BLOG 17

In “The End of Overeating” by David A. Kessler, Elizabeth Kolbert reports Kessler’s experiences with processed food. Kessler write about Kessler’s experience as a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and the experiences that he has endured. Kessler explains that “much of processed food is being reengineered to create addiction.” This is a very powerful statement – especially knowing that it is true. In most cases food scientists add sugar, salt, and fat to our foods to make them more addicting – to which Kessler has invented his own term as “conditioned hypereating”. After reading Kolberts piece I was angry but then happy to find out that “processed food is being re engineered to create addiction.”
I was angry to find out that fast food companies are PURPOSELY adding products like fat, sugar, and salt to make out bodies become dependent on their products. How could a company who “cares” about their consumer poison us at the same time? In a movie I recently saw, Super Size Me, Morgan goes on a 30 day McDonald's only binge. Morgan gets addicted to the products in the food and after 10 days or so, he beings to suffer from depression from the chemical imbalance. My friend Jane is one of the poor people who have fallen into this addiction. She is extremely obese and unhealthy over all. Her diet consists of primarily fast food. Although, this is not the right way of life Jane has no other options. She is a single mother who is always on the run and has no time to prepare her own food. She has fallen for the convenience and McDonald's got her hooked.
I was happy to be enlightened once I finished reading the article. I was not aware of the secret additives in this food we find so easy and convenient. I am happy that I now have the knowledge to make healthier decisions. I will educate others on what I have learned. I have shown the movie Super Size me to many people because knowledge is power. I will definitely think twice before I pick a quick McDouble again!
Kessler recites “Conditioned hypereating works in the same way as other ‘stimulated response’ disorders in which reward is involved, such as compulsive gambling and substance abuse”. To which Kolbert white that “the analogy is not merely rhetorical: research on rats, he (Kessler) maintains, proves that the animals’ brain react to sweet, fatty food the same way that addicts’ respond to cocaine.” If this is the case and we are now aware of it, why not take the effort out to continue to educate ourselves. A healthy diet is just a local farmer market away. And on the bright side, we won’t be like rats addicted to cocaine!

BLOG # 16 - CAT #2

In the excerpt “Imitation of Film: Here’s Smoking at You, Kid”, Nicholas Balakar expresses the concern with the habit of smoking in young children ages 10-14. Balakar gives detailed results of a study done by Dr. Sargent which showed that children that were exposed to R-rated films were more than 2 ½ times more likely to start smoking than the kids who had less exposure to these movies. Underage smoking had been a great concern to many people, especially parents, in the United States. Many children follow by example and results from studies like these prove it. I agree with Balakar that children are being overly exposed to smoking because of the collusions drawn from studies like this and from my personal experience.
In the study recently done at Dartmouth Medical school, (lead by) Dr. James D. Sargent, interviewed 6,522 kids ages 10-14 from across the nation about the movies they have watched. The studies revealed that thirty eight percent of children who start smoking did so to imitate movies that they have viewed. Unfortunately, children are very naïve and therefore they do not fully understand the health risks associated with smoking. They do as they see fit and for most children being “cool” is very important. Being cool is so important that these children are willing to start smoking because all of cool “movie stars” do it.
Unfortunately, I was one of these children. I began to smoke when I was 12 years old. I was the “coolest kid ever” (or at least I thought). I was able to make smoke rings, while all of the other kids were still coughing from their first pull. I was doing things exactly what my idols did. Things became serious when realized I had become addicted when I started to crave cigarettes on a regular basis. Fortunately, I was able to quit without any serious consequences besides yellow teeth. I wish my idols would have warned me about that!
In conclusion, Balakar wrote that “Dr. Sargent acknowledged that the study’s results pertained only to the youngest adolescences and that the report did not preclude the possibility that smoking began before the children saw these movies.” This is a very serious issue and something needs to be done about it. Parents need to step in and guide their children in the right direction and educate their children about the risks of smoking while also monitoring what their children watch. As a parent I can only protect my son from R-rated movies for so long. Most importantly I must give him the guidance to make the right decisions in life. If only the thirty eight percent of children had the proper parenting maybe they wouldn’t smoke.

BLOG #15

In the Meatrix, Leo a poor pig on a farm is contacted by Moopheous. Moopheous offers him a choice between the red pill to see the truth or a blue pill to stay the way he is. Leo chooses the red pill and finds himself in a pig caging area. Moopheous describes the harsh living conditions that the pigs are livings in. He describes the overcrowding to have more pigs and that the pigs are fed antibiotics to avoid being sick from these overcrowded area. Moopheous also tell Leo about the massive pollution being produced by these factory farms. Leo then asks Moopheous how they are going to stop this. To which Moopheous replies “We are going to spread the word. But it’s up to you, the consumer who has the real power.”

