Blog#12 Reflection

Tyarra Lundy

Professor Smith

June 10, 2014

Reflection

 

            This semester I have learned a lot about what we eat and food safety. From doing my research paper on Factory Farming I learned how animals are being mistreated. I also learned of diseases such as salmonella and E. coli, which are being caused by sanitation errors that can harm our food and animals. Mad cow disease is another food safety hazard that happens in the slaughterhouse of mistreated cows.

            I have also learned more of how fast food companies direct advertising of unhealthy food towards children. Reading the book Fast Food Nation I’ve come to see Walt Disney and the McDonalds Corporation perfected the art of selling things to children. By them doing so it led many other companies to aim marketing efforts at kids. These companies take advantage of the innocence mind of these young kids.

            My weakness in writing is my grammar. I also have trouble with my introduction and my conclusion. Being in Eng101 helped me to work on my issues. I think my grammar has improved from the begging of the class, but I still need to work on it. Writing will play a big role in my future because my major is paralegal. Finally, this class was very helpful and I learned a lot and ready to learn many more in Eng102.

blog 11 Research Paper

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Tyarra Lundy

 ENG101

 Professor Smith

 6-8-2014

 Research Paper

 

Factory Farming

 How do you feel knowing the animals we eat has to go through awful conditions just to be sold to us?  Factory farm animals are being terribly treated. Stated in article Farm Sanctuary, Factory farms dominate U.S. food production, employing abusive practices that maximize agribusiness profits at the expense of the environment, our communities, animal welfare, and even our health. The amount of waste being created by raising so many animals in on area pollutes our water, land, and air. However the health challenges for animals are caused by lack of space, attention and unsanitary living conditions. Antibiotics are used extensively on factory farms, which can create drug-resistant bacteria and put humans health at risk (Farm Sanctuary). Eating factory farm products causes deadly illnesses due to presence of viruses like E. coli and salmonellosis. Therefore we should be more cautious and read the labels.

Factory farm animals are being maltreated. Cows, calves, pigs, chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, and other animals are being crammed by the thousands into dirty

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windowless sheds and confined to wire cages, gestation crates, barren dirt lots, and other cruel confinement systems (PETA). Being crammed into tiny spaces often leads to most of the animals getting sick and sometimes dying. They are also being underprivileged of exercise so that all their bodies’ energy goes toward producing flesh, eggs, or milk for human consumption (PETA). Furthermore they are fed drugs to fatten them faster and keep them alive in conditions that could later kill them (PETA). These animals go through so much during factory farming that they will never get the chance to raise their families, play in the soil, build nests, or do anything that is important to them. Therefore, animals do not get to absorb any sun, or breathe fresh air until the day they are loaded onto trucks to go to the slaughterhouse. Animals should not have to live in these extremely stressful conditions.

 As Schlosser explains “The slaughterhouse is an immense building, gray and square, about three stories high, with no windows in the front” emphasizing the unsanitary living condition for animals (pg.169). Animals are brought to the slaughterhouse after being at the factory farm. The slaughterhouse is a facility where animals are killed for consumption as food. Stated in wiki/Slaughterhouse around nine billion animals are slaughtered every year in the United States, including 35 million cattle and buffalo, 111 million pigs and 8.9 billion poultry. Investigations have exposed the fact that farm animals are routinely mutilated while still fully conscious (HFA’S).

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 As the animals are being slaughtered and processed several dangerous issues come ahead. First, is the presence of fecal matter from slaughtered animals, which can contaminate meat with high levels of bacteria such as E. coli (GRACE). Diseases like salmonella are caused by sanitation errors that can harm our food as well animals. Mad cow disease is another food safety hazard that happens in the slaughterhouse (GRACE). Federal Health Authorities have estimated that foodborne disease sicken 48 million people, cause 128,000 hospitalizations, and kill 3,000 Americans every year. The USDA determined that 7.5% of the beef samples were contaminated with Salmonella, 11.7% were contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, 30% were contaminated with Staphylococcus Aureus, and 53.3% were contaminated with Clostridium perfringens. These high levels of contamination are caused by the crowded conditions the animals have to live in, and the high speed in which the meat is processed (GRACE).

 Viruses such as Salmonella and Escherichia Coli are found in factory farm meat, fruits and vegetables.  Food poisoning can take up to hours or days before any signs of symptoms (ACCEPTA). Depending on the amount of poison being produced the bacteria sticks to the lining of the intestine and destroys the cells (ACCEPTA). Stated by Accepta Advanced Environmental Technologies “the bacteria that enters the body through the digestive system, symptoms will generally be in this part of the body are nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and diarrhea.” E. coli normally lives in the intestines of humans and animals. A particular E. coli strain called 0157 can cause severe diarrhea

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and kidney damage (ACCEPTA). Besides, E. coli Salmonella is the second most common cause of food poisoning (ACCEPTA). Not only can Salmonella can be found in raw milk, egg products, and meats it can also be found in food if it is not cooked properly. Nevertheless if infected you should be precautious and not spread the bacteria by having good hygiene, because another person can get infected when in contact with each other. In a number of cases, food poisoning can cause very serious illness or even death (ACCEPTA).

