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.