Fascinating article on the future of meat production

If you have time and interest, check out this fascinating article in Seed Magazine on the future of Meat production.

Paul

Blog Assignment #9

For this assignment you will need to do FOUR things:

Read the article While French eye thinness, America’s obesity expands, which is on reserve; read the article An Insatiable Emptiness which I will hand out in class; watch at least 20 minutes of the 48 minute film Body Image: Let’s get real which is on reserve and available for checkout at the Media Desk; and watch the entire 34 minute Killing us softly 3: advertising's image of women which is on reserve and available for checkout at the Media Desk. While this seem like a lot, the entire assignment should only take 1 ½ to 2 hours.

I want you to specifically address why you think we live in a culture where people are increasingly larger and heavier, where obesity has been on the rise for years, yet the media projects extreme thinness as an icon for female (and often male) beauty.

You may also comment on any other aspects of the articles or films you wish, or on experiences in your own life that are relevant.

Using the database PsychInfo, find and cite an article in a peer-reviewed journal article that deals with any of the issues raised, and include it at the end of your post, MLA style.

This blog posting will be due by midnight, Sunday, June 1, comments by midnight June 2.

Monsanto Sugar

Here's an interesting blog post about the new Round-up (herbicide) -resistant Monsanto sugar beet. There are many concerns about this product, and for good reason. As the blog post notes "At the request of Monsanto, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency increased the allowable amount of glyphosate residues on sugar beetroots by a whopping 5,000% -- glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup. Sugar is extracted from the beet's root and the inevitable result is more glyphosate in our sugar. GE sugar beets are wind pollinated, and there is a strong possibility that pollen from Roundup Ready sugar beets could contaminate non-GE sugar beets and important food crops such as chard, and red and yellow beets (or "table beets") -- exactly what happened in "The Future of Food." The sugar produced will be mixed in with other types of sugar, unlabeled and untraceable. You couldn't avoid sugar from Roundup Ready beets even if you tried."

Paul

Blog Assignment 7 - Magazine Food Ads

For this assignment you will examine older popular magazines. These magazines, like Life, Time, Newsweek, etc. are all located in 1West of Wilson Library. They are all in the call number range AP2. They are shelved in 2 separate areas however, the regular shelves and the Oversized shelves – for large magazines like Life.

Using only magazines from before 1960 scan through them looking for ads about food or food products (sorry, no booze or tobacco products). On your blog comment on these ads. You may choose one ad specifically, several ads, or make overall observations about the ads in general, comparing them to both today’s advertising and food. Please analyze the social aspects of how food is portrayed – how people are positioned, dressed, interacting, etc. as well as the food, the ad’s message, etc. Also comment on how food is packaged, etc. List the magazine(s) that hosted your ads, and the date.

I’m recommending the following publications, but you are not limited to them:
(in the Oversized shelves)

Life
New York Times Magazine
Vanity Fair

(in the regular shelves)

Time
Newsweek
The New Yorker
The Atlantic Monthly

As always, your post should be a minimum of 200 words. Please include, at the end of your post, a recommendation for an academic/scholarly article that deals with the issue of food and advertising (the article doesn’t need to be old). Include the MLA citation for the article.

Posts are due by midnight Sunday, 5/18/08. Comments by midnight Monday, 5/19/08.

Gene Patenting

The excerpt below is from Commondreams Please read.

A handful of the world’s largest agricultural biotechnology companies are seeking hundreds of patents on gene-altered crops designed to withstand drought and other environmental stresses, part of a race for dominance in the potentially lucrative market for crops that can handle global warming, according to a report being released today.

Three companies — BASF of Germany, Syngenta of Switzerland and Monsanto of St. Louis — have filed applications to control nearly two-thirds of the climate-related gene families submitted to patent offices worldwide, according to the report by the Ottawa-based ETC Group, an activist organization that advocates for subsistence farmers

GM Plant Lecture

Here are some links from the lecture on GM Plants presented by Marion Brodhagen.

Union of Concerned Scientists
www.ucsusa.org/food_and_environment/genetic_engineering/

Monthly newsletter published by scientists
www.agbioforum.org

International umbrella organization concerned with agricultural research
www.cgiar.org/impact/agribiotech.html

Series of ongoing lectures by world-reknowned scientists
www.biotech.wisc.edu/lectures/

Blog Assignment 6 - A Bit of a Breather

For this assignment you can write about any aspect of food that you wish. Try and write something that is introspective and has some substance however, something thoughtful.

Please find and cite an article in an academic journal (scholarly or peer-reviewed) that deals with any of the issues raised here, and include it at the end of your post.

This blog posting will be due by midnight, Sunday May 11th. Comments by midnight, May 12th.

Food Navigator

FoodNavigator-USA.com is a daily online news service available as a free-access website and provides daily and weekly newsletters to subscribers.

The service seeks out news stories and data of value to decision-makers in food and beverage development in Europe.

The FoodNavigator-USA.com team is led by award-winning journalists. They scan all available scientific, technical and industry sources and search out previously unpublished material, primary data and expert opinions in all areas of significance to the target audience. (according to their website). Pretty amazing source of food information. Check them out.

Paul

Extra Credit

I will give extra credit to anyone who attends this event. You don't need to have read the book, but if you want to read or scan it, it's on reserve for this class. I will try and be there.

Time: Monday, May 5, 2008 7:00 p.m.
Location: Village Books
The VB Reads, General Lit discussion group meets the first Monday of each month at 7 pm. It is open to anyone. The book for May is The Omnivore's Dilemma.