| Im done with this year >paper! |
"How I make sense of the American Way of Life"
I started off this year thinking that the only aspect that made up your American way of life was the routine that you did on an everyday basis and the activities you were interested in. As the year progressed I learned the many different things that could make up your American way of life like heath, birth, food and energy. Throughout each unit I gain new insight into the person that I am today and how broad my way of life actually was. All of the lessons have shown me to look deeper into new things that come up in my life so that my options are broader when I make decisions. It was in such shock by some of the things that I learned I went around to my loved ones to share the new insight that would also be affecting them as well. I now not only know more about myself and my way of life at the moment, I also know more about the decisions I’m going to make in the future and the life I want to live then.
Learning about the government and capitalism was extremely boring. I hated every moment of it and was delighted when it was over. I continuously rejected the slightest thought of capitalism and the government until after the unit when things that I was taught actually were showing up in my life and affecting it. I plan one day going into business, the thing that stood out the most to me was the supply and demand charts, I never really thought about how unstable a business could be and that changed my way of life a lot. I began to enjoy this unit after all and stopped trying to reject the boring subject from my way of life because it did affect my future way of life in the end.
Birth is still my favorite unit from this year. I never considered there to be much of an option when it came to birth. I never even considered birth to be a big part of my way of life at all. Well maybe 9 months of my life but that’s all. Now whenever the subject comes up I go on a tangent talking about my new insights on birth. I hope to one day have birth be a huge part of my life. At the start of this unit I thought or birth in many way except for the actual birthing process part. “In the future when I’m grown I know that my perspective is going to change, I will have more of a foundation to be confident in, and when the time comes I know I’m going to be excited for so long, excited to try for a baby, excited to be pregnant, have the baby shower, give birth and then watch them grown up. Overall I think birth is a wonder full experience just when the time is right and there is less of a chance for anything to turn out bad.” Now birthing is all I can think about when the idea of birth comes to mind. I learned so much about myself in this unit that it has spilled over into my way of life. I never saw how much birth was a part of mainstream America, until this unit. BIRTH became a trend and I couldn’t believe it, it was shocking in its own ways but the biggest thing that stood out to me was how much people let others influence their birth. This made me feel empowered and allowed me to think about my way of birth and the “trend’ that it won’t follow.
Health in America is so dumb! I can’t think of a more stupid system that won’t help others in need when they aren’t able to do it for themselves. As the year progressed I began to realize how much the government really didn’t care too much for its civilians. I even considered moving to Canada for a couple of years. I think this unit hit me the hardest, I began to fear how the outcome of my life would turn out if one day I wake up and am sick. I appreciate this unit the most because it hit home and made me start to realize the truth instead of a couple of facts that I know here and there.
I don’t want to starve to death, not be able to use the bathroom and have no electricity because the world has run out of oil! This unit scares the shit out of me!!!!! I am happy to know the underline meaning to the collapse in the world! It saddens me know to think we might end up like caveman but I think it would be good for the world in the scene of trying to rebuild itself ecological wise.
One of the main patterns that I have noticed in this class throughout each year was each individual topic. All of the topics that we covered in this class are all topics that I had little knowledge of. I think that because of this class I will approach every new thing with a new view on life. I am going to share my new insight with everyone that I come in contact with. If theses units could affect me in so many ways, it has to affect the people around me as well. I started off this unit thinking that I had such a boring American way of life that it shouldn’t even be considered interesting, Now I leave this year with new insight about the complexity that my life can actually have, and that empowers it.
Extra Credit:
I particularly liked Francesca’s insight into the food unit. I understand that Americans like variety but I never thought about what if we didn’t. She mentions the many different types of cereal and how that affects the supply and demand charts. By reading her paper I made me realize that Americans do in fact have way too much variety in life.
