Journal #2

Chapters 6-10

During the beginning of this section, Kingsolver discussed the topic of raising turkeys and chickens on their farm, and how her daughter Lily wanted to be the sole keeper of the chickens. It was very interesting how Kingsolver incorporated raising chickens to sell their eggs into a life-lesson. Her daughter wanted a horse so Kingsolver agreed to pay for half of the horse, but Lily would have to raise enough money for her half by selling eggs. Initially Lily was not planning on raising roosters to be butchered and sold as meat; she only wanted to sell the eggs. When Lily realized how much money she would need to raise for her horse she decided that she would harvest roosters as well and only keep the hens as “pets”. Most urban people wouldn’t consider raising turkeys and chickens as a “life-lesson” but the main idea is how a person views the situation.

As a group we found the topic of poultry very interesting.  Kingsolver writes about how 99 percent of the turkeys eaten by Americans cannot fly, mate, or walk far unassisted.  It is hard to believe that an animal as been breed to a point that they cannot reproduce on their own and the turkey eggs must be fertilized by human hands.  Even more surprising is that there are so few different species of turkeys left in the world compared to 100 years ago.  The kind of turkey the author chose to raise there is one known breeder left in the United States.  Chickens are also in a similar condition with the variation between breeds have been almost wiped out by the mass production of chicken breast.

Another point that we found interesting was the topic of family meal time. In both chapters six and seven the family demonstrates how food is a great opportunity to bring together everyone in an appropriate atmosphere. The family meal time allows for family and friends to congregate and the “food time” helps maintain positive healthy relationships. It was also interesting that on this family’s farm, each member usually helps to prepare the meal. A person may think that it is a burden to have to prepare all of these vegetables, let’s face it, it’s a very time consuming ordeal, but Kingsolver and her family look at the “burden” as a chance to work together and sometimes experiment with their different crops. Also an important aspect of food is that it knows no age barriers, all humans must eat and therefore the time for meal gatherings is a perfect opportunity for families to spend time together.

The author establishes her authority on the material in this autobiography because she lives out the actions she describes in the text. She eats local, grows her own food (without chemicals or sophisticated equipment), harbors heirloom plants, raises her own animals, the list goes on and on. That assigns her an authority to that anyone who didn’t follow this lifestyle would not attain, for this is not just a matter if skill and technique, but a matter of sacrifice. She can “talk the talk” because she busts her ass and reaps the rewards of her challenging but fulfilling lifestyle. She is credible in both knowledge and devotion.

Another section that we found interesting was in chapter eight when Kingsolver discusses the “real” price of food. The majority of today’s society does not grow their own food because they are forced to believe that it is too expensive; people are actually being deceived. One of our group members recently found an article from Time Magazine that discusses the drawbacks of paying for “cheap” food. Although the prices may seem cheap at first, in reality we are spending our tax dollars to cover the cost of gasoline to power the trucks that transport the food, and we also pay a high cost to the environment such as chemical fertilizers and contaminated manures that can wash into the Mississippi River, down to the Gulf of Mexico where it can kill a large number of fish. Despite just the environmental effects, our food is also becoming dangerous from the antibiotics that Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOS) are giving to the animals to protect them from diseases. Eventually the animals may develop a resistant to these antibiotics, killing off our meat supply. So at first harvesting oour own vegetables and crops may seem expensive, but in the long run it may definitely pay off.

Chapter 8-10 Summary

-Luke Mehring

                Chapters 8 to 10 all take place in the month of June.  In chapter 8 the author, Barbara Kingsolver, writes a lot about the “real cost” of food in America.  This includes the environment cost from using chemicals in both the cost of the chemicals and the cost of chemical cleanup in the United States.  It also includes the fuel used to harvest, plant and spread chemicals over large fields.  It also cost consumer substitutes used to pay farmers and the agriculture industry by the government with tax dollars.  So, the point of this chapter is to let us know that while organic food may be more expensive up front in the store, it cost less overall because of all of the other factors.

                Chapter 9 is all about a different topic that is not about growing your own food.  She writes mostly about what people do with their time.  She also talks about how when people do things how you approach it changes how you do it or whether or not you enjoy it.  For example, if you come into making dinner thinking about how it is just a waste of time and you need to do it quick so you can get to other things you will do a poor job and most likely not enjoy it.  But, if you come into dinner thinking of it as a opportunity to be creative and have fun you will enjoy it and will have a better chance to do a good job.  Kingsolver also brings up the good point that time is a zero sum equation.  This means that every minute you save doing something will be spend on doing something else because no matter what there is the same amount of time every day.

                Chapter 10 is another chapter that emphasizes eating locally.  Kingsolver uses the medium of a farmers dinner that uses only locally grown food in their menu and it is all for under 10 dollars.  This is in contrast to most restaurants that get their food from all over the country and all over the world to make their food less expensive to produce.  This farmers dinner gets everything within an hour drive from the field to the costumer.

Chapters 8-10 Graphic Organizer: Joe Weirich

Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food

Chapter Eight takes some time to discuss the "real" price of food.  A chief complaint about switching from "conventional" food to organic and locally grown food is the perceived higher cost.  The aim of the chapter is to dispel this perception.  The low cost of conventionally grown food is largely a myth, according to the chapter, because the price on the shelf does not convey the hidden costs associated with eating inferior food.  There is the environmental damage of cheaply grown food, and the health risk associated with that.  There is the cost of the farm subsidy, which allows the farmer to sell corn at a rock bottom price.  There is the lack of nutritional value found in low quality food, meaning you have to buy more of it to obtain the same nutrients.

