Blog Post 8: Ted Talk Analysis

In her Ted Talk, “Obesity + Hunger = one global food issue”, Ellen Gustafson begins by telling us about how she started reading books on security policy after the events of 9/11, and then moved on to researching food security. She is establishing her credibility and informing us that she is qualified to speak in this area (ethos). Then, she moves to using logos when she reasons that if you and everyone you love are hungry, then you will be personally angry, and possibly less secure as a country. She believes there is a connection between food security and global security. Gustafson tells us that she worked with the World Food Programme, a food aid-focused extension of the United Nations. This is another appeal to ethos. She lists facts about hunger statistics, and uses logos when comparing the graphs, saying that if there are 1 billion people hungry, and 1 billion people who are obese, there may be a related link(food) that can be addressed. When she tells about the Feed Bag project, there is an element of pathos, because bringing up the hungry children in Haiti and our own country, and reminding us that they shouldn't or don't have to be hungry can tug on our heartstrings. Gustafson shares facts and interprets the data, but doesn't go overboard trying to convince us by our emotions; she lets the data speak for itself. By dropping the well-known names of Michael Pollan and Jamie Oliver, Gustafson is employing ethos and perhaps a touch of pathos, since the listener may already have established listening rapport with those speakers and their work. At one point, Gustafson shows a list of things that began 30 years ago, and while she does not explicitly say they are connected, it is perhaps implied. This, if not backed up, may be the fallacy of illusory correlation. She ends her speech telling us that the redistribution of food and smarter ways of funding its production are necessary and extremely possible. She gives us hope by telling us that we can see the results of our actions in this area, and that change is needed.

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Blog post 7

(A letter of persuasion to a writer of the N. Y. Times.) 

Dear Patrick Martins,

As a reporter for the New York Times, I would assume you have done your research. This is a letter to try and persuade you to consider an alternative to shipping foods across the globe. I think your article, “Set that Apricot Free” is clever, and it opened my eyes to the dangers of over-localizing food production. What would we do without Brie cheese in the United States? Or Madagascar vanilla? But perhaps your article would have benefited from a link to another article, one about why eating locally farmed food is important in the first place. If you think that heritage breeds and other small production species are important, I suggest that you travel to be able to partake in these delicacies, and that you help inform people about the treasures they have in their metaphorical back yards. If everyone ate locally produced food, those “rare breeds” would be in demand in areas near where they are produced, and would likely taste better for the locality. The delicate terroir of certain foods would be an appeal to tourists and enthusiasts, and also encourage local producers to take pride in developing their local specialties. I would ask you to hear the voice of Tristan Stuart, who raised some pigs as a young boy in his hometown. His TedTalk is worth a listen. If you won't hear me, then listen to him talk about the waste that occurs when food gets shipped long distances. Would you really like a large percentage of those Saddleback pigs to be lost to the waste of transportation? That seems like such a shame. I believe you can think of a better solution to the problem of dull local food, and await your next article.

Sincerely,

O.

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Blog Post 6

The Appeals

Ethos is an appeal to authority. For instance, quoting a qualified individual or citing one's credentials would be employing ethos. (An example would be: “Dr. Jones, president of the New York Medical Society, says that drinking 8 glasses of water a day helps lower stress levels.”)

Logos is an appeal to logic. Using reason to back up an argument is employing logos. (“It is only reasonable to consider the outcome of committing a crime before choosing to do so. First, one must consider the moral obligation as a human to behave in a manner fitting to humankind. Second, one must consider the likely turn of events following the crime, aka people getting hurt, lost trust, etc. And thirdly, one must consider that it usually does not bode well for the future of a criminal. These considerations may deter a potential criminal from committing the crime.”)

Pathos is an appeal to emotion. Appealing to the feelings of the reader employs pathos. (“Just think of the poor, lonely puppy that will never know a family's love or protection...”)

The following advertisement was written to appear in the fictional newspaper, “The Perennial Statement”.

An advertisement:

“Vintage VCR and VHS tapes for sale!

