it. Mitch cares to Morrie's every move and learns a lot from his old professor, but both Morrie and Mitch learn from these visits that every day they are growing.

Quotes:

" 'We've got a form of brainwashing going on in our country,' Morrie sighed. 'Do you know how they brain-wash people? They repeat something over and over. And that's what we do in this country. Owning things is good. More money is good. More property is good. More commercialism is good. More is good. More is good. We repeat it-and have it repeated to us-over and over until nobody bothers to even think otherwise.' "

" ' Money is not a substitute for tenderness, and power is not a substitute for tenderness. I can tell you, as i'm sitting here dying, when you most need it, neither money nor power will give you the feeling you're looking for, no matter how much of then you have. ' "

" Now, i have heard people ask this of Janine for almost as long as i have known her. When people find out you sing for al living, they always say 'Sing something for us.' Shy about her talent, and a perfectionist about conditions, Janine never did. She would politely decline. Which is what i expected now. Which is when she began to sing: "

" 'You'll find a way back to your brother.' Morrie said

How do you know?

Morrie smiled. 'You found me, didn't you?' "

Final Thoughts:

After finishing the last 1/3rd of this book, i felt like i knew Morrie. Throughout most of the book i agreed with Morrie's ideas, and i felt the same way until Morrie discussed marriage (although that is unrelated). I felt myself cringing when Mitch visited Morrie for the last time. Mitch's writing made me feel like i was there, with him holding Morrie's hand. The whole experience felt very realistic, and gave me a better understanding of how i might experience the death of a close one. Although the ending was realistic, i'm not surprised. The book was based on a true story.

HW 23 - Illness & Dying Book, Part 2

Title: tuesdays with Morrie

Author: Mitch Albom

Publisher: Doubleday

Year Published: 1997

Precis: pg 80-90

On the fourth tuesday that morrie and mitch meet (since mitch first came to visit), they talk about death. Morrie brings up points about how people often deny that they will die. They push death away until becomes apparent in their lives. Morrie believes that if more people just accept their death earlier on, they can focus on the essentials. What they need, not what they want.

Quotes:

" 'The truth is, Mitch' he said, 'once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.' "

"We are too involved in materialistic things, and they don't satisfy us. The loving relationships we have, the universe around us, we take these things for granted."

" 'Well, the truth is, if you really listen to that bird on your shoulder, if you accept that you can die at any time- then you might not be as ambitious as you are'

I forced a small grin"

Final Thoughts:

Thinking back, i remember when my cat was dying. I was in complete denial, in fact even my parents denied it to me. I was only 9 years old and when i found out that being "put to sleep" meant going away forever i broke down into hysteria. In this case i relate to morrie. If my parents let me embrace the fact that something close to me was dying the acceptance might have been greater when my cats time was up. Then again, i was only 9.

HW 21 - Expert #1 - Comments

Christian

- Christian. I liked your further inquiry on the effect of dying from cancer beths husband went through, and how because Beths husband had such an "out-going" personality this effected him even more. I like how you also went on to explain why this is, how when we are dying we have certain need to fight the illness because we have too much "dignity" or "pride" when really we just don't want to accept the fact that we are dying. Your insights on death bringing family closer together were interesting as well. I've also noticed this as a common happening in our culture. As the saying goes "you never know what you have till its gone"

Great Post!
Harry

Dean

-Dean. I enjoyed reading your insights on beth's presentation. Your paragraph on beths experiences, and how death is not only sad (not nesseccarily happy) showed insightfullness. You were clearly not only taking notes on beths emotions but the people around you to receive further answers from your own questions. Although your first paragraph showed a lot of signs of insight, you could have expanded your second. You go on to say that because of beths presentation it " showed me that you can be slowly dying for a long time and not even realize it." you go on to say that you "have heard that people can have diseases for a long time and not even realize it until it is too late." To improve your work next time, my suggestion would be to expand on this idea. Are there any examples you can give of when this would be? (for example: Magic Johnson). Non the less i enjoyed reading this post very much.

