Hw - 24 Precis #3

Tuesdays With Morrie By Mitch Albom, Published by Doubleday, Sept. 1997
3/3rd of the book: The world, I discovered was not at all interested in me, neither was I to it. For a few years after I graduated from college, I wandered looking for a job and paying rent and finally landing a job as a columnist in the Detroit Free Press. I buried myself in accomplishments and relished in what I was doing, because with accomplishments, I believed I could control anything. I thought about my Professor time to time about what he use to say to me, "about being human and relating to others", but thinking like this would distant me from what my current life is already like. I had found out that the professor who taught me these things had become ill and I made it my duty to visit him before he passes. My visits with Morrie became more frequent since the loss of my job. Every Tuesday we have sessions where we talk about life, love, death and much more meaningful things that I was previously lacking. Morrie is visibly getting more ill, and he's well aware of it, but with each passing day I learn a little bit more about myself through him and his insights on the progressions of living verses death. Every Tuesday that has gone by so far, has been about the external and internal values of life such as our culture or our marriages or our views on death itself. Morrie's days are closing in and the more his time is shortened here, the more accepting he is of death. He says that he never hoped that his illness could be cured because he has now become a completely different self and there would be no point in returning to my old self; "one because I can't get any younger either" he says jokingly. My lasts encounter with Morrie was my most emotional because of the changed being I had become, Morrie laid there in his bed, tired and sickly and manages to say to me that I am his friend and that he loves me and I return the favor by giving him my last farewell kiss and we both cried. Morrie's funeral gathering was small and purposeful because he did not want his family to be hurt by the passing of him and I was told to talk to him at his grave site which I did, which almost felt natural to do.

Quotes: "As you grow old, you learn more. If you stayed at twenty-two, you'd always be as ignorant as you were at twenty-two. Aging is not just decay, you know. It's growth. It's more than the negative that you're going to die, its also the positive that you understand you're going to die, and that you live a better life because of it."(p.118) Basically to stay at one pace won't get you where your going any faster or any slower, aging is accelerating your depth of insights and experience but gradually meeting the finish line that ends this process.
"Forgive yourself before you die. Then forgive others."(p.166) Forgiving others before you forgive yourself is one not accepting ones self and not truly forgiving the person whom may have been offended. We have a tendency to forgive others and not ourselves building on regrets that forever keep building because we don't want to forgive ourselves for things we should have done or what should of happened.
"Death ends a life, not a relationship." (174) Even though a passing of an individual may seem like your connection with them is over, but it's not. Their impact on your life is what stays with you forever, therefore not really ending a relationship, but just the physical aspect of it.

Insights/Thoughts: All together this book really walked me through some important interpretations and perceptions of love, death and life using specific examples to evolve the level of insights and experiences to become weirdly relatable. One thing I really took out of this book was that no matter what our position is in life, is really to take it in stride and make the best out of it, because each new day is a brand new experience furthermore developing our own understandings of things around us. We may feel vulnerable at times, especially around those we care about, but if we are to just accept this feeling and conquer it, the result is lifting because we are able to feel more comfortable around it.

HW - 23 Precis #2

Tuesdays With Morrie By Mitch Albom, Published by Doubleday, Sept. 1997
2/3rd of the book: I have grown close to my professor in these past sessions with him. Even with the lost of my job, I have found more time to truly collect myself as a person because I realize there is more to life than a lot of the materialistic things that had taken over my life previously. Morrie is getting sicker, I can see it in him, and I'm sure he is well aware of it, but each passing day I learn a little bit more about myself as I learn more about the progressions in living verses death.

Quotes: "Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them too."(p.61) Mitch's difficulty to give in and embrace the surroundings is described by Morrie's perception of Mitch's personal life. In order for him to accept the life he lives in, he must accept and trust the ones around him first.
"Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live." (p.82) Morrie's adventure has shaped to him to truly understand that the fascination in his life, is much more clear since his encounter and now progression in being ill.
"If you don't have the support and love and caring and concern that you get from a family, you don't have much at all. Love is so supremely important."(p.91) Morrie's understanding of acknowledging that without his family, dealing with his conditions would be much harder, and that the family that he has provides a sense of security and safety.

Insights/Thoughts: I realized that one of the major themes in this book has become the power of trust and love. Morrie's ability to recognize the love of his family provides more of a "spiritual security"(p.92) since he had become ill and trusting the ones around him, gaining more from them then if he was to not trust them at all. My relation with my Grandparents are similarly presented, because I put just as much as love and interest into them as I would do for Morrie in Mitch's situation. Trusting my Grandparents and believing in them has proven to be more insightful to if I didn't talk to them at all.

Hw - 22 Precis #1

Tuesdays With Morrie By Mitch Albom, Published by Doubleday, Sept. 1997
Pages 3-54: I miss my dear professor, it's a shame I did not keep in contact with him all these years. In fact I didn't keep in contact with anyone after my college years. The world, I discovered was not all interested in me, and neither was I to it. For a few years I wandered looking for a job, getting a job and paying rent. Eventually I got a job as a columnist in the Detroit Free Press. I buried myself in accomplishments because with accomplishments, I believed I could control things, I thought about my professor and what he use to tell me, " about being human and relating to others", but thinking about this was distant to what my life was like already. I saw Morrie while flicking through TV channels to figure out that he had become ill and I went numb. I must visit him before he passes. My visit with Morrie was brief because I had to return to work in a couple of days, but from what I got out if it, reminded me of my college days where I found life much more interesting.

