Revolutionary and Efficient Technology

Then vs. now

Maddie Cardenas
High School Division
Website
Process Paper: 542 words
Website Word Count:
 Process Paper

How did I choose our topic?

I discovered the topic of the beginning of processed foods after learning more about the
commerce between Britain and America, and the relationship of America sending raw materials
to Britain, and Britain sending the finished goods back to America to be sold in markets and by
merchants. This prompted me to make the relationship between the number of foods that are
being efficiently produced now, in the twenty-first century. GMOs are a common way to produce
quality products as fast and as cheap as possible. This compelled me to learn more about what
GMO chemicals are and what they do for the foods we eat today. Also, I knew that innovations
like the cotton gin of the 1700s were one of the first machines to do a job more efficiently.
How did I conduct my research?
To begin my research, I needed to understand what the cotton gin was, and how I could
compare it to the use of GMO technology today. In order to do that, I had to research some facts
on the efficiency of using the cotton gin as opposed to before its invention. Also, I had to
research facts on the benefits of using GMO technology in crop production to compare it to the
efficiency of the earliest invention for a more efficient life.
Why did I choose this category and how did I create my project?
Because the internet is being used by more and more people, presenting my
research by means of a website seemed necessary for me. Using NHD. Weebly to create
websites is something familiar to me, and I am very aware of all of the tools available to create
an entertaining and informative project. Also, because all of the information I had researched in
the past had been online, it made it easier to research information and come back to my project in
seconds. Using a website is efficient and can help a broader number of people understand the
uses of GMO chemicals.
How does my topic relate to the theme?
New technology often causes excitement in the public. For example, while in different
eras, the cotton gin and GMO technology both made the lives and jobs of the people easier and
more efficient. In the 1700s, harvesters no longer had to spend hours of toil picking through
hundreds of pounds of cotton, and in the present day, farmers can produce a crop that stays fresh
for long periods of time, which gives them an ample amount of time to allow their crop to be
manufactured into another product. Efficiency is key to making people happy, and revolutionary
technology never seems to fall short of that goal. The tragedy of the innovation of new
technology is that popularity always fades over time. Because we as humans are so focused on
creating the 'next big thing', we often forget about the revolutionary innovations of the past.
Products that are seen as revolutionary in the past are each overshadowed by new creations in the
present and so on. The cycle of innovation is never-ending, which means that all technology
whether it is the worlds greatest or not will always be overshadowed by something newer in the
future.

Primary Source

Ford, Henry, and Samuel Crowther. ​My Life and Work​. Garden City, Doubleday, Page & Co.,

1922.

The primary source by Henry Ford, explains the process the mass production cars go

through to better explain how amazing the productivity of mass production was at the time. He

explained that now because of the ability to mass produce, the job of one man now was divided

up into the work of many men, therefore speeding up the process of producing cars. This

information can be used to explain how the mass production process was started, and then I

could transfer that to food production.

“Eli Whitney.” ​ConnecticutHistoryorg​, connecticuthistory.org/people/eli-whitney/.

This webiste is dedicated the the complete history of Connecticut and this history

includes a man named Eli Whitney, the inventor of the cotton gin. In my website, I used a

drawing of Eli Whitney so that my audience could place a name to a face.

“Henry Ford's Employee Badge, circa 1945.” ​The Henry Ford​,

This webiste holds information over the entire life of Henry Ford and all of his

accomplishments over the years of his life. In my website, I needed an image of Henry, so to find

a primary source, I came to this site to find an actual artifact that he wore that had an image of

him also.

Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. “Food Additives & Ingredients - Overview of

Food Ingredients, Additives & Colors.” ​U S Food and Drug Administration Home Page,​ Center

for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Apr. 2010,

This article gives an overview to why certian chemicals are added to foods, to reduce the stress

of people worried about the negative affects they have on our health. I can use this information to

contrast it with other research I make on the actual affects of these chemicals directly on the

human body.
“Eli Whitney Museum.” ​The Cotton Gin | The Eli Whitney Museum and Workshop,​

This image is a model of the first cotton gin created by Eli Whitney. Bu understanding the

simplist model of the cotton gin, the audience can have an easier time understanding how this

machine made the production of cotton faster.

Star, Tom Beal Arizona Daily. “UA Plant Scientists Adjust to Public Worries over GMOs.”

Arizona Daily Star​, Arizona Daily Star, 17 May 2015,

This website holds an image of two actual scientists that have developed the technology

to make a soybean that does not cause allergies in small children. This is an important image to

see because it shows that real people use genetic modificaion for good things and not just for

profit.
 Secondary:

Akerman, Anders, et al. "Oligarchies and development in a global economy: a tale of two elites."

