Chapters 16 & 17

Chapter 16 and 17 were about the omnivore’s dilemma and animal rights. First Pollan talks about rats and how they taste new foods. We’re like them in the way that we are cautious about tasting new foods, we don’t wait 30 minutes after our first bite but we take small bites and wait for the taste of the new food to reach our taste buds. I thought it was interesting that the reason pregnant women are so sensitive to bitter foods is to protect the baby inside her from even the mildest of plant toxins. I’ve never thought about the fact that if we were to run out of one type of food we like, that we could easily survive on many other types of foods anywhere. Animals like the koalas can’t do that, they can only survive on one type of food.
In the debate of if eating animals is ethical. I think comparing animals and humans, to black people and white people, is a horrible comparison. I feel like those are two different problems. Black and white people… are people. I think that a human life is much more valuable than an animal life. I do feel that animals should be treated fair, however, I would never be a vegetarian and there really isn’t a humane way to kill an animal. Any way you look at it, you’re still killing it.

Chapter 8&10 2/16/10

Chapters 8 and 10 were about grass and an in-depth look at it. I never would have spent that much time thinking about grass all on my own, so reading about it was kind of weird and rather boring. Pollan said that since we can’t eat and digest grass so we eat animals, since they can eat and digest the grass, I did find this interesting. I also really liked the way Pollan described the farm with so much detail, he made it sound like it was really relaxing there.
I thought it was interesting that the farmer told Pollan to make and unannounced visit to a farm, look at the books that a farmer reads and that will really tell you what his farm is like. He said “Because when you’re feeding your emotions and thoughts is what this is really all about. The way I produced a chicken is an extension of my worldview.” I liked this because I feel that it’s true for not just farming but for people in general. Looking at a person’s book collection can tell you a lot about them. I feel like someone could tell a lot about me if they looked at all the books I’ve read.

"Slaughter" & "The Market"

I had a really hard time getting though the “Slaughter” chapter. It says that most of us do our very best to avoid thinking about it, which is the way I am. I don’t like to think about how the chicken I’m eating made it to my plate. The way it’s done seems harsh, but I guess that’s the only way it can be done. I don’t think any way to kill an animal will ever seem humane, but it has to be done. In “The Market” chapter, I agree that the meat and eggs from the farm will be much better than meat and eggs from the grocery store. If I buy food from McDonalds, it’s cheap so I know the quality of food isn’t going to be as good as an actual sit down restaurant like Red Robin, which is more expensive.

In “They Say I Say”, I would use any of the templates for agreeing or disagreeing. I also like how it gave templates for disagreeing and agreeing at the same time. I already use the templates the book gave for determining who is saying what in my writing. I thought the examples were helpful, and I’m sure I’ll look back in the book later on this year when I need help with writing a paper.

Corn is King

Pollan compares alcohol to corn, which seems to be a very accurate comparison. Back in the day, alcohol was very cheap, people could afford to drink large amounts of it, and that’s what they did. Just like us today with fast food, it’s cheap so we eat a lot of it. I feel a lot more cautious about checking the nutrition labels for High Fructose Corn Syrup now and doing my best to stay away from it. Like the rats tested, we too will eat ourselves sick if it’s a treat we don’t get often. This makes me think of how I feel when I eat McDonalds and when Pollan said “And so it goes, bite after bite, until you feel not satisfied exactly, but simply, regrettable, full.” I’m never satisfied from eating so much of the rare treat, I always regret eating too much of it and I always feel sick.

A templates from “They Say I Say “ that I think I would use in my writing was the templates for introducing summaries and quotations, I always find it hard to come up with different ways to start the summaries and quotations, so I also like that it gave a bunch of example verbs you can use in a paper as well. A template that I wouldn’t use is the “on the one hand… on the other hand…” I think it sounds kind of awkward in my writing.