GMOS

Lindsey Crawford

Library 201

GMOs

All the sites were clear, easy to navigate through and current, but that tells me only that they are aware that packaging is important. However, I do believe that in order to get any message across one must present themselves as professional, which all the sites do. Content is the most important thing to me in evaluating websites. The content in the three varied, but here’s what I thought:

The Monsanto site confirmed my initial suspicions about them: they are out to make a profit and nothing else. Leading me to this idea is the lack of fair and balanced information about GMOs in their site. They clearly document the process and benefits of GMOs but offer no information to the other side: GMOs are not natural and there have been documented cases of their danger. Furthermore, they do not go into detail about how GMOs are made. To alter the DNA of a plant cell, viruses, such as ecoli, are used to get into the cellular wall. This information is not on their site. Just because they offer scientific definitions, videos and graphs and charts does not mean that they are experts on the subject. Also disquieting was the lack of because and therefore to their claims. I believe that credibility relies on things like warrants and impacts. Scitable seems more credible because they offer the pros and cons of GMOs. There purpose seems to be to inform and not to sell. I am also more inclined to trust their information because they have there references listed. The Say No To GMOs site, like the Monsanto one, also has a clear agenda. And while I agree with their information, I am inclined to distrust their site because of this clear slant. There purpose is to inform, but also to call to action.

I do have qualms and fears about GMOs. The process of breaking into the cellular wall, described above, does make me hesitant about trusting them. Furthermore, the fact that those in the food industry are opposed to labeling GMOs makes me distrust them because it leads me to believe that they are aware of a danger and are afraid of lawsuits.

Haugen, David M. and Musser, Susan, Genetic Engineering. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009

Favorite Recipe? Without a doubt Lamb and Cabbage+veggies

I honestly can't say too much about this recipe because its basically just something my mom cooked up for St. Patrick's day and continued to do so ever since I was in Middle School. Its a healthy meal, a hot meal, and VERY tasty. Mouthwatering and easy to chew as well.
Its always been my favorite holiday meal because its simple and easy to make so it doesn't create a lot of fuss around the house when its being made. Since St. Patrick's day is not a very big holiday for my family and the dinner is just about the only way we celebrate it. My family on my mother's side has a lineage in Ireland and so my mom likes to go on about that nonsense but mostly I'm just concerned about eating a good dinner.

You can find the basics of this meal here:
http://glugleglutenfree.wordpress.com/2010/05/04/crockpot-lamb-and-cabbage/

This page is set up in the style of a blog post by a random mother who enjoys cooking this meal for St. Patrick's day just like my own mum. Her thought processes make me think of my own mom so much I laughed to myself when reading it. Anyways, I hope somebody reads and enjoys it as much as I did.

That's pretty much all I've got for this post. I had a fun and easy quarter with this Food Libraries class and thanks to the prof for mediating it. ;D

Poutine

Lindsey Crawford

Library 201

31 May 2010

Final Blog

Poutine: an upstate NY and Northeastern Canadian favorite side dish, sometimes served as a meal.

Ingredients (these are subject to change based on personal preference): Frozen (or homemade) french fries, 2 cups shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese (the dish traditionally calls for cheese curds but you can use any cheese you like), 1 packet of turkey gravy mix (you can use the jar gravy, homemade or brown, it’s all about preference).

Cooking directions: preheat oven for frozen french fries. Then cook fries as directed. While fries are cooking, shred cheddar cheese. About 5 minutes before fries are done, whip up packet of gravy mix. When fries are completely cooked, pull them out of the oven. Then, put fries into a class cooking dish, top with cheese and then pour gravy on top. Afterwards, put the glass baking dish into the oven and cook for an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Voila! Eat delicious dish!

Gluten Free Breakfast Casserole

Choosing my favorite recipe would mean sharing my apple pie recipe and I have a few secret ingredients that I use; needless to say I'm not going to share that one. But I will share this one, which is pretty good if I do say so myself. I don't cook very much because my boyfriend loves cooking. When I do cook it is for the two of us and he has celiac, which means he can't eat gluten. This breakfast casserole is good even for dinner.

