My Brother- Dying and Illness brings people together
Beth Bernett- Illness is often overlooked or even denied in hopes of trying to conivine yourself and evryone around you, your alright.
Sicko- The Unites States health insurance system is based onprofit not who needs care .
Near Death- Doctors try to make patients apear better to to ease both the patient and families.
I found all these sources to be insightful . I found are discussion with Beth Bernett to be the most engageing. I found their was a great contrast in her discusion between the dominant social practices in our society and the un-normal dominant social pratices.We were able to her speak of how she did both. And hearing Beth speak was a real visual, and overall more personnel experience. I think it has to be the most effective thing of the entire unit, and gave a face yto dying and illness.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
HW 25 -Response To Sicko
In Sicko Micheal Moore argues that the American system of private medical insurance is a disaster, and that a state-run system, such as exists nearly everywhere else in the industrialized world, would be better.
Moore use people as props to prove his argument.He shows a man who cut off two of his fingers with a power saw and finds outs that it would cost $12,000 to save one of them, and $60,000 to save the finder. He had no health insurance and could only scrape together enough money to salvage the $12,000 finger. Then there's a woman whose husband was prescribed new drugs to fight his cancer, but their insurance company wouldnt prove it because the drugs were too "experimental". Her husband as a result died. There's another woman who made an trip to a hospital for emergancy treatment to learn her insurance company wouldn't pay for the ambulance that took her there because it hadn't been "pre-approved." Then their was a middle aged man, who suffered three heart attacks, and his wife, who developed cancer who were made bankrupted by the cost of co-payments and other expenses not covered by their health insurance, and have to move in with their son and his family.Also theirs a 79-year-old man who must work to continue have benefits because medicare won't cover all of the medications he needs.
Moore continues to argue that in other countries, like France, Canada, and Britain, health systems are far better and free. Moore takes us to these countries to see a few clean, efficient hospitals, where treatment is not only quick but caring. Moore show's doctors happy with their government-regulated salaries; and to listen to patients more then statisfied with their socialized health system, then are "corprate" health care.A patient in a British hospital run by the country's National Health Service says, "No one pays. It's all on the NHS. It's not America."
I found Sicko to be saddening while it still have moments of true humoris satire. I felt the movie does dodge some of the larger political questions about healthcare reform, like what exactly we should do to change are current system.
Moore use people as props to prove his argument.He shows a man who cut off two of his fingers with a power saw and finds outs that it would cost $12,000 to save one of them, and $60,000 to save the finder. He had no health insurance and could only scrape together enough money to salvage the $12,000 finger. Then there's a woman whose husband was prescribed new drugs to fight his cancer, but their insurance company wouldnt prove it because the drugs were too "experimental". Her husband as a result died. There's another woman who made an trip to a hospital for emergancy treatment to learn her insurance company wouldn't pay for the ambulance that took her there because it hadn't been "pre-approved." Then their was a middle aged man, who suffered three heart attacks, and his wife, who developed cancer who were made bankrupted by the cost of co-payments and other expenses not covered by their health insurance, and have to move in with their son and his family.Also theirs a 79-year-old man who must work to continue have benefits because medicare won't cover all of the medications he needs.
Moore continues to argue that in other countries, like France, Canada, and Britain, health systems are far better and free. Moore takes us to these countries to see a few clean, efficient hospitals, where treatment is not only quick but caring. Moore show's doctors happy with their government-regulated salaries; and to listen to patients more then statisfied with their socialized health system, then are "corprate" health care.A patient in a British hospital run by the country's National Health Service says, "No one pays. It's all on the NHS. It's not America."
I found Sicko to be saddening while it still have moments of true humoris satire. I felt the movie does dodge some of the larger political questions about healthcare reform, like what exactly we should do to change are current system.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
HW 24 - Illness & Dying Book, Part 3
In the last part of My Brother by Jamaica Kincaid, Kiancaid ask for her brother to do something with his life before he dies. She wants him to move out of their mother's home because there is no room for him. Kincaid also insist he needs to hold down a job, something that he has never been capable of doing. Her brother, Devon still doesn't take any of his sisters advise , while he is healthier,he begins sleeping with women and denying that he has AIDS. Kincaid ty to reason with him about his behavior, asking him how he would feel if someone did that to her.Her appeal does not fade him. After Devon's death , Kincaidthe begins to wonder the nature of grief and death in whole. She soon finds about Devons homosexuality through a chance encounter.
