HFCS Drinks + Their Equivalents in Junk Food

This series of photos graphically illustrates the health impact of beverages containing high fructose corn syrup. Enjoy! (via BoingBoing)

Identifying Perspectives

During this afternoon's class we will be discussing a packet of newspaper and magazine articles related to labor issues in meatpacking. We'll work in groups, with each group discussing one article and presenting the article and their conclusions to the class.

Instructions:

1. Read the article and make informal notes before you discuss it with your group. As you read, answer the following questions in your notes:

What basic problem or controversy does the article discuss?

How many "sides" or perspectives are represented in the article?

For each perspective, identify the following:
a. the speaker who presents each perspective
b. the organization or social group that speaker represents
c. the speaker's basic argument or position (summarize briefly).

Evaluate each argument or position: What are its strengths? Its weaknesses?

2. Discuss the article with your group, relating it to Eric Schlosser's "The Most Dangerous Job."

3. Groups: briefly describe your article and present your findings to the class.

President Obama's Food Safety Working Group

This opinion piece from the Huffington Post raises some interesting questions about the depth of President Obama's Food Safety Working Group, and particularly whether the group will handle core issues such as the overuse of antibiotics in industrial agriculture and the rise of antibiotic-resistant infections. The article contains numerous links to sources on these issues.

Ecological Footprint Quiz

This is the link for The Global Footprint Network, which Dr. Rizzieri showed us in LIB110 this morning. The site features an online quiz to calculate your ecological footprint. Just choose "Personal Footprint" from the "Footprint Basics" menu and click on "Take the Quiz."

Lettuce Recall: E Coli

As you may have heard, there is a major recall of lettuce underway in 23 states including New York. The lettuce in question was grown in Yuma, Arizona. We've talked in class about how far fruits and vegetables grown on industrial farms travel before they reaches our local grocery stores, but this is a good illustration of that point. Here it is on the map:


View Lettuce Recall in a larger map

And here are a few sources about the lettuce recall:

Associated Press, "Lettuce recalled in 23 states; E. coli suspected"

Huffington Post, ""-Romaine Lettuce RECALL In 23 States Over E. Coli"

Food Poison Journal, "Lettuce E. coli Outbreak: the Yuma, Arizona link"

San Francisco Chronicle, "Report Urges More Oversight of Food Facilities"

President's Cancer Panel Reports on US Food + Drinking Water

The President's Cancer Panel, a working group at the National Cancer Institute of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has released its annual report for 2008-2009, "Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now." Yesterday's New York Times carries an op-ed on the report, which you can read online here. (Caution: don't try to print the report as it's 240 pages total.)

As the title implies, this year's report focuses on "the impact of environmental factors on cancer risk" (n.p.). And it includes some findings that it are frankly surprising -- and quite alarming -- to hear from an American federal agency:

The use of antibiotics and growth hormones in industrial livestock farming creates "toxic run-off" that is contaminating our supply of drinking water. These chemicals "may contribute to endocrine disruption in humans," leading to cancer (49).

The use of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers in large-scale agriculture is causing higher levels of nitrate, cadmium, and arsenic in our drinking water. While in most drinking water, these chemicals remain at levels the FDA says are safe, levels are on the rise. Each of these chemicals is a known carcinogen (cancer-causing agent) at moderately high levels of exposure (47-48).

Most of the "80,000 chemicals on the market" in the US "are un- or understudied and largely unregulated" leading to a high risk of carcinogens in all product markets (n.p.). The report lays particular emphasis on bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical that "is used to harden plastics (e.g., baby and water bottles) and line the inside of food and beverage cans." Bisphenol A (BPA) is known to "leach into food" and may result in cancer and early puberty (18).

Most fish that are higher in the food chain (tuna, swordfish, king mackerel, shark) now contain high levels of methylmercury, a pollutant associated with coal power and the plastics industry. "Consumers, particularly pregnant and nursing women, women who may become pregnant, and young children, are cautioned to avoid" eating these fish (37).

The panel's overall finding: "The American people—even before they are born—are bombarded continually with myriad combinations of these dangerous exposures" to cancer-causing agents (n.p.).

The report includes numerous policy recommendations for the US President, the FDA, OSHA, and other federal agencies. But what can we do as individuals? The panel makes the following recommendations with regard to our food and drinking water:

Eat organic and free-range whole foods, avoid processed food: "Exposure to pesticides can be decreased by choosing, to the extent possible, food grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers and washing conventionally grown produce to remove residues. Similarly, exposure to antibiotics, growth hormones, and toxic run-off from livestock feed lots can be minimized by eating free-range meat raised without these medications if it is available. Avoiding or minimizing consumption of processed, charred, and well-done meats will reduce exposure to carcinogenic heterocyclic amines and polyaromatic hydrocarbons" (111).

Filter your water: "Filtering home tap or well water can decrease exposure to numerous known or suspected carcinogens and endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Unless the home water source is known to be contaminated, it is preferable to use filtered tap water instead of commercially bottled water" (111).

Avoid plastic containers for foods and water: "Storing and carrying water in stainless steel, glass, or BPA- and phthalate-free containers will reduce exposure to endocrine-disrupting and other chemicals that may leach into water from plastics. This action also will decrease the need for plastic bottles, the manufacture of which produces toxic by-products, and reduce the need to dispose of and recycle plastic bottles. Similarly, microwaving food and beverages in ceramic or glass instead of plastic containers will reduce exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals that may leach into food when containers are heated" (112).

And keep your fingers crossed!

Sample Persuasive Essays

Here are a series of sample persuasive essays that may provide useful models for your work in ENG101. Both of these samples are taken from Randy Rambo's excellent ENG1001 web site.

1. John J. Hinklemeyer, "The Failure of Abstinence-Only Programs." Hinklemeyer's essay is a persuasive argument that uses independent research to argue that abstinence-only sex education classes have left American students poorly informed about sex and vulnerable to teen pregnancy and disease. As the instructor notes, this is not a perfect essay, but it does provide an excellent model. Note the strong thesis, complex organization, and the expert handling of quotations.

2. Jamie Fast, "The End of an Illusion." Fast's essay argues for a specific interpretation of Jane Mansfield's short story "Miss Brill." Note the strong thesis and complex organization of the essay; note too that Fast's paragraphs take large claims and break them down into smaller units, which makes this a good model for paragraph development as well. You can click on the bracketed numbers in the piece to read her professor's comments on why this is a strong essay.