This week, I have decided to take on a new topic, seeing as everyone pretty much hates Sand County Almanac. SO, I will be commenting on World Changing in this post and in the World Changing section as well, but on different topics. After understanding that we can select anything from World Changing, I did exactly that – opened up to a random page and began finding arguments and concurrences. For this topic I read a section called “The Bright Green City” on page 228. This section argues that cities are efficient because they have density and things are packed closely. It continues to say that they are green and more eco-friendly than their rural counterparts. Not to confuse and to be more specific, it is arguing mainly against suburban living and more for urban areas and cities. So, here begins my qualm with this argument. This book has a foreword by Al Gore. Need I say more? Putting this precedence at the beginning of the book can be seen by a 5 year old as pushing an agenda. Now, that being said, I didn’t put the whole book down, but I have read a decent amount so far. I looked at the argument about living in the cities and that they’re better for the environment and more green than rural areas. I’m just going to go out on a limb here and ask, “When was the last time the author was in a major city?” Last time I was in the nearest urban city, that being Detroit, it didn’t seem too green to me; smashed out buildings, crumbling sidewalks, cigarettes, cars, sewer vents, run down areas, etc. Now in theory could a city be very green? Of course, but has everyone forgotten that Communism also looks pretty good on paper? I’m going to go ahead and argue for suburban and rural areas being far more green and eco-friendly than cities. First off, why do I think this author said that cities are greener? Because there are more people in cities to sell the idea to, flat out. If the Midwest became green, which they mostly are due to public policy and regulations, no one would care because it isn’t heavily publicized and there isn’t much advertising that comes out of that region. In return, if Chicago becomes entirely eco-friendly, then the people selling the “green” idea make their money back. This whole “Go green” phase is seriously a trend that corporate headquarters and big business are using to try and make more money. Sure, it happens to have some arguably good morals behind it, but if it didn’t turn profit, no one would think twice about attempting to sell it. Furthermore, looking at people in urban areas, they tend to follow trends very closely and buy into big advertising and what the next guy is doing. So, why are they going for this green movement? Because at the end of the day it makes them feel like they’re doing some good, and it makes them look more politically correct in the eyes of the next guy walking down the street. That’s it. And this book is going to advocate that they’re being better citizens than the farmer in the Midwest growing their food and tending to their natural resources? That’ll be a cold day in Hell before I believe that one.
Response 4: Thoughts about Raab’s work and tangents from it.
Suanna Raab’s photography is pretty interesting. I enjoyed her “Consumed” section the best because I felt it had more of a consistency in comparison to some of the other sections. Also I felt there was more of an impact with “Consumed” than the others because we see consumption everywhere. I felt that Raab could in addition to food but also material consumption; I would like to see her approach to that. In the section “Consumed” Raab took a lot of photos with children and the food/ waste consumed. This makes me think that her statement deals with what we teach our children is how they will grow up as. Most of our parents have grown up with their parents cooking most of their meals as apposed to us who now have the option to buy cheap fast food wherever we go. We have become busier ever before with school and work, we have forgotten the importance of the ritual of eating a good healthy meal. Looking at her work made me disgusted with the amount of waste we produce. Every time I read about something environmental about waste I always look at the amount of waste I produce personally. I feel crazy knowing that when I buy this bag of chips, that wrapper will be just thrown in some landfill that I’m contributing to. Of course it is extremely hard to not have any sort of waste when buying any commercial type product. So I’m trying to limit my waste by buying bulk foods with used containers from commercially bought food before, buy fruits and veggies without using new plastic bags to cover them, buying drinks that can be recycled, and using cloth napkins. I was reading the cover of my toilet paper brand (Seventh Generation) and it is 80% post consumer use and 100% recycled. Then they listed pretty interesting stats about how many trees we would save if every household just replaced one of their regular toilet paper rolls with theirs. I think the problem with waste is that it is so much easier to have disposable things. In American especially, we like things cheap and free. In Switzerland (where I’m originally from) we have always needed to bring our own bag to the grocery store and if didn’t, you would have to buy one for so many cents. Of course no one wants to spend more money, so everyone brings his or her bags. Going back to Raab’s work, I think these photos are what many people think of Americans outside of the U.S: that we love McDonalds and litter. This makes me sad that we have this stereotype about us, and I hope we can make a difference one day to relieve ourselves from that title.
In this weeks lectures what I found most interesting was that about what it really means to be eating foods that come from a distance. I really enjoying being able to go the grocery store and having the option to chose from so many fresh fruits and vegetables. I knew that they must have come from different places but I didn’t realize the cost that importing and shipping these food had on the environment. I didn’t know that being grown in a different county meant that we really don’t know what happens to it. Different countries handle their food in different ways and have different regulations and this kind of scared me because I have really no idea what is happening to my food. What if there had been a dangerous chemical sprayed on it or something. This reminded me of the clothing industry and how poorly the workers in other countries were treated I bet the same is true for the food industry. Who knows it could be even worse. Looking at how migrant workers in the US are treated. Just as I want the workers who make my clothes be treated fairly I want those who produce my food to be treated fairly as well. I feel like farming is on steroids now we want are meat and produce to grow bigger and faster. This concerns me because it seems to me that in that process the quality of food is actually going down. So much of the highly processed food doesn’t even seem like food anymore it’s like fake food made out of chemicals that I imagine can’t be good for me or they at least can’t have any nutritional value. Maybe eventually we will all get tired of eating all this junk and start asking for real food again. I’m so glad that more companies are having whole grain, natural and organic products. I wish places like Wal-Mart and Meijer would start looking into having things that are locally grown.