"His death was imminent and we were all anticipating it, including him, but we never gave any thought to the fact that this was true for all of us: our death was imminent, only we were not anticipating it...yet.- pg92
"Dalma just called, Devon died." And when he said "Devon died" I thought, Oh it's Devon who died, not one of his relatives, not someone of his, this is not someone he has to grieve for." -pg99
'When my husband woke me up, he said, "Sweetie, come, come, I have to talk to you. In the dark of the room I could see his face; that isn't really possible, to see something like a face in the dark of a room. -pg99
"He lived in death." -pg88
As I finally finish reading My Brother its left me wondering about the issues raised and I suspect that it will continue to stick with me way into the future. Kincaids journey to see her brother who is ill is painful. Kincaid describes the pain and symptoms he experiences during this time, and his developed dependance on his mother with such haunting detail. Kincaid writes, "He lived in death." pg88. For he did not live besides the fact that he ate and breathed. Ultimately she knew he would eventually die.It makes you really see how fast life can be , and it makes you wonder about your own possible illnesses in the future.
"His death was imminent and we were all anticipating it, including him, but we never gave any thought to the fact that this was true for all of us: our death was imminent, only we were not anticipating it...yet.- pg92
"Dalma just called, Devon died." And when he said "Devon died" I thought, Oh it's Devon who died, not one of his relatives, not someone of his, this is not someone he has to grieve for." -pg99
'When my husband woke me up, he said, "Sweetie, come, come, I have to talk to you. In the dark of the room I could see his face; that isn't really possible, to see something like a face in the dark of a room. -pg99
"He lived in death." -pg88
As I finally finish reading My Brother its left me wondering about the issues raised and I suspect that it will continue to stick with me way into the future. Kincaids journey to see her brother who is ill is painful. Kincaid describes the pain and symptoms he experiences during this time, and his developed dependance on his mother with such haunting detail. Kincaid writes, "He lived in death." pg88. For he did not live besides the fact that he ate and breathed. Ultimately she knew he would eventually die.It makes you really see how fast life can be , and it makes you wonder about your own possible illnesses in the future.
Friday, December 17, 2010
HW 23 - Illness & Dying Book, Part 2
So far in My Brother by Jamaica Kincaid the distance between Kincaid and her brother has grown alittle bit again,but Kincaid is stillcompelled to do all she can for her brother.Her brother is being treated in a poor nation with few resources to spare on the terminally ill.In Antigua, hospitals don't have drugs on hand. So Kincaid had to have a family friend fill a prescription at a pharmacy for her sick brother.
"I felt myself being swallowed up in a large vapor of sadness...I became afraid that he would die before I saw him again...It surprised me that I loved him; I could see that was what I was feeling, love for him, and it surprised me because I did not know him at all."
"I felt myself being swallowed up in a large vapor of sadness...I became afraid that he would die before I saw him again...It surprised me that I loved him; I could see that was what I was feeling, love for him, and it surprised me because I did not know him at all."
"My brother who was lying in the hospital dying, suffering from the virus that causes AIDS,told the brother who is two years older than he is, the brother i am eleven years older than, that he had made worthlessness of his life"-p.g.29
"The way he said it,though,alerted me to something.He had not known or imagined that I,his own mother,could have in her life a someone about whom I felt the same way he felt about me."- p.g. 62
I found it intresting how Kincid's wonders whether or not if her mother's actions did indeed drive her into a better life as a writer in the U. S., than she could otherwise have had. And also, whether Mrs. Drew's relative coddling of Devon did not lead him to his carefree, Rastafarian lifestyle. I made think how many choices are decided for us ? how many paths are closed or open? I hope that in my final days wheather that be today or tommorow that Im overall happy with my choices , my decisions.It make's me think back to a quote in The Stranger "Yes, that was all I had. But at least I had as much of a hold on it as it had on me. I had been right, I was still right, I was always right. I had lived my life one way and I could just as well have lived it another. I had done this and I hadn't done that. I hadn't done this thing but I had done another. And so? It was as if I had waited all this time for this moment and for the first light of this dawn to be vindicated."
Saturday, December 11, 2010
HW 22 - Illness & Dying Book Part 1
My Brother by Jamaica Kincaid, Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; First Paperback Edition edition (November 9, 1998)
Jamaica Kincaid opens the story she by describing her first visiting Devon in the Gweneth O’Reilly ward of the Holberton Hospital, where he was dying of AIDS; she then bact tracks to the his birth.Devon is said to be the only one of Kincaid’s four siblings not born in a hospital.The arrival of the new child disrupts the family life, and the other children are sent to sleep at neighbor's houses.
"WHEN I SAW MY BROTHER again after a long while, he was lying in a bed in the Holberton Hospital, in the Gweneth O'Reilly ward, and he was said to be dying of AIDS." p.g. 1
Jamaica Kincaid opens the story she by describing her first visiting Devon in the Gweneth O’Reilly ward of the Holberton Hospital, where he was dying of AIDS; she then bact tracks to the his birth.Devon is said to be the only one of Kincaid’s four siblings not born in a hospital.The arrival of the new child disrupts the family life, and the other children are sent to sleep at neighbor's houses.