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy also known as mad cow disease affects a cow’s nervous system, which causes a cow to act strangely and lose control of its abilities to do normal things (Hirsch). Mad cow dieses cause a cows brain to waste away and become spongy. Stated in Kids Health researchers believe the infection comes from a certain food given to cows, which is the remains such as the brains and spinal cords of dead cows that had the infection. If a person eats meat from an infected cow they are at risk for getting a disease called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or vCJD (Hirsch). It has be known only three people in the United States have ever gotten vCJD, which is not contagious so a person cannot catch it from someone that has it.(Hirsch). Brains and spinal cords should not be used to make food products.

 Animal should be treated better than how they are treated in factory farming and in the slaughterhouse. The antibiotic given to animals’ leaves us eating more

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chemicals therefore we get sick and have diseases. Every year in America is and outbreak with diseases such as E. coli and salmonella killing many people.  To prevent further sickness and death, we should take precaution and try organic food or switch to vegetarian. Paying attention to food logos is another way to increase your safety by choosing your foods wisely. However our food should always be safe for us to eat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                       

 

 

 

 

 

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Works Cited

"accepta advanced environmental technologies." Food Poisoning Bacteria . N.p., n.d.

Web. 28 May 2014. <http://www.accepta.com/environmental-water-

wastewater-knowledge/pathogen-control-knowledge/297-food-poisoning-

bacteria-salmonella-listeria-e-coli-0157-campylobacter>.

"Factory Farming: Cruelty to Animals." PETA. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2014.            <http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/factory-farming/>.

"Farm Sanctuary." Farm Sanctuary. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2014.

<http://www.farmsanctuary.org/learn/factory-farming/#>.

"Food Processing & Slaughterhouses." GRACE Communications Foundation. N.p., n.d.

Web. 28 May 2014. <http://www.sustainabletable.org/279/food-processing-

slaughterhouses>.

"HFA's Campaign to Stop Slaughterhouse Abuse." HFA's Campaign to Stop

Slaughterhouse Abuse. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2014.

<http://www.hfa.org/slaughterhouse.html>.

Hirsch, Larissa. "What's Mad Cow Disease?." KidsHealth - the Web's most visited site about

            children's health. The Nemours Foundation, 1 Oct. 2013. Web. 28 May 2014.

<http://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/qa/mad_cow>.

Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of All-American Meal. New York:

Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Reprint.

"Slaughterhouse." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 23 May 2014. Web. 27 May 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaughterhouse>.

 

Blog #10

Title: Factory Farming

Introduction:
1. The bad outweighs the good in factory farming.
2.Supporting information
3.Supporting details or data:


Body Paragraph:
1.The way we are treating farm animals
2.Supporting information:
3.Supporting details or data:

Body Paragraph:
1. slaughterhouse
2.Supprting information: mad cow disease
3.Supporting details or data:

Body Paragraph:
1. Benefits of factory farming
2.Supporting information
3.Supporting details or data

Body paragraph:
1.
2.
3.

Body Paragraph
1. Stop factory farming
2.
3.

blog #9

1. What is your general subject ?
Factory farming 



2 . What is your focus(narrowed topic)?
Unkindness towards farm animals

3. What do you plan to support/argue for?
How we treat animals should stop

4.What have you looked at so far?
* http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/factory-farming/
* http://www.farmsanctuary.org/learn/factory-farming/
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovine_spongiform_encephalopathy
* http://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/qa/mad_cow_disease.html
* "The Meatrix" & Fast Food Nation
*https://beta.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-animals-and-factory-farms
* http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-factory-farming.htm
* http://www.farmforward.com/farming-forward/food-choices

5. What are your next steps if the topic is approved?
Continue to do my research

6.What difficulties do you at this time in moving forward with the research process?
I think my only problem I might face is my timing.

Blog #8 Midterm Revision

           The government should control the advertising of unhealthy food directed at children. Walt Disney and Ray Kroc who was the founder of the McDonalds Corporation perfected the art of selling things to children. Their success led many others to aim marketing efforts at kids, turning America’s youngest consumers into a demographic group, which is targeted by the world’s largest corporations. Ray Kroc and Walt Disney realized long ago “a person’s brand loyalty may begin as early as the age of two. These companies take advantage of the innocence and illogical mind of the young kids. Selling to children is much easier than selling to adults because of their vulnerability. Governments really need to control advertising of unhealthy food mainly towards children, and parents need to be aware of how these companies attract children through other methods because the food is unhealthy and causes obesity.