In The Meatrix: Revolting Moopheous, Chikity, and Leo visit a factory farm where Leo is able to learn more about the harsh living conditions on the factory farm. At first, Leo thinks the farm looks great with a beautiful farmer girl milking a cow joyfully. Then Moopheous gives Leo glasses and tells him to “look through the eyes of the Meatrix.” Leo then sees the reality of the factory farms and see that the beautiful smiling farmer girl really was a machine pumping the milk out of these poor cows. While on the so called farm Leo also learns about the cows difficult living conditions. They are very similar to the pigs, however, the cows still get sick despite their daily antibiotic. The cow’s tails are also cut off. The calfs are fed waste of dead cows and this is how mad cow disease is unknowingly spread. The agents of Agri-Corp are introduced and are trying to inject Chikity, Leo, and Moopheous with rGBH a growth hormone. Leo fights them off. Despite his best efforts Moopheous is captured. He yells for Leo to “Forget about me. Stop the farming factories.”

In The Meatrix 2 ½ Chikity and Leo try to save Moopheous who has been captured by the Agri-Copr agents and has been taken to a Happy Farms factory that packages the (cow) meat. Moopheous is tied up as the agent tells him that more that the factory can process 5,000 cows in a single day just to feed out “fast food nation”.

Moopheous is exposed to the dangerous and unsanitary factory working conditions and even watches a man loose a finger as due to unnecessary speed just to make a bigger profit. When Chickity and Leo get inside the agent speeds up the line to max capacity and drop Moopheous out of the trap door and onto a line to be chopped up. Fortunately, Chikity is able to slow down the line and Moopheous is able to free himself just in time. The 3 heroes are able to get away!
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Since 1946 Industrial farms have been mixing antibiotics into their their livestock feeds. This was done as a preventative for the sickness the animal developed. According to sustainabletable.org a study was done that revealed that animals that were fed antibiotics on a routine basis, “cause animals to grow faster and put on weight more efficiently, increasing meat producers' profits.” Animals on industrial farms are getting sicker and the bacteria is able to spread faster due to the harsh living conditions and over crowding. Feeding animals on industrial farms antibiotics wrong because it is selfish and cruel.

It is a selfish descision to give animals antiobiotics because of the potential negative effects it can have on the consumer and most importantly the animal. Industrial farms were built to be money making “animal factories”. The big companies make these farms so that they can profit, and they don’t care who or what gets hurt in the process. The living conditions for these animals are very harsh. Complaints range from, not having enough room to turn around to (most importantly) lack of sanitation. Due to the lack of care, bactiral infections spread very quickly.
Unknowingly, the farmers kill the animal, and the sick animal then spreads that same disease to the consumer. Most CEOs and company excutives are aware of these issues however they just consider them “casualties of war”. The consumer then devlopes an antibiotic resistance and are then much more prone to bacterial infection.

Besides the unfair treatment animals get on industrial farms, feeding them antibiotics are cruel. They are being neglected and not givien the approrite treatment and therefore they require them. According to “The issues: Antibiotics”, “one out of six cases of campylobacter infection, (the most common case of bacterial food posioning), is resistant to the antibiotic most often uses to treat severe food poisoning.” The animals also begin to develop antibiotic resitance therefore causing death.

There is however, a soulution. As the reading says puchasing eggs, meat, and milk from sustainable farms, we not only protect ourselves from the antibiotic frenzy but we give the big industrial farmer a big “middle finger.” Once they feel that wrath of loosing their consumer, they will be left with nothing but to reevalute their stomping grounds. They will be forced to shut down leaving the smaller yet much better quality sustainable farmer to be the ones to buy from. We are the ones that hold the power. Its up to us to advocate on our own behalf. We start right now!