This class continues to make me feel more and more depressed about humanity, and America in particular. Susana Rabb’s photos were really disturbing. There is this complete disconnect between humans and nature because as you can see we’ve grown up so focused on our needs and consumption. The picture of the boy eating a corndog under a tree just makes you realize that people get outside just for the sake of being outside. There isn’t an appreciation or awareness what so ever about our natural world. I feel like perhaps our generation was the last to ever really experience nature and play outside and explore. Not only is it dangerous to let your kids romp around outside, but in our culture today that’s not what kids are being steered to do. I think that because of this a Sand County Almanac is extremely successful at showing people that there is this other world out there that’s forgotten. Perhaps it’s because I understand Leopold and have spent extensive time outdoors and experiencing nature and observing it, but I really do like this book. His writing exposes why we should start to conserve land and support the green movement. Because it’s not going to happen with our awareness centered on consumption like it is now, we need to expand that to the world. We cannot even fully understand conservation if we don’t understand and appreciate everything from atoms and their lifecycles to the rare jaguar. I continue to question why and how we’ve let our culture degrade to this. And it goes back to the first post we had about advertisements. It’s inescapable and we’re brought up believing we’re not good enough unless we have this product. We will be happier if we do. And perhaps we’ll feel better for a while before we fall back down and need to get something new. When doing a project on memory I loved that every good memory that I had when I felt completely content were simple memories when I was outside and actually connecting with earth and people on a deeper level. But as long as there are companies trying to make a buck, there will be no change.
This week’s lectures were a lot more interesting to me because I really like food and my mother is a Chef. I have never noticed how much information and facts I have over looked in my life as to where my food is from and why. I especially enjoyed the lecture about coffee and it’s production. I love coffee and do care about where some of the beans are grown or what cafés I buy from. What really got me thinking was how much the farmers were making compared to the popularity and cafes that sell coffee. I think coffee is a bit expensive as it is, but paying more of a specific brand so that a farmer can make more money really does not help you out at the end of the day. It is interesting however how successful fair trade certified products are; I have never really noticed them before. It is good to educate people on what it is they are buying, but there is a certain extent as to what your paying for being out of need or based on what is considered right. Another thing I enjoyed hearing about was the fishing and technologies used in the oceans. I personally hate seafood, but learning about the shrimp farms and turtles getting caught in their nets does bring their whole existence to a new level outside of the biology world. I could not believe that people have caused such major declines in fish to catch. Fisherman out fishing the coasts and trying to make as much as a profit as possible does open your eyes as to what should come first. Work to make a living to survive or do the better thing for our environment that effects our survival anyways. I started to wonder in these lectures of how far or willing people will go to buy more local foods, know where their food is from, and purchase fair trade certified products, especially in the country’s recession right now. The economy is bad and is greatly affecting the way people buy food, and how carless they will become in making purchases. A farmer being underpaid is really unfortunate, but it is something that has been happing for a very long time and often due to ignorance and so much as to helplessness. Some farmers do not even know how much money they should be making and live as best they can when in the United States people freak out when they find out farmers are being underpaid. As for Susana Raab’s work, it does a great job of capturing human beings and unique settings in a beautiful yet simple way. The KFC guys were funny, they were good to photograph because they are so recognizable and yet easily repeated by three guys dressed in the same way. I epically liked how Susana photographed children with out the cliché poses or styles commercials and ads use. People are depicted fairly in her images in a neutral state that makes you think. You almost want to make up a story for her images and have fun with them.
On a superficial level, Susan Raab’s photography does not consistently seem that impressive or aesthetically appealing to me. There are a few photographs featuring interesting perspective or composition, but other than those, the technique and structure of her visuals seems hardly out of the ordinary. Instead, the content of her photographic work really drives the power and flair behind her imagery. In regards to this content, her eye for seeing ironies in everyday life is uncanny. As she focuses her lens on atypical everyday experiences, she frames previously unseen clashes of culture and life. In particular, Raab’s Off-Season photography is both witty and somewhat disturbing, with its colliding and tale-telling interactions between setting and subject. For instance, Superman, exiting a porta potty? I do not know how she caught that one, and yes it is just a man in a suit but when someone thinks of the classic superhero, a porta potty doesn’t usually come to mind. On more of a disturbing level lies the picture of the deserted gas station sporting a “Super America” sign, or the sight of Jesus’ crucifixion, with a focus on the Honolulu Hard Rock Café t-shirt that a spectator donned. Photos like these force a viewer to question reality and think for him or her self, which, in my opinion, is nothing but a good thing.
