...follow the path of where the corn is grown and what it is used to create, but also what does corn feed that provides dinner on the table for us. One big contention in today’s day and age is how is the corn grown and used to feed the animals which sustain us. You see in the super markets all the time now, organic carrots, corn, potatoes, lettuce, grain fed hamburger. What does all of this mean? Taking a step back and looking where it originated, we see cattle herding. Herding cattle is as old as Time itself. As old as when the first cattle where domesticated over 50,000 years ago, and as old as the cattle drives done in the Old West. Now imagine living back in the days of the “Wild West”. Being part of a cattle drive and moving the cattle from the East coast and “Going West.” The cook or the “Boss man” of the cattle drive was the “man who owned the cattle they were herding -- but everyone also knew the cook was the man even the boss deferred to most often. The outfit's chuck wagon was a rough equivalent of a traveling general store, and the cook was not only the chief clerk of that store, he was usually the closest thing the cowboys had to a doctor, surgeon, dentist, tailor, and fussy maiden aunt.”(Old West, 2012) You being the “Boss man” have to feed the entire crew and making sure that you have enough to feed all. Beans will suffice but at some point you will need meat to feed the hungry crew. As the Boss man the cattle that are being herd across the country are yours...
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...Cannibalistic Cows Micah Bittner June 10th, 2012 Professor Norton DeVry University Cannibalistic Cows America’s diet is in a great dilemma. Just ask anyone where their food comes from, and they will usually say that it comes from the grocery store. However, one might ask where the food in the grocery store comes from. To gain a better understanding of the issues facing American’s eating habits and where its food comes from, Michael Pollen researches these questions in his book, The Omnivores Dilemma. Through his research, he notes that the 100 million head of cattle breed for food are living on Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (C.A.F.O.) are fed slaughtered cow parts. As a nation, we need to educate consumers on the dangers of consuming corn fed beef, begin pushing for agri-business policy change from the top down, and partake in the benefits of eating healthier meat; if these changes are not implemented soon healthcare rates will soar, along with e Coli and outbreaks of other diseases associated with processing infected beef. The main problems with eating corn fed beef are the dangerous health risks and hidden costs that are passed down to the public. Associated with these problems are the government policies that prevent change. Continuing to ignore these problems will result in increased obesity, heart disease, and other ailments; as well as economic troubles for those in agriculture, business, and consumers. However, if we properly educate people on nutrition...
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...and what it actually contains. The regulations and standards put into effect by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in regards to cattle production and what is deemed to be safe have created an up heave of controversy. Consumers and researchers constantly pose the question of what should be considered safe and who should not. They often argue that when it comes to human health no risks should be taken and risk assessment should not be considered. The following essay discusses the controversy of beef cattle production regulation and standards. The essay will analyze various studies conducted that state a possible link between cancer and growth hormone used in beef, and it will outline all view points of the European ban of American and Canadian beef. The issues and controversy surrounding feedlot given to beef cattle will be analyzed and consumer concerns as well as regulations surrounding labeling of beef in America, Canada and Europe will be discussed. ARGUMENT The use of growth hormones has become widely prominent in the beef production industry. Estradiol benzoate and progesterone, which are types of growth hormone, were first approved in 1956 by the FDA (Doyal, 2000). At the moment five hormones are approved by the FDA for use in cattle production (progesterone, testosterone, estradiol-17β, zeranol, and trenbolone acetate) (Doyel, 2000). These hormones are extensively used in farming practices and they are injected into the cattle 18 days before slaughter, to promote...
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...Livestock Domestic sheep and a cow (heifer) pastured together in South Africa Livestock are domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. This article does not discuss poultry or farmed fish, although these, especially poultry, are commonly included within the meaning of "livestock". Livestock are generally raised for profit. Raising animals (animal husbandry) is a component of modern agriculture. It has been practiced in many cultures since the transition to farming from hunter-gather lifestyles. History Animal-rearing has its origins in the transition of cultures to settled farming communities rather than hunter-gatherer lifestyles. Animals are ‘domesticated’ when their breeding and living conditions are controlled by humans. Over time, the collective behaviour, life cycle, and physiology of livestock have changed radically. Many modern farm animals are unsuited to life in the wild. Dogs were domesticated in East Asia about 15,000 years ago, Goats and sheep were domesticated around 8000 BC in Asia. Swine or pigs were domesticated by 7000 BC in the Middle East and China. The earliest evidence of horse domestication dates to around 4000 BC[1] Older English sources, such as the King James Version of the Bible, refer to livestock in general as "cattle", as opposed to the word "deer", which then was used for wild animals which were not owned. The word cattle is derived from Old North French catel, which meant...