"WHEN I SAW MY BROTHER again after a long while, he was lying in a bed in the Holberton Hospital, in the Gweneth O'Reilly ward, and he was said to be dying of AIDS." p.g. 1
"A look of agony would come into his eyes." p.g. 16
"I'am so vulnerable to my family's needs and influence tat from time to time I remove myself from them" p.g. 20
Im really enjoing how the memoir is fellowing Kincaid's emotional odessy as she tries to deal with her brother's battle with AIDS, its real gripping hard stuff .It plays on so many fears. The lost of a love one, denial, dying of a deadly diese and more. Her rambling structure actually pulls me in,I find her thoughts on family, death, community, and identity to be insightful. Onlt thing that so far has got me is Kincaid's long ans at times drawn out reflections, Kincaid opens a discussion on some relevant topics straight from the beggining.
Im really enjoing how the memoir is fellowing Kincaid's emotional odessy as she tries to deal with her brother's battle with AIDS, its real gripping hard stuff .It plays on so many fears. The lost of a love one, denial, dying of a deadly diese and more. Her rambling structure actually pulls me in,I find her thoughts on family, death, community, and identity to be insightful. Onlt thing that so far has got me is Kincaid's long ans at times drawn out reflections, Kincaid opens a discussion on some relevant topics straight from the beggining.
HW 21 Comments Left
Javon Blog:
Javon I thought you touched on some really central points about illness and dying.Denial , from reading your post and thinking back to some of my other post and are guest speaker, It seems to be a key themes in illness and dying. I wonder does it go back to you very point " I am fully aware that each of them will be taken at one point but i still continue to try to avoid the fact". Does this approach of denial and avoidance help sooth the harsh reality of death ? Also another interesting question I would like to bring up quick, are men more likely to avoid and denial death more then women ?
Sarah T Blog:
Sarah I really enjoyed your post. I felt you had a good sense of the discussion as awhole. I totally forgot about the Honeymoon from death aspect,which I feel is something really intresting. And seems to be a common occurence in facing death why is this I wonder ? Next time I would really enjoy hearing more of your own personnel insights.
Javon I thought you touched on some really central points about illness and dying.Denial , from reading your post and thinking back to some of my other post and are guest speaker, It seems to be a key themes in illness and dying. I wonder does it go back to you very point " I am fully aware that each of them will be taken at one point but i still continue to try to avoid the fact". Does this approach of denial and avoidance help sooth the harsh reality of death ? Also another interesting question I would like to bring up quick, are men more likely to avoid and denial death more then women ?
Sarah T Blog:
Sarah I really enjoyed your post. I felt you had a good sense of the discussion as awhole. I totally forgot about the Honeymoon from death aspect,which I feel is something really intresting. And seems to be a common occurence in facing death why is this I wonder ? Next time I would really enjoy hearing more of your own personnel insights.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
HW 21 - Expert #1
1.,Illness and dying is not like the movies .
2.,Denial Of being ill.
3., Being sick strips ones right of pride .
For me this insight was so true.In away I think we all wish death and illness was as easy as it is in the movies. That we still even in the end hold on to our beauty anbd essence. That are dignity isnt lost in the illness.But the truth is when we get sick theirs are no sets, no lights, nobody screaming out action. The actors cast in these roles are all to real and the emotions never end with a scene.Illness and eventual death are all to long.People can be sick like Eric for years. Never knowing that those days in a busling coffe shop with your son are fading with each mintue. With a end of a movie theirs closered with death theirs not.
Nobody wants to be sick.How many times do we get sick and try to fight it.Denie that we have a simple cold.I think it comes from a fear.A deep rooted fear, that sickness is only a fall away from death. When we are sick where left vulnerable. Its one of those times that your left depending on the people close around you.Or for some the realization yourself is the only one you have. So like Eric we put are intention to somthing else.For some its work or kids or school. All to ignore the fact that somthing isnt right.
In facing your death or in being a caregiver, you encounter and handle challenges far beyond what you believe yourself capable of, far beyond common concerns.The way in which you face death leaves your special mark on the world. It empowers others to learn and grow. It create a closeness and intimacy within a cicle of family, friends, and supporters by allowing them to participate in the dying.I would like to leave by a poem by brith poet Dave Harkins:
“You can shed tears that she is gone,
or you can smile because she has lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that she'll come back,
or you can open your eyes and see all she's left.
Your heart can be empty because you can't see her,
or you can be full of the love you shared.
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday,
or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember her only that she is gone,
or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind,
be empty and turn your back.
Or you can do what she'd want:
smile, open your eyes, love and go on.”
2.,Denial Of being ill.
3., Being sick strips ones right of pride .
For me this insight was so true.In away I think we all wish death and illness was as easy as it is in the movies. That we still even in the end hold on to our beauty anbd essence. That are dignity isnt lost in the illness.But the truth is when we get sick theirs are no sets, no lights, nobody screaming out action. The actors cast in these roles are all to real and the emotions never end with a scene.Illness and eventual death are all to long.People can be sick like Eric for years. Never knowing that those days in a busling coffe shop with your son are fading with each mintue. With a end of a movie theirs closered with death theirs not.