Secondly, I hate to touch on this subject once again, but this week’s portion of the Sand County Almanac did nothing to improve my opinion of it. At least the structure of the almanac form in Part 1 allowed me some idea of when the descriptions might end or where the thought process might be going. The stability made sense and helped me to trudge through the long, monotonous descriptions. On the other hand, the second part was just a much more random collection of the similar musings in the first. Sure, the writing and descriptions may be well written and beautiful, and I see the merit in it. Yes, I do understand the benefits of experiencing nature. However, these observations will never influence me the way live nature does, and thus their insistently long depictions of the outside world will always cease to hold my attention after a period of ten minutes or so.
Susana’s work is interesting with the use of Americana Icons, and a “taste” of our “consumed” culture, but I have to say I am not a huge fan. I appreciate the view she has taken, allowing us to see the impact of our fast food/ junk food culture. Her consumed work I feel is the most affective, but I wish it was more thought provoking then it is. These images make me feel like I am passing through all of these different thoughts, but not actually thinking about any bigger issue. I do think as a culture we have become overindulgent, and too dependent on businesses like McDonalds. First of all, health wise, a McDonalds hamburger should never be replacing any meal for a child. Secondly, as talked about in ADP Lecture, in what world have we become so dependent on a fast food chain that it possessed the power to change the way chicken is processed? I am happy that standards were put into place, and McDonalds’ had that kind of pull, but I am really disappointed that it was, well, McDonalds who had that kind of pull. Continuing on the idea of processed foods I was really confused during ADP Lecture when we were learning about all the different processes and regulations for foods throughout the world were mentioned. I try to be conscious of what I eat because of food allergies, and am aware of cross-contamination. However, I have never stopped and thought about where the food is shipped from and what that entails, I have only been focused on the processing plants themselves. I feel pretty ignorant not realizing there is so much trade with food, like with what I consider everyday fruits. This class is a definite eye opener, but the more I learn, the more I tend to become confused as to what the “right” answer may be. While the last section of Sand County Almanac I enjoyed this section did nothing for me. I appreciate nature, but I didn’t find anything very riveting about the experience mentioned.
Susan Raab’s photos on consumption shocked me at first. It is amazing to think about the kind of impact that food has had on our society. In cultures across the planet, food is highly valued and changes from one culture to the next depending on their climate, resources, and what is most important to them. In America, time seems to be of the utmost importance, and our choice of food reflects that. Instead of sitting down in nice restaurants, or spending a lot of time cooking good meals at home, a good amount of Americans eat fast food for many of their meals. Fast food and other cheap food stuffs have had a huge impact on American culture, and Susan’s photographs are great examples of this. In her photos she shows children amidst the barrage of fast food. From an early age, children are exposed to this type of consumption, and continue to eat like that for most of their lives. Unlike many other countries, the US doesn’t put a great value on food. It is all about what’s the cheapest and the fastest. Quality means little when compared to food that is fast and easy. I believe that this is one of the reasons why we have such horrid practices when it comes to farming and raising livestock. Practices that are cheap are often harmful and unhealthy. These kinds of practices have been transported to other countries as well that grow food that we want. Everything about fast food is unhealthy, from its production to its consumption to its disposal.
This week I feel inclined to talk about consumption. Looking at Susana Raab’s photo essay entitled “Consumed” allowed me to take a good hard look at consumption in America today. Of course, I am well aware of the ridiculous amounts of products we consume on a daily basis; the outstanding amount of wastes we produce and the impact our consumption has on other nations. I am also well aware of the dependency we have developed for fast food. McDonalds and others are thriving beyond belief and this is due to both the American ideal of being on the run- constantly moving and consuming-and the fact that we are continuously spoiled. Growing up in America, we learn that consumption is okay; fast food is a regular part of life. After living like this for so long, it is very hard to give up this dependency. Many families no longer sit down to dinner together and we find it hard to pass up fast food. It’s so convenient to grab some taco bell (not to mention scrumptious). I find it difficult to make it through a single day without purchasing some type of processed or fast food, especially being a student. Although I know the implications of my consumption, I continue to do it. The convenience of not being green often blinds us from making smart decisions when it comes to consuming. In lecture, Joe talked about the responsibility of the individual. Paper or plastic? Cloth or disposable diapers? Hand dyer or paper towels? Knowing which decision is the right one can greatly effect our personal contribution to green consumption. Joe used Dr. Seuss’s “The Lorax” to demonstrate this point. Supposedly this single child, curious about the environment his society has destroyed, holds the key to change; to recreate and establish the ecosystem that was ravaged by industrialization. Although I find this idea pleasant and optimistic, I feel like it just is not realistic. Call me a cynic or misanthrope, but I do not think I believe that one person can make a difference. I get that it takes one person to get more people on board which eventually leads to a wave of action, but when it comes to our environment and consumption, I don’t believe that green can ever truly win. It seems like not enough people are motivated to make a difference, and our lives are too dependent on industrial production and consumption to be able to fully change our ways. One kid might plant a forest, but it only takes one company to destroy it as well. It’s sad, but I bet after that kid replanted the trees, people went right back to utilizing them to gain profit. Goodbye ecosystem, hello money.
