HW 25

For those without healthcare insurance life sucks and getting medical care costs an arm and a leg (sometimes literally), but that's not who I'm documenting. I'm documenting those of you with medical care, how there are so many holes in our healthcare system, and using it show you how corporate America has there hands in every pocket of our lives. There are better alternatives, such as a better and more friendly socialized healthcare system like they have in France, England, and Canada. These healthcare systems are just as good as our expensive ones, if not better, and are free. America can get there, but the question is if we ever will. 

1. People with healthcare can still be turned down for many things, including pre-existing conditions.

Importance: To show people how our system of doing things sucks.

2. France's healthcare system is more efficient, and very friendly.

Importance: To show why a more socialist country's system is better.

Although Moore never directly said that the French doctors were government-employees, he tried to merge it with Britain's healthcare system, he used similarities to make it seem as though their respective health care systems were identical. So this quote doesn't directly counter his argument, but it was still pretty sneaky of him to do, "The doctors are not government employees, especially the médecin non conventionné, the private doctors who are allowed to charge whatever they want for their services." 

Moore made some points and really tried to sell the nationalized healthcare system. He makes life seem much better and longer in France, England, and Cuba, even though in France they can expect to live only 2 years longer than Americans. One thing I took from this movie is that it seems like the world always gets it right while we don't. But have we forgotten what America is? That it's our country, that changed the world through the creation of the assembly line, that some of the world's greatest minds came from or to America? That if you try hard, you can make it. A lot of cynical people love to shit on our country. Sorry if I've ventured off point, but it boils my blood when people, who are only in their position because of America, bite the hand that fed them.

HW 24

Tuesdays with Morrie
Published in 1997 by Random House



The last third of the book is the definitely the most touching. It shows Morrie in his final days and how he has ultimately come to terms with his impeding death. He talks of regret and forgiveness, and I think he gives great insights during his final days. But there is contradiction in it, that a man who seems so adamant at picking apart society and criticizing it, is saying things that one would think to be archetypal coming from a man on his death bed. One insight for example is the necessity to forgive, he speaks of it a lot. But don't we all believe that we should forgive others and ourselves when we die, and that we should be forgiven? While beautiful and touching, Morrie's story didn't stray far from the predictable patterns and common practices of death.

Precis:

Morrie is coming to the very end. The hardest thing to deal with is saying goodbye. It seems I've been putting it off in my mind, sort of thinking that I'd never have to say goodbye. I'm just fearful that when the day comes, I won't know what to say


"You can't get stuck on the regrets of what should have happened."

People say this all the time. The words themselves are not insightful, the practice of them is. The fact that a man facing life's great ultimatum can forgive himself and those around him shows us that when we die, it may be our one chance to recollect and forgive.

"I like to think it was a fleeting moment of satisfaction for my dear old professor: he had finally made me cry."

Tears may come often to some, but they always hold the weight of the world. In an instance like this, what Mitch knew to be the final tuesday, tears said more than any amount of words could have, and I believe that was the best goodbye Morrie could have asked for.

"It'll get my body. It will not get my spirit."

Many believe that our spirit makes us. That no matter what takes us over or what we do physically, our spirit is forever. I can't say I agree, but Morrie made me agree. His story touched me and put me right there next to him, and I'm starting to believe in our spirit.

We live our lives in the great pursuit of happiness. Most of us end up with some happiness. Death is our ticket out of everything, happy and sad. Whatever it may be, it's bound to end. I think the most important thing about it illness and death, is to be free of regret and to be brave. Morrie showed us both, and although his death may not have been the way he wanted, it still made an impact. On millions.

HW 23

Tuesdays with Morrie
Mitch Albom
Published in 1997 by Random House

                     The second third of the book hurls the reader straight into the conversations and connections between Mitch and Morrie. In the second third we see insights that are beautiful and well worded and some that are repulsive and not part of the dominant discourse of illness and dying. An insight that many feel isn't acceptable to talk about is Morrie's inability to wipe his own behind. Morrie had been dreading the day that he lost that bit of independence. But now that he has come to terms with it, he embraces it and finds comfort in being nearly fully dependent on the aide of others. Another insight that seems to be the overall theme of the book is; When you learn how to die, you learn how to live. This is beautiful, but one can't say they agree or disagree until they are in that position.

