One Final Blog

The three texts from this semester’s reading which were most important to me were Pollan’s chapter on Organic food, Asimov’s article “Intelligence” and the video “Meet your Meat”. Pollan’s Organic chapter discussed both the organic Market products and their source, the farm. He wrote about organic food in health food stores and traced its origins back to the farm’s listed on the product labels. Asimov’s article spoke about meaning of intelligence and it’s variance depending upon one’s environment. He also described how he was effortlessly duped by his mechanic. Last, but not least, is the video “Meet your Meat.” This video clip was produced by PETA, and its purpose was to expose the harsh treatment of animals on factory farms, CAFO’s. It showed the violent treatment of cows, chickens, pigs, turkeys and other animals.

Pollan’s chapter on Organic food and the “Meet Your Meat” video were both important to me for similar reasons. My interest stems from my recent commitment to vegetarianism. Before I decided to become a vegetarian, I had though about potential alternatives to such a lifestyle change. One of my thoughts was that I could consume only organic meats. This idea seemed a decent alternative because it was operating on the assumption that the animals on organic farms are treated more ethically. While, as presented through Pollan’s work, they don’t seem to be treated in such an egregious manner as the factory animals, they are not given the life they are advertised to have. Organic products are advertised in such a way that it seems the animals have ample amounts of space and access to green pastures. Pollan’s visit to an organic farm exposed the fact that these farms are extremely similar to factory farms in that thousands of chickens are crammed into a small area with almost no space to move about. And as for the access to green pasture bit, there was a small hatch that led to a fenced in area of grass. Oddly enough, the chickens never took up this golden opportunity. In addition to similar treatment, the chicken’s diet is still altered- they are made to consume grains. The factual information Pollan’s chapter provided paired with the pathos appeal of the “Meet Your Meat” video have helped solidify my decision to give up all meat, non-organic and organic, in favor of a more animal friendly diet. While I miss the taste of meat terribly, I can’t help but see pain and suffering when I look at a chicken cutlet.

In addition to these articles, I found Asimov’s article to be extremely engaging. This article provides commentary about the concept of intelligence and how it is a multifaceted term, with different communicative values depending on the environment. This relates to last class’s discussion of the term “literacy”. In my opinion, literacy refers to how the varied forms of communication are used based upon the environment in which they are employed. One’s use of oral language may be effective in one environment; however, it may be completely ineffective in a different environment. This parallels Asimov’s experience. Upon stepping out of the academic world and into the world of the mechanic, Asimov found that his communicative skills were completely useless and that there was an entirely different literacy with which he was quite unfamiliar.

A Moral Quandry

Pollan approaches eat eating from various perspectives. He examines it from the industrial perspective, the organic perspective, the moral perspective and the nutritional perspective. I most identify with the moral perspective of meat eating. The moral perspective is based upon Singer’s concept of “speciesism.” This is an amplified concept of racism that rests upon the fact that “the differences between black and whites are trivial compared to the differences between [a boy] and [a] chimp” (Singer). Singer is basically saying that eating animals is a form of discrimination because it requires that humans view the animals as lesser beings. As a result, it is justifiable for humans to consume animals in prodigious amounts guilt and shame free.

I identify with this perspective because I have similar opinions about the consumption of meat. Furthermore, those opinions have driven me to become a vegetarian- a recent and very difficult life choice, particularly so because chicken and fish are my preferred entrees. I recently found myself wrestling with this issue of speciesism when I was trying to determine whether or not I found it conscionable to still consume fish. Pollan meets this difficulty with a rather sarcastic justification “I’m also willing to eat animals without faces, such as mollusks, on the theory that they’re not sufficiently sentient to suffer.” I used similar reasoning to justify my own consumption of fish for quite some time, only to realize that this too was a form of speciesism- I didn’t formulate the thought with quite the same terminology in mind, but the basic idea was the same.

STOP! Don't eat those tomatoes!

