Food Inc: What is inside our Happy Meal?

  When I was in 4th grade McDonald's Happy Meals were my favorite thing to eat. The food was good, but the reason why i dragged my mom was because of the special toys hidden deep down in the bright-red boxes. I couldn't wait to open the red box and look at the toy I got. In order to earn this bright-red I had to behave and do my 

responsibilities at home. 

  In the documentary film Food Inc.,we were able to see how our food is created. How it goes to the farmers and how it gets to our Happy Meal. Also how the animals are being treated before getting killed and turned into food.

http://goo.gl/fG0VJ2

    When McDonald first began in the 1950's the workers delivered the food in roller skates. McDonald brothers realize that they were gaining a lot of money with their company so, they decided to go with a new process that would make them gain much more money. They decided to make their food in factories know as an assembly-line. The factory way had less workers with lower pay. If workers didn't work for them anymore the owners could replace the workers easily.  

     Of the food produced in America 8 out of 10 patties are controlled by four companies, Tyson, JBS, Cargill, and National Beef. When the food is delivered to the supermarket labels are misleading,because they give false advertisement to the consumers by saying that animals are being raised by humans when they are raised in factories. The industrial food is considered "dishonest" or misleading because they don't have the labels that indicate the environmental costs which are the causes that will be made to the environment. Another costs that people don't label on the food is the societal known as, the impact the the item will have in society. Last they don't include the health cost which are the proteins, nutrients etc in the items. Before all the labeling the chickens have to be treated with chemicals and the killed.  

    When chickens are raised in factories the workers in the farm inject the chickens so, that their body looks different to satisfy the needs of the people. With the treatments it causes the chickens to grow faster and make their breast bigger. Back in the 1950's chickens were not injected with chemicals they would grow normal. Fourth more in the movie we saw how company's don't let the media see their chickens in the factories.
      In the movie we saw how Vince Edwards the chicken grower for Tyson didn't let the filmmakers inside his chicken houses and,see how they are raised. Tyson didn't want the filmmakers to enter because, they don't want us to know the truth of how chickens are living and see how the chickens never see the sunlight.
   As I watched in the movie Joel Salatin's has a farm that produces organic food, which is animals that are raised naturally outside and not like factories animals. According to the U.S. department of Agricultural they believe that Joel Saltin's farm is considered "unsanitary," which means dirty and unhealthy because it's a open air farm. The USDA believe it's a unsanitary environment because, they kill chickens with kitchen knives in the open air. On the other side factories kill chickens with machines or other materials and not letting the chickens see the sunlight ever in their life. 

http://goo.gl/v9t7lu

     When we eat our Happy Meals and our fries we are eating corn. About 30 percent of the United States land is used to grow corn. The government pays to produce as much corn as possible to make food that we eat daily such as, chips, coke, and ketchup. The big companies of meat like the idea of having as much corn because, it's a very cheap and helps the farmers to feed the animals.
     Over the years animals have been feed with cheap corn to make them fat causing the cows to have E. Coli, which is a disease that affects
 your kidneys and other parts of your body. The disease can kill children and elders.

   When we eat meat or beef that is contaminated  can cause us health problems. Kevin Kowalcyk a 3 year old died in 2001 because he eat a hamburger that had E. Coli. When the government knew about is death they didn't do anything about it. Over the years scientist have discover a material to add to meat that has E. Coli known as ammonia to wash down the E. Coli. Ammonia is a pink slim that is added to meat in factories to take off the chemicals that can causes diseases. Many people still buy the food anyways because now a days food is very cheap and anyone can buy it.
    When we go to McDonald's we notice that the dollar menu is very cheap and we are able to buy as many items with not a lot of money. The food is very cheap because it's made of corn and it's a over cropped food. When people don't have a lot of money they go to a fast food restaurant and start buying food that they believe its healthy. Fast food can cause obesity,and  diabetes because of the corn that is in the food and the unhealthy chemicals that make you be unhealthy. People at times can't afford to buy healthy food in grocery due to the fact that its expensive instead they buy unhealthy food to make them not feel hungry. when people start to become sick they decided to buy food and bot pay for the medicine because, the costs is higher and fast food is cheaper.
     As we enter McDonald's we see tat there are many people working you may wonder where do some come from? The large meat packing companies get most of their workers because of Nafta that stands for  North America Food Trade Act it allows immigrants to work in the factories.
     Food corporations are protected by laws and they can't be judged in the media. If someone talks bad about a company they must go to court and fight against the company.

