Blog 15

                                 The New Industrial Migrants

The New Industrial Migrants (Part I)

In the article “The new industrial migrants (Part I)” from Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser explains that in the jobs of meatpacking during the 1980s had a big offer of illegal workers came from Mexico, Central America and Asia, therefore the high offer of  workers increase the turnovers rate the same way the profits of these companies were higher.

The New Industrial Migrants (Part II)

In “The New Industrial Migrants (Part II)” from Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser states that in the companies of meatpacking there were importing and hire cheap labor from different areas of the country so the IPB denied the use of the illegal workers in these companies therefore at some point these practice concern to the Immigration and Naturalization Services.

I agree with the author statement these companies use the migrants labor in order to avoid big wages and other expenses that will increase the cost of production so this practices go in benefice of the companies with higher profits.

According to Schlosser in the 1980 companies of meatpacking were taking advantages of the immigrants labor in order to minimize the costs of the production these companies employed thousands of workers during the year this represent a greater increase to the rate of turnover and also avoiding payments of insurance vacation and salaries under the legal rates in comparison if they use American workers those cost of benefits will be increase because they have to pay benefices under the law to the permanent employees such as higher salaries, vacations and consequently more insurance. Also the office of Immigration and Naturalization Services were concern for the large number of illegal immigrants working in the industry of meatpacking. Furthermore American citizens were complaining about the lack of jobs for the middle class. Moreover these companies import workers they are living in shelters from other states like New York, New Jersey, California,Texas, New Mexico to Minnesota with the offer of rent apartments but these companies try to use the homeless shelter as a workers home so clearly they tricked those workers and call the attention from the authorities and media.

In conclusion those companies of meatpacking they took advantage of the immigrants legal or illegal in order to accomplish their financial enrichment purpose.

Blog 14

                    SLEEP DEALER

In the movie “Sleep Dealer”, due to the decline on the agriculture in Santa Ana del Rio Memo, the protagonist dreams to move and find work in the North of Tijuana where they have the hi-tech factories and make money in order to live the American Dream. But for Memo, this dream was a nightmare.

In Santa Ana, Memo has a homemade radio and he spend many hours listening conversations from the other side, which was from The United States so he always dreamed to cross the border and experience the American dream. In the other hand, his father reminded him that the dream was in his land where they have to dedicate time and work in the agriculture. Also his brother thought that the American dream doesn’t exist, that it is only an illusion that you can seen only on television.

One night Memo hacked the security of The United States, so the American forces persecuted and located his house through a drone remote-pilot. Memo was watching the persecution on television live and tried to escape, but they attacked his house and killed his father by Rudy Ramirez, an American soldier. After this odyssey, Memo left his town and went to work in the cybermaquilas, where people were connected to the nodes that were implanted on the human bodies and worked like robots. They never crossed the border to see and live in the city where the American dream was suppose to be.

American Dream is only a dystopia because people like Memo lives in the system where it is not true where they have to sacrifice human feelings and work like robots to be part of the system.

BLOG 13

                   REFLECTION FOR THE FOOD UNIT

          During the process to learn the Food Unit we were learning different things or facts that make us to be aware how the process of the food is, also we learned the different steps that the companies have to have in order to get the final product so after the product is ready we have to brought to our homes to feed our families. Therefore in connection with the other units the food companies were created a fantasy chain using the commercials by radio, TV and the media in order to cover the truth, a world like Allegoric of the Cave were consumers we are living in the darkness world ignoring the reality like marionettes that we are moving for the need of satisfy the hunger but we didn’t know what the truth was outside in the factory world where the process of the food was done, also we are living in the darkness ignoring the reality, in the fantasy world like Truman in the world created for the big food companies in order to commit the financial purpose, furthermore we have to choose to face the truth like The Matrix so we have to pass different levels then in some case it is hard to understand why the companies are so untrustworthy and also with the truth many people will  be mad or upset  but we have to end and face the reality and try to change our habits of ate.

          My experience during the time of this unit was very helpful now I know many things about the food process before I don’t even think on how is this processed of the food before we consume the final product, also I was thinking in the pass when my grandma use to cook delicious meals with natural products that we have in our country, and the most important thing I will avoid some products that are not healthy, changing my habits of eat.

          In the CAT evaluation of the two students I have a good and bad feeling good because I was following the steps you were teaching in class like if the article have main idea, summary, and support details, in the other hand bad feeling because I am not ready to give my opinion because I know I have weakness in grammar and vocabulary. I am in the process to learn so every day I am able to understand new words and try to improve my grammar, the biggest issue I am concern is the time, at this time I am worry of it because I take too much time thinking and planning how and what I will included in my writing so the time is passed I feel nervous and I start to write and this written don’t make sense because I am in hurry in consequence have more and big mistakes.

Blog 12

                                               Happy Meals

In the extract from In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan give advice for different ways to eat healthy.

1.- Don’t eat anything your grandmother wouldn’t recognize                as food,

2.- Avoid food products containing ingredients that are you don’t even understand

3.- Avoid products that make health claims

4.- Shop in the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle

5.- Get out of the supermarket whenever possible

6.- Eat mostly plants, especially leaves

7.- Pay more, eat less

8.- Cook. If you can, plant a garden. Eat complete meals at a table, if possible not alone. Eat slowly.

