The Only Way to Eat a Cow

  

"The Only Way to Eat a Cow" by Bill McKibben is a very interesting writing piece. I noticed that there was a distinct brash tone in the author's writing. The author wrote about the benefits of becoming vegan and vegetarian, and various methods to prevent global warming via a carnivorous lifestyle. I also noticed the author's claim that becoming vegan is much better for the environment than eating factory farmed meat. I couldn't help but also notice the author himself was a vegetarian and an advocate for global warming prevention. I enjoyed the part about rotational pastures where cows would rotate from pasture to pasture so that the grass wouldn’t become too short in the field.
     This piece made me wonder several things. I wonder about the actual science of how a meatless lifestyle helps fight against global warming. I also wonder why Americans think of meat as an entree instead of a condiment or a side of an entree. I'm curious to see how much research supports the author's claim and I'm curious as to why the author chose to have a mainly meatless diet.
    I think that this entire piece gives me something to think about and also I feel like I learned something surprising today. I knew that eating less meat was environmentally friendly, but I did not know how much it would actually impact the environment. I do think that the writer is extremely brash and blaming if you don't take his side, but I do get his point. In fact, Mckibben makes some very excellent points and even offers a way to reduce global warming while providing a lifestyle with meat. I wish that McKibben offered more than one way to help the environment while eating meat. I would still like to eat meat but I do not want to harm the environment.

Service Learning reflection 2

     Hello All! Yesterday I went to the Lord's Acre farm with some of my peers to help harvest some vegetables. We started out peeling the skin off of garlic cloves and put the cloves in the buckets. We also harvested sweet potatoes, which were gigantic, and we put them in bins. I was very surprised about the knowledge required to run a farm. I learned that there were several thousand ways to grow and harvest plants. I also learned that it takes a lot of work just to run a farm. The knowledge of this helps me create an interest in farming and agricultural work. I also learned that I enjoy helping others whether it be manual labor or some other type of work. I thought the experience was enjoyable and I would like to do more farm work in the future. I also thought it was interesting that the food farmed from Lord's acre was donated to other organizations such as the Green Opportunities Kitchen. I also learned that the community comes and helps harvest for free, and that there are only two paid workers for Lord's Acre. My goals pertaining to the future of service learning is working more for the farm and also helping out in the gardens and such. I also want to find more opportunities for service learning because I enjoy service learning.

Downsizing Supersize and Why Shame Won't Stop Obesity

               In “Downsizing Supersize” by James Surowiecki, the author writes about the ideals of Michael Bloomberg. In particular, Michael Bloomberg proposes that the maximum amount of ounces that a soft drink can be is 16. The author emphasizes how Americans would be angry because freedom would be taken away. Another fact emphasized by the author is that a population purchases something if it is the standard size. For example, people will choose the middle option if there is a more expensive option with tons of features, a middle expense option with a medium amount of features, and a low price with low features. Another approach to help discourage the large consumption of sodas is to enact a tax on sodas. The tax would just be like the tax on alcohol or tobacco in which the consumer is deterred from buying less of it.

               In “Why Shame Won’t Stop Obesity” by Dhruv Khullar, the author writes about the irony of a hospital serving unhealthy foods. The author then relates the irony of the hospital to the reality of the availability of healthy foods. Healthy food is harder to come by location wise and financially. Also, over a billion dollars is spent on food advertisement every year to influence children. The author then also looks at Georgia’s effort to curb childhood obesity. Many children are suffering from obesity and Georgia created commercials to almost shame parents on letting their children become overweight or obese. Although this highlights parental negligence, it does not reflect true circumstances. Most parents probably want their children to have a healthier lifestyle, but do not have the funds to do so. Later the author reiterates the fact that almost 75% of America is either overweight or obese, and that if health problems continue, several billion dollars will be spent on operations related to nutritional diseases