The culture I live in today is based on material objects. Be it the toys and electronics or the plastic surgery that women go through to make their appearance better looking. Everyone in the society gets off on it and no one gets back to the basics the simple things in life. Everyone needs that extra something to get that high so they can enjoy the shitty life they have for five minutes. Instead of making life for them and the other around them better. And the material objects go even farther than the iPods it even ties into the food. The food in the culture that I live in is just like the material things. We just use it to get full and move on to the more important things in our life, when in essence food is probably the most important thing in our lives next to water. Food in our culture is one aspect of a larger nightmare.
Food is a rather medium size puzzle in the problem with our society. If you thing of our society as a triangle food would be in the middle sandwiched by peak oil on top the smaller piece and the peoples mindset on the bottom the largest piece. And each piece ties into one another by if peak oil eventually happens the food system we live off will collapse and the reason for peak oil to happen is the mindset of the people thinking that it’s a hoax and truly not going to happen. What really should happen to make this triangle puzzle the solution and not the problem is the smallest piece should be the peoples mindset because we should all be on the same page about how badly run our food system is and peak oil is inevitable. Then the medium sized piece should be peak oil because if we do not act fast we will be unprepared and due to that people will die and the more prepared we are the less deaths to happen. And finally the last piece is the largest and its our food. This is the biggest concern because it is completely relying on oil and if everyone is on the same page we know is going to peak and then in turn collapse and be useless to everyone. And with out oil people will not be able to get food because the system will crash and no longer be there. So if we get on the same page prepare for peak oil and change the food system we will all live longer and happier lives.
The culture we live in these days is just so complex. Everything is made to be easy but you have twelve easy steps to do it. And the way to right our wrongs is to get back to the basics and the simple way of life. We need to stop this fight against nature and work with nature. Once we get on that path everything will fall into place and the things that we should really cherish will rise to the surface and mean more than anything to everyone.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
final one
Food in the human society has been through a roller coaster. It started as a necessity and then it has ended up where it is today as fuel for the body. When civilization started humans hunted for food so they could survive and live. There was no supermarket to go to so humans could pick what they wanted to eat for dinner that night. They left their camps for a few hours a day to hunt and get food for each of there families. These humans were called hunter-gatherers they went out hunting for their food and gathered it to stockpile and use when hungry and necessary.
The second way of making and getting food is agriculture and this way of getting food is by planting seed to make food. There is one very basic way of making food out of seeds. This would be called sprouting. What you do is take any kind of seeds such as chickpea’s, sunflower seeds and broccoli seeds. Then you take your seed and you put them in a clean jar that does not have any smell because of there is a smell then your sprouts will have the taste of the smell of your jar ( jar smells like tomato sauce, your sprouts will taste like tomato sauce). Once you have a good amount of sprouts in your jar you add water too the jar, as much ass you need to cover the seeds in the jar. Then cover the jar with a cheesecloth and rubber band and let sit for twenty-four hours. After the twenty-four hours drain out the water and rinse the seeds in the jar, while seeds are still in the jar covered by the cheesecloth. Once you have rinsed out the seeds in the jar make sure all the water is out of the jar or that will attract mold and mold will not make your sprouts taste good. Continue this until you see your sprouts sprout and enjoy.
This is one very basic sustainable way of agriculture. And I stress the word sustainable because the way agriculture is run today its not even called agriculture its industrial agriculture. And its industrial because humans do not run it anymore because they cannot run the farm fast enough to make a large profit off of the farm. So they use machines and pesticides to create the most revenue and that way of agriculture is good in the short run because of all the food it makes but it is not sustainable and eventually all the pesticides will be ineffective and there will be no more fuel for the machines and the earth will be ripped apart beyond repair.
Then again there is always a twist. Scientist are coming up with new ideas and ways to make food by changing genes in food to make them even with out planting. Having watermelon with out seeds and making other ridiculously strange new foods that only would be possible with the technology we have today. There is even a way to farm without dirt and its called hydroponic farming and most of the crops we eat to day are hydroponic crops. And there will be plenty more new and intriguing ideas to make food when we could all just go back to the beginning and plant our own crops and food and life would be oh so simple.
