Friday, January 31, 2020

Race in the study of food Essay Example for Free

Race in the study of food Essay â€Å"Local food advocacy is a political and moral discourse that is meant to provide the foundation for understanding local food networks as sites of resistance against the norms and power of globalized industrial foodways† (Daston, 2017). Daston is correct â€Å"in her philosophy because, in various and dispersed traditions, nature has been upheld as the pattern of all values, the good, the true, and the beautiful.† (Daston, 2017) â€Å"There is nothing new about the link between nature and necessity, nor with the exculpatory inferences drawn from such links. † (Daston, 2017). In the first section of the paper, she describes local food advocacy as having a political and moral discourse that is meant to provide the foundation for understanding local food networks as sites of resistance against the norms and power of globalized industrial foodways. She explores the use of the concept of â€Å"nature† and the â€Å"natural† in local food discourses with a number of examples of local food advocacy in an attempt to decipher the meaning of the â€Å"natural† in the discourse. Portman (2014) discovers that a cluster of implicit concepts which are uncritically assumed to be earth-based, family-based, and feminine-based; these bases are also assumed to be unproblematic.† (Portman, 2014 Daston asserts that â€Å"the moral dimension of local food discourse, in general, is encompassed in the conviction that there are ethical and unethical ways by which our food can be produced, distributed and consumed.† (Daston, 2017). â€Å"It is only within this modern framework that we can make sense of the naturalistic fallacy, both its confusions and its tenacity. The naturalistic fallacy and its barnacle-like accretions assume what Frankena called a â€Å"bifurcation ontology† that prohibits commerce between the two immiscible realms. Repeated efforts on the part of monists of both materialist and idealist persuasion to dissolve the dichotomy in favor of one or another realm have only reinforced its binary logic† (Daston, 2017, p.581). Portman’s (2017) decision to delve into the ethics of local food advocacy is a timely decision as words such as organic, healthy, and farm-fresh have become a part of the mainstream vernacular. While it may seem random to popular culture.† (Portman, 2017, p. 4). His ideology supports a long-held belief that humans make their food choices based on financial ability. However, it is reckless to say that a single mother of four will make â€Å"everyone’s agreed upon† morally sound decision when trying to determine how to feed her children with her last $20. While politics and economics dictate the type of food presented to various populations and demographics, morality is a luxury that only those who have the time to debate it can afford. â€Å"In this context, the concept of the â€Å"natural† is frequently and uncritically invoked to argue for the ethical significance of participating in and advocating for local food networks. This is problematic in that the dualistic framework serves to obscure many actual complexities within the â€Å"natural† and the â€Å"local† themselves, and in their relationships with their counterparts, the â€Å"cultural† and the â€Å"global.† Thus, by leaving unquestioned certain assumptions about the meaning of the â€Å"natural† and how that meaning was constructed, local food advocacy is not as resistant as it might otherwise be.† (Portman, 2014) Datson (2014), on the other hand, supposes that the idea of morality having a direct influence on decisions regarding nature is a modern phenomenon. This notion supports the theory that these philosophical examinations are only able to be discussed because humans now have the knowledge and time, thanks to modern technology, to make these assumptions. Datson (2014) defined nature as, â€Å"everything in the universe (sometimes including and sometimes excluding human beings), to what is inborn rather than cultivated, to the wild rather than the civilized, to raw materials as opposed to refined products, to the spontaneous as opposed to the sophisticated, to what is native rather than foreign, to the material world without divinity, to a fruitful goddess, and to a great deal else, depending on epoch and context† (Portman, 2014) (p. 582). The lack of a universally accepted definition of the term they are trying to define speaks to the logical flaw that we cannot discount anything that we do not yet understand. It argues that just because something is natural it must be good. We act against nature all the time with money, vaccination, electricity, even medicine. In the same sense, many things that are natural are good, but not all unnatural things are unethical which is what the naturalistic fallacy argues. Both articles show a bias for people who have a choice. A choice to choose what they eat, a choice to carefully examine what they are able to consume, both physically and mentally, and a choice to act on their desires. According to the â€Å"Center for Disease Control (CDC), Non-Hispanic blacks have the highest age-adjusted rates of obesity (48.1%) followed by Hispanics (42.5%), non-Hispanic whites (34.5%), and non-Hispanic Asians (11.7%)† (2017).† The CDC also reported that â€Å"obesity decreased by the level of education. Adults without a high school degree or equivalent had the highest self-reported obesity (35.5%), followed by high school graduates (32.3%), adults with some college (31.0%) and college graduates (22.2%)† (2016). The populations represented in these reports are often plagued by a lack of choice due to political agendas and systemic oppression. Without using these statistics to inform their theories, the authors have left out a demographic who would benefit the most from these findings. Portman (2017) and Daston (2014) have continued a discussion that has been argued for centuries. Portman (2017) provides an action-based solution to the posed questions and the stance it takes, while Daston (2014) attempts to break down a concept that has not been generally agreed upon. Both articles, when referenced wisely, can begin the movement of a positive change in the relationship between our decision-making and our food. References Daston, L. (2017). The naturalistic fallacy is modern. The History of Science Journal, The University of Chicago Press, 105(3), 579-587. doi:10.1086/678173. Overweight and Obesity. (2017). Adult Obesity Facts. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html Overweight and Obesity. (2017). Adult Obesity Prevalence Maps. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/prevalence-maps.html Portman, A. (2014). Mother nature has it right: Local food advocacy and the appeal to the â€Å"natural.† Ethics and the Environment, 19(1), 1-30. Doi: 10.2979. http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/678173 https://muse.jhu.edu/article/547343/summary https://muse.jhu.edu/article/547343/pdf https://www.cdc.gov/socialdeterminants/archive/