Quotes:"You know that I'm dying. I've become much more interesting to people...People see me as a bridge. I'm not as alive as I used to be, but I'm not yet dead. I'm sort of in-between."(p.33) Morrie's understanding of accepting death and becoming a teacher to those around him, has become an apparent factor for those who want to understand the meaning behind illness and dying. "Dying is only one thing to be sad over. Living unhappily is something else."(p.35) Mitch's issue with being miserable about how his life has turned up is nothing in comparison to know that you will have to die in the future. So live your life happily because the worst has not come yet."Well, for one thing, the culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. We're teaching the wrong things. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it. Create your own."(p.35) The culture we live in puts a lot more attention on materialistic things that provide a superficial feeling of happiness because it satisfies our wants and needs, but it's a constantly changing system of wants and needs, so one stresses themselves in trying to get the new thing every time. "The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning."(p.43) Enjoying what your doing is much better then doing what someone wants you to do because it's a unique purpose and meaning you have created on your own, and by creating it, the community around you may take better notice to it.

Insights/Thoughts: Reading these amount of pages in Tuesdays With Morrie has provided a deeper understanding of the meaning of life around the thought of death. Morrie's experience with being ill and dying is interesting because he has made the decision to accept it and make the best out of it. On top of making the best out of it, he has made himself a teacher to those who want to know the meaning behind dying.

HW - 21 Post Comments #1

To Harry:

Harry,

In your blog post, you gave examples of similar experiences that was presented by Beth describing the death of her husband. Something that struck in me in your blog was how you wanted to know how you would handle illness and dying now because of Beth's presentation. I'm curious as to why "now" after hearing Beth's presentation put you in a mindset of "what if" this happened to me, then what would I do? For me, since Beth's presentation I feel that I would still handle dying and illness the way I wanted too("I'm not sure what way that is"), but it would be a secondary source to how I could possibly react to news like I was to die or become very ill.
Brief note once your finish doing your blog for the future, if you could re-read and clear up any mistakes and order of thought.

Insightful Post!
Christian

To Dean:

Dean,

Your insights and experiences similarly relate to Beth's insights and experiences but if you could explain how these experiences and insights made you feel, it would deepen your understanding and make your blog post longer. For example, you explained that "you will better understand how she was feeling and what she was talking about", but what about her talking struck you personally and why, and if it didn't, why don't you think it did and further explain. During Beth's presentation, she said she had become comfortable talking to crowds about the death of her husband which helped her cope with her feelings and one could assume that this could be a reason why she did not tear up in front of us. I, for one, am not comfortable talking to people about the death of someone I knew only because it is such a sensitive topic, but when I do, I feel better because it feels like I got something off my chest.

Good Post!
Christian

Hw - 21 Expert #1

Beth Bernett
Insights & Experiences:

• Health Insurance was tough to come by since they were both Artist.
• After finding out that her Husband was diagnosed with Cancer, she didn't want to hear about how things were usually done on TV.
• Limited option is what could now be done in a normal day.
• Mobility issue.
• "When you get sick enough; Dignity goes out the window."
• Family getting together during the time of Beth's husband getting ill.

Hearing the insights and experiences Beth Bernett went through when she was with her husband made a lot more sense with the insights and experiences that I thought would happen. One of my insights were, that when one gets sick, a lot of the normal things start to end. During the time Beth's husband was suffering from cancer, gradually, the normal habits started to end because of how ill he was getting. Beth brought my insights further based on her experience because when some of the normal habits were stopped, her husband had to learn to cope with it and based on his "out-going" personality, it affected him a lot. Each individual that suffers from an overbearing illness has to learn either to cope or "heroically" want to fight it off because of this sense of dignity that they still want to hold on too. Which is another thing Beth mentioned when it came to the point where her husband had to accept loosing his dignity based on how much his illness was putting him through.

Another thing that struck me was the all to well "get together" when one family member gets ill and everyone gets much closer. When my aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer, everyone in the family came to her aid immediately because we wanted to show her we cared about her. Usually these get together go two ways, the individual who's ill decides whether or not they want to be around family when there dying, or completely close them off because they don't want them to be hurt. Its two very interesting choices that really depends on how that individual feels and for my aunt she chose to keep quiet, I still don't know much about her condition to this day. Beth, as well when her husband was very ill, it was more of a decision to have the family know, but keep contact with people limited only because this sense of hurting people was apparent.

During Beth's presentation to our class, I started to realize that a hospital curtains the ugly and the beauty of dying. If Beth and her husband didn't ask straight up about her husband's condition, a lot of what doctors were saying would be the "heroic" type of things that are said in movies and TV. Which is not as much of a big problem because of how sensitive illness and dying is of a topic. Usually coating the truth about something traumatic could do someone good because it might be unbearable for those who couldn't handle something like hearing they were going to die, or you have this much amount of time left in this world, etc.