The second way of making and getting food is agriculture and this way of getting food is by planting seed to make food. There is one very basic way of making food out of seeds. This would be called sprouting. What you do is take any kind of seeds such as chickpea’s, sunflower seeds and broccoli seeds. Then you take your seed and you put them in a clean jar that does not have any smell because of there is a smell then your sprouts will have the taste of the smell of your jar ( jar smells like tomato sauce, your sprouts will taste like tomato sauce). Once you have a good amount of sprouts in your jar you add water too the jar, as much ass you need to cover the seeds in the jar. Then cover the jar with a cheesecloth and rubber band and let sit for twenty-four hours. After the twenty-four hours drain out the water and rinse the seeds in the jar, while seeds are still in the jar covered by the cheesecloth. Once you have rinsed out the seeds in the jar make sure all the water is out of the jar or that will attract mold and mold will not make your sprouts taste good. Continue this until you see your sprouts sprout and enjoy.
This is one very basic sustainable way of agriculture. And I stress the word sustainable because the way agriculture is run today its not even called agriculture its industrial agriculture. And its industrial because humans do not run it anymore because they cannot run the farm fast enough to make a large profit off of the farm. So they use machines and pesticides to create the most revenue and that way of agriculture is good in the short run because of all the food it makes but it is not sustainable and eventually all the pesticides will be ineffective and there will be no more fuel for the machines and the earth will be ripped apart beyond repair.
Then again there is always a twist. Scientist are coming up with new ideas and ways to make food by changing genes in food to make them even with out planting. Having watermelon with out seeds and making other ridiculously strange new foods that only would be possible with the technology we have today. There is even a way to farm without dirt and its called hydroponic farming and most of the crops we eat to day are hydroponic crops. And there will be plenty more new and intriguing ideas to make food when we could all just go back to the beginning and plant our own crops and food and life would be oh so simple.
Monday, May 28, 2007
revised IFS paper
The industrial food system is the system in which mass food production occurs. To understand it you have to break it down, industrial (machines) and food system. It is a food system that is operated by machines and the corporations run the machines. The truth however is the food system is simply the mass production of food in all civilizations. In many countries food production is made easy with the use of machines. These machines cause a lot of problems, manure in meat, pesticides on vegetables, and harm to workers. The machines control the entire procedure. They are oppressors on society, because of all the problems that they cause and because they give people no alternative in food. The point of the industrial food system is to make food in the most efficient way, make as much food to compile the biggest financial income. (Pollan)
All foods are processed in different ways. Most foods however originate on a farm. One of the best ways to describe the industrial food system is by giving the example of one of its most lucrative processes, meat production. Cows start out on a farm, where they are separated from their mothers at birth and their father is just a tube of seamen. For feeding purposes when they are young they drink liquids that are derived from the mothers’ blood. Once they are old enough they are taken to a feedlot where they are fed 25 pounds of genetically modified corn a day and a variety of antibiotics. They are fed antibiotics because corn is not food they are accustomed to eating, thus it is detrimental to their health. During their time at the feedlot they are living in their own feces and disease is inevitable. Once they weigh about 1300 pounds and they are dying from all the acid eating away at their stomachs and livers, they are brought to a slaughterhouse to be killed and packaged. (Pollan) After they are killed they are place on a mechanical line where their intestines are cut out and often are broken so that their feces spill all over the meat. This is just one example of cows at one slaughter house in the country. None of this would even be imaginable on a grand scale without oil.
With oil corn would not be able to be the cornerstone for the industrial system. Oil and corn are not directly connected; oil and pesticides are. And the high amounts of pesticides used on growing corn would make it simply impossible to keep up the huge amounts of corn being grown in this country. The amount of corn grown in the country is astronomical. The reason for this is the government gives money to the farmers to grow as much corn as possible and then sell it to everyone from feed lots to corporations needing corn. Then these corporations make these “junk” food products that are processed corn and sell them to supermarkets. Then at feed lots they feed the cows’ corn to fatten them up and then sell the meat to the supermarkets and fast food companies. Everyone is getting rich and the government is keeping the same guys in office because the voters all getting a cut of the money so the voters re-elect the guys in office. (Snyder) The reason this allowed to happen is because of pesticides. Without pesticides farmers would not have any corn and no corn means, no money. With people who are in this business hear no money they get angry and find dog eat dog way to make money. We live in a capitalist society and they will try to make money at any cost.