Economic Inquiry​, vol. 54, no. 1, 2016, p. 229+. ​Academic OneFile,​ .

This article summarizes how Oligarchies are the rule of few wealthy elite control the

political and economic decisions made in a government. This relates to the large coorporations

that decide to produce foods with antibiotics and harmful chemicals without consenting the

public.

Mourdoukoutas, Panos. “McDonald's Rises Again, Still Serves The Same Burgers And Fries.”

Forbes,​ Forbes Magazine, 25 July 2017,

In the 1960s, McDonalds revolutionized the way fast food was produced. With an

increased amount of people needing jobs, he created a similar assembly line to create burgers to

Ford’s model. Because they could now produce food at a higher rate, the quality of food

decreased due to demand.

Anonymous. “The Five Worst Contaminants in Chicken Products.” ​The Physicians Committee​, 2

This article gives information on the contaminants in chicken products, in order to

promote veganism. This infomation is important for formulating an argument for the correlation

from chemicals to heart disease and diabetes

“Eli Whitney's Patent for the Cotton Gin.” ​National Archives and Records Administration​,

National Archives and Records Administration,

This website is gives direct information fromt the actual patent Eli Whitney and the result

of that patent. The patent ended up being the downfall of Eli Whitney because it was not secured

completely and other inventors could easily use his research to create similar inventions. The

National Archives also had an image of the actaul patent drawing of Eli Whitney.

Evaluation of the Impact of Genetically Modified Cotton After 20 Years of Cultivation in

Mexico.” ​US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health​, Frontiers Media SA, 22

June 2018.

I used this website to get several statistics on the production of GMO cotton to compare it

to the production of cotton in the 1700s. The study evaluates the development of GMO cotton

over 20 years in order to see if the modifications had any impact on the quality or yield of the

crops. The study also gives good information on the amount of crops produced, and I used this

information to introduce how much more cotton can be produced now than in the 1700s.
Bruening, and Lyons. “Archive.” ​California Agriculture - University of California, Agriculture

and Natural Resources,​ University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources,

calag.ucanr.edu/Archive/?article=ca.v054n04p6.

This website gives the history of the “Flavr Savr” tomato, the first crop to use the GMO

technology in 1994. The article gives a lot of information over how the scientists came up with

the idea to produce crops with GMO technology, and the outcome of its use after it was used to

sell an actual canned product. Also, it gives an image of one of the creators of the Flavr Savr

tomato which is also used in my website.

Romero, Maureen. “The Cotton Gin.” ​The Cotton Gin.​

This article explains what the cotton gin was, and who produced it as well as how it was

used from that point on. This is used in my project because it helped me better understand what

effect the first mode of mass production had on the economy and social life.

Production.", "Mass. “Mass Production.” ​The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th Ed,​

Encyclopedia.com, 2019,

This article that talks briefly about the history of mass production all the way back to

Henry Ford helped me to understand the beginning of the idustrial revolution and what impact

Henry Ford had on its continuation.

Mirsky, Jeannette. “Eli Whitney.” ​Encyclopædia Britannica,​ Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 4

Jan. 2019

This article over the history of Eli Whitney helped me to write about when and how Eli

Whitney created the cotton gin and interchangeable parts. Also, it gives a brief history of how Eli

Whitney grew up, and how it impacted his choices later on in life.

Editors, History.com. “Cotton Gin and Eli Whitney.” ​History.com,​ A&E Television Networks, 4

Feb. 2010, www.history.com/topics/inventions/cotton-gin-and-eli-whitney.

This Article depicts the early life of Eli Whitney and the step he took until the ultimate

production of the cotton gin. It describes the steps of Whitney’s struggle to get a patent which

ended up being the biggest mistake of his career. This website was used in my website to help

me understand how and when he created his invention.

“Eli Whitney.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 21 Jan. 2019,

This website hold the image I used in my first subsection in my website. The image is of

Eli Whitney, and I decided to put an image of him in my website so that my audience could place

a face to a name.
“Industrial Revolution and Assembly Line Work.” ​World History,​

This website that describes the impact of the Industrial Revolution, helped me to

understand the historial context of the revolution and what impact the cotton gin had in it. The

website goes in depth about when it first becan and what impact it had on our life today

“Chemicals .” ​HELM AG: VAM​, www.helmag.com/products/chemicals/.

This website holds the image I used for the cover of my website so that I could

foreshadow that my website would be something about chemicals and the chemical industry. The

webstie itself holds a lot of informaiton over the different chemicals that they sell and holds

contact information about themselves.

