Reflections from our classroom

Clint Lingenfelter                                    PD5
Persuasive Essay
Saturated Fats in FOOD
Good or Bad?

Bad:
Saturated Fats are good and sometimes bad for you. In the one website I found it didn’t support saturated fats because it said that saturated fats were bad for you because it produces cholesterol that can block up arteries going to the heart. And also in this article is says that in the UK, that coronary heart disease is the number one killer because of people eating too much saturated fats that are raising their bad cholesterol.

Good:
On this website they state a fact that even I kind of believe. They say that Americans have told us for years that saturated fats clog arteries and cause heart disease, but there is a problem, no one has ever proved it. In this article the say about Ancei  Keys constructed an experiment of going over five countries and out of the five of them, the US was the first in related deaths to saturated fats from heart disease.  The five countries were the US, Canada, Australia, England, Italy, and Japan. And the Japs ate the least so they were the least.

Good:
http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=health&category=heart.disease&conitem=a03ddd2eaab85110VgnVCM10000013281eac____

Bad:
http://article.wn.com/view/2009/02/10/Why_saturated_fat_is_bad_for_you/

Michael G

Period 5

There are many harmful pesticides in the foods we buy at our grocery stores.  Some of them don’t have a big effect on us but others can cause serious damage to our bodies and health.  I knew that big farming companies were loading their food with tons of pesticides just to sell “healthier” products.
After I researched pesticides I found that some can harm us while trying to help us at the same time.  For example, there are harmful pesticides in a apple that people want to help them become healthy.  A test was done in Seattle, WA where children ate food from their grocery store and then had their urine tested to see what chemicals would be uncovered.  Organophosphates were found on the fruits and vegetables.  Organophosphate was used in World War 2 as a type of nerve gas.  If someone eats a large amount of this stuff it can cause brain damage or even cancer.
Some advantages for using pesticides on your produces are they can keep your produce significantly cleaner.  Also they can prevent insects from transmitting diseases through them.  Plus some pesticides can reduce mold build up.
Some disadvantages are they are bad for our health.  Not only that but also it can cause harm to the environment.
My opinion over all is that pesticides are bad and should not be put on our produce.  Even though there are more advantages for using them.  They will have a bad effect on our life.

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticide

For:
http://www.epa.gov/opp00001/about/

Against:
http://npic.orst.edu/gen2.htm#po

Have you ever wondered what is in your food or how it is handled during packaging? Additives are chemicals that are added to food. They are classified into many different groups such as preservatives. Preservatives are anything that is added to everyday food such as flour to stop the growth of molds, yeasts, and bacteria in the food and improve its taste. But are these things healthy to our bodies?

There are two different types of additives that are used in the foods we eat, indirect and direct additives. The difference between these two things are direct additives are added to foods intentionally for a special cause such as the prevention of mold and bacteria. Indirect additives are those that are added to foods that are added to foods while being exposed while being packaged. Additives are classified into different groups such as antioxidants, antimicrobial, thickening, stabilizing and bleaching agents, artificial coloring and flavor enhancers, and nutrient additives. These things do things to foods such as prevent them from spoiling, and to make then taste better and more appealing by sight. They can also whiten foods, add vitamins and minerals to enrich them with nutrients, and alter the texture of the food.

Additives have been used in foods for many years, but people still are precautious about whether they are harmful to our health. There have been many studies on additives to make sure that they do not harm our health, but some have been found in harmful things. Sodium Nitrate is an additive that is found in meat and is used for a color and flavor enhancer. This additive is considered to be harmful because previous tests have linked it to cancer. Others such as BHA, BHT, and Propyl Gallate have also been linked to cause cancer. An additive that is well known today that make people precautious to the use of additives is Monosodium Glutamate, which is used as a flavor enhancer. It has the results to cause headaches and nausea in some people. Other additives such as Trans-Fats have been proven to cause heart disease.

I believe that people should take precaution to certain additives because of what they have been linked to. Do people really want to risk their health for these foods that could contain harmful chemicals? I believe that it would be hard for America to stop using additives and preservatives due to the enhancement in flavor, and that it will never happen. In my opinion they should cut down on Additives so that we are not putting our health at risk.

