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Every time you feel in God's creatures something pleasing and attractive, do not let your attention be arrested by them alone, but, passing them by, transfer your thought to God and say: "O my God, if Thy creations are so full of beauty, delight and joy, how infinitely more full of beauty, delight and joy art Thou Thyself, Creator of all!
- Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain

You can’t get to joy by making everything perfect. You can only get there by seeing in every imperfection all that’s joy.
-Ann Voscamp

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Persuasive Essay

We started school this week. 9th grade daughter's first big assignment was to write a persuasive essay. I loved the topic she chose! She's a girl after my own heart, and she's learning fast. She wants to farm in the future. Her interests lie mainly in animal husbandry, but she's also interested in organic farming of all kinds. She plans to try her hand at a garden of her own next spring.
Following is her (finished?) essay.


Factory Farming vs. Organic Farms

Organic farms are better than factory farms because they are better for the environment, produce healthier food for people, and are more humane to animals.
First of all, large meat producing companies pollute the earth. They have large amounts of animals which means that they have lots of waste to deal with. They use lots of gasoline and energy to move it all. Some of it will run into our rivers and lakes and pollute our water. Some companies have even illegally dumped waste into water. Organic farms use less energy and fuel, and their animal waste can be used as fertilizer because the animals don’t have any added chemicals or hormones.
Products produced at factory farms are unhealthy for people. They have added hormones to make them grow faster and bigger. The animals are fed only corn. This is a cheap way to feed them and it fattens them up quickly. Animals from organic farms are grass fed and free ranged. The meat has no added preservatives, chemicals, or hormones.
Lastly, organic farms treat animals better. They have large pastures so that they are not all crammed together. They are slaughtered by hand so that the people know that the animals are dead before they begin butchering. They are kept in a clean, roomy space. Factory farms, however, are inhumane to animals. They are kept in small, cramped spaces, often indoors. They sometimes have no fresh water and are up to their knees in muck. Animals- mostly chickens, are sometimes killed and butchered with machines. If a chicken somehow misses the part where they get killed, which sometimes happens, they get their feathers plucked while they’re still alive.
For these reasons, I think it is best to support organic farmers and not factory farms. You can support organic farms by buying local at a whole foods store or co-op. You could buy directly from local farmers. You could grow your own food to eat, and even sell it. You could become an organic farmer!

8 comments:

  1. Wow mom,pat your self on the back-she did a terrific job.Just out of my own curiosity ,how do you grade with A's and such ,the old fashioned way or the new founded way with E's and all?did your daughter get some of her info from the film"Food Inc"I watched for the first time this year,and it all makes sense to me now about the corn and all. I even brought my grandsons to the U of M TO BE TESTED AND SURE ENOUGH AND SAD TO SAY THEY ARE BOTH EARLY ONSET DIABETIC JUST LIKE THEY TALK ABOUT IN THE FILM

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  2. Oh my gosh...very well spoken. Tell your daughter that she made me cringe at the thought of animals not being truly dead before processing. I have known for some time the processes they use are completely inhumane (which is why we finally have our own chickens and working on other livestock as well) but it never occurred to me that could happen and it sickens me.

    She has a very bright future ahead! Good job Mom and Dad!

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  3. High five to your daughter & a pat on the back to Mom!

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  4. Save that essay, Mom. It's worth it's weight in gold. Your daughter has a pretty good grasp on what's important at a very young age!

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  5. Thanks, ladies, for your comments. It's so nice for home educated kids to have feedback on their work, and be able to share it with others.
    Judy- I'm sorry to hear about your grandsons, but hopefully with proper diet and exercise they can combat what's happened.
    APG- Ugh, I know! I didn't even know that about the chickens, so she taught me something new.
    CR- Thanks! :)
    Mama Pea- You bet I'll be saving the essay. I'm so thrilled to see this higher level thinking and developing of values that she's got happening. I'm so blessed to be able to be witness to it so personally.

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  6. Patty, thanks for sharing. Sure brought back memories for me. My two homeschoolers are now both in college and this made me think back to our school days. Your daughter captured the topic beautifully. Congrats to you both!

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  7. I think you should secretly submit her essay to a couple of homestead-type magazines, Backwoods Home or Mother Earth. If they decide to print it, that would be a great surprise for her. What a great essay. She did great and that means the parents had a big influence.

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  8. Fantastic! She did a great job, and what you are doing, Patty, to teach your kids is inspiring, give yourself a pat on the back, mama!

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