Podcast: Chew on This

Come view the podcast for The Science People on Chew on This.

Belated thoughts on podcasting below:

I really was impressed by what podcasting allows you to do. I really liked the idea of using it not necessarily to record the entire discussion but instead as a means for us to bring together our thoughts into one coherent whole and put them forth along with our ideas on "what now" for teachers and the book. I definitely think that - with my new (to me) classroom computers this year - I will be using podcasting as a means for my students to do what we did with our literature circle on Chew on This.

Of course, there are lots of other ways to use podcasting as well. Radio shows, audio newsletters, lab narratives, lecture notes for students who missed class, songs written by students about the material - the list goes on and on. I don't know that I'll get to all of them this year - trying to right off the bat would just be way too overwhelming - but I am excited and intrigued by all the possibilities.

Also, in EDTP 504 we made a podcast about podcasting - we brainstormed about some great ideas...and it is also quite humorous.

Chew on This

I am going to try to keep this short(ish), in contrast to my general verbosity.

I really enjoyed the book - I had a really hard time putting it down, and now that I've been done with it for almost a week, I still keep thinking about it. It just really resonated with me, and I was just disturbed by the pervasiveness of this issue. There are just so many problems with it all: marketing to kids, "Americanization" of the world, obesity, animal maltreatment, the economic exploitation of farmers/ranchers/etc, the pollutive effect of bringing food from so far away...

It came to my mind while perusing the "nature market" and organic fruit/veg section at the Kroger. I was looking at some organic cherries, and they'd been shipped all the way from California. Wasting of gas and the inevitable pollution even though they were organic. And who knows what the working conditions of the pickers were and how much the orchard owners made before selling to the company. Even the Stonyfield Farms yogurt that I bought (which is made back home in New Hampshire with no artificial anything) used up a lot of resources getting here to Kentucky...I know the 2-day trip well. Though their business practices look quite good, wouldn't it be better - more environmentally concious - to buy local yogurt?

But is there even local yogurt? And for what local stuff there is (Kroger had bread made in a local bakery)...what do we know about the ingredients they use? Where did their wheat come from?

How can we possibly get it right in a world taken over by corporations and monopolies?