All foods are processed in different ways. Most foods however originate on a farm. One of the best ways to describe the industrial food system is by giving the example of one of its most lucrative processes, meat production. Cows start out on a farm, where they are separated from their mothers at birth and their father is just a tube of seamen. For feeding purposes when they are young they drink liquids that are derived from the mothers’ blood. Once they are old enough they are taken to a feedlot where they are fed 25 pounds of genetically modified corn a day and a variety of antibiotics. They are fed antibiotics because corn is not food they are accustomed to eating, thus it is detrimental to their health. During their time at the feedlot they are living in their own feces and disease is inevitable. Once they weigh about 1300 pounds and they are dying from all the acid eating away at their stomachs and livers, they are brought to a slaughterhouse to be killed and packaged. (Pollan) After they are killed they are place on a mechanical line where their intestines are cut out and often are broken so that their feces spill all over the meat. This is just one example of cows at one slaughter house in the country. None of this would even be imaginable on a grand scale without oil.
With oil corn would not be able to be the cornerstone for the industrial system. Oil and corn are not directly connected; oil and pesticides are. And the high amounts of pesticides used on growing corn would make it simply impossible to keep up the huge amounts of corn being grown in this country. The amount of corn grown in the country is astronomical. The reason for this is the government gives money to the farmers to grow as much corn as possible and then sell it to everyone from feed lots to corporations needing corn. Then these corporations make these “junk” food products that are processed corn and sell them to supermarkets. Then at feed lots they feed the cows’ corn to fatten them up and then sell the meat to the supermarkets and fast food companies. Everyone is getting rich and the government is keeping the same guys in office because the voters all getting a cut of the money so the voters re-elect the guys in office. (Snyder) The reason this allowed to happen is because of pesticides. Without pesticides farmers would not have any corn and no corn means, no money. With people who are in this business hear no money they get angry and find dog eat dog way to make money. We live in a capitalist society and they will try to make money at any cost.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
draft
Foreword
Before food class with Andy this semester my eyes were already open to new ideas and ways of life. And I was really interested on what else Andy had to say especially on food. I had taken the globalization of capitalism class the semester before and I felt his class was very profound and intriguing. He basically had me hooked. So I signed up for his food class and was ready to learn. And by god did I ever learn, from making a chicken coop to corn being in everything from syrup to the meat that you get from cows that are fed corn.
The omnivores dilemma written by Michael Pollan is a book based on the industrial food system. He talks about the beginning of the whole situation. From how corn go its name, to why it is the way it is today. He talks about the way cows are treated in feedlots and the way they get fed. The cows get fed 25 pounds of corn a day so they can fatten up and have more muscle so the farm owners can sell more meat to get more money. The farm owners keep the animals in very bad living conditions in cages and very small feed lots. They have no freedom what so ever, they are literally born to die.
I believe there are a few branches off industrial food witch are the fast-food market, the supermarket, and government-owned-food. The fast-food would be the corporations that make the major profit off there foods such as McDonalds and Burger Kings to the dunkin’ doughnuts and Baskin Robbins. The supermarket would be your every day super market Duane Reade and path mart to Cosco and B.J.’s. And then lastly the government-owned-food is the army, school, and certain corporations’ cafeterias.
The industrial food system profanes all foods. It takes eating food and fu-filling your hunger and not dieing to the next level and makes it this great big ugly money making machine. All the high powered ecetivies take advantage of this idea of eating and try to make as much money as possible. The IFS tries to suck every penny out of every money making part in food. They make food when it’s not in season and jack up the prices because of that, even thought it is not necessary to have all foods at your finger tips. Super markets allow that to happen. You can go to any market and get anything you want for any meal for any day. If your family wanted to you can have red meat every day for a month. That just isn’t right you as a person can’t kill that many cows and eat them and actually have red meat for a month straight.
