(Green Roof. Vancouver, British Columbia)
This week all you need is a paragraph- and an image, but please feel free to write more if you are into it.
Enjoy your observation experience.
Its going to be a beautiful weekend,
and we live in a beautiful world.
25 comments:
Will we ever be able to save billions of barrels of fuel again, as we did in 1983? Professor Trumpey mentioned that 2.5 billion barrels were saved that year by reducing the maximum speed limit to 55 miles per hour. If this were practiced in the present day, I imagine it would help conservation along. Unfortunately, I’m sure the idea would be met with plenty of criticism. Many people might share Homer Simpson’s outlook: “55? That's ridiculous! Sure, it'll save a few lives, but millions will be late!”
(Click here for a scary image of people being late.)
Eh. Dare to dream.
—Eleanor Schmitt
Art & Design Perspectives III
Section 005 (Ashley Lieber)
Rachel Less
ADP 2
Section 5
I thought the part of the lecture that was most interesting was how organic chicken is really not totally organic. It also makes me wonder how many other things are really not organic, yet we are still being charged the extra price for it. Going green is such a popular trend, I feel, that a lot of companies are jumping on the fact that people will spend more for the same product, if the product they are purchasing is organic. The real question is, how can you tell when something is truly organic, and to what degree? For example, the chickens who were allowed outside for a short while were considered organic, but they did not live outdoors (something I would not consider organic). It was not surprising to me that after several weeks of living in an enclosed environment, that after the chickens were allowed to be “free,” they did not go anywhere. That is just natural to not want to explore some unknown place that may not be safe. What exactly constitutes each food to be organic? If it is something as absurd as that, then really there is no reason to spend the extra money on organic. (Besides, doing so might make sellers realize they need to be more organic than what they are currently, therefore improving the lives on animals.)
http://www.criticalbench.com/images/organic-better-chemical1.jpg
Lindsay Bienick
ADP III
Sec 005
In combination of the two lectures Professor Trumpey gave on Monday and Wednesday, I found it startling to realize the affects mankind has on the lives of thousands of animals; such as cattle, chickens, and pigs. It seems we have done nothing more than to control the lives of these helpless animals in the quest to feed them, fatten them, and then kill them as quickly as possible. The worst part is that we feed these animals unnatural food, antibiotics, and more, which in turn, only destroys the animals’ stomachs. Thus when Professor Trumpey stated “we are what we eat eats,” I really began to reconsider what I put into my body. I also began to think, “How can we change this?” Unfortunately, it seems like a helpless world when the farmer is left with no other option then to continue with these horrible processes in order to compete with his competitors. But it isn’t just in the power of the farmer; it is in the power of the consumer to do so. Like Ashley said in our discussion, “every time we choose which product to eat, we vote for which product should continue being produced.” There for, although it may be out of my price range to buy organic, or grass feed beef, it is extremely important to vote correctly. Who knows, maybe it will end up saving me money later on down the road when everyone else is paying for medical treatment to relive them form years of antibiotic and hormone build up due to what they eat.
Kelsie Kaufman
Response #2
Very rarely does a class actually motivate me to change my way of living. After reading “This Steer’s Life” and hearing even more related facts from Professor Trumpey, I fully plan to do whatever I can to only eat grass fed cow beef. I don’t eat beef very often to begin with, but after what I’ve learned I will never feel the same eating regular beef again. I plan on finding a local farm to purchase beef from in the future. What hit me hardest from “This Steer’s Life” is the fact that bacteria that could potentially make us very sick is adapting to be able to survive in the acidity of our stomachs, due to the corn diet being fed to the vast majority of the cows we eat. This article clearly presents a very serious problem that we all face, an issue that has even been banned in the UK, and most Americans pass it over like its not any big deal. Like I said in my previous response, people need to be effected personally in order to make any moves towards change. What is even more discomforting is the fact that “This Steer’s Life” was published in the New York Times Magazine, a publication read by large amounts of people, and still nothing is being done to make a change. I feel like issues such as feedlots are a great place to start making changes to better our environment, something very possible and organizable, if more people are aware and willing to act upon it. As Professor Trumpey expressed in lecture, the market has to react to the consumer, and we need to keep this in mind when purchasing our food. What we personally buy is our way of controlling the market, our way of “voting”, as Ashley discussed in lecture, on the food options we have to purchase.