-Lauren
Kevin, you make me laugh, reading your paper showed me how much passion you have in your writing and the point that you were trying to prove. “I think it is dumb that we are still using fossil fuel because sooner or later we going to run out of it. Why don’t we use something that we have a lot of such as sunlight, air, or even water? But no they want to dig into the earth and try to get oil that will run out soon.” The way you write is impressive and I hope to write like that one day as well.
-Lauren
Sandy, thank you for involving me in your paper. I agree with your insight on the health care system and how people don’t voice their opinions. I didn’t think much about how people don’t voice their opinions in very situation. Reading your paper made me remember just how much I actually did hate seeing my dad not get the help that he needed. I plan to try and fight the system when ever I can now. This is also a general pattern I notice about the American way of life, because we depend so much on our authority which has so much power, we fear the power that they have and hold back on what we say despite our "Freedom of Speech" in the U.S.
-Lauren |
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| (1st Draft ) Done with this year paper |
"How I make sense of the American Way of Life"
I started off this year thinking that the only aspect that made up your American way of life was the routine that you did on an everyday basis and the activities you were interested in. As the year progressed I learned the many different things that could make up your American way of life like heath, birth, food and energy. Throughout each unit I gain new insight into the person that I am today and how broad my way of life actually was. All of the lessons have shown me to look deeper into new things that come up in my life so that my options are broader when I make decisions. It was in such shock by some of the things that I learned I went around to my loved ones to share the new insight that would also be affecting them as well. I now not only know more about myself and my way of life at the moment, I also know more about the decisions I’m going to make in the future and the life I want to live then.
Learning about the government and capitalism was extremely boring. I hated every moment of it and was delighted when it was over. I continuously rejected the slightest thought of capitalism and the government until after the unit when things that I was taught actually were showing up in my life and affecting it. I plan one day going into business, the thing that stood out the most to me was the supply and demand charts, I never really thought about how unstable a business could be and that changed my way of life a lot. I began to enjoy this unit after all and stopped trying to reject the boring subject from my way of life because it did affect my future way of life in the end.
Birth is still my favorite unit from this year. I never considered there to be much of an option when it came to birth. I never even considered birth to be a big part of my way of life at all. Well maybe 9 months of my life but that’s all. Now whenever the subject comes up I go on a tangent talking about my new insights on birth. I hope to one day have birth be a huge part of my life. At the start of this unit I thought or birth in many way except for the actual birthing process part. “In the future when I’m grown I know that my perspective is going to change, I will have more of a foundation to be confident in, and when the time comes I know I’m going to be excited for so long, excited to try for a baby, excited to be pregnant, have the baby shower, give birth and then watch them grown up. Overall I think birth is a wonder full experience just when the time is right and there is less of a chance for anything to turn out bad.” Now birthing is all I can think about when the idea of birth comes to mind. I learned so much about myself in this unit that it has spilled over into my way of life. I never saw how much birth was a part of mainstream America, until this unit. BIRTH became a trend and I couldn’t believe it, it was shocking in its own ways but the biggest thing that stood out to me was how much people let others influence their birth. This made me feel empowered and allowed me to think about my way of birth and the “trend’ that it won’t follow.
Health in America is so dumb! I can’t think of a more stupid system that won’t help others in need when they aren’t able to do it for themselves.
• health care
• economic inequality
• Food
• Energy
• connect them to each other and to deeper underlying patterns.
• You should share your orientation towards the American Way of Life
• Do you resist it?
• Enjoy it?
• Enjoy and resist different aspects?
• What aspects of the mainstream American Way of Life account for its global dominance and dominance here in the U.S.?
• What aspects of the American Way of Life are particularly tragic or dumb?
• How did the essential aspects of the American Way of Life develop and where are we headed?
• Please include some quotes from your own or others' earlier work that expresses strongly what you believe or what you don't (any longer) believe. |
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| the possible collapse of our way of life |
It’s not the end of the world…(not yet at least). I don’t view the United States passing the oil peak as such a bad collapse. Collapse in America might not be such a bad thing right now. Global warming is approaching so rapidly, that maybe having a global oil collapse is just what the doctor ordered. The transformation back to walking and riding bikes might be horrifying to some but I see it as a positive thing for saving the world.
