Spring Break
Media impact event spreads awareness of effect on youth
Tiffany Phillips
Issue date: 4/6/09 Section: News
Melinda Hemmelgarn, a well-known health nutritionist, columnist and lecturer, stands in front of a giant picture of a Big Mac projected on the wall. The room is full of educators, students and a variety of people interested in what she has to say.
"Where was this meat produced, and under what conditions? What's on it, in it or not?" Hemmelgarn said, while pointing a finger towards the flawless-looking hamburger depicted on the screen. "Every time we sit down to eat we should be asking, 'where does [the food] come from?'"
Hemmelgarn's message is a sobering one, similar to the other messages of the seventh annual Media Literacy Conference at UConn. The Neag School of Education hosted the conference. In the words of its coordinator Tom Goodkind, a professor of the same school, the goal of the conference was to promote media literacy, the ability to access and evaluate media messages.
"Kids need to become more aware of the major impact of mass media upon their lives. It's influencing their choices, their values and their purchases. Mass media influences our values as a society."
The conference had two keynote speakers and over 16 workshops designed to bring attention to the role and influence of media in society. Hemmelgarn, the first keynote speaker, pointed out serious issues within food and agricultural systems that go virtually unnoticed by the American people because of the illusion presented to the public by the media.
Hemmelgarn spoke of farm workers being exploited, cattle raised in restrictive cages, obese and overweight children and harmful substances in our produce that the general public does not know about.
The picture of the hamburger with the crisp green lettuce and the fresh tomato, she contends, often deters people from questioning how nutritious it is, let alone finding out where and how it was all made.
Hemmelgarn describes the path to looking past what the media presents as a highway to sustainable agriculture.
"Where was this meat produced, and under what conditions? What's on it, in it or not?" Hemmelgarn said, while pointing a finger towards the flawless-looking hamburger depicted on the screen. "Every time we sit down to eat we should be asking, 'where does [the food] come from?'"
Hemmelgarn's message is a sobering one, similar to the other messages of the seventh annual Media Literacy Conference at UConn. The Neag School of Education hosted the conference. In the words of its coordinator Tom Goodkind, a professor of the same school, the goal of the conference was to promote media literacy, the ability to access and evaluate media messages.
"Kids need to become more aware of the major impact of mass media upon their lives. It's influencing their choices, their values and their purchases. Mass media influences our values as a society."
The conference had two keynote speakers and over 16 workshops designed to bring attention to the role and influence of media in society. Hemmelgarn, the first keynote speaker, pointed out serious issues within food and agricultural systems that go virtually unnoticed by the American people because of the illusion presented to the public by the media.
Hemmelgarn spoke of farm workers being exploited, cattle raised in restrictive cages, obese and overweight children and harmful substances in our produce that the general public does not know about.
The picture of the hamburger with the crisp green lettuce and the fresh tomato, she contends, often deters people from questioning how nutritious it is, let alone finding out where and how it was all made.
Hemmelgarn describes the path to looking past what the media presents as a highway to sustainable agriculture.
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Mathew - New mexico personal injury lawyers
posted 4/09/09 @ 5:07 AM EST
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