My parents recently moved to a small farm community in mid-Michigan, and upon returning home this weekend, I felt even more of a need to change my eating habits. Driving past endless fields of corn and grazing cows, I really began to realize that I really should be supporting the lifestyle of these cows and the farmers who provide them with the food and space they need. Now with just a little work to spread information and get others to follow suit, we can get this change going. These guys need our help...
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b310/arienettefever/MIPA1146.jpg
Meredith Kramer
Assignment #2
Ashley Lieber
9/20/08
The topic of this past week’s lectures that left the biggest impression on me is definitely the confined animal feeding operations that are being conducted in may places throughout the U.S. After reading “This Steer’s Life”, I seriously considered abandoning eating read meat all together or at least cutting down by a significant amount. I had never realized what went on behind the scenes. It is appalling that the cows are forced to eat a large amount of corn, anti-biotic and hormones. There are several problems with this feeding system. Firstly, the animal cruelty that is implemented through this feeding system is immense. The cow’s stomachs aren’t meant to eat the amount of corn they are fed and there isn’t enough roughage to keep their digestive systems healthy. The feedlot managers are well aware of this, but continue to have them on this diet so they can gain enough weight to be slaughtered at a young age. Since their stomachs can’t handle all the corn naturally, they are given anti-biotics to prevent sickness. When we eat the meat from the cow, we are in turn ingesting a huge amount of anti-biotics. One particularly shocking statistic is that 25 million pounds of anti-biotics are fed to Americans through livestock each year. After reading the article, the main emotions I felt were shock, disgust, and anger. But I was also surprised to feel some compassion towards the farmers. The income that they make on selling beef to consumers compared to the amount of money that is put into growing the cattle is scarce. They know what they are doing is wrong and if they could grow and feed the cattle the natural and right way, they would. They simply cannot do it this way because they need enough income to survive and take care of their families. It’s upsetting to hear how they have to do things that go against their inner morals just to survive.
/Users/merbrook/Desktop/feedlotcofp1995.jpg
Marcia Kosin
Lecture 9/15-9/17
Lecture last week has opened my eyes to a new kind of consciousness about the food I eat. I have always been very aware of what kind of foods I eat and their health value. So in that sense I am conscious of what I am eating, but until last week I never was concerned about where the meat I eat comes from or, the eggs, or even the milk. I was raised on an agricultural farm, but still taught that milk and beef comes from cows, eggs from chicken, pork from pigs, and so on. After watching the matrix video online and reading the article “This Steer’s Life” by Michael Pollan, I couldn’t be more concerned. The mass production of livestock is very disturbing, the very fact that I can even refer to our livestock as mass production is even more disturbing. The fact that steers are slaughtered by the time they reach 14 to 16 months when traditionally it would take three to five years is shocking. I totally feel that our current methods to raise our meat and dairy foods needs to be changed, and I never would of argued that until last week, simply because I didn’t know that any real harm went on. Not only is the practice of feeding our steers corn with antibiotics and hormones a heath issue to the animal, but in the big picture it is harming us the human consumer as well. There has been a serious increase in heart disease in the US and there has been irregular sexual side affect in adolescents.
I applaud McDonalds for changing their standard for eggs. That they were able to prevent chicken farms from practicing forced malting for the humanity of the chicken is a real step in the right direction for changing the ideals of how the animals we consume are raised and taken care of during their life.
I feel we/I need to help educate the consumers of the dangers of the production of our food. If everyone was food conscious of not only what their eating, but also where it came from and the humanity of the process, we could demand the standards to a more natural, humane, and healthy way for both the animal its self and the human consumer.