Precis:

Morrie is pulling me out of my lifestyle where I just chase a paycheck. He is showing me the world through his eyes and I'm coming to comprehend the overwhelming significance of everything. I am fearful that his time will soon come to it's last act, and all I can do is hope that my presence makes his last days better.

Quotes:

"I don't want to leave the world in a state of fright. I want to know what's happening, accept it, get to a peaceful place and let go."

Morrie seems to have everything planned out, except for the last split second. His actual death, as well as anyone else's, will come as a surprise and how exactly it will happen is up in the air until it actually happens.

"I grin at my brother, and we are united by childish pride. That wasn't so hard, we think, and we are ready to take on death again."

When we are young, life is endless and death is at the back of our minds. Youth is the ability to be care-free and not worry. When we are young, nothing can stop us.

""Every day, she did the same thing: came out in the morning, lay on the floor, stayed there until the evening, talking to no one, ignored by everyone. It saddened Morrie. He began to sit on the floor with her, even lay down alongside her, trying to draw her out of her misery."

Morrie was such an amazing person, but not only that, he understood people and rather than turn them into a science project, he interacted with them and came to understand them.

The second third of Tuesdays with Morrie has been arresting and moving, it has tested everything I know about death but for some reason when I read it, I still see Hollywood. I see Morrie looking pristine even though he is sick. I see the perfect setting with two men having a deep conversation. I can't bring myself to see Morrie as he probably looked. Maybe that's the affect society has had on my way of thinking and perceiving, or maybe Mitch Albom wrote it this way to make something that looked horrible seem angelic and divine.

HW 21b - Comments

Your insights are well organized and very detailed. I like how you addressed the insight of a man's choice to not see a doctor. It made it that much more personal that you connected it to your life. I think this adds a the personal touch and allows for your readers to become more engaged in your writing.

Your post is pretty insightful and raises questions that we havent really addressed. One part in particular that stood out to me was; "Now that I think about it if people didn't have to worry about there death and were always surrounded by people who loved them, there passing would be more peaceful an a lot more relaxing" This is interesting, because I think that at some point if someone is ill, they do worry about it. And if they dont worry about it specifically, they are worrying about its repercussions. Such as the inability to provide for their family, and how they will be thought of after death. Also, how can passing be relaxing?

Your post is not lacking in detail, which is interesting seeing as you werent here. I found this quote to be especially insightful; "I’ve noticed that when someone dies the people they leave behind often feel as though their lives need to stop. They find comfort in hiding from the world verses just living." I hadn't really thought of that in my analysis of Beth's presentation. That people stop living after a death close to them. But you didn't explain why, or why you think. That would have reinforced your point.

______________________________________________________________________________

Steph said...
The way you chose to list your insights and experiences was creative. unlike other blogs you intertwined the insights into your paragraphs and explained them with depth and thought. I believe if you connected your thoughts to yourself in more depth your pst could have been more powerful. other then that i really enjoyed reading your work and I look forward to reading more.


 megumi said...
Overall, I enojoyed reading your post. One of the insights that caught my attention was, "At some point they need to maintain a distance and fully remove themselves emotionally. Is it better for a doctor to be cold and calculating or emotionally connected?" I thought you raised a question that was not only insightful, but a question people don't like to think about. Personally, I don't have a clear answer to that question. I think a doctor needs to maintain a balance between distance and connection with a patient, but that's easier to say than done.


 Sarah L said...
You posed some interesting ideas based off of what Beth said, one idea that stood out to me the most was, "At some point they need to maintain a distance and fully remove themselves emotionally. Is it better for a doctor to be cold and calculating or emotionally connected?" It makes you wonder the tolerance a doctor has for sadness. If they are loosing a patient everyday I can't even begin to imagine the range of emotions they must experience. Constantly feeling a sense of mourning, as you said though, do they become immune to death? Do you think out of all of the human beings on this planet they are the least scared to die?

Vin (older) said...
Not a bad post, all-in-all, if a bit short.