My Father

-Death has always been one of my favorite subjects. Death is something I have much experience of, having lost all my antecedents, many, many close friends, (most recently Tuli Kupferberg). I was myself declared dead at the age of eleven. Harry’s observations regarding his grandmother were quite well observed and as this was his very first encounter with human death, I am sure it must have been a signal event. I was not aware that we kept the fact of his grandmother’s approaching demise in denial, as he states, but it must have been so. Life is defined by birth and death. As one approaches one’s mid seventies as I am, death is an almost daily occurrence.

HW 22 - Illness & Dying Book Part 1

Title: tuesdays with Morrie

Author: Mitch Albom

Publisher: Doubleday

Year Published: 1997

Precis: pg 39-48

It is clear by now that Morrie has had an extremely significant effect on Mitch Albom. As he writes "Before college i did not know the study of human relations could be considered scholarly. Until i met Morrie, i did not believe it". Mitch takes a trip to london to cover Wimbledon and here is where he receives hands on experience with Morries sayings. As a sportscaster, Mitch realizes how stupid the papparazzi is and just in general how much of a dumb idea it is that humans obsess over other humans lifestyles.

Quotes:

"Life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do one thing, but you are bound to do something else. Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn't. You take certain things for granted, even when you know you should never take anything for granted"

"The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it"

"'So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote your self to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.' I knew he was right. Not that i did anything about it"

Final Thoughts:

The way this book portrays illness and dying are very straight-foward. I can connect my experiences and insights to this book because (i believe) the book is based on the saying "You never know what you have till its gone." In this case Mitch Albom doesn't bother to reach Morrie for years after graduating until seeing Morrie on TV. So far in the book it almost seems like his writing is a guilt trip, a way to give back to Morrie for all of his teachings. In terms of the way that this book portrays how other people go about Illness and dying? As stated before Mitch seems depressed about the timely death of his important techer, while Morrie is very accepting of the fact that he is about to die. In fact, in one paragraph Morrie explains to mitch how he is dying in descriptive detail, showing no signs of denial (this might have something to do of how well he is taken care of when dying in his own home)

HW 21 - Expert #1

The most important insights and experiences shared by the quest speaker

1. Her idea of a "Honeymoon from death" or a false hope

2. Her last emotional days with her husband

3. Her family never used the word "dying" when her husband was in fact dying

4. Her husband was diagnosed with kidney cancer thanksgiving eve

5. The hospital her husband was taken to took great care of him

3. Her family never used the word "dying" when her husband was in fact dying

- My grandma was 94, a very old age and our family knew that her time was coming to. I knew it as well, but my mom and dad never discussed it with me. Although my parents knew i was smart enough to catch on, they would never discuss the fact that she was dying let alone use the word "dying itself".

4. Her husband was diagnosed with kidney cancer thanksgiving eve

- My family and i knew that my grandma was going to die, but we never knew when it would happen. She was dying of old age, not a disease. We had a better idea of when she would die when had an accident falling. She finally passed away on september 11th. Although not a national holiday like thanksgiving, i believed this was a significantly depressing date because of the september 11, 2001 events that took place.

Beth's presentation sparked the question of "what will i do when someone very very close to me dies?" Not to say that my cat and grandma weren't close to me but what i mean is someone like my mother or father. Beth seemed to handle the situation very well, this made me think of how i might handle this situation when it approaches. Beths presenation also made me question how i will handle my death if i get a disease such as cancer, or just have a good feeling in general of when i am about to die (lying in hospital, very old). Beths husband seemed to handle the situation of dying during the last months well, which is again, something i don't think i would be able to handle if i knew i was going to die in 9 months.

HW 19 - Family Perspectives on Illness & Dying

Illness and dying in my lifetime is a somewhat familiar topic. I almost drowned in the ocean when i was only 7 years old. I have always been afraid of death and have tried my best to maintain a healthy lifestyle. As mentioned before my cat died of cancer when i was 11 and my grandma died last year. When both died i was overwhelmingly sad. My cat was cremated (although i never asked why) and my grandma had a traditional jewish funeral. At the funeral i was asked to speak upon my grandma and her life in general. I noticed that this a social practice seen a lot, where at the funeral people close to the deceased are asked to speak their mind.