I was really interested in the lectures about food this week. Food is something that we all depend on in our lives and have so much contact with, but I never stop to think about how that food came to be in my refrigerator or pantry. And honestly, sometimes it is easier not to think about it. But it is hard to ignore the facts that we have learned this week. I usually don’t eat a lot of red meat and I do not eat any chicken, but learning about how cows and chickens are treated before they are slaughtered makes me think about all the other foods that I consume. The hormones and antibiotics that are fed to the animals have an impact on our health. I know that this is just another excuse, but at this time in my life it is hard to buy healthier farm grown foods on a student budget and a life that is based on convenience but I hope that I will be able to make some kind of changes in my diet.
I have always thought that it would take the government to change the way products are made, but McDonalds showed me that one company could make a difference. They single handedly improved the way chickens are treated while producing eggs. What could be accomplished if other major companies would take the initiative to improve standards? What would I take for those companies to get motivated?
http://www.tbp.com/?feedyards (website and images of the beef cattle feed yards that I drive through in the Texas panhandle)
Will the American consumer ever move away from cornfed beef and confined chickens? I don't think the average person cares enough about the plight of animals more than they do about cheap meat. Until the current method of producing beef and chickens proves to be significantly more dangerous to our health than it is beneficial to the health of our pocketbooks, we'll continue to support our current system.
(Chicken Nuggets - cheap and not too dangerous)
Alyssa Ackerman
Section 5
What I think is so interesting, and so scary, is that our world is so focused on profit that the well being of it's inhabitants is not even seen as a priority. The amount of deception that goes into advertisements (what is really organic? What is really in the foods, supplements, the drinks the consumer buys) is shocking. It is extremely difficult for the consumer to find out accurate information about where his or her desired products came from and how they were produced. Another important aspect, is that not all consumers care. "Ignorance is Bliss", after all. How to make people care about their consumption and change their habits?
http://www.bright.nl/upload/06/06/060627-flowerpower3.jpg
SORRY! I forgot my image!
http://signgenerator.kfccruelty.com/index.asp?SignSubmission=1E7B0BCD-071F-4778-9C6D-3C9F65A2232E
you can create your own sign!
Maggie Baczewski
ADP III Section 005
The main theme for lecture is the education of the public. We need to realize that everything we do affects something else. On page seventy of A Sand County Almanac Leopold is planning to remove a birch tree to allow the pine tree next to it become healthier. He is aware of every aspect of the relationship between the two plants. Most people remove plants and do gardening in their yards unaware of how they will relate to one another. This section of the book reminded me of This Steer’s Life. Cows are fed corn (which they can’t digest) and the corn causes bacteria to grow in the cows’ stomachs so they are given antibiotics. The antibiotics and hormones the cows are given eventually end up in our water supply. The people that raise cows are aware of this cycle but the public that eats the cows are not aware. This also reminds me of the corn industry. Farmers are being paid more by the government to grow corn for making fuel. Fewer farmers are growing corn for food so the price of food goes up because corn is in everything.
http://climateprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/corn.jpg
Samuel Hanson
ADP 3
Blog entry 2
September 22
This week I wanted to discuss the connection between the continued production of corn fed beef, and the poverty issue. Just as we were discussing the connection between ethanol using a food source for fuel, thus causing food shortages, so it seems that beef is a main food source. Not in the same way as corn, but beef is still an essential part of the poor in the United States. Even if it is through the medium of fast food, if the price of beef goes up it will only affect us, middle class America, a bit in the pocket book region. This would in affect take a way a source of food from people who might only be able to buy it because of its reduced price. Another question is whether the middle upper class would be informed enough to know to buy the more expensive organic at all in the first place. And even if they were informed, would they actually change their diet to accommodate the new expense? As said in lecture, it is going to come down to the truly informed consumer to begin to change the trend around.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/47/128194585_e60d68031b.jpg?v=0
Samantha Orshan
ADP III
Lecture Summary 2
Before this weeks lecture, I had a basic understanding that livestock were treated horribly, but never took the time to learn much more about it. I also did not know about the surplus of corn occurring in the United States, or what it was used for. I never thought of corn as more than a food product, and realize now how incredibly blind and ignorant I have been. The way our country raises cattle today is completely unnatural. We fatten them for a little over a year, and then slaughter them without taking the time to realize what a terrible cycle we are creating. The corn we produce is being grown with pesticides and other chemicals, which are then fed to the cattle, which are then fattened and injected with hormones, which are then slaughtered and served at a cheap price to millions of Americans each day.
