Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Emily Badgley
Humanities 11
Section: 2
Is It Gluten Free?
During the summer before I went into eighth grade, I went to Universal Studios
with my friend. While we were there I noticed that I felt sick every day and it got
progressively worse to the point where I couldn’t eat anything. My friend and her mother
noticed the serious change and told my mom that something was seriously wrong with
me. I was described as extremely pale, with dark circles under my eyes 24/7, and sickly.
After the trip, my mom took me to various doctors who couldn’t figure out what
was wrong with me. One doctor said it was puberty and I was struggling to adjust to the
hormones. Another said I had asthma and severe allergies. Finally, the last doctor we
went to decided to run a blood panel that included testing for: my thyroid, type one
diabetes, and mono. At the last second the doctor asked me how often I got diarrhea
and when I answered that I got it a lot, he put Celiac Disease in the testing as well.
Weeks later, the blood panel came back with a high number of antibodies associated
with Celiac. The scale is four and below is normal, four to ten is irritation and anything
above a ten is abnormal. The number of antibodies was thirtysix, it was pretty safe to
say I had Celiac.
Before I was diagnosed I never gave much thought to what I ate. My diet usually
consisted of mac and cheese as well as other glutenfilled foods. My parents and I
never had to really spend the time at the store reading ingredients in order to be sure I
could eat what was being sold. Not only did my diet change to get rid of gluten, but we
started to buy more organic and healthy food. We made sure we bought food that was
close to us and that it didn’t contain pesticides. Since eating glutenfree the circles
under my eyes went away and I finally looked healthy. I also felt like I had more energy
and I wasn’t sick as much. In the end, my food ethic, as well as my families, changed in
order to fit my needs.
Before this project, I thought that I had a pretty good understanding of food. I
knew that when I shop I look through the ingredients to be sure the product is
glutenfree, I also knew to be sure the produce we bought was organic and from the US
or close enough to it. However, the project and the book we read The Omnivore’s
Dilemma I learned where our food comes from and the process of it getting to us. The
first chapter goes over how nearly everything we eat is made from corn. It talks about
how the United States subsidized corn and we have too much, so it’s in the gas for our
cars, the feed for the animals we eat, and in other products. When I first learned this I
was slightly disgusted, partly because corn’s okay but I don’t want to eat it all the time. I
was also disgusted because we have too much food and we still have starving people in
America.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17undzt3Zc39BWnDzkFjOqbafgACbH7EAN__9IZqhNHo/edit 1/3
4/19/2019 Food Ethic Essay-Emily Badgley - Google Docs
Emily Badgley
Humanities 11
Section: 2
The second part took a deep dive into the animals we eat and the process of
getting them on our table. I was sickened by how the animals we eat were treated.
For example, I never knew that cows, in particular, were fed corn. Growing up, when we
would drive past cows they were eating grass, so I never thought that industrial farms
fed cows corn and kept them in tiny pens. The treatment of chickens is just as
disgusting. The chicken's beaks are cut off and they live packed in cages and also eat
corn. All of the animals have diseases that stem from the environment they live in which
causes the need for steroids and antibiotics. I learned that the beauty of sustainable
farms is that the diseases that industrial farms face are not present, so there's generally
no need for antibiotics. I feel like it’s important to invest in local farms because it
promotes the better treatment of the animals we eat (they’re also better for us). It also
reduces food miles and is better for the environment. Spending our money on local
farms takes away money from industrial farms and shows a public disinterest in the
methods used.
My support for local farms grew when we took a field trip to James Ranch. James
Ranch is a local farm in Durango that is own by one of my classmate’s family. The ranch
practices the same sustainable methods that are discussed in the book. For example,
their cows are grass fed and have room to roam the fields. Their pigs have the same
opportunity to eat what they want and roam. There we went into the paddock and had
the opportunity to pet the dairy cows. At first, all of the cows ran because of their
herding instinct, but there were a few who stayed still and watch us approach. I finally
found one of the cows who didn’t run and held out my hand to her nose. She sniffed it
and I got closer so I could pet her. It was the closest I’ve ever been to an animal so big.
I felt grateful to get to connect with the animal that provides us with milk, cheese, and
meat. That experience helped me better picture the concepts that were discussed in the
book.
The only issue I have with local farms is that they are incredibly expensive. I
know my family and many families who would benefit from local food can’t always afford
it. If there was a way to make local foods cheaper for everyone, many more would
invest in them. Some ways that local foods could become cheaper is the government
could have better support for local farms and businesses. It’s also important to note that
farmers markets now accept food stamps, so people who are in need can have access
to healthy food.
In conclusion, I believe it’s important to analyze the food we buy and know where
it comes from. I think we should work to buy healthy foods even if it’s not local. It’s also
important to try to buy locally if possible. If someone can afford local foods then be sure
the food they’re getting treats its animals properly and feeds them the right food.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17undzt3Zc39BWnDzkFjOqbafgACbH7EAN__9IZqhNHo/edit 2/3
4/19/2019 Food Ethic Essay-Emily Badgley - Google Docs
Emily Badgley
Humanities 11
Section: 2
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17undzt3Zc39BWnDzkFjOqbafgACbH7EAN__9IZqhNHo/edit 2 3/3