Food Inc.

Watching the documentary Food, Inc enlightened me on the actual origins of the foods I eat. Although I had watched this documentary once before, the information shown was still shocking. Unfortunately, after watching the documentary, I still continued eating the same way I did pre-exposed. The documentary is impactful, but only in the moment of which you are viewing it. In that moment, watching the poor, battered and abused animals, it can make most viewers adamantly decide to go vegetarian. However, life carries on as usual and that moment becomes a mere memory. Unless the individual personally experiences the evils of fast food corporations, it is not so easy to relate. Even though I know that my food is predisposed to being from a factory farm, and the meat I eat is probably injected with steroids and other mystery chemicals, I still eat it anyway. But then again, I usually don’t think about these things when I eat. If I did, I don’t think I can get pass my feelings of nausea, as that is how parts of the documentary made me feel. [Incidentally, I was eating an apple while watching the documentary and as the documentary progressed, I suddenly lost my appetite even though there was nothing wrong with my apple.] Not only is it hard to relate, there are not that many alternatives. The documentary even shows that non-meat products such as corn and beans have also been industrialized. Can you trust any food you eat?

            The food issue that stood out the most to me was the fact that they were feeding cows corn. It is obvious cows are not meant to eat corn, as their stomach are not made to digest corn, but rather, grass. On top of being fed an unhealthy diet, the cows are standing around for the most of the day in their own manure. This can lead to bacteria entering the body and infecting the cow with E.Coli. This disease will then transfer to the food we eat. This is precisely what happened to two year old Kevin. He had eaten a hamburger and died from E. Coli. E. Coli is a fatal disease and unless corporations take care of their animals, they will be the cause of many future deaths.

            Overall, I enjoyed the film and I am very grateful to have been exposed to it. Not many people truly understand that their food does not actually come from a small farmer Joe type of environment, but that it is in fact from large industrialized farming systems. However, I am not content about one aspect of the film, which in truth, is not really the film’s fault. I disliked that big corporations refused to speak up and be interviewed for the film. Then again, I understand they may not want to talk to the people who are bashing them. Yet, by refusing to give any comments, they are only making themselves seem worse. They are not just animal abusers or people deceivers, they are also cowards.

            The agricultural corporation, Monsanto, even put up a response to Food Inc. on their website [http://www.monsanto.com/food-inc/Pages/default.aspx], yet they could not have simply done an interview for the film?

            “Eat well. Indulge moderately. Exercise.” It is important that people remember food is not their enemy; food is an essential part of life. To live is to eat. Of course, it is never good to overeat, but it is also dangerous to under-eat. That is why it is vital to eat just enough that the individual is full, but not overstuffed. Also, being selective about what you put into your body is imperative. It is best to have a varied diet, full of proteins, greens, and fruits. Indulging in sweets and salts every now and then brings thrill to life. How boring would it be if you ate bland food every day? As corny and cliché as it may sound, you really do live just once, so why waste this time by restricting yourself to unsavory food? Of course, just as I stated before, these indulgences must be taken in moderation. Stuffing your face with Twinkies is never good for you, or the Twinkie. But having one Twinkie once in a while is not bad. I personally have a sweet tooth and by allowing myself to indulge in this decadent, I feel more motivated the rest of the time to eat well. Finally, exercise is key. No matter how little you eat or how thin you appear, at the end of the day, if you don’t exercise, you are not physically healthy. Exercise helps prevent several health problems, and can improve muscle strength and endurance. Additionally, exercise can help you control your weight. There are many various ways people can exercise; they can play sports, workout at the gym, or just go grocery shopping and complete household chores. Remember, food is your friend. 

Super Size Me

In “What We Eat”, Eric Schlosser argues that fast food has accumulated a strong grip on American society and it is crucial for consumers to understand the truth behind fast food corporations. Fast food is the fastest growing corporation in America and it has led to many changes in American society from the way animals are raised to mainstream culture.

            Schlosser combines methods to support his argument. He uses description when he describes walking into a fast food restaurant. Schlosser describes, “Pull open the glass door, feel the rush of cool air…study the backlit color photographs above the counter…and moments later take hold of a plastic tray full of food wrapped in colored paper” (667-668). He describes the type of door being walked through, the feeling of the air upon entry, the collage of pictures seen while waiting on line and the colorful packaging of your order. All these descriptions adhere to the senses and readers can easily picture this scene in their head.