                            

All of this and more is discussed in a recent Time Magazine article which starts off thusly:

Somewhere in Iowa, a pig is being raised in a confined pen, packed in so tightly with other swine that their curly tails have been chopped off so they won't bite one another. To prevent him from getting sick in such close quarters, he is dosed with antibiotics. The waste produced by the pig and his thousands of pen mates on the factory farm where they live goes into manure lagoons that blanket neighboring communities with air pollution and a stomach-churning stench. He's fed on American corn that was grown with the help of government subsidies and millions of tons of chemical fertilizer. When the pig is slaughtered, at about 5 months of age, he'll become sausage or bacon that will sell cheap, feeding an American addiction to meat that has contributed to an obesity epidemic currently afflicting more than two-thirds of the population. And when the rains come, the excess fertilizer that coaxed so much corn from the ground will be washed into the Mississippi River and down into the Gulf of Mexico, where it will help kill fish for miles and miles around. That's the state of your bacon — circa 2009.

The full article can be read here.

-Zachary Brandt

Chapters 8-10 Vocabulary

Melissa Briggs

Commodity (113) - an article of trade or commerce, esp. a product asdistinguished from a service

Economize (115) - to practice economy; avoid waste or extravagance;                                           to manage economically; use sparingly or frugally

Hydroponically (119) -the cultivation of plants by placing the roots in liquid nutrient solutions rather than in soil; soilless growth of plants

OSHA (122) – Occupational Safety and Health Administration; the department of the US government with the responsibility to ensure safety and healthful work environments

Quotidian (124) – daily; usual or customary

Pathological (126) – of or pertaining to pathology; caused by or involving disease; morbid

Affluent (129) -having an abundance of wealth, property, or other materialgoods; prosperous; rich

Alimentary (131) - concerned with the function of nutrition; nutritive

Subservience (131) - serving or acting in a subordinate capacity; subordinate; servile; excessively submissive

Oligarchy (151) - a form of government in which all power is vested in a fewpersons or in a dominant class or clique; government by thefew

Chapter 6-7 Discussion Questions

Luke Mehring

1.            1. Page 91, The Author talks about how 1,152 chickens could fit into a six foot by eight foot room.  How do you think the bird’s quality of life is in these conditions?  Do you think that many people truly know the conditions of these birds?  Why do you think this is and do you think Americans even care if their food is treated humanely or not before they eat it?

2.           2. Page 94-95, Kingsolver talks about how she feels she has corrupted her daughter in this section by telling her she could make more money by selling chicken meat then their eggs.  Why do you think the author feels so conflicted about teaching her daughter this lesion?  Why is it that people can go from cherishing something so highly I their lives to deciding to slaughter it if it gives them something they desire?  Could you kill something that means so much to you for 10 dollars net profit?

3.           3. Page 100, The book talks about how people where the family live, Virginia, do not say thank you when someone gives them a plant.  How do you think this ritual/belief originated?  Even though the elderly neighbor does not say thank you out loud, how does she imply it?  Do you think you could refrain yourself from saying thank you or your welcome in this way? Why or why not?

4.          4.  Page 102, The author tells us, the readers, about how in late spring there is never enough time to get everything done because there is so much home farmers must do to keep their gardens or fields healthy.  How do people who have full time jobs manage to do all of the same work without missing time at their jobs?  Could you work in your garden for hours before and after work when you are already working 8 hours a day?  Why do you think people are so motivated to work hard when a grocery store is just down the block?

Chapter 6 & 7 Vocabulary

Page 86 Eudora Welty: Eudora Welty (1909-2001) was an American author whose book, The Optimist’s Daughter, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973.  Kingsolver mentions her because of a shared sentiment to live in a post office.

Page 89 Poults: a poult is a young turkey, but the term can be applied to other species of general poultry.  In the context of the book on page 89, the word happens to refer to baby turkeys.

Page 90 Lethargy: Lethargy is a state of fatigue or torpor.  Amusingly, the word has a plural form: lethargies, but I’m not sure how one acquires multiple lethargies.  The word is used to describe how meat animals are bred to be lethargically docile.

Page 94 Equines: Equine is usually used as an adjective to describe something that is similar or related to a horse.  However, here the word is used in the form of a noun as a synonym for ‘horses’.

Page 96 Wyandottes: Wyandotte is a breed of chicken that Kingsolver mentions but fails to describe.  Wyandottes lay brown eggs, are medium sized, and prefer free range.  They are kept for their meat, eggs, and as show birds.

Page 96 Orpingtons: Like the Wyandotte above, the Orpington is a breed of chicken that is mentioned, but inadequately described for my curiosity.  Orpingtons are named after the town of Orpington, England.  They are large, maternal, and lay 200 eggs a year.  Due to their popularity as show birds, their ability to lay more than 300 eggs a year has largely been bred out of them in favor of looks.

Page 96 Araucanas: Unlike the previously mentioned chicken breeds, the book does give one detail about the Araucana; the fact that they “lay pretty green eggs.”  In addition to their unusual egg color, Araucanas are also notable for being rumpless (lacking a tail) and for having tufts of feathers near their years rather like a pair of side burns.

Page 100 Genteel Fête:  Genteel means refined or polite.  A Fête is a French word for celebration or party.  The phrase is used in the book to describe Mother’s Day.

Page 101 Proletarian:  Proletarian is the adjective form of the noun proletariat.  The proletariat is the class of society that does not own any land, but is more generally used to describe the working class of society.  The term is most famously used in The Communist Manifesto, which is probably why Kingsolver uses it to personify a Russian breed of tomato.

Page 101 Languid:  Languid means lethargic or slow moving, and is used in the book to personify a tomato in contrast to the proletarian tomato described in the same paragraph.

-Zachary Brandt