The question you pose "Is it better for a doctor to be cold and calculating or emotionally connected?" has quite a bit of validity- should a doctor seek a more personal method of care for his/her patient in order to restore a semblance of humanity to the situation, or should they present you with the simple facts and not try to encroach on your life unnecessarily? It could be a good cause for discussion.

As for the phenomena you're touching on, like "another interesting common practice, is saying "sorry" when we hear of loss, as if we could have stopped it or something." is empathy, how we seem to understand the feelings of another by being able to associate the kind of pain they feel to us.

I'd work on your grammar here- mind where you put your commas and be careful of your word choice. This could be said more simply, with more eloquence.

Good work, boy.
Vin

I need to find a new younger, I had one set up who agreed to do it, but I came to the conclusion that she is too immature and a little too young.

HW 22

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom published in 1997 by Random house is a heart-warming and intellectual novel that gives some pretty interesting insights about our dominant social practices regarding illness and death. When Morrie is diagnosed with ALS, he sees a doctor, which is a dominant social practice, he also takes medication. However, an odd factor that one might not see often is Morrie's choice to teach about his death. He tries to make the best of it rather than just wither away.

I have grown out of my college life and subsequently forgotten about my favorite teacher, Morrie. I have reconnected with him as he has now again become my teacher, and I feel I will learn more now than I ever have.

"The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it." (p.42)

This is an interesting quote, because we all know the first part, but people hardly practice the second part, which is more important.


“Accept what you are able to do and what you are not able to do”
(pg 18)

I agree with what Morrie is saying, I just don't know if I would be able to accept the inability to do things like run. I feel that in accepting your abilities and inabilities, you're kind of giving up your independence.


“There are some mornings when I cry and cry and mourn for myself. Some mornings, I’m so angry and bitter. But it doesn’t last too long. Then I get up and say, ‘I want to live . . .’”
(pg 21)

If I were in Morrie's position, I would want to be as strong as him. I doubt I would be able to though, I feel as though I would give up on life altogether.




When people get sick they give up.  Morrie got sick and decided to use it for something.
When people get sick they go to the hospital and stay there. Morrie got sick and went back to work. When people get sick, they feel their life is over. Morrie got sick and realized that his students' lives were just beginning. This book grabs dominant social practices of being ill - such as staying in the hospital and giving up on life - and kicks them in the face. Morrie finds productivity in the face of illness. He uses it for the benefit of others, and doesn't feel embaressed. The fact that this book is non-fiction makes the story that much more inspirational. This actually happened, this man died and left the biggest mark possible, educated minds.

HW 21

           Beth's story was very touching and she masked nothing, there were no falsehoods or exaggerations. Her story was raw, explicit, and very evocative. It made us think about death, rather than just hide it deep in the back of our minds. Which is interesting, seeing as she told us after that, before her husband's death, she hardly though of death and even up to his death it was never spoken of or acknowledged. I think in a way, she was doing what for us what happened to her, she was forcing us to think about death. I, personally, never think about death, not that I'm scared of it, as she said she was, but because it's unpredictable and eminent.
           Her story also showed me that you have to be human about it, especially in the hospitals, you have to show them that you're human. You can't just be your disease, these doctors need to understand that you are a human. But that also raises another question; How human can a doctor think you are? At some point they need to maintain a distance and fully remove themselves emotionally. Is it better for a doctor to be cold and calculating or emotionally connected?
           What I also took from this was the idea of keeping your loved ones alive through your actions. One seldom sees the cliche line, "they are alive in our hearts" put to work. Beth practices it all the time. She continues to do art workshops that he started, in remembrance of him and in his honor. I think this is amazing and shows us that even though someone may be gone, they are not lost.
           Another interesting thing is that when we hear a story of another's loss, we can't help but feel sorry for them, and "fell their pain". As we wrote the thank you card for her I noticed that while most people didn't really get into detail, they all said that they were touched. While they may have just been writing this for the sake of common courtesy, I believe that most of us were touched, we felt for Beth, Evan, and Josh. The human mind loves a happy ending, and when we come face to face with a sad story, our perception of it becomes biased because we feel the pain of those who are directly affected by the loss. Another interesting common practice, is saying "sorry" when we hear of loss, as if we could have stopped it or something.
          Overall, I felt Beth's presentation was courageous, but more than anything, it was thought provocative. I think when humans hear of loss, they can only feel sorry for the person.  But given time to think about it, we can become more analyctical.