In history many civilizations have collapsed. In class we focused on the rapid collapse of Easter Island and how it resembled the collapse of America. The demise of Easter Island was the waste of their resources, like Easter Island America is wasting our resources as well. Esther Islands main resource was there trees; once they used up all of their resources there civilization fell. Seeing the way Easter Island fell made me realize that America is not only wasting 1 main resource which is oil but 2 main resources because we are cutting down trees at a rapid pace as well. Once the oil supplies become unbearable, I think people are going to start viewing trees in a different light and we will build a better country after the oil collapse.
I like the possibility that having an oil collapse will improve the world in many aspects. The Olduvai theory believes that energy production per capita will fall to its 1930 value by 2030, thus giving Industrial Civilization a lifetime of less than or equal to 100 years (Richard C. Duncan). Basically that evolution is going to take a full turn around and go back to the stone ages. From the actions that people are taking this theory is most likely to happen unless something is done. “Fossil fuels make the world go around” so when we run out the collapse of oil will eventually movie into the collapse of the world. |
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| the possible collapse of our way of life (first draft) |
>the possible collapse of our way of life<
-Easter Island chapter
-information from class
-film clips
-students' perspectives
-lecture
-online research.
It’s not the end of the world…(not yet at least). I don’t view the United States passing the oil peak as such a bad collapse. Collapse in America might not be such a bad thing right now. Global warming is approaching so rapidly, that maybe having a global oil collapse is just what the doctor ordered. The transformation back to walking and riding bikes might be horrifying to some but I see it as a positive thing for saving the world.
-The Olduvai theory (Im a big believer, i think we will be the best cavemen ever!)
-Save the world (no more air pollution)
-Give people jobs (since the oil is still in the ground and America is so addicted to there oil, they might rely on the energy of people to get it out instead of the oil that is used to get it out.)
-Lower the economic prices (the cost of cars will become close to nothing that we might just pull our selves out of this recession)
-We might suffer worst than Easter island (“there trees are our oil”, we are using up both our trees and our oil)
-Nothing will be made up of oil anymore but made up of energy (energy from humans)
-Collapse will stop “horrible capitalism” from growing (more socialist economy) |
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| Easter Island chapter |
As I read the chapter I felt like the main argument…. Well there really wasn’t an argument; he just seemed to go on and on about those statues that brought a civilization to its end. I do think that first thing off, the United States is still thriving while the population on Easter Island is zip. The rate that the once rich civilization fell is shocking. I thought it was so interesting that a whole civilization became hypnotized into building these statues that it led to them going extinct. In comparison to Easter Island, America is semi-like them. Unlike Easter Island our motivation is not building statues but trying to maintain an expanding society and this is the cause of our demise. Easter Island and America are on the same path, I just feel that America can survive better than the Eastern Islanders did. They used every resource available until there last resort was cannibalism. Overall I think America is prepared for our fossil fuels to run out; although the world will completely change I think that it will be good, we will become a lot more eco-friendly and probably bike ride more. I also think America can do a lot better at in general than the Eastern Islanders did. >I feel like I’m going in circles so ill stop, hope I got my point across. < |
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| How Does the Knowledge of Food Effect the Way Americans Eat? (DRAFT) |
Paper on Industrial Food & Your Own Food ways that reworks some of your previous assignments, and your additional and evolving thoughts
We are all as stubborn as can be. Although I have learned a lot from this unit and have gain new insight, I do feel that the industrialization of food has progressed so far that change is not near. Food in America has changed drastically over the years. Now slaughtered livestock and industrialized vegetables have taken over the once precious places of friendly community farms. As this change in the food corporation has happen, people have either turned a blind eye to the situation or just not know the truth. Some might agree that in industrialized food has not changed because not enough people know the facts behind industrialization food. Instead I believe that Americans will not change their food habits even with the knowledge of how the food ended up on their plate.