Susana Raab belongs to two countries. She was born in Peru, but spent the majority of her life in the United States. In two different series of work she strives to reconnect with Peru and understand the states. Issues of identity emerge and clash between the series. Peru is a place she is trying to call home. She understands what the world perceives it to be but doesn’t feel like she fits with that. There is a stereotype that fills the country that it is only filled with indigenous people. She cannot relate to that, having grown up in the states. The endeavor she takes on is to ‘modernize’ Peru. Having been to Peru and Lima, where it appears these photos were taken, I feel her mission is a little misguided. My time in Lima showed me a contemporary city with progressive citizens. Lima felt to me, personally, like any other city, just in a different location. Her photos reflect this. The real spirit of Peru is not shown in these photos. She is not showing what make these citizens unique. She is just showing them. To really shed labels she needs to show the origins of them. Her series, Consumed, enables stereotypes of America. She glorifies the aspects of America that are already hyped by the media and the world. We are a nation already synonymous with fast food. It is interesting how in one country she is trying to break stereotypes while in another she is feeding them. The US is fully aware of the role of fast food in our life. We cannot get away from it. These photos show us imagery that, while being out of the norm, is not that unusual. I was not disgusted by the photos, I was not moved by them. They just were.
Susana Raab's photo 'too long at the fair' would have been interesting, but not really noteworthy to me before our last lecture, but now it makes me upset that we're using plastic for things we throw away immediately. If that plastic is ending up in the Pacific and harming the food chain there, that is a huge design flaw. It's difficult to say what we could use to replace plastics (if we knew of a better material we would have used it already!) but it doesn't make sense and not to preach to the choir but it has to be changed asap. Food is such an important part of any society, its one of the most social things you can do, and I liked the way she portrayed it. We love fast food in this country, and we teach our children that paper crowns, plastic toys and greasy food is a celebration or reward. I know I used to love getting happy meals (don't deny it you did too!) That's just the way it is, but now we're seeing our plastic photodegrading in the ocean and we have a super high obesity rate in this country. So, I'm not saying that we should get rid of fast food, but lets give our kids some carrot sticks once in awhile.
Each lecture Professor Trumpey introduces new concerns about the environment to my awareness and I’m left feeling disheartened because I am required to re-examine my lifestyle, but also grateful for the knowledge I gain. I’m slowly realizing just how complex the web of environmental and cultural issues truly is, and much closely all aspect of our culture are related. Susana Raab’s work challenged me to consider my own consumption. Throughout the day I paid close attention to packaging in particular because I have often pondered why the wrappings are often so inefficient and unnecessary. I quickly realized that our own health is the primary reason. There has to be a more ecologically friendly way to keep things sanitary, right? I recently began working at the East Quad dining hall and boggle over how much food is wasted. how much water we use washing the dishes, and how many pairs of disposable gloves I throw away every time I touch different foods. Health code requires that we give each student a new plate if they ask for seconds. That’s one more dish to wash and it all makes a difference. Raab’s work interests me but isn’t amazing. I like the snapshot quality of the photographs but the social commentary is almost too obvious. This could be because I am looking at her work with the assumption that it will relate to culture, the environment and food in some way and have discussed what it means to be part of American consumer culture in nearly all of my other classes. I like that Raab’s photos are so real, and by that I mean they don’t appear to have much editing and are simply capturing a moment in time. The setting is generic and could be nearly anywhere in working class America.
Over the past three years at U of M I’ve taken many generic lecture courses where audience involvement is minimal and most of the information is lost after one summer’s vacation. After every lecture with Joe Trumpey, however, I find myself floored by the practicality of his information and usually leave the lecture with some sort of emotion or motivation. When Joe spoke about how all of the trash we drop off into the ocean eventually gathers into two particular spots in the Pacific, I couldn’t help but think about the impact that something like one wrapper could have. If I were to carelessly throw out a wrapper from a granola bar, for instance, that wrapper would be mulled and torn by the waves until it disintegrates into tiny pieces. Those pieces then find their way into the specific area of the Pacific where the currents force the trash to circulate repeatedly. A single granola bar wrapper transformed into a multitude of tiny shards. What is especially shocking is that the person carelessly throwing the wrapper into the sea has the mentality that “one piece of trash couldn’t do any harm.” It is scary how much influence we have over the environment. The discussion about coffee farmers this week was particularly interesting. Something that we drink every morning has an enormous impact on both the environment and the laborers south of the US in Latin America. I found it particularly interesting that those farmers did not have a vague idea of how much a cup of coffee costs in the states. I’m a strong supporter and promoter of capitalism; however, there is definitely ethical abuse in modern day business. Often times, after a lecture, I feel motivated to research such abuses. Many times big business deceives its customers and work force very similarly to the coffee industry.
Andrew Hainen
ReplyDeleteADP III :: James Rotz
Weekly Statement :: Tuesday October 6th, 2009
This week, I have decided to take on a new topic, seeing as everyone pretty much hates Sand County Almanac. SO, I will be commenting on World Changing in this post and in the World Changing section as well, but on different topics. After understanding that we can select anything from World Changing, I did exactly that – opened up to a random page and began finding arguments and concurrences.