HW 19

My parents' views on death are little to none, they have little to say about the topic. My dad believes that it's unpredictable and unavoidable, so we shouldn't dwell on the topic. For illness, I'd like to focus on my dad. When he was 14 years old, he was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma, a cancerous bone tumor, on his right leg. When I asked him about it, and how it was to be ill his response was, "It sucks". He said that chemotherapy was horrible as well, it has been 36 years since then, and it hasn't shown up at all, and I really hope it doesn't. The conversation didn't go much farther than that, and I didn't want to push. I just think my family and I don't think of illness or death, not because we're scared of it, but because, well you can't do anything about, everyone's going to die. And, chances are, with the amount of illnesses out there, you're bound to be sick at one point in your life. How can you worry about something when you're positive that it's going to happen?

HW 18

                   Thanksgiving dinner in the McCarthy house is never a big to-do. The huge feast isn't very huge, and the topics of table conversation are basically the same as any other dinner table conversation. The only thing that made it special was that my brother was visiting from college which sort of gave the homey family feeling. Food pleasure was the same as any other meal, my family finds that the family aspect is far more important than the huge feast. When it comes to family, we're lacking in quantity, my whole outer family lives in Ireland, so we don't have that archetypal huge american family meal on thanksgiving, but we still sit together and feel thankful for one another's presence.
                   Watching football is commonplace in my house, so of course we tuned in on Thursday. I think that counters the argument of anti-body. We are watching big guys knock each other around to win a game. Their bodies have to be big, fast and agile, the players and coaches pay close attention to the human body and how to make it perform at it's best. I think sports are a combination of mind and body and their collaboration. The mind makes the plays and tells you when you need to throw, run, block, or tackle. A great example of the mind factor in football is an audible, in which the quarterback makes a last minute decision to change up the play. By looking to see if the defense is adjust themselves to correctly counter his play, the quarterback will call an audible to use the defense's thought out positioning against them.
                  On the other hand, the physicality of football is clear, but is often times misconceived. People like to think that football is dumb and is just hit for hit stupidity. That raises good questions about our society and their views on physicality, people think that a sport that involves many intricacies, is mindless brute-like fighting. An athlete hones his body to it's peak in order to challenge his opposition who has done the same. For example; a wide receiver needs to have good hands and quick feet,  a cornerback, who covers the receiver, also needs good hands and quick feet, but also needs to be able to tackle, which in turn makes the receiver need to have ability to break a tackle. These are good examples of how we use our bodies to achieve a goal of sorts. You can see this in any sport, I used football because it always goes hand in hand with thanksgiving. On thanksgiving day, before eating, I went to a friend's high school Fordham to watch them play their rivals Xavier in football. Sports are body centered, which can be seen through not only the game itself, but the fans. You will often see fans out of their seats screaming, arms flailing. Many use their bodies as canvasses to promote their team. But people look down on fans, seeing them as animal like creatures, who are idiotic, loud and obnoxious, when really, it is just a deep fervor that is sometimes religious for people.

               We use our bodies a lot, we just like to think that we don't, because we've established some sort of false notion that using our bodies is wrong and that we should refrain from doing so.

But hey, isn't that really what "society" is? A fuckload of false notions.

Jay M.

HW 17

My experience with illness and dying isn't so extensive. I have known people that died, the closest being one of my good friends when I was in fourth grade. Two of my grandparents died two years ago, but I wasn't really close with them. My best friend's brother died almost four years ago. My grandparents' deaths were of illness. The other two were from, respectively; being hit by a car, and electrocution from train tracks.

I haven't been around illness ever really, so I don't know how it goes. Dying, I don't think there are any social norms really. You just die, there's no socially acceptable way to die, because people can die from pretty much anything. Illness, presumably, involves visiting a hospital and having those close to you come to visit and be with you in your last moments.

