UNIT 3 REFLECTION

1. I attempted to create a very interesting and creative title by including sports, racism, and superman. As funny as that sounds, Superman is a nickname that Cam Newton (one of the subjects of my article) has been given due to a celebration that he does when he impersonates Superman. I thought that this little detail would be an eye catcher and that the reader would feel inclined to check it out.
2. I started the article with a very intriguing quote from NPR which pretty much sums up the basis of my article and gives a little context. I included historical context, a dictionary definition, and a controversial opinion to draw in the reader.
3. I gave my strong opinion. I used a variety of different topics to back up what I said as well as one that goes against my personal belief. I also tried to raise questions and point out that we need change. Finally I thought back on everything and summed up my final thoughts.
4. I used historical information as well as a scientific research project from Smith College to give some context as clearly as I could. I tried to be as unique as possible by opening my article with a quote, by using an unordinary title and by using pictures too.
5. I was fully aware that my idea is very controversial and that not everyone would agree with it so i made sure to stay true to my opinion no matter what. I tried to organize and develop my ideas as well as possible so that everyone gets the same reading experience no matter what side you’re on.
6. I did a lot of research on all aspects of the topic to generate an opinion as well as use my morals and beliefs in life to build a firm stance. I utilized my research to get a better understanding to see all aspects of the controversy, negative and positive. I joined the debate by clearly stating my opinion and by sticking to it.
7. I had all of the required sources, however some were used in the article and others helped myself get a more detailed historical context to insure that I really knew what I was writing about. Some of the sources excluded didn’t exactly fit the flow and structure of my article and I didn’t want some of them to take away from the article’s train of thought, therefore, confusing the reader.
8. My primary source of Smith College was very instrumental in setting down scientific information on the topic of race and sports. My secondary information basically highlighted those theories by giving examples of the research findings  that relate and happen in the current year of 2016. For example, the study explained how white players feel as if their spots are being taken. I used secondary source articles to show how players still feel that way (used quote from Charles K. Ross about white players being the franchise players and when a player of color comes along to take that traditionally white spot, controversy sparks).  I also tried to include a devils advocate source because it’s important to show both sides of the argument.
9. I used Logos to show that this problem is logical and that many people aren’t thinking logically, kinda like a wake up call to the reader. I think Ethos is pretty relevant because the sources that I used are respected and trustworthy plus they are accurate. For the Pathos aspect I tried to get my emotions out of the way but towards the end I kinda let myself go and used words like idiocy and used the sentence : “Stop worrying about whose playing in the games and start worrying about whether your team will have a good season or not “ as a backhanded ending. I think I was able to keep my opinion strong without really letting my emotions get the best of me.
10. I gave a number of visuals. The first was Cam Newton looking sad( kinda speaks for itself because he’s the topic and its about racism in sports that is targeted towards him). The second was Newton hitting the dab, because the paragraph next to it was about his dancing. The next was Warren Moon talking with Newton because Moon mentored him and it was mentioned in the paragraph next to it. The trend is kind of a formula, I tried to use pictures to visualize the emotion of what I was talking about along with what I was literally talking about ( dancing,mentoring). I don’t think relying on the visuals alone could portray my article’s message correctly. They are used more as aids or support beams to visualize and give examples of that I’m talking about as i go.
11. I wrote two drafts. I grew a lot from my first draft in a sense of more content but as well as a better structure. During peer-review and editing my first draft I noticed that I was writing in a very essay like formula so I tried to change that in my second and final drafts. I broke up paragraphs and tried to seem more casual while remaining engaging. 
12. I didn’t use any hyperlinks. I didn’t find that they were completely necessary but I could have included them.
13. I tried to pay close attention to language and grammar. I attempted to not repeat words but instead use variations or synonyms of the previous similar word that I was trying to use again. I also tried to utilize grammar so that I wasn’t left with huge run-on sentences.

Will Bradley-Villarini

Professor Barone-Phillips

WRT205

4/24/16

                                                                

                                         Race and Sports: Can Superman be Black?

Disclaimer for understanding: Cam Newton’s nickname is Superman based on a touchdown celebration that he performs where he pretends to rip open his jersey like superman does when he reveals his identity to go fight crime.