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...The meatpacking industry has changed over the years, for good, and then back to bad. Prior to the 1920s, meatpacking plants were one of the worst places to work and served gruesome meat. Once Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle, people started to take notice of the horrible conditions that the meatpacking industry had. President Roosevelt even sent out a representative to see if the conditions were really that bad, and he reported back that some of the conditions were even worse than Sinclair had described. Sinclair had written in The Jungle a list of practices that would be used in the plant: “The routine slaughter of diseased animals, the use of chemicals such as borax and glycerine to disguise the smell of spoiled beef, the deliberate mislabeling of canned meat, the tendency of workers to urinate and defecate on the kill floor” (Schlosser 204). Recalling meat back then was never a thought in these companies’ minds. Whatever way made the most money was the practice they...
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...Ethics and the Food Industry By: Diana Rhyne and John Hanley In early 2009, Peanut Corp. of America was discovered to have allowed Salmonella tainted peanuts to be distributed across the United States causing an outbreak that resulted illnesses in 714 people across 46 states with nine resulting in deaths ("Department of Health and Human Services; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention", 2009). In this paper, we will explore the concept of corporate social responsibility and some of the current ethical dilemmas many corporations in the food industry face today. We will further discuss the many arguments (in favor of and in opposition to) these ethical dilemmas, or why these issues pose an ethical dilemma. Finally, we will examine the consequences of unethical behavior in the food industry and how consumer demand/behavior affects corporate decision-making. In the food industry, a corporation’s actions/inactions are often far reaching. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is not a new concept. The idea that a business (or business person) should behave in an ethical and socially responsible manner has roots in Biblical times with the advent of usury laws. During the 1700s, Benjamin Franklin was an early advocate for business ethics, going so far as to form a club for young businessmen, tradesmen, and merchants to come together to discuss business philosophies and further their careers (Finamore, 2005: 35-38). CSR is generally based on the idea that companies...
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...Intro to Political Science 5/12/2013 Fast Food Nation The investigative journalist, Eric Schlosser, has written a book to illuminate an epidemic that started in America and is now becoming one of the world’s largest problems. In Fast Food Nation, Schlosser frames today’s Fast Food giants in history,American entrepreneurialism, and over consumption in respect to consumer and employee wellbeing. The power of all modern Fast Food giants combined have eclipsed the power of any one government. Marketing has become a key component to luring consumers to fast food. Schlosser makes the argument that a once AllAmerican ideal, fast food has grown too big to control. Schlosser highlights the freedom right philosophy of make your own luck through the story of Carl’s Jr. founder, Carl Karcher. Karcher did not grow up in the restaurant business, rather a string of opportunities and risk created a perfect storm for Karcher. At a young age Carl went to work for family in California. After 3 years he delivered fresh bread for a bakery. He was now married and took out a loan to buy a hot dog stand. 4 years later he opened his first restaurant Carl’s DriveIn BBQ. This was all happening at the same time McDonald’s was becoming big in Southern California. In 30 years Carl’s Jr had over 300 restaurants. By managing risk and a good business model, Carl Karcher thrived using freedom right philosophy. He also happened to be a political conservative. Order left philosophy is brought...
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...getting the farm when the time was right. These were the good days, when eating was great because all of our meals mainly came from what we had grown. Meat, vegetables, and dairy products all tasted better because the animals or earth the food came from was completely “happy” and chemical free. Happy means that the animals were well taken care of with plenty of time in the pasture to stretch their legs and frolic around; plants weren’t doused with pesticides and growth hormones. Water from the stream was good enough to drink straight out of the stream, and the air was fresh to breathe. As time went on humans started to evolve around the world, we became smarter, greedier, and by human nature we produced more humans, tenfold. With the ever-growing population small farms contracted, the days of growing your own, for your own, became obsolete. People with bigger farms were forced to risk everything in order to provide enough of a certain type of product to support their town, state, or more. According to Midkiff (2005), farmers would have “to take out loans” in order to supply everything that was needed to produce as much product as possible. “If farmers couldn’t pay their loans because of crop failure or low prices, they lost their farms.”(88-91) This made it possible for bigger investors to take over the property, and do what they could in order to make as much money as they could off of the newly purchased (taken over) property. Factory Farming and cruelty consequently evolves. ...