Speaking for myself, as I went back on my older blogs I have noticed that my food ways remained the same throughout every new insight that I learned. It dawned on me what would actually force someone to change his or her food ways for the better and stop the “juggernaut” of industrialized food. Although I was taken back a lot by the videos of animal cruelty >http://www.chooseveg.com/animal-cruelty.asp< it didn’t do enough to make me stop eating meat. I think the root of food way’s problem is the habit that we create growing up. “Life on the farm isn't what it used to be. The green pastures and idyllic barnyard scenes portrayed in children's books have been replaced by windowless sheds, tiny crates, wire cages, and other confinement systems integral to what is now known as "factory farming."” (Choose Veg) If we change how future generations think about food then change is sure to come. As for my generation I think the only hope is to inform people on the crisis.
Another way to help change the way Americans view food is to stop industrialized food and get more personal with how the food is made. If there were more community gardens and people got to feel the processes of growing food then maybe they would connect that bond with the bonds of food that comes from un-industrialized farms and not purchase the other produce. In class friends of mine loved the processes of tying and failing over and over again just to produce something that they invested a lot of time into. “I feel really bad for those farmers who do this everyday. It has to take them forever to grown something if they did it by themselves.” (Samantha Rios) If more people got to feel the processes of growing a plant then they might value the effort that other farmers invest into their farms. Although many of my classmates felt the same way they still continued to purchase industrial food and have not changed they way they eat.
In general knowledge alone is not enough to change the habitual food ways of Americans today. Maybe in the future if Americans grasp the true understanding of industrialization and food in the world people will begin to look deeper into what hey are purchasing at local grocery stores. |
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| Industrial food .... wamp wamp |
Watching the Michale Pollan video took me by surprise. I was cretin that Pollan would have tried to act above all Americans and the high-fructose corn syrup that we ingest, instead he admitted to eating those things and enjoying them. I do like his point though, we should eat healthier but having those things once in a wile will not kill us. Although Pollan's foodways are not similar to mine, his thoughts are. He probably eats a lot healthier than I do but we both know the right things to eat and we both know the bad things to eat, its all up to what people decide in the long run.
… I am really speechless after watching the animal cruelty video. I am not blind to the cruelty that goes on around the world, and I think a lot more people know the true and just turn a blind eye. Videos like that remind me just how much Americans don’t take nature’s natural cycle into consideration anymore. I really liked one of the facts that the video didn’t mention but had posted on the side; this reality is not demonstraighted in children’s story books. This cruelty is allowed to happen because people don’t learn when they are young the horrible things that are really happening. I didn’t really learn anything about the videos food ways so I can’t really connect them. My food way’s are still the same … watching the video again reminded me of why I use to be vegetarian. I am no longer vegetarian because wile I chose not to eat meat everyone around me was enjoying it without a clue. I decided me against the world was a useless battle so I gave up. |
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| Yummy Stuffing |
I decided to make this recipe because stuffing is the only food in my life where I have used a recipe. I hate cooking using recipes so when u asked for me to make something the first food that came to mind was thanksgiving sausage stuffing. Cooking this was extremely easy, the preparation was simple, but hard to try and remember how to make it because its only my second time. While cooking I was on the phone with my brother who’s in college, my cooking inspired him to make some stuffing of his own. While I made my stuffing from scratch he made his own stove top version. After it was done backing I took it out and let it cool off, I made 2 small pans 1 for my family and 1 for school. My dad tasted the food and said he liked the flavor. I had fun cooking this meal because I like cooking in general, I hope everyone likes the stuffing on Monday! |
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| Yummy Food Recipes |
Ingredients:
1 pound Bob Evans® Savory Sage or Original Recipe Sausage Roll
1 large onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 (14 ounce) package cubed stuffing
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup melted butter
Directions:
1.In a large skillet over medium heat, crumble sausage.
