HW 7b

Chapter 6- During the 19th century, Americans started to drink a lot more alcohol, the reason for this being the development of corn whisky. In 1820, the average American was downing half a pint of corn whisky a day, and alcohol would be drank at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However, this Alcohol Republic soon gave way to the current Republic of Fat, where obesity is in power and its frequent cause of diabetes is possibly Americas most pressing health issue today. One of the large contributors to this Republic is David Wallerstein, who said that because people don't want to look fat by purchasing another order of fries or a second soda, the way to get them to have more and expand sales is to supersize everything on the menu.

In the book, it says "Until his death in 1993, Wallerstein served on the board of directors at McDonalds's, but in the fifties and sixties he worked for a chain of movie theaters in Texas, where he labored to expand sales of soda and popcon." (Pollan, 105) I found this quote very interesting, but it actually was not something that suprised me at all. Although I have only been around for 16 years, even I have noticed the increase in portion sizes everywhere, but most obviously in movie theaters. They have used the excuse that "because we have increased our sizes, it is only fair that we get to increase our prices." This seems ridiculous in my opinion, because there are definitely a lot of people who don't even want to eat the amount of popcorn that comes in the small size today because even that is to large.

Chapter 7- It was now time to explore the end of the industrial food chain, which ended up being a trip to McDonald's with my wife and son. My wife ordered the Cobb salad which turned out to be the most expensive item on the menu at only 4 dollars, while my son decided to order the white meat chicken McNuggets. Chicken McNuggets had to deal with a bad reputation before, mainly as a result of the lawsuit that was filed against them by a group of obese teenagers in New York, so they decided to change their recipe. The three of us ended up consuming 4510 calories that lunch, but the corn calories that went into making our lunch could have fed many more people then three people.

"What this means is that the amount of food energy lost in the making of something like a chicken McNugget could feed a great many more children than just mine, and that behind the 4,510 calories the three of us had for lunch stand tens of thousand of corn calories that could have fed a great many hungry people." (Pollan, 118) This quote is perfect because, it addresses a problem with McDonald's food, specifically Chicken McNuggets, that I had never actually thought about. When people think about McDonald's food, chances are the first thing they think of is how it is very bad for our health. Mr. Pollan addresses a completely different problem; that the energy that goes into making this unhealthy food is so great that the calories that go into the processing could probably feed twice as many people as the food itself.

Chapter 8- Now that I am going to work on Joel Salitin's farm for 7 days, I am assuming that once I realize the amount of work it takes to do this job I will never contradict a price that a farmer puts on his produce. As the week goes by, it seems like Salatin has his farm based on the philosophy that states "All flesh is grass." He considers himself a grass farmer because of the fact that grass is really the basis of the food chain, or at least it is on his farm. Everything plays its part on Joel Salatin's farm, from grass to animals to worms in order to keep the farm organic and productive.

When speaking about the productivity of the farm, the author states that, "This is an astounding cornucopia of food to draw from a hundred acres of pasture, yet what is perhaps still more astonishing is the fact that this pasture will be in no way diminished by the process- in fact, it will be the better for it, lusher, more fertile, even springier underfoot (thanks to the increased earthworm traffic)." (Pollan, 126-7) In my opinion, what Joel Salatin is doing on his farm is something that every farmer should do. I have a great respect for anyone who stands up to something if they think it is wrong even though everyone else is doing it, and his food comes out even better than those other farmers who are taking the easy way out, "And while they were at it, nibbling on the short cattle-clipped grasses they like best, the chickens applied a few thousand pounds of nitrogen to the pasture- and produced several thousand uncommonly rich eggs." (Pollan, 126) If all farmers had embraced this ecosystem- like way of farming, I honestly think America would not have as much of an obesity problem.

Chapter 9- One of the reasons that I enjoy shopping at places like whole foods so much are the labels that are put on the products, such as "humanly grown" or "certified organic." It turns out that this is also the reason that many Americans buy certain products on the market: labeling. As of now, the most popular label has become organic. In fact, the word organic has become so popular that it has been the foundation of an 11 billion dollar industry built by farmers and consumers without any interference from the government.

"I learned, for example, that some (certainly not all) organic milk comes from factory farms, where thousands of Holsteins that never encounter a blade of grass spend their days confined to a fenced 'dry lot,' eating (certified organic) grain and tethered to milking machines three times a day." (Pollan, 139) This gem makes me really think about what the fastest growing industry today is actually going about its production. Although the author specifies that this is not true for all organic milk, it still seems like even an industry that preaches natural products is putting some of its cows through lives that do not match the lifestyle of a real organic cow. In general, this chapter has made me really contemplate organic food instead of just hearing the name and ignoring the huge hype that comes with it.

Chapter 10- By spending 7 days on Joe Salatin's farm, I realized that grass farming is beneficial in more ways than one. The name that Mr. Salatin gives his way of farming is, "beyond organic" and by farming the way that he does he is able to make hay, grow vegetables, and raise his animals without the use of any toxic substances. By choosing to base his farm around grass, Joe Salatin has created an immitation of how animals and plants should be living outside of a farm by feeding the animals what is best for them, and his grass farm actually adds to the world by having every living thing on the farm play its part, where industrial farms that use all sorts of synthetic and toxic substances are harming it. Unfortunately, it is very rare to see grass farms such as Mr. Salatin's because industrial farms are much cheaper and more economic.

"Grass Productivity documented that simply by applying the right number of ruminants at the right time pastures could produce far more grass (and, in turn, meat and milk) than anyone had ever thought possible." (Pollan, 188) More then anything, this quote got me wondering that if it is true, why haven't more people started to resort to grass farming more often? Would the increased production of, well just about everything, not mean that the farms would be more economic? It certainly seems like these farms are good in the long run, both for the environment and for Joe Salatin, because he seems to be doing pretty well living on his farm. Its almost sick that people decide to spend a little less money and in turn have to process everything that is on their farm, be cruel to all of their animals by not feeding them what they want, and not benefiting the environment like grass farming does.