“To many whites, men of my vintage, men I knew, there was a sense that their game was being stolen. It was a very visceral racism.”- Frank Deford, NPR

Sports have been around for thousands of years in human culture. They date as far back as the early hundreds, or as long as military training has existed. Sport(s) is defined by dictionary.com as : “an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature”. Many white athletes feel as if there are spots are being taken by African-American players or players of different races (the quote above from Frank Deford). It’s quite ridiculous to think that because the definition of Sport says that it “requires skill”, therefore, no matter what skin color you are, if you’re skilled then you should be playing. In the modern 21st century, the argument of race in sports is still very present and it has a history, especially in the last 100 years or so with events such as the Civil Rights movement. Football is a great example of the ever-burning flame of racism that still exists in sports for a few reasons.

Historically, the franchise players or “star players” on the football teams have been the quarterbacks. At the beginning of the 2015-16 NFL season, only 6 starting quarterbacks out of the total 32 were of color (19.2%). Cam Newton, the MVP quarterback that led the Carolina Panthers to an 18-1 record and a Super Bowl is the spotlight of this article due to the attention he brought to the issue of racism in football. His unique set of skills, arrogance, and impressive dancing extracted a lot of hatred from white America. The issue of racism in sports is very present to this day, I’m going to cover the history of racism in sports and compare it to Mr. Newton and his story in the current time of 2016.

I personally believe that racism is currently alive and well in sports, especially in football. It’s not good for American culture along with sports and the industry as a whole. The sports industry in the United States makes $495 billion yearly, making it one of the biggest contributors to the U.S economy. If racism keeps causing debates in the sports world then it will continue to move backwards.

When looking into the history of race and sports it is crucial to look at the statistics of when players of color graced the field for the first time in each major sport. The NFL’s first black player was Marion Motley back in 1946. The MLB’s first was Jackie Robinson in 1947. And finally, the NBA’s first player of color was Chuck Cooper in 1950. Based on those statistics, there were exactly 0 players of color in America’s most popular sports before 1946. That statistic is baffling without a doubt and it’s concerning as well. Scientists from Smith College believe that this absence was due to a couple of factors. The reasons surround the idea that minorities are different from whites and that they are “inferior”. The first reason that Smith College gave was in regards to physical prowess. The belief that African-Americans have a physical superiority (running faster, jumping higher, increased reflexes) is “closely yoked to an anti-intellectualism that permeates black male culture” (Smith College, Page 2). This ideology of physical inequality leads to the caucasian player creating more inequality because of their resentment toward their own personal abilities. That comparison correlates with another discriminatory categorization of African-Americans by saying that they’re also not as “intellectual” as the white players. These ideologies are poisonous and they are still prevalent today.

Cameron Jerrell Newton is a 26 year-old black male who is going into his 6th season as the starting quarterback for the Carolina Panthers. In the 2015-16 NFL season, Newton led the Panthers to an 18-1 record, even adding a Super Bowl appearance. The Panthers were the favorites to win after a dominating season, however, the Denver Broncos’ unbreakable defense ruined what could have been a legendary season for Newton and the Panthers franchise. Newton received flack as the season progressed for a handful of reasons and he took it as an issue of racism. Newton came out in an USA Today article to say “I’m an African-American quarterback that may scare a lot of people because they haven’t seen nothing they can compare me to”(USA Today, Gluck). What makes Newton so “incomparable” is his ability to be dangerous both in the air and on the ground. Standing at 6’5” and 245 lbs., Newton was able to rush for 636 yards and 10 touchdowns, an incredible statistic for a QB, as well as throw for 3,837 yards and 35 touchdowns. Newton ended the season with a QBR of 99.4, a number viewed as off the charts, and earned the title of MVP. Cam saw the issue as White America being threatened by him because he was putting up Tom Brady-like numbers. However, the problem here is that Tom Brady is white and Cam Newton is black. In Cam’s eyes, that means that people are resorting to stereotypes and discrimination because a black man is putting up amazing statistics in a predominantly white position. Throughout history, the franchise player of NFL teams have been the quarterbacks. Charles K Ross, a professor and author on black culture’s input on this topic was stated as : “Who was going to be the face of your franchise and your product? A white man” (New York Times, Powell).

