Review of Sources

     The source that best agrees with my argument comes from the website, "newamerica.net." This source titled,"Why the FDA Can’t Protect the Public" best agrees with my argument because it presents flaws in the FDA's handling of advertisement and distribution of data to the public. This source supports my side against the FDA and the variety of references the source used establishes the source as credible. This source also presented me with some more ideas on what I could research to develop more of an argument against the FDA's lack of public attention.

     The source that would best disagree with my argument would obviously come from the FDA. The FDA could obviously disagree with my argument because the FDA comes up with the regulations that are implemented and have control over the products they distribute. Even though they've planned to change some of their controversial labels in the near future they do not specifically address whether or not the proposed label implementations will stay or go. All the information against my argument may also be used against the FDA itself because there are many articles and websites that argue the validity of the FDA's claims.

     When it comes to having a favorite source there isn't one. There isn't a source that stands out to me because I believe that each source presents a point or argument that I can expand on and use to my advantage or personal reference. Also, I rather not choose or have a favorite because it's possible for me to become more one sided on my papers instead of distancing myself from a heavy level of biased opinions.

     I believe that these sources will work very well for my paper. It wasn't difficult to find sources against the FDA's handling of public matters, it was almost instantaneous because it is a current event that is still debated on. I feel that the sources I obtained established some level of credibility. The only reason why I would need to keep looking for sources is to have some sources that would support the FDA's claims, that isn't represented by the FDA itself.

Paper Topic Ideas

     For the theme of my papers for this semester I chose whether if the FDA actually protects the public, or are they actually giving too little info when it comes to what they do. When it comes to labels on food products it is just horrendous because of how much the FDA can get away with. This topic interests me because it is important to find out what you actually eat and how much the FDA is hiding from the public because there is no mandatory rules for accurately labeling their products.

     The FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation. But recently the FDA has been under fire when it came to these labeling issues just this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed several changes to nutrition labeling. This will be the first time changes have been implemented in more than twenty years. Proposed changes will include requiring a beverage size to be one serving to more accurately reflect how many calories an individual is actually consuming. The FDA also proposes removing “calories from fat”, and instead wants to focus on total calories and type of fats being consumed in a product. The proposed labels would also list how much sugar is added to a product, as well as declaring the amount of Vitamin D and potassium is in a product.

    It took the FDA twenty years to make any adjustments to several labels that still lack a lot of information and these changes are only proposed until there is a final agreement upon what the FDA wants to actually change. These label changes won't be taking place any time soon the FDA proposes that the food industry be given two years to comply after publication of any final rules before governing the Nutrition Facts label.

     When it comes to choosing a side whether if the FDA protects the public or not, I am clearly against the FDA and their inability to accurately inform the public about their products. But, I do understand that I have to see things in the FDA's perspective to and not allow myself to be consumed in biased opinions.
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Skills To Be Learned Part 1

       In high school, I took AP English my junior year and Dual Enrollment English for my senior year. With the experience and knowledge of knowing what to expect from a college English course because of what I learned in my English classes in high school. I feel very confident in my abilities to write college level papers and not have to worry about procrastinating as much as I did in high school. 

       I am very familiar with citing sources, but when it comes to knowing the proper places to use quotes or paraphrasing a source in my papers it becomes somewhat of a problem. Knowing how to do both can make my papers have a stronger argument with information that is backed up correctly. Also, not knowing how to paraphrase and quote sources correctly can end up as plagiarism and is something that is counted as academic dishonesty which can dismiss someone from their respected university. Understanding the negatives of improperly quoting and paraphrasing someone else's work makes doing it correct much more important.

       I have experience searching the Internet, preferably Google, for the information I need for a paper, and in high school I avoided inserting sources that had, “.com” in the web address. I can differentiate between whether if a source is reliable or not but this semester, I wish to take advantage of the databases and resources that the library offers, like the journal articles found in the University of Memphis library database. Learning how to maneuver through the database and implement these different sources that I'm not used to using can definitely help me only use the most valid and reliable sources available.

     An English tool that I have no understanding of is the use and proper format for APA. In high school, all my papers were in MLA, but I recently discovered since my major has a lot of science background to it that it would be smart to become familiar with writing with the APA format. It is not only beneficial to me but maybe I'll find it to be a better way of formatting my sources than MLA.

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Ted Talk #32

The Ted Talk that I watched was," Ann Cooper: What's wrong with school lunches?"She states that children in schools have to deal with food that is unhealthy for their bodies and the reason this is happening is because of the way the food system is organized and by the way the government is able to regulate what the children eat. 

She goes on to say that we have to start thinking about what we consume, grow and feed our children that is not filled with chemicals in our food and think of a healthier solution. She states that seventy percent of all antibiotics consumed in America is consumed in animal husbandry, and basically we are feeding our kids antibiotics in beef and other animal protein every day. The result of all the antibiotics consumption is an increase in diseases, for example E. coli which is difficult to help your kid recover from when they begin to feel sick. 

She proposes that we need to change what we eat, and how much we eat. She states people think they should be eating more, and more, and more, but in fact we should eat less but in better proportions. These meals that we eat should not include McDonald's and Burger King as well as the rest of those big fast food companies. 

“Of course, it's not all about food.” She believes that our kids should be getting exercise and also becoming knowledgeable about what they eat and what is actually healthy for them to consume. One of the simple things we can do is putting recess before lunch, she recalls experiences where she sees the children throwing out their lunch and instead run outside because they were allowed to leave for recess. And then, at one in the afternoon, they're totally crashing. These are your children and grandchildren that are totally melting down when you pick them up, because they haven't had lunch. So if the only thing they'd have to do after lunch is go to class, believe me, they're going to sit there and eat their lunch. 

This TED talk gave me a lot of new information I can use in my future papers, she highlighted how easily the USDA and the government can misinform the public about what we eat and that there should be more accurate information presented by both parties. 

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