Hw - 19 Family Perspective on Illness and Dying

Both of my parents had interesting insights on their perspectives of illness and dying which probably would have not been shared if it wasn't for this blog post, because in our family we did not talk about this kind of topic. What I found interesting coming from my mom was that, her mother never talked about illness and dying to her as she has also done to me as well because it should be a innate emotion to show care and concern about the sick and dying. Her quote was "if you are a rational human being, you should know how to provide care for the sick and dying; only irrational people would not know what to do." During our conversation this quote stuck with me the most because before talking to my mom about illness and dying, I had already known to show care and concern to the sick but I never talked about it with my mom nor dad. My mom also talked about showing unconditional love and getting the sick and dying out of gloominess to help them better deal with their situation. She gave an example that before her father had passed, he was very sick and when we visited him, he was in his room, laying in bed with the lights dimly lit and when he saw us, he brightened up. He felt happier.

We should always show empathy to those of the sick and dying do what ever we could do to make their lives more memorable which is what my dad shared with me. One of my dad's co workers who was diagnosed with cancer, they had set up a dinner for her and during that dinner my dad said that all he wanted to do was to make her feel included and try his best to not have her feel bad about her condition. He also was not taught by his parents about the ill and dying and how to approach it because it was something you should already know what to do if you were a rational human being. One of my questions I had for both my parents was since you think rational human beings should know to provide care and concern, how does our society fair with dealing with the sick and dying? My mom quickly replied with, "well if you believe society is rational then we should be able to express similarly the same thought about the sick and dying. "

Hearing from both of my parents about illness and dying helped me formulate where I stood upon approaching illness and dying because in someways I relate to them because their parents never really talked to them about this topic, but they knew what to do when it came to dealing with it. As for me, I feel like I know how I should present myself in the face of someone who is sick or dying because of the straight forward solutions there are to dealing with this kind of topic. We provide care and concern, we make sure they feel included, we try to make them happier, all things to help that sick and dying person avoid their current situation.

Hw - 18 Health & Illness Feasting

This year's family thanksgiving was more festive than it was in it's previous years. Maybe it was because of the family member who was new to hosting. In the home that the Thanksgiving holiday was not held in the traditional way where everyone sits at the table and say grace just before we eat. It was loud music, loud talking, children playing video games, and eating as much food as you like moving in and out of the kitchen. The vibe of constant movement provided more of a lively feel that made everyone feel comfortable. It was a party. At first we weren't sure about how this Thanksgiving would go because of how different it was, it almost foreign even with close family members by your side, but like all natural human beings, we adapt to our new surroundings.

The food that was provided this year was like most of the previous years where each family cooks and brings food to the party and it's up to you to decide what you want eat even though most of my family persuade you in eating what they brought even if you don't want it. Most of the food that is brought to the Thanksgiving, the food I only enjoy would be the food my mom cooked only because I trust what my mom cooks. Each year is like that. I don't know why I do that, and its not because some of the other food taste bad, but its that I just don't feel comfortable eating other people's home cooked meals.

During the festivities, most of the elderly that had join in on the party stayed seated and were cared to by the adults such as getting the food and drinks and how/who they were going home with. They sat in the most comfortable chair, and each and every grand child was introduced and said there hello's to them. The adults made sure we hugged and kissed the grandmothers' and shakes the hands of the grandfather's like if they were not getting enough love by now. Like in my previous blog, this huge association with the sick and dying and the elderly go hand and hand with making sure that the sick and dying are cared for the most because it is something needed.

Hw - 17 Initial Thoughts on Illness and Dying

My initial thought about illness and dying happen to be nothing at the moment because personally I don't know anyone personal who died or is ill. Experience is the best teacher, and I have no experience with both of these topics but I know that eventually everyone will suffer from one of these topics. So how do I cope with this then? I avoid it. I avoid it as much as possible because of the known sadness is brings to people. I've been taught to see illness and dying as being concerned and aware. I should be concerned for those who are ill and aware of the dying and deceased to be respectful. Being concerned and providing care seems to go hand and hand to be a good solution to aid people who are in need of help. That is another thing our culture has attended too. The association with help and caring for the ill and dying. We have this sense of giving back to those in dire need by providing them with "help" in what worries them most. As messed up as it sounds, another thought I had about illness and dying were the elderly people in our culture. We treat them with a different kind of respect because of this category of illness and dying they fall into. For example, my grandmother is in her 70's now, so I treat her completely different then how I would treat my younger sister who is 13. When my grandmother needs help with anything, I give her my immediate attention making sure she gets what she needs and because she is elderly I make it sort of my job to make sure she gets what she wanted. As for my sister, when she asks for anything, I give her the run around, or I just don't do it. And that's not because I don't love her, but because she is capable, and is not nearly as close to being elderly. What does this even mean then? Is it the fact that I am associating sick and dying with elderly people as a problem, or is it just appropriate to do so? To treat those who are going to meet their end, with ultimate kindness. Is there more than just associating help and kindness with illness and dying? Or is there more illness and dying could be implying?

I've also come to notice that after the passing of someone, there is a period of grief and then coming of moving on. Our culture tends to do this because we accept the lost we have encountered, and we try to make the best out of it. Basically saying, the gain in something we loose. I can't say from experience that I have lost someone dearly and gained a new benefit from it. But I can say something that is relevant to this; When I had lost my iPod there was a period of time that I missed listening to music on bus, later on I figured instead of just sitting on the bus now with no music, read or finish homework which the end result was getting better grades in school. I now own a Zune player. It's interesting now that I see it, I replaced what I had before after "that period of grief and then moving on" which is another thing our culture does. We replace what is missed, for instance a pet that has passed, many people will adopt a new one to cope with their feelings.