I think illness and dying are such personal things that no can really set a social norm to them. Each individual person  is going to deal with an illness their own way. If I were terminally ill, I wouldn't want to be hooked up to a bunch of machines that were keeping me "alive". I'd rather be out doing as much of the stuff that I'd always wanted to do that I could fit into whatever time I had.

In what we see to be the regular, I guess, people are supposed to be with their families. But what if someone doesn't have a family? We think that they're are depressed at their death because their is no one with them. How do we know that that's not how they wanted to go? Maybe some people want to be alone in their last moments, but their families want to be there to the end. Do you respect the dying person, or do you stay because you know you will never have them again? It's extremely depressing, and this unit will be hard to stomach, but I'm sure we'll uncover a bunch of stuff that we never knew. To be honest, I don't know what my family does with the whole illness/dying thing. I know that my father went to see his parents when he knew that they were almost clocked out, but other than that, I don't really know.

HW11

Activist (do something to build a movement for better food - consider the Food, Inc website, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the Slow Food Movement, and the School Food issue)


With my project, I made a flier to address the points about fast food that I found most important, I made the flier attractive and able to catch the reader's eye. I passed it out among the adults on the street, there were a lot of business people who were on their lunch break, I figured that adults more so than teenagers could change their mindset and decide to invest in a better lunch. We passed them out outside of a chinese restaurant and a subway sandwich shop. I feel this project was effective, because it caught the eye of the passers-by and we talked to each individual who was interested in the project. We explained to them the major points about their food, and what was really in it. We explained animal cruelty, disgusting ingredients, and what they could do to change their foodways. We tried to get them informed as to what was in their food. We did come into a small problem with the manager of 'Press' he said that he sold chicken and that this might hurt his business, we respectively moved. He told us that he was a strong supporter of free range and etc. So I don't understand why he should feel we were endangering his business, I felt we were helping him, because his establishment seemed to be a really hip health savvy restaurant.
All in all, I believed it was a good project, that if nothing else, helped to inform and educate. 

HW 12

Dominant social practices in our culture - nightmarish industrial atrocities they may be - evolved to fit this culture's demands, as most things have. They have helped in numerous ways and have helped show what capitalism stands for.



Supporting claim 1: The fast food corporations are using our social system to their advantage. An executive doesn’t think about morality, he thinks about turning a profit. And that’s what capitalism is all about.

Evidence: private ownership
Evidence: expanding accumulation of profit
Evidence: theiving of Indian land. What America started on.

Supporting claim 2: Fast Food ♥ Capitalism, We should be grateful

Evidence: Made getting food easy
Evidence: Made getting good cheap
Evidence: Did this all with the help of capitalism.



Gem Quotes:
"As it is, citizens of every social and economic standing have daily access--in minutes--to a balanced meal denied to kings only two centuries ago." -http://mises.org/freemarket_detail.aspx?control=131


"Only the advent of capitalism, particularly in America, made this possible, and fast food has played a key role in our times in making it so."



Bibliography

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/capitalism
http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Capitalism.html
http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/GLOSSARY/CAPITAL.HTM
http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=capitalism
http://www.allshookdown.com/newhistory/CH01.htm

HW 10 - Food, Inc. Response

Fast food is a huge industry that essentially abides by their own rules, they cut corners without consideration for the consumer, the worker, or the laws set in place that are supposed to mandate it.

The film offers a visual representation of the major points presented in the book, it shows us rather than telling us the coming and goings of the fast food industry. It has more of an ability to churn your stomach and show what really happens.
The book, on the other hand, goes into more detail and offers more facts and statistical evidence to prove the point. The book raises questions that you hadn't considered whilst answering them.

After reading and viewing, I have strong feelings against the fast food industry and their outright abuse of our society and economy. While they may be seen as evil or manipulative, they epitomize everything that capitalism stands for, and I don't believe that that is a bad thing.

7d

Chapter 9

Fast food has a history of harboring foodborne diseases.

