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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What store does Pollan go to in order to begin creating a store-purchased organic meal?

2. Pollan points out that the Republic of _______ exists today because of all of the excess corn in the market.

3. Synthetic _______, invented by Fritz Haber as a side effect of his work on bombs in Germany, meant that crops could be grown without care about the amount of this substance on the Earth.

4. To help combat how much a person can eat, the food industry has created ________ starch that can allow people to eat more.

5. What is the ingredient that is broken into glucose and sweeteners, including high fructose corn syrup?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the Salatin farm not need to use because it practices other methods of pest control and fertilization?

2. What is the main idea behind the process of grass farming?

3. What are the reasons why Pollan calls farms and humans imperfect natural systems?

4. What is the hybrid corn that is described in this section of the book?

5. What indicates a higher ratio of corn being eaten in a human's diet?

6. What are the environmental results of the industrial method of farming, as Pollan finds out?

7. Why does most of the corn planting farming rely on the use of genetically modified organisms (GMO)?

8. What are the three different parts of the food chain that Pollan follows in this book?

9. What was the role of Earl Butz in the corn industry, according to the book?

10. What is corn starch broken down into after it has been processed in the wet milling process?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At one point, the book brings up the idea that food should be the next revolution in America.

Part 1: Why might food be the basis for a new revolution?

Part 2: Do you think food is something that is causing divisiveness in the country today?

Part 3: How do you think the food supply might change if there was a revolution?

Essay Topic 2

Salatin talks to Pollan about the ways in which a farm can grow in line with the Earth to be more productive and healthy.

Part 1: Do you think that organic growing is the best way to grow for food supplies?

Part 2: Why do you think organic growing methods aren't always the best choice?

Part 3: Do you think that organic growing is more of a trend than a way of life?

Essay Topic 3

The way that the cows are handled in industrial farms allows more chance of disease to the cow and to the human who eats the beef.

Part 1: How do you think animals should be treated when they are being raised as food?

Part 2: Do you think it's right to eat animals?

Part 3: Why do you think animals' health and well-being aren't always supported by those who raise them?

(see the answer keys)

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