Pollan described his experience with the Omnivore’s Dilemma as the moment when he “passed the point of being able to enjoy [his] putative chantrelle without anxiety, so [he] threw it out.” This experience can be alternatively described as the situation in which a person finds themselves uncertain about whether or not the food they have gathered is edible. It provides commentary on the concept of being uncertain about the origns of ones food. What is interesting about this, however, is that this uncertainty extend beyond the realm of “hunters and gatherers” and into the modern realm of grocery store shopping. The simple fact that the packaging tells us the ingredients of our food is not enough to impart true knowledge about what is contained in that magnificently leafy head of lettuce. While it tells the consumer the farm from which it was harvested, the label remains mum about the fertilizers and pesticides the food has been treated with, in addition to the preservatives used to keep the food fresh when it is out of season. The Omnivore’s Dilemma kicks in when a normally nonchalant shopper, say a parent, takes a moment to ponder the true source of their lettuce and then puts it back due to uncertainly about pesticides and out of concern for their child’s health.

I have had a bit of personally experience with this dilemma. During the summer’s when the West Nile virus was a big deal, planes and trucks would spray pesticides from overhead and along streets to kill the potentially virus carrying mosquitoes. While the spray prevented the spread of West Nile Virus, it increased lung sensitivity for those with the lung disease Asthma. I only have mild asthma, so this was not the particular problem for me. The problem was the varied vegetables and fruits my dad had grown in the backyard. It was just about time to pick the peaches, tomatoes, blackberries, strawberries and carrots… but you can bet there was a lot of hesitancy about whether or not they were safe to eat due to the new chemical in the air. Needless to say, we succumbed to the omnivore’s dilemma and threw the fruit away.

A Travesty: What develops when you foget to do your blog...

From a technical standpoint, the word organic refers to food that are grown without synthetic fertilizers, or pesticides or hormones (Princeton). When you walk into a grocery store and you see the organic food section, you are supposedly viewing a selection of wholesome, healthy, “whole” foods. These foods are the choosy consumers’ alternative to normal supermarket products. Organic foods are rhetorical because they are a sort of symbol for a business style. Classic organic foods reject food processing, mass production and the creation of food for purposes anything other than sustenance. Organic foods carry the image of being nature friendly. Organic companies present themselves as a group of people who work cooperatively with the environment to create a wide selection of natural, healthy, whole foods. The problem with this image; however, is that it is the ideal portrayal of organic food companies. Modern organic foods are more than a breath away from the principles the Organic Movement established when it first began. The term organic is not only symbolic of the ideal view of organic foods, it is also symbolic of the morphed form of organic food that exists today, organic company’s departure from its vision. Modern organic food companies have been forced to abandon some of the principles upon which they were founded. A good example is the example from my presentation today, or rather yesterday since it’s late. This was the example of additives. It is now legal, under Federal standard, for organic foods to contain additives such as xantham gum. These additives are necessary for preserving the food when it is being shipped long distances.

Steroids Aren't Just for Illnesses

When Pollan wrote “Men have become the tools of their tools”, he was trying to draw attention to how reliant people have become on the aids they use to enhance their lifestyles. In regards to corn farmers’ lifestyle, the most obvious aid is the corn itself. The farmers become reliant on their crop to provide a living for themselves. The farmer then finds himself a slave to his crop because “a farm family needs a certain amount of cash flow every year to support itself, and it the price of corn falls, the only way to stay even is to sell more corn (54). Another aspect of this reliance is the use of chemical fertilizers. The fertilizers enable farmers to have high yield harvests. As “bragging rights go to the man with the biggest yield, even if its bankrupting him (55), it stands to reason that farmers try to capitalize on this new resource. Unfortunately, they find themselves caught up in this vicious cycle, undoubtedly leaving them feeling awfully similar to the tractor and other tools they use to till their land.

Women are usually in the spotlight when it comes to issues of physical appearance, diet and beauty. However, what about the men and their self image? Men and the pressures they feel are often left to the wayside. Stereotypically speaking, men are viewed as powerful authoritative figures, so it is expected that they have the physique to match. Just as thin females with perfectly toned bodies are pasted all over ads as ideal, tan men with bulging muscles and infinite muscle definition are the symbol of perfection. Sorry boys, but if you don’t have 37 pack washboard abs-that’s right thirty seven, clearly visible arm muscles when you are not flexing and the inability to turn your head more than 45 degrees in either direction due to bulging shoulder, neck and back muscles… then you are not a real man.