Do not miss this great offer. Remember your childhood each time you watch a movie and experience the familiar clack of the tape settling into place, and the quiet whir of the wheels turning in your VCR. This would be a great purchase, because who doesn't have some VHS's laying around the house to re-watch, and with just a cable and usb, you could even have a side business turning tapes into dvd's. The VHS's that are included with this great offer are the original releases of the Star Wars Trilogy. How better to watch this classic than in the format it was released? You could even see if Han shot first, the clarity of which has been “altered” in the newer updated versions. All in all, it would be a wonderful investment to purchase these items. This VCR has been certified “exemplary” by three specialists in the area of film quality and viewing! The VCR is priced at $42.75, which is a real steal, and the tapes we will let go at $50.00 for the set (they cannot be sold individually). You know you couldn't stand to see the Jones's beat you out for this great deal, or see another valuable piece of our technological history tossed out to the street, so act now!”
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Review of Sources

I have begun the search for sources to support my paper. This is a tricky part of the writing process, as the material I find will shape the nature and tone of the paper.

I was looking for articles on the history of turning small farms into larger industrialized setups, and while I found some such articles, I now think finding more material on actions to be taken(and their effects) would prove beneficial.

I think the short article, “Set That Apricot Free” best mentions the various points I would like to include in my paper, such as acknowledging the benefit to supporting local farm food, and looking at the idea of responsibly transporting some foods. This article agrees that buying from small/local producers is important to guaranteeing diversity and continuance of some foods. I also like the article “How is Agriculture Reproduced? Unfolding Farmers’ Interdependencies in Small-scale Mediterranean Olive Oil Production”. It generally looks at the system and nature of farming in Europe, as far as concerns smaller, reliable, quality production of a product . This may point out helpful markers in the successful ways small farms have functioned and continue to function as opposed to the hurried world that larger industries may prove to be.

“Production Contracts May Help Small Hog Farms Grow in Size” Seems to disagree with some of the points I would like to make, as it has a general tone of acceptance towards big industrial farms, seeing the growth as beneficial. I also found the paper, “High-end Coffee and Smallholding

Growers in Guatemala” which could be used to show how the production of a product affects in part, the workers at the farms where the products are produced.

I am excited about using “Agribusiness, the Family Farm, and the Politics of Technological Determinism in the Post–World War II United States”, which discusses the tradition of family farms and how they began to die out to 'agribusiness'. This article also discusses what caused the change and how the term was developed.

Although I think these are good sources, I am going to continue looking for more specifically related articles that hopefully show more of the potential solutions and give more examples of exactly what the current situation is regarding the food we consume.

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From the Earth to your Mouth (and everywhere in between): Paper Topic 

For my paper, I have selected the topic “Back to the Basics: Is the redistribution of available food resources through smaller, localized farms actually beneficial?” The main idea is centered on the claim that big, industrialized farming is hurting the environment, wasting food resources, and causing consumers to be less healthy. I want to go in depth to what really happens in the processing of food in an industrialized setting(the treatment, handling, added substances, etc. as concerns agriculture, livestock, dairy, and so on), and compare the alternative options. I am curious to see what factors influence what people spend money on in relation to what their needs are, and what factors affect those decisions(i.e. buying soda in lieu of produce, etc.). I want to look into the affect location has on health focusing on the available food items and relative pricing, extra costs due to shipping, and whether it is actually more cost effective to have a local or semi-local farm or garden. Once conclusions have been made I will look into whether change is likely if better, or how people's perceptions of the way industries work influences them more than facts. I would like to look into the health effects of eating certain kinds of foods, and whether bad quality food is actually part of the obesity problem. I think that there is a link between overeating and poor quality food, as well as the “guilt mentality” that so many Americans claim to have over food. I am interested in this topic because there seems to be a clear problem with how food is handled and treated from farm to fork, as well as a clear connection between overeating, diminishing resources and hunger, but I am not sure the solution is as straightforward as it may seem. I am hopeful that in researching for the paper, some of the questions will be answered, and potentially some understanding of a answer to these issues will surface. Too many people are suffering, unhappy and unhealthy for things to continue how they are without looking into other solutions.