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...Life on the Farm…It’s NOT as we Know it. Close your eyes for a moment, and imagine someone taking your family pet and shooting a bolt into her skull. Now further envision that this shot didn’t entirely incapacitate your beloved family member, but instead just made her woozy. While she attempts to regain clarity, her hind leg is shackled and she’s hoisted into the air upside-down. She’s scared and confused, and while panic and adrenaline course through her body, she thrashes violently to escape this horrific nightmare. Gradually she fights less, and as her strength and will to live subside, her throat is ‘mercifully’ cut. As her eyes dim, and the pool of blood spreads beneath her, the one question that echoes the strongest is simply…”Why?” As horrific a picture as the above might paint, such a scenario cruelly plays out in slaughterhouses around the world. Instances of animal cruelty and inhumane treatment are commonplace, yet society for the most part has turned a blind-eye to these misdeeds. Seemingly a dichotomy exists, whereby livestock and animals raised for human consumption (Hereinafter “food animals”) are allowed to be treated in ways that would be unthinkable for family pets and other creatures. By examining the morality and misconceptions behind this mindset, the financial realities of the industry, and the inherent health concerns associated with these activities, it will become evident that food animals clearly deserve to be treated more humanely. As hopefully...
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...Introduction Millions of African smallholders—farmers, herders and fisherfolk—are resource-poor and suffer from food insecurity. Their low incomes mean they are unable to make investments and take on risks. Their agricultural systems are buffeted by sudden, acute shocks caused by natural and man-made hazards—drought, flooding, erosion, conflicts. Long-term trends, in part the result of international markets, national policy decisions and institutional frameworks, often move against them. The food-security problem is not merely an inability to produce enough food to keep pace with population growth. Such a simplistic reckoning fails to take into account the ecological, cultural, social and economic features which are the bedrock of sustainable agriculture. Environmental degradation and a diminishing resource base seriously affect African farmers who depend on rainfed agriculture. As critical watersheds are deforested, water supplies have become unreliable and the climate less predictable. Local actors are seldom consulted when agricultural policies are formulated. Small-scale farmers (especially women) find it hard to get credit, seeds and other inputs, and the information they need to farm their land in a profitable, sustainable way. Some governments still control the prices of key farm outputs, and unscrupulous traders manipulate the prices of others. In addition, political instability is a major obstacle to food security and sustainable agriculture in many countries. Access...
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...Splenetic Ogres and Heroic Cannibals in Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal (1729) Ahsan Chowdhury University of Alberta I. Cannibalism: Ethnic Defamation or a Trope of Liberation? In A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burthen to eir Parents and Country, and for Making em Beneficial to the Public () Swift exploits the age-old discourse of ethnic defamation against the Irish that had legitimated the English colonization of Ireland for centuries. One of the most damning elements in Swift’s use of this discourse is that of cannibalism. e discourse of ethnic defamation arose out of the Norman conquest of Ireland in the twelfth century. Clare Carroll points out that “the colonization of the Americas and the reformation as events … generated new discourses inflecting the inherited discourse of barbarism” in early-modern English writing about Ireland (). Narratives of native cannibalism were an indispensable part of these new discourses and practices. For the English authors as well as their continental counterparts, the cannibalistic other of the New World became a yardstick by which to measure the threat posed by internal enemies, be it the indigenous Irish, the French Catholics, or the Moorish inhabitants of Spain.¹ us, it was against the backdrop of the reforma Carroll demonstrates that while continental authors like Bartolomé de Las Casas and Jean de Léry could treat the Amerindians and their cannibalistic practices ...