For this topic I read a section called “The Bright Green City” on page 228. This section argues that cities are efficient because they have density and things are packed closely. It continues to say that they are green and more eco-friendly than their rural counterparts. Not to confuse and to be more specific, it is arguing mainly against suburban living and more for urban areas and cities.
So, here begins my qualm with this argument. This book has a foreword by Al Gore. Need I say more? Putting this precedence at the beginning of the book can be seen by a 5 year old as pushing an agenda. Now, that being said, I didn’t put the whole book down, but I have read a decent amount so far. I looked at the argument about living in the cities and that they’re better for the environment and more green than rural areas. I’m just going to go out on a limb here and ask, “When was the last time the author was in a major city?” Last time I was in the nearest urban city, that being Detroit, it didn’t seem too green to me; smashed out buildings, crumbling sidewalks, cigarettes, cars, sewer vents, run down areas, etc. Now in theory could a city be very green? Of course, but has everyone forgotten that Communism also looks pretty good on paper?
I’m going to go ahead and argue for suburban and rural areas being far more green and eco-friendly than cities. First off, why do I think this author said that cities are greener? Because there are more people in cities to sell the idea to, flat out. If the Midwest became green, which they mostly are due to public policy and regulations, no one would care because it isn’t heavily publicized and there isn’t much advertising that comes out of that region. In return, if Chicago becomes entirely eco-friendly, then the people selling the “green” idea make their money back. This whole “Go green” phase is seriously a trend that corporate headquarters and big business are using to try and make more money. Sure, it happens to have some arguably good morals behind it, but if it didn’t turn profit, no one would think twice about attempting to sell it.
Furthermore, looking at people in urban areas, they tend to follow trends very closely and buy into big advertising and what the next guy is doing. So, why are they going for this green movement? Because at the end of the day it makes them feel like they’re doing some good, and it makes them look more politically correct in the eyes of the next guy walking down the street. That’s it. And this book is going to advocate that they’re being better citizens than the farmer in the Midwest growing their food and tending to their natural resources? That’ll be a cold day in Hell before I believe that one.
Anita Sidler
ReplyDeleteADP 3- James Rotz
October 6, 2009
Response 4: Thoughts about Raab’s work and tangents from it.
Suanna Raab’s photography is pretty interesting. I enjoyed her “Consumed” section the best because I felt it had more of a consistency in comparison to some of the other sections. Also I felt there was more of an impact with “Consumed” than the others because we see consumption everywhere. I felt that Raab could in addition to food but also material consumption; I would like to see her approach to that. In the section “Consumed” Raab took a lot of photos with children and the food/ waste consumed. This makes me think that her statement deals with what we teach our children is how they will grow up as. Most of our parents have grown up with their parents cooking most of their meals as apposed to us who now have the option to buy cheap fast food wherever we go. We have become busier ever before with school and work, we have forgotten the importance of the ritual of eating a good healthy meal. Looking at her work made me disgusted with the amount of waste we produce. Every time I read about something environmental about waste I always look at the amount of waste I produce personally. I feel crazy knowing that when I buy this bag of chips, that wrapper will be just thrown in some landfill that I’m contributing to. Of course it is extremely hard to not have any sort of waste when buying any commercial type product. So I’m trying to limit my waste by buying bulk foods with used containers from commercially bought food before, buy fruits and veggies without using new plastic bags to cover them, buying drinks that can be recycled, and using cloth napkins. I was reading the cover of my toilet paper brand (Seventh Generation) and it is 80% post consumer use and 100% recycled. Then they listed pretty interesting stats about how many trees we would save if every household just replaced one of their regular toilet paper rolls with theirs. I think the problem with waste is that it is so much easier to have disposable things. In American especially, we like things cheap and free. In Switzerland (where I’m originally from) we have always needed to bring our own bag to the grocery store and if didn’t, you would have to buy one for so many cents. Of course no one wants to spend more money, so everyone brings his or her bags. Going back to Raab’s work, I think these photos are what many people think of Americans outside of the U.S: that we love McDonalds and litter. This makes me sad that we have this stereotype about us, and I hope we can make a difference one day to relieve ourselves from that title.
In this weeks lectures what I found most interesting was that about what it really means to be eating foods that come from a distance. I really enjoying being able to go the grocery store and having the option to chose from so many fresh fruits and vegetables. I knew that they must have come from different places but I didn’t realize the cost that importing and shipping these food had on the environment. I didn’t know that being grown in a different county meant that we really don’t know what happens to it. Different countries handle their food in different ways and have different regulations and this kind of scared me because I have really no idea what is happening to my food. What if there had been a dangerous chemical sprayed on it or something. This reminded me of the clothing industry and how poorly the workers in other countries were treated I bet the same is true for the food industry. Who knows it could be even worse. Looking at how migrant workers in the US are treated. Just as I want the workers who make my clothes be treated fairly I want those who produce my food to be treated fairly as well.
