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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2015 22:12:44 GMT -5
In response to Discussion Question 2:
At first glance, it appears that Michael Pollan just wrote an essay about corn. Although this is somewhat true, there is a much larger idea behind it. Pollan reveals the massive dependence on corn that the human race has and also the massive environmental effects this has caused. He had a challenge for the audience and farmers to find alternatives to synthetic fertilizers that pollute the world with excess nitrogen. In order to persuade people to take on such a hefty task, he adopted a writing technique of making his argument through connecting causes and effects. This explanation is different than explaining how a car engine works, the carbon cycle, or most other explanations as those are sequential. The carbon cycle is a process that if explained is done through steps. It is important to learn every part of it. However, Pollan needs to persuade people first before devising a plan of finding alternative corn production methods. In order to persuade, Pollan shifts peoples focus from individual steps of a process to the big ideas, the input and output. This way he can state how corn is currently being produced and show the negative consequences that spawn from it. Pollan can easily demonstrate the problem or the effect to the source or cause in a simple way that people understand which makes his argument much more accessible and effective.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2015 10:15:50 GMT -5
Michael Pollan did a great job explaining to the general public how much we rely on nitrogen and corn as a society in his essay "What's Eating America." I thought his interpretation of the human disturbance of the carbon cycle was interesting and brutally accurate. All of the nitrogen that we are synthetically producing his affecting our earth in a negative way. The fact that organic farming still produces food and plants, which then still fix nitrogen which then in turn allows farm animals to produce a large amount of nitrogen. The public should be informed on how our foods are really made and processed, and Michael Pollan has done a good job of trying to inform the public through writing essays and through other mediums.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2015 9:28:50 GMT -5
"What's Eating America" by Michael Pollan was definitely an eye opening read. In the essay Pollan addresses the fact that most of the food we Americans eat has been biologically altered and synthesized. I find it concerning that the use of ammonium nitrate is used to produce a lot of the food we eat. As it says in the essay, this chemical was also used in making explosives in World War 2. So the question we must ask ourselves is "Are these chemicals that our often found in poison gases, good for the human body?" Yes, the discovery of the concept of "fixing" nitrogen helped the agricultural industry produce a surplus of crops but is it really worth it if we are just eating chemicals that could be potentially harmful to us. My family and I are big believers in eating organic foods and supporting local farmers. We believe that things such as pesticides and GMOs are bad for a person's health.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2015 9:51:28 GMT -5
The way Pollan sets up his argument in "What's Eating America?'is very interesting. He doesn't just state his opinion right away. He starts by telling the reader of the importance of corn in today's agricultural industry and makes them think. Throughout the entire essay he displays all the facts by showing the cause and effect of things. He states the good and bad side of the use of nitrogen. The good being that it has allowed farmers to produce more crops and the bad being that the waste is polluting America's waters and air. Pollen is acknowledging the importance of fossil fuel and all that it has done for the farming industry, but then points out all the negative products that come from it. Synthetic nitrogen is very poisonous in our waters and to our forests. Pollen seems to be believe that the use of nitrogen is not good and wants to reduce our dependence on it by diversifying our agriculture. Yes, it has help support life by helping to create more food, but now it could be endangering life through things like global warming.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2015 11:51:47 GMT -5
Regarding discussion question 2 in Michael Pollan’s essay “What’s Eating America” on how the explanations are different. The way he uses cause and effect explanations is different from explaining how a car engine works or the carbon cycle is that those things are definite. It is a fact that when a car engine works properly it is known what will happen and there is no unpredictability about, or in the carbon cycle it is factually known what is going to happen. With cause and effects on the other hand there can be a known cause but the effect can be something wildly unexpected and something no one saw coming. When synthetic nitrogen was first being deployed in world war 2 for the purpose of explosives, everyone knew the cause but when the war ended and they started to use it for agricultural purposes that was an effect that no one saw coming.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2015 11:55:33 GMT -5
In response to question 4 in Michael Pollans "Whats Eating America" An advance that changed the world just as synthetic nitrogen did was electricity. Discovered by Thomas Edison in 1879 when he created the first electric light bulb. He intended using electricity to light up homes and some other small purposes, but electricity evolved into making cars, elevators, and many other mechanical devices that changed the world. Just as synthetic nitrogen was made to be used in explosives and it turned into supporting the worldwide agriculture market, electricity went from lighting up homes to making the modern world go round with new gadgets and machines. There are many other inventions and advances that had the same impact as electricity and synthetic nitrogen had on the world. It is truly amazing how these inventions and advances can impact the world in unpredictable ways, good and bad, and how they can affect the humans using them.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2015 11:58:30 GMT -5
In response to Question 1:
Corn is the most underestimated of the starch family. It’s widely used in many fields (no pun intended). In modern day America, corn is used in much more than just food. Over the past decades, as more uses have been discovered, corn is being used less for feeding livestock and more in other fields. More of the corn was being exported. More of the corn was being used to make high fructose corn syrup for things such as soda pop. There are also many industrial uses for corn such as fillers for packages, adhesives, chemicals, explosives, paint, paste, abrasives, dyes, insecticides, pharmaceuticals and even soaps. One main example is the medicine Penicillin. One of the biggest industries that uses corn is the whiskey industry. Corn whiskey is made from a mash that is more than 80% corn!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2015 12:04:02 GMT -5