            The government should control television advertising to kids. The federal trade commission tried to ban all television ads directed at children seven years old or younger. Studies have shown that young children often could not tell the difference between television programming, and television advertising. Children trust that advertising claims are true, because they cannot comprehend the real purpose of commercials. Schools should not advertise nor give out food from fast food restaurants, in which some does in elementary schools in Fort Collins, Colorado.

            Parents should be more aware of how fast food companies attract kids to buy their products. The McDonalds Corporation operates more than eight thousand playgrounds at its restaurants, which brings in a lot of young kids. Stated in the book Fast Food Nation “play lands bring in children, who bring in parents, who bring in money.” That statement shows that these fast food industries don’t care about the health of the children or parents. They also give away simple toys with children’s meals, in which kids love toys so they tend to nag their parents when they really want something.

            Fast food companies sell unhealthy food which leads to health issues and obesity. Over the past thirty years, rates of obesity among children and teens have tripled, and public health experts have increased their attention to the potential negative impact of advertising for unhealthy foods and beverages stated by Harris. It is not healthy for children to eat so much fast food. Children are constantly reminded about fast food when watching television, and big signs when driving with their parents.

           Companies should stop targeting little children; because of the vulnerability and health issues that affect these children. People are going to get sicker, if unhealthy food is continuously being sold; there should be a greater social responsibility for these children present and future health. The intense marketing of high fat, high sugar foods to young children can be viewed as abuse because they do not understand that commercials are designed to sell products and do not have the ability to comprehend or evaluate advertising.

Blog #7

The government, FDA, and other importers are responsible for lying to us about where our food is coming from. They should know what their doing to our food is wrong, and as the consumer we have the right to know where and how our food is being made. When picturing our food I would think it is coming from a farm of healthy animals. As I watched "The Meatrix" I came to realize that they mistreat the animals, and inject them with artificial hormones. For the safety of the consumers, these issues should not be ignored. The animals should be well taken care of, rather than being bundled up in a box and given overdoses of antibiotic to keep them alive. Mad cow disease is transmitted when one cow eats the brain and spinal tissue of an infected cow, then they sell the food to us consumers. If we take care of animals better, with these positive alternatives, food would be more healthy. This would lead to a greener future, and quite possibly a positive future.

Blog #6 Brand Identification

Brands are used in many organizations, and the one I love the most is the Jordan brand. I love the brand specifically because their sneakers are comfortable and I like the designs and colors. I often buy sneakers because I am not into heels. Every month a nice and new pair of Jordans come out. Now I would have to wait in line because it has gotten more popular over the years. As a baby, my mother would buy me all the Jordans that she liked on my little feet. As I grew older my mother constantly told me not to spend my money on Jordans so much. Getting Jordans makes me feel happy, like am adding my babies to my already collection that I have. The only things I dislike about Jordans are the prices increasing and being so high. There are many sneaker brands such as Nick, Adidas etc. that are very lasting and strong that I like as well. Sticking to what fits you best is the way to go.

Blog Entry #5

Tyarra L. Lundy

Professor Smith

English 101

March 24, 2014

Blog Entry #5

Fast food industries and big companies target mainly children and teenagers. The profit to these companies increases rapidly because of the kids and teenagers. Companies such as Disney and McDonalds studies children in which they know the love relationship the kids have with toys and playgrounds. In the book Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser states “Young children often could not tell the difference between television programming and television advertising. They also could not comprehend the real purpose of commercials and trusted that advertising claims were true.” (46). When children see interesting commercials while watching cartoon, they are bound to beg their parents for whatever it is, some parents may refuse at first but after many attempts from the child, the parents will finally give in to their child’s needs.

The fast food industry started in the 1950s in California. The largest populations of consumers were teenagers when fast food first opened, because they were able to drive in at the restaurants instead of getting out of their vehicles for food. At first they tried to make their business have a family like atmosphere, but now they market directly towards children. Teenagers are a huge contribution to fast food industries’ success. Teenagers are looking for jobs, and they know that fast food industries hire 16 and up. Hardly any training is needed to operate the machines for the food, so fast food industries hire mainly teenagers as well for the less pay.  