Hw - 12 Final Project 2

Thesis: The dominant practices in our society are large corporations contributing to knightmarish atrocities that are held in secracy furthermore affecting the population.

Supporting Claim: The Food industry has become one of the many reasons why our population is suffering in health.

Evidence: The huge recall in meat products in nations history that was infected with E Coli.
"25 million pounds of ground beef was consumed after 35 millions pounds ground beef was recalled."- Food Inc.
Evidence: The cost in health care spending due to America's obesity.
"$147 billion every year to treat obesity. It costs another $116 billion each year to treat diabetes,and hundreds of billions more to treat cardiovascular disease and many types of cancer."(http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthday/story?id=8184975&page=1)
Evidence: The government shielding the public eye from certain meat products.
"Agribusiness interest lobbied the CA state to keep labels off meat that came from cloned animals and they're excuse for doing that was ["it would create unnecessary fright."] - Food Inc.

Supporting Claim:

*TO BE CONTINUED

Hw - 11 Final Food Project 1

For my Food Project, I decided to choose an experiment to write about. After watching Food Inc. and reading Fast Food Nation, the confines of where meat was coming from changed the way I looked at food in general. The fast food stores or the corner store Chinese restaurants, etc. had meat which at this point was all questionable. For my experiment I fasted for 24hours with the only exception of having water.
First Hour: I'm pretty much solid as of now, whatever I ate last has still gotten me pretty full but I'm not sure if I'm going to last for the next 23 hours just sitting around drinking water.
Eighth Hour: I'm okay. My mom cooked pasta with marinara sauce on top of beef tonight and I have to only drink water as of now before I go to sleep which is going to be rough.
Fourteenth Hour: I woke up in the middle of the night with my stomach raging in hunger. Compelled to eat oreo's with milk, I toughed it out with a glass of water and stayed up the remainder of the night listening to music and doing homework.
Twenty-First Hour: I couldn't do it, I actually believed I was gonna die if I did not eat anything. I didn't eat meat though, I had a nice bowl of cereal which I felt almost still satisfied my goal of fasting, but I don't know if I could of gone another 4 hours without eating or drinking anything that didn't taste good.
Twenty-Fourth Hour: The end. What have I endured during this 24 hour long experiment. Breaking a trend/process that I have been doing all my life, eating meat, is pretty much harder than what I thought it would be. The constant thought of gnawing down on a Chipotle burrito consumed my thoughts of what my next meal should be. The over-bearing amount of pressure it is on someone who eats meat has to break a trend that is basically second hand to their nature of eating is difficult. I think if I were to continue this experiment once more, it would further heighten my tolerance for meat, but breaking a trend would be something I would miss. I think the only reason why I enjoyed remembering eating meat during my 24 hour fast was because of the sight and the pleasure the type of food I ate gave to me. The food is presented as this tasteful delight that can be easily accessed but unfortunately is rather unhealthy.

Hw - 10 Food Inc. Response

Food Inc. is a documentary by Robert Kenner who presents a main focus of how large food industries are corrupt. In the documentary which discusses industrialization of food products that affect our daily lives and especially our health, the theories about the rise in obesity, diabetes, salmonella and E Coli are linked back to what is being manufactured in our large food company plants and then being sold off to large fast food companies that we as customers consume. The processed food consist of animals being injected with hormones and chemicals to increase the growth and moderate size to create mass production. Some of the animals, especially cows are fed not grass but genetically engineered corn and grains to increase their size making them fatter later on to be slaughtered and processed as genetically engineered meat. Even though many health violations are shown in this film, a lot of the government turned their heads at this point proving themselves powerless to make a change in how the workers were being treated and how the food was being made. The only thing the government did for these large food corporations were keeping the public eye in the dark about what was actually going on. In the film they showed how agribusiness interest lobbied the CA state to keep labels off meat that came from cloned animals and they're excuse for doing that was "it would create unnecessary fright."

Eric Schlooser's, Fast Food Nation and Michael Pollan's, The Omnivore's Dilemma presents a certain detail without image that is more descriptive than what the film surfaces. In Fast Food Nation, Schlosser explained more about how illegal and female workers in plants were treated unfairly by the managers and that if you were injured in the plant, going to the hospital would result in you loosing your job. The film briefly describes how illegal workers made up a lot of what was being done in the plants but was more focused on the animals were treated.

From the film, one of the more powerful emotional scenes that stuck with me was the mother of the child who got E Coli and later died in result of what Food processing plants had to be blamed for. Even after the huge recall in nations history for E Coli in the meat, the complaint the mother had made was finally answered after 25 millions pounds of meat was consumed after 35 million pounds of ground beef had been recalled. This made me wonder how much our government or the large food corporations actually cared about american citizens and the thought that money weighed more in the decision of recalling meat that was infected with E Coli. Another quote from the film that stuck with me was that "Food has changed more in the past 50 years then in the last 10,000 years." Why hasn't there been a movement to change again? If we could alter the way we eat so drastically in the past 50 years, we should be able to make it possible to drastically change it again?