Resources:
- About Additives and Preservatives:
http://www.faqs.org/nutrition/A-Ap/Additives-and-Preservatives.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preservative
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/how-do-food-additives-affect-your-health-456758.html
-  Against Additives and Preservatives
http://www.byregion.net/articles-healers/Food_Additives.html
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/food-aliment/food_add_aliment-eng.php

Meghan Farmery

Organic food vs. Frozen food

Frozen foods
Frozen food is the process of freezing food. It helps in the method of food preservation. It freezes food and gives it less time before it can decay. It freezes the water and makes it unavailable for bacteria to grow and slows down chemical reactions. Many enzyme activity and reactions are slowed by freezing. To stop enzyme activity totally you must blanch or add chemicals. This preserves the food for several months. Clarence Birdseye developed quick freezing or flash freezing to quickly freeze their food and ship it out faster and sell more. You can almost freeze anything with the exceptions of canned foods unless you take them out of the cans and then freeze them or eggs with shells.
Some things that may affect the quality of the frozen food are the condition of the food at the time of freezing. Frozen food can be no better than the quality of the food was before it was frozen. Freezing does not sterilize foods as canning does. It just slows the growth of microorganisms and it also slows down chemical changes that affect quality or cause food spoilage. The action of freezing can also determine the function of an enzyme it slows the enzyme activity so that many frozen foods like meats and fruits will need no more further treatments after the food is thawed. The reason for packaging is to keep if from dying out and to preserve nutritive value, texture, color and flavor. Some characteristics of good frozen food packages are that they are moisture resistant, they are made of good food material so that they do not spoil or get freezer burnt, they are durable and leak proof, they don’t break or are brittle with low temperatures, they protect from odd flavors and odors, they are easy to fill, seal, mark and store.
This affects our food because this is a way to preserve out food and if it is not done correctly there are many ways to get sick from it. If it is not sealed tight freezer burn will occur and that will ruin the food and will be a waste of money that was spent on food you didn’t eat. Also if you don’t eat it in the time that is recommended then it will go bad and will be unable to eat. There are ways to tell if the product is bad. If there is a bad odor then it is most likely not fit to eat. If there is no odor but it looks unfit to eat you can either throw it out or it might be good enough to eat with other foods such as in stews.
Organic foods
Organic food is foods claiming to be organic they must be free of artificial food additives, and are produced with fewer artificial methods, materials and conditions, such as chemical ripening, food irradiation, and genetically modified ingredients. They are required to be produced with energy-saving technologies and packaged with recyclable or biodegradable materials when possible. Early consumers thought that organic meant non-chemical uses and were fresh or minimally processed foods. Organic was defined in 1939 by Lord Northbourne and he described it as a holistic, ecologically-balanced approach to farming and he called chemical farming… “Imported fertility” and “cannot be self-sufficient nor an organic whole.”  Organic has been related to small family run farms because they do not use highly expensive fertilizer and they don’t over use them. They also don’t genetically alter the seeds to create more at one time. Organic farmers do not consume or release synthetic pesticides that could leave a residue on the food and cause health problems. They also contain diverse ecosystems. They have less waste from producing the products and from packaging the products with chemicals. Many studies have been conducted to prove different things about organic growing. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency did a study on area to area on organic farms of potatoes; sugar beet and seed grass produce as little as half the output of conventional farming. It is said that organic food is more energy efficient.
The difference between organic and not organic food is that there are less health problems with the organic. Non-organic foods can carry a pesticide called, organophosphate pesticides which causes abdominal pain, dizziness, headaches, nausea, vomiting, as well as skin and eye problems. Other pesticides cause respiratory problems, memory disorders, dermatologic conditions, cancer, depression, neurologic problems, miscarriages, and birth defects. Fruits that are imported from South America have high levels of pesticides that cause many of these health issues. Also many migratory birds migrate to Argentina which has high levels of pesticides and the birds absorb them and bring it back with them and spread them. Many test have been conducted and if you would like to view them please go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_food here they have all the information on these tests. Studies have been shown that organic food is much better tasting then other processed food. It also has better nutrient value.
My opinion
I am for organic food because it is healthier. Also there are less chemicals and pesticides used that could cause harm to our bodies. As I have listed above in the organic section of this essay the done falls of frozen and processed food. I believe organic is the way to go because it is eco friendly, it produces less waste from growing the crop and from producing the packaging product.

