HW 7D

Chapter 18
Summary- While hunting for food, I became more aware of everything that was going on around me. The slightest things even drew my attention. With Angel and a rifle in hand I killed a pig. After not knowing much about the gun for example if the safety was on and only having shot it once at a gun range. Then the pig had to be tended to and prepared  which was completely disgusting. However with killing this pig it made me think about how I had the first hand experience with killing the pig. Humans justify these killings with attacking like animals don't feel pain like humans.
Gems-"This is another example of the cultural contradictions of capitalism- the tendency over time for the economic impulse to erode the moral underpinnings of society. Mercy toward the animals in our care is one such casualty."
"My emotions were as surging and confused as the knot of panicked pigs had been on this spot just a moment before." (Pollan 343)
Thoughts- I feel like even though Michael Pollan did go out and do his own hunting, and now I know that the next chapter will be gathering, Michael Pollan did kill a pig which is what his chapter seventeen is all about. How humans are convinced that it is okay to kill animals because they are animals. No other reason. It is a kind of racism and although this is probably the easiest way to get the food from the animal it also is in support of what the previous chapter is against and killing animals to eat them is also something that has been done as far as we can remember. I feel like if the case was, animals get killed for no reason that would be spe but as shown in this chapter its necessary. 


Chapter 19-
Summary- Gathering was next on the schedule. Gathering was surprisingly hard but I managed to gather a few mushrooms with Angelo. Usually Americans do not see food  as something sacred but when it comes to gathering these mushrooms it is a completely different story. Managing to find a handful myself was even a feat because it was that difficult to find them. Its hard to tell the patterns of fungi even now a day. There are so many variables about what would be considered a good mushroom and a bad one that it makes my finds even greater.
Gems-"After the first pig hunt Jean-Pierre had driven me home, and I used the captive car time to probe him once again on the subject of mushrooms" (Pollan 378)


"Morel hunting didn't sound like much fun, more like survival training than a walk in the woods. I crossed my finger that Anthony was just trying to scare me and set my alarm from 4:30AM, wondering why it is all these hunting-gathering expeditions had to big at such ungodly hours" (Pollan 379)


Thoughts- I feel again like this is a good closing to the book. Although its not the last chapter it is a very good way to make the story come in a complete circle. It has a person talking about what they believe and at the end he makes the advance to help and experience a new thing. For example in school after watching Food Inc. Naima said that many people don't do what they say they will do when it comes to making commitments. Michael Pollan could have written an entire book about what should happen but as Michael Jackson says change starts with the man in the mirror (NOT A CLICHE JUST A REALLY GOOD WAY TO USE THAT SONG IN A B-LOG POST).


Chapter 20
Summary- Eating the food was next. All day was  spent preparing the food and getting ready by cooking with the ingredients that were gathered and food that was hunted. Eating food how it was eaten many years ago. The meal included Egg Fettuccine, grilled loin from the Wild Pig.  Local Garden Salad, Fava bean, Angelo Garro Petite Syrah Wine of 2003.The meal was not the best tasting meal however making this meal  personally made it all the better.Unlike most food which comes from a fast food place this was a "homemade meal".
Gems- "I prized, too, the almost perfect transparency of this meal, the brevity and simplicity of the food chain that linked it to the wider world." (Pollan 409)
"Another thing cooking is, or can be, is a way to honor the things we're eating, the animal and plants and fungi that have been sacrificed to gratify our needs and desires, as well as the place and the people that produced them" (Pollan 404)
Thoughts-  I find it interesting that compared to the meal Michael Pollan had, i'm mostly used to eating foods from fast food places. When you go into these places it is in your head that these are the places to get food and because its so common, you trust these people with your food and health. However this experience is something that should be experienced by everyone. Many people think they are eating food like this without much knowledge of what goes in their mouth. The only question that is asked is what tastes better.