Looking Back...(reflection essay)

Throughout the quarter, I have written posts within my blog that encompassed what we were covering in class. Whether it a posting on the book Lost Mountain or Food. Inc., or various posts relating to my essays on pesticides, I have gained a lot of knowledge. After rereading over my posts, I feel as though my writing styles, as well as perceptions on ethos, logos, and pathos, has improved. I recalled certain issues within the books that I had forgotten about and reflected back on them. The issue of whether or not strip mining is an ethical decision for the environment and whether or not humans should have the right to destroy nature for their own personal gain angered me once again as well as the way animals are treated in factory farms.
When looking back at my Food Inc. posts, I found my third post to be most useful. I had written about the chapter “Eating made Simple,” by Marion Nestle and remembered that in this chapter, Marion discussed nutrition challenges, organics, and information that regarded diseases linked to obesity. I found this to be very informative and important since obesity is an ongoing epidemic here in the United States. Also, I wrote about how Marion had included a section about McDonald’s and how their cheese burger had a high fat content. I recalled how disgusted I had been upon reading this and continue to be glad that I chose to be vegetarian and eat mostly organic. I feel like this is a chapter that I will turn to if I ever need a quick fact on nutrition or organics. Also, after rereading all my posts on Food. Inc., It has inspired me to read the book again, and more specifically, the chapters we did not read for class. I used this book a lot for my essays, especially the chapter relating to pesticides, and feel as though I will use it again in the future. My Food Inc. posts I felt, were my strongest and that when reading this book, I looked more for the emotional cues and writing styles of the authors more so than in the book Lost Mountain.
With regards to my posts on Lost Mountain, I feel like these were some of my weaker posts. This may be due to that fact that these were some of my first blog posts. I was still unfamiliar with the blogs themselves, and did not really understand how to analyze an author writing styles. However, I feel like I improved on this throughout the quarter.
I felt that watching movies in class, and comparing them against the books, also helped to influence what and how I wrote my blog posts. Food Inc. especially impacted my writing styles. Through actually seeing the animals being harmed gave me motivation and inspiration to write out my feelings about this issue. I have never felt so compelled to stick to being vegetarian, and I was glad that after reading several posts made by my peers, that many felt inspired to change the way they eat and try and make a change in which America produces its food.
After revisiting my blog comments made on other’s posts and the comments others provided for me, I felt that this was a great way to really connect with classmates. Usually in classes, you don’t really get a chance to hear everyone’s opinions or the chance to get to know your peers. With the use of comments and also blog posts, I was able to really get a feel for my peer’s opinions, ideas, and personal writing styles. I really enjoyed reading other’s blogs and found them to be motivating in certain aspects. I also felt that comments from others helped me grow as a writer and their suggestions made a huge improvement in my writing. The fact that I knew others would be reading my posts, made me more motivated to write better posts than if they had been private.
Overall, I have never had to write blog posts for any other class. After having to complete them for this class, I wish more classes utilized them. I feel that they really made me think about readings, discussions, and films, and forced me to voice my opinions. I may have never thought about certain issues or viewpoints if it were not for writing blogs and reading peer’s posts. Also, when looking back over all my posts, I really feel like they helped me to grow as a writer and I enjoyed rereading over my work from the quarter and seeing how my writings changed.

Argument outline

The Dangers of Pesticides
Introduction:
Thesis: The use of Pesticides in conventional farming practices to produce large quanities of crops in order to meet consumer demands, is having a negative effect on the environment, water supply, and is taking a serious toll on human health.

1) Pesticide usage is a common practice used in intensive conventional faming used to produce large quantities of food.
a) Amount of pesticides used
b) Types of pesticides
c) Types of farming using pesticides
Transition
2). Scientists have conducted studies on the produce in supermarkets and found large amounts of pesticide residue still on the skins of food being sold.
a). Types of foods
b). Where foods are sold
c). Who is affected.
Transition
3). Many health problems are been linked to the use of pesticides caused from contaminated produce and foods that are being sold to consumers in supermarkets.
a). Health Concerns
b). Children and pesticides
c). Laws passed to protect Children ( mention EPA and CDC).
4). Contamination of water from pesticides in argicultureal runoff is causing health problems to those citizens living around farming communities
a). Ways of contamination
b). problems with contamination
c). future concerns with contamination
Transition
5). Alternatives to pesticides are available and starting to be utilized.
a). Organics
b). sustainable farming
c). Local farm markets
Transition
Future Problems ( release of pesticides and chemicals in the air)
Conclusion

Bibliography
"Harmful Pesticides in Everyday Food Products." Seattle PI Local. Hearst Newspaper, 30 Jan. 2008. Web. 21 Feb. 2010. .

