Sources for Paper

For our topic, we chose to focus on organic and changes to feedlots. 

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.

This article is about a Texas rancher and his herd of cattle. the special part about this beef is that they are 100% grass fed.  Instead of the diet given to cattle in feedlots (mostly processed  corn), he gives his cattle an all natural diet, the one that they are supposed to have.  Problem is that this is a very small movement.  “Less than 1% of the nation’s supply” is from naturally raised, grass fed cattle.   It has also shown to have better health effects than other beef.  It has 65% lower saturated fat.  Overall, this article is about the positive health effects of eating grass fed cattle instead of grain fed.    

Comis, Don. "An Environmental Look at American Feedlots." Agricultural Research 51 (July 2003): 10-11. PDF file. 

The article starts out by talking about how the manure from feedlots can affect ecosystems.  Nitrogen gets released from the manure, which is then transformed into ammonia.  The ammonia gets taken out of the air by rain, and this ammonia can harm the environment.  This article then talks about a feedlot that studies the manure of the cattle in order to determine what it is composed of.  The problem with the feedlot cattle instead of open range cattle is the concentration.  Fifteen cattle spread out are not going to harm the environment as much as fifteen cattle in close proximity to one another.  “For every ten pounds of nutrients consumed, 8 to 9 pounds are excreted in the feces and urine” (10).  The goal of these lots is to find a diet for cattle that does the least amount of harm to the environment.  One problem that they have encountered is that cattle do not all need the same diet.  They have also started following microbes in the feedlot.  

Analyzing the Tim Wise Interview

    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

Reading 3/30

The best way that I have found to get articles and sources for English 101 papers is to use the library's journal database. If you can get the search right, there is a wealth of different articles at your disposal. This is maybe not the best way to find articles, but searching the web can come up with good sources as well, you just have to be more careful. When using the library's database, pretty much any source that can be found will be a good source. The best sources that money can buy are the peer reviewed sources. This means that someone has gone through the journal article and reviewed it, and is a good way to determine the credibility of the author. As far as searching the web goes, you need to be much more careful. Typically the best articles will come off of an educational site, and then the author needs to be confirmed, in hopes that it will be a professor. If it was just a student paper, it might not be as credible of information as that from a professor that has spent months, maybe even years researching a certain topic. This makes web searches very tricky.

For me, I have become very reliant ont he internet for my sources. In high school, we didn't have to worry about peer reviewed sources, or really even the source at all as long as it was taking up space in our Works Cited page. This year, however, it has become much more intense as far as finding articles that apply directly to my papers. In order to improve this, I need to become more patient with library's database of articles, and take my time when running my searches. I can find everything I need there, as long as I take my time.

Reading 2/23

The part of the reading that caught my eye the most was at the start of chapter seventeen. Pollan says that "eating meat has become morally problematic." I personally would have to disagree with this, at least in my own experience. Maybe this was caused by the way I was raised or by my diet growing up, but I have never once examined the morals behind what I am about to eat for dinner. For this reason I would have to disagree with Pollan, since I do not see it as problematic at all. I also found it interesting how he brought up the question as to why this (the vegetarian movement) was starting to happen now. As he said, humans have been consuming meat throughout history, and until recently the morals of it had not been in question. He also talks about the double standards held by those that eat meat. He says that even people that eat meat object to hunting, because it involves the killing of an animal. However, any meat that they eat has somehow involved a killing. Either way, the goal of this chapter of The Omnivore's Dilemma was to examine the most controversioal part of our American diets.

Reading 2/16

I found chapter eight of The Omnivore's Dilemma interesting starting with the title: Flesh is Grass. In this chapter, Pollan talks about his visit to the Polyface Farm, where chickens, cattle, and turkeys, among other animals as well as vegetables, are raised. Despite this, the owner of the ranch sees himself as a grass farmer instead of an animal farmer. This means that he tries to use his animals in everyway possible to boost the production of his pastures as much as possible. I found it especially interesting when he compares Salatin's farm to Naylor's farm, the ,man from earlier in the book. Although they may seem very similar, these two farms could not be more different. The differences range from the type of energy used to where the products are sold. This was interesting to me because I originally would have thought that these men were extremely similar, though obviously not exactly alike. He then goes back to talking about "organic" and what it really means. Pollan states that Salatin's farm is not organic in any sense of the word. It is however more sustainable than most farms out there. This too was interesting because I believe that many people think that organic and sustainable go hand in hand, when in truth, a farm can be just one or the other.

Reading 2/9

Chapters 4 and 5 of They Say I Say described how to respond to other's ideas. There are three ways to do this, according to the authors: agreeing, disagreeing, and agreeing while adding a few of your own ideas. The author says that it is imperative to state very quickly whether you agree or disagree with a quote, as to not leave the reader hanging. It should be the first thing stated, before you go into the details of your position. When disagreeing, he says that you need to not only state your position, but also give a valid reason why you disagree with the statement. If you don't do this, all you are doing is contradicting the author, leaving the reader confused as to who they should believe. Finally, he says that you cannot simply just agree with a statement, either. It is important to bring some of your own ideas to the statement, otherwise you may not appear as credible as you could. This is something that I believe many people could work on, including myself. Especially when I agree with a statement in my writing, I will just say that I agree, not necessarily stating any reasons why.

Paper Two Source Citation

Brandweek, 1/4/2010, Vol. 51 Issue 1, p 9-9, 1p