           Nowadays the 80% of products in the supermarket I don’t know if my grandmother would be able to recognize if some are for eat or what, there is hundreds of new fancy look products on the shelves many contain additives, fatness, flavors, high percent of sugar, colorants and many small names of things that were added to makes the products have different flavors consequently consumers would looking for it more and more.

          Unfortunately in this country industrialized everyone are suffering for time, many of us we are not able to do all these suggestions, but we have to think that we have to change the bad habit of eating these changes are necessary for our family wellness and we have to have to considerate all the facts that the companies of the food are using in the products that ending in our body making unhealthy and the consequences that we have to assume for it.

          From the list of suggestion from Michael Pollan, actually I am doing some of them,  eat more plants some leaves or green products, also I love to cook if I have more time I will cook every single day, is not hard for me avoid some products. So I will try to complete the rest of the suggested list.

Blog 11

                                  The Story of Bottle Water   
     

          In the film “The Story of Bottle Water” the author explains how our system is in crisis for the large amount of garbage collected for the of bottle water that we consume.

          As a consumers we have the wrong idea that the tap water is no good or unhealthy because the companies send the wrong message trough the commercials that the good or pure water is the one they sale.

          But the reality is completed different. According to some result of the analysis the bottle water sending to different laboratories they concluded that some of them contain the same tap water like we consume in our house, furthermore the studies reveals some brand names are not pure like they affirm.

          I was surprised because I believe the tap water have too much chemicals used in the process to purify and is no good for our health also I was surprise from the enormous quantity of garbage that accumulates from the bottles of water we consumed and were send to India for recycle. 
         After I watched the film I believe the companies only make business with us and always don’t said the true, they want more money cheating and lie to consumers they don’t think about our health even they don’t worry for the environment as always they mention in commercials. So we have to stop part of this pollution. How? our contribution could be "do not bought bottle water." this way we save money and also we do something for the environment try to stop to increase the pollution.

Blog 10

                                   
        Imitation of the Film: Here's Smoking at You, Kid


          The author Nicholas Balakar in this passage "Imitation of the Film: Here's Smoking at you, Kid" states that according to a nationwide survey reports that thirty eight percent of kids of ages 10 to 14 likely starts smoking because they have been influenced from movies. Kids are imitated because in the film, most of the actors are smoking. Also when kids go the movies, they are exposed to smoking from the other viewers. Further more movies rated “R has two times as much smoking."

          I disagree with this statement. Kids don’t always start smoking from the influence of the movie stars. Kids could be influenced from friends more than from movie actors. Also, they can get influenced from parents because they are spending much more time with friends and parents than in the movie theater.

          According to Nicholas Balakar in the article “Imitation of the Film: Here’s Smoking at You, Kid” from the nationwide survey kids likely start to smoke from influence of the movies because they try to copy or imitate the movie stars. This is a big issue when kids start smoking. It is not necessarily a strong influence of movies because kids want to imitate the actors. Kids can be influence from parents, friends, teachers and many more. But I think the biggest influence comes from friends because they share more time and often forced them to smoke to be part of the group otherwise they are not been accepted or join the group.   

          For example my friend’s son went to a party, during the party a group of friends were to smoking and offered him to do the same. He refused and they insisted many times, later they made fun of him, also they intimidate and finally those friends told him if he does not smoke he will not be considerate part of the group because they state that he must to smoke to join in the group of friends, he was very scare and worry for the situation and my friend the mother advise him to go away from the group and try to avoid them. Obviously these friends have a bad influence as mentioned.


           In conclusion kids are exposed to different kind of situations and could be influenced by different people, such as friends, parent’s, teacher and many more not only by movies stars like the author state in this article. But we have to be aware and try to advise and prevent them from these types of situations and avoid these friends, like in the example for friends who shares daily at school and may be a good or bad influence.

           

Blog 9

                                              The Meatrix

         The Meatrix video show the reality of the industrialism of the farm in order to maximizes the production. This industrialization cause adverse effects such us destruction  the small family business farms, the animals been packet, increase the animal cruelty also they over use antibiotics strains resistant germs, massive pollution furthermore the destruction of communities.

        

                                 The Meatrix Revolting

         Leo was dreaming on the nice environment of the family farms in the past how nice where those days were with sunny day’s clean air and happy animals. However Morpheus show him the reality of the factory farms where everything around is moving with machines. The animals grow up in unhealthy conditions; they were fed with blood of dead cows with mad cow disease, overuse antibiotics, artificial hormones. These unhealthy and contaminated process of the factory can be stop by the consumers who are aware to eating healthy products buying from the family farms.   

                                       The Meatrix II ½

         In the world of the factory farms where the production was multiply “To fed our fast food nation”, in fact they created a dangerous work conditions for employs with high speed
on the process of production consequently tired and accident for workers, also the manure leaked on the meat and contaminated in these case the final products have had EColi.