Illness and dying in my family is definitely a familiar subject. My dad had hands on experiences with illness and death even as a kid. At age 11 my dad was declared dead because of a serious illness, although in fact he obviously was not dead. The people that raised my dad were basicaly in denial about what brought about their death. Most of my dad's friends died at 50 (including his parents) just from not living healthy lifestyles. This included not exercising and smoking ciggarettes. We discussed the idea of prolonging peoples lives when there is no hope of that person ever recovering. We both agree that if people want to do die, that is their choice (this lead us to talk about Dr.Kevorkian and that whole issue, but then we got off topic). We agreed that life and death are all part of the same fabric.

My mom had hands on experience with death as well. She had many family members (more specifically aunts and uncles) who died of cancer as well as acquaitances. Her father died very suddenly and very unexpectadly at a relatively young age of 55 of a massive heart attack. This effected her profoundly and made a lasting impact on her life, the event changed her so much that she couldn't go back. Her mother was raised of a jewish decent, so they often had ways of approaching illness and death. Her parents were very emotional and vocal, there was a lot of physical emotion and a lot of crying. Her family did not engage in the typical social practices of death such as open casket funerals. Although her father died a relatively young age her parents took very good care of themselves and had common sense health practices. Her mother especially had the "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" attitude.

In conclusion, both my parents and i have witnessed illness and dying first hand and it has been very traumatic for all of us. We all agree that illness and death are horrible experiences and we as a family try to avoid it all together by eating healthy and exercising daily. While i know that i don't eat particularly well, i try to balance out what i eat between junk food and healthy food.

HW 18 - Health & Illness & Feasting

Thanksgiving. A holiday that comes once a year where our purpose is to give thanks (pretty self explanatory, i also don't think there should be a holiday for this. I believe we should give thanks every day of our lives). This year for thanksgiving my parents and i went down to Miami, Florida to visit my dying uncle, other uncles, aunts and cousins. As soon as we arrived i got the chance to meet and reconnect with relatives. We arrived at about 3 when the dinner was at about 7 and usually on thanksgiving what i mostly think about is the meal, but i was so caught up talking to relatives and hearing interesting stories i forgot about the big traditional thanksgiving meal.

The background element related to illness and dying during this thanksgiving experience was my dying uncle. At first, seeing my uncle (who at 95, still had some humor left in him) depressed me. His skin was bruised and sitting in a wheelchair, he could barley speak, but after the stories he shared of his childhood with my relatives the mood at the dinner felt a lot more "light" (less depressing). The food also helped with this issue, in other words the typical turkey my aunt cooked for thanksgiving dinner lived up to the hype and i was happy and full to say the least.

By the end of the night i was stuffed. My relatives and i decided to take a walk on the beach for an after-thanksgiving dinner sort of thing, instead of watching football (although we did watch football a little bit later on in the night). When we got back to the house my uncle showed me and my relatives old footage of my mom and cousins. This was probably the first time i had ever done anything besides watch football, or just television in general after a thanksgiving dinner and it was a nicer way to end the night.

HW 17 - First Thoughts on the Illness & Dying Unit

Illness and dying. I have had a couple of experiences with this topic. My first experience with this topic was when i was only 11 and my 3 year old cat got cancer and died shortly after. This was the first time i had ever experienced death and i took it pretty harshly. I cried in my room for 2 days straight but soon got over it because i was told to believe my cat was somewhere in heaven, happy. Whether this true or not i choose to move on and believe what i was told. Looking back at it now, i find it interesting. Usually when a loved one dies, we're told that that person, pet or thing went to a happy place (usually heaven) We don't even think about it because the topic is so strong we choose to believe whatever we want. That is how we are taught (at least that is how i was taught)

Last september my grandma died at the age of 94. No one in my family wanted my grandma to die (i hope not) but everyone saw it coming. My grandma was very old and as my mom nicely likes to put it her time was ''running out''. She was buired in a jewish cemetary and everyone in my family was sad. Based on my families reactions i can guess that when someone else dies in the family in the future, the funeral will be taken very seriously just as this one. Was i sad? of course, but as stated before i sort of saw it coming.