Regarding discussion question 1 in Michael Pollan’s essay “What’s Eating America” on what else we use corn for. Americans and people all around the world use corn for a great deal more things than just for food. Corn meal is made from grinding the corn and used in the creation of a variety of different food types such as cornbread, deep-fry batter, and hushpuppies. A very important medicinal use for corn is that the corn steep liquor by product of corn is the perfect growing medium for penicillin. Another, some would say very important, use of corn is the production of whiskey. Some other really surprising ways corn is used in our lives are batteries, plastic bottles, cosmetic hygienics, and matches. The question can be asked without the use of synthetic fertilizer to boost the production of corn in such a way, would we have all these supplies that corn aids in the amounts we do today.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2015 15:35:34 GMT -5
"What's Eating America" by Michael Pollan has been to me (Thus far) the most boring essay I've read. Yes, It's very eye-opening to some people on America's dependence on corn and nitrogen, but for me it was just another in-depth read into a subject I already knew. This is because I have a friend whose father works in the the agriculture industry. Specifically, he works with corn. Ironic? Yes, quite. But still, the essay has a lot to teach the growing population of America. A lot of people don't understand the effects that imitating and changing the nitrogen cycle has had on this country, and the world as a general. And to think that this essay only touches the tip of the problems in the agricultural industry today, what with pesticides and law loop holes that allow labeled organic foods to actually be no better for you than foods sprayed with chemicals. America has a lot of problems with its way of growing food, and if reading the history and importance of corn reiterated anything for me, it was that. Pollan does a good job of explaining the basic dangers and changes that synthetic nitrogen has made to the world, and I hope this essay left an impact on many readers.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2015 16:04:29 GMT -5
In "Whats eating america" by Micheal Pollan, I found it very interesting that the timber industry was using nitrogen. It made me think about modern day, and how so many people reject using chemicals in things such as makeup, but when it comes to big heavy jobs its okay. Also, this may sound dumb but I never thought about how much corn was actually in every day products and foods. Its interesting that something that could be used as something so harmful can also be used for basic things we need as humans. Also, to bring some chemistry to the issues of the modern day, everyone complains about things made with chemicals. Well everything is made of chemicals. The air is chemicals. This article reminded me of this issue because everyone in it they discuss harmful things before and after world war 2. I liked the essay and I think it brings alot of current issues to peoples attention.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2015 16:11:48 GMT -5
In "Whats eating america" by Micheal Pollan, I found it very interesting that the timber industry was using nitrogen. It made me think about modern day, and how so many people reject using chemicals in things such as makeup, but when it comes to big heavy jobs its okay. Also, this may sound dumb but I never thought about how much corn was actually in every day products and foods. Its interesting that something that could be used as something so harmful can also be used for basic things we need as humans. Also, to bring some chemistry to the issues of the modern day, everyone complains about things made with chemicals. Well everything is made of chemicals. The air is chemicals. This article reminded me of this issue because everyone in it they discuss harmful things before and after world war 2. I liked the essay and I think it brings alot of current issues to peoples attention.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2015 17:04:09 GMT -5
Response to Discussion Question one- corn is not just used for a food source like we all believe. This essay helped me realize how much I realize on corn on a daily basis. Corn can be used for flour, other levenings, coloring, sweetening (especially for soda and other beverages in cans and bottles) and the shine of paperback magazines. This essay helped me realize what a presence that corn has in the daily life's of an Americans, not only their pantries. Corn originated in Mexico with the Maya's. Some say this is where the dependence started since it was the main source of food for the Maya's (referred to as the "corn people" because of this). Corn has developed hybrids to increase productivity, size, and production of the crop. One hybrid we learn about would be the F1 corn hybrid which consumes more fertilizer than any other crop. What made all of these hybrids possible? The discovery of synthetic nitrogen. Which changed the "corn game" from that point on.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2015 19:51:12 GMT -5
In response to question one following the essay "What's Eating America" by Michael Pollan - While Americans undeniably do use corn as a main food source for things like corn on the cob, creamed corn, etc., it is so much more versatile than that and can be used in numerous other ways. In the average American supermarket, about a quarter of the 45,000 products contain corn. As simply a plant, corn can manufacture more organic matter and calories from the exact same amounts of sunlight, water, and basic elements than almost all other plants. Corn has a number of different hybrids, one in particular that we learn about in this essay is the F1 hybrid, which consumes much more fertilizer than any other crop. Synthetic nitrgoen has played a huge role in making this hybrid and many others possible, and has also upped the ante on corn production in products such as flour, sweeteners, and even the gloss of a magazine. We rely so heavily on corn, and for much more than we could ever imagine.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2015 19:27:27 GMT -5
In response to discussion question 1, of "What's Eating America" by Michael Pollan. In america back pre World War II, America just grew corn. When we found the synthetic nitrogen, that's when the corn bomb dropped. But now in days, we use corn in so many things. In the text on page 301 he gives an example that in an average American super market, more than 11250 things contain corn ( I did the math). That was just mind blowing to me. I had no clue that we used so much corn on a day to day basis. And not just in food, it is in things like magazines, or building matirials. It's crazy how many things we use corn for. I'm glad I'm not illergic to it.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2015 17:16:12 GMT -5
"What's Eating America" by Michael Pollan was an essay about corn. Now when I hear that an essay is about corn, I'm not usually jumping out of my seat and ready to learn about starch. But this was actually quite interesting. I used to think that corn was just feed and the unhealthy part of soda pop. It really surprised me the things that we could do with ammonium nitrate after the war. During the war ammonium nitrate was used for big bombs that go BOOM! After the war it was used for fertilizer that made the corn crop go BOOM! I like chemistry. So the fact that they deduced that ammonium nitrate would be a good fertilizer is really quite interesting to me. I also really like how the author ties in fossil fuels to the essay. Like if you think about it fossil fuels suck. They're dirty, expensive and will eventually run out. They suck.
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