What Are You Truly Eating?

For the nonfiction assignment I read The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. The book was about the secrets behind what we eat in America. The book was split into four sections each explained the different food chains; Industrial, Industrial Organic, Local sustainable, and Hunter – Gatherer. Overall I truly enjoyed the book, mainly because Pollan and I share the same thoughts on what average Americans eat everyday. Reading this book supplied facts that supported my beliefs even more, which I liked. The whole main idea of the book is to encourage people to understand what they’re eating and where it comes from. In today’s society most people are unaware of how, when, and where the food they are consuming was made. Food is no longer a major part of our culture, and people only seem to care that the food they are buying is cheap not healthy.

I really enjoyed that Pollan went on a journey in each food chain. He started with the Industrial food chain because that is what the majority of Americans consume. Industrial food is anything found in a supermarket or a fast food restaurant. I learned about how there is so much corn in the processed foods and meat we eat. The most disturbing part about this chapter was that instead of letting animals like cattle eat what is natural for them (grass), we force them into eating corn because it is cheaper for us. This makes the animals sick since it’s not natural for their bodies’ to digest corn, but since it makes them fat in a short amount of time people don’t seem to care. I also learned about all the harmful pesticides and chemicals sprayed on all of the vegetables grown for supermarkets. It’s crazy how toxic these chemicals are, but we still eat the produce because we aren’t educated on where our food comes from and what people are doing to it.

Pollan then journeyed into the Industrial Organic food chain. The majority of the facts in this section surprised me completely. You would think that all of the food you could get from a Whole Foods or an organic supermarket would be free range, clean, and happy. Unfortunately that thought isn’t entirely correct. Organic vegetables are grown in a separate field right next to the non organic vegetables. The only difference is that the preservatives and hormones are not added to the organic produce. The chicken you think is free range has been locked in a cage for five months until it’s so fat it can’t walk, so when they open the doors to let them roam they can’t. The beef you think is happy is still locked in its own manure; the only difference is it isn’t fed chemicals. The organic image people think of isn’t what it truly is.

My favorite section of the book was the section about Local Sustainable. Pollan went to a farm in Virginia called Polyface. Polyface raises happy grass fed animals they way they’re supposed to be raised, with respect. Reading this section I decided this is how I wanted to get my meat and eggs when I’m living on my own. It is a lot more expensive than food in a grocery store, but it’s all natural. People that buy from local farms like Polyface develop a greater appreciation and relationship with their food and who is growing/raising it. Food is more than just something we eat, and personally I think people need to develop a different sort of relationship with it.

The last section was on hunting and gathering which was very interesting to read about. Not many people hunt and gather all of their food. Pollan went on a journey to make a meal out of food he either hunted or gathered which was hard work and took a long time. The section inspired me to maybe one day make a meal out of things only I killed and found. I presume that it would be a very rewarding and fulfilling experience. So many of us take food for granted, I think that people need to understand what they are eating, and how it’s being made.

The Never Ending Battle of the Sexes.

Personally, I am all for feminism. But unfortunately reading Mary Wollstonecraft's essay about women's rights was a drag. The first six or so pages were insightful and I enjoyed reading them, but then her writing started getting redundant and boring. After a while I lost interest and felt as if I was reading the same things over and over again.
Luckily I felt that for the most part the problems Wollstonecraft came up with were no longer a problem in today's society (yay). Even though sexism still exists, it has gotten so much better over the years. for example she says: "Women are told from their infancy, and taught by the example of their mothers, that a little knowledge of human weakness, justly termed cunning, softness of temper, outward obedience, and a scrupulous....." which I find is not in our society anymore. All children seem to be taught obedience, but not just girls anymore.
After a while I felt the essay grew to be more of Wollstonecraft complaining and not taking action. The only things she truly suggests are education, but that can only go so far. What about giving women jobs and such? Even though this was written in 1792 I still feel like she could have come up with more creative ideas to help women succeed.
I really liked the vocabulary that Wollstonecraft used, because it helped the whole argument. Overall I thought the points she made were valid, but she seemed to drag the whole essay on. I think it would have had a greater effect on people if the whole essay was shorter and to the point.

Is Google Making Us Stupid? (I Hope Not)

After reading Nicholas Carr's article I realized that many of the things he said happen to us while reading long articles in this age apply to me as well. After about two pages of reading I noticed myself drifting and losing focus. I was able to re-focus and comprehend what I was reading, but I thought it was funny how these things were happening to me. The quote "Now my concentration starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do." was almost identical to what I was experiencing as well.
This article scared me a bit. It really got me to thinking that websites and search engines like Google could be out to get us, and here to hurt us. After reading I thought the best thing for people to do is stop using the Internet all together, but that is virtually impossible. Carr definitely gave the idea that the Internet is ultimately bad news and that our minds are slowly becoming artificial and need immediacy. The story that really scared me was when Carr talks about his friend Scott Karp admitted to not reading books anymore. "I was a lit major in college, and used to be [a] voracious book reader." Karp said. It seems that the Internet can erase years of education and change people's minds quickly.
The article also explains that the brain is malleable, but I feel that once one reaches adulthood that the brain loses its flexibility. It scares me that if we figure out that the Internet isn't something we should be using, that our brains wont be able to mold to a new system. I wish that my generation had the opportunity to grow up without the use of computers. For most of my life I have had the ability to get any information I need in a matter of seconds. That idea sounds amazing, but after reading this article I can't help but think it's hurting our society. I don't want artificial intelligence.
This article also got me thinking about texting and how it is affecting relationships not necessarily for the better. Constantly texting/talking to someone isn't natural and I think can hurt people's relationships for good. Being able to constantly interact with someone and not hear their voice, or see their face is almost frightening. How can you build a relationship solely on text and not human interaction? Technology is almost scary, and even though I don't like it how are we supposed to untangle ourselves from its web?