Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Reading Response
The Pleasures of Eating by Wendell Berry was a very well written article in my opinion. Berry clearly states what the problem is and describes his argument by using examples and very good reasoning. For example Berry states, "One will find this obliviousness represented in virgin purity in the advertisements of the food industry, in which food wears as much makeup as the actors" (2). Using examples like that really opens up the mind of the audience and helps his argument tremendously because it shows how little the reader knows where their food is coming from. Another reason I really like this article is because he doesn't just say what the problem is but he gives you ways to fix it. Most authors just state their argument and say we need to fix the situation but don't actually give any ideas on how to fix it. This boosts Berry's ethos as an author in my opinion because is shows that he really does care about the situation and wants it to be fixed.
Monday, March 3, 2014
The Pleasures of Eating Summary
The Pleasures of Eating by Wendell Berry is an article that describes how we have degraded our standards of what we eat and also describes what we can do to change this problem. Berry states,
"Most urban shoppers would tell you that food is produced on farms. But most of them do not know what farms, or what kinds of farms, or where the farms are, or what knowledge of skills are involved in farming. They apparently have little doubt that farms will continue to produce, but they do not know how or over what obstacles. For them, then, food is pretty much an abstract idea — something they do not know or imagine — until it appears on the grocery shelf or on the table" (1). This quote really made me realize how little I pay attention to what I buy. I rarely ever think about wear the products in grocery stores come from. I just look at the price and go about my way, it's a rather scary thought as to what could be in the foods we purchase without realizing it. Another quote that Berry says is
"One will find this obliviousness represented in virgin purity in the advertisements of the food industry, in which food wears as much makeup as the actors" (2). Which is also a very good point as well. Of course everyone buys food that looks good but in reality it isn't what is on the outside but what's on the inside. We need to know where it came from, if any chemicals or fertilizer was put on it, how it was produced, etc. and not just pick up whatever is easiest on the shelf and Berry does a great job of explaining this. He then gives seven tips on how to fix this problem: 1) Participate in food production. 2) Prepare your own food. 3) Learn the origins of the food you buy and buy the food that is produced closest to your home. 4) Deal directly with a local farmer. 5) Learn as much as you can about the economy and technology of industrial food production. 6) Learn what is involved in the best farming and gardening. 7) Learn as much as you can of the histories of the food species. Berry describes through out his article the politics. ethics, and esthetics of food and ends with "The pleasure of eating should be an extensive pleasure, not that of the mere gourmet" (3).
"Most urban shoppers would tell you that food is produced on farms. But most of them do not know what farms, or what kinds of farms, or where the farms are, or what knowledge of skills are involved in farming. They apparently have little doubt that farms will continue to produce, but they do not know how or over what obstacles. For them, then, food is pretty much an abstract idea — something they do not know or imagine — until it appears on the grocery shelf or on the table" (1). This quote really made me realize how little I pay attention to what I buy. I rarely ever think about wear the products in grocery stores come from. I just look at the price and go about my way, it's a rather scary thought as to what could be in the foods we purchase without realizing it. Another quote that Berry says is
"One will find this obliviousness represented in virgin purity in the advertisements of the food industry, in which food wears as much makeup as the actors" (2). Which is also a very good point as well. Of course everyone buys food that looks good but in reality it isn't what is on the outside but what's on the inside. We need to know where it came from, if any chemicals or fertilizer was put on it, how it was produced, etc. and not just pick up whatever is easiest on the shelf and Berry does a great job of explaining this. He then gives seven tips on how to fix this problem: 1) Participate in food production. 2) Prepare your own food. 3) Learn the origins of the food you buy and buy the food that is produced closest to your home. 4) Deal directly with a local farmer. 5) Learn as much as you can about the economy and technology of industrial food production. 6) Learn what is involved in the best farming and gardening. 7) Learn as much as you can of the histories of the food species. Berry describes through out his article the politics. ethics, and esthetics of food and ends with "The pleasure of eating should be an extensive pleasure, not that of the mere gourmet" (3).