Is the meat we eat safe for us and our children? "Pink slime" is the common name for a controversial beef product. The recovered meat material is processed, heated, and treated with ammonia or citric acid to kill diseases such as E. coli, salmonella, and other bacteria. The Food and Drug Administration are responsible for approving the product and Beef Products, Inc. McDonald’s and other fast food places have discontinued the use of the controversial meat product known as boneless lean beef trimmings in its burgers.  It is good that McDonalds and other fast food companies have stopped using “Pink slime” because our food should be safe for us to eat and not washed by so many chemicals. The pink slime may not be sold in fast food places, but it is being given out as school lunch.

In the book “Fast Food Nation” by Eric Schlosser Ray Kroc and Walt Disney both became good examples, of how to make a great profit off of young minds. McDonalds may be bad for you but it is also delicious which keeps the customers coming back. It is easy to find Fast Food Companies because they are located all throughout the world. With so many fast food industries, our food should be safer for us to eat with fewer chemicals. It is our responsibility as adults to create awareness to our children to eat healthy when it comes to our bodies and environment, because these companies make use of everyone they can think of to save and earn a profit from.

 

  

Blog #4 Chapter2 "Your Trusted Friends"

     In chapter2 "Your trusted friends", Eric Schlosser talks more about the food industry, and the competition and similarities between companies. It also talks about different marketing systems fast food and soda companies that try's to target children. Advertisement and marketing create a new lifestyle for the families in America. Walt Disney and McDonald's were in competition using the same methods and values to get a greater amount of customers, that is, until they decided to work together. These companies researched child psychology and took advantage of the innocence and illogical mind of young kids. Selling to children  is much easier than selling to adults, and soda companies expect to increase their sales by marketing to children in hopes that they will like their product to want to buy often. The money that the companies were getting, gave them the opportunity to use mass media and billboards. Toys and drinks with the kids meal attracted little children.

Blog #3 Chapter1 "The Founding Fathers"

   In chapter1 "The Founding Fathers" in Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser explains how the automobile industry formed the fast food nation. Carl N. Karcher was born in 1917 on a farm in Ohio. Carl was an American businessman and one of the fast food industry's pioneers. Carl dropped out of school after the eighth grade and worked twelve to fourteen hours a day on a farm. Later in Carl's life, he moved to California where his uncle ran a business that he worked for three years, until he found a bakery that paid more money. Carl realized while working at the bakery that he could make a profit from having a small business selling hot dogs therefore he bought a hot dog stand.  He was able to buy another Hot dog stand during World War II, that his wife Margaret often ran by herself. The increase in automobiles started affecting food business and creating a whole new lifestyle.

Blog # 2 "The Meaning Of Food in My Life"

     Food is important in everyone's life and tradition. Eating Sunday dinner always brings joy to my family. In my family we like to try different things from what we normally eat. My entire family is Jamaican. We mostly eat Jamaican food which I love, and I also love American food. I often eat a lot of junk like McDonald's, Wendy's, Chinese and I don't really gain weight but I do know the food I eat is not healthy. My favorite food is Pizza and I also love macaroni and cheese. My mother does the food shopping in my house, as well as all the cooking. Furthermore, me and some of my family visited Mexico in which we enjoyed so much, and it was breathtaking because the people there were very nice. Going to Mexico was a good experience because the food was something different rather then what we usually eat.

Is America's Food Supply Safe?

      People wonder if the food we eat is safe. Many Americans question what process it goes through before it is sold to stores and some choose to ignore the situation and think the food is safe. Dr. David Acheson stated that America has one of the safest food supplies in the world. There are many diseases and viruses going on throughout the world, that we should question whether or not our food is really safe.

      The Food and Drug Administration works very hard to protect our food from bacterial, viral, and chemical contamination. With the best scientific methods available, the F.D.A is able to learn how the contamination occurred and how to prevent it. The 625 investigators working out of 20 different offices all around the country are very dedicated in ensuring that our food supply is safe, and working with companies to make sure they do everything they can to keep our food safe. The F.D.A also makes sure that the food exported to the U.S meets our standards, because our food comes from all over the world.

    There are ups and downs in ensuring our food is safe. The F.D.A educates consumers to do their part to ensure the food they eat is safe. Furthermore some stores don't do their part in keeping the food properly refrigerated, or keeping it at the right temperatures. It helps that the health department of NYC started a grading system, which appears on the front door of each restaurant, which indicates the level of food protection in each company. We have a choice whether to eat from the places with bad grading, and it also helps the companies make more profit ensuring the food is safe and that everything is clean.

     The question still stands “Is American food supply safe?” The expiration dates on food keeps people from getting sick, because it tells when the food is no longer safe to eat. We also have to do our parts and inspect our food to make sure it is safe for us to eat. People should keep their food refrigerated at right temperature, so it won’t get spoiled. The F.D.A works hard every day to ensure the safety of Americans food. Moreover, they are trying to make the food healthy for us. Finally, the fast food companies need to work harder to ensure our safety.