            Schlosser makes use of process analysis. An example for this is when he writes of how fast food came to be. Schlosser states, “America’s fast food industry…was founded by iconoclasts and self-made men, by entrepreneurs willing to defy conventional opinion. Few of the people who built fast food empires ever attended college” (670). It is ironic how much of a social norm fast food has become, yet it was created by rebels who were trying to defy norms. Most people who started these fast food giants did not even graduate college, or attend at all. These founders began this business in order to go against societal norms, yet their enterprises have now become widely accepted norms.

            Schlosser uses definition in his essay. For example, Schlosser explains, “The key to a successful franchise…expressed in one word: ‘uniformity.’ Franchises and chain stores strive to offer exactly the same product or service at numerous locations…we will make conformists out of them” (670). Schlosser states that in order to create a successful business, there must be uniformity. He then goes on to define what uniformity means in this context. According to Schlosser, uniformity is a sort of conformity, where everything is made the same for everyone.

            Schlosser utilizes comparisons in his essay. In one use of this method, Schlosser notes, “In 1968, McDonald’s operated about one thousand restaurant. Today it has about thirty thousand restaurants worldwide…The Golden Arches are now more widely recognized than the Christian cross” (668-669). He compares the number of McDonald restaurants back in 1968 and the amount in modern times. It is evident that the number of McDonald restaurants has risen tremendously since the mid 1900s. He also compares the familiarity of McDonald’s Golden Arches to the holy cross. The holy cross being the symbol of Catholic Church that has been around for much longer than McDonalds, yet the symbol for McDonalds is more well-known than the symbol of Catholicism.

             As evident, Schlosser makes use of many different methods in his essay and by doing so, he was able to tackle different parts of his argument in effective ways. Also, using different methods prevents the essay from being monotonous and engages readers more.

            Schlosser write well but his organization can be improved upon. I felt his essay was very all over the place. He would suddenly move from talking about the increase of women entering the job force to the widespread growth of fast food restaurants, which to me, did not logically flow. Also, Schlosser touched the surface of an important topic on chemical factories, but did not in-depth on it. Schlosser writes, “Much of the taste and aroma of American fast food, for example, is now manufactured at a series of large chemicals plants off the New Jersey Turnpike” (671). He is making a serious claim that fast food industries are not growing their food naturally, and that the food is actually being grown in chemical plants. He merely states this without explaining it or supporting his claim. Other than this, his essay was well written and interesting to read.

            I agree with his argument. The fast food industry has definitely made a huge leap in society. From the first McDonalds built to having a McDonalds at every street corner is definitely shocking. It is important for people to realize the consequences caused by fast food industries such as spread of obesity. However, I would have liked it if Schlosser had said more about those chemical plants he spoke about and even go further than that by explaining to readers what factory farms are. Factory farms are part of agribusiness and it is used to raise large numbers of livestock. Factory farms are typically in horrible conditions, the livestock is given steroids in order to grow big and meaty for mass consumption. Without realizing it, we, humans, are ingesting the steroids that were used on the livestock. This is harmful to the human body and who knows what others chemicals were used? Factory farming does not only harm the human who consumes the mystery product, it also harms the livestock. Since the livestock was given steroids, sometimes, the livestock grows too big for it to be able to support its own weight. When this does happen, the livestock will fall and die (due to inability to reach for water). 

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            Comparing and contrasting help us discover subtle and/or hidden differences and similarities between two subjects. Comparisons also help us create analogies of seemingly unrelated subjects. For example, Mary Roach compares being dead to being on a cruise ship since in both instances, the individual is lying on his back in endless relaxation. Had it not been for this analogy, the similarity between death and being on a cruise would not have been noticed. Furthermore, we can learn about a subject that we are not familiar with by comparing it to something that is familiar to us.

            In “The Meaning of Life”, Roger Cohen compares two rhesus monkeys with different lifestyles. There is Canto, who is on a restricted diet, and Owen, who is allowed to eat whatever he pleases. Both monkeys are part of an experiment about the causes of aging conducted by a team from the University of Wisconsin. Cohen reports, “While just 13 percent of the dieting group has died in ways judged due to old age, 37 percent of the feasting monkeys are already dead” (291). As shown by the experiment, monkeys on a restricted diet lived longer than those who ate freely. Cohen and other scientists challenge this finding since it should not the quantity of life that matters, but the quality of life. Owen may die sooner than Canto, but unlike Canto, who is not really living at all, Owen will die happily, knowing that he has lived his life to the fullest. Cohen goes on to compare the demeanor of both Canto and Owen, “Canto looks drawn, weary, ashen, and miserable…Owen, by contrast, is a happy camper with a wry smile” (292). Just by looking at Canto, one can easily tell that he is not happy and would much rather be taken out of his misery. On the other hand, Owen has obtained the chief good in life, happiness.