 

America's Food Supply

     Perdue is the 3rd largest chicken processing company based in Salisbury, Maryland, and United States, with annual sales of 6 billion. The company stated that they treated their chickens humanly when it was far from the truth. In the article Abusing Chickens We Eat by Nicholas Kristof published by The New York Times, the author argues that Perdue should treat their chickens humanely. He also argues that if chickens that are not raised humanely they shouldn't consist of labels that indicate that they are and give false advertisement to the costumes.

                Nicholas Kristof stated in the article if humans were to grow at the same rate as modern chickens in the Perdue industry they would overcome the normal weight of a human. Poultry Science calculated that a human would weigh 670 pounds by the age of eight weeks. Furthermore, Kristof examines how the chickens don’t run or roost as birds normally do, instead they collapsed as soon as they get up not being able to carry the weight that they have in their breast. It’s a stinging ammonia that causes away to eat feathers and skin. In the article a farm boy stated that he has raised small flocks of chickens and geese, and had never seen anything like that.

Based on the Article the best quote that represents it, was when a farmer that worked for Perdue had an attack of conscience by, watching a video of Jim Perdue and seeing how they mistreat the animals and said, “My jaw just dropped, it couldn't get any further from the truth." "U.S.D.A.is the accomplice of Perdue in the fooling of consumers," says Leah Garces, American director of compassion in world farming, she indicates that consumers shouldn't get false advertisement.

Here we see the chickens in the farm with limited space Source

          
   Based on the novel ''The Jungle by Upton Siclair he stated that in the 1900s rats were scattered around factories in the night eating the food that was left outside. People threw their excrement outside due to the fact that they didn't have a specific location to throw them. Causing health conditions to the people that came in contact with the unsanitary materials. After reading the novel Theodore Roosevelt the president passed the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 that prevented adulterated or misbrand meat from being sold as food. It also ensure Americans life by providing sanitary food.

On the article Abusing Chickens We Eat by Nicholas Kristof I conclude that the article opened up my eyes to what actually happens behind the scenes of raising a chicken. By reading this article I learned that chickens are not always treated humanely and companies give false advertisement to the consumers. I also believe that chickens should have an open space so they can move freely and the barns should be clean. As well as providing sunlight to the chickens in other words chickens should be treated humanely.  

In the picture we see children playing with dead animals in the unsanitary streets
Source

What Happen to the 43?

      The Ayotzinapa School is located in the state of Guerrero. The mission of the collage is to train new teachers to be successful with students from rural areas of Mexico. The Ayotzinapa students consist of communist ideas.  The government on the other hand does not agree with the beliefs of Ayotzinapa students, due to the fact that they don't want students to stand up for themselves.
    On the night in September 2014  Iguala, Guerrero faced a devastated incident where there buses of Ayotzinapa where going to a protest in Mexico. That night the police intersected the three buses and began to shoot the students. Many innocent lives where taken in just a second, three students followed by three bystanders. After the incident occurred the police kidnapped 43 students.
     Jose Luis Albarca is the mayor of Igual, and Maria De Los Angeles is the wife of the mayor. They are both connected to the Iguala ambush because they were linked to the drug cartel in Mexico. Jose Luis Albarca order the police to stop the 3 buses that contained the 43 students.
     The Mexican Government has not contribute to the findings of the 43 innocent students that were kidnapped. On the other behalf the Mexican people want the Goverment to do something about the missing students. Parents of the missing students have lost faith in the corrupted government, they also believe that they are establishing relationships with the drug cartel. However parents are not giving up and, are searching for the lost ones. Mexican people have also conducted marches in order to let the Goverment know that they are not giving up.
      Enrique Pena Nieto is the president of Mexico, he signed the paper that promised to have the Goverment backing. Angel Aguirre is the governor of the State of Guerro, that helped the parents with the investigation but gave up on the. As soon as he found the the bodies that were found were not the 43 students.
 

The Image shows the Mexican People marching to be heard Source 

     

Here we see the images of the 43 students in an art format Source

   

Passive House Poem

Passive Houses is our echo friendly future
We will help our environment
Less electricity more money for the future
Isn't this exciment don't you stay silent
Passive houses don't need traditional heating or cooling
With this we can conserve our environment don't be fooling.
Passive houses should be the new technique of housing
More windows the more light we extract
Solar panels are the new technique for the future

The picture shows a traditional house with no solar panels or a large amount
of windows  Source

The picture shows a Passive house with solar panels and a lot of windows to extract light
Source

Industrial Revolution

The Erie Canel was a way of transportation in the Industrial Revolution  Source

   

In the image we see how steel was produced. Source 

     

Here we see the people that worked the Black gold to make new products. Source

     
 


 















             
       