2.Add onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally until sausage is brown.
3.In a large bowl, place cubed stuffing.
4.Add sausage mixture.
5.Sprinkle with poultry seasoning.
6.Pour broth and butter over the top and toss to combine.
7.Spoon mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish; cover.
8.Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes. |
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| Response To Pollan |
Michael Pollan's argument, in the first few pages of Omnivore's Dilemma: We as a culture lack a stable food culture like the Italians or French, are obsessed with health, are confused and anxious about food, and therefore easily succumb to various expert-directed food fads.
What food experts do you and your family pay attention to - scientists, journalists, chefs, commercials on TV, doctors, nutritionists, health officials, book authors?
Unlike what Mr.Pollans theories maybe my family is not obsessed with health in those ways. I do think that under the stress of the media body image is an obsession. When it comes to what we eat and what helps guide our thoughts there are none. As for myself I pay attention to chefs, since I watch the food channel non-stop the things that I do pick up from the television gets applied to my food styles. If a quote anyone or say something food-logical it all comes from the food channel or word of mouth. I think Mr.Pollan did not think about the average American. |
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| May Day |
How does the forgetting of a workers' holiday commemorating an American labor struggle show fundamental aspects of the American Way of Life?
May Day is a day dedicated to the hard work of labor internationally… except for the United States and Canada. May day represents the struggle of workers trying to protest for an eight-hour day. Because May day is mostly celebrated by communist, socialist and anarchist groups the United States and Canada have chosen to opt out of this holiday. It seems so retarded that the US would go so far as to make up a whole new holiday. There is only a Labor Day because the US agrees with the same concepts of May Day. I think it just shows how much the government trys to shelter us from the thought of communist…. |
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| Grocery Store and Habitual Food |
Whenever my father and I usually go shopping we have a goal in mind. I don’t pay much attention to the other produce around me; I go straight to the specific lanes and get out. I wouldn’t say I use the grocery store to its full potential because I don’t take the time to look around. I don’t eat many vegetables weekly. Although I can name many vegetables that I like from the class list I couldn’t name many that I eat often. I found that my list of roots, grains and nuts were bigger than both my fruits and vegetables together. On a typical week my family would eat : Peas, Corn, Mushrooms, Potatoes, White Rice, Yellow Rice, Grapes, Apples, Bananas, Oranges, Red beans, Pink Beans, Onions, Garlic, Peppers, Strawberries…exc.
Although I might not eat the types of fruits and vegetables that I love all the time it doesn’t mean that I don’t eat a variety of foods. I noticed that my variety of vegetable intake has decreased over the years because my mother doesn’t supply them anymore. Now that my life runs a lot faster and I don’t have someone here to take the time out and make food for me I guess I just don’t find time to go out of my way and make those things for myself. My “habitual diet” is odd, I don’t eat most of my favorite dishes every day, and instead I eat the thing that can be made quickly.
Visiting the fancy grocery store was eye opening; this grocery store was not like mine or many others that I have visited. The arrangements of the produce were eye catching; it made the food look appetizing. If I were shopping in that store and passed the fruits and vegetables I would have been more likely to buy them here than in the stores near my house. Another thing I recognized was the level of the prices, they were all eye level for me and I think it’s because the store wanted no confusion on the cost of the food. Something that was pointed out to be was the different labels of the poultry. One of the chicken packages mentioned that the chicken had been feed only a vegetarian diet and was allowed to roam free. The packaging was trying to get the buyers to purchase that brand because of all the extra things that it had to offer. |
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| My Many Meals |
Tuesday
Dinner: I had a big lunch that day and wasn’t that hungry for dinner. I was so tired from my softball game that when dinner time finally came around I was already sleeping.
Wednesday
Breakfast: Every morning I skip breakfast, not intentionally but just because I don’t have time and it feels weird whenever I do manage to eat that early in the morning.