            Cohen focuses more on differences between the two monkeys. Cohen goes into descriptive detail when mentioning the physical differences between the two monkeys. He also emphasizes the difference in quantity and quality of life between Canto and Owen.

            Cohen argues it does not matter how long you live to if you are miserable the whole time. The allure of life is the fragility of it; no one knows when his or her time is up and it is important to live everyday to the fullest (293).

            I agree with Cohen. It is important for people to find happiness in life, whether they obtain it from their job or the food they eat. It is especially upsetting to see people work at jobs that they absolutely loathe. Those jobs may be reliable sources of income, but if the person gets no satisfaction out of the job, does the money even matter? It may be a risk chasing after your dreams, but as Hershel Greene puts it, “You step outside, you risk your life. You take a drink of water, you risk your life…The only thing you can choose is what you’re risking it for.” Life is all about taking chances and if you don’t take a chance, life will pass you by and before you know it, you will die and the real issue will be whether you lived at all. 

Liar Liar Pants on Fire

            Stephanie Ericsson classifies the different types of lies that are commonly used by people in her essay “The Ways We Lie.” I agree with her classifications and I am especially glad she included the lie of omission. People might not always believe they are lying when leaving out information since they are not directly voicing the lie, but it is indeed a method of lying and I am pleased that Ericsson takes this into consideration. Ericsson only misses one important type of lie. It is the lie told by those in power, typically the governing party of a nation. This is called the “big lie” and an example of this would be the United States government falsely claiming that another nation is acquiring chemical weapons. This is obviously a very big and serious lie, unlike the small lies told by people daily. People are more readily able to believe these lies as they cannot imagine anyone with the impudence to lie about such a severe issue (Wiki – Big Lie).

            Ericsson’s purpose for writing this piece is to force people to face the music and accept the fact that many of us lie in our day-to-day lives. No matter how small or big the lie is, we all do it. It is hard to be truthful as sometimes we do not want to hurt other’s feelings, or we are afraid of the consequences of honesty (such as when the bank charged Ericsson $60 overdraft fee). And since lying is so common, Ericsson warns us about the consequences of certain types of lie. For example, the consequence of dismissal can lead to schizophrenia since the person is living in a distorted reality (342). Ericsson’s purpose is also to teach people about the different types of lie they tell and the different effects of each.

            I enjoyed Ericsson’s piece until the very end. I dislike how she concluded the essay. “Maybe if I don’t tell the bank the check’s in the mail I’ll be less tolerant of the lies told me every day” (343). I cannot tell if Ericsson is joking or not, but she claims that by changing one lie to the truth will lower her tolerance for liars. Her claim does not make sense; how can her action of telling one measly truth distort her perception on the value of honesty? Also, she is being unfair. Just because she wants to start living a more honest lifestyle, she will judge those who don’t? How can she say that when she used to be one of them? If she was kidding, it was not a successful joke.

Connors' Skunk Dilemma

             Robert Connors titles his essay “How in the World Do You Get a Skunk Out of a Bottle?” since it gives readers a snippet of the process that is being analyzed in the essay. However, Connors questions this because he did not know how to properly handle the situation he is in – having to get a glass jar off the head of a skunk. Also, given that this is such a rare occurrence, he is just completely baffled by it.

            This odd situation Connors is in does not frequently happen to others, and even then, it only occurs once in a blue moon. Although the situation is such a rarity, the point of the process analysis is more relatable. The purpose of this essay is to inspire others to rescue animals in need of aid. No matter how dangerous the animal may seem to be, such as the skunk in Connors’ case, it is crucial for people to understand their moral duty to save the helpless animal. Without the people’s help, the animal will suffer and eventually, perish.

