Rethinking Environmental Racism Analysis

On December 5, 2012, Daisy Luther, a journalist from Northern California wrote a blog entry on the conspiracy surrounding “certified organic” labels that is claimed by some companies and retailers. She brings up the question of whether these labels being stamped on food can really be verified or are they just a way to empty out the wallets of consumers. In the website The Organic Pepper, the blogger generally gives advice for different problems people encounter on a daily basis. Through her blog entries varying from ways to stay healthy to frugal living, Luther states her opinion of governmental interference on our food supply by citing sources from articles from Natural News and Time Magazine. She first starts out by arguing about how the

Acknowledging white privilege is admitting advantage in society over minorities. Although times are changing, there are two examples of white privilege I have witnessed first-hand. Driving through Albuquerque, New Mexico I was pulled over with my brother who looks like hippy from the woods for an expired tag. I was taken out of the car and back to the officer when he asked if there were drugs in the car because he could smell them, shortly after he questioned my brother who handed him two joints and HTC pills. The officer gave my brother back his marijuana and continued with how they were looking for people who were smuggling drugs into the country from Mexico.

Food is a critical part to the environment that a community lives in, yet food is not always just. Food justice is an important part of environmental justice, and Robert Gottlieb studied how food impacts communities. Gottlieb explained how food justice has links to equity, empowerment, and social justice as well. This area of justice “addresses issues of health, globalization, worker rights and working conditions, disparities regarding access to environmental (or food) goods, land use and respect for the land, and ultimately, how our production, transportation, distribution and consumption systems are organized” (7). Food (in)justices and the other presented issues are all around in society today.

Rhetorical Analysis of “Attention Whole Foods Shoppers” In “Attention Whole Foods Shoppers” by Robert Paarlberg, the main emphasis in the article is that there is a struggle to feed people, particularly in South Africa and Asia due to economic and population issues. His focus is on the lack of involvement of countries around the world that do have food. Throughout the article, Paarlberg talks about how organic agriculture is not going to feed the world and exposes myths about organic food and industrial scale food.

These were some of my favorite readings so far that we had been required to read through. They were very enlightening and provided many great perspectives and stories from white and minority people alike. The three readings I enjoyed the most are Defining Racism: “Can We Talk?” by Beverly Daniel Tatum, Color-Blind Racism by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, and Smells Like Racism by Rita Chaudhry Sethi. What I liked about Bonilla-Silva’s piece is the quotes taken from the white privilege.

White Privileges: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack In the article, White Privileges: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Peggy McIntosh explores the power of white privilege. White privilege, as McIntosh puts it, is an advantage enjoyed by white people beyond the common advantage of other races. The article begins with the author reflecting upon male privilege,, and then transitions into her own reflection on privileges involving race. To prove this, she lists the effect of white privilege in daily life.

Over the past decade the term white privilege has emerged in our American history. White privilege is the concept that one particular group is benefited which is typically identified as white people. Most of the victims experiencing harsh conditions are non-white people under the same social, political, or economic circumstances of mistreatment. A conversation took place with a few people about white privilege whose race is identified as white. An interviewer started that “the belief that being white comes with unearned advantages and everyday perks”.

However, this is not his only purpose in writing this essay. Additionally, Michael Pollan seeks to reassure the reader that this change will eventually occur and how it will happen. He argues that the food movement of our generation has been successful in changing popular consciousness. However, it has been struggling with shifting, in any impactful way, the “standard American diet,” which he purports has only gotten worse since the 1970s (Envision in Depth p.g

The Disease of Being Colored Colored, nigger, African American, black, coon, and Negro are all the words that describe my race. These are the words that helped mold me into the woman that I am today. Not all of the words that I have listed are in a respectful manner, but they all mean one thing; A black person. Although all of those names can be thrown towards anyone of the African decedent, often times people do not care to see behind the skin of an individual. In hindsight everyone looks alike when the lights are off, and when we are even dead and buried in the ground.

Seifert calls upon individuals to seek and inquire about the food they consume. Seifert hadn’t simply “Googled” information offered on the internet and leave it at that, he took steps to seek answers to the question no one want to acknowledge. His journey is one students taking argumentation or critical thinking courses can take important lessons in patience, persistence and perseverance from. If students do not make efforts to be informed about the world they live in, they relinquish their rights as consumers to the major companies that are powerful adversaries, even at the state and federal

What do you think of when you hear the word racism? Many people would say negative things come to mind when they hear racism and shockingly some would say positive things and the reason why is because people still are racist and racism still live with us today. Racism stands right in front of everyone’s face. Sometimes, for example when people go out some people get treated differently because there skin color is darker than the person standing next to them. They say African Americans live in the ‘’ghetto’’ and white people are the rich people that lives in the big houses or they say Jewish people are wealthy, people should not be judged and classified under “rich people’’ or ‘’broke people’’ because of their race Environmental racism is something

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack While reading this piece by Peggy McIntosh, I found myself as a white woman thinking, 'yes I can do these things,' and realized right there what white privilege looks like. Looking at the fifty points McIntosh discusses, it is clear that the predominance of white privilege affects her daily life. These daily effects McIntosh discusses range from who she wants to surround herself with, knowing and feeling financially secure and feeling welcomed in public life. While only choosing fifty instances where McIntosh feels her white privilege comes into contact, it is apparent that the instances are common when discussing primarily skin color compared to race, class, and religion. Without argument,

Environmental racism is something that affects all communities in horrible ways. Some people around the world have problems with racism everyday such as rich and poor communities. Other people around the world have racism problems such as black and white people. Environmental racism is something that all people around the world deal with everyday. To begin with, Environmental racism starts with the people in all communites.

In 1990, author Wendell Berry had a collection of essays released together in a book titled What Are People For?. Among these essays is one titled The Pleasures of Eating, focusing on the responsibilities of eating which includes self-awareness regarding what one’s consuming. Berry begins his essay voicing his solution on how city people can bring new life to American farming and rural life. Berry’s solution is simply to “Eat responsibly” (1). He elaborates on this stating that “Most eaters … think of food as an agricultural product, perhaps, but they do not think of themselves as participants in agriculture” (Berry 1).

He lets consumers know that just because he's a homeless person it doesn't mean that his opinion shouldn't matter but he knows about the circumstances because he was once a consumer and he gives insight of both sides. This essay makes wonder whether consumers will see what Eighner is trying to show them. Will society see how much produce is wasted? Are people going to think about what they throw out in the trash? Will the amount of wasted product decline, stay neutral, or will it