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Monday, May 31, 2010

what I learned from doing my research paper

Doing my research paper about genetically modified food I learned a lot about this type of food and how it is affecting the entire world. After the professor told us that our second research paper it was about the same topic but with more information I was a little worried, but learning how to look for more information in the La Guardia library helped a lot to find reliable sources because I found that there was a lot more information about GM food than I thought from the first time I did the paper and that are many documented cases where genetically engineered foods have caused diseases, but the FDA still refuses to label this food. Even though sometimes it can be faster to look for info on the internet is not always the correct information, but now I know that books, journals and newspapers are the best sources. And the last thing I learned is how to cite and do an annotated bibliography.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Supersize me

Fast food restaurants are everywhere, but Morgan Spurlock chose McDonalds because it is the one that has more restaurants around the world. The point that he is trying to make is that Americans are having more health and obesity problems because of this type of food. Millions of people consume this food everyday and many do it regularly and even though Americans walk a lot to go to work, school or to a store, it is not enough to consider it as exercise that can help keep us healthy.
Spurlock experiment consisted in eating nothing but McDonalds for 30 days to see what its effects can be and it showed that he gained 24 pounds, he was depressed, his cholesterol and triglycerides levels were too high, he had no energy and was developing health problems. Clearly what Morgan Spurlock did is not something that people do but it demonstrates the issues that fast food can create on our bodies if we eat it constantly and if we do not exercise.
It is also impressive that when Spurlock showed those pictures to kids to see if they recognize who they were none of them fail to recognize Ronald McDonald. This is because he is everywhere, on TV, billboards and everywhere we go. McDonalds offers happy meals with toys, playgrounds and it also offers parties for children. Obesity is not only a problem of adults. Children are now part of this epidemic too.
After a few months after this movie was released McDonalds got rid of the super size option, introduced more salads and showed the calories that this food contains, but it claims that it had nothing to do with movie. However I do not think it was just a coincidence.
There were two girls that sued McDonalds because they claimed that they were overweight because of this fast food company. It is true that it is very unhealthy to eat fast food but most of people know this, therefore we cannot only blame it on them. If we eat fast food is because we want to, not because someone is making us eating it.
This movie shows that we need to change our eating habits and worry more about our health.