Hw - 7d Reading Response

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
Chapter Nine: In 1997, around 35 million pounds of ground beef was recalled due to the fact that E Coli was apparent made by Hudson Foods. This was one of the largest recall in America's history and even before they recalled, 25 million pounds had already been eaten. Companies desire to make a profit felt that the safety of their customers came after business had been finished. Large food companies somewhat escape the clutches of the law and even our American government do not have the power to recall or even shut down the plants for health violations.
Quotes:"The safety of the food seemed determined more by the personality of the manager on duty than by the written policies of the chain. Many workers would not eat anything at their restaurant unless they'd made it themselves." (p.222).
Questions/Responses:
1. How is it possible that our government cannot take control of large food companies, when in reality it seems like the government already controls most of the country?
2. Large food companies have committed a crime, why are they getting away with health violations that are damaging American society.
3. What does this say say about the government if they knew they couldn't shut down the plants before to warn the public about the food epidemic?
Chapter Ten: The history of Plauen, Germany began in 1923 when it was the first place outside Bavaria to subscribe to Nazism, in 1990 it had become the first town in east Germany to host a McDonald's restaurant. McDonald's plan to move company overseas is welcome in some countries but not all. Protest have been apparent in some countries such as China, India and Holland with the thought that McDonald's destroys other restaurants and the culture that exist there. In every right, do these countries have the right to believe this because its factual evidence that McDonald's has contributed to putting out neighboring restaurants and re-arranging the culture that was previously there.
Quotes: "In 1996, Indian farmers ransacked a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Bangalore, convinced that the chain threatened their traditional agriculture practices. In 1997 a McDonald's in the Colombian city of Cali was destroyed by a bomb." (p.244).
Questions/Responses:
1. Does McDonald's resemble a tactical military scheme of command and conquer since it's move to overseas?
2. From what I realized in this book and trying to shorten it as much as possible is; A business is a business, to be successful in your business you gain and take control of the opportunity to become more powerful but it all starts with how you sell it to the people. McDonald's exceeds in these demands.
3. What is more powerful then the food that is being marketed towards us?

Hw - 9 Freakanomics

Correlations are the concepts of mutual relation between two or more things. Causation is the concept of anything that produces, what it produces has an effect; the cause. Together, correlation versus causation emphasizes that between two variables, one may not imply the exact cause(s) of the other even though it may indicate possible causes or areas for further investigation. In the movie, Freakanomics study a group of children giving them the opportunity to earn $50 if they were to have good grades. In the movie they focused on two kids in the same grade and how this incentive would either prove positive or negative. In the end, the only one kid took advantage of this opportunity and the other failed at it. This example in this part of the movie represented that not all correlations and causation's are connected. The kid that failed at keeping his grades up choose to not fall through with the $50 reward that was offered and the other kid choose to have the $50 reward. I think the authors chose to address this problem because they wanted to show that the relationship between two things (correlation) does have an effective outcome (causation). The authors also touched base on how this experiment worked and did not work based upon how the child reacted to the reward. Each child's character, their motives were all different, and the reward that was offered was only apparent to those who found relevance what was offered. This would explain why a lot of the other children had failed because the reward was not relevant to them and if they were to try this experiment again, they would have to find many different rewards that all the kids would have found relevant to find a positive answer.

The most used source of evidence in the film would be statistics. The organized system of grouping tons of information and then putting it in numbers that represents one or multiple specific meanings based upon what type statistic evidence were being studied. Statistics can show patterns in the data collected as well as predict future outcomes due to the amount of evidence they collected that would result in the possible outcome. For this type of evidence, they chose to study the cheating aspect of the wrestling sport of Japan, Sumo wrestling and the crime rate in the U.S. Statistically the data recorded proved one thing, but apparent variables provoked different thoughts about what the data "actually" showed. In the U.S the years when the crime rate had shot down, there were many different ideas of what actually caused it to go down, and one of them was the law to have the right to an abortion, and during the years that this law was passed the crime rate went down. Other variables that also affected the crime rate that were also beneficial were the gun control and police presence which indeed effected the crime rate. Were these variables significant to the crime rate of the U.S. or were they all coincidences? What if the Sumo wrestlers did cheat, what are the other variables that may effected how Sumo wrestling was judged? All missing information that really can or cannot prove the exact reason as to why these things played out this way.

Freakonomics serves as an inspiration and good example to our attempt to explore the "hidden-in-plain-sight" weirdness of dominant social practices. I would be contradicting myself if I were to disagree with this quote because it indeed showed an examples into our attempt to understand the unknown in our dominant social practices, but did it serve as an inspiration and a good example? I would have to disagree. In the film they explained a lot of both sides of the fence not really giving us a complete one sided answer that would define the dominant social practices that exist. But maybe this true for our social practices, it is meant to be complex, but in the film they barely make that reference. For example, the study of what names were beneficial to your child argued two sides of the story, but if you weren't carefully listening it would of seemed that both sides argued the same thing. But maybe that is just what life is, not really noticing and understanding what the two issues are and just acknowledging the fact that the problem is there, is all we have to know.