“What Are GMOs?” ​What Are GMOs?,​ Perdue University,

ag.purdue.edu/GMOs/Pages/WhatareGMOs.aspx.

This image depicts a brief amount of information about what genetically modified

organisms are and how they are used in daily life. The image is from a Perdue Univeristy article

about GMOs in general, and I used this image as an easy way to explain what GMOs are to my
audience. This website is also benefcial in helping me understand what GMO chemicals are and

the science behind how they work.

Minnesota Soybean Processors. “Minnesota Soybean Processors Quality Soybean Products.”

Minnesota Soybean Processors,​ 16 Dec. 2015, mnsoy.com/.

I used this website about soy to get an image of the best quality soy bean that had been

grown using GMO technology. It is important for my reader to understand that the use of GMO

technology does not affect the way the crop looks or tastes.

Star, Tom Beal Arizona Daily. “UA Plant Scientists Adjust to Public Worries over GMOs.”

Arizona Daily Star​, Arizona Daily Star, 17 May 2015,

This website holds an image of two actual scientists that have developed the technology

to make a soybean that does not cause allergies in small children. This is an important image to

see because it shows that real people use genetic modificaion for good things and not just for

profit.
“How to Replace an Obsolete Control System in a Chemical Plant | Legacy Upgrades.” ​Matrix

Technologies Incorporated​, 17 July 2018,

matrixti.com/matrix-on-manufacturing/replacing-obsolete-control-system-chemical-plant/.

This website holds an image I used on my tab that exaplains how the chemical industry,

the companies that create and manufacture GMO chemicals, affects global food production. This

image is a stark contrast to the early production line, and I used this image to show the

complexity of present day mass production industries in contrast to the simplicity of mass

production in the 1700s.

“Trump Plans To Lead An 'Industrial Revolution'.” ​Bisnow.com​, BISNOW, 2 Dec. 2016,

This website gives information on how Donald Trump intentds to create another

inductrial revolution in his time as president. The image that is most prominent on the page is the

part of the website I used, and I used this image to show how early production was run during

that time in contrast to how mass proudction companies do business now.

“How GMOs Are Made.” ​GMO Answers​, gmoanswers.com/how-gmos-are-made.

 This website was used in my website where I write about what GMOs are and how they

came to be popular. Infographics like the one on this website are easy for an audience to

understand and they make the website look more exciting. Also, the infographic shows the actual

procedure as how scientists genetically engineer DNA molecules to be differentl.

“Lemelson-MIT Program.” ​Josephine Cochrane | Lemelson-MIT Program​,

lemelson.mit.edu/winners/herbert-boyer-and-stanley-cohen .

This website holds an image of the two men responsible for the first introduction of

GMO technology in food, more specifically a tomato. These men, like Eli Whitney, paved the

way for other scientists to use their research to create crops that had a longer shelf life and a

more vibrant color.

“Feeding the World with Love.” ​Cooking up Trouble, Dishing out Advice.​, 19 Dec. 2017,

This website holds an image of a person handing a plant to a younger child, and I thought

that this would be a good image to put into my website to connect to the idea that the use of

GMO technology in crop production can benefit the youth of tomorrow because more food can

be produced and meet the needs of the ever growing population.

Purcell, John P., and Frederick J. Perlak. “Global Impact of Insect-Resistant (Bt) Cotton.”

AgBioForum,​ AgBioForum, 28 Oct. 2004,

 This website holds more information over the affects of growing Bt (genetically

modified) cotton. The webiste has many statistics on how the growth of the cotton has changed

over time and how much of the cotton is grown over the world. After reading this information, it

is more clear to me that the use of GMO technology is widely used.

Rangel, Gabriel, and Anna Maurer. “From Corgis to Corn: A Brief Look at the Long History of

GMO Technology.” ​Science in the News​, 23 Oct. 2016,

sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2015/from-corgis-to-corn-a-brief-look-at-the-long-history-of-gmo-tec

hnology/.

This website gives a brief history of most early instances of GMO use all the way back to

ancient civilization and how they would pick and choose which animals to breed. This is also

another form of genetic modification, just not at the molecular level. In my website, I used the

information about the development of GMO technology and how these organisms are used in the

world today.

“Will GMOs Hurt My Body? The Public's Concerns and How Scientists Have Addressed

Them.” ​Science in the News,​ 19 Jan. 2017,

sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2015/will-gmos-hurt-my-body/.

This webiste holds information that holds incontrovertable evidence that there is no

adverse affects of GMO use on our health. This is significant information that is against what is
widely accepted as true that GMOs are bad for us. Also, I used an infographic that simply

explains that there is nothing in GMO technology that can negatively affect health.