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frozen_food
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_food
http://74.6.239.67/search/cache?ei=UTF-8&p=frozen+food&fr=slv8-wave&u=www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/yf/foods/fn403.pdf&w=frozen+freezing+food+foods&d=SSo1vJ2uSTli&icp=1&.intl=us
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Focus_On_Freezing/index.asp

Other places to look up information:
http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=4&tax_level=2&tax_subject=273&topic_id=1318
http://www.organicconsumers.org/

Natasha Kennis
Period 4
Academic Bio
Issues with Food

March 13, 2008

Organic foods (Fruits and Vegetables)

Commercial farming for example dairy can have different sides to it, a negative and positive. Organic farmers use natural fertilizer to grow their crops.  Natural fertilizer feeds and builds the soil.  Conventional farmers use chemical fertilizers to grow their crops.  Organic farmers use insect predators, mating disruption, and traps and barriers to protect crops from pests and disease, while conventional farmers spray with insecticides.  Organic farmers use crop rotation, mechanical tillage and hand-weeding, cover crops, mulches, and flame weeding to control weed growth.  Conventional farmers use synthetic herbicides to control weed growth. So what’s the big deal? Why is organic farming so bad. Why is organic farming so great?  For the positives of organic milk, there are no nutrient differences or taste difference between organic milk produced and regular milk. According to the USDA, “organic food production allows farmers to lower input costs, decrease reliance on nonrenewable resources, capture high-value markets and premium prices, and boost farm income.”  Organic agriculture also promotes sustainability.  It does this by establishing an ecological balance to prevent soil fertility and pest problems.  Over time, organic farmers conserve energy.  It increases biodiversity.  Herbicides, insecticides, and pesticides used in conventional agriculture kill many soil organisms, insects, and larger species.  This means there are fewer food sources for other animals.  Organic farming also provides a wide range of habitats: compared to conventional farming there are more hedges, wider field margins, and a greater variety of crops.  Nutrient losses are minimized and soil productivity increases because organic agriculture makes use of practices such as crop rotations, inter-cropping, symbiotic associations, cover crops and minimum tillage that decrease the length of time the soil is exposed to erosive forces.  Because organic agriculture doesn’t use synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, pollution of groundwater is reduced.  It also minimizes the greenhouse effect and global warming by locking carbon in the soil instead of releasing it to the atmosphere. We all love our planet and want it to last as long as it can. Organic farming can be the start to help saving it.
The negative part of organic farming is that organic food is more expensive than conventional produced food.  The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations suggests the following reasons for the higher price: the organic food supply is limited compared to demand, production costs for organic foods are typically higher because of greater labor input and because farmers don’t produce enough of a single product to lower the overall cost, and the marketing and distribution chain for organic products are relatively inefficient, and costs are higher because of relatively small volumes.  Included in the price of organic food are factors that are not included in the price of conventional food such as environmental enhancement and protection, higher standards of animal welfare, and avoidance of health risks to farmers due to inappropriate handling of pesticides.  Critics say that eating organic foods increases your exposure to biological contaminants.  Specific concerns have been raised about manure, mycotoxins from the molds, and e.coli bacteria. A lot of the time organic fruits and vegetables spoil faster than conventional fruits and vegetables because they are not treated with waxes or preservatives. So it allows bacteria and pests to take their toll on the substance. Also, expect less than a perfect appearance in some organic fruits and vegetables. Some have odd shape, they vary in color, and even smaller size than conventional products.
My opinion is that organic foods are neutral, but I don’t like the fact that organic fruits and vegetables do not last long. I do like the fact that their process helps the environment. I would like my food, especially my fruits and vegetables to last long on my kitchen table.
To finish off my discussion on organic vegetables and fruits, there are many different opinions to this process of food. It is helpful because it helps the environment and conserve energy. The negatives are that the fruits and vegetables have to be bought and eaten sooner than conventional products. The fruits and vegetables do not stay fresh very long. In the end everything has it’s ups and downs.