"One of the first to become ill, Lauren Beth Rudolph, ate a hamburger at a San Diego Jack in the Box a week before Christmas. She was admitted to the hospital on Christmas Eve, suffered terrible pain, had three heart attacks, and died in her mother's arms on December 28, 1992. She was six years old."


(pardon my french)
Somebody needs to kill the motherfuckers who allow for shitty beef to be used. This is horrendous. I'm so repulsed. I wan't to kick in Ray Kroc's door (and every other fast food exec) and punch him in the fucking kidney.



Chapter 10

Fast food is a huge enterprise, in 120 countries, the golden arches are present. Fast food corporations are everywhere

"Mikhail Gorbachev was in town to speak at the Twenty-sixth Annual Chain Operators Exchange, a convention sponsored by the international Foodservice Manufacturers Association."

Is there anything the cant do? (

Epilogue

We can still be independent and break the conformity that has been built around McDonald's.

"Even in this fast food nation, you can still have it your way."

We can still fight the large corporations that have essentially dictated our way of living. We can organize, and organic-ize. We can fight it.

Freakonomics

2. Like any documentary filmmaker or novelist, Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt, the authors of Freakonomics try to prove their point while also appearing to be completely factual and without bias. So while they don't say that certain things are directly caused by certain variables, they are strongly suggestive when regarding their main point.
As any adequate non-fictional novelist, the authors give you the straight facts and will attempt to remove as much bias as possible. So there is a equal amount of causation and correlation

3. The sources that mostly rely on are statistics. Seen in the sumo wrestling chapter and the education chapter. They also use statistics in all of the other chapters, but you can see it heavily used in those chapters afformentioned.

7C

Chapter 7
Eric Schlosser
Fast Food Nation

The fast food business is corrupt and is very sketchy behind the scenes.

"... a prime example of how a mainstream corporation could be infiltrated by the mob"

The mob? It's a corporation, not a small business, and the mob can gain control of it? How can the fast food industry thrive when it involves itself with such dealings.

Chapter 8

Slaughterhouses are some of the most dangerous places to work, harm comes to many who work in them.

"...Richard Skala was beheaded by a dehiding machine."

The lack of safety in slaughterhouses is absolutely revolting, and to think OSHA doesn't have the balls to stand up to them is even more revolting.

7b

Chapter 6

Fast food corporations essentially control the cattle and poultry industries.

"... soon developed a new breed of chicken to facilitate the production of McNuggets. Dubbed "Mr. McDonald," the new breed had unusually large breasts."

Fast food companies control what we eat, how we eat it, when we eat it, and why we eat it. It may seem far fetched, but I wouldn't be surprised if our country becomes The United States of McWalMart.

7b

FFN
Eric Schlosser
Chapter 4

Fast food is one of the most successful businesses to get into. I have found out that fast food franchisees abuse government subsidized programs.

""Of the 755 new Subways opened that year, 109 relied upon the U.S. government for financing."

It's fucking disgusting that fast food corporations can abuse a program that was started to help small business owners. They're ruining America

Chapter 5

French fries are one of the biggest hits in America, and have been since flash freezing became popular. They taste so good because they are subtly flavored with beef flavoring.

"Toward the end of the list is a seemingly innocuous, yet oddly mysterious phrase: "natural flavor." "

That's disgusting, to think that french fries are flavored with, meat. Plenty of vegetarians find it okay to eat McDonald's french fries, they should seriously reconsider their thoughts.

KFC 2

Watch more videos at KentuckyFriedCruelty.com.

Chapter 3. FFN

Eric Schlosser Fast Food Nation Chapter 3

Fast food restaurants cut costs through labor. Being employed at a fast food restaurant isn't the nicest job.

Gem: Turnovers are more common in fast food than any other industry

It's really interesting to see that kids like working at McDonald's and places like that. It's also funny that about 2/3 of fast food robberies are committed by employees or ex-employees.  

**It's really sad that auto check on a computer knows the correct way to spell McDonald's 

KFC

They may not be as cute as little puppies, but they're still living breathing animals, and they still feel pain.