Some of the other aspects that make Newton a “threat” refer with how he behaves on the field. If you are familiar with Newton’s story, or if you have ever watched him play then you would know that the quarterback loves to dance, and perhaps too much. After every first down, every touchdown, and pretty much after any successful play, one can find Newton “hitting the dab”. The dab is a dance move where the person bends their head into the bend of their elbow in a swift motion. This dance was introduced to the public thanks to the Atlanta based rap group “Migos”. During a game against the Tennessee Titans, Newton rushed for a touchdown and proceeded to celebrate for around 15 seconds. His dancing was so extra that a defensive lineman by the name of Wesley Woodyard ran up to him in anger, followed by the referee running over to break the altercation up, however,  Newton kept going even as the ref yelled and pushed him away. In the post game conference Newton addressed the altercation. He explained how someone told him that they weren’t going to let him “hit the dab” anymore and he swiftly followed up by saying: “If you don’t like it, then don’t let me in (the end zone)”(Cam Newton, ESPN).  That statement comes across as pretty arrogant and it is understandable why that would enrage someone who is quick to rush to stereotypes, but Newton isn’t incorrect. Newton’s celebrations got Seattle Seahawks fans so mad that they started a petition to ban Newton from their stadium. Another on-field activity that Newton likes to partake in is the distribution of footballs to young fans after he scores a touchdown. Many spectators see Newton’s actions as distracting and time wasting. The fact that giving a ball to a kid that can’t be older than 10 years old can make somebody mad  shows how easy people rush to barrage Newton and his image.

Warren Moon, a legendary black quarterback went through a lot of the same hardships as Cam Newton, leading him to mentor the young QB in his time of need. Moon started in the NFL in 1984 as one of the first black starting quarterbacks in the history of the game. Moon broke plenty of boundaries, however, he was very talented and deserved to play. He received a lot of hateful  comments and death threats which makes one wonder how bad it must have been back in the 80’s compared to 2016. It made complete sense for Moon to mentor Newton and he had a lot of choice words about the NFL and racism along with advice for young Newton. In a recent article for the New York Times, Warren referred to the black players roles in the NFL by saying : “We were good for the athletic, reaction positions: run, jump, block” and followed up by saying : “ I felt like I was going out there half the time representing my race as opposed to representing my team and teammates”.(New York Times, Powell) These words by the legendary player proved very powerful. The difficulty of having to focus on representing your race in a sport instead of your team really exemplifies the importance of racial difference in sports at that time. Moon went on to explain that if he hadn’t been focusing on representing his race the whole time then he would have had an even better career.

     

Charles K. Ross, a history professor at the University of Mississippi and the author of “Outside the Lines: African-Americans and the Integration of the National Football League “ had some thoughts on the NFL from what he had learned throughout his career as a researcher of black culture. Ross analyzed that the franchise players have historically been the quarterbacks, and white ones at that. Therefore the business of the NFL and their teams’ money makers have historically been a white man in the pocket with the ball, with no room for a black man to take the helm. That reason led Ross to say : “Football was not ready to move into the 21st century”. (New York Times, Powell) The reason for saying that is because there were so many great talents of color that were ready to come into the NFL but the business model of the NFL as a corporation would get in the way of that.

Brandon Marshall, a wide receiver for the New York Jets holds a different position on the Cam Newton debate. Marshall stated : “I don’t think it’s racial. I just think that there’s a box that we put our quarterbacks in and we say, ‘This is how you’re supposed to be” .(New York Daily News, Walder)  Cam Newton is definitely a unique character. He’s loud, wears crazy outfit, and loves “dabbin” all over the place so it makes that he doesn’t fit the description. However, he then continued to say: “This is how Peyton Manning did it, this is how Joe Montana did it, Tom Brady, so you do it the same way”.(New York Daily News, Walder) Marshall coincidentally compared Cam to three of the most famous white quarterbacks in the NFL who are cardboard cutouts, in a sense that they all act in the same quiet and “professional” way.