             The Erie canal was a canal from New York that ran about 363 miles from Albany and Buffalo connecting the Hudson River. The Erie canal benefited people in the Industrial Revolution by providing an early form of water transportation. Boats were a new way of transporting goods to the west and east. Through  out the 18th and 19th century the Erie canal was faster than carts pulled by draft animals and cut transport cost by 95 percent.
            United States became the the number one economy in the world, due to the fact that free enterprise, and entrepreneurs were a part of the contribution in the success of the U.S. Free Enterprise is an economic system in which private business operates in competition and largely free of state control. In the lead of success, businessman called entrepreneurs invested their own money in new industries risking  their investment if a venture failed. The entrepreneurs began to develop products to suit people's needs. These two factors were important to the United States, due to the fact that it was profitable to the economy and people could invest in their own.

         The US had an abundance of natural resources that, held it to become a world wide industrial power. With the benefit of having oil, it allowed the US to transport goods through the movement of steamboats. New transportation ways were open to people and products would get faster to their destination Another natural resource was oil, it lead to the invention of the steam engine. Iron became available as well in 1887 were they found more than 100 miles long and up to 3 miles wide.
        Black gold through eastern Native American tribes had made fuel and medicine from crude oil.In the 1840's, Americans began to using kerosene to light lamps. Until 1859 Edwin L. Drake used oil in a steam engine. Gasoline became a by product an was a useful tool for the automobile and became the most important form of oil.
            In the United States steel was the new method to produce more than 90 percent of the nation's steel. the railroads were built with the access of steel. Not only did steel make railroads bu, it changed the face of the nations well, it made innovative creations that benefited the people. One of the most known structure was the Brooklyn Bridge that was supported by steel. Steel became very well known and people from all over the world wanted the same benefit.
             Buildings in changed in the Industrial Revolution by having the components of steel. An example was Baron Jenney designed the first sky skyscraper with a steel frame. With steel architects could built high buildings. with the introduction of electricity the buildings,became more modern as inventions came along.        

Corps citizens? Summary

            In the article When Did Companies Become People? Excavating The Legal Evolution by Nina Totenberg. The author explains how corporations, took over people in the way of gaining profit. For years corporations were not given any constitutional rights of political speech. The first involved law was the first Amendment, which gave the right to spend money on state ballot initiatives. In the end of the Civil War, people adopted to the 14th Amendment. It provided an opportunity for the corporations to seek legal protection. By having the14th Amendment it provided equal protection to make sure that the states don't unequally mistreat corporations. People believe that corporations don't have the right against self-incrimination. On the other hand others argue that corporations don't deserve the rights for the corporations, due to the fact that they are just a company.

The Law protected the Rights of people (liberty &  property)  Source 

People protested for the corporation rights Source 

How The Tycoons Became So Rich

      In the American Revolution corporations were able to be tycoons in order to buy and sell products to consumers. Tycoons were able to become very wealthy by, the process of controlling as much of the business as possible through vertical integration. Vertical Integration is known as the combination of one company of two or more products operated by separate companies. Corporations were able  to search for new ways to make better products cheaply. An example was Andrew Carnegie that became a steel manufacturer and bought other companies in order to have the most control and, be able to gain as much profit. He not only did profit but he also donate money to charities and was known as a model in the 19th century.

          

Andrew Carnegie and example of Vertical Integration with the steel Manufacturing Source

            
         

People believed that rich people was a sign of God Source

         




     As a result corporations began to have competition among their selves. Robber baron known as wealthy people who try to get land or business more money in a way that is dishonest or wrong. Business were raising prices higher than before and started to reduce wages of workers. With the idea of wealth social Darwinism kick it in, 
people that believed that being rich was a sign of God’s 
favor and a sing of being poor. 
In my opinion I believe that rich man liked the idea of social
Darwinism because, the government 
wouldn't question god’s rules and, they would believe that they are more superior than poor people.

Summary Tech Reading

          In the article How Science and Life Interacted During the American Revolution complain by Danny Blas we learned, how cities spread dramatically due to the people moving in to the cities. Technology such as steel helped America reach the skies by building taller buildings. Coming up with the elevator that reached the top and is more assessable for people.

  Technology changed how people moved around cities because, we created above surface, on surface and below surface transportation. Above transportation refers to airplanes. On surface transportation is known as street cars and, below surface are subways.

            Technology also changed the way we learned and read. Back before the Industrial Revolution people couldn't be informed rapidly, but now with the invention of the printer people could be informed at an earlier time. With paper printing every day and having newspapers and magazines people would be informed at any time of the day.   

             In the article The Passive House: Sealed for Freshness by Sandy Keenan we learned that a passive house is an environmentally responsible house without traditional heating and air conditioning systems.  Some people argue that passive houses are more expensive, however they are very echo friendly for the future.