Thursday, January 23, 2020

Thomas Hardy :: History

Thomas Hardy About Thomas Hardy and his Wessex Thomas hardy was born in 1840 and died 1928. During his 88-years old life he wrote fifteen novels and one he never published. He also wrote over 900 poems. He wrote and published four volumes of short stories. He was born, and lived the best part of his life, near Dorchester, the county town of Dorset and Devon, Somerset, Cornwall, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire and Oxford. To the section of south-west England he gave the fictional name Wessex, called his first book of poetry ‘Wessex poetry’ and his first collection of short stories he called ‘Wessex tails’. He even called his dog ‘Wessex’. Thomas hardy was born in a cottage which had been built for his grandfather and was brought up buy his Mum, Dad and Nan. The cottage was an isolated building on the edge of a wild heath-land, for which Thomas hardy, in one of his novels, invented the name ‘Egdon heath’. The family Hardy was made up of a Mum, Dad, a gifted boy Thomas, two sisters and a brother. The children had to make their own fun and entertainment. So they would usually listen to their father’s tales. They would involve danger, excitement, interesting characters and a dramatic ending. Thomas hardy based some novels on his relative’s storeys. The telling of such tales was a regular pastime for the small family, and as he grew up, he learned to shape them for a wider audience. For instance, when Thomas was still a boy, he knew he wanted to be a writer. As a child, the lady of the manor at the local mansion particularly favoured Thomas. She was childless, and showed special interest in Thomas, treating him almost like a child of her own, and inviting him to her grand house. Thomas’s mother resented this and according to Thomas hardy, she openly defied the lady. No one knows what exactly happened, but it is certainly true that Thomas’s mother took young Thomas away from the village school, which the lady had founded, and sent him to a school in Dorchester. Thomas Hardy’s mother had a strong will of her own, unlike the heroine of ‘the son’s veto’ who all allows her life to be ruled by the middle- class people. Her marriage has put her among, and, in the end, to be fatally frustrated by the snobbery of her own son. Thomas Hardy :: History Thomas Hardy About Thomas Hardy and his Wessex Thomas hardy was born in 1840 and died 1928. During his 88-years old life he wrote fifteen novels and one he never published. He also wrote over 900 poems. He wrote and published four volumes of short stories. He was born, and lived the best part of his life, near Dorchester, the county town of Dorset and Devon, Somerset, Cornwall, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire and Oxford. To the section of south-west England he gave the fictional name Wessex, called his first book of poetry ‘Wessex poetry’ and his first collection of short stories he called ‘Wessex tails’. He even called his dog ‘Wessex’. Thomas hardy was born in a cottage which had been built for his grandfather and was brought up buy his Mum, Dad and Nan. The cottage was an isolated building on the edge of a wild heath-land, for which Thomas hardy, in one of his novels, invented the name ‘Egdon heath’. The family Hardy was made up of a Mum, Dad, a gifted boy Thomas, two sisters and a brother. The children had to make their own fun and entertainment. So they would usually listen to their father’s tales. They would involve danger, excitement, interesting characters and a dramatic ending. Thomas hardy based some novels on his relative’s storeys. The telling of such tales was a regular pastime for the small family, and as he grew up, he learned to shape them for a wider audience. For instance, when Thomas was still a boy, he knew he wanted to be a writer. As a child, the lady of the manor at the local mansion particularly favoured Thomas. She was childless, and showed special interest in Thomas, treating him almost like a child of her own, and inviting him to her grand house. Thomas’s mother resented this and according to Thomas hardy, she openly defied the lady. No one knows what exactly happened, but it is certainly true that Thomas’s mother took young Thomas away from the village school, which the lady had founded, and sent him to a school in Dorchester. Thomas Hardy’s mother had a strong will of her own, unlike the heroine of ‘the son’s veto’ who all allows her life to be ruled by the middle- class people. Her marriage has put her among, and, in the end, to be fatally frustrated by the snobbery of her own son.