Hw - 7c Reading Response

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
Chapter Seven: In Greeley, Colorado, a town known for its utopian community dedicated to agriculture, education, mutual aid and high moral values that began in 1870 has now well become a small meatpacking town. The IBP revolution was the cause for the termination of Greeley's peace which started in Denison, Iowa when two officials began the Iowa Beef Packers(IBP). They adopted similar methods the McDonald brothers use to make hamburgers in which the system required little skill. Thanks to this system, many of unions and smaller companies were pushed out of business.
Qoutes: "Holman and Anderson designed a production system for their slaughterhouse in Denison, Iowa, that eliminated the need for skilled workers. The new IBD plant was a one story structure with a dis assembly line. Each worker stood in one spot along the line, preforming the same simple task over and over again." (p.153).
Questions/Responses:
1. The system that has kept smaller companies and unions out of business due to larger food companies sounds like a higher end of American government, but it's not? So what does that say about the amount of power large food companies have in America?
2. Since the redefining shifts in the food industry, it presents a futuristic positive change, but to those who fall short of advancing as well, seem to get more affected in a negative way. Why hasn't it changed yet again for better then?
Chapter Eight: Somewhere in the High Plains, I toured one of the slaughterhouse; it was crowded and bloody enough to the point where I had to tuck my pants into my boots. In the facility, the workers worked silently concentrating hard on not falling behind. To not fall behind in work, sometimes the workers use methamphetamines to keep up with the fast-paced environment. The cattle that is brought in, are in a single file lines lined up to be stunned one after another by one man and then another man who cuts the cattle's throats'. Injuries are common is this fast paced environment, and because most workers are illegal, most of the injuries go unreported. Health violations and other safety methods are ignored due to the power the companies have over the workers, threatening to work harder to keep the only job they can find, only to benefit the profit of the company.
Quotes:"The line speeds and labor costs at IBP's nonunion plants now set the standard for the rest of the industry. Every other company must try to produce beef as quickly and cheaply as IBP does; slowing the pace to protect workers can lead to a competitive disadvantage." (p.175).
Questions/Responses:
1. Not only do these large food companies have the power to knock out smaller unions and companies, they have the power to hold their workers from reporting deadly injuries. And still our government doesn't do enough to crack down on them.
2. These large companies resemble a dictating power threatening workers with "if you want your job, don't complain" and "if I say work faster, work faster." There is nothing the workers can turn to for help.
3. The necessity of trapping their workers has very well much become using these people as expendables to a plant that provides no safety, which is a crime. But still there is nothing to be done to change it?

SPROUTS

Growing my own sprouts felt like a tiny experiment that could be continuous because of how easy it was, and afterwards a treat to eat after caring for it. Although I am not a big fan of eating bare sprouts, I used some of it in a turkey sandwich that covered some of it's distinct and weird taste. Growing my own food felt like I had just saved myself from going out and buying food from a place that I was a stranger too and knowing that I was eating the food I grew felt like I was doing myself a service instead of having people service me. Even though going out and buying sprouts to eat would have been much faster, the fact and experience of growing my own sprouts set this sense of independence instead of depending on those to provide.

Hw - 7b Reading Response

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
Chapter Four: Dave Feamster, former NHL player was injured while playing and could no longer pursue his former career. He struggled at first at what he was going to do after his accident until he bought his on franchise from McDonalds which had become successful when fast food chains started to emerge. Franchising became a big part of the fast food industry because it made for great business, one could make millions following the rules the major corporation set them in, or one could fall into dept depending on how well you carried out the plans/rules.
Quotes: "In 1998 an IFA survey claimed that 92 percent of all franchisees said they were "successful." The survey was based on a somewhat limited sample: franchisees who were still in business. Franchisees who'd gone bankrupt were never asked if they felt successful."
Questions/Responses:
1.Franchisees that went bankrupt, how would the IFA respond to their survey if they were never asked and how does this survey fair with current franchise owners of today?
2. If supposed innocent people like Dave Feamster can successfully own a franchise, why is that those who failed like three quarters of the American companies that started selling franchises in 1983 went out of business by 1993?
Chapter Five: Potatoes of the 1900's were a big part of the food industry. J.R. Simplot was born in 1909 and grew up working on a potato farm with his family until he left school around the age of fifteen to find work in a potato house. At age sixteen, Simplot had become a potato farmer and soon was buying, selling and sorting potatoes. During WWII, Simplot became successful selling dried onions and potatoes to the military and in 1950, invested in frozen food technology afterwards selling frozen french fries to McDonalds.
Quotes:"...the current market for potatoes as an oligopsony - a market in which a small number of buyers exert power over a large number of sellers."
Questions/Responses:
1. The potato business seems unfair due to the fact that the sellers make ultimately less then what the buyers buy them at. If the sellers were not to provide anymore, would fast food chains end up being ran out until they paid fairly?
2. J.R. Simplots involvement in the rise of McDonalds french fries bettered his money situation but for those who pick and peeled the potatoes before the frozen food technology were now payed less creating this unequal shift.
Chapter Six: Hank, a Colorado rancher lives and works on his farm, and while I was there he was intent on showing me the difference between what he does and "raping the land" does. The difference he intended on showing me was how the runoff from the city's drainage system damaged the environment. There were these trusts such as the Steel, Tobacco and Sugar trusts and a few major players completely controlled the price of goods on their own. Soon after in the 1910's there was a beef trust and when the owners of major slaughterhouses got together they would decide the appropriate price of beef. In the market the cost of being a farmer is so expensive that most farmers sell the land they own to be able to pay for it.
Quotes: "It would be wrong to say that Hank's death was caused by the consolidating and homogenizing influence of the fast food chains, by monopoly power in the meatpacking industry, by depressed prices in the cattle market, by the economic forces bankrupting independent ranchers, by the tax laws that favor the wealthy ranchers, by the unrelenting push of Colorado's real estate developers. But it would not be entirely wrong." (p.146).
Questions/Responses:
1. Since major industries had a lot of control over the different trusts, the few major companies that still run all the little companies have new similar patterns they did so long ago which basically still puts them on top of others.
2. The death of Hank represents how intense the food industry competition is and how hard it is to stay current in a rapid growing food economy.
3. How would Hank's death personally effect those who work in the food industry competing in competitive business?

