"An Open Letter From a Farmer to Angry Vegetarians"

To me, it has always been common sense that vegetarians and vegans chose their diet because of their compassion for animals and because diets like those save animal's lives. At least that's what I thought until reading Jenna Woginrich's article "An Open Letter From a Farmer to Angry Vegetarians." Woginrich brings up the point that. no matter what you eat, you are still taking lives, even if you are not eating animal products. Just because the taking of lives is much easier to see in a meat eating diet, that does not mean plant based diets are any different. She states that diets depending solely on plants take food and habitats away from the animals who need them, machines that harvest the crops kill animals living beneath them, and the many chemicals used on the crops poison and kill animals as well. As I said, I had never thought about a plant based diet being harmful to animals in anyway, but now that I have heard that side of the argument, I see the fact in it. Unfortunately, this also seems to mean there is little hope for humans to live in a way that we do not endanger our environment. I don't think I would have agreed with her point if she had not written her article in a way that applauds vegetarians and their choice of diet instead of attacking them for it the way many have done to her. If this had just been an angry response to people who insulted her, I would not have given her argument very much thought, so I'm glad she decided to write maturely.

My Service Learning Experience

Recently, as part of the service hours required for my Lang 120 class, I participated in my school's Greenfest. Greenfest is a week of activities around campus focused on educating our community about the environment, promoting sustainability, and doing what we can for our earth. Among the activities I participated in were a couple of shifts for Service Day. In one of my shifts, I spent an hour mulching the flower beds around campus; during the other, I helped with some planting around the observatory (pictured above). So, there we were, a group of kids rounded up from around campus who were not particularly familiar with the concept of manual labor, sent out to help the garden and landscaping crews with their work. I could tell the crew wasn't exactly thrilled to have our help, but at least they were amused. What we lacked in individual skill, we made up in number. We might not have been the most efficient bunch of people around, but we were dedicated to helping and by God, we did. The men would slowly and simply explain to us what needed to be done, how and where to do it, then we would set off and mess it up a few times, forcing them to show us again how it was supposed to be done. After a few rounds of this, we finally got the hang of the task at hand and really got it done. I can also say that I honestly learned a lot that day, though I am a little ashamed that I had no gardening skills to begin with. Without having the requirement of service learning hours, I don't think I would have gone out and done this on my own, so I'm glad that the fear of a bad grade pushed me into it. It felt amazing to take the day off and work with my hands to help the environment, and to give the men of the work crew a break.

Combating Obesity

It isn't a secret that American society is plagued with saturated fat, obesity, and the other health problems associated with it. But, who is to blame for it? If you have read Dhruv Khullar's "Why Shaming Obesity Won't Stop Obesity" you know that many people believe the blame lies with the consumers themselves and their parents. While it makes sense to point the finger at someone for their own obesity and health issues, it definitely is not always their fault. Many areas have very little or no access to healthy and fresh food options, which is in no way the consumers' fault. In these areas where healthy options are few and far between, fast food corporations take over and become the main providers for those citizens. The same goes for placing the blame on parents for their children being obese. While it makes sense to say that it is all their fault since they provide for them, they have no control over what food is available in their area and at what price. Also, they can't always control what their children eat while they are away from home, or how their bodies react to the food they eat. At the end of the day, no matter who is to blame for a person's obesity, shaming them and making them feel terrible will never solve the problem, which is Khullar's main purpose in writing his article.

Even more important than the question of who is to blame for this obesity epidemic is the question of how we stop it. After reading "Downsizing Supersize" by James Surowiecki, which is about Michael Bloomberg's policy of banning large soda's, it became clear to me that Americans truly love their sodas based on the uproar following the policy. This article really made me think about how many of my decisions are controlled by the factors involved and the people trying to persuade me one way or the other, rather than myself. This could be a good and bad thing. Good, because it means that there is a way for us to control and maybe fight the growing obesity rates with methods such as Bloomberg's. Bad, because this means that advertising and corporations as a whole control our lives a lot more than we ever thought. Over all, I believe our attempts at combating obesity should begin with educating people about what they are eating and making healthy food available to everyone, then later we can enforce policies.