Nobody wants to be sick.How many times do we get sick and try to fight it.Denie that we have a simple cold.I think it comes from a fear.A deep rooted fear, that sickness is only a fall away from death. When we are sick where left vulnerable. Its one of those times that your left depending on the people close around you.Or for some the realization yourself is the only one you have. So like Eric we put are intention to somthing else.For some its work or kids or school. All to ignore the fact that somthing isnt right.
In facing your death or in being a caregiver, you encounter and handle challenges far beyond what you believe yourself capable of, far beyond common concerns.The way in which you face death leaves your special mark on the world. It empowers others to learn and grow. It create a closeness and intimacy within a cicle of family, friends, and supporters by allowing them to participate in the dying.I would like to leave by a poem by brith poet Dave Harkins:
“You can shed tears that she is gone,
or you can smile because she has lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that she'll come back,
or you can open your eyes and see all she's left.
Your heart can be empty because you can't see her,
or you can be full of the love you shared.
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday,
or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember her only that she is gone,
or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind,
be empty and turn your back.
Or you can do what she'd want:
smile, open your eyes, love and go on.”
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
HW19 - Family Perspectives on Illness & Dying
I came home , tried, sick, lonely.Dreading the idea of having plies and plies of homework. It seems as this last year comes closer and closer to the end , I'm left more in confusion. Not just about the usual school and what not but life. I ask my self day in and day out what am I doing? where am I going ?Sometimes I wish the world would just slow down so I could. And with the current unit, it has me thinking about my own immortality even more. If I died tonight what have I done ? what am I even going to do ? It seems as most of my friends are already plotting out the finest details of their life's ,I'm lost . I'm not even sure where I'm at in the story of my life and we can never be sure that with a flip of the page it will be the end.
I guess if anything I want make sure I'm doing something right, that my life tho at this point not the definition of success, means something. That theirs someone out their when I get ill will take care of me. Its seems the more I write this the more the thought occurs, how can we be living life to the fullest under all this stress. Most of our youth is spent in the class rooms,hrs on hrs doing boring work.Coming home doing more work, spending time watching TV and updating our facebook statuses. Making some time for dinner and arguing with are parents.Then one day we wake up and where as old as the people teaching us the lessons. More time then passes , we have families, job's, and bills until where siting in a hospital room finding out we have terminal cancer.How is that spending your life to the fullest ? See we love as a society to use cliches and metaphors to make life easier. To hide the facts of life. The biggest disadvantage of life isn't death but that only at the end do we realize what we had, what we lost, what we were, what we could of been, what we did, what we never did. I'm not trying to say to live life on the edge like some of my friends ,smoking and drinking. I'm just saying not to squander it. Because it the real span of things its short.
Don't go to college cause everyone is doing it, because your parents want you to, go because you want learn, you want try to better yourself.In talking to my mom in really opened my eyes , she said seeing someone ill is difficult, That you almost subconsciously wished they would pass because you don't want see them in that kind of pain. She said she thinks about getting sick.That it scares her because your always scared of the unknown but that she wasn't fearful,she was confident in where she was going when she dyes .Her feeling was that we move on to a higher spiritual place.
I was shocked to find out my mom wasn't sure who would care for her in her final days, that she wouldn't be surprised if she was alone.As I expressed some of my thoughts on life , I asked her if she felt she has lived life to the fullest she said no.That to truly live life to the fullest you have to spend your life in enjoyment, and she hasn't. I asked her if she regrets this she said no.Then their was a almost pen drop quietness in the room, then she said "when you alive your constantly changing but when your dead your just dead.When I asked her about why she smokes even tho it could kill her she said "people don't look ahead, they live in the hear an now, maybe people are on a some kind of internal suicide". She said she didn't feel completely comfortable talking about this topic, when asked she said "I'm 47, a smoker, and a minority, you do the math". Where all going to die, at the end we'll all have some feeling , I just hope at the end I can say I had no regrets.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
HW 17 - First Thoughts on the Illness & Dying Unit
Death is somthing thats universal. Weve all had someone that we cared for die,and all wonder where do they ? is this it ? what is death itself ? . Death is one of those topics that some can discuss very openly, and honest or you can tell in a blink of a moment feel uncomfortable talking about it, they will try to change the subject to some lighter matter or tell a joke. I think you'll find the people who are willing to discuss death with you are people who have thought about death quite a lot.
I think we should all realize that willl all die someday. Some people like to almost live in a imganiry world, where death doesnt happen, But after seeing my grandmother die I realized that death is just as real as talking, walking or hearing.Death is the ultimate realization. When you realize that with death theirs a strong possibility youll disappear completely and forever, and that nobody will remember you.So many people live their lifes wanting to be remembered . The question has to be asked why are we fighting to live if we are just living to die?
