Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Exploration 12

Devon L. Hardwick

       Watching this film was truly an eye opener.  Growing up on a small farm I have always known the importance of the "small farmer" and his role in the betterment of raising livestock.  From our little farm here in Marion one can see two large hog barns, growing up all I worried about was the horaed smell that always drifted you way, not what state the poor animals inside were being kept in.  The film has presented us with several "natural" farmers who have stopped using antibiotics, but their herds continue to stay healthy, because of the conditions in which they are being kept.  As the film showed us the clips inside the "big" farms that raise chickens, looking at how they cut off their beaks and talons, this truly bothers me, I know that it is better for the other chickens, but it still bothers me.  "What I am supposed to do is leave in it better condition for the next generation than I found it."  We hear this quote many times and think well I recycle and that helps, it does, but here these farmers are truly doing what they are preaching

12


Nathaniel Burbury                                                                                                                   Freshman Comp                                                                                                                                   Mike Lohre                                                                                                                            11/28/12

Exploration 12
I very much enjoyed the documentary “Fresh.”  Their choice of music was quite amusing.  Using happy piano music for scenes with the organic farmers, and ominous tones in scenes with the big operations, they made their cause twice as appealing without using any facts at all.  I believe that one of the main, underlying ideas of this film was the words of the hog farmer’s foreign friend “The only thing that Americans fear is inconvenience.”  When given some thought, these words strike painfully close to home.  We are all guilty of seeking a life of convenience, we have all at some point or another eaten fast food because we didn’t feel like making something nutritious.  And that is simply the culture we live in.  It is hard to change an entire culture because of a personal conviction and a few good examples of success.  There must be a flip side to the small farm coin because a couple hundred years ago that is how all of America lived.  So why did it change?  What aspect of the “Fresh” lifestyle have we romanticized?  Part of it is simply the amount of work that is required to live such a lifestyle.  To operate a farm like the one shown in the film would require a full day of hard manual labor every day of ones exhausting existence.  I am not saying that it wouldn’t have its benefits.  But there was a reason that we moved away from this lifestyle so many years ago.  Also the steps they are suggesting we take are unfathomably large and would affect so many people that do not see a problem with our current society.  Many of them are smart people that can prove that they are right, just as the makers of “Fresh” proved they were right.  I believe that organic living should be a personal choice, and that your choice should not affect the lives of any that do not share your convictions.

Monday, December 3, 2012

I Remember Him



I was a little girl when I heard he was shot and killed.
The TV had it on every channel you could not miss it.

So many comments, conversations of fear, confusion,
anger and disbelief.
I remember becoming afraid like when Kennedy died.
Sitting there a tear streamed down my face for this man
I did not even know.

But I knew injustice had just happened.
I knew he would be missed,
His words, his voice spoke for peace, compassion and
hope, for change that would happen someday.
Yell, I remember at 9 years old listening, watching the marches.
People, were being treated as if they were an infectious disease.
I asked questions, no one ever answered them, they told me to be quiet.
My heart was heavy I tried to make sense of it in my child mind.
I was sad, mad and confused. I remember him.

His face was kind, a gentle voice and I listened when he said
‘He had gone to the mountain’ my heart raced.
My eyes filled with tears I prayed and asked God to watch over
his family and everyone.
His voice was like music in the air, his words were the notes.

Hatred came with men in white sheets, they called themselves the
KKK, I call them cowards.
They would, do such cruel and evil things, they killed innocence.
I spit on them, these small men who hide under bed sheets.
I was a kid but I knew change had come, as we had never seen
before and it made people afraid.
Why, I was not afraid, I remember being so sad.
This man of a different color wanted us to love, to get along, he was
so brave, so kind I wish I had met him.

Police, beating them because of color, but why?
I had so many unanswered questions with no one to answer them.
They arrested men, women, girls and boys.
Those men in sheets with their faces hidden, the cowards.
I remember when Martin Luther King was shot.
Mourning came across the nation.
He had become a brave warrior who just wanted all
God’s children to live in peace.

This man I never will forget and I always strive to treat
every person as he wanted
I remember him even though I was a kid.
He was a man with dignity, respect, love, and vision
Now he is in Heaven and someday I want to shake his hand.
I was just a 9-year-old kid but I remember that day the horrible
injustice they did to him.
I thank him for who he was and his dream for change.
I will always remember him.
What about you?