I do not see why dancing and crazy outfits would make people so mad if it weren’t a race thing. If Tom Brady did the same things would everyone really be mad? I don’t think so, I think that the white fans would eat it up and that the African-American community would be the ones taking offense to it, once again making it a race issue. No matter what direction it travels, this seems to be a race thing.

Racism in U.S sports needs to be addressed publicly. There needs to be a campaign to end the problem, because it’s taking away from the entertainment of the sports and the consumers who keep the industry alive. A great example of a campaign to end racism is in Fútbol, better known as soccer in the United States. As some might know, soccer is the most popular sport in the world. There are an estimated 2.2 billion fans in the soccer world. There have been campaigns worldwide and even in the MLS (Major League Soccer, the American soccer league) to try and combat racism in the “beautiful game”. These campaigns go by the names of “No to Racism” and “Fútbol for Hope”. They have millions of supporters and are successfully moving to eliminate racism by increasing public awareness of intolerance and discrimination in fútbol, as well as developing ideas and strategies on how to fight them. 

This movement is fantastic for the fight against racism, but why aren’t America’s most popular sports taking actions like these to combat racism? This issue is huge and it is changing the game. These actions are surely being taken in some form by the NFL, however, if a corporation as powerful and wealthy as the NFL hasn’t even attempted to create a campaign as dynamic as European Fútbol has, then some questions could be reasonably asked. Maybe it’s because the other big corporations linked with the NFL are against it, or maybe it goes against their business ideas. Nobody really knows, but something needs to happen because we can’t keep living like the world was 100 years ago, as well as ignoring the issue as a whole.

Cam Newton is a great delegate for this everlasting issue because his story is relevant and shows the true colors of some people in American sports today who still see pigmentation as a dividing factor. Everyone is subject to their own opinions, however, I see this as a real matter of discrimination by White America who feel like all of the white players are being kicked out of sports. I can see why that would enrage some but lets go back to the definition of sport. It clearly states : “ an activity requiring skill or physical prowess”. If you are more skilled, black or white, then you deserve to be playing. The better you are, the more interesting the sports will become. People need to stop caring about the skin color who is taking who’s spot and start realizing that the better players are the ones making the sports that they love so dearly more amazing.

If you’re from Philadelphia and you’re an Eagles fan, whose team happens to be entirely filled with black players (or white, or mixed) and you win the Super Bowl, then there should be no problem at all. Your team was the best, that is all. Other teams, and their supporters shouldn’t decide it’s because their kicker is white or “It’s because their defense is full of big black guys”, they should applaud them because they were the best. Hate them for being good, be jealous, just don’t make race the issue to throw your stereotypes at.

The sports world is filled with stereotypes, jealously, hatred, and idiocy. We need to come together as a country to enjoy the sports that we love and not argue over other pointless issues that really don’t have anything to do with sports. People are getting mad because they feel insecure or because they need someone to blame, so why not go with the classic “blame the black guy” approach from 200 years ago? The sports industry is important to the economy and to the enjoyment of the hundreds of millions of viewers that keep the industry alive. Stop worrying about whose playing in the games and start worrying about whether your team will have a good season or not.

In every day life, we eat around three meals a day, and how often can we say that we truly have thought about how our food was produced or how the process was regulated? Most people don’t consider where their food comes from or who looks over it and that is a problem. Food borne illness kill around 5,000 people a year. That is just the number of casualties, the number of people effected by food born illness yearly is around 76 million, which is an extremely serious number that touches all of us Americans.