"Pesticides." Sustainable Table. Sustainable Table, Sept. 2009. Web. 25 Jan. 2010.
.
"PESTICIDES ON FRUITS AND VEGETABLES." Consumer Health. CHOC, 2009. Web. 25 Jan. 2010. .
Peterson, T.I. "Pesticide Residues in Drinking Water." Pesticide Residues in Drinking Water. T.I Peterson, June 1997. Web. 25 Jan. 2010. .
"Shoppers guide to pesticides." Shoppers guide to pesticides. Environmental Working Group, 2010. Web. 25 Jan. 2010. .
"The use of Pesticides in Farming." Health & Safety Executive. Health & Safety Executive, 2009. Web. 24 Jan. 2010. .

Weber, Karl. Food, Inc. First ed. New York: PublicAffairs, 2009. Print.

Food Inc #3

In the section we read, I really liked chapter eleven, called "Eating made Simple," by Marion Nestle. I found this chapter to be very informational and also intriguing. I liked the way in which Marion broke up the chapter into sections that included nutrition challenges, calories, organics, and also discussed supermarkets, dairy, and meat. He then followed with fish relating to heart disease and sodas and obesity. I found these sections to be very informative. I felt that Marion did a good job of presenting this information in a way that everyone could understand and relate to. The fact that obesity and the linkage to soda is such an issue here in the the US made this section very important to include. He also used facts and statistics to make the information he was presenting credible and also helped as sort of a shock factor. I felt as though Marion was talking to America as a whole, but on a personal level, making you reevaluate your own lifestyle and food choices. I found it very disturbing in the section "A meaty debate" when Marion said that the smallest McDonald's cheeseburger contained 6 grams of saturated fat and a Hardee's Monster Thickbuger contained forty-five. I was very disgusted by this and thought that this is exactly why Americans are overweight. This was one of the shock factors that I thought Marion used in order to capture the readers interests. After reading this chapter, I really want to reevaluate what I'm eating and continue to eat mostly organic, not just for the health benefits, but also for the environmental impacts.

Researched Argument Essay

After the completion of Pesticide essay, in which I looked at both the postive aspects of pesticide use and conventional forming and the negaitive effects and alternatives, I have decided to focus my attention on the negative aspects of this common farming practice and the harmful side effects it has on health and the environment. After completing the research for the previous essay, I was shocked at the amount of health problems pesticides cause and also exactly what is being put into our food. The chapter in the book Food Inc that disscussed pesticide use also helped to confirm my stance on this topic. I will be focusing most of my attention on the health effects caused by this type of farming, but will also be looking at environmental issues, water contaimination, and also the alternatives such as organic farming and will find resources and staticsitcs to support my main ideas.

Food Inc Post #2

After writing my research paper on pesticides, I chose to focus this blog on the chapter "Exposure to Pesticides", because I found this chapter to be really interesting but also shocking. I used several facts from this chapter to support some of my main points in my paper because I felt that the information provided within this chapter really showed the dangers of pesticide use. Among the most shocking statements made in this chapter that really stood out to me was that the FDA tested produce in grocery stores and more than half contained residues of pesticides and eight industry-leader baby foods contained 16 different pesticides, three of which were carcinogens. I found that very disturbing that baby foods contain cancer causing agents, and that they are even being used on food that will be consumed by children, when it is scientifically proven, that pesticides play a huge role in learning disabilities and developmental issues in young children. Also, I think its scary that when tested for OP's in blood samples, 95% of Americans tested positive for the OP's and those samples from children were twice as high as adults. The fact that OP's are linked to so many developmental issues really makes me wonder why they are still FDA approved and they they are still in half of the insecticides used. When there are alternatives such as organic farming being used currently that does not require the use of pesticides and has been scientifically proven to be dramatically healthier, why more farms are not converting over. Although it may be more costly to go organic, I feel like money put towards benefiting from healthy living is worth the price, and to have healthier kids would save money in medical bills and health care in the long run.