Based on that experience at that funeral, this lead me to believe most funerals happen just like that. Death in our society is practiced in a very gloomy manner. We look down upon anything morbid as slightly offensive. This is opposed to the mexican holiday dia de los muertos, which is a holiday celebrated in mexico to celebrate the dead of loved ones. While after the funeral my family and i did eat at a restaurant that my grandma loved to sort of celebrate her death most of the day was filled with sadness of her passing.

I can't predict when i'll die or what the cause of my death might be but i try to stay as far away from becoming ill and dying (or dying from another cause) People in society today try to predict death all of the time. Whether it's "Fortune Tellers" or karma, people think death comes at a certain time, when in fact death is random. An example of this would be my grandfathers death. My grandpas death happened at work where randomly, he died from a heart attack, as my mom likes to put it "He went to work one day and never came back". My cat that i had at 11 also died very randomly. One day he just got cancer and a few months later he was dead. The cat was fed very well and no one knew why he died so spontaneously. In conclusion, you can't predict death, no matter how hard you try death is something that just happens by human nature.

HW 12 - Final Food Project 2 - Outline

Overarching Thesis: In todays society, our dominant social practices are never questioned, when in fact, the root of these typical practices come from nightmarish industrial atrocities

Major Argument 1-Food: As people living in the united states of america we deserve to know who, and where our food is being processed and made. Huge corporations such as Tyson have tried to hide this from us, but since the 80's people have started to become more aware of this problem. We have started to question this more recently due to climbing obesity and diabetes rates.

Chunk of MA1: Huge food corporations have been hiding the truth

Evidence 1 of Chunk 1 of MA1: KFC’s Claims That Fried Chicken Is a Way to “Eat Better” Don’t Fly

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/06/kfccorp.shtm

Evidence 2 of Chunk 1 of MA1: "All Natural" food products exposed

http://www.greaterfaithdeliverance.com/_all_natural__food_products_exposed

Evidence 3 of Chunk 1 of MA1: Tyson Foods Injects Chickens with Antibiotics Before They Hatch to

Claim "Raised without Antibiotics

http://www.naturalnews.com/024756.html

Chunk 2 of MA1: We have started to take action

Evidence 1 of Chunk 1 of MA1: Labels on front of food packages coming

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/28/business/28label.html?_r=2&hp

Evidence 2 of Chunk 2 of MA1: Going Green: Good for the planet, good for the body

http://insideschools.org/blog/2010/10/14/going-green-good-for-the-planet-good-for-the-body/

Evidence 3 of Chunk 2 of MA1: New Way to Help Chickens Cross to Other Side

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/22/business/22chicken.html?_r=1&hp

HW 11 - Final Food Project 1

In two months, i have learned more about food than i ever thought i possibly could have (fast food, and nightmarish industrial atrocities in particular). Still i wonder a couple of things. Why, after reading Omnivores dillemma and watching Food inc. am i still inclined to eat fast food? Why are other people still eating fast food and meat produced in huge factories where the workers and animals are abused? Why do most americans not think about the food they eat?

By last friday i finished watching Food inc. and reading the omnivores dillemma, by saturday i was eating french fries at a burger king. Believe it or not these images from the movie and book we watched and read had already slipped my mind until i sat down with my food. Halfway in to my meal i thought to myself: "I was just given plenty of examples not to eat this stuff, what am i doing?". So i thought why i decided to eat there in the first place, reason one: I had 10 dollars,when i have this exact amount i always look at it is as the most convenient to buy fast food with it. Reason 2: i had barley eaten all day and was very hungry, the smell coming from the kitchen pulled my senses in without me having any control. Reason 3: I was in a mall, with no other places to eat in the mall, in the middle-of-nowhere queens. When put under those circumstances, my brain cant help but to choose the more convenient option. Although while i will choose the more convenient option most of the time, ever since watching movies about the truth behind these "farms" I have made eating healthy at home with my parents more of a priority. My overall experience from this food unit has helped me grow to be a healthier eater, even if they are just baby steps.