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Americanization of Canada

Former Canadian Prime Minister, Trudeau once compared living next to America to sleeping with an elephant. He said, â€Å"You can not help but be aware of its every movement. † American culture influences not only Canadian culture but also the culture of every country in the world. Sneakers, blue jeans, burgers, and Hollywood blockbusters are only some of the many ways American culture impacts everybody.One of the most telling signs of Americanization seems to be the spread of American burgers and cola to nearly every country on earth, crowning the United States as the king of pop culture. Since the start of the 21st century, the massive role that the United States plays in every aspect of Canadian life continues to grow more apparent. Canada and America are each others main allies because of their proximity in terms of culture, history and geography. Canada’s floundering identity is slowly diluting and digressing towards a more assertive American way of life.By choosin g to model their society and economy after America's, the threat of Canada failing to create a distinctive heritage for itself becomes much more realistic and apparent. By defining America, their society, and economy one can see the threat of Canada losing its heritage is increasing. The Canadian and American relationship is much like the relationship of Siamese twins. They can not be separated without one of them dying and they can not be apart no matter how hard they try.This makes it even more difficult for Canada to establish their own identity and purpose because America’s cultural influences are so profound and apparent in Canadian culture and way of life. No matter how hard they try, Canada’s culture will always be intertwined with America’s culture. The media is one major way that America has influenced Canada. Canada does not have a true identity and from an outsider of both countries, they will often confuse America and Canada.

Monday, January 6, 2020

Axelrod’s Quotations of Franklin Roosevelt in ‘Nothing to...

People seem to always have something to say. Doesn’t matter the person, religion, or gender, people always seem to have an opinion on something. But, how do they express their opinions? Some do it in speeches, but sometimes, a person isn’t very talented or is incapable incoming up will the right words to express how they feel. This is where people start to quote other people. Axelrod was one of those people who liked to quote other people and he quotes and interprets a speech made Theodore Roosevelt. However Axelrods quotes and points are often valid in his paper ‘Nothing to Fear: Lessons in Leadership from FDR’. Axelrod’s points are proved valid for three reasons: (1) Axelrod talks about Roosevelt had polio; (2) Axelrod quoted multiple sources to help the audience to further understand what Roosevelt was saying, (3) Axelrod use quotation in appropriate ways. In Axelrod’s essay ‘Nothing to Fear: Lessons in Leadership from FDR’ he talks about how Roosevelt had Polio. Polio is a disease that attacks the body, paralyzing it for life if not killing the contaminated. But why does Axelrod put that in his essay? It wasnt the fact that Theodore had polio that got Axelrod’s attention; it was what he did when he had Polio. Axelrod says (page 567), â€Å"He chose instead to understand polio, to see clearly the extent of his disability, and then to asses - also clearly - his opinions for overcoming that disability.† in this statement, Axelrod shows that, even though the President had