            Connors is trying to convey the concept of helping out the wildlife in his essay. One way to achieve this is by performing miracle acts similar to Connor’s act of [literally] prying the glass jar off the head of the skunk. The second way is more practical since everyone can get involved and it does not require you to actually be in a hazardous situation. It is achieved by refraining from littering, especially cans and jars, since these items can be “traps for unsuspecting animals (258).” It is important that everyone throws away his trash in either a recycling bin or a regular garbage bin. There is no excuse to recklessly discard trash as it endangers animals.  

Subliminal Messages

This is an ad for Axe body spray for men. The ad displays a guy who is made entirely of chocolate and has a fixated look and creepy smile whilst holding Axe. The caption states that, “Axe Dark Temptation, as irresistible as chocolate.” Axe compares their product to chocolate, which is a well-enjoyed commodity amongst the general public. By doing so, the company is essentially claiming that their product is just as well received by consumers.

By having a strange looking man covered in chocolate promote their product, people will view this ad as being humorous and because the ad was enjoyable, people will want to buy the body spray. The ad also appeals to consumers' desires; Axe claims that their body spray is just 'as irresistible as chocolate' and considering that girls typically love chocolate, boys who use the body spray will become irresistible to girls. Boys will have flocks of girls chasing them and this is more or less every boy's dreams.

Many ads besides this one deceive people and manipulate their perception of the product by appealing to emotions and desires. The quality of the product is rarely put into consideration, it is rather up to the companies to persuade buyers into believing the product will be beneficial to them. Even though the product is not any better than other similar products or the product may not even be necessary, people still feel compelled to buy these items due to the tiny subliminal messages hidden within advertisements.

Advertisements classically condition us to relate their product to something irrelevant. Coined by Russian psychologist, Ivan Pavlov, classical conditioning is a process of learning in which a neutral stimulus acquires the ability to produce a response that was originally produced by a different stimulus. The neutral stimulus is some stimulus that causes a sensory response but does not produce the reflex being tested. In this case, the neutral stimulus is the Axe body spray, it causes a sensory response to the olfaction. The unconditioned stimulus is some stimulus that triggers or elicits a physiological reflex: chocolate. The unconditioned response is an unlearned, innate, involuntary physiological reflex that is elicited by the unconditioned stimulus: hunger. Finally, the conditioned stimulus is the formerly neutral stimulus which has acquired the ability to elicit the conditioned response: Axe [Dark Temptation] and hunger, respectively. Due to this classical conditioning, it is made to believe that if girls smell the Axe body spray, they will associate it with chocolate and since chocolate is so irresistible, the boy using the spray will become irresistible as well and girls will hunger, or desire, for the boy. The boy would want this outcome and therefore, buys the product.

Ads are all around us and unknowingly, we fall for them not because the product is great, but because of its underlying messages.

Depression Hurts

Stein theorizes in her essay "Depression in College Students" that in order to prevent suicide, college students should be better informed about what depression is, the symptoms of depression and learn about the available resources to anyone who is depressed or knows someone that is. Stein also advocates for more funding towards counseling as there is often not enough counselors for the overwhelming amount of students. She supports this thesis by utilizing statistics such as, “A study by the American College Health Association in 2005 showed that 15 percent of college students around the country have been professionally diagnosed with depression, up from 10 percent in 200.” It is clear that the rate of depression in college students has increased and Stein provides a solution to this up-rise: to educate people about what depression really is. There is a strong correlation between college and suicide rate and this cannot be ignored any longer.

Stein supports her claim that counseling departments are not being funded enough by using expert opinion. “According to Hill, one of the biggest challenges CAPs faces is a lack of funding, leading to fewer counselors than are really needed to serve the number of students coming in.” Depression is becoming dreadfully common among college students yet when they attempt to seek out help, there is none available. Counselors are filled to the brim with appointments and students are not able to schedule an appointment. The student dealing with depression is already feeling insignificant and this inability to get help will only deteriorate their feelings of self-worth.

I agree with her solution to the issue of depression in college students. Students must be better educated about depression and how to detect this alarming mood disorder. Besides being educated about the disorder itself, students must also be encouraged to seek out help if they are struggling with depression and they should not feel embarrassed or ashamed. I also agree with Stein’s call for more funding to counseling services. It is vital that there are enough counselors for students to talk to or else the student will believe that there is no one to help them or worse, no one to care about them.

No I would not do anything different had I wrote an essay on this problem. Her essay was well written, well-organized and she was able to provide a feasible solution. She made good use of her sources to support her thesis. I like how Stein concluded her essay by reminding us that it is also up to the student to watch out for each other and be supportive of each other.