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Class Participation 2/26/14
#SustainableFarming
#Crops
#WaterAvailability
#GMOsAreFaux
#Renewable
#LandUse
#Preservation
#Plants
#Fertilization
#Production
#Organic
#NaturalVsUnnatural
#Acreage
#BackToTheSource
#Soil
#CropRotation
#SeasonalFarming
#WhatIsNonrenewable
#ConsumerSatisfaction
#TruthInTheLie
#Conservation
#Economy
#Ethics
#Ethical
#Deadzone
#EcologicalFootprint
#Crops
#WaterAvailability
#GMOsAreFaux
#Renewable
#LandUse
#Preservation
#Plants
#Fertilization
#Production
#Organic
#NaturalVsUnnatural
#Acreage
#BackToTheSource
#Soil
#CropRotation
#SeasonalFarming
#WhatIsNonrenewable
#ConsumerSatisfaction
#TruthInTheLie
#Conservation
#Economy
#Ethics
#Ethical
#Deadzone
#EcologicalFootprint
Library Visit Reflection
I really enjoyed our class visit to the library because it gave me a chance to find some really great sources and articles. Finding a good source always stresses be out because what if the information isn't reliable or you can't even find out who wrote it and/or where it came from? This library visit also made me realize that I have many topics I can discuss on this next paper and helped me brainstorm these ideas. I'm so glad that I now know how to use the resources that the library gives us so I can better my research.
Friday, February 21, 2014
Class Participation 2/21
1) One topic that can be brought up from "Compromise, Hell" is that if we love our land as much as we say we do, then how can we keep destroying and ruining it the way we are be not being sustainable with the way we use our resources.
2) Claim: The way Americans proclaim and pride ourselves on about how much we love our land does not match with the way we actually use our land and our farming resources.
3) For example, using a confined animal-feeding industry, which is what most companies due to be able to produce food quicker, exploits everything that is involved in that process. The way we are producing food at this time and speed can ruin most of land of our country in years to come, to the point where there won't be any resources left for us to have. One solution to this would be to actually enforce laws to make industries produce the way we should and to not keep animals in confined-feeding areas. This would also go into staying true to what the labels say when companies say that products are "organically" raised or "all-natural"
4) The way Americans proclaim and pride ourselves on about how much we love our land does not match with the way we actually use our land and our farming resources, because using a confined animal-feeding industry, which is what most companies due to be able to produce food quicker, exploits everything that is involved in that process- the animals, people, and the land. Producing food at speed can ruin most of the land of our country in years to come, to the point where there won't be any resources left for us to have.
2) Claim: The way Americans proclaim and pride ourselves on about how much we love our land does not match with the way we actually use our land and our farming resources.
3) For example, using a confined animal-feeding industry, which is what most companies due to be able to produce food quicker, exploits everything that is involved in that process. The way we are producing food at this time and speed can ruin most of land of our country in years to come, to the point where there won't be any resources left for us to have. One solution to this would be to actually enforce laws to make industries produce the way we should and to not keep animals in confined-feeding areas. This would also go into staying true to what the labels say when companies say that products are "organically" raised or "all-natural"
4) The way Americans proclaim and pride ourselves on about how much we love our land does not match with the way we actually use our land and our farming resources, because using a confined animal-feeding industry, which is what most companies due to be able to produce food quicker, exploits everything that is involved in that process- the animals, people, and the land. Producing food at speed can ruin most of the land of our country in years to come, to the point where there won't be any resources left for us to have.
Blog Post 10
Berry's reading was a little confusing to me. Although he made a lot of good points about how we need to use our resources wisely and what not but he took it all to a new level. He pretty much compared the problem of how we use our resources to the problem of being invaded by terrorists. Berry states, "The governmental obligation to protect these economic resources, inseparably human and natural, is the same as the obligation to protect us from hunger or from foreign invaders. In result, there is no difference between a domestic threat to the sources of our life and a foreign one." That was the most troubling thing for me with his article. The government doe shave laws against how we use our resources and how foods are produced, the laws just aren't as enforces as they should be. Of course, that is a big problem but I do not think it should be compared to terrorists. In my opinion Berry takes his examples a little to far.
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