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“The Fattening of America”

When reviewing “The Fattening of America” Elizabeth Kolbert the author explains why people started to put on weight. She quotes the recent studies made by a health economist Eric Finklstein where he states that we should blame price drops on food and drinks for those conditions. I believe most of us would agree with this statement; however, there may be other reasons why Americans have weight problems such as bad food choices and that people are lazy.

When you live in New York you are always late. Everyone is constantly rushing from one place to another. We don’t have time to prepare a breakfast at home not to mention a dinner. Therefore, we go to the first store, restaurant on our way without thinking what we are putting into our mouth. Instead of going to a supermarket and buying fresh food to make a healthy meal, we choose a restaurant or a store where food is not always healthy and fresh. It’s true that it is easier to go to restaurant and pick up something from the menu rather than going grocery shopping and cooking something, as a result we know what we are eating.

            When it comes to food our choices are not always healthy. Since fast food and sugary drinks like Coca – Cola are not reserved for special occasions like they used to be according to Eric Finkelstein, moreover they are cheap people that have easier access to it.  For example, the college that I attend has vending machines where you can buy candy, chocolate bars and soda. I haven’t seen any fresh fruits or juices. The only healthy option is water. When you are hungry you are going to buy what the vending machines has to offer such as, a lot of sugar, slat and fat which according to David A. Kessler our brain reacts to sweet, fatty foods the same way that addicts’ respond to cocaine. This will trigger us to buy not one chocolate bar, but two or more.

Changing your eating habits can be hard especially when what you eat is unhealthy. It’s going to take some time and effort, but in the long run it will be worth it. You will start feeling, looking better, and you will have more energy.

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PART I

The Meatrix

In the video Leo has a conversation with Moopheus. He describes the living conditions of pigs to Leo. He offered him a pill and Leo chose red. He was zapped to an overcrowded factory where pigs are kept. This shows that many people think that pigs are freely walking around on a farm meanwhile, they are kept in cages with no air or light.

The Meatrix: Revolting

This video showed Leo how cows are treated. Since they have bad living conditions and get sick the cows get an overdose on antibiotics. They get RBGH, which is an artificial growth hormone. The babies are separated from their mothers and are fed through a machine. Instead of milk they get cow's blood from dead cows, which can cause mad cow disease.           

The Meatrix II1/2

This video took place in a slaughterhouse. It showed how meat is processed and from the intestines juices drop to the meat. The companies don't care about safety only the profit. Since they have bad conditions it cause the people that buy the product to get a disease. Also the people that work there are responsible to what happens to the meat during the packaging and the people when they eat the product.

            The main message of these video clips is that anyone can change the way animals are treated and what we eat depends only on us. 

PART II

After watching The Meatrix movie I started to think about what kind of food I am buying, but most people don’t know where they food comes from and don’t know if the food is good for their health. I think that their minds are filled with pictures where animals are living in good conditions, and their fruits and vegetables grow without human interference. Maybe a few years ago we didn’t have to think about all those things, but times have changed and so has our food.

When I was a young my grandmother and neighbors grew their own vegetables and animals. They were able to live on a big farm with grass surrounding them, unlike being kept in a small overcrowded one getting hormones injected in them. In past generations, people didn’t know the term organic but, the way they handled their livestock was all natural. 

I am a person who reads labels, ingredients before I buy something but I tend to get lost with all the information displayed. Last week, my teacher showed me different milk labels: one contained only milk and the other one had milk, vitamins a and d, and the cows ate plants and not animal based ones. I always knew I should look at labels, but more into the ingredients. Also the company where the milk comes from will never tell you how the milk was actually produced since they want to sell their product. Many people can relate to me. They don’t really know what they are buying unless someone else points out the negatives in the product.

Nowadays, a lot of people that want to be healthier depend on organic labels. Organic farmers need to let their animals roam around freely. There can’t be any hormones or antibiotics added into their bodies unlike in sustainable methods. The only way a company can get a label that uses the word “organic” is if it is USDA approved and they have a certificate. If someone violates these regulations that are specified by the USDA they will be fined great amounts. So, either farmers stick with their sustainable methods or try to decrease the obesity rates by producing organic foods. 

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“Imitation of Film: Here’s Smoking at You, Kid”

In the article “Imitation of Film: Here’s Smoking at You, Kid” Nicholas Balkar tries to show us how movies can influence young children to smoke by showing them actors that smoke. The author quotes recent studies made by a professor of pediatrics, Dr. James D. Sargent, based on 6,522 children, nationwide. The results of those studies were overwhelming. They show that kids, who watched movies where actors are smoking, reached for cigarettes two and a half times more frequently rather than those who weren’t exposed to those movies. Dr. Sargent suggests that we all should take those studies seriously and I agree with him that we should not disregard them because smoking especially at a young age can cause a lot of health problems.  The one thing that was missing in his report was how many children began to smoke before they saw those movies. Although famous actors can have an impact on young kids I believe that their friends and family has a more major one since they see them everyday. Young kids don’t go to the movies that often for the movies to actually have a negative impact on them.

            Everyone knows that smoking is a bad habit, but people don’t care about their health until something bad happens. For example my friend started to smoke when she was 12 years old. She was a very beautiful girl who loved to do sports. She had asthma and she knew that she shouldn’t smoke, but she didn’t care. After a few years of smoking she ended up in a hospital because she had problems breathing. When I visited her in hospital I could barely recognize her. Her skin was gray and her teeth and nails were yellow. She looked horrible. When I asked her why didn’t you quit or why did you start to smoke in the first place? She replied that she thought it was cool and after a few months of smoking she tried to quit, but she couldn’t. 