ReplyDeleteI feel like farming is on steroids now we want are meat and produce to grow bigger and faster. This concerns me because it seems to me that in that process the quality of food is actually going down. So much of the highly processed food doesn’t even seem like food anymore it’s like fake food made out of chemicals that I imagine can’t be good for me or they at least can’t have any nutritional value. Maybe eventually we will all get tired of eating all this junk and start asking for real food again. I’m so glad that more companies are having whole grain, natural and organic products. I wish places like Wal-Mart and Meijer would start looking into having things that are locally grown.
This class continues to make me feel more and more depressed about humanity, and America in particular. Susana Rabb’s photos were really disturbing. There is this complete disconnect between humans and nature because as you can see we’ve grown up so focused on our needs and consumption. The picture of the boy eating a corndog under a tree just makes you realize that people get outside just for the sake of being outside. There isn’t an appreciation or awareness what so ever about our natural world. I feel like perhaps our generation was the last to ever really experience nature and play outside and explore. Not only is it dangerous to let your kids romp around outside, but in our culture today that’s not what kids are being steered to do. I think that because of this a Sand County Almanac is extremely successful at showing people that there is this other world out there that’s forgotten. Perhaps it’s because I understand Leopold and have spent extensive time outdoors and experiencing nature and observing it, but I really do like this book. His writing exposes why we should start to conserve land and support the green movement. Because it’s not going to happen with our awareness centered on consumption like it is now, we need to expand that to the world. We cannot even fully understand conservation if we don’t understand and appreciate everything from atoms and their lifecycles to the rare jaguar.
ReplyDeleteI continue to question why and how we’ve let our culture degrade to this. And it goes back to the first post we had about advertisements. It’s inescapable and we’re brought up believing we’re not good enough unless we have this product. We will be happier if we do. And perhaps we’ll feel better for a while before we fall back down and need to get something new. When doing a project on memory I loved that every good memory that I had when I felt completely content were simple memories when I was outside and actually connecting with earth and people on a deeper level. But as long as there are companies trying to make a buck, there will be no change.
Marian Perez
ReplyDeleteOctober 4, 2009
ADP III
This week’s lectures were a lot more interesting to me because I really like food and my mother is a Chef. I have never noticed how much information and facts I have over looked in my life as to where my food is from and why. I especially enjoyed the lecture about coffee and it’s production. I love coffee and do care about where some of the beans are grown or what cafés I buy from. What really got me thinking was how much the farmers were making compared to the popularity and cafes that sell coffee. I think coffee is a bit expensive as it is, but paying more of a specific brand so that a farmer can make more money really does not help you out at the end of the day. It is interesting however how successful fair trade certified products are; I have never really noticed them before. It is good to educate people on what it is they are buying, but there is a certain extent as to what your paying for being out of need or based on what is considered right.
Another thing I enjoyed hearing about was the fishing and technologies used in the oceans. I personally hate seafood, but learning about the shrimp farms and turtles getting caught in their nets does bring their whole existence to a new level outside of the biology world. I could not believe that people have caused such major declines in fish to catch. Fisherman out fishing the coasts and trying to make as much as a profit as possible does open your eyes as to what should come first. Work to make a living to survive or do the better thing for our environment that effects our survival anyways.
I started to wonder in these lectures of how far or willing people will go to buy more local foods, know where their food is from, and purchase fair trade certified products, especially in the country’s recession right now. The economy is bad and is greatly affecting the way people buy food, and how carless they will become in making purchases. A farmer being underpaid is really unfortunate, but it is something that has been happing for a very long time and often due to ignorance and so much as to helplessness. Some farmers do not even know how much money they should be making and live as best they can when in the United States people freak out when they find out farmers are being underpaid.
As for Susana Raab’s work, it does a great job of capturing human beings and unique settings in a beautiful yet simple way. The KFC guys were funny, they were good to photograph because they are so recognizable and yet easily repeated by three guys dressed in the same way. I epically liked how Susana photographed children with out the cliché poses or styles commercials and ads use. People are depicted fairly in her images in a neutral state that makes you think. You almost want to make up a story for her images and have fun with them.
Trisha Previte
ReplyDeleteADP III: James Rotz
On a superficial level, Susan Raab’s photography does not consistently seem that impressive or aesthetically appealing to me. There are a few photographs featuring interesting perspective or composition, but other than those, the technique and structure of her visuals seems hardly out of the ordinary. Instead, the content of her photographic work really drives the power and flair behind her imagery. In regards to this content, her eye for seeing ironies in everyday life is uncanny. As she focuses her lens on atypical everyday experiences, she frames previously unseen clashes of culture and life. In particular, Raab’s Off-Season photography is both witty and somewhat disturbing, with its colliding and tale-telling interactions between setting and subject. For instance, Superman, exiting a porta potty? I do not know how she caught that one, and yes it is just a man in a suit but when someone thinks of the classic superhero, a porta potty doesn’t usually come to mind. On more of a disturbing level lies the picture of the deserted gas station sporting a “Super America” sign, or the sight of Jesus’ crucifixion, with a focus on the Honolulu Hard Rock Café t-shirt that a spectator donned. Photos like these force a viewer to question reality and think for him or her self, which, in my opinion, is nothing but a good thing.