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 Semester Goals
At any university, there is a myriad of subjects, classes, concentrations and goals that is constantly being discussed – so much so that it can be almost mind-boggling. However, most college English classes have a similar goal: to make better writers of the students participating in the class. To really learn, the student must take the initiative and be intentional about his or her progress in a particular area. In the current semester, I would like to work on improving my ability to go through the steps of writing a paper using an organized method. I've been writing for years, but I do not always put my papers through as many steps or revisions as I could. I believe doing so would make my writing more succinct and effective. To break down the parts of this – the writing process should or at least can be a multi-step, multifaceted process. Giving enough attention to each step of the process and fully developing each part will be very helpful in my attempts and developing a quality end product. Another area that I am choosing to focus on is using appropriate citation formatting. Previously, I have used MLA formatting, but this year I would like to learn and become comfortable with using APA. Being able to construct a paper with either format should serve me well in the future, since not all disciplines use the same style. Thirdly, I want to improve on collecting research material, especially online articles from academic journals. In this electronic age an increasing number of sources can be found online. This is very useful, but having grown up loving hard copies, I need to become more well versed in the ins and outs of navigating academic journals in my online research. Lastly, I am interested in becoming intimately familiar with the features of Microsoft Word. Sure, everyone has used it at one time or another, but not everyone can really navigate some of the lesser-known aspects it has to offer. I am confidant that with these goals, I am well prepared to begin this school year's development as a writer, researcher, and student.   
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TED Talks

After watching: “The Global Food Waste Scandal”, “Obesity + hunger = one global food issue”, “The Brain in your Gut”, and “ What's wrong with our food system” I found that there seemed to be a link between these articles, or perhaps something that could be gained from them together.
In “The Global Food Waste Scandal,” Tristram Stuart tells us that the world has a lot of food, and that a lot of that food gets thrown away unnecessarily. A lot more of that food is used to feed habits that many consumers think they need to continue, but aren't actually in anyone's best interest. Excessive beef production means more mouths to feed, and those mouths consume a lot more corn and water than the people who will be fed by the beef would have. Often, some of our agricultural products get lost in translation between the source and the consumer. Another part of the problem is us. The consumers themselves. The idea of “plenty” has been so strongly labeled as desirable that anything less than a surplus is seen as “bad”. That means that many people are cooking far more food than they need to eat, or ordering more at the restaurant than they should because having more looks appealing. This is a blatant waste of food that could have been used in another way. When there are other humans beings starving in our own city and we are eating whole pizzas because they were there, it may be time to honestly look at what's going on. Food waste is real, and a bad distribution of resources is a terrible reason for people to be hungry. This is addressed in Ellen Gustafson's talk, “Obesity + Hunger = 1 global food issue”. Gustafson discusses food distribution and points out that when some of the population is overeating and another portion is undereating, there is potentially a workable solution to the problem. “The Brain in Your Gut” basically gets to the idea that we are wired to know what we need to eat, and how much is the right amount, but sometimes we override that voice and ignore our sensors. I found that interesting in conjunction with Ms. Gustafson's talk because perhaps teaching people to listen to their bodies could be one of the first steps in helping curb the obesity issue. Teaching those with less food options healthy ways to prepare the food they eat and how to cheaply obtain good food would address another factor in unhealthy eating. Finally, Birke Baehr spoke about the way local or smaller farms can both benefit the consumers and avoid causing many of the problems that industrialized factories or farms do. It seems then, that if people became more involved in or aware of what exactly they are eating, then they might be more inclined to treat both their resources and their bodies with informed respect.
Food waste is real, and a bad distribution of resources is a terrible reason for people to be hungry. Not using the resources we have tends to make us think that there is a shortage of quality food, and want to take semi-drastic measures to “solve” problems may not really exist in the forms that we often discuss them.

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