Prospectus

      Introduce your topic and discuss its importance: My topic is going to be about cattle diet and how it affects the quality of the beef that we eat. Depending on the kind of food that cows eat, determine if they will carry on a sickness or not even after they are  processed. The main diets that a cow should be given is a grass based diet. In my paper I will be addressing the disadvantages of compromising a cows feeding method. Alternative feeding tends to cause food borne illnesses like mad cow disease whereas grass based feeding usually results in higher quality of meat.

       
Introduce your questions and a working thesis: Why is alternative based feeding chosen so much over grass based feeding? Why don’t farmers just use grass anymore? Why is alternative feeding so cheap to produce? Is it healthier to choose alternative based feeding over grass based feeding? What illnesses does it cause in cows? Does it contaminate our beef?  How so? What sicknesses can we obtain? Have there been any recalls? How many people have been affected as a direct result of food contamination? What is being done to reduce this problem? Why doesn’t the government intervene in legislation? Whether a cow has been given dead animals to eat or grass to eat will determine the quality of the meat that ends up being produced.

    

     Discuss specific tools and sources that you will be using to conduct your research: I will searching for newspaper articles from subscription databases like LexisNexis Academic and National Newspaper index that includes America’s top five newspapers. I will also be looking at newspaper articles from our Annotated Bibliography packets which include: “Swine of the Times” by Nathanael Johnson, and article by Laurent Belsie that was published in August 23, 2010 with too long a title, “Eating well; irradiated beef: In markets, quietly” by Marian Burros and “How Now, Drugged Cow?” by Tony Hiss. Films like “Food Inc.” and “King Corn will also provide some influence when it comes to making my argumentation.

Response #2: Problem-Posing Assignment

1.      The problem that caught my interest in this chapter was that in 1941, the working conditions of Disney’s factory was not all that great. Hundreds of Disney cartoonists went on strike because they wanted to express some support for the Screen Cartoonists Guild. The problem is that Disney’s response to the union betrayed the employee’s sensibility. He fired anyone who was compassionate with the union that only wanted better working conditions. Disney tried really hard to break apart the union in many ways. This problem soon reflects a larger social issue. Are employees allowed to make labor unions in order to demand better conditions without jeopardizing their jobs?

2.      This is a quote from Walt Disney during the height of the labor tensions at his studio, in which he provides a solution to the labor union’s problems, he says “Don’t forget this, it’s the law of the universe that the strong shall survive and the week shall fall by the way, and I don’t give a damn what idealistic plan is cooked up, nothing can change that”.(37) By the quotation Disney believes that those who work hard and don’t complain will get greatly rewarded as oppose to someone who doesn’t because they will just end up getting fired and losing everything. Disney states that the solution to the workers problems is not forming labor unions, but in “a good days work”.(37)

3.      I can personally relate to this problem because as a swimming instructor, my working conditions are not always fair. The reason I say this is because for my job I have to be inside a swimming pool for hours at a time, teaching several classes. Sometimes the water is unbearable cold and would make me shiver to the bone. When I would leave the facility, I would already be showing signs of catching a cold. My problem relates to the chapter because I don’t believe that I’m getting paid enough for what I do and in the conditions I’m willing to do it in.

4.      There are two different types of solutions made in the chapter. One from the workers point of view and one from the view of Walt Disney. The workers solution to better working conditions was simple forming labor unions to make their demands heard. The solution of Disney was to fire any employee that supported the unions, rough up workers on the picket line with private guards, impose a phony company union, bring in an organized crime figure from Chicago to rig a settlement, and also accuse the leaders of the Screen Cartoonist Guild of being Communists. Fortunately, all of Disney’s efforts failed and the solution made by the workers finally worked out when Disney acceded to the union’s demands.

5.      Seeing as how the solution of the labor unions worked, there is no need for me to make them another one, so I will be putting myself in the shoes of Walt Disney by inventing my own solution to his problem. If I were given unlimited resources and connections, my solution would be to try to pass a law that would prohibit any and all assembling of labor unions. That way if anyone opposed the law they would have to face getting arrested. I would try to work alongside the government so that my outcome would be having a content company that doesn’t complain about their working conditions.    

Descriptive Writing Response #1

Back when I used to live in East Elmhurst, Queens, my friends and I would always go and enjoy the bright colored scenery at the McDonald's on 88th street and Astoria Blvd. We didn't always necessarily want to eat the food from there, because it was just a place for us to pass the time while playing cards and telling jokes. When I did eat from there, I would always get the number 7, which at that time was a juicy, scrumptious crispy chicken sandwich. I would make sure I got the whole meal that came with the the sandwich which was accompanied with long salted fries and a sprite overflowing with ice from the dispenser. If I was still hungry, I would get a ten piece of those delicious golden chicken nuggets because my meal felt incomplete without being able to dip those tender bites-sized pieces of delicious chicken in the brown barbecue sauce or even sweet and sour sauce. Things have changed now. Even though that same McDonald's still stands there, I don't eat there as much. That's mostly due to the fact that I live in Bayside now, and the trip there is like 10 miles. Still, I visit the fast food place with my friends when I go and see them, just to reminisce on the good old times.

"In Feast of Data on BPA Plastic, No Final Answer."

"In Feast of Data on BPA Plastic, No Final Answer." New York Times. 6 Sept. 2010. Web. 20 Sept. 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/science/07bpa.html>.

The topic of the article is whether or not the chemical “bisphenol-A,” is dangerous for people. It turns out that the possibility of the plastic bottles, containers, and countless other things we use everyday, are probably not safe for us, because they may contain this chemical.

Welcome to KJB's Ethics of Food Blog

Hello,
         My name is Kenneth Joel Baracaldo and this is a blog on a college course called, "Ethics of Food." I am an 18 year old Latino-American with a huge appetite but ironically, I'm 5'6'' and 122lbs. I do manage to maintain a lean-slim body while eating all the foods that I absolutely love.
         I always wanted to learn how to cook but I never really got around to it. My mother is the one that does the cooking and she usually shops for food at a big supermarket named "Trade Fair," that we used to live by. Even though she can go to many other supermarkets that are closer to our home, she still prefers to shop at "Trade Fair," generally because the food is spanish oriented.
        Since I am of Colombian decent, my family dinner typically consists of roasted chicken with white rice and beans. It would also be accompanied with some fried plantain and a form of pork called "chicharon."
        My favorite type of food to eat would have to be Japanese food. I find everything from sushi to tempura and sashimi to be so special and delicious. Maybe its because its mostly raw fish which is different compared to what I grew up on.
        On a side note, if I found out where my favorite foods come from, I still think I would eat it. I'm not really one to have a weak stomach.