So if i am still eating fast food for convenience, is this why most Americans are eating it as well? After doing further research i have realized the answer to this question is an undoubtable: yes. As stated in an article by Michael Pollan called: The Food Movement, Rising; "Americans spend a smaller percentage of their income on food than any people in history—slightly less than 10 percent—and a smaller amount of their time preparing it". As americans we rely on cheap and convenient food, because that's what were used to (at least since the 1970s). Convenience is not the only reason americans are eating fast food, some americans actually do not know what goes on in these nightmarish industrial factories. This is because huge food corporations such as Tyson hide the secrets behind how they process their food. In an article for 2008, it was revealed that Tyson released false advertising on the way their chickens were raised claiming on their products that the chickens were raised without antibiotics when in reality they were. Even after the company was caught and warned by the USDA to take the false advertisement off of their products, Tyson tried to defend their claim by arguing that the antibiotics they were using were "Antimicrobials not Antibiotics. Even after proven wrong the Tyson vice president claimed that "The vast majority of the industry does exactly the same thing". To me this sounded childish, the vice president is basically saying that "just because they did it, we can do it too"

In conclusion, most americans eat fast food because they do not know the truth behind industrial atrocities. In fact 93% of america is uneducated when it comes to the knowledge of these industrial atrocities. Sadly even some people just like myself eat fast food for convenience even after knowing the truth. Although (as stated before) i have made some changes to my diet, i hope that i will gradually improve my habits of eating fast food. about 4 years ago Mcdonalds was a guilty pleasure, recently i became used to eating it. Now i have gone back to my old habits of making it a guilty pleasure and i will continue to do so after learning what i have learned.

HW 10 - Food, Inc. Response

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

The way we eat has changed so significantly in the past 50 years that it is even more of an astonishing fact how much we don't know about our food is produced. Although some people are aware and have tried to pass laws against food corporations such as Mcdonalds and Tyson, these companies have become so large that they cannot simply be stopped. The USDA and FDA are supposed to protect us from eating meat that is tainted (and countless other examples) but the bottom line is they haven't, and as consumers, we deserve the right to know what's really going on.

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

The movie offers more visuals. Reading "The Omnivores Dilemma", i often found myself struggling with the vocabulary and picturing these farms and slaughterhouses and feedlots in my head. When watching the movie, i could really see for myself how horrifying these places were. Although the film offers great visuals, it does not give two opposing view points of organic foods in supermarkets.

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

After watching Food, Inc i wonder why there haven't been more people taking action to try to stop the USDA and FDA. It made me wonder why I haven't done anything to stop this from happening, even by taking small steps of not eating fast food. I finished the film by friday and the next day i was already in a Burger King. I took note to why i did this and essentially i ate fast food right after watching Food, Inc because

1. I was in a mall, ironically with no where else to eat within a mile that wasn't fast food

2. Convenience

3. I was extremely hungry

So there you have it. My desire to keep myself happy and hungry overshadows any consideration to eat healthy unless I'm eating with my parents. I can say for a fact that although i cant escape the desire to eat fast food, i can cut down on eating it so frequently.

HW 7d

Michael Pollan - The Omnivores Dilemma - Chapter 17

Precis

Most vegetarians eat how they eat because they do not believe it is ethically right to slaughter animals and eat them, but do animals even feel pain when being slaughtered? Does it feel ethically wrong to eat farm animals fed healthy grass and that live in a healthier environment? Rather than the animals fed on industrial farms? In this chapter i answer several of these questions a long with a look at how some people compare the discrimination of animals to the discrimination of races: being a "speciesist "speciesist"

Gems

"That's not because slaughter is necessarily inhumane, but because most of us would simply rather not be reminded of exactly what meat is or what it takes to bring it to our plates."

"Half the dogs in America will receive christmas presents this year, yet few of us ever pause to consider the life of the pig-an animal easily as intelligent as a dog-that becomes the christmas ham"

Thoughts & Questions

I enjoyed this chapter in the sense that it gave me a good insight about why and how people think about meat when they are eating (even if they are aware). This is someone like me, who knows where my mcdonalds hamburger is coming from after taking a bite out of it and paying no mind to the disgusting nature of how the cow i am eating was raised and slaughtered. I also found it interesting how Pollan argued that eating (organic?) meat can help the enviornment.