                                  Written By: Rhonda Hero
                                  November 23, 2012 @

 



                            








                                 


About Fresh... Exploration Twelve

“Every decision we make at the supermarket – what we grow, what we eat – is creating a different future for the land, the farmers, for the diversity of our crops, for the health of our bodies and communities.” (Fresh) I have seen other documentaries about food, and I thought that this one gave more insight on how processed food - even if natural but not ecologized correctly - can be potentially hazardous to our health. It makes sense that there is a natural order to which the way ecology works and if the ecology of a farm is not properly aligned, then the food it produces will fail to serve its prupose - which is to nurish our bodies. A more simple way to conclude this is what I wrote in my notes from the film: "Industrialization = Mal-nurtritionization." It has been proven - time and time again - that the industry and processing of our foods engineers valuable nutrients out. This film has most definitely refreshed my memory about certain facts. Therefore, I will be eating better as a result.  

Martha Graham
As the ground touches her feet
It assists her to display herself
To express herself
Without the words of her mouth
But with the words of her elegant gait
Through her graceful arm gestures
By her beautiful body movements
She jumps in the air
Unfolding herself with grace and charm
The wind goes along to accompany her
As her feet meet up with the ground again
She brings the charm back from the wind
Then she proceeds to express herself
The emotions are dancing around her
Travel along with her body
 The viewer, I am, motionless
Is she sad?
Is she angry?
Is she?
It’s like an invitation to relate
As I let my own emotions join her
I am lost in her world
As she continues to tell me the story
As her beautiful movements sink me in
They are conversing with me
How brilliantly they communicate to me
She speaks to my heart via dance
She is the one
She is Martha Graham
 
 


 

 

Fresh

I thought fresh was a great film exposing the food and agriculture system. The content was extremely biased though because they never even talked to someone that was for the opposing side. I also have never realized that this was a cause people have been donating their life to, like the man living on the two acres in the city. He attended college yet still left his job to return to the farm life he was raised in. The amount of passion these people have for good food is unimaginable for me. Even though I didn't connect deeply with the topic I still find a lot of highlights in the movie very disturbing. Especially the part where they talk about feeding dead animals to other animals and removing the beaks of chickens. This is definitely an issue that can only be changed by the vote of the dollar. The industry makes too much money and has too strong of lobbying power so despite how morally wrong their ways are the government wont intervene.
Fresh was a really influencial movie personally. It was shocking to hear how much the meat industries are only focused on their bussiness and weath. They have no interset in considering consumers' heath. It just seems so heartless. Technology is growing and everything is getting faster. Everyone is becoming more impatient. It is all about how fast people can get what they want and that can lead to getting something harmful. That is exactly what is happening today with food. People want food that is fast and cheap which is right now leading to the most deadly diseases out there. It is really sad. People on the other hand are fully aware of it. I think that these industries do a good job in making people aware about what their food contains, so I would say people with health issues are out of excuse. They have no reason to blame it on the food. Plus, the consumers demand fast and cheap and that is industries are going to give because they have the ability to do so. That is what helping their bussiness, and that is what they are working for. So, I think we as consumers need to rethink if we want to be healthy and strong because if they dont spend money on food then they going to spend that money in the hospital. So, it is really our choice if we choose to not consume cheap and fast food, then I am sure the industries will improve to.

exploration 12

i think Fresh was a really good movie.  i have watched it before and have always thought it was eye opening.  i think it is cruel what they do to the animals.  when i was little my grandma raised chickens and she not treat them like that.  i also think it is really messed up how they feed dead animals to the cows. there is no way that is healthy or good i any way.  i think the ghoverment shoudlls tep in and regulate that market and not let them do that to animals. it is just cruel.  i wish i had more money so i could eat the organic food instead of that crap.  i think the farms who raised the animals how they should be are going the right think; i think everyone should raise their animals like those farmers.  i think everyone should be informed of what is going on in the food industry and be educated on it.  I think if everyone knew what happends the majority of the people would agree that is cruel and demands for animals to be raise naturally even if prices go up a little.

Exploration 12

Exploration 12

The ideas that seemed most important in the documentary were that our community as a whole is eating less fresh foods. All of the fast foods, packaged foods, and other foods all go through an extreme process to get them ready to sell. They do the best to make everything easy and convienent. "Americans fear only one thing; inconvience." They focus more on how the food looks before they look at taste and quality because they know that look will sell. The pointed out how eating fresh foods is actually healthier for you. The processed foods have so many preservatives in them to keep them longer that they are really bad.