“This Steer’s Life” gave me a true understanding of how horrible the meat industry is, and the article made me feel sick. I had to start to think what I could do to make people understand what was really going on, and how unnatural it is for a hamburger to cost $0.99 at a fast food place. In Europe, the cost of meat is much higher because they sell the meat for what its actual cost is.
I was not raised to be a vegan or vegetarian, and although I thought this article was extremely affective, I still don’t believe that I could be one. I was raised to eat chicken, steak, and fish. And personally, I do enjoy it. However, what I do believe is that we need to reduce our dependency on these meats and balance out what we are eating. I also firmly believe that if possible, people should grow their own vegetables. It is not only healthier, but at this rate much more cost effective. I don’t believe that I will cut meat out of my diet completely, but I will try to find other ways to fulfill my main source of protein rather than relying on meat. Eating meat and of course eating in general is completely instinctive and vital to our survival as humans. I believe eating meat is natural, key word, natural. What we are doing to the cattle is completely unnatural, and that is when we need to take a step back and look at a way to fix this cycle before it gets even worse.
Jayme Rosenstock
9/23 response
In class, I was really fascinated by the total pounds an average American spends on groceries a week—about 160 pounds! Growing up, I am very familiar going to the grocery store almost tri-weekly being one of four children. It would be interesting to note how many groceries our family buys every two weeks. Seeing the photo of the American family and all of their food in the house it made me wonder is all of this necessary? How much food is left over and maybe eventually even thrown out because perhaps the food could be expired?
Along with the series of food we saw families photographed with all of the stuff they have in their house. I feel that is a great way to decipher what is necessary to have in your house and what is not. A lot of these people have junk piling up and do not take the time and get rid of it or donate and give it to people who would actually use it.
http://sandyallred.net/db5/00498/sandyallred.net/_uimages/food-drugs.jpg
Tae Hyung Kim
ADP 3
Section 005
Food is one of our main sources of nutrition and an intimate subject that defines our relationship to Earth. Yet, with the exponential population growth, we have not been successful in responding to the supplies of food despite the increasing demands in the Third-World nations. In combination of technology and food, we have been able to efficiently produce food, but with more use of the main source of energy- oil. This trend can be clearly seen in the decreasing number of farmers. Are we actually producing more food and causing more problems? Even running a tractor requires the use of oil and more use of it until the full harvest season. Why cannot people pursue the traditional farming method with technology? It seems that the combination of food and technology was a good idea in the beginning to respond to a global hunger crisis. Yet, with capitalism deeply rooted in our social system, people are more interesting in benefits from mass production of food, and the whole scheme of saving the world from hunger is forgotten. In fact, the US has surplus of corns, which will be helpful for relieving hunger in the Third-World nations. However, those corns are saved to be used as an alternative fuel source- ethanol. Is it a right choice to save the environment yet letting the people in other parts of the world suffer from lack of food?
After reading Steer's Life, I was shocked by how animals are treated using antibiotics and fed them with corns. Although, these methods would provide more meat, people have not really thought about consequences behind them. Mad Cow Disease is one of them that is caused by the man. Thus, people should be more considerate about their actions, and how they would affect the world surrounding them. No one knows what the long-term effects of our action is...
http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/wp-content/uploads/feedlot-on-a-dairy-factory-farm.jpg
What ever happened to the idea that we should eat to live and not the other way around?