Im not sure about any of these quesstions . I have no idea what will happen when we die. Im not sure if are sould are reborn in a different body, or if we get to hover over time and space , or if we simply just dissolve into the ground, or we just disappear. I have no idea but i dont think it matters. What matters is that we get to be alive,what we do while were here. From Jesus to Budda this is what they truly preached its not where we are going but its how we act where we are. The most beautiful thing about death is the realization of life. Being alive we get to be conscious, we get to build connections with each other, and we get to be aware of these connections and to spend a few years mucking about in its possibilities. We get to have a slice of time and space that's ours.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
HW 11 - Final Food Project 1
One big question facing society today is how do we deal with childhood obesity in America .Obesity in the past 20 years has tripled in children. This has especially effected minority comminties, "50 percent of adolescents in some minority populations are overweight". Heart attacks and type 2 diabetes may become a common disease for many if not most young adults.The question remains how do we deal with this epidemic ? who do we blame? In my opinion theirs only one place to point the finger at, the food industry, but what to do ? Should we fight the food industry or work together with it. The food industry, favors , of course the work it out together approach. Presently the food industry lobbying groups are invited to Agriculture Department meetings, participate in professional nutrition conferences, and have testified before Congress on obesity legislation. .I think to truly understand the food industry and what their doing we must draw a disturbing but true parallel with the tobacco industry.The same tactics used by the tobacco industry for years is now being used by the food industry. Largely because of industry resistance, it took decades before the war on tobacco reduced rates of smoking significantly.
The American Academy of Pediatrics determined in 1995 that advertising to young children is "inherently deceptive and exploitative". But yet every year, of every month,of every day, of every hour, of every minute the food industry spends an estimated "$10 billion dollars" to influence and manipulate the eating behavior of children.
The average child views "10,000 food advertisements per year", "95 percent of them for fast food, soft drinks, candy and sugared cereals" ,all high in profit but low in nutrition. Toys, games, collectibles, movies and popular personalities can all be linked fast food marketing campaigns. Soft-drink companies have made lucrative contracts with poor school districts tying financial incentives to sales.
While at the same time the entire federal budget for nutrition education is "equal to one-fifth of the advertising costs for Altoids mints." Children now consume about "15 percent of their total calories from fast food, 10 percent from sugar-sweetened soft drinks and only half the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables."
The obesity epidemic has many causes, but none more than diet. Fast food is served in massive portions, contains highly processed carbohydrate and horrible trans fats with little to no fiber. The contents of this fast food is central to the increase risk for obesity, diabetes and or heart disease. Excessive soft-drink consumption is related in scientific studies to increased calorie intake, weight gain and obesity.
The food industry argues that more research must be done before anything can be done on regulating advertising and sales; that physical inactivity and not the food should be the actual target for change; that parents must teach their children to eat responsibly; that vending and soft-drink machines in schools provide freedom of choice; and that no food or company should be demonized or made responsible.While this is all true , the food industry must be held accountable as well.
The food lobbyist use money and power to influence national nutrition policy. Even the country’s main professional dietetic association has fallen victim. Legal Times reported that industry pressure led to weakening of USDA dietary guidelines aimed at reducing consumption of added sugar.The nation cannot afford waiting, this is become more than a small problem but a problem growing fat off the backs of Americans no pun intended. The food industry must demonstrate that it will be a trustworthy . Federal and state officials must find a response to this public health crisis,they must find ways to protect children from the ravages of poor diet , physical inactivity, and the food industry. National legislation on the prevention and treatment of obesity and stopping food advertising to children must be made.
The American Academy of Pediatrics determined in 1995 that advertising to young children is "inherently deceptive and exploitative". But yet every year, of every month,of every day, of every hour, of every minute the food industry spends an estimated "$10 billion dollars" to influence and manipulate the eating behavior of children.
The average child views "10,000 food advertisements per year", "95 percent of them for fast food, soft drinks, candy and sugared cereals" ,all high in profit but low in nutrition. Toys, games, collectibles, movies and popular personalities can all be linked fast food marketing campaigns. Soft-drink companies have made lucrative contracts with poor school districts tying financial incentives to sales.
While at the same time the entire federal budget for nutrition education is "equal to one-fifth of the advertising costs for Altoids mints." Children now consume about "15 percent of their total calories from fast food, 10 percent from sugar-sweetened soft drinks and only half the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables."
The obesity epidemic has many causes, but none more than diet. Fast food is served in massive portions, contains highly processed carbohydrate and horrible trans fats with little to no fiber. The contents of this fast food is central to the increase risk for obesity, diabetes and or heart disease. Excessive soft-drink consumption is related in scientific studies to increased calorie intake, weight gain and obesity.
The food industry argues that more research must be done before anything can be done on regulating advertising and sales; that physical inactivity and not the food should be the actual target for change; that parents must teach their children to eat responsibly; that vending and soft-drink machines in schools provide freedom of choice; and that no food or company should be demonized or made responsible.While this is all true , the food industry must be held accountable as well.
