Articles

Comparison of conventional and organic beef production systems I. feedlot performance and production costs

A large group of calves was diveded into two groups, O for organic and C for conventional. The calves were dived randomly and raised two completely difffernt ways. The C cattle was vaccinated, implanted and creep fed a conventional feed containing lasalocid. The O group was only vaccinated preweaning and then fed organic corn and soybean. Both groups were also fed measured amounts of organic clover. In the end they saw that the C steers took about 163.6 days to reach 567 kg, while the O steers took about 225 days to reach that weight.

Work cited

M. I. Fernández and B. W. Woodward (1999, October). Comparison of conventionaland organic beef production systems I. feedlot performance and production costs. Livestock Production Science
Volume 61, Issues 2-3, Pages 213-223

The GRASS FED Revolution

This article is about a rancher who raises his cattle on only his pasture. This is a great alternative to grain fed lots because pasture fed cattle has been tested and showed a significant increase in omega 3 fatty acids and lower saturated fats. This is a good thing for the consumer because this has been proven to increase the immune system and lower a persons chance of getting heart disease. This is not only a safer way to raise cattle, it is also a healthier option for humans seeing that it boasts a number of health benefits.

Work cited

Roosevelt, Margot. "The GRASS-FED Revolution." Time 12 June 2006: 76-78. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Apr. 2010. http://www.systems.wsu.edu/scripts/wsuall.plurl=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mth&AN=21054769&site=ehost-live.

Tim Wise Article

Racism has been the downfall of American society. Tim Wise defines it as an ideology that separates people, labeling them as either inferior or superior based on the color of their skin (5). What gives anyone the right to label people? The answer is that no one has that right. Wise is not completely correct in his view of racism, however. He says that "Racism is a system as well as an ideology. It's a way of organizing society" (5). By saying this, he implies that Americans put people into categories based on the color of their skin. Wise is correct in his overall definition of racism, but has a skewed perspective when it comes to how racism is present in modern culture.


A focus of Wise during his essay is on "white privilege". He says that whites have an advantage over people of color, based solely on the fact that they are white. "We…know that job applicants with "white sounding" names are fifty percent more likely to get called back than those with "black sounding" names, even if both have the same qualifications" (6). This proves the fact that racism is still prevalent in America, and it still controls the American system. People still choose their employees based on the sound of their name, and this is completely unacceptable. This contributes to the many reasons that racism is so fervently a part of American culture. Furthermore, many whites deny that it doesn't exist. "White denial isn't new. It has always existed" (6). Everyday white people try to deny that racism is not a factor in modern culture, when in reality it is all around them, and white privilege makes them blind to it in their own society.


While racism may be prevalent in American culture, it is not a system. Instead, it is strictly an ideology. In modern times, people don't act on their racism consciously. Instead their racism is inactive prejudice, meaning that they unconsciously act on their racist feelings. Sometimes, the inactive prejudice is even reversed. For example, colleges are more likely to accept a minority since they require a certain amount of diversity among their students. Also, in the National Football League, when teams are attempting to hire a new head coach they are required to interview a minority candidate before making their final hiring decision. Clearly, racism is not a system in American society. As much as racism swings against minorities, there are plenty of examples of it going the other way as well.


Clearly, although racism is present in modern America, it is not a system. History may make people assume that racism is all targeted at minorities, but this is not completely true. Instead, there are many examples of racism against all different types of people. It is true that white privilege exists in America, and this contributes to many people's views of American racism. However, the other types of racism, mainly those not against blacks, largely get overlooked when racism is studied.





Works Cited


Wise, Tim. "By the Color of their Skin: Tim Wise on the Myth of a Postracial America." Interview by David Cook. The Sun July 2009: 4-12. PDF file

Sources

When I am about to start a paper for English 101 or any class the first thing that I do is review the prompt to determine what I am going to be writing about. If the paper requires me to state a position on certain topic, I will then choose a position and look for articles to support it. The first place that I look for articles is on the Washington State University Libraries database. Once I find multiple articles that support my position on the paper I begin to sort through them. In order to determine which articles to use in my papers I look at a multitude of different things. The first thing of course is the information that is provided in the article. Is it relevant? Does it support the position I am supporting? This is determined by reading all the articles carefully and taking notes on them sometimes. I then look at where the article came from and if it was peer reviewed. Articles that are found in newspapers are often not peer reviewed and can contain bias information and sometimes incorrect information. Newspaper articles are the ones I usually try to avoid. If the article comes from a scholarly journal it is usually a reliable source and it is definitely reliable if it has been peer reviewed. Peer reviewed articles means one or more people have contributed to the article to make sure it is the most accurate and correct thing published. When using these articles in my paper I use them in the order that best fits the paper. If I am talking about the opposing position at the beginning of my paper I will use an article that has references to the opposing position. Basically it depends on the paper, the articles and your writing style to determine when and where to use the articles in your paper.

