The food we eat seems to have profound effects on our health. Although science has made enormous steps in making food more fit to eat, it has, at the same time, made many foods unfit to eat. Some research has shown that perhaps eighty percent of all human illnesses are related to diet and forty percent of cancer is related to the diet as well, especially cancer of the colon. Different cultures are more prone to contract certain illnesses because of the food that is characteristic in these cultures. That food is related to illness is not a new discovery. In 1945, government researchers realized that nitrates and nitrites, commonly used to preserve color in meats, and other food additives, caused cancer. Yet, these carcinogenic additives remain in our food, and it becomes more difficult all the time to know which things in the packaging labels of processed food are helpful or harmful. The additives which we eat are not all so direct. Farmers often give penicillin to beef and poultry, and because of this, penicillin has been found in the milk of treated cows. Sometimes similar drugs are administered to animals not for medicinal purposes, but for financial reasons. The farmers are simply trying to fatten the animals in order to obtain a higher price on the market. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has tried repeatedly to control these procedures, the practices continue.
食品與健康
我們所吃的食物似乎對我們的健康有深遠的影響. 盡管科學上已取得許多進展,使食物更適合我們食用,但與此同時它也使許多食物不宜食用了. 壹些研究已經表明,人類大概有80%的疾病與飲食有關,40%的癌癥,特別是結腸癌,也與飲食有關. 不同的文化會使人們更易患某些疾病,這是由這些文化的人們喜好的食物所致. 食物與疾病有關並不是新發現. 1945年,政府部門的科研工作者了解到,被廣泛用於肉類以保持肉類色澤的硝酸鹽、亞硝酸鹽和其他的添加劑可誘發癌癥. 可是這些致癌物質依然存在於我們的食物之中. 與此同時,要想知道加工食品標簽上的哪些成分對健康有利,哪些成分對健康不利,變得更加困難了. 我們吃到的這些添加物並非都是如此直接的. 農民常給牛和家禽註射青黴素,因而在受過註射的牛所產牛奶裏發現青黴素. 有時讓家禽服用這類藥物並非是為了治病,而是為了經濟上的緣故. 農民們只是想使家畜長得更肥壯可以上市場上賣到好價錢. 雖然食物和藥品管理局已壹再設法控制這種情況的發生,但是這種行為仍在繼續.
Pottery
Ancient people made clay pottery because they needed it for their survival. They used the pots they made for cooking, storing food, and carrying things from place to place. Pottery was so important to early cultures that scientists now study it to learn more about ancient civilizations. The more advanced the pottery in terms of decoration, materials, glazes and manufacture, the more advanced the culture itself.
The artisan who makes pottery in North America today utilizes his or her skill and imagination to create items that are beautiful as well as functional, transforming something ordinary into something special and unique.
The potter uses one of the Earth's most basic materials, clay. Clay can be found almost anywhere. Good pottery clay must be free from all small stones and other hard materials that would make the potting process difficult. Most North American artisan potters now purchase commercially processed clay, but some find the clay they need right in the earth close to where they work.
The most important tools potters use are their own hands; however, they also use wire loop tools, wooden modeling tools, plain wire, and sponges. Plain wire is used to cut away the finished pot from its base on the potter's wheel.
After a finished pot is dried of all its moisture in the open air, it is placed in a kiln and fired. The first firing hardens the pottery, and it is then ready to be glazed and fired again.
For areas where they do not want any glaze, such as the bottom of the pot, artisans paint on melted wax that will later burn off in the kiln. They then pour on the liquid glaze and let it run over the clay surface, making any kind of decorative pattern that they want.
陶器
古代人制作陶器是因為他們的生存需要它. 他們用這些自制的盆盆罐罐來做飯、裝食物、儲運東西. 陶器在早期文化中占據了如此重要的地位,以致於科學家們現在通過研究陶器來獲取對古代文明的更多的了解. 因為陶器的裝飾、材料、釉彩、制作等工藝越發達就說明這種文明越發達. 今天,北美的陶藝匠人運用他們的技藝和想象力創造出了既美觀又實用的陶藝制品,把日常用品變為獨特的藝術品. 制陶匠人使用大地上最基本的原材料--粘土. 粘土幾乎隨處可見,但好的制陶所用的粘土必須不含小沙粒或任何硬物,否則會給制陶過程帶來不便. 現在大多數北美制陶藝人買現成的專用陶土,也有些陶匠樂於就地取材,在作坊附近自己挖粘土. 制陶器最重要的工具是工匠們自己的雙手,但有時他們也用些別的工具,如繩圈、木模、素線、海綿等. 素線的作用是當壹件陶器完成後用它把陶器從轉盤上的基座上切下來. 陶器成形後,首先要在空氣中自然風幹,再放到窯中焙燒. 第壹遍焙燒使得陶器變得堅硬,下壹步就是給它上釉彩,然後再焙燒. 陶器上有些地方不需上釉彩,像罐子底部,匠人們就在這些部位塗上蠟,壹加熱就會化掉. 然後匠人們把釉彩液體澆上陶器表面,繪制他們想要的任何圖案.