Secondly, I hate to touch on this subject once again, but this week’s portion of the Sand County Almanac did nothing to improve my opinion of it. At least the structure of the almanac form in Part 1 allowed me some idea of when the descriptions might end or where the thought process might be going. The stability made sense and helped me to trudge through the long, monotonous descriptions. On the other hand, the second part was just a much more random collection of the similar musings in the first. Sure, the writing and descriptions may be well written and beautiful, and I see the merit in it. Yes, I do understand the benefits of experiencing nature. However, these observations will never influence me the way live nature does, and thus their insistently long depictions of the outside world will always cease to hold my attention after a period of ten minutes or so.
Amber Harrison
ReplyDeleteADP III
10/05/2009
Response #4
Susana’s work is interesting with the use of Americana Icons, and a “taste” of our “consumed” culture, but I have to say I am not a huge fan. I appreciate the view she has taken, allowing us to see the impact of our fast food/ junk food culture. Her consumed work I feel is the most affective, but I wish it was more thought provoking then it is. These images make me feel like I am passing through all of these different thoughts, but not actually thinking about any bigger issue. I do think as a culture we have become overindulgent, and too dependent on businesses like McDonalds. First of all, health wise, a McDonalds hamburger should never be replacing any meal for a child. Secondly, as talked about in ADP Lecture, in what world have we become so dependent on a fast food chain that it possessed the power to change the way chicken is processed? I am happy that standards were put into place, and McDonalds’ had that kind of pull, but I am really disappointed that it was, well, McDonalds who had that kind of pull.
Continuing on the idea of processed foods I was really confused during ADP Lecture when we were learning about all the different processes and regulations for foods throughout the world were mentioned. I try to be conscious of what I eat because of food allergies, and am aware of cross-contamination. However, I have never stopped and thought about where the food is shipped from and what that entails, I have only been focused on the processing plants themselves. I feel pretty ignorant not realizing there is so much trade with food, like with what I consider everyday fruits. This class is a definite eye opener, but the more I learn, the more I tend to become confused as to what the “right” answer may be.
While the last section of Sand County Almanac I enjoyed this section did nothing for me. I appreciate nature, but I didn’t find anything very riveting about the experience mentioned.
Shelby Roback
ReplyDeleteADP III: James Rotz
Susan Raab’s photos on consumption shocked me at first. It is amazing to think about the kind of impact that food has had on our society. In cultures across the planet, food is highly valued and changes from one culture to the next depending on their climate, resources, and what is most important to them. In America, time seems to be of the utmost importance, and our choice of food reflects that. Instead of sitting down in nice restaurants, or spending a lot of time cooking good meals at home, a good amount of Americans eat fast food for many of their meals. Fast food and other cheap food stuffs have had a huge impact on American culture, and Susan’s photographs are great examples of this. In her photos she shows children amidst the barrage of fast food. From an early age, children are exposed to this type of consumption, and continue to eat like that for most of their lives. Unlike many other countries, the US doesn’t put a great value on food. It is all about what’s the cheapest and the fastest. Quality means little when compared to food that is fast and easy. I believe that this is one of the reasons why we have such horrid practices when it comes to farming and raising livestock. Practices that are cheap are often harmful and unhealthy. These kinds of practices have been transported to other countries as well that grow food that we want. Everything about fast food is unhealthy, from its production to its consumption to its disposal.
Brijit Spencer
ReplyDeleteADP III
James Rotz
This week I feel inclined to talk about consumption. Looking at Susana Raab’s photo essay entitled “Consumed” allowed me to take a good hard look at consumption in America today. Of course, I am well aware of the ridiculous amounts of products we consume on a daily basis; the outstanding amount of wastes we produce and the impact our consumption has on other nations. I am also well aware of the dependency we have developed for fast food. McDonalds and others are thriving beyond belief and this is due to both the American ideal of being on the run- constantly moving and consuming-and the fact that we are continuously spoiled. Growing up in America, we learn that consumption is okay; fast food is a regular part of life. After living like this for so long, it is very hard to give up this dependency. Many families no longer sit down to dinner together and we find it hard to pass up fast food. It’s so convenient to grab some taco bell (not to mention scrumptious). I find it difficult to make it through a single day without purchasing some type of processed or fast food, especially being a student. Although I know the implications of my consumption, I continue to do it. The convenience of not being green often blinds us from making smart decisions when it comes to consuming.
In lecture, Joe talked about the responsibility of the individual. Paper or plastic? Cloth or disposable diapers? Hand dyer or paper towels? Knowing which decision is the right one can greatly effect our personal contribution to green consumption. Joe used Dr. Seuss’s “The Lorax” to demonstrate this point. Supposedly this single child, curious about the environment his society has destroyed, holds the key to change; to recreate and establish the ecosystem that was ravaged by industrialization. Although I find this idea pleasant and optimistic, I feel like it just is not realistic. Call me a cynic or misanthrope, but I do not think I believe that one person can make a difference. I get that it takes one person to get more people on board which eventually leads to a wave of action, but when it comes to our environment and consumption, I don’t believe that green can ever truly win. It seems like not enough people are motivated to make a difference, and our lives are too dependent on industrial production and consumption to be able to fully change our ways. One kid might plant a forest, but it only takes one company to destroy it as well. It’s sad, but I bet after that kid replanted the trees, people went right back to utilizing them to gain profit. Goodbye ecosystem, hello money.
