Natasha Ashby and Daniel Quach - Food BM


Personal Reflections

Natasha Ashby -
"During this unit, I learned a lot about food. Now, I love food and to learn what I'm actually ingesting is very valuable. After watching the documentary Food Inc, I was informed on how the animals are actually treated. They were slaughtered and mistreated. I am not a vegetarian. However, after I was informed, I wanted to be. I wanted to eat healthier especially after finding out that a majority of the food I eat on a daily basis is processed. I originally thought that only fast food was processed but to find out that it is also food that we get from the grocery store, surprised me. Science and Society was able to open my eyes to the realities within the food industries. I am sure a lot of people are unaware of the situation with our food, and it is an issue that needs to be addressed.

The government is very powerful. While doing the chapter assignment based off the different topics in the food documentary, I learned about Veggie Libel Laws. Veggie Libel Laws gives industries the right to silence or discourage any critics from reporting anything that could not be backed up by scientific evidence. Regardless of whether or not food critics are seeking the truth, it comes with consequences. I personally think it still goes against the first amendment just because how can you make a law saying food critics, workers and just general citizens can not say anything bad about the industry or the process.  

Our biggest problems within our food system is the secrecy and the ignorance. People really are not aware of what they are eating, cooking or feeding to their children. I feel like the food industries will continue to produce their food the way they see is most feasible towards making money. Money is a huge factor when it comes to anything in America. I would love to eat more healthier. I would rather eat at home than at a fast food restaurant, however I have to remember that fast food chains are not the only ones with processed foods. They are everywhere. I think if I could find more time to shop organically and cook my food more often, or for three weeks that way it will become a habit, it would definitely impact my food choices.  I am willing to commit to these changes, after I finish stressing out about making sure I have a future after high school."

Daniel Quach -
"The food unit will definitely be a component to education in Science and Society. This topic introduced new insight to my lifestyle, and surely ours, as it was geared towards focusing on the "Western Diet." I had never heard of this term before it was mentioned in our class, and it's a little shameful that other countries acknowledge this as how we Americans actually live our lives. Food Inc, the documentary we saw, went in depth into our ideas of daily eating habits, which disgusted not only me, but evidently my peers as well. This opened my views on healthy eating, since I realized that as long as you live in the U.S., most, if not all of your food will have been processed, tampered, and ultimately unhealthy for you. This is where our class focused on organic food, where we read a few articles and The Botany of Desire to gain a little more perspective to how our food can potentially be grown better for the good of the human body.

We are all responsible for making the world a healthier and hunger-free place, which is why many of us, such as Kevin's mother (Food Inc.), push to improve the quality of our food. Though we all know that the prime motivator for creating food is cash, it is possible to change the way we eat. The decline of the tobacco industry is a good example of what can potentially happen to our food system today. We push to inform others that the food we eat is unhealthy for us, giving us diseases such as diabetes and cancer, so that hopefully the higher-ups will do something about it, just as they did with surpressing advertisements of tobacco. However, just like tobacco, we are dependent on the food we eat. There are still many problems we need to solve, and this class has definitely shown both sides of the argument that though processed food is bad, it's necessary."
Screen Shot 2011-10-26 at 6.29.44 PM
Screen Shot 2011-10-26 at 6.29.44 PM
Screen Shot 2011-10-27 at 9.44.09 AM
Screen Shot 2011-10-27 at 9.44.09 AM

Comments