Snack: I had a Snapple can from the vending machine in the cafeteria.
Lunch: I went to Subways with a small group of friends. (Karl, Binta, Sam and Adam) I chose a chicken teriyaki sandwich; although I did not make it, I did get to chose what was on the sandwich. I have no idea who makes this food or where it comes from. I eat the sandwich with my hands and not in front of a TV although there was a new TV in the store. I rarely say grace and I wouldn’t say it over lunch with my friends anyway. I felt happy because I was out of school and the weather was nice. Our conversation varied towards many different topics.
Dinner: It turns out again I had a softball game and got home really late. I wanted to grab something to eat before I went to bed so that I wouldn’t be starving in the morning. My dad was making some hotdogs so I grabbed 2 and ate them with bread and ketchup; along with the hotdog I had a cup of champagne soda. I ate them by myself with my hands in my room sitting on my bed wile I watched TV. The hotdogs were made by my dad; they came from a package that came from the supermarket, which came from a factory. After the meal I felt full and went straight to bed, I didn’t think too much about the meal itself and I didn’t think too much into the atmosphere because its normal to me. |
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| Home and Corporate |
How do you do food at home?
In my house food on a daily basis is something that just provides us with nutrients. We eat in our own rooms doing whatever, and as far as the food part there are day were we order out, eat cereal or have a home cooked meal. On other days when there is a special occasion food becomes a big deal there’s always people cooking about 4 different dishes and the kitchen is always full. Food also becomes a big deal when someone in the family cooks something good or makes a big meal, since we all live close to each other family members will come over to try this and that just because. There is no one specific routine for me when it comes to food in my house.
How do people in the U.S. mainstream do food - as shown in TV and movies?
The history of food has changed a lot over time. I’m not sure when but dinner time for families were very different from how they are now. Dinner time was earlier in the day around the table with the household. Usually the tone was very relaxed, people would sit there and talk about their days and bond as a family, I would say dinner time was of the upmost importance back then. Now dinner is just a necessity, it seems to be rushed all the time and it has no sincerity. I don’t know any other meal where people get together except dinner and now it’s not even like that anymore. It’s become normal to eat individually; it seems like group meals are planed instead of expected.
Please write a one page comparison of your family's food ways, your food ways, and mainstream corporate US food ways.
When I was younger my family’s food ways were sitting around the table every night eating a home cooked meal. This was a regular routine for us and I think it is a regular routine for every family that has young children. Now my food ways are a lot different, I don’t often eat a home cooked meal anymore and I usually eat alone. My dinners are usually a bowl of cereal, takeout, something I can preheat and the occasional home cooked meal. Mainstream corporate US food ways use to market food as something a family did together. Now that time has passes TV shows and movies portray what meal time is really like. I see more people eating food in their own rooms or together in front of the television, mainstream corporate have accepted that and have made it more common in the media. |
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| Food #2 |
Question: What is the yearly percent of food that is wasted in restaurants?
I never thought about how much food is actually wasted every day. Once I actually knew what “wasted food” is I felt so guilty because I actually never thought about it like that. Wasted food is all the food that people don’t eat after meals, food trimmings that are left over from food preparation, the garnish that is put on plated and the food that goes expired in groceries. “According to a study by the University of Arizona Garbage Project, Americans throw away 1.3 pounds of food every day, or 474.5 pounds per year.”
Although I couldn’t find one specific percent of food that is wasted from restaurants I did find out that Americans waste tons of food and even though restaurants and cafeterias are one of the main problems I think restaurants can actually help. When people go to restaurants they don’t over serve you, so there not wasting resources, and if you become to full you can take them home so that they don’t go to waste to. Overall people waste way too much food and should stick to smaller portions of everything.
http://wasteage.com/mag/waste_food_waste_2/
http://www.dailycollegian.com/news/umass-students-contribute-to-the-rising-amount-of-food-waste-1.1728790 |
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posted by Lauren at 