Studies have shown that the average American eats 185 pounds of meat per year, 185! And I’m sure our lust for meat is only getting stronger. In a TED talk by Mark Bittman, an author and journalist, Bittman states that one-fifth of the world’s greenhouse gases is due to livestock production. Bittman also states that we do not require any meat to stay healthy. If we were not born to eat meat or junk food and if we know eating them is bad for the environment, then why are we so addicted? Well, for that, we must thank our capitalist society. Since we were young, we were taught to eat all the things that are unhealthy for us and for the environment. We didn’t know any better, and the food industry took advantage of our ignorance. Hearing that someone is making a fortune off of our ignorance, I don’t see how anyone can continue to look at food the same way.
-Louise C.
Mm, yes. Pink dye. That's precisely what I want to eat when i cook up some salmon. People will say or do anything to sell something, I guess. I should be more surprised. Nobody thinks there's going to be dye in their food if it isn't listed on the ingredients. We're all getting swindled and none of us had any idea. That's not even a fish they're selling anymore. It's an idea, a dream, that at one point in time, fishies came from the sea, and a rough, handsome fisherman in a yellow rain jacket had to survive terrible storms just to bring it to you. This way you can pretend you woke up at five AM to walk to the fish market down by the sea, the cool, salty breeze lifting your hair about your ears. Ha, but you really live in KANSAS and you're at WAL(star)MART. See how that works?
Things died salmon color:
http://i13.ebayimg.com/07/i/000/84/12/3869_1.JPG
http://scripps-content.communicationsmgr.com/pcsupload/2d86d942-ec4e-49e8-934d-4340ad85c751_player.jpg
http://a6.vox.com/6a00c225268c878e1d00d4144c595e3c7f-320pi
http://joyblogging.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/img_3032.jpg
Delicious, ocean caught yarn.
Carolyn Nowak
http://www.indybay.org/uploads/2006/05/15/mother-cow-and-calf.jpg
Calf and mother cow
What concerns me in all this hubbub about our animal based food is how we are altering the course of these animals evolution indefinitely. Yes, of course, we have been doing this for thousands of years to make our lives easier. (by choosing the most docile and largest producing animals) Learning that the majority of dairy cows in one lot are all related through the same bull disturbed me. We are cutting out the diversity of their gene-pools which is what makes a species adaptable and changeable. Animals this genetically close will all be susceptible to the same thing, if that one ‘thing’ strikes the population crashes. Diversity is the key to why any species or genus or even family survive. If we don’t change this pattern and add new genes we are going to end up with mutilated excuses for animals. If we’re going to manipulate their devolpment we ought to do it correctly. Look out our pets. Why is it that ‘pure breds’ have so many health problems: inbreeding and the buyer’s lack of attention. We shrink their gene pool and we get Golden Retrievers with seizures and Dalmatians with deafness and Labradors with hip dysphasia. If we’re letting this happen unchecked in our pets, the it is no wonder this cruel science trick is going unchecked in our meat production. The lack or care towards the animals we steward in America always amazes me. They help us survive and we repay them by finding smaller cages and easy shortcuts. What is sick is the lectures merely skim the top of our cruelties. I have chickens of my own at home and out of curiosity I researched the life expectancy of an egg factory farm chicken. Its about twelve months for an egg layer, it is only six months for a meat chicken. My chickens are eight years old and I have not done anything spectacular to get them their. The oldest chicken on record lived to be 16 before dying of a heart attack. Its appalling to me all the atrocities we haven’t considered, all the things we still don’t know. This is just the tip of the iceberg and we still haven’t fixed just that. I’m frustrated and angry and sad that life is demeaned, even if it is ‘just’ an animal life. Is your life ‘just’ a human life? I’m not about to go busting into CAMOs and setting free the animals, we’ve bred them to be to dumb to survive anyway, but I do feel we should do something, anything, to change the current situation.
This is serious video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g57UBXgxf9Q&feature=related
This is a joke:
http://www.worth1000.com/entries/119500/119579vbDA_w.jpg
Rachel McGuffin
Don't want to hotlink, so here's the link to an interesting graphic.
-Louise C.
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