Too Much

Earlier last week I saw a program I occasionally watch called Top Chef. In the after the season reunion special, there was an awkward and uncomfortable debate between a contestant on the show, Elia Aboumrad, and a judge on the show, professional chef Tom Colicchio. The debate was over Tom Colicchio's commercial endorsement of Diet Coke, and whether or not that was something a chef of his caliber should endorse. The contestant had said to the press that the chef was "selling out". There was also an implication by Ms. Aboumrad and others that Chef Colicchio should not be selling corn-fed beef in his restaurants, but should support the ethical treatment of cattle by selling grass-fed beef only (the clip is the top video on this link). I also saw an ad last week for an episode of Oprah, and I Tivo'd the show which included many food experts, including Michael Pollan. Michael Pollan wrote the book that I am reading for my Junior Theme, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and is one of the leading experts in the world on the politics of food production. During the week, I also interviewed a corn and soybean expert who told me that corn prices were currently at one of the highest levels ever, if not the highest. The reason I originally chose "food" for my Junior Theme are the current controversies that make the topic all the more interesting to learn about. Every day I learn something new, such as the reasons meat is so cheap, where commodity corn comes from, or how beneficial organic food really is.  With all sorts of interesting current news about food in the media, I am having a hard time knowing what I will and will not include in my Junior Theme.  I wonder, is anyone else having a hard time knowing what not to include in their paper?

Just Right

I have found my Junior Theme research to be difficult. There is a plethora of information about different facets of my general topic, food in America, but it has still been challenging to find the "just right" article. I have found many articles related to my topic, but not as many as I would like that are over a page in length, and under 25 pages in length. Also, many articles I have found are either too simplistic, filled with basic facts that appear everywhere, or too technical, with complex graphs and analysis that includes many words I do not know. Although I have been able to understand more of the more complex articles than I first thought I could, when I do understand them they are often only indirectly related to the specific area of the topic I intend to pursue. It is not impossible to do the research by any means, but some periods I can only find one article that really is good for my topic. At times it can be discouraging to have few articles than I would want, and to have articles that seem perfect in the first two paragraphs but then stray off into another topic for the rest of the article.

Even though I was at first discouraged I now find it extremely helpful to know all about the different facets of food, even though my topic is more specifically focused on the reasons the government is subsidizing the production of corn. Knowing about all the different topics can help me understand more about my own. Articles about corn could also include information on soybeans. Soybeans are not obviously helpful to my topic- without knowing anything about soybeans on the other hand, would detract from my research because there are many parallels in these two plants, such as the fact that they are some of the the largest crops in America. I also learned a lot about meat, which may not seem very relevant to corn production at first glance. In the food world many things, like meat and corn, are connected. I learned that the reason meat is so cheap is because animals are being fed corn (which is generally very cheap) to make them cheaper to produce. It did take time to sift through the long articles, and the shorter ones, but in the end reading articles that may seem too long, or off topic is ultimately beneficial.  Articles can be short or long, simplistic or complex, but there is no such thing as the article that is “just right”.