          To be certified you have to meet three crucial benchmarks. The first requirement is if there has to be a certain level of air tightness determine by a door test. The other two requirements are the measures of energy use. All of this requirements are tested during the construction, they use fog machines and, cameras are brought to detect smaller air leaks. During construction people have different aspects such as Germans they don’t take things into account such as temperature, on the other 
hand Americans do.

            Residents in expensive neighborhood are against passive housing because they are jealous due to the fact that they don’t want different social class with them.

         Technology has changed Americans dramatically in the Industrial Revolution and today as well by transportation and by new materials that people have invented. For example people now can live in high apartments because, we have the technology of elevators and, new materials that are sustainable to hold the building together. Another way that we have improved is transportation people can move from place to place in vehicle or public transportation.

Levi Kinsel's Personality

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                                                                              

                                                           Levi Kinsel’s Personality.

            In the mid-1940s communication was not as accessible as it it’s in today’s society. As in this generation we can communicate with someone in two minutes by, via text message or other resource, however back in the day people used letters. Can you imagine how hard it was to communicate with your love ones, and you would have to save your words for days.  Levi Kinsel was a USA Navy machinist mate that sent letters to his wife Rose B. Kinsel during World War 2. When reading the letters that our teacher provided in U.S History class. I came to a conclusion that Levi Kinsel, had a personality that made him a caring, busy, and unhealthy man.

            Levi Kinsel was a caring person that took time to write to his wife. He considered an important part of his life to be informed of his wife and, be aware of what was happening when he wasn’t there. In the letter 38 the second paragraph Levi demonstrates how much he cares for his wife telling her, “How are you feeling? And how is your cough and cold I hope you can get something done for your hands. I sure don’t want you to be feeling bad.” With the quote we see that Levi knows what is happening with Rose and is concern of her health issues. Another example of Levi being caring is in letter  34 April 6 1994, in the first paragraph were he states, “I don’t see why you are doing all that hard work or so much of it all at once I was glad you had the house painted, but you should have waited and had someone do it.” With the quote I analyzed that Levi didn’t like the idea of his wife doing hard work, takes consideration of her health and the hard work she has done.

            Not only was Levi Kinsel a caring person but, he was a busy man as well. Levi was in the U.S Navy force where he traveled all the time he didn’t have a permanent place. In letter 38 Portsmouth, Virginia second paragraph, Levi demonstrates his busy duties by stating, “I went through Arizona, N.M, CO, Kansas, Missouri, III., Ohio, and VA, I was relay all the way through Colorado. About 50 miles and went through Raton at 2:30 A.M.” Levi was a man that traveled almost every day from place to place due to the fact that he worked overseas. Another example of Levi being busy is in page 52 Levi tells his wife the schedule he had in is work, “I understand now that we leave here in a few days go to sea for a few days operation and, then head for New York stay there a week on 10 days and, then out again for a few more days then Boston and, Philly, then back here after that I don’t know.” With all the trips Kinsel had, he had to be moving from place to place and, be aware of what was happening.

Levi Kinsel was a physical unhealthy man that was always sick or injured. Traveling overseas and having climate changed affected his health. In letter 21 January 24, 1942 Levi explains to his wife the incident he had, “I woke up this morning about 3o’clock and I just barely made the toilet in time and I am still going about every hour an half sweetheart.” In some letters I occasionally I observed that he had health issues that lead him to feel ill. He had various times where Levi had to stay in bed, for example in letter 30 first paragraph he states, “I have a pretty sore finger on my right hand now I was sharpening the butcher’s  knife and cut it and, got infected." Not only did he have infections but, also had colds that prevented him from going to work. An example of his sickness is in the letter 32 first paragraph where Levi briefly tells Rose how he felt during the day, “I caught another cold and felt pretty bad sat so stayed out of wards and took some pills.”  Levi had many health issues that caused him to become ill during his work environment.
        By analyzing the letters that Levi Kinsel sent to Rose I came to conclusion that Levi was a caring, busy, and unhealthy man due to the evidence that I found in the letters. Levi was a man that cared about his wife and, wrote to her when he had time. He not only told her about what was happening with him but, also asked her in the letters how she was doing and considered her health when Rose was sick. Another character trait that Levi had was a busy man that didn’t stop, he went from place to place. With the trips that Levi had it caused him to be an unhealthy man as well. Levi had certain health complications that made him feel really sick making him stay in. With all the letters that Levi Kinsel wrote I learned some characteristics of his  personality that, I could of never pictured in my mind. Kinsel was a man that was considerate of his wife that cared for her every time he wrote to Rose.