Dana Pierfelice
ReplyDeleteADP 3- James Rotz
10/05/09
Susana Raab belongs to two countries. She was born in Peru, but spent the majority of her life in the United States. In two different series of work she strives to reconnect with Peru and understand the states. Issues of identity emerge and clash between the series. Peru is a place she is trying to call home. She understands what the world perceives it to be but doesn’t feel like she fits with that. There is a stereotype that fills the country that it is only filled with indigenous people. She cannot relate to that, having grown up in the states. The endeavor she takes on is to ‘modernize’ Peru. Having been to Peru and Lima, where it appears these photos were taken, I feel her mission is a little misguided. My time in Lima showed me a contemporary city with progressive citizens. Lima felt to me, personally, like any other city, just in a different location. Her photos reflect this. The real spirit of Peru is not shown in these photos. She is not showing what make these citizens unique. She is just showing them. To really shed labels she needs to show the origins of them.
Her series, Consumed, enables stereotypes of America. She glorifies the aspects of America that are already hyped by the media and the world. We are a nation already synonymous with fast food. It is interesting how in one country she is trying to break stereotypes while in another she is feeding them. The US is fully aware of the role of fast food in our life. We cannot get away from it. These photos show us imagery that, while being out of the norm, is not that unusual. I was not disgusted by the photos, I was not moved by them. They just were.
Susana Raab's photo 'too long at the fair' would have been interesting, but not really noteworthy to me before our last lecture, but now it makes me upset that we're using plastic for things we throw away immediately. If that plastic is ending up in the Pacific and harming the food chain there, that is a huge design flaw. It's difficult to say what we could use to replace plastics (if we knew of a better material we would have used it already!) but it doesn't make sense and not to preach to the choir but it has to be changed asap. Food is such an important part of any society, its one of the most social things you can do, and I liked the way she portrayed it. We love fast food in this country, and we teach our children that paper crowns, plastic toys and greasy food is a celebration or reward. I know I used to love getting happy meals (don't deny it you did too!) That's just the way it is, but now we're seeing our plastic photodegrading in the ocean and we have a super high obesity rate in this country. So, I'm not saying that we should get rid of fast food, but lets give our kids some carrot sticks once in awhile.
ReplyDeleteEach lecture Professor Trumpey introduces new concerns about the environment to my awareness and I’m left feeling disheartened because I am required to re-examine my lifestyle, but also grateful for the knowledge I gain. I’m slowly realizing just how complex the web of environmental and cultural issues truly is, and much closely all aspect of our culture are related. Susana Raab’s work challenged me to consider my own consumption. Throughout the day I paid close attention to packaging in particular because I have often pondered why the wrappings are often so inefficient and unnecessary. I quickly realized that our own health is the primary reason. There has to be a more ecologically friendly way to keep things sanitary, right? I recently began working at the East Quad dining hall and boggle over how much food is wasted. how much water we use washing the dishes, and how many pairs of disposable gloves I throw away every time I touch different foods. Health code requires that we give each student a new plate if they ask for seconds. That’s one more dish to wash and it all makes a difference. Raab’s work interests me but isn’t amazing. I like the snapshot quality of the photographs but the social commentary is almost too obvious. This could be because I am looking at her work with the assumption that it will relate to culture, the environment and food in some way and have discussed what it means to be part of American consumer culture in nearly all of my other classes. I like that Raab’s photos are so real, and by that I mean they don’t appear to have much editing and are simply capturing a moment in time. The setting is generic and could be nearly anywhere in working class America.
ReplyDeleteOver the past three years at U of M I’ve taken many generic lecture courses where audience involvement is minimal and most of the information is lost after one summer’s vacation. After every lecture with Joe Trumpey, however, I find myself floored by the practicality of his information and usually leave the lecture with some sort of emotion or motivation.
ReplyDeleteWhen Joe spoke about how all of the trash we drop off into the ocean eventually gathers into two particular spots in the Pacific, I couldn’t help but think about the impact that something like one wrapper could have. If I were to carelessly throw out a wrapper from a granola bar, for instance, that wrapper would be mulled and torn by the waves until it disintegrates into tiny pieces. Those pieces then find their way into the specific area of the Pacific where the currents force the trash to circulate repeatedly. A single granola bar wrapper transformed into a multitude of tiny shards. What is especially shocking is that the person carelessly throwing the wrapper into the sea has the mentality that “one piece of trash couldn’t do any harm.” It is scary how much influence we have over the environment.
The discussion about coffee farmers this week was particularly interesting. Something that we drink every morning has an enormous impact on both the environment and the laborers south of the US in Latin America. I found it particularly interesting that those farmers did not have a vague idea of how much a cup of coffee costs in the states. I’m a strong supporter and promoter of capitalism; however, there is definitely ethical abuse in modern day business. Often times, after a lecture, I feel motivated to research such abuses. Many times big business deceives its customers and work force very similarly to the coffee industry.