Assignment 2
Building on our reading and discussion of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, this particular assignment asks you to research some aspect of food or drink. Its overall goal is to help you and your reader think more carefully about the food choices we make and the relative health, environmental, and economic costs of those choices. You can choose from four types of assignments (as with a menu J), each of which invites you either to write a traditional research paper or combine research with personal narrative as Michael Pollan does.
Farm-raised vs. wild-caught seafood
- Research and describe the difference between farm-raised seafood and seafood that is commercially wild-caught (e.g., shrimp, salmon) to discover which product is a) healthier for humans consuming it both in the short-term and over the long term b) better for the environment and, c) consumes the least amount of fossil fuel to produce/catch, process, ship, and store. The paper should carefully weigh the environmental and economic costs of both commercial fishing and fish farming across a wide spectrum of categories: pollution, environmental degradation, fossil fuel consumption, use of dangerous substances (e.g., growth hormones, antibiotics, coloring, questionable feed, etc.), amount of contaminants found in the seafood itself (e.g., mercury, antibiotics, others), danger to genetic composition of wild species through escaped "superfish", to name but a few. In effect, then, this is a compare/contrast research paper with a persuasive component. This means you'll be trying to recommend one particular product over another based on its value in terms of human and environmental health. Cast your net wide!
How golden are the Golden Arches, or, where is the beef?
- Choose any fast-food meal or product (except those discussed in detail in Pollan's book) and research and describe a) what the ingredients are, b) where specifically they came from, c) what types of fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and so forth were used to grow the product, d) what sorts of processing the ingredients in the meal underwent and what sorts of chemicals were used in this process, and e) how many calories, and how much cholesterol, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, and sugar is contained in this meal/product. Next, research and explore in detail what the short-term and long-term effects on human health are of this product and its many ingredients. Then, research and describe its social, environmental, and economic costs (or perhaps benefits?). What sorts of jobs does it provide? Who benefits? Who suffers? Does the time saved by eating fast-food outweigh the social and health costs? Plan on bringing your happy meal or product to class on the due date.
Conventionally-grown vs. organically-grown fruit/vegetable
- Choose any conventionally-grown fruit or vegetable and compare it with the organically-grown version. Research and describe whether the organic or conventionally grown item is a) healthier for humans consuming it both in the short-term and over the long term (you'll want to look at things such as pesticide, herbicide, fungicide, and fertilizer use to name but a few), b) better for the environment, c) consumes the least amount of fossil fuel to plant, weed, harvest, pack, ship, and store, d) looks and tastes better and, e) is better for the people who grow the crops and live near the farms (you'll want to look at the effects of agrochemicals on individuals and communities, as well as its effects on people downstream dozens or thousands of miles from these farms). Plan on bringing the organic & conventionally grown fruit/vegetable to class so we can taste test on the due date.
Home-Cooking Revisited
- Choose any good, wholesome, healthy recipe that uses at least ten different ingredients, prepare it using only ingredients produced within one hundred miles of your home, and bring it to class to share on the due date. You will probably want to use the narrative approach to your topic as modeled by Pollan as you research and describe in detail a) what the ingredients are, b) where specifically they came from (which town?, whose farm?), c) how they were grown, harvested, or produced (e.g., what types of fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and so forth were used to grow the product?), d) what sorts of processing the ingredients in the meal underwent and what sorts of chemicals were used in this process, and e) how many calories, and how much cholesterol, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, and sugar the dish contains. What do you think are the advantages/disadvantages of eating locally grown food? Would you recommend that more of us should try to buy and eat local products? Naturally, since this paper choice requires a bit more work than the others, add a 10% kitchen bonus to your paper!
Mechanics and Recommendations
- Please put your name, date, class, class time, and my name in the top left hand corner of the first page. You should include a creative title, which should appear at the top of the first page. Page numbers should appear on top right hand corner of each page.
- Please remember that you need time to produce a quality paper. Think of writing as a process: idea-gathering, freewriting, drafting, testing, revising, revising, revising, editing. Leave enough time to take advantage of this process.
- This paper gives you the opportunity to combine primary and secondary research. In addition to a strong and specific thesis, your essay must include--and integrate properly--at least ten different (and credible) research sources. No more than two of these can come from .com or .net sources; however, please note that (documentary) films are permissible to use.
Length and Due Dates
- ca. 8-9 typed, double-spaced pages, plus a list of Works Cited. Please print front and back to save paper if you can
- Wed, 3 March, No class, in lieu of extra office hours (sign-up sheet); hand in the one-page list of researched sources
- Fri, 5 March, First Draft. Bring an extra copy for the in-class workshop
- Mon, 8 March, No class, in lieu of extra office hours (sign-up sheet)
- Wed, 10 March, Banquet and Final Draft, with notebook and copy of earlier drafts attached
Please use these no-class days wisely by refining your research and your writing, as well as by visiting the Writing Center
Purpose and Goals
- think about the daily food choices we make and the relative health, environmental, and economic costs of those choices
- include a carefully developed cost-benefit analysis of (y)our food choices
- combine, if appropriate, your primary research (= your culinary experience) with select and authoritative secondary sources
- formulate a precise (and perhaps complex) thesis
- put your ideas and evidence in a persuasive, effective, and engaging order