Hw 7 - Reading Response

Fast Food Nation by Eroc Schlosser
Chapter One: Carl Kacher was born in 1917 in Ohio. He quit school after eighth grade to continue working long hours on the farm with his father. When Carl turned 20, he moved to Anaheim,CA to work at a Seed and Farm job his uncle had offered him. He saved enough money to by his own Hot Dog stand and soon after opened a drive in barbecue restaurant. Meanwhile, the McDonald brothers began their speedee service system by providing a self service system taking out drive in restaurants and bringing in customers into their highly efficient restaurant.
Qoutes: "The McDonald's fired all the carhops in 1948, close their restaurant, installed larger grills, and reopened three months later with a radically new method of preparing food. It was designed t0 increase the speed, lower prices, and raise the volume of sales. The brothers eliminated almost two-thirds of the items on their old menu. They got rid of everything that had to be eaten with a knife, spoon, or fork. The brothers got rid of their dishes and glassware, replacing them with paper cups, paper bags and paper plates." (19-20).
Questions/Responses:
1. It's interesting and quite funny to see how Schlosser described McDonald's new speedee service system helped advance the fast food industry by providing fast self servicing restaurants.

2. How is it significant to know about the history of Carl's Jr in relation to the new development of Self-servicing systems?

Chapter Two:Ray Kroc dropped out of high school and served in WWI and eventually became successful by buying the right to franchise McDonald's. Walt Disney was born in Illinois a year apart from Ray and together they developed the world's view on product advertsising. Kroc's strategy was to target the children by providing the kids with entertainment and with that along came McDonald's, Ronald McDonald clown. Disney developed clear and efficient marketing strategies such as creating an atmosphere in which visitors felt as though they had escaped the real world, and coining the “synergy” strategy, which sold the rights to use Disney characters to other companies, thus increasing product recognition.
Quotes: "If they were drowning to death, I would put a hose in their mouth.” Ray Kroc says this of the Walt Disney Company as their fortunes declined in the 1960s "(41)
Questions/Responses:

1. To see how much the fast food industry is an actual competitive business in the light of Ray Kroc and Walt Disney was interesting because it really did develop the future of the world and at the sametime made the future worse providing unhealthiness to many.
2.The rivalry between Ray Kroc and Walt Disney explains how in most cases that money is the main inportant drive in successful businesses.

Chapter Three: In Colorado Springs, CO, the military bases became predominant since the outbreak of WWII which brought forth more people and with more people came more change and modernization of the food industry in that area of that time. The workforce at that time was mainly made up of adolescents who were trained to work at machines and do praticed task that they had to preform at work. After the teens would move on from working where they were at, they were easily replaced because it was not hard to do what was being asked of. Since the workers were paid such low wages, often ex-employees would rob the places where they once worked furthermore getting back at the job that treated their work efforts unfairly.
Quotes: "No other American industry is robbed so frequently by its own employees.” Joseph A. Kinney, the president of the National Safe Workplace Institute, says this about the fast-food industry when he urges restaurants to pay their employees higher wages in addition to updating security measures. (86)

Hw - 6 Food Diary

September 29th:

Morning: Small cup of tea and toast with butter.
Lunch: Turkey sandwich on a kaiser roll with a bottle of water.
"Sushi" (California Roll)
Dinner: Chicken Burrito from Chipotle no Guacamole. Glass of Orange Juice.

September 30th:

Morning: Small cup of tea
Lunch: Roast Beef Sandwich and a bottle water.
Dinner: Wan Tan Soup (Small)

These past two days have not been normal eating habits for me, especially during breakfast, its only a few days I would not miss breakfast. At the beginning of the week I was sick; coughing and a stuffy nose so for the 3oth when my sickness was clearing up, I decided to order wan ta soup which always makes me feels better. I usually eat a lot of home cooked meals but for the past two days it has been take out. On the 29th I can say for dinner was really enjoyable because I hadn't eaten Chipotle in a while so the taste was amazing. It probably wasn't the most healthiest thing to eat since I was incapable of finishing it because of it's large size. Being sick also made it more appealing because I felt weak at the time, so eating something huge was apparent.
For the 30th when my cold was clearing up, Soup was the ideal meal for dinner because I had a large lunch and what a better way to clear up your cold with soup and still satisfy yourself.