After going to whole foods I realized that wholefoods is not really an alternative. It is just a less bad choice. Like driving a hybrid car, it’s not the best choice but it is not the worst choice you can make. It is better than a hummer but walking and riding a bicycle are better ones. You have to completely cut the string for the industrial food system to get the best, most healthiest, good for the planet food.
Before food class with Andy this semester my eyes were already open to new ideas and ways of life. And I was really interested on what else Andy had to say especially on food. I had taken the globalization of capitalism class the semester before and I felt his class was very profound and intriguing. He basically had me hooked. So I signed up for his food class and was ready to learn. And by god did I ever learn, from making a chicken coop to corn being in everything from syrup to the meat that you get from cows that are fed corn.
The omnivores dilemma written by Michael Pollan is a book based on the industrial food system. He talks about the beginning of the whole situation. From how corn go its name, to why it is the way it is today. He talks about the way cows are treated in feedlots and the way they get fed. The cows get fed 25 pounds of corn a day so they can fatten up and have more muscle so the farm owners can sell more meat to get more money. The farm owners keep the animals in very bad living conditions in cages and very small feed lots. They have no freedom what so ever, they are literally born to die.
I believe there are a few branches off industrial food witch are the fast-food market, the supermarket, and government-owned-food. The fast-food would be the corporations that make the major profit off there foods such as McDonalds and Burger Kings to the dunkin’ doughnuts and Baskin Robbins. The supermarket would be your every day super market Duane Reade and path mart to Cosco and B.J.’s. And then lastly the government-owned-food is the army, school, and certain corporations’ cafeterias.
The industrial food system profanes all foods. It takes eating food and fu-filling your hunger and not dieing to the next level and makes it this great big ugly money making machine. All the high powered ecetivies take advantage of this idea of eating and try to make as much money as possible. The IFS tries to suck every penny out of every money making part in food. They make food when it’s not in season and jack up the prices because of that, even thought it is not necessary to have all foods at your finger tips. Super markets allow that to happen. You can go to any market and get anything you want for any meal for any day. If your family wanted to you can have red meat every day for a month. That just isn’t right you as a person can’t kill that many cows and eat them and actually have red meat for a month straight.
After going to whole foods I realized that wholefoods is not really an alternative. It is just a less bad choice. Like driving a hybrid car, it’s not the best choice but it is not the worst choice you can make. It is better than a hummer but walking and riding a bicycle are better ones. You have to completely cut the string for the industrial food system to get the best, most healthiest, good for the planet food.
Friday, March 30, 2007
i posted on brians page....
great first draft i liked the angle along and it seems to have the same feel as my paper. and with that you have the same problem i have going on and on about things that come to your head. you should always relate you ideas back to your thesis to make your paper stronger
i posted on elliots page...
webster,
this is a great first draft, you have great ideas talking about both movies and giving the summary. now think about taking the next step getting less vague and look at the evidence. also find you self a thesis something that you relate all your ideas back to one thing. one thesis can be something along the lines of they way your eyes opened after learning about all this stuff, or maybe how you emotionaly felt after learning all these new things.
this is a great first draft, you have great ideas talking about both movies and giving the summary. now think about taking the next step getting less vague and look at the evidence. also find you self a thesis something that you relate all your ideas back to one thing. one thesis can be something along the lines of they way your eyes opened after learning about all this stuff, or maybe how you emotionaly felt after learning all these new things.
Monday, March 26, 2007
light brain storm
Industrial food system is one great big well oiled machine.
The IFS is the capitalist way of making affordable food for everyone and gain a huge profit.
People have no real knowledge of the real IFS some think they know about it and others have no idea the impact that IFS has on everyone’s daily life.
The IFS is the capitalist way of making affordable food for everyone and gain a huge profit.
People have no real knowledge of the real IFS some think they know about it and others have no idea the impact that IFS has on everyone’s daily life.
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