Exploration 12

In the documentary, the thing that seem important to me was raising the animals  the right way instead of the big corporations do. So called it is important to have fresh food not ones that got things in or on it.You have to feed them what they actual need, not dead animal because it helps them grow. You have to let them be free and roam on land not be confined. If you have a lot if species that are confined, you have to give them antibodies so they don't get sick. But you if you have a lot of one species and they are not confined, you don't have to give the antibodies because they are not as close as they would be in a confined area. Just as it says in this quote I took from the movie, "The only way of having so many species is by antibodies." I need more information about fresh food, not so much on the fruit and veggies we eat but the fresh meat that is supposedly better for you.

Exploration Twelve

I think the most important idea in the documentary Fresh was that organic food is more sustainable and better for you than chemically processed and grown foods. The documentary follows many different organic farmers who claim that their farms are far more productive than farms that use herbicides and pesticides. They make a good point about how the farmers that do use those products are pushing Mother Nature to her limits of production, and that ultimately it will end up failing sometime in the future. "We can tip the balance of nature to a certain extent, but if you tip it too far it becomes a problem." I am kind of worried about our country's future because we are such a big supplier for argriculture and if something bad happened the results would be catastrophic. I think that using pesticides and herbicides is dangerous because whatever it is that is trying to be killed will build up resistance, so over time it will get harder and harder to kill, meaning we will have to increase the amount of chemicals used, or change what is being used. It is however very hard to buy only organic food because it is so expensive.

Harvey Milk

Standing for who you are can be terrifying at times
Especially when who you are may be considered a crime
Harvey Milk wanted the American Dream
But with all of the criticism it wasn't as close as it seemed
He got caught up in the hippie era, peace and love
He loved politics so he had to stop looking like a bum
He cut his hair and for supervisor he decided to run

By leading marches with gay activists by day and by night
He knew he had to fight for what was right
Sexuality doesn't make you different 
And everybody just needs to learn how to cope with it
He did finally get put into power
The tragic end got Harvey face to face with a gun
But as for LGBT it has only begun 


Exploration 12

I thought that the documentary Fresh was very eye opening and informational. The thing that I thought was most interesting was the farmer who would move his cows and then have the chickens follow them. I know some farmers move their cows from pasture to pasture, but he was going above and beyond taking care of the land. They really stressed the importance of not relying on just one source of food or a limited number because what would happen if we lost that. "When you grow too much of the same thing, you end up with too many pests of the same thing". That is interesting to apply to farming today and just this last year with the drought devastating the crops in the Midwest and food prices immediately started to go up. We heavily rely on all of those crops to make almost all of our food and for a main commodity export for the United States. I thought that the farm in the middle of the city was a little confusing because most towns have rules against certain animals within city limits.

Exploration 12 Fresh

  



     I am a wimp I guess because I had a really horrible time watching this movie.  I understand it's importance but I found myself ready to Stop eating all together.  I feel we could treat these animals with a little more respect and I wish those who run the animal farms were in them.  Let them be confined 24 hours a day in crap.  I could not believe my eyes that I have been buying food from these companies.  I do not have much to say and this exploration is my shortest.  Fresh opened my eyes to the cruelty that we humans have.  It's all about the mighty dollar for the companies which run these farms.  I plan to educate myself more and change my eating habits.


                                                      

Exploration 12: Fresh



“Americans fear only one thing: inconvenience.” 

To start Fresh with this quote was a wise choice. I believe we are new breed to humanity, one that will only accept things, be it food or electronics, if it fits into our fast-paced life styles.  If not for processed food, we would have to sit down to a family meal, and God forbid we do such a thing in the 21st century.


One of the most important ideas, or bits of info, that I thought was good was on monocultures.  When I think of a farm, I don’t think of one dedicated to just chickens or just cows or just whatever. I think back to my grandpa Prater’s farm and apple orchard where he had chickens, cows, and horses all living together while the main source of income was the corn crop and apples. Of course, we see these monoculture farms everywhere. A pig farm near Marion (that I drive always past while holding my breath) is near the Killdeer Plains. Like the documentary pointed out, this farm smells foul.  
 
Now grant it, no farm smells like peaches, but this one example of a monoculture farm wins the ribbon for stink. If something smells that bad, one can only imagine the conditions in which the animals have to live. To walk in a confined space (if it’s even possible to move), in their own waste, possibly among dead animals is a sickening thought. These animals are not cared about because they are just money. Of course not all animals can be treated like Kobe cows, but they do deserve better than these filthy “farms”.


One area of interest that I would do more research on would be on pesticides. What exactly are the crop dusters putting on the crops? We know the animals are pumped with medications, so would that also be the case for plants?
 
Truth be told, after watching this, Fresh has really made me wonder about what is actually healthy.