Resources:
http://copland.udel.edu/~kniel/VirtualFarm/dairy.html
http://plaza.ufl.edu/gmassie/termpaper.htm
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080106061759AAiUZUY
http://www.mindfully.org/Food/Organic-Less-Pesticides8may02.htm
http://www.omsco.co.uk/index.cfm/organicmilk/WhyOrganic.Health
http://www.mealsmatter.org/EatingForHealth/Topics/article.aspx?articleId=387
http://www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/Organic/
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/organic-food/NU00255

Lauren McGarvey

Period 4

Academic Bio

Issues With Food

Did you ever wonder where the meat you eat comes from?  Factory farms are becoming a popular of producing meat.  Approximately 43 percent of the worlds beef, 68 percent of eggs, and 74 of poultry come from factory farms.  However, are factory farms a healthy way to produce meat?

Factory farms allow for large amounts of meat to be produced at a low cost, therefore, the price of meat is cheaper. By using machines, the rate of producing meat is more efficient.  Also, by having few meat production facilities, making sure the meat is safe is easier.

Factory farms may lower the cost of meat, but what do they have to do to accomplish this?  Factory farms crowd large amounts of animals into buildings.  The animals are abused, lack proper food, and live in unsanitary conditions. For example, chickens in factory farms are crowded into buildings, called broiler houses.  Here, their waste accumulates which can result in the spread of disease.  However, to prevent diseases from spreading, animals are administered many chemicals.  Some of theses chemicals include, growth hormones, appetite stimulants, pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides, and antibiotics.  These chemicals collect in the animals’ tissue and milk.  Do you really want to be eating and drinking chemicals like this?  If herbicides and pesticides are used to kill plants and insects, what effect could they have on your body?  A recent study proved that pesticides could affect your nervous, immune, and endocrine systems (http://www.curezone.com/foods/pesticides.asp).

I believe that we should try to produce more of our meat in organic farms.  The meat may cost more, and may not be as lean, but it will not contain harmful chemicals.  Do you really want to be eating meat and drinking milk that contains chemicals that could harm your body?  I know I sure don’t.  We need to start focusing on organic farming, rather than factory farming.  To stop the terrible ways of factory farming, you need to make people aware of what is happening.  Labels need to be put on meat so the consumer knows where it is coming from.  If people knew what was in the meat they were about to buy, they probably wouldn’t buy it.  If you agree you need to let our government know.  Write or email to our government so they know we want to know if the meat were eating contains chemicals and comes from a factory farm.

Resources:
http://www.idausa.org/facts/factoryfarmfacts.html
This resource talks about the negatives of Factory Farming, such as unethical, unsafe, and unsanitary conditions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factory_farming
This resource was on both side of Factory Farming.  It talks about the lower cost and more efficiency, however, talks about the unethical and hazards was of Factory
Farming.

http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/world/europe/agriculture/factory-farms/food-labels-could-stop-factory-farming
This resource talks about what you can do to get labels put on meat.

http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/animals.html
This resource talks about the horrible condition of Factory Farming.

written by Sid Perkins

Monday, January 12, 2009

www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/ia/39830/description

Sam O

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Not that much was known about dinosaurs or dinasour feathers except for they were on earth before modern man. The essential research question is asking if dinasours had feathers. This needs to be researched because ancestors of dinasours could be living in the modern world today. Data was collected by paleontologist.

The research found that the fossil was parcely covered with broad unbranched fillimates. This structure has been theroized to exist on feather dinasours but not found till now. The fossil lived in what is know China about 120 million years ago. Conclusions that can be found from the research are that dinasours might have once had feathers. The infromation is presented by a fossil. I believe that this research is very important, also i find it intersing. The research was conducted by Xing Xu of the Institue of Vertebrate pateontology and pareoanthropology in Beijing. They conducted the research becuse they found the fossil.

A possible question for furtherr research from here are if the study ofn feathers could help design more airplane wings. Some questions I have is why was this the only fossil of this type found once? Is there more fossils like this?

