Food Readings

Please read these two articles for Thursday, May 7.

Showdown at the Coffee Shop

A Proposal to Separate Fast Food and Schools

See you then...baby permitting.

Pollan, "Farmer In Chief"

Please read the following article (14 pp), fill out the thinking guide we talked about in class, and bring it with you to class on Tues, February 3.

Michael Pollan, "Farmer In Chief, " New York Times Magazine (9 October 2008).

Enjoy!

Harvard on Healthy Eating

Here is some great information on maintaining a healthy diet from the Harvard Public School of Health. It is concise and to the point, but covers a lot of ground.

Would You Like Fries With Your Turkey?/Final Assignment

For next Monday/Tuesday, make sure to read these two sections from Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation (New York: Perennial, 2002).

Think about the following questions as you read:

Why is the fast food industry so successful? Why does the food taste so good? How does the "fast food mentality" affect other areas of our lives?

Enjoy, and happy Thanksgiving.

Introduction to Fast Food Nation

"Why the Fries Taste So Good"

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FINAL ASSIGNMENT: SEMESTER SUMMARY PAPER

The primary theme of this course has been “what it means to get an education.” We have talked about many factors related to this theme in two primary ways: 1) functioning well at the university and 2) thinking in new ways by challenging existing assumptions, conventional wisdom, and entrenched beliefs.

Here is a list of the major topics we have covered to jog your memory.

●Thinking about “time” and how we measure our lives
●Using technology and thinking about globalization, and how they affect us
●Using academic libraries for research
●Evaluating learning styles
●Examining how we read, study, think, remember, and ask questions
●Discussing the importance of general education, majors, and applicable skills
●Understanding American culture through readings and exercises on diversity
●Examining our individual and collective environment and our experiences
●Discussing “engagement” and the value of campus/community involvement
●Discussing health and wellness including sleep, diet, exercise, quality of life, etc.
●Discussing Freakonomics and critical thinking

This final writing is worth 50 points. Each student will present this paper in class during the final week of classes. This 2-3 minute presentation will be worth 20 points.

THE ASSIGNMENT

1. How has thinking about these ideas shaped your view of “getting an education?” Use specific examples from Foundations, Freakonomics, other readings, class exercises/discussions, or other courses taken this semester as support.

2. Reflect on what has occurred in other classes, the residence hall, campus activities, etc., and how these components fit together. Identify common threads present in these various components of university life.

PAPERS ARE DUE IN CLASS ON MONDAY/TUESDAY DEC 3/4. No late assignments will be accepted.

Get Your Freakonomics Book Signed By the Authors (Sort of)

The logistics of mailing your book to Levitt and Dubner after the semester to be signed and then shipped back is not time- or cost-effective. So, click here to get a bookplate signed by the authors. It's basically a sticker signed by the authors that they will sign and send to you for free. Then, upon arrival, you can peel it off and stick it inside the front cover or on the title page. Or on your car. Or forehead.

In other news:
Want to ward off illness and infections? Try a crap sandwich. Slate.com argues that our food, and therefore our bodily systems, are too purified.

Radiohead Update: they reportedly sold a whopping 1.2 million copies of their new album yesterday. This morning, ABC's Good Morning America reported that people paid an average $8 for the album. So, that's a cool $9.6 million for the band's "free" album. Again, thinking freakonomically, why would people pay $8 if they can get it for free? What incentives are in play here? Will the amount paid go down over time? More on this as it develops.

Is breathing air in Europe now more dangerous than driving a car? A new study suggests that pollution caused by global warming is responsible for more deaths per year than car accidents.

Reading Links for Tues, July 17

Links to the reading that is due on Tuesday, July 17.

Introduction to Fast Food Nation (Eric Schlosser, 2002) EDIT: new link

"Why The Fries Taste So Good" (Excerpt from the book)

July 10 News Update

Here are a couple of links to interesting reading on ideas that we will talk about in this class.

Death of the "N-word." This an article from today's Washington Times on the NAACP's attempt to bury this racial slur once and for all. Is this possible?

Life Expectancy By Country. I mentioned this in class yesterday. Why is the U.S. so far down the list relative to our wealth, power, and access to hospitals and doctors?

Give these a look when you have time.