Michael Pollan - The Omnivores Dilemma - Chapter 18

Precis

After a few failed attempts to shoot a wild pig (my rifle was jammed several times) i was able to kill my prey. Hunting for my own food gave me excitement and pride, but when "cleaning" the pig i was disgusted by my own actions. Even further, when i received an email of the pictures i had taken with the dead pig i felt a moral disapointment. I came to terms with the understanding of taking the role of a hunter, but still could not make out what caused myself to take a picture with such a disgusting site, with a cheep-ish grin.

Gems

"I felt a wave of nausea begin to build in my gut. The clinical disinterest with which i had approached the whole process of cleaning my pig collapsed all at once: This was disgusting"

"The fact that you cannot come out of hunting feeling unambiguously good about it is perhaps what should commend the practice to us"

Thoughts & Questions

I thought the comparison between how Pollan felt when killing the pig (a sense of pride) and when he actually saw the picture of it himself (next to the dead pig) was interesting because i personally would feel the same way taking the picture and looking at it. Either way i would feel guilty. But i can see how Pollan felt this way when looking at the picture, a picture is a picture and becomes stuck in your mind when it especially a powerful one.

Michael Pollan - The Omnivores Dilemma - Chapter 19

Precis

Unlike my experience hunting wild pigs, finding morsels of mushrooms required my attention to detail more than i thought. Mushrooms are mysterious and are not easy to find. Choosing the right mushroom is never easy, some are hallucinogenic, some are healthy and some can even cause death. After gaining enough confidence

to find these mysterious mushrooms i was able to pick out a load of them.

Gems

"Without the pop-out effect, finding one's dinner would depend on chance encounters with edible species and, of course, on fruit, the only important food source in nature that actually tries to pop out."

"As it happens the answers to most of my questions about mushrooms, even the most straight forward ones,

are elusive. Indeed, it is humbling to realize just how little we know about this, the third kingdom of life on earth."

Thoughts & Questions

I have never liked the taste of mushrooms but if i were to ever eat a wild mushroom how would i know if it was poisonus or not?

Michael Pollan - The Omnivores Dilemma - Chapter 20

Precis

Finally i was ready to make and serve my meal. With help from Angelo i created a feast of all the things i had hunted and gathered. While i did add certain things to the meal and broke a couple rules i had created for myself (and even fell behind in my cooking at a point) i still accomplished what i mainly set out to do, which was for me, the perfect meal.

Gems

"Here, i realized, was the West Coast's answer to the Jersey Meadowlands, a no-man's-land where a visitor would not be wrong to worry about stumbling upon criminal activities or the washed-up corpse of a murder victim."

"I suddenly felt perfectly okay about my pig-indeed, about the whole transaction between me and this animal that i'd killed two weeks earlier"

"I realized that in this particular case words of grace were unnecessary. Why? Because that's what the meal itself had become, for me certainly, but i suspect for some of the others, too: a wordless way of saying grace."

Thoughts & Questions

I enjoyed reading how Pollan analyzed fast food in saying that it is a "reverse thanksgiving" and without fast food, food would just be..well..food. I also liked how Pollan reflected on his achievements in cooking his meal that he made from scratch but was still thoughtful and admitting enough to point out his flaws in the food.

HW 8 - Growing Our Own Food

Harry:Growing my own food was an experience that i've never had, and at the end of the day i felt proud that my sprouts had "sprouted" so much. It lead me to realize how rewarding it feels to eat food that i myself had grown from just these tiny little seeds. At first i didn't like the idea and felt like it was forced, just another thing i had to deal with but after a week and the sprouts had grown and i ate them myself, i felt like i had actually accomplished something i could never see myself taking the time in doing (growing my own food).

Richard: I really enjoyed the sprout experiment and our sprouts turned out quite delicious, we are going to make a sprout and shallot soufflé with rare goat cheese from New Hampshire accompanied by a roast free range poulet with organic green market fingerling potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes for dinner tomorrow.