     There are handful of government agencies that look over the United State’s food production. The two primary agencies being the USDA and the FDA. Both agencies look over some of the same areas, however, they also regulate different aspects. In “ Resisting Food Safety” by Marion Nestle some of these guidelines are described. Nestle states that the FDA regulates: “ All foods (except meat, poultry, and processed eggs), they do regulate animal drugs and feeds” (Nestle, Pg56) The article also states the USDA’s regulations as: “ Meat, poultry, processed eggs, safety of eggs, egg products, inspects corn, fruits, vegetables, protects animals and plants from disease, and conducts research on food safety.”(Nestle, pg.56) The USDA regulates much more because there are various branches found inside of the USDA such as the FSIS, AMS, GIPSA, APHIS, and ARS. Even though the FDA and USDA are separate agencies, there is a very thin line between what they regulate. That statement sounds confusing  but Nestle provides good examples to support how feeble and vague the guidelines are. Nestle shows a graph that describes the regulations as: “ The USDA regulates hot dogs in pastry roll, and the FDA regulates Hot dogs in rolls. The USDA regulates soups with more than 2% meat and poultry, and the FDA regulates soups with less than 2% of meat and poultry. The USDA regulates corn dogs, the FDA regulates bagel dogs.” (Nestle, pG 57) These regulations are unlikely to be dangerous, however, it shows how 1% too much of meat and poultry can change the jurisdiction of the inspection which involves a terrifying amount of complexity and it seems highly unnecessary. The goal is to make sure that people are safe while eating, but that goal gets obstructed when the regulators get caught up in arguing about what should be surrounding a hot dog.

     To make things even worse, the USDA has only 7,000 inspectors that regulate 6,000 meat, poultry, an egg establishments and 130 importers. These importers slaughter hundreds of millions of animals and produce billions of pounds of meat that need to be inspected by the scrawny team of 7,000. Another figure to prove how insanely low the USDA’s number of employees is falls in the poultry plants. The poultry plants slaughter 90 birds per minute meaning that every USDA inspector needs to inspect a staggering 35 birds per minute. How on earth is someone expected to check an entire bird in less than 2 seconds? Its absolutely absurd to say the least. It is hard to believe but the FDA’s demands are worse. The FDA has only 700 employees that inspect 30,000 food manufacturers, 20,000 warehouses, 785,000 food establishments and 1.5 million vending operations. If one were to calculate with the vending operations alone it would lead to every inspector having to check 2,142 vending operations by themselves, without any other aspects of the FDA’s responsibilities involved. These numbers are not only unreasonable but impossible. These kinds of figures lead people to ask why we have so few employees regulating something so important. These agencies are in charge of the safety of the American people in terms of the food that they consume and the fact that the two most important divisions have less than 8,000 employees is completely disgusting. For a matter as serious as the health of hundreds of millions there should be at least tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of employees regulating our safety in the food industry.

     The problem of food safety grows even deeper when it comes to the employees working in the processing plants. In “Resisting Food Safety” Nestle discusses a statement from Eric Schlosser, one of the head producers of Food Inc. by stating: “Much of the actual work in the food industry—in agriculture, slaughterhouses, processing plants, and places where food is served—is carried out by immigrants, teenager, and other groups payed at minimum wage. (Nestle, Pg 31) This statement is very concerning and in Food Inc.(Produced by Eric Schlosser provider of info for the previous quote), a documentary on the food industry, the topic of immigrant workers in the meat industry is brought up. At Smithfield, one of the nations leading meat producers, thousands of immigrants are hired a year to work on the production line. The immigration of these people started in response to 1.5 million Mexican farmers being put out of work in due to the drug wars combined with the farmers realizing that their careers wouldn’t support their families due to a lack of income. These workers are brought to the US to work for these huge corporations and the only way to stay here is if they maintain these jobs. Their families, healthcare, and housing all rely on their jobs and the corporations hiring them know that and will exploit them because of it. A Smithfield worker was quoted in Food Inc saying: “The people at Smithfield know you cant live without the job so they hold it over you.” (Smithfield Worker, Food Inc.) These major companies give these people an ultimatum with only one outcome and thats to work for them or lose everything. Corporations like Smithfield also have very disturbing standards when it comes to this immigration. To start off, immigration is illegal, however, these corporations still immigrate workers in to the United Sates which is very corrupt. To worsen things, these companies also sign deals with The Department of Immigration to deport a set number of employees daily by giving them addresses and names. For example, Smithfield deports 15 employees a day. These double standards are unethical and wrong without a doubt but the real question is why aren’t agencies such as the USDA or FDA doing anything about it? How are they allowing illegal immigration and even worse, how are they letting these immigrants handle our food? This whole system is very corrupt. In Food Inc Eric Schlosser articulates: “ Government turned a blind eye on companies bringing in immigrants.”( Eric Schlosser, Food Inc.) We are not completely sure why the government does this, maybe it has to do with the amount of power that these corporations have and it also might have to do with the fact that these workers can be exploited and payed little to no money, nevertheless, it’s still messed up. Immigration is a very sticky situation and it needs to be cleaned up for the sake of the people being exploited, and for the health of the American people because of the responsibility that these corporations place on these immigrants to handle and process our food.