3 large potatoes

1lb Breakfast Sausage

7 eggs

8 oz. Cheddar Cheese

Butter

Prep:

Peel potatoes (can leave skin on)

Preheat the oven to 375.

Spray or butter 8x8 pan.

1. Remove the sausage from the casing and brown slightly. It doesn't need to be fully done because it will be going into the oven.
2. Slice the potatoes into thin slices. It is okay to leave the skin on, but many opt to peel them.
3. Lay one layer of breakfast potatoes, about the amount of one potato. Add a layer of sausage, cover with more potatoes, then add a final layer of sausage and potatoes.
4. Mix up the eggs. Feel free to add milk if you want, but it is not needed if you beat the eggs well.
5. Cover the casserole with the eggs. Jostle the pan to make sure that the egg gets into all of the layers. Cover with the cheese.
6. Bake for 30-45 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the potatoes are done. Enjoy!

Recipe

This isn’t my favorite recipe (I could never choose), but one that I would definitely recommend for anyone who is interested in trying a Filipino dish. I mentioned helping my friend make lumpia growing up in a previous post, they are pretty standard. I don’t know the exact recipe, but this one that I found is close (Shanghai style). Of course you could substitute a lot of the veggies with anything you like (carrots, cilantro, green onion, celery, etc). There are tons of variation recipes online. And as a caution, it can be a tedious job rolling them, but well worth the effort. Enjoy!

Recipe: Lumpiang Shanghai (Filipino Spring Rolls filled with Pork)
Makes about 50 lumpia/spring rolls

Ingredients:

-1 package Lumpia wrappers (25 sheets); Chinese or Vietnamese spring roll wrappers meant for frying can be substituted.
-2 pounds ground pork
-5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
-1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
-2 tablespoons soy sauce
-2 eggs, lightly beaten
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method:
-Using a serrated knife, cut the square lumpia wrappers in half so that you have two stacks of rectangular wrappers. Place a damp paper towel over the wrappers to keep them from drying out as you work.
-Combine the pork, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, eggs, and black pepper in a large bowl. Using your hands, or a rubber spatula, mix the filling well so that the seasonings are evenly distributed.
-Place one of the rectangular wrappers vertically on your work surface with the short edge facing you. Place a heaping teaspoon of the filling on the wrapper about half an inch from the edge closest to you. Grasp the bottom edge of the wrapper and roll it up and over the filling, continuing to roll until 2 inches of wrapper remain.
-Dip two fingers into a bowl of water then moisten the last 2 inches of wrapper with your fingers. Finish rolling the lumpia then rest them on their seam. Continue rolling with the rest of the filling and lumpia wrappers.
-At this point, you can freeze your rolled lumpia if you wish by placing them in freezer bags and then into your freezer.
-To cook the lumpia, fill a large frying pan with about 1/2-inch of vegetable oil. Heat the oil over medium-high heat. Gently place the lumpia into the hot oil and fry until golden brown on all sides, 3 to 5 minutes total (if frying frozen lumpia, it will take 1 to 2 minutes longer).
-Place the fried lumpia on paper towels and serve immediately with sweet and sour sauce (bottled from the store is fine).
(Note: You can also add finely minced raw shrimp to the pork mixture if you’d like. Also, instead of ground pork, you can use ground beef, or even ground turkey)

BLog #7 LikeS legitiMate looking weBsite

1. Monsanto
- The author is a large corporation.
- The author posts this information to satisfy investors.
- The author's inherent bias is its company's personal growth.
- Information is current as the copyright is 2010.
- Intended audience is investors, future employees, journalists, and anybody who wants information on Monsanto.
- You can contact the author(s) by submitting a message for queue.
- The design is clear and suspiciously easy to use.