Seriously, I have been practicing what Michael Pollan preaches for over 50 years and I built and operated a sustainable vegetable farm in Chiapas Mexico from 1970 to 1975. I don’t hang with Mario Batali like Mike and I don’t believe that green markets food and organic food is ever going to be a staple for the hoi polloi in the USA, just a reality for the upper middle class and the wealthy, a shameful thing.

Currently we practice micro agriculture and grow chile peppers on our terrace which we bottle as hot sauce for friends and family every year.

In our household we eschew all processed and fast food and eat healthy home-made meals every day.

PS, my oldest son Wolfram is dedicated to providing healthy food for the poor and less privileged in California and has basically worked at this all of his life.

http://www.wolframalderson.com/about_us

HW 7b

Michael Pollan - The Omnivores Dilemma - Chapter 6

Precis

In the early nineteenth century americans were drinking alcohol more than they had ever before. This was because at the time alcohol was extremely cheap and convenient. Fast forward to today and we see the same thing happening with fast food. Pollan also talks about "super sizing" which is when americans (or people in general) are given a large amount of a certain food at one time it makes them feel like they are eating less ("Going for seconds makes people feel piggish")

Gems

"But the outcome of our national drinking binge is not nearly as relevant to our own situation as its underlying cause. Which, put simply, was this: American Farmers were producing far too much corn"

"the cleverest thing to do with a bushel of corn is to refine it into thirty-three pounds of high-fructose corn syrup"

Thoughts & Questions

I thought it was interesting when Pollan was discussing the origin of super sizing foods for convenience. This really made me think about all the times i have walked into fast food restaurants or just places in general and have seen this (movie theatre popcorn deals, subway: "five dollar foot-long")

Michael Pollan - The Omnivores Dilemma - Chapter 7

Precis

Pollan and his family take a visit to Mcdonalds for Pollan to investigate what exactly it is about fast food that makes it so appealing to consumers. He discovers that places like Mcdonalds often put ingredients that, with a decent amount of, can kill someone in their foods (the ingredient TBHQ). He also discusses how all this corn that is processed into HFCS is enough to feed hundreds.

Gems

"That perhaps is what the industrial food chain does best: obscure the histories of the foods it produces by processing them to such an extent that they appear as pure products of culture rather than nature-things made from plants and animals"

Thoughts & Questions

I thought that the specifics of how dangerous the ingredients places like Mcdonalds use in their food. I was always told by my dad to read the ingredients. Now i did without even trying to. I also thought the way Pollan ended the section of "Corn" was interesting by basically saying that corn deserved a lot more recognition than it deserved now a days since we are eating so much of it

Michael Pollan - The Omnivores Dilemma - Chapter 8

Precis

In this chapter Pollan talks about how we eat animals that come from farms, but what do these animals eat on these farms?: Grass. Therefore as he concludes (from the title of the chapter) All Flesh Is Grass. This chapter was an introduction in to the next chapter where Pollan discusses one of the biggest markets and talked about way-of-eating: Organic.

Gems

"'Grass,' so understood, is the foundation of the intricate food chain"

"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"

Thoughts & Questions

I found the comparisons between the industrial and pastoral farms discussed in the chapter very interesting. It is interesting because although the farms seem different, just as Pollan stated they have a similar way of doing things: "growing grasses to feed the cattle, chickens, and pigs that feed us."

Michael Pollan - The Omnivores Dilemma - Chapter 9

Precis

We tend to think that just because a food has been given the label "organic" it is necessarily healthier for us, so we should pay extra for it right? While the fact that "organically" fed chickens are more often likely to be healthier for us, that doesn't mean the foods taste or quality increases, and even if it does it is barley worth the price we're paying.

Gems

"Twenty thousand birds moved away from me as one, like a ground-hugging white cloud, clucking softly"

Thoughts & Questions

I thought this was a great insight of the organic food market, i like how the author (Pollan) visited the industrial farms but i was still a bit confused by what "organic" meant exactly.

Michael Pollan - The Omnivores Dilemma - Chapter 10