            My friend is a great example of a person who didn’t have a good role model to lead her on a good path. Her parents were always busy and they didn’t pay attention to her. She spent most of her free time hanging out with her friends who were much older than she was. They offered her a cigarette, which was her first one. When she started to cough they were laughing and told her that maybe she shouldn’t smoke because she doesn’t know how to. She wanted to prove to them that they are wrong and after a while she was addicted to it. Her parents were always smoking cigarettes therefore they weren’t the best role models for her. No one told her that smoking could cause cancer, heart disease, lung disease, cancer and heart attacks.

            There are a lot of reasons why young kids reach for cigarettes. The people that can be blamed for causing a child to do bad are their friends and media but, as parents we are the main people that are responsible for this. If young children can have a stronger bond with their parents then no one would be able to convince them to reach for any unfamiliar item or do a specific activity. 

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Most People Do Not Want Freedom

In the article “The Matrix, Liberal Education, and Other Splinters in the Mind” Christine Corell and Patrick Malcolmson states that “freedom is not something that most people are going to be inclined towards or be receptive to.” Is it better for us know the facts and face them or do we prefer to ignore them. I think that a lot of us at least once in their life try to answer to this question.

Most of us claim that they would rather know the truth rather than to live in ignorance. I believe that people don’t want to hear the truth because then they have to face reality, since it can sometimes be painful and ugly. My friend Agnes is a great example of a person who ignores the facts. Even though she knows her husband is cheating on her she doesn’t take any action. She believes that after she leaves him, she will not find anyone else. Leaving her husband would mean that there would be too much pressure on her trying to balance her personal and social life.

Another example of a person who is so afraid of knowing the truth is my aunt. Two years ago she started feeling sick, but thought it was nothing so she didn’t bother to visit the doctor. After a few months her daughter told her to go, since there have been cases of cancer in the family. Finally, a year passed by and she changed her mind and saw the doctor. It was too late to take any action except for surgery.

A person should always listen to the truth instead of living in lies. Even though you can’t force someone to believing something, it would only benefit him or her. Based on my friend, I believe she should realize the truth and the male she is with is hurting her. Every female is capable of being independent even her. Looking at my aunt, if she went to the doctor quicker she could of got rid of her problem without surgery. Dealing with the truth is more difficult than the lies but everyone is capable of getting through the situation. 

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Red Pill or Blue Pill?

Living in lies can benefit an individual. If every person were a clairvoyant then they would live in fear. They would know what happens in everyone’s life. A clairvoyant can’t live his life in lies since he knows everything. An example can be a Polish clairvoyant Krzysztof Jackowski. He helps the police in criminal and missing people cases. In an interview he said that he wouldn’t like to be a clairvoyant because he feels that he is responsible for all the problems that occur. Krzysztof said that if he would have the ability to be a normal person he would want to. Facing reality can be really hard and even for him it is. He would like to see how it is living in lies and not knowing what happens to the people around him. Sometimes living in lies is better, since in most situations your voice wouldn’t make the situation better. Sticking to what you know is beneficial for some because if they find out the truth more problems can arise. Knowing the truth and trying to resolve it not always brings a positive impact.

Fate or Free Will?

I believe that Neo went down the path of fate instead of free will. Oracle knew from the beginning that Neo was the one but told him the complete opposite. She informed Morpheus that he would soon find The One. When this would occur then Trinity would fall in love with him. Why did Oracle lie to Neo and mislead him by saying he is not The One? If Neo knew from the start that he was The One then his potentials would go wrong to be accepted. When the Agents captured Morpheus, Neo tried to rescue him. He was very determined to complete the task even though he was prepared to die at the end. His final defeat made him realize his true ability that he was The One. At the end, he finally realized he was The One just like the Oracle and Morpheus believed.

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The Dangers of Reality TV

In the article “The Dangers of Reality TV” Timothy Sexton states that “image over ability” is expressed in media. Appearance is the first thing people look at before looking at your skills. People get judged based on looks instead of their ability to complete a task.  Many believe that by changing the way you look can lead them to becoming successful later on in life. In these reality shows anyone can achieve the American Dream without an education. This is where “image over ability” comes in.

 I agree with Timothy Sexton that for many people looks is what they mainly depend on. In our generations visiting doctors to get special treatments is becoming more normal instead of taboo. Managers look for workers that can help them get more customers instead of looking for someone that can quickly get the job done.

While working in my grandma’s restaurant I realized that she is “image over ability”. She would rather choose a more elegant looking female than one that is hardworking. My grandma believes that by having an attractive waitress more people would start coming to the restaurant. There was once a girl that didn’t have such good looks but was a hardworking, always on time and completed her job correctly, but my grandma didn’t like the way she looked. Instead, she picked a female that was more appealing but was lazy when it came to working. Many managers do this because they believe that attractive workers bring positive impacts to their business.

Another incident that made me believe “image over ability” will get me far in life is visiting my doctor. I came to get my shots since I wasn’t up to date and came out thinking I should care more about my looks instead of my ability to complete a specific task. My doctor suggested that I should get botox and other procedures. When I asked him why, he told me that it’s one step closer to becoming fortunate. This is because in my generation education plays a less important role than looks in an individual’s life. He told me many people rely on their looks to be acknowledged by others.

“Image over ability” can be related to “never judge a book by its cover”. Many people will pick up a book with an interesting cover instead of a best selling book. In comparison, many will choose a more appealing person than a less provocative individual. By watching reality television shows many people believe that the importance of having an education and behavior doesn’t count. It is sad, but in many cases this can relate to everyone’s life in one way or another.