Food Inc

After watching the film Food Inc. in class, and reading several chapter's in the book Food Inc. itself, many things have stood out that I never knew, and almost wish I still didn't know about the food industry. After viewing the film especially, I look at my food differently and having been a vegetarian for the past several years, I now defiantly stand by my lifestyle choice. In the film, the scenes that involved conventional farming practices stood out the most. In particular, the scene in which the pigs are crushed to their death and the chickens are flipped upside down and hung by their necks got to me the most. I knew that animals were treated badly in these facilities and were forced to live in crammed filthy conditions because of an animal cruelty paper I had written in years past, but seeing it in the film was a completely different reaction. I had to look away several times during the film and felt sick watching it. Being as how that is how most would respond, would probably be why it was included in the film. It is one thing to hear about how the treatment of animals is, but to actually see it really makes you realize how corrupt the food industry truly is. The farmer that used the organic techniques in the film, at least showed compassion towards his livestock, and although he was raising them to be slaughter, he at least had the decency to treat them as living beings. I liked that the movie included personal interviews with farmers and allowed them to speak on how they felt about the food industry and its corrupt policies. Although they might have not agreed with how they had to treat the animals, they had to make a living, but at least they knew what they were doing was wrong and seemed to have a moral conscious.
Moving onto the book, I feel that what was shown in the film was further explained in detail in the interviews and chapters we read. Staying along the same lines as animal cruelty in conventional farms, I found the chapter “The Dirty Six” beginning on page 61, to be extremely disturbing. The top six worst animal practices were battery cages, fast growth for birds, forced feeding, gestation crates, long-distance transportation, and electric stunning of birds. These were all visually shown in the film, so reading about how horrible they were and actually seeing it made a huge impact on me. I found this chapter incredible hard to read and had trouble getting though it because it further explained in detail exactly how they hurt or killed the animals. I like that fact that at the end of the chapter, ways in which to help and stop these torturous practices were included. I really want to get involved and follow the three R’s ( refine diet, reduce consumption, replace animal products) more so then I already do and I feel like if more people read this book and saw the film, they would be more inclined to do so also.

Research Prospectus

For every acre of land planted in the United States, six pounds of harmful pesticides are sprayed in order to control, destroy, and repel pests and other organisms from harming crops. This brings the final number to 1.3 million tons of pesticides being used each year in several types of farming to “protect” human health my stopping the contamination of harmful microbes. The belief that pesticides could be used to control pest’s dates back to 2500 B.C, but it wasn’t until the past fifty years that their use has widely spread. Much of the produce bought by consumers in the U.S each day is doused in some form of pesticide while being grown on US soil. Many believe it is the imported produce from other countries that cause health problems for consumers. However, eleven out of twelve of the highest contaminated foods are US grown including sweet bell peppers, celery, kales, lettuce, carrots, peaches, apples, strawberries and cherries have been linked to causing infertility, cancer, learning disorders, neurological problems, and poisoning in many consumers who ingested the pesticides used with these products. Fetus’s and young children are most at risk for the harmful side effects caused from consumption of pesticides. However, consumption is not the only problem. Pesticides have also been linked to contaminated water in many rural areas after they have dissolved into those areas ground water. Since 50% of all Americans obtain drinking water from ground water sources, and 95% of the population living in farming communities use ground water for drinking water, this poses a serious issue. As important as keeping harmful microbes under control may seem, there are alternatives that can be used, as well as special types of farming that are already being utilized that pose no risk to human health. Organic eating is one of those alternatives and can be said to be better for your health. “Safe Soil” and no modifications made to the produce while being grown can vastly help save those who consume them to reek the benefits of a pesticide free lifestyle. Many consumers do not realize why pesticides are in use, how they are used, what exactly they are, and what types of food are being contaminated on a daily basis. The side effects and health concerns these pesticides and the contaminated ground water have been seen to go unnoticed, but have recently been linked more and more too serious health issues. In the paper, many of these issues will be disused in further detail as well as provide safe alternatives and listing of commonly contaminated foods in order to allow consumers to see where pesticides may be coming into their live and how they can protect themselves from developing health problems in the future. Also, Laws that have been passed in order to try and protect consumer’s health will also be recognized and discussed in greater detail. Pesticides are a commonly used substance that affects almost every individual, but is not a commonly recognized health concern, due to lack of information about them being presented to the public, but it needs to be addressed.

Bibliography

"Pesticides." Sustainable Table. Sustainable Table, Sept. 2009. Web. 25 Jan. 2010.
http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/pesticides/.

"PESTICIDES ON FRUITS AND VEGETABLES." Consumer Health. CHOC, 2009.

Web. 25 Jan. 2010. .

Peterson, T.I. "Pesticide Residues in Drinking Water." Pesticide Residuesin Drinking Water. T.I

Peterson, June 1997. Web. 25 Jan. 2010. http://extoxnet.orst.edu/faqs/safedrink/pest.htm.

"Shoppers guide to pesticides." Shoppers guide to pesticides. Environmental Working Group, 2010. Web. 25 Jan. 2010. http://www.foodnews.org/.

"The use of Pesticides in Farming." Health & Safety Executive. Health & Safety Executive, 2009. Web. 24 Jan. 2010. .