"KFC lets frustrated factory-farm and slaughterhouse workers handle live birds, so many of the animals end up being sadistically abused. At a KFC “Supplier of the Year” slaughterhouse in West Virginia, workers were documented tearing the heads off live birds, spitting tobacco into their eyes, spray-painting their faces, and violently stomping on them. This was discovered more than two years after KFC promised PETA that it was taking animal welfare seriously."


http://www.kentuckyfriedcruelty.com/

HW 7 - Reading Response Monday

Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation. Introduction

Fast food plays a huge role in our society, and throughout this book, I will go into depth on the positives and negatives of it's impact. I think fast food can be considered a main representative of America.

"Hundreds of millions of people buy fast food every day without giving it much thought, unaware of the subtle and not so subtle ramifications of their purchases."

This book is going to be interesting and might possibly change my eating of fast food, but I doubt it will heavily impact my life.

Chapter 1

McDonald's started a trend, and many followed. Among those who followed are some of the biggest names in the fast food.

"Entrepreneurs from all over the country went to San Bernardino, visited the new McDonald's and built imitations of the restaurant in their hometowns."

It's extremely interesting to see where all of the companies we know so well came from. I now realize why McDonald's is the best. Because it was the first. 

Chapter 2

McDonald's employees are taught a certain way, to do certain things, in order to uphold the McDonald's image.

Market towards kids. 

"...there was something trippy about Ronald McDonald..."

Corporations feed on youthful ignorance. Cigarettes. Fast Food. Clothes. You name it.

HW 6 - Food Diary

Over the course of forty eight hours, I consumed 2,258 calories. The average is 2000  a day.

The first day, as usual I didn't eat breakfast. At lunch I ate a Subway footlong BLT sandwich, which is the only thing I will eat from Subway. An establishment that I consider slightly better than most other fast food "restaurants". That was a usual experience, nothing exotic or unusual. It was bland for the most part, but good enough to satisfy. Then that night I had three slices of plain Dominoes pizza, which I find absolutely revolting. I mean, it doesn't even look like real pizza. 

After eating that I felt nauseous, and didn't eat anything for the night. It just doesn't feel right in your mouth. It's kind of like miracle whip to mayonnaise. You're eating something that is trying to be like the original, but in the end is totally something different and is made of god knows what. Dominoes' is a lot like that, it's supposed to be pizza, but being from New York, I know what pizza is. Dominoes is not pizza. It is something else altogether. 

The second day, I skipped breakfast, again. I never eat breakfast, because I always feel sick in the morning. So for lunch that day, I had a plain toasted bagel with cream cheese, a food that I love. It was very satisfying and it just tastes great. That night I had a cheese burger with mushroom and fries and onion rings. I ended up only eating the fries and onion rings. I can only eat beef if it's near burned, I can't stand the taste or the sight of pink meant, or anything less than extremely well done. And it was medium rare. Ugh.

I hate looking at pictures of meat, it makes me feel sick, I dont know why, but for some reason it does. 

I now realize that everything I ate was pretty unhealthy, minus the bagel. 

HW 5 - Dominant Discourses Regarding Contemporary Foodways in the U.S.

             When one thinks about contemporary foodways in the U.S., one often finds them self thinking of health, be it their own, or that of the masses. Why do we jump to the topic of health? It's the dominant discourse regarding foodways of the United States. Who says so? Definitely not us, we're no corporate public relations rep, or a nationally recognized doctor. We simply observe from the sidelines. What is a discourse? In lamens terms, it's a discussion. It's a discussion where the topic at hand is thoroughly analyzed, and is, well, discussed. A 'dominant' discourse, is the discussion crafted by the people who lead that discourse, and then that becomes the socially accepted way of discussion on the topic. 

             The dominant discourse of food, is more often than not, about health. It's a constant struggle. Like anything else in life, it's a cycle, a never ending cycle. A doctor or scientist, (or anyone else who has a million degrees just to tell you that you're fat) will release a study saying that this food has this much trans fat and ups your chance of obtaining heart diseases, or this food is so awesome, it has fiber, whole grains, it was pulled from the dirt, and not put through a shitload of machines (it tastes like shit, but that's ok, it's good for your colon!). Then after that study is released, good old McDonalds put's pressure on the marketing department, and the guys who 'engineer' the food, to make some new thing that screams hip, modern, and healthy, so long as it doesn't cost over 5 cents to make. So, you can see the discourse. McDonald's or any other fast food giant, will claim their products are healthy, while doctors will claim otherwise. Regardless of the discourse however, people will continue to buy into both 'healthy' foods and the 'unhealthy' foods.