Blog #14

BLOG #14
In Media Unit Blogs 11-13 I have been able to see my improvement in writing. I used to have problem developing my ideas, and still do, but I have been getting significantly better. I feel i have been able to definitely pick out the main point of the text and I think that I have become a stronger and better writer. What I think I still have a problem with is connecting the text to my own life. I know the truth doesn’t matter so I usually make up some nonsense just to be a way to connect. I really do enjoy this class and I think that I have become a better writer from it.
In Blog #11 we were asked to write about and experience that we or someone we knew went against the rules. My mind was instantly connected with a love story that came to mind and I was able to get the story into word in no time. I have such a comfortable flow – it was so natural. Beside some usual proof reading and some spelling corrections Blog 11 came into play with ease.
However, no matter how hard I tried Blog #12 is still blank. I feel like I have no connection and as I sat struggling for hours trying to figure out what to write. There was still nothing. This was a part of the class I couldn’t enjoy. I felt that it was so unpleasant. I didn’t see it as a challenge but more of a big blank. :/
Blog #13 was very pleasant and easy for me too flow also. It was a revision of my CATW #1. I re-read and was able to re-write what I had mistake with. I feel that I do better with constructive criticism and I was able to develop my ideas from the notes that Dr. X put on the side of my work.
In CAT-W #2 I think that I did a lot better than CAT #1 because I wrote with much more confidence and I was able to connect to my personal life. We were asked to write about kids smoking because they thought it was cool because they saw their favorite movie stars do it. I was able to connect this to my personal life because I also began smoking at a very young age and therefore it was an automatic idea filler. I was able to develop my ideas much better that I did in CAT-W #1.
Although I haven’t really worked too much on my vocabulary page, I have become more familiar with the definition and the usage of the words. Words like allegory, dystopia, and even paragraph have a new meaning to me and I am much clearer. These words have become a regular part of my vocabulary and have been used very often in class.
Overall I think that the Media Unit portion of this class was very successful and that I have grown as a writer. I don’t think I have reached my goal in becoming a better writer just yet but we do still have 12 more classes left! I am confident that with the help of Dr. X of some more hard work I will be able to pass the “real” CAT-W and be just fine in 101.

BLOG #13 - Revision of CAT-W

In “The Dangers of Reality TV” Timothy Sexton express his concern with what is called “Reality TV”. The author describes the change it what is called reality TV and how it has been manipulated. He describes that “Among the dangerous messages that reality TV sends out are the importance of competition, the value of image over ability, and the obsolescence of education”. Sexton mentions that people are not given a fair shot because of their skill anymore. Judgment is based on what is more marketable like on American Idol. I agree with Sexton that “reality” TV is stupid and not motivational.
I think that “Reality” TV is stupid because “reality” has become Jersey Shore & Desperate Housewives. The programming that is on TV now has become garbage. We have “reality” as housemate living together, washing laundry, tanning, and “smooshing”. What do we learn from that? NOTHING! This is truly stupidity at its finest. We sit around for one hour per week to see the “Snookie Bump”. When you break it down, its 42 minutes of programming and 18 minutes of advertising. At the end of it all we have learned nothing but how to “fist pump”.
I think reality TV has became very not motivational because it shows that we no longer win because we are the best at what we do, but that we are the best at making people think that we are. As Sexton mentions in the text mentions, there was many issues on the popular show American Idol. Contestants compete for their chance at a record deal. Towards the finally America is responsible for the voting and are able to choose the best qualified contestant to win. With the judges opinions the voters usually choose the most marketable contestant and that is qualified. But the qualifications aren’t only having a good voice, they require you to have what they call, the “X” factor. In my experience of pursuing my dancing career, I have known that it’s not just talent it is how you carry yourself. When I have been in many competitions I realized that I might be better at that dance and yet I came in second place because of my opponents better looks. Why would I want to succeed if at the end of the day no matter how great I am at dancing my better looking opponents will always win? Without saying I am no longer dancing!
In conclusion, I think that reality TV has made all of their viewers more superficial and naïve. The only easy to deal with this is to put the remote down and pick up a book. We need to get reacquainted with what “reality” really is now because as Sexton said “why go to school and gave the difficulties of learning something when ou van just get in Fear Factor, eat bugs, and walk away with a bucket of money?”

BLOG #11

People do some crazy things for LOVE. When I was in high school I had my “first love”. I would do anything to be with him including sneak out of my house at night. I had curfew and had to be home at 10P.M. every night. One night, because my parents didn’t approve of my boyfriend, I decided to run away. I didn’t care what the rules were. I just wanted to be with the one that I LOVED! I ran away to his house and stayed there for 3 days. My parents were worried sick. All I could keep thinking of was how to make money and start a new life together with my love. I had $153 dollars and according to my calculations it would hold us down for about 3 years! After about 3 days, we got so sick of each other and I needed my space. I decided to go back home. When I got home, I found my mother worried sick. You could tell she hadn’t eaten anything, hadn’t gotten any sleep, and was crying. I felt so terrible. How could I hurt someone I loved so much over something so silly? I later found out that my love also had many other loves. I felt used and abused! I disobeyed my mother unconditional love and ran away to someone who was only right for the moment. I’m happy that I ran away with my love because that was an experience that will last a lifetime. He will always be my “first love”.