Response to the Readings #5

Chapter sixteen of the Omnivore’s Dilemma had dealt with the 2 different evolutionary strategies for dealing with the question of food selection. So the foods we choose can impact our lives and that is why I choose to eat healthy. Our sense of taste is the first tool to detect the kind’s foods we like and dislike (291). Michael Pollan did an excellent job in describing the positive and negative views of food selection. There are many people, including myself that are picky eaters. However, the word “disgust” would turn out to be another valuable tool that deals with the omnivore’s dilemma. Much of our food is relied on culture, because people from different countries eat a variety of foods. For an example, in America people love eating cheeseburgers and fries, but in Mexico most people love to eat carne asada.
Humans find it difficult to choose the types of food that are essential for their healthy diet. So Pollan had concluded that “we rely on expert opinion, advertising, government food pyramids, and diet books, and we place our faith in science to sort out for us what culture once did with rather more success” (303). He is correct about this statement, because I do rely on experts to tell me what types of foods are healthy for me to eat. We are able to consume anything that our mind desires and much of this reason is because of personal habits. The food that humans eat can be the downfall of their health and people choose to make these decisions because it’s what they like to eat.

Response to the Readings #4

Chapter 7 of “They Say I Say” focused on various moves that you and I can make to answer the “who cares?” and “so what?” questions in your own writing. There are different ways to provide the concept of this move. We want to make the words “who cares” clear and understanding to the reader. The templates for indicating who cares are great to address “who cares?” questions in your own writing. You want to have a well focused thesis that is supported with evidence to “So what? Who cares? The question “who cares?” is very important for general readers to understand what you are talking about. I find these moves to be very useful and it will support my arguments to the readers.
So do we need to address these questions in everything that we write? According to the book, “it is really necessary to address these questions if you’re proposing something so obviously consequential as, say, a cure for a childhood disease or a program to eliminate illiteracy” (95). I suppose in some cases, however, there are readers who already know why it matters and this can lead to other moves in writing. There is much for me to learn in writing and I know that these moves will help me with my papers in English 101.

Response to the Readings #3

In the book “They say I say” chapter four focused on the three most common ways to respond by agreeing, disagreeing, or both. There are many moves that people can use when writing an essay and I learned one of moves called “twist it.” The move means that I agree with the evidence that someone has presented and it supports my own position. The Templates for disagreeing are great examples and this is very easy to make in an essay when disagreeing about information pertaining to an author as an example. Templates for agreeing are something that I might need to improve, because there are many moves that I need to learn in supporting my evidence when agreeing with someone. However, disagreeing can be complex when facing hidden challenges and being persuasive can lead to why you disagree.

Reading chapter twelve of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” concluded with Michael Pollan’s detailed information in the slaughtering of chickens... “There are several hundreds of chickens that are killed, scalded, plucked, and eviscerated” (226). As USDA regulations interfere with farming and the farmer Joel thinks that his business is put out to be terminated because of the "bureaucrats." Joel is over reacting and the government and their regulations are there for a reason. Joel is making statements that seem to be unclear to me. However, he did make a great point that why should the government dictate to the kind of food you can buy (236)? “Freedom of food,” according to Joel is what he believes. I agree that the government should not dictate on the kinds of foods that we should buy. If the government regulations were taken away, the price of Joel’s food could compete with anyone. I usually buy meat at a local supermarket and I trust the quality of the meat… since it was processed by the government’s regulations. Therefore, I would not buy my meat (chicken) at Joel's farm since he disagrees with the government’s regulation of processing food.

The Omnivore's Dilemma Response #2

I will focus on the word “organic” and its meaning to people. The word “organic” can refer to the way farmers grow and process agricultural products such as fruits, vegetables, dairy products and more. According Michael Pollan, “The word organic has proved to be one of the most powerful words in the supermarket” (136). It is now the fastest growing sector of the food economy. An organic label is like any other label found in a supermarket and it tells us little information on how that specific food was produced. So here’s the catch, an organic farmer would apply natural fertilizers such as manure, to feed soil and plants. A conventional farmer would apply chemical fertilizers to promote plant growth. How do we know if these natural fertilizers are harmful? I really hope the U.S. Department of Agriculture has established a well certification program that requires all organic food to meet certain government standards. I would assume that these standards would regulate how such foods are grown, handled and processed.
If conventional farmers are giving animals antibiotics, growth hormones and medications to prevent disease… then so be it. At least it is efficient than the organic way… and that is by giving animals “organic feed” and allow them to be outdoors. It would help minimize the disease, but I would rather prevent it, then to minimize it. Many people may ask, "are organic foods safer and more nutritious?" I would have to say no.