2. GMOs - Scitable
- I don't know, dude! The Nature Publishing Group? Who are they?
- To better educate anyone and everyone about genetically modified organisms.
- It doesn't really have one bias because its a site that publishes journals which are biased by their specific author, not the owners of the website.
- The information is as current as the journal entry you are reading is dated.
- The intended audience is anyone who wants to learn about GMOs - probably more scientists.
- Yes, they have a customer service system similar to that of Monsanto where you submit a message for queue.
- This design is not as easy to use as Monsanto because there are pictures and picture-links everywhere on the pages that makes it rather confusing - its hard to tell what is a link and what isn't before you hover the mouse over it.

3. SAY NO TO GMOs
- "Different color schemes will help you can find your way around this complex site more easily." The author is obviously a high school sophomore in web design.
- To encourage grassroot movements against GMOs.
- The author inherently dislikes the idea of GMOs.
- The information on the site is aged from 2002 to 2010 - obviously an on-going class assignment.
- The information is intended for ANYONE and EVERYONE. Probably persons 12+years old.
- The site allows you to submit an email message through an on-site page.
- The design is very easy to use but does not look very good.


I feel that the Nature Publishing, Inc. site has the best information because all of its information is submitted by scientists who are producing research on genetics industriously. These people probably exclude as much bias *as possible* for the sake of showing results and data. The only room for bias probably exists in the room for error in the interpretation of data.

SAY NO TO GMOs is obviously the least authoritative of the sites because it has a poor layout, its a ".org" meaning organization, and it is collecting information solely for the purpose of convincing people that genetic modification is a bad thing IN EVERY WAY. It wants us to abandon the technology entirely and it won't stop until GMOs are banned worldwide.

I have no qualms about eating genetically modified foods because I don't feel that modifying the genetics of the food will increase the food's detrimental effects on my health. SAY NO TO GMOs listed pages saying that rats had trouble digesting Monsanto corn and that babies have trouble with GMOs - which is probably poorly interpreted data on a study that provides nothing but faulty statistics or the results are simply due to the organisms being studied not *naturally* being adapted to eating corn yet in the first place.

I believe that information is power and that all details about a food should be published for the consumer to be read before the purchase. I think that genetically modified foods should tell us that they are such because it would allow us to make educated buyer decisions. Do GMOs look tasty? Are they plumper? Are they just as nutritious? These are the things we should be able to compare WHILE WE ARE IN THE DAMNED STORE.

Bill Lambrecht. Dinner at the new Gene Café. New York : St. Martin's Press, c2001.

GMOs, hmm...

I am a senior and will be finishing my time at western in the next few weeks. For much of my time here I have used Ebsco because I can check the box for peer-reviewed material. I have found that many of my professor do not check the credibility of the article but I know as I enter the field people will be more apt to question my research. I felt that this assignment was useful as I will be doing more research outside the protection of Western Libraries databases.
When looking at the three articles presented for this weeks blog, I begun with Monsanto. Although it is presented in an easy to view and navigate, it also has a very large bias. It is promoting the biotechnology. If you are looking to find organization that support GMOs Monsanto will provide you with that information. As we discussed in class, very person as a bias; as a student it is important to understand that and to find information that both supports and questions your opinion. Say No to GMOs also has a bias, there is just the opposite of Monsanto. This site has no specific author but does seem to be updated month. It reminds me of Wikipedia -- although there is some credible information but you have to check the sources.
I believe that the nature.com information is the most trustworthy. Although there is no quick way to contact the author, information is presented by a respectable authority and is as recent as 2008.
My thoughts on GMOs are brief. I don't know much about them but I wish as a consumer there were easy to access information that is credible but also presents both sides of the argument. I try to watch what I put in my body but I find the things I shouldn't eat taste delicious. I maintain that moderation is the best.

"Pros and Cons of GMOs." Organic. Love To Kow, September 9, 2009. Web. 25 May 2010. .