Distorted Body Images: A Quick and Easy Way to Reduce Pain

By Moheb Costandi

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=a-quick-way-to-reduce-pain&page=2

Lauren McGarvey

January 15, 2009

Physical appearance is how you see yourself. It can easily be altered. For example, when walking through a house of mirrors, one moment you’re short and fat and the next you’re tall and skinny. There are other ways that can change physical appearance. Few migraine sufferers experience a visual hallucination just before a headache. During the hallucination, limbs can appear to be smaller or larger. Some would think that body distortion could have no great affect on someone, but could it? A study recently conducted took 10 participants who suffered from chronic pain in their right arm. Each participant was asked to perform a set of movements with their right arm. For the first set, the participant’s hand was magnified twice its size with a pair of binoculars. For the second set, the binoculars were inverted to make the participant’s hand smaller. Each participant was asked to rate the amount of pain they felt during each set. Every participant experienced more pain when their hand appeared larger and less pain when their hand appeared smaller. The researchers also compared the amount of swelling on the right hand to the left hand after each set of movements. More swelling occurred when the right hand appeared larger. Also, the recovery time for the right hand to return to normal feeling was longer when the hand appeared larger.

The results of the test, which was conducted by Lorimer Moseley of Oxford University, proved that the larger the painful hand appeared, the more it hurt. However, the smaller the painful hand appeared, the less it hurt. The researchers really don’t understand what causes this to happen. It could be that when the hand appears larger, the more aware the person is of the pain. When the hand appears smaller, the less aware the person is of the pain. I think this research was conducted to see if body distortion can have an affect on the amount of pain a person feels. The results could benefit many pain sufferers.

Further research should be conducted on this issue to understand what causes the change in the amount of pain experienced. Also, if there is anyway this could be used as a practical way of pain treatment. This new information could lead to new and better ways of treatment for many pain sufferers.

How Climate Change Will Impact Animals

By Bryan Walsh

http://www.time.com/time/health/article,0,8559,1849698,00.html

Sam Osikowicz

Monday, Oct 13, 2008

Nov 2, 2008

For my Scientific article I chose to do a topic in Climate Change and how it will impact animals. I chose this topic because I really haven’t thought about this before and because I like animals and would like to know more about this topic. The essentail research question is, how climate change will impact animals. I believe that we should research this because animals could go exstinct unless we help them. Data was collected by an evolutionary biologist at the Univeristy of Connecticut.

The research found that nearly 2,00 species of plants, insects, and fungi in the tropics where organisms often lack the ability to escape warming temperatures. The essential research question is how climate change will impact animals. This needed to be researched because if we don’t, animals could become exstinct and we wouldn’t know about it unless it was researched. My opinion about the research is that it is very interesting. It is a value to others because if this information is not known animals could be lost. Robert Colwell, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Connecticut, conducted the research. The research was conducted to provide information.

Possible questions for future research from here are what can be done to help? One question that I have is how many animals are close to exstinction? I cloud contact the biologist who did the research, or I could possibly find a group that specializes in this area.

HoneyBees Still at Risk

By: Susan Milius

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/38016/title/Honeybees_still_at_risk

Jordan Mesoraco

11/3/08

Some things that were know before the research of this topic are in 2007-2008 more than 36 percent of hives in North America failed from miseries as mites and the ailment called colony collapse disorder. In the winter of 2006, more than 31 percent of the hives failed. If this keeps on going on some of the crops that can’t be replaced easily might end up wanting bees to pollinate them. The essential research question is why are the bees still at Risk? They are researching it because if they don’t find what is going on then the plants that will need pollinated won’t have the bees then they won’t live. They collected the research by going to beekeepers to see how much hives they have lost in the last year or so.

The research found that the bee hives were dying off in big percentages over the winter. Some other research that was found was some of the big older bees were flying off and leaving the younger bees to die. Some conclusions that can be drawn from the research is if we don’t fix these bee hives dying then later on in life we won’t have bees to pollinate flowers and then crops will get ruined because there will be no bees to pollinate them. I think the research is very important because if there are no bees in the future those the crops will go bad and lots of people will go out of business for beekeeping and people who have crops. A company conducted this research. They conducted the research because to provide information on what could happen if we don’t stop the bee hives dying.

What is killing off the bee hives? Why are the older bees leaving the younger bees to die? How can we save the bee hives? Some connections I can make are if we don’t stop this soon we won’t have the bees to pollinate our flowers and crops.