Sources

When it comes to finding sources, I like to first identify the best way to answer the question that has been presented. After I have done this, I usually find three or more sub components of the big answer and go into depth about each one. With these three topics, I can normally find sources fairly easy. One quick and easy way is of course the internet that can take a simple google search with a couple of key words in quotations. Others can be a little bit harder to find, such as books and magazine articles. When it comes to searching for these I like to think of something a little broader that may involve what I am going to be talking about. Also, especially on magazine articles, going to the magazine's website and searching for the keywords you are bound to turn up with something that is related to your topic.

Once I have finally found something, I try to read as much as the article that pertains to my topic, highlighting what could make relevance in my paper. After going through all the sources, I look at the bigger statements in each paper, and ask myself which ones I could more in depth with, or which ones I could do a little more research with. Finding sources in some places is very easy, but for others it can be very difficult. I would like to be able to learn how to make myself better at these "other" sources, and also determining what would be relevant in a paper, and what should be left out.

Vegetarianism and Veganism

I am from a small town in Montana, and a family that is very big into hunting and, inversely, meat eating. I was always raised that vegetarian was just an indian word for poor hunter. How could one possibly refuse to eat meat? I did not understand this idea. While doing paper 3, I cam across an article looking at the pros and cons of not only being a vegetarian, but being a vegan. While I myself cannot see myself doing this, I feel that I am much more open minded when it comes to people choosing what they want to eat. In my family you only ever heard the cons, lack of proteins being the biggest one, but also the amount of Iron, amino acids, and phosphorus lost from not eating meat. After doing reading this article I feel like I have a better understanding of why someone may choose to be a vegetarian. It is more apparent to me that everyone as their own opinions on what should be eaten, and what should be avoided.

The Perfect Meal

Chapter 20 was very interesting to me personally, because I have tried before to make this "perfect meal" Growing up we usually incorporate some sort of fresh grown veggies or products in our meal. I found it interesting that Pollan was going to give this an attempt, by setting out a specific set of rules. I felt that he had a good shot of making this idea a reality. Although this may seem very difficult to follow all the rules, and he made note of "bending" the rules, I feel Pollan did a good job sticking to them. I found it somewhat eerie that he was willing to boiling the saline water to get salt that surely was going to be gross. I have a feeling that his guests may not enjoy the meal fully if he had mentioned where he contracted the salt, But than again, a lot of people wouldn't enjoy you McDonalds burger if they knew the process.

Pollan went through the extreme agony to make sure his dinner could be the best it could be. Waking up before dawn, diving into freezing cold water, searching blindly into dangerous waters, and running the risk of hypothermia. I found it interesting that "More Californians are killed gathering abalone each year---by getting dashed on the rocks, being attacked by sharks, or succumbing to hypothermia---than die in hunting accidents." As Pollan went about trying to gather everything for his dinner, I realized how much harder it is now, compared to years ago, to get fresh food. Yes its possible, but considering that Pollan was not buying anything or spending money, finding the meal portions was most difficult I feel. Even if he could spend money, he would have to spend a small fortune, for the simple fact that these days, the healthiest food is more expensive than the stuff that everyone eats on a monthly basis. I think this is a major eye-opener for society as we know it.