             Why do we take food so seriously? Because it's one of the three things we need to survive. Water, food, shelter. So something that is essential to human survival will hold more of an audience than anything else. We care about what we put into our bodies, because there's a standard that one must live up to. There are seldom people in the world who are 100% happy with their appearance, and everyone is always trying to change something. And what you eat can have a huge effect on that appearance. Pay attention to what people say about food, because regardless of what you may think, it is relevant to your life. 

HW 4 - Your Families' Foodways

In Ireland, when my parents were growing up, everything they ate was healthy. My father’s family owned a farm; so every day they would eat 100% homegrown food. Their meat was fresh, their milk was fresh, vegetables, fruit, and everything was homegrown. As for my mother, her father had a vegetable garden, so her diet was heavily based around homegrown vegetables. They never ate fast food, or any of the processed foods that have now become commonplace in the modern diet. They both claim that ate way healthier then, than they do now. And are positive that they ate healthier than I do now. I don’t disagree whatsoever.

Their practices in eating were heavily based around the family aspect. They always ate together around the dinner table, lively with discussion. My mother was made to come home everyday from school during lunch to eat at home. The idea of a family meal is very strongly enforced.  Our ideas about food differ a lot, my parents believe in eating healthy, and I don’t really care.

HW 3 - Food - Fast Food Insights and Green Market Realizations

        The Green Market in Union Square is a hot spot in New York for organic goods, it's constantly bustling with people. It has a lot for people trying to go 'healthy'. But, the real question is, Can it compete with the fast food chain McDonald's? That has a location directly across the block. I think not.
        McDonalds, or any fast food establishment for that matter, is indeed fast food. You can grab a burger that's ready to eat and far cheaper than the free range beef sold across the street.
        McDonald's' speed is a huge factor in attracting patrons. But it does lack the health factor, the organic hype that is growing by the day. These two places are similiar in one way however, the lie to sell. The "wild" arugala in the green market was not wild, only the seeds were, but saying that they're "wild" just sounds better. McDonald's lies too.They put up a front that they're doing good things for the world, ie Ronald McDonald House Charities, while I don't doubt that they are truthfully helping people, they're food probably leads to more cholestrol and heart problems than any other. But they do however have a response to the health-conscious wave, they have a line of fruit smoothies that seem healthy, and they also have salad options.
        The people I talked to were from the meat market, and didn't have nice things to say about McDonald's. One man working at the 'Free Range Beef' stand commented on the chain's treatment of livestock "They fatten them up [with hormones], while we let our cows roam free without adding hormones"
This has been a topic of controversy, not only surrounding McDonalds, but the fast food business in general.
        Personally, I do prefer McDonalds, when you have somewhere to go you can't dilly-dally in the green market admiring the natural organic produce, nor am I willing to spend that type of money. I can just as easily grab lunch or breakfast in McDonald's in a matter of seconds or minutes, spend half as much money, if not less, and not have to cook it. The health factor is huge, but is it really worth that amount of time and money? I don't think so.

Post #1: HW 2 - FOOD - INITIAL THOUGHTS

Jay McCarthy

FOOD

Initial Thoughts

        Food is not just something we need. There’s a whole sociology surrounding it. People eat this and then depending on who they are, where they come from, and who they WANT to be. When we were hunter gatherers and such, we’d just kill animals and eat them. Simple as that. 

        Cause and effect have changed the way we eat and the way we think about what we eat and how we eat. Such as the supply and demand for beef and chicken. Population over the past few decades has grown substantially, so the demand for food is higher, which leads to the mistreatment of animals and the use of hormones and such, which then leads to the demand for organic goods and vegetables. Which will then lead to cost cutting, thus continuing the cycle of food, and the controversy surrounding it. For such a seemingly simple thing, there are a lot of problems that come with it.