The connection

The Consumer:  A republic of Fat

By Michael Pollan

 

According to the author it seems that corn has being our worst enemy since the nineteen century and everything starts at the very ground of the farms. The overproduction of uneatable corn that has to be processed in order to be consumed; it seems to be the perfect solution for the government to feed all Americans at an affordable price for the food that they consume every single day. Just like the alcohol abuse that took off in the nineteen century because corn made it so affordable, leading to alcohol diseases; now corn has found another way to shine and that is through obesity caused by one main factor, the high consumption of sweeteners that come from the high production of corn syrup, and as we all know the high fructose syrups has no nutritional value for our bodies.

 

Research and Destroy

By Daniel Van Der Velden

 

I believe that it is important for designers to produce meaningful things that can help in the needs of consumers and not just to satisfy their desires. It seems that the corporate world has taken over many designers and there is a need for that path to be broken.

 

 

The two previous readings can be linked with each other. The overproduction of corn in the above article and the farmers are the designers in that case. There is pollution in both cases in the design world the corporate culture seems to control the design that is being produced and driven by “wants”, and as for the farmers their overproduction of corn is driven by the “wants” of the government in order to feed America.

Thoughts on Readings: Research and Destroy & A Republic of Fat

Research and Destroy

I agree with the author when he states that designing today is more for "wants" rather than "necessities" because designing generates a feeling of longing. Longing for something doesn't necessarily mean one will die without it because in some third world countries, they have no such media available, yet they are well off. Sometimes a graphic designer must take on a role similar to a lawyer, for their client, "removing themselves from the usual commission structure and its fixed role definitions" in order to produce work for whom they are working for, which led others to criticize that they do not think for themselves and just do work - like someone working on a conveyer belt, not thinking and just doing as told. Much of the design only serves as temptation for viewers rather than harboring a significant meaning. When a designer push beyond their instructions, they are then their own authors of their work.



A Republic of Fat

A majority of Americans are overweight and increases every year because America attempts to produce, buy/sell everything at the lowest price they can find possible. A variety of reasons lead overweight problems and one of biggest ones has to do with corn. As we have seen in the film, "King Corn," a lot of the corn grown is "useless" or uneatable and the government pays farmers to continue making this useless product. With this useless product, people salvage every bit of the corn, whether it be high fructose corn syrup, corn starch, feed for the cows, etc which then starts spreading to every bit of our livelihood, from the food we eat, straight to even the ends of our hairs! And since corn is so cheap to process, it produces cheap products (i.e. McDonalds), which then can be bought by lower-income individuals, which constitutes for a large portion of Americans causing obesity. In addition, obese individuals find it difficult to exercise, so they continue to live a sedentary lifestyle, making problems worst.

The production, processing, and selling of corn products is just like importing goods from China; the quality is extremely low and harms the body, yet because many individuals cannot afford to consume higher quality food, it becomes an endless cycle. Eating better quality food or corn-free food is out of reach except for the "privileged" who can afford to eat better. Corn is like a cockroach; you just can't get rid of it no matter how hard you try. Everywhere you look, everything's made of corn; even the chair you're sitting in may have an indirection relation to corn. The cheapest foods will contain some form of corn and probably also contain the highest amounts of calories in comparison to their more expensive counterparts.

GOP bid to link California drought measure, farm bill fails

GOP bid to link California drought measure, farm bill fails

Backed by House Speaker John Boehner, three California Republicans said Monday they would try to insert a provision into the giant farm bill that would divert water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to farms in the Central Valley, vastly raising the stakes in the struggle between fish and farms amid California’s severe drought.

Current California Drought Is Driest In State’s History; Scientists Fear ‘Megadroughts’ On Their Way

Current California Drought Is Driest In State’s History; Scientists Fear ‘Megadroughts’ On Their Way

The nearly dry bottom of the Almaden Reservoir near San Jose, Calif., on Jan 21, 2014. California Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency, and the dry year of 2013 has left fresh water reservoirs with a fraction of their normal water reserves. Reuters

A Taco Deconstructed / Test Post 01

Examining the ingredients in a taco paints a picture of the globalization of our food production network.

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