     Another problem with agencies such as the FDA, is their lack of enforcement and quickness. In “You are what they eat” by Consumer Reports, Fred Angulo, chief of the CDC’s food borne and diarrheal branch is quoted saying: “ It would help to have a “farm to fork” surveillance system such as those in Europe that looks for contamination in feed, animals, the marketplace, and humans.” (Fred Angulo, You are what they eat, pg.28) This idea would require a system for feed processing that would be very similar to animal processing with built in procedures to prevent contamination. Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine says: “the agency is engaged in the discussion with the feed industry” (Sundlof, You are what they eat, pg 28)This shows how the FDA was considering the idea, however, an FDA spokeswoman at the time added to that by calling the system a “priority, but it may not be fully implemented until 2007.” (FDA spokeswoman, You are what they eat, pg28) This issue was published in 2005, meaning that the system would be put into place 2 full years later. If this system is working so well in other continents and if it’s a so called “priority” then the system should be in place within months. In Food Inc. we also see a lack of urgency with the case of 2 year old Kevin. In the documentary a boy named Kevin was killed by E-Coli at the strikingly young age of 2 by eating tainted processed meat. The story is utterly heartbreaking but the part that really stuck out to me was the way that the FDA handled the situation. Kevin had already died, leaving his family in agony and after tons of complaints and yelling out, the FDA called a voluntary recall after 16 days. This product not only took the life of a young boy but it was also able to run rampant around the country infecting more and more people for over 2 whole weeks. Kevin’s mother explained in the film that she wanted nobody else to go through what her family had to and that’s why she begged that the FDA call for a recall. It appears that the FDA has the ideas and tools that they need to create change for the health of the American people, however, they don’t enforce these changes in a timely manner leaving more people vulnerable to food borne illnesses such as E-Coli that killed baby Kevin.

     America needs to address the problems at hand in regards to food safety. We need to ask questions, we need to think about what we’re eating every time we eat. We can’t keep putting our health in the hands of the FDA and USDA while they focus on pointless regulations, have a lack of employees, cave in when it comes to corruption, and while they lack force in creating change when an issue rises that can either benefit or hurt the people of America. The food industry is only owned by a handful of corporations, however, the people who give them their power is the consumer or in other words all of us Americans. We can change the system as one and we can make sure that these agencies in charge protect our safety efficiently and properly when it comes to the food we eat by speaking out or refusing to buy these products.

1. It took me a while to understand the writers project but after a little I was able to comprehend more. I was able to identify the text’s projects by catching their main themes and trying to see what the underlying messages were. My project was to shed light on the food industry’s regulatory agencies and how they don’t properly protect our people. I tried to make it adamant that we need to unite as one and realize that we can make change as the consumer who holds all the power.
2. I really enjoyed the section of the Sorting it out workshop when we drew 3 texts together using that system of arrows. It was very helpful in bringing my ideas together and grouping them based on their similarities. This system overall helped me gather my thoughts and properly organize my article.
3. I understand that synthesizing is to combine ideas to fit a certain theory. In writing it is very important that you organize all of your points in a comprehendible manner that all fits together in the end. I looked through the various texts that I was going to use and I synthesized my ideas into one main point while connecting each text to another one by one.
4. I feel that I was able to accomplish a real understanding of my problem and I feel that I connected with this issue on a personal level which helped me write in more depth.
5. I began by criticizing agencies such as the FDA  and USDA for not properly regulating our food, from there I was able to dig deeper and get very specific details and figures to back my claim up. While writing the draft I was able to stay on track with the main focus but I was also able to incorporate the corruption and immigration issue that I hadn’t originally planned to include. I was able to connect “Resisting Food Safety” and Food Inc. to show how corrupt the system is which I was proud of since I had never thought of it before.
6. I organized the article by having the intro be an inviting and interesting lede with a question and some interesting stats in an attempt to grab the readers interest. From there I had a section where I talked about the agencies in charge and how they get caught up in confusing regulation standards that distract them from the real problem. I then went into a very numerical section where I talked about the lack of employees and how disgusting it is that less than 10,000 people regulate our safety. I then went to the immigration topic, and followed it up with a section on the lack of enforcement by these agencies. I summed it up at the end and talked about how we hold all he power as the consumer and that we can demand that these agencies change for the better.
7. I synthesized “Resisting Food Safety”, “You are what they eat”, and Food Inc. by stringing together their info on the agencies. “Resisting Food Safety” and “You are what they eat” were especially easy because they focused heavily on these agencies. Food Inc came into play with the whole immigration topic that was created in the drafting process. These 3 texts come together slowly but in the end they work out well in supporting each other.
8. I ended up keeping the same lede that I started with. I believe that the first sentence being a question really draws the reader in. I also think that the inclusion of various statistics that relate to the reader can help as well so i kept those aspects.
9. During the next Units I’d like to write to the best of my ability and make sure that I research even more than I did for this Unit to makes sure that I have as much information as possible.