The food lobbyist use money and power to influence national nutrition policy. Even the country’s main professional dietetic association has fallen victim. Legal Times reported that industry pressure led to weakening of USDA dietary guidelines aimed at reducing consumption of added sugar.The nation cannot afford waiting, this is become more than a small problem but a problem growing fat off the backs of Americans no pun intended. The food industry must demonstrate that it will be a trustworthy . Federal and state officials must find a response to this public health crisis,they must find ways to protect children from the ravages of poor diet , physical inactivity, and the food industry. National legislation on the prevention and treatment of obesity and stopping food advertising to children must be made.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
HW 12 - Final Food Project 2 - Outline
Thesis: The dominant social practices are all covered in secrecy and in fact industrial atrocities.
Supporting claim: The food industry is a direct cause of the rising tide of chronic disease in America and the high Health Care Costs
Supporting claim: The food industry is a direct cause of the rising tide of chronic disease in America and the high Health Care Costs
Evidence:The country's obesity epidemic caused by the food industry has lead to higher health care spending
$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
Evidence:Health insurance companies with their profits invest irresponsibly in food companies that are playing a significant roll in the high cost of health care in this country.The U.S., Canada and Europe hold nearly $1.9 billion in fast-food company stock, these insurance companies make billions off high premiums and denying care .
Friday, October 22, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
HW 7d
Chapter 9 starts with an story about histories largest recall of food. In 1997 about 35 million pounds of ground beef was recalled by Hudson Foods because of E Coli found in the meat . At the time of the recall, almost 25 million pounds were already eaten. Schlosser discusses the new ways people our experiencing food poisoning . Before the rise of the large meatpacking plants, most cases seen of tainted food localized in small arenas. But because of meat now being distributed in large quantie across the nation, an account of food poisoning in one small town may indicate a epidemic. In the United States 200, 000 people are sickened by a food borne disease everyday.
Is this one of the first signs that the government is slowly losing more and more power to big corporations ?
The old saying is the costumer is always right, so if this is the case if we demand better food products would we get it ?
How come these large food corporations are reviving government subsides and write offs, while their killing and making Americans sick at the same time?
Is their a rate of change (leaning towards increasing) in just the last 10 years of people being affected with E Coli ?
Is this one of the first signs that the government is slowly losing more and more power to big corporations ?
The old saying is the costumer is always right, so if this is the case if we demand better food products would we get it ?
How come these large food corporations are reviving government subsides and write offs, while their killing and making Americans sick at the same time?
Is their a rate of change (leaning towards increasing) in just the last 10 years of people being affected with E Coli ?
Chapter 10 discusses about Plauen, Germany. Schlosser makes point to mention that everyone he talked with about Plauen was shocked to learn he wanted to visit this town of all towns. Schlosser notes the history of the city from 1923 when it was one of the first places to subscribe to Nazism, until 1990 when it was the first in East Germany to accept a McDonald’s restaurant.
Schlosser makes a point to show the the United States in a global context and to point out the role of the consumer. So I wonder how much power does the consumer really have ? If we were more informed could we make a differences? At the end of the day if the people we send to represent us aren't but yet representing large food companies whats the point? It appears to me the fist thing we need to control in the money. If we take the lobbyist money out of politics, maybe we could see true sweeping reforms but until that day its going to be more of the same. In the words of Barrack Obama , you can slap make up on a pig but its still a pig.
In the Epiloge Schlosser discusses a bout a surreal experience he had , while researching this book .It took place in 1999 in Las Vegas. Schlosser describes Las Vegas as “the fulfillment of social and economic trends now sweeping from the American West to the farthest reaches of the globe.” While in Las Vegas, Schlosser heard Mikhail Gorbachev ones leader of the former Soviet Union speak at the Twenty-sixth Annual Chain Operators Exchange about Russia in the aftermath of the Cold War. Schlosser saw Gorbachev’s being their something like an American version of a Roman circus, displaying the leader of a captured land.
Is Fast food being a chief American export, a key example of how the United States engages the rest of the world ?
Schlosser makes a point to show the the United States in a global context and to point out the role of the consumer. So I wonder how much power does the consumer really have ? If we were more informed could we make a differences? At the end of the day if the people we send to represent us aren't but yet representing large food companies whats the point? It appears to me the fist thing we need to control in the money. If we take the lobbyist money out of politics, maybe we could see true sweeping reforms but until that day its going to be more of the same. In the words of Barrack Obama , you can slap make up on a pig but its still a pig.
In the Epiloge Schlosser discusses a bout a surreal experience he had , while researching this book .It took place in 1999 in Las Vegas. Schlosser describes Las Vegas as “the fulfillment of social and economic trends now sweeping from the American West to the farthest reaches of the globe.” While in Las Vegas, Schlosser heard Mikhail Gorbachev ones leader of the former Soviet Union speak at the Twenty-sixth Annual Chain Operators Exchange about Russia in the aftermath of the Cold War. Schlosser saw Gorbachev’s being their something like an American version of a Roman circus, displaying the leader of a captured land.
