Wednesday, October 1, 2008

The Cycle of Poo

In the christmas epsiode of South Park Mr. Hanky finds is son Cornwallis upset because he thinks he is only a piece of crap. Mr. Hanky decides to explain to him how crap is everything in the world. This might go unnoticed by most people however when comparing how Pollan describes the cycle of our corn and how it is used today this South Park episode makes complete sense.
Pollan explains how the corn is affected by how farmers grow corn in today's world. The chemicals that are used on the corn are not safe to be consumed however farmers are spraying their corn with multiple chemicals. If we relate this to the South Park episode of how Mr. Hanky explains to his son Cornwallis that crap is everything then this off the wall comparison makes sense. Incorperate what I said about Pollan's standpoint of how the chemicals are sprayed on the corn to generate more yield which is what farmers want. After the corn has gone to market or is fed to livestock it becomes poo by our digestion process. If we consume the market or the livestock then in turn we have consumed some residue of those chemicals the farmers used. After we digest and poo, it is dumped into the ocean where plankton eat the poo, afterwards small fish eat the plankton. Then a bigger fish comes and eats the small fish which is eaten either by another animal or by us through fishing. If that other animal gets to the fish it will have the residue of the chemicals in some form or fashion and when it poos, the chemicals are being sent into the earth through a long process that involves many different animals or people pooing. I never thought of incorporating poo into Pollan's viewpoint, but after Mr. Hanky gave a detailed description about how poo is everything it makes sense to me.

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