In every day life, we eat around three meals a day, and how often can we say that we truly have thought about how our food was produced or how the process was regulated? Most people don’t consider where their food comes from or who looks over it and that is a problem. Food borne illness kill around 5,000 people a year. That is just the number of casualties, the number of people effected by food born illness is around 76 million, which is serious number. There are handful of government agencies that look over the United State’s food production. The two primary agencies being the USDA and the FDA. Both agencies look over some of the same areas, however, they also regulate different aspects. In “ Resisting Food Safety” by Marion Nestle some of these guidelines are described. Nestle states that the FDA regulates: “ All foods (except meat, poultry, and processed eggs), they do regulate animal drugs and feeds” (Nestle, Pg56) The article also states the USDA’s regulations as: “ Meat, poultry, processed eggs, safety of eggs, egg products, inspects corn, fruits, vegetables, protects animals and plants from disease, and conducts research on food safety.”(Nestle, g56) The USDA regulates much more because there are various branches found inside of the USDA such as the FSIS, AMS, GIPSA, APHIS, and ARS. Even though the FDA and USDA are separate agencies, there is a very thin line between what they regulate. That statement sounds confusing  but Nestle provides good examples to support how feeble and vague the guidelines are. Nestle shows a graph that describes the regulations as: “ The USDA regulates hot dogs in pastry roll, and the FDA regulates Hot dogs in rolls. The USDA regulates soups with more than 2% meat and poultry, and the FDA regulates soups with less than 2% of meat and poultry. The USDA regulates corn dogs, the FDA regulates bagel dogs.” (Nestle, pG 57) These regulations are unlikely to be dangerous, however, it shows how 1% too much of meat and poultry can change the jurisdiction of the inspection which involves a terrifying amount of complexity and it seems highly unnecessary. To make things even worse, the USDA has only 7,000 inspectors that regulate 6,000 meat, poultry, an egg establishments and 130 importers. These importers slaughter hundreds of millions of animals and produce billions of pounds of meat that needs to be inspected by the scrawny team of 7,000. Another figure to prove how insanely low the USDA’s number of employees is fall in the poultry plants. The poultry plants slaughter 90 birds per minute meaning that every USDA inspector needs to inspect a staggering 35 birds per minute. How on earth is someone expected to check an entire bird in less than 2 seconds? Its absolutely absurd to say the least. It is hard to believe but the FDA’s demands are worse. The FDA has only 700 employees that inspect 30,000 food manufacturers, 20,000 warehouses, 785,000 food establishments and 1.5 million vending operations. If one were to calculate with the vending operations alone it would lead to every inspector having to check 2,142 vending operations alone without any other aspects of the FDA’s responsibilities involved. These numbers are not only unreasonable but impossible. These kinds of figures lead people to ask why we have so few employees regulating something so important. These agencies are in charge of the safety of the American people in terms of the food that they consume and the fact that the two most important divisions have less than 8,000 employees is completely disgusting. For a matter as serious as the health of hundreds of millions there should be at least tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of employees regulating our safety in the food industry. The problem of food safety grows even deeper when it comes to the employees working in the processing plants. In “Resisting Food Safety” Nestle discusses a statement from Eric Schlosser, one of the head producers of Food Inc. by stating: “Much of the actual work in the food industry—in agriculture, slaughterhouses, processing plants, and places where food is served—is carried out by immigrants, teenager, and other groups payed at minimum wage. (Nestle, Pg 31) This statement is very concerning and in Food Inc.(Produced by Eric Schlosser provider of info for the previous quote), a documentary on the food industry, the topic of immigrant workers in the meat industry is brought up. At Smithfield, one of the nations leading meat producers, thousands of immigrants are hired a year to work on the production line. The immigration of these people started in response to 1.5 Mexican million farmers being put out of work in due to the drug wars and Mexicans realizing that farming wouldn’t support their families because of a lacking flow of income.  