Process Paper
Considering
that both of our group members are actively interested in nutritious and
environmental-friendly health, we began our NHD process by searching for a
topic that related towards such interests in the organic food industry, as we
both come from families of natural-product enthusiasts. The early 1900’s, a
time in which food adulteration was prevalent among the industry, seemed like
an excellent period to focus in on, especially because it featured consumer
rights similar to those that the industry is currently encountering regarding
the labeling of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in food products. We
believe that the concept of honest marketing is very prevalent in many
conflicts currently occurring in the organic market, and we decided to study
food adulteration in the early 1900’s further for this reason.
We began our research process by writing short, individual research papers. Composing these papers not only gave us background on the subject of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, but it also helped us accumulate plenty of primary and secondary sources and gave us ideas on how to argue our position on the topic. Thus, when we started building our project we could go into more in-depth research and explore diverse primary sources, such as the letters, documents, and transcriptions of speeches found in the online Library of Congress. One final part of our research was encompassed in a trip to Bellevue College to interview Dr. Casserly, a professor of American history who gave us a very detailed and insightful perspective on our time-period.
We chose to present our research project using a website, primarily because we enjoy the type of visual appeal, straightforward organization of ideas, and a variety of multimedia sources that can be demonstrated using a website. However, one of the most important reasons as to why we chose the website category relates to our topic—public media was the first method in which consumer awareness was brought about, and therefore we wanted our project to continue that legacy in educating modern audiences. Additionally, we have a successful group website in the past, meaning that the general process of website-making was familiar to us and that we could build off of previous knowledge to create a stronger, unique project.
We chose the topic of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 in part because it well represents the two main aspects of the theme this year; rights and responsibility. During the early 1900’s, companies were essentially cheating in regards to their responsibility of honest marketing towards consumers, and therefore the Pure Food and Drug Act was established to enforce a more genuine level of trust between corporations and consumers. As the industry carried the great responsibility of sharing the truth, the everyday consumers had a right to know what composed the food that they ate, and these principles of rights and responsibilities constituted the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.
(485 words)
We began our research process by writing short, individual research papers. Composing these papers not only gave us background on the subject of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, but it also helped us accumulate plenty of primary and secondary sources and gave us ideas on how to argue our position on the topic. Thus, when we started building our project we could go into more in-depth research and explore diverse primary sources, such as the letters, documents, and transcriptions of speeches found in the online Library of Congress. One final part of our research was encompassed in a trip to Bellevue College to interview Dr. Casserly, a professor of American history who gave us a very detailed and insightful perspective on our time-period.
We chose to present our research project using a website, primarily because we enjoy the type of visual appeal, straightforward organization of ideas, and a variety of multimedia sources that can be demonstrated using a website. However, one of the most important reasons as to why we chose the website category relates to our topic—public media was the first method in which consumer awareness was brought about, and therefore we wanted our project to continue that legacy in educating modern audiences. Additionally, we have a successful group website in the past, meaning that the general process of website-making was familiar to us and that we could build off of previous knowledge to create a stronger, unique project.
We chose the topic of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 in part because it well represents the two main aspects of the theme this year; rights and responsibility. During the early 1900’s, companies were essentially cheating in regards to their responsibility of honest marketing towards consumers, and therefore the Pure Food and Drug Act was established to enforce a more genuine level of trust between corporations and consumers. As the industry carried the great responsibility of sharing the truth, the everyday consumers had a right to know what composed the food that they ate, and these principles of rights and responsibilities constituted the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.
(485 words)