Is Fast food being a chief American export, a key example of how the United States engages the rest of the world ?
Sunday, October 17, 2010
HW 7c.
Chapter 7 takes place in Greeley, Colorado.A small town , known for meatpacking , with a strong migrant industrial workforce. Greeley got its name after a newspaper editor Horace Greeley. Greeley roots started in 1870 with education,agriculture,and strong moral values being its foundation. This all came to a halt by the IBPIBP revolution started in Denison, Iowa with Currier J. Holman and A.D. Anderson, these men began Iowa Beef Packers , which applied similar labor practices to the meat packing business that the McDonald brothers applied to making hamburgers. These practices required a low set of skills from its workforce. IBP placed its slaughterhouses in more rural areas giving them great distance from unions .
Insights:
Does fear of being fried stop these employees from joining unions ?
Has the birth of the machine brought upon the death of basic hard work ?
Chapter 8 gives us a look at the slaughterhouse in the High Plains. Schlosser takes note of how these slaugther houses are crowded and bloody. Schlosser discusses how meatpacking has become one of the most dangerous jobs in America.We see the grim , almost nightmarish process that turns live cattle into what we see in grocery stores everyday. Most of the work in a slaughterhouse is not done by machines but people themselves. People everyday on the job receive injuries from the various machines and knives in the slaughter house . The workers our put under constant stress and strain from the poor working conditions, and the methamphetamine which is used to keep up with the production line. Women workers also constantly face sexual harassment.
Insights:
What role does the federal government have in these companies ?
What charges have been put up against these companies on behalf of the workers ?
Insights:
Does fear of being fried stop these employees from joining unions ?
Has the birth of the machine brought upon the death of basic hard work ?
Chapter 8 gives us a look at the slaughterhouse in the High Plains. Schlosser takes note of how these slaugther houses are crowded and bloody. Schlosser discusses how meatpacking has become one of the most dangerous jobs in America.We see the grim , almost nightmarish process that turns live cattle into what we see in grocery stores everyday. Most of the work in a slaughterhouse is not done by machines but people themselves. People everyday on the job receive injuries from the various machines and knives in the slaughter house . The workers our put under constant stress and strain from the poor working conditions, and the methamphetamine which is used to keep up with the production line. Women workers also constantly face sexual harassment.
Insights:
What role does the federal government have in these companies ?
What charges have been put up against these companies on behalf of the workers ?
Saturday, October 16, 2010
HW 9 - Freakonomics Response
After watching the movie I have to say I wasn't as amazed as I was made to believe to by everybody else. It was interesting to watch but I was not shocked or left in aha. There was nothing to me to profound about the movie. Tho the abortion crime link was quite outstanding and the insight made me want to drive deeper in this very "weird" connection.
Monday, October 11, 2010
HW 8 - Growing Our Own Food
I found growing my own food at first to be overwhelming ,but as time past it became simpler than it sounded at first. I thought one big plus was that I did have to really change my life style at all.It barely effects time or money. All I needed was a few seeds ,a little space , a water source, and a little time. Honestly anyone can do it. And now that where in a recession , people tightening up and reducing consumption in general, so why not food. Everyday the price of everything seems to be getting higher and higher , especially at grocery stores across America.So to me in growing my own food it made me wonder cant we just skip it ? or maybe cut back on somethings we buy to help cut our bill, by growing our own food. Also theirs no better , healthier feeling then eating your own food, cause you know the process it took to complete it.
HW 7b
Chapter 4 starts with a delivery man for a pizza shop going through Pueblo a town in Colorado. Pueblo is also known as “the asshole of Colorado” . But both Pueblo and Colorado Springs while having many differences share the increase of restaurant franchises and ranch homes.From their the chapter talks about how Schlosser vist's The Little Caesars owned by one time NHL player ,Dave Feamster. The chapter goes on to discuss how franchising has been around since the 19th century, and and was taken to new height with the sudden emerge of fast-food chains.
Insight:
What is the significance of the section being titled "Success" And how does that represent how our own blind ambition ways can lead us to overlook what we have done to the world around us and ourselves ?
Chapter 5, takes us to the home of J.R. Simplot born in 1909 . Simplot spent most of his life working on his family’s farm in Idaho. At fifteen he left home and dropped out of school , from the he worked in a potato house. At sixteen, he was a potato farmer. Before he knew it Simplot was buying, selling, and sorting potatoes in large quantities he became the largest shipper of potatoes in the West. Simplot made millions selling potatoes and dried onions to the military during World War II . Simplot would soon invest in frozen food technology and sold frozen french fries to McDonald's during the 1950's. From their history was made.Schlosser goes on to talk about how today the french fry business has become big business with three major companies controlling the market and the process of fry making taking a sad turn.