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...as; cotton seeds, rice, soy, sugar beets, yeast, cassava, papaya, bananas, food flavoring, potatoes, corn, tomatoes, squash, oils, beef, pork, chicken, salmon, peas, alfalfa, and honey. Notice that most of the items listed either came from a plant or an animal. Those are the top 20 grocery items that have been genetically modified. What are genetically modified organisms? A genetically modified organism is any living thing that has had their DNA tampered with. This can be mutating, removing, or adding genetic material into the organism. All of the items listed in paragraph one has had their DNA tampered with. Most times when people talk about genetically modified organisms, they mostly refer to plants that are genetically modified. You may be wondering how the animals listed are considered genetically modified. This is because scientists modify the plants that are being fed to the animals. This causes the DNA in the animals to also get tampered with. There are ways, for example, to feed chicken so that they are stronger and they get more meat in them. The way to do this is to modify the foods they eat and put something in the plant’s DNA to make these chickens stronger. Scientists can also directly modify the DNA of the animal also, instead of feeding it...
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...Kautilya's Arthashastra Translated into English by R. Shamasastry Kautilya's Arthashastra Translated into English by R. Shamasastry Kautilya's Arthashastra Table of Contents Book I, "Concerning Discipline" .............................................................. 3 Book II, "The Duties of Government Superintendents" ....................... 60 Book III, "Concerning Law" ................................................................. 213 Book IV, "The Removal of Thorns"...................................................... 285 Book V, "The Conduct of Courtiers" ................................................... 336 Book VI: The Source of Sovereign States ............................................ 362 Book VII, "The End of the Six-Fold Policy" .......................................... 370 Book VIII: Concerning Vices and Calamities........................................ 467 Book IX, "The Work of an Invader" ..................................................... 490 Book X, "Relating to War" ................................................................... 521 Book XI, "The Conduct of Corporations" ............................................ 541 Book XII, "Concerning a Powerful Enemy" ......................................... 547 Book XIII, "Strategic Means to Capture a Fortress" ............................ 563 Book XIV, "Secret Means" ................................................................... 584 Book XV, "The Plan of a Treatise" ......
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...Genetically Modified Organisms Table of Contents Abstract 3 Introduction 4 Connection to Technology and Science 4 Definition of Technology 4 Historical Developments of Technology 5 Political and Legal Influences 6 Economic Questions and Considerations 7 Psychological Considerations and Sociological Effects 9 Cultural Context and Media Influence 11 Environmental Implications 20 Moral and Ethical Implications 20 Conclusions 21 References 22 Appendices 0 Abstract This report is about Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), It will explain what the technology is, how it developed from the observation of pea plants by a humble gardener at a monastery in Czechoslovakia in the middle of the 19th century to become the science of genetic engineering. The report will examine the influences the technology of GMOs has had on the political and legal systems where they have been introduced and how those political and legal systems are trying to reach some agreement on how to best use this technology. The report discusses the economic questions and implications, the psychological considerations, sociological effects, and the environmental, moral and ethical implications of genetically modified organisms. This report will also explain how the media has influenced the acceptance of some GMOs and the rejection of other and examine this technology and its cultural context. Connection to Technology and Science The emerging science/...
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...Bharat Ratna Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar "Father Of Indian Constitution" India’s first Law Minister Architect of the Constitution of India ii http://www.ambedkar.org Born April 14, 1891, Mhow, India Died Dec. 6, 1956, New Delhi Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, was the first Minister of Law soon after the Independence of India in 1947 and was the Chairman of the drafting committee for the Constitution of India As such he was chiefly responsible for drafting of The Constitution of India. Ambedkar was born on the 14th April, 1891. After graduating from Elphinstone College, Bombay in 1912, he joined Columbia University, USA where he was awarded Ph.D. Later he joined the London School of Economics & obtained a degree of D.Sc. ( Economics) and was called to the Bar from Gray's Inn. He returned to India in 1923 and started the 'Bahishkrit Hitkarini Sabha' for the education and economic improvement of the lower classes from where he came. One of the greatest contributions of Dr. Ambedkar was in respect of Fundamental Rights & Directive Principles of State Policy enshrined in the Constitution of India. The Fundamental Rights provide for freedom, equality, and abolition of Untouchability & remedies to ensure the enforcement of rights. The Directive Principles enshrine the broad guiding principles for securing fair distribution of wealth & better living conditions. On the 14th October, 1956, Babasaheb Ambedkar a scholar in Hinduism embraced Buddhism. He continued the crusade for...
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