These workers are brought to the US to work for these huge corporations and the only way to stay here is if they maintain these jobs. Their families, healthcare, and housing all rely on their jobs and the corporations hiring them know that and will exploit them because of it. A Smithfield worker was quoted in Food Inc saying: “The people at Smithfield know you cant live without the job so they hold it over you.” (Smithfield Worker, Food Inc.) These major companies give these people an ultimatum with only one outcome and thats to work for them or lose everything. Corporations like Smithfield also have very disturbing standards when it comes to immigration. To start off, immigration is illegal, however, these corporations still immigrate workers in to the United Sates. To make it worse, these companies also sign deals with The Department of Immigration to deport a set number of employees daily by giving them addresses and names. For example, Smithfield deports 15 employees a day. These double standards are unethical and wrong without a doubt but the real question is why aren’t agencies such as the USDA or FDA doing anything about it? How are they allowing illegal immigration and even worse, how are they letting these immigrants handle our food? This whole system is very corrupt. In Food Inc. Eric Schlosser articulates: “ Government turned a blind eye on companies bringing in immigrants.”( Eric Schlosser, Food Inc.) We are not completely sure why the government does this, maybe it has to do with the amount of power that these corporations have and it also might have to do with the fact that these workers can be exploited and payed little to no money, nevertheless, it’s still messed up. Immigration is a very sticky situation and it needs to be cleaned up for the sake of the people being exploited, and for the health of the American people because of the responsibility that these corporations place on these immigrants to handle and process our food. Another problem observed with agencies such as the FDA, is their lack of enforcement and quickness. In “You are what they eat” by Consumer Reports, Fred Angulo, chief of the CDC’s food borne and diarrheal branch is quoted saying: “ It would help to gave a “farm to fork” surveillance system such as those in Europe that looks for contamination in feed, animals, the marketplace, and humans.” (Fred Angulo, You are what they eat, pg.28) This would require a system for feed processing that would be very similar to animal processing with built in procedures to prevent contamination. Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine says: “the agency is engaged in the discussion with the feed industry” (Sundlof, You are what they eat, pg 28) An FDA spokeswoman at the time added to that by calling the system a “priority, but it may not be fully implemented until 2007.” (FDA spokeswoman, You are what they eat, pg28) This issue was published in 2005, meaning that the system would be put into place  2 full years later. If this system is working so well in other continents and if it’s a so called “priority” then the system should be in place within months. In Food Inc. we also see a lack of urgency with the case of 2 year old Kevin. In Food Inc. a young boy named Kevin was killed by E-Coli at the age of 2 by eating tainted processed meat. The story is utterly heartbreaking but the part that stuck out to me was the way that the FDA handled the situation. Kevin had already died, leaving his family in agony and after tons of complaints and yelling out, the FDA called a voluntary recall after 16 days. This product not only took the life of a young boy but it was also able to run rampant around the country infecting more and more people for over 2 whole weeks. Kevin’s mother explained in the film that she wanted nobody else to go through what her family had to and that’s why they begged that the FDA call for a recall. It appears that the FDA has the ideas and tools that they need to create change for the health of the American people but they don’t enforce these changes in a timely manner leaving more people vulnerable to food borne illnesses such as E-Coli that killed baby Kevin at the young age of 2. There obviously needs to be reform and it needs to be done soon.