Hw 5 - Dominant Discourses

Discourses are separations of certain groups from similar ideas. The more people who follow these ideas make it a dominant discourse. Dominant discourses have become people joining social norms that masses have followed out of sheer ignorance and lack of knowledge. The dominant discourses in the food industry have become topics of how the industry is either helping or hurting us. For example, whether to eat at McDonald's or your local green market and which one is more healthier.

Is it really the food companies fault for our unhealthiness? Some might say it is, others may argue it is the choice of the human being who decides whether to eat healthy or not. "Unfortunately, behavior changes won't work on their own without seismic societal shifts"(Singer, Natasha. "Fixing a World That Fosters Fat") It is a popular norm to blame the food companies for how fat our culture is getting, but they forget that it was their own choice to eat unhealthy and not exercise which is not really brought to light because they know they either find it hard or incapable of changing their food eating behavior. On the other hand, we may advocate that eating much healthier is obviously much better for you, the cost of eating in a much healthier diet has become expensive and the fact that "Fast-food restaurants can charge lower prices for value meals of hamburgers and french fries..." has made it easier for people to eat unhealthy.

So who has more word on what we consume and what we can't. At first my initial thought would be us of course, but in a dominant perspective we don't. Food companies offer us products that we consume ultimately giving them the power to dictate what choices of foods we eat. The voices of the government govern the food industry while we become the subjects to this industry buying and eating what is being sold. However we do have the choice to not accept what the food industry offers us and we as people could make our own produce for ourselves, but is it a stress we really want to take on ourselves. The stresses that constrict are choices in our daily routine are already too much because as we can see we either eat too much, buying food from fast food restaurants or becoming too unhealthy. Like the study made in Maine, we want something easy to get too,inexpensive and quick.


The New York Times Log In." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. Web. 29 Sept. 2010,

Hw 4 - Families Foodways

My parent's all ways said just before I was about to throw out the food I did not want to eat anymore "there are starving children in Africa, and you are throwing away your food" and I would return to table to finish what I had started. To my parents I think they find food sacred mainly because they grew up in Guyana and to know that you had food to eat was a blessing. My mom's mom always made sure her kids had food on the table to eat which my parents replicate but I find myself seeing food as a given because in New York, every corner and street has some sort of restaurant. Food here is a given and can be easily accessed for anytime we want, so rational habits are threw the roof because there is always a supplier.

Recently my parents have fallen into this movement of eating healthier and eating within moderation and it first starts with not by trying to eat healthier but creating a style or habit type of eating. For example setting goal's of making yourself eat this and this certain time everyday and no junk food in between. Knowing my parents setting these goals is like second nature for them because rationalizing their food was no surprise to them when they lived in Guyana; making sure everyone ate, but also making sure they didn't over eat or under eat. As for me though, this new change in the way I have to eat now is a completely new step because my Americanized culture gives me this opportunity to pig out whenever I want because of all these fast food restaurants and corner stores that are filled with junk food.

Culture has a lot to do with the way we eat, how we eat and when we eat because it's a common structure that all cultures tend to follow. Cultures set acquired tastes for some thing's that other cultures may find different and may not even agree with, but it is still a way people will react to certain foods. For my parents eating Curry chicken, Curry beef etc. is a certain taste that I enjoy because the type of culture my parents were brought up in also enjoyed furthermore passing it down onto me which is how I see a lot of other cultures work with their reactions to foods. I don't see food cultures dying anytime soon because of this "passed down" trait that follows with each culture.

Hw - Fast Food Insights and Realizations

In our society fast food has become so successful because of the convenience it offers. They are carefully located to where people can find and enjoy. In a study "nearly 600 adults and teens in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area were interviewed...most reported eating fast food at least three times per week."(Hitti, Miranda. WebMD Health news) In this study, the reason why fast food restaurants were so popular were because 92.3% said it was quick, 80.1% said was easy to get too and 63.6% said it was inexpensive. This made me wonder how easily it is to access a food restaurant without having any difficulty such as cooking for yourself which also in the study seemed to be an issue; 53.2% said I'm too busy to cook and 44.3% said I don't like to prepare foods myself. Realizing that this was an issue, a simple one, one could easily eliminate that issue by eating at fast food restaurant thereby improving the speed and the success of the business.

Food is a business which I never really realized until I saw how big of a franchise McDonald's and Burger King was, etc. These business narrow down on issues and needs masses of people deal with, making their business sort of this avenue out of the issue people are dealing with furthermore showing this sense of compassion towards the customer. What a great way to reel in the fish. The reason why I never really saw food as a business was because I ate a lot of home cooked meals, so I found food as a gift each time my parents cooked. Now seeing that people have their meals made by these fast food restaurants it exemplifies the essence of increasing laziness which shows, we are the fattest nation.

Hw - Food Initial Thoughts

Today, I see food as just another substance we could enjoy to past specific or certain time. We schedule ourselves to around time for breakfast, lunch and dinner making it a routine. The food we satisfy ourselves during these scheduled breaks to eat could be entirely different for each person making us who we are. Basically saying we are what we eat. The culture and the people we grew up by have a specific impact on how we choose and what we like to eat, for example at my Daycare they use to feed kids hard boiled eggs, but I hated that because my family never cooked or gave me a hard boil egg to eat, and to this day I still do not eat eggs.

I have many more questions about food and how it has its physical and mental affect on us, but for now I think just enjoying the food I like to eat normally will do just fine.