I is Rhetorical Master

Asimov admits that his, “intelligence, then, is not absolute, but is a function of the society [he lives] in and of the fact that a small subsection of that society has managed to foist itself as an arbiter of such matters” (2). Asimov is hesitantly proposing that his “intelligence” may not be so much universal as it is a function of the language at his disposal; language that is useful within only a small subsection of said universe. Furthermore, he implies that higher education impedes access to the alternative intellectual understanding and routes, leaving one vulnerable to the jibes of a mere auto-repairman. Sedaris continues Asimov’s epiphany with a realization of his own, “Understanding doesn’t mean that you can suddenly speak the language. Far from it. It’s a small step, nothing more, yet its rewards are intoxicating and deceptive” (295). Here, Sedaris contends that understanding language is nothing more than the bare minimum requirement for intellectual exchange. More to the point, he asserts that such understanding, is liable to induce unwarranted confidence and create situations in which one is even more vulnerable to rhetorical abuse. Asimov and Sedaris present similar commentaries on language in that they openly recognize its shortcomings through the use of examples from personal experience. Though Asimov is surely well versed in academic thought, he was effortlessly duped by his auto-repairman, “Why, you dumb jerk, He used his voice and asked for them” (2). Likewise, though Sedaris believed he was skilled enough in the French language to take on his cunning instructor, his response, “I know the thing what you speak exact now. Talk me more, plus please, plus” (295) demonstrates otherwise.

A Moment of Silence

One line of Bordo’s text in particular struck a chord within me and caused me to think more critically about the effect of advertisement in my life. The quote is as follows, “The Jezebels and geishas are still with us; and, although black male models and toddlers are allowed to have locks and “naturals,” straight hair-straighter nowadays than I ever thought it was possible for anyone’s hair to be-seems almost mandatory for young black women” (160). I have had chemically straightened hair since the approximate age of 10. My mother has had chemically straightened hair since she was 10 years of age. And just about all the black females I know have chemically straightened hair. None of us can imagine our hair being any other way for two reasons. One, that our hair is so naturally coarse that it is far easier to manage when straightened. Two, we all realize that the retro age has passed and afros are still out of style. Were I not so conscientious of television ads and their portrayals of the ideal, maybe I’d be sporting an afro to class instead of some more Caucasian hair style.

It seems as though the reading for this blog was hand tailored to parallel my life. A quote by Goffman echoes yet another social struggle in which I have found myself. “Selective mating then enters to ensure that very nearly every couple will exhibit a height difference in the expected direction, transforming what would otherwise be statistical tendency into a near certitude (28). This quote refers to the tendeny for males to be taller than females in heterosexual realationships. If my classmates have not noticed already, I am rather tall. Not only do I rank above the average female height of approximately 5’6”, I outshine the male’s average, 5’10”, at a whopping 5’11”-- 6’ on the days I’m feeling confident. When I was young I found my height to be very exciting; however, as I aged and began to tower over the midget boys my age, the novelty wore off. Background information aside though, I’ve continued to defy the stereotypical height arrangement for couples. I’ve been taller than each boy I’ve dated in the past, going shorter and shorter, as the years pass, with my current boy friend ranking in at an all time low of 5’6”, right at my chin. Perhaps I'm trying to make amends for my straightened hair.

While I definitely think that the post modern visual context of advertisements is very different from the images portrayed in years past, I don’t think the advertisement industry has quite managed to tear itself away from sexism. A subtle and slightly confusing example of such a similarity is the Heineken advertisement played last class. I was offended at the portrayal of a female robot with the expressed purpose of producing,via birth canal, and serving perfectly chilled Heineken beer from a Draughtkeg to her targeted male audience. This is just one example of the sneaky tactics used in modern times to inject female subservience and sex appeal into commercials. The designers thought they’d throw me off track with the hip techno music in the background, their “innovative” new beer , the sexy fashion sense of the robot and the shiny colors but I’m too smart for that, for their modern sales schemes- which is exactly why I still chemically straighten my hair. Let us have a moment of silence for my pride...