Norman Borlaug Article

After reading the Norman Borlaug article a large amount of ideas and questions arise. The idea of using genetically moified food to feed all 8.3 billion people in the world seems like that only solution, but how far does gentically modifying food go? Is it ever going to come to a stop? Eventually crops and food are going to be modified to the point that there is nothing natural left in it. Is that really the safest or healthiest alternative to all natural food? Who knows, many years down the road we could find out that because of all the chemicals and modified parts of our food we live shorter lives, or are more likely to get diseases. No one really knows what will happen from eating food that has been modified so much.
Another question that arises is addressed in the article and has to do with farmers being able to use and grow these genetically altered crops. As more research is done, more money is spent meaning that farmers are going to have to pay more for crops. Not to mention the patents that will be placed all over the crops so that they are forced to do everything the companies say and will pretty much be forced to grow genetically altered crops in order to even compete. With this rise in crop costs, food costs will also rise making the same amount food today cost who knows how much more. Genetically altered food may be the answer right know because there is so many people to feed, but who knows how far it will go and if will ever have negative consequences on our health or planet.

Chapter 16

We as omnivores have the dillema that we eat such a wide variety of food that when it comes to choosing what is best and safest it is up to us. The advantages of being an omnivore is the wide selection of food we have to choose from, some bad and some good. People who can not stand the taste of something or cant eat it because of allergies need not to fear, because the body can gather nutrients if the same value from other food. There are not many creatures out there that are as well adapted as we are to eat anything we please almost. We are adapted with teeth for both meat and plants. We have complex taste buds that act as our first defense against food that could be potentially bad, as well as allowing the body to know what to ingest the most of to provide the greatest amount of energy. Another adaptation that opens our diet up is the adaptation of cooking. WE are able to cook many plants and remove their bitter toxins, so that they appeal to us and we are able to gain valuable vitamins from them. When Pollan talks about the rat and how it treats it's stomach like a laboratory, it made me think of how people get sick when they rapidly change their diet. People who have been accustomed to eating high fat, high sodium, and high sugar diets can become sick if they switch to healthy food minus the fat, salt and sugar. This is because the body becomes used to running on the things that it is provided with and when it changes suddenly the body does not have the things that it has been used to getting for who knows how long.

Chapter 8

Chapter eight of The Omnivores Dilemma Pollan visits Joel Salatin’s farm. On Joel’s farm everything revolves around 100 acres of grass that is constantly replenished by everything that lives on it. Joel has his farm running perfectly with the cattle grazing the pasture, then the chickens grazing and fertilizing it with nitrogen, then the cattle grazing again. This process is different than most other farms because everything is done naturally. Joel’s farm I believe is the way all farms should operate. He is able to produce an abundance of meat and vegetables without using any artificial help. All farms should be ran the way Joel’s is because it not only produces food for people to survive but it gives back to the environment allowing for more food to be produced the next time around. In our world today natural resources are running out, meaning areas to farm are being depleted. However, farming the way Joel does is resourceful and is the best way to preserve the land for future generations of farming. Naylor is also another farmer using natural ways to produce food products, but I think that the way Joel does it is better and more efficient and should be the way that all farms are run.

Chapter 12 Omnivore's Dilemma

Chapter 12 of Omnivore's Dilemma interested me quite a bit. Its a rare to hear of how your food was slaughter before it got to the supermarket or how the chickens were raised. On the Polyface farm they seem to have a great system going, as long as the USDA doesnt't continue to poke their nose around in agricultural farmers business. I believe that their should be more farms like the Polyface farm, because it allows people to see, if they want, exactly how their food is being slaughtered. This differs from supermarket chicken or meat, because the meat comes from slaughter houses where thousands of chickens were processed in a day. The long distances the meat has to ship also increases the time that it is exposed to germs and bacteria. Personally, I believe that the polyface farm is the way that all meat should be processed. Local farms sell locally to avoid the long distances that most food has to travel today. I also think a lot of people would be interested to see the conditions that their food was killed in and how they were treated before they were killed. Another thing I liked about the Polyface farm was how everything including decay was taken into account. Nothing was wasted, everything that was taken from the earth is put back the next spring to produce the next batch of chickens. Another thing that i agree with is that the USDA should have no right to regulate what local farmers can sell straight from their farm. The consumer has to step into the farm and determine if they want to buy something from them, which the USDA should have no part in.