Insights:
Does J.R. Simplot represent the American dream, from his rag to riches story, or simply another benchmark of how ones mans success becomes a society's downfall ?
Why does in appear that while theirs a competitive field in the french fry business, their is not a better overall product being made ?
In Chapter 6, Schlosser visits a rancher in Colorado named Hank. Schlosser is given a tour of the ranch , Hank tries to show a clear distinction between what he does and “raping the land” he claims the others do. Hank takes more care in cattle raising , because he wishes to keep the land fertile and lush. This is unlike the mass development of Colorado Springs which destroys the natural landscape.The next piece of this chapter give a little bit of history on the early twentieth century efforts to break up the Beef Trust.The Beef Trust being five meatpacking companies that have monopoly on the meatpacking industry.
Insight:
How does the refusal to a cleaner more "natural" cattle raising process show how the bigger a business the slower and more stubborn it becomes to taking more care in the resource's it uses ? When does moving product with speed out way what's right ?
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
HW 7 - Reading Response Monday
Chapter 1 starts with a forward about Carl N. Karcher, a- pioneer in the fast food’s industry. He was born to a rural family in Ohio in 1917. After eighth grade he left school and to work endless hours on a farm with his father. At the age of twenty, he got a job his in h Feed and Seed store in Anaheim, CA by his uncle. In California he would meet his wife Margaret and began a family of his own. Margaret and Carl bought a hot dog cart; Car also worked at a bakery. At this time California’s population was increasing at a rapid pace, as was the auto industry. Carl deiced to open a Drive-In Barbecue restaurant. This post-WWII economy gave him a handful of customers.Close by the McDonald brothers were heading their own restaurant, “McDonald’s Famous Hamburgers.” The brothers began what we now know as the Speedee Service System, which allowed customers to get out of their cars and into their "fast" food restaurants. Carl Karcher inspired by this idea opened his own self-service restaurant, Carl Jr.’s. Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway Act allowed for even more people to eat in self-service restaurants. This McDonald’s phenomenon change the landscape of the restaurant business forever and gave start to Taco Bell, Dunkin’ Donuts, Wendy’s, Domino’s, and Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Insights:
Are Taco Bell, and other such establishments use as tools to express how white Americans in the 1940's viewed Mexicans ?
Do the benefits of franchising such as , more jobs, out way the negatives such as farmer health ?
In chapter 2, Schlosser explores Ray Kroc and Walt Disney’s complicated relationship. Constantly compering and contrasting each man’s rise to fame. This chapter also considers the profitable method of advertising to children.
Insights:
Its a gross shame in my opponent that the fast food heads like Ray Croc prey on school systems with declining revenue. Its confusing how these fast-food companies, that have little nutrition, are allowed to manipulate children to sell their products. When did image out way substance ?,these companies portray themselves as trusted friends while at the same time stab us in the back.
Chapter 3 places in discusses about a small town in Colorado Springs. Schlosser gives the history of this city, and paints the backdrop of the homes to many former California residents. Colorado Springs was a quiet town until World War II, during this time the military brought thousands of troops to the area. When the war was over, even more bases were opened; almost half of the jobs there still to this day depend on military spending. The area has grew to become extremely conservative , as well as religious . The chapter discusses how the largest private employer is in fact the restaurant business.
Insights:
Would teen employee's creating a union work? Wwould anybody listen ? Would people even be interested in spending more money on food which would no doubt be more expensive because of the increase of wages and benefits of these union fast-food employee's?
Thursday, September 30, 2010
FOOD DIARY
DAY 1:
Breakfast:
Protein Shake
4 Eggs and Turkey Beacon
Glass of Milk
Glass Of Orange Juice
Black Coffee
Green Tea
Lunch:
Roast Beef Sandwich (Lettuce , Mustard,Tomato, Onion, Wheat Bread)
Water
Snack:
Protein Bar
Cereal With Dry Oats
Diner:
Baked Chicken
Sweet Potato
Broccoli
Gallon Of Water
Snack:
Apple
Protein Shake
DAY 2:
Breakfast:
Protein Shake
4 Eggs and Turkey Beacon
Glass of Milk
Glass Of Orange Juice
Black Coffee
Green Tea
Lunch:
Tuna Sandwich (Lettuce , Wheat Bread)
Water
Snack:
Protein Bar
Diner:
Beef and Broccoli
Brown Rice
Gallon Of Water
Snack:
Apple
Protein Shake
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I did enjoy the movies overall message, i think to often we put more importance into ideology then the hard data . This economics approach is actually understandable, even for me. I found the movie itself to be to scattered .Each chapter, taken on its own, is at times informative and entertaining. But when combined it’s hard to know to understand why these chapters were chosen. I was left kinda left puzzled . I think they should of focused on one chapter, flushing it out to illuminate the message which was very clear in the book.