Chapter 16 response

Chapter 16 in Omnivores Dilemma was very interesting. When Pollan talks about how Rozin discovered how rats use their digestive tract as kind of a laboratory this actually kept me awake. He also talks about how rats are smart enough to remember the order of what they nibbled to determine if it is okay to eat more of it. The fact that Pollan compares this or even links it to our own omnivorous eating habits is kind of cool too. One example he uses is of someone deciding which kind of cereal to buy and trying to remember if they’ve tasted it before and if they liked it. I liked when Pollan talked about our sense of taste. Explaining how the first step to determining if you like something is tasting it, you would usually come out with a positive or negative conclusion. I like that he explains how sweet tastes attract us more than bitter tastes, which make us cautious. But these bitter tastes can also give us powerful medicines, like he says about the sap of the opium poppy and the bark of a willow. Pollan also brings into account the invention of cooking. How it made it easier to eat and digest the food we ate and I think it helped some disease from spreading because the heat kills bacteria. All in all, this chapter was pretty nice, mostly because I love food and cooking and it wasn’t only about corn.

They Say I Say-Chapter 6 and 7

In the book, “They Say I Say,” these chapters, six and seven, do fabulous jobs making you understand why it is important to put objections in your text and why you should always say why what your writing or presenting is important. In chapter six, they start out by giving an example of a writer who almost forgot to put in an objection, but when she did it made her writing a million times stronger. They say that when you put in objections to your writing you are enhancing your credibility and I would think you also make the readers believe more of what you say. Also, you should not only just put in an objection, but make it the best argument you can. Yes, I know it’s against your topic, but if you have the right comeback it can boost your credibility that much more. In chapter seven, they start out by stating the obvious, when giving a presentation you should ALWAYS say why the audience should care or why what you’re saying matters, or else the audience won’t care and won’t think about it. Chapter seven reiterates that you shouldn’t just say who cares, but so what? These are two totally different things and if you forget one, it could hurt your presentation, but if you get them both in there good, it can make it a whole lot better.

Polyface Slaughtering

Within the readings that were assigned the thing that caught my attention the most was chapter 12 in Omnivores Dilemma. At first I didn’t know what all this talk about Polyface chicken and Polyface eggs and Polyface bacon was, but after looking it up I found that it was just a farm in Virginia. This farm however is not your “regular” ol’ farm. As some people would say, they use unconventional methods to slaughter and distribute their livestock and meat. But, this farm in Virginia is run by a lovely family, headed by Joel Salatin. In chapter 12 Joel gives his reasons for this way of farming, saying it is economical, ecological, political, ethical, and even spiritual. Honestly, to me this reasoning does make sense. No, it’s not the prettiest way to make some meat but yes it gets the job done. Yes, it can be “dehumanizing” to some people, but it has to be done.