Journal 8

          At first, I wasn't sure what to think of Ms. Chapin.  She seemed like a nice woman, but a lot of times musician/activists can  be a bit..."goofy."  However, as soon as I heard her first song, of which I don't remember the name, I knew she was at least a talented  musician and lyricist.  After hear her music, which was an excellent hook o her presentation, I was much more willing to hear what she had to say.  I've heard a lot of stuff about the hunger issue in America.  However, I had never known about the state of poor people who merely get by on synthetic foods that, in effect, keep them poor.  It is interesting how much the poor quality of mass produced foods affects the people who eat them.  I agree with her on the importance quality food an good nutrition and look forward to figuring out ways to eat better personally.  Another thing that she briefly spoke of was Sodexo.  While I haven' looked up anything about them yet, I am curious to see what they've done that makes them so bad.

          Because Jen is a musician, her activism ties very closely and is easy to include in her work.  For other people though, it may not be as easy to be an activist.  First, one has to find time to do it.  One also has to decide what "it" is.  In my opinion, one must have a true connection with what they are an advocate.  For me, at this stage in my life, something that I find to be extremely important is the education of music for children.  I think music is something special that any human can appreciate.  Despite the importance of learning music as a child, many school's cut music programs in order to be more cost effective.  Something that I can do is volunteer at youth organizations, offering lessons to children interested in music.