HW . 27

 The only sick person in the hospital that I know of that’s slowly dying would be my aunt she’s been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and she isn’t getting any better and she has been put into a nursing home in North Carolina. She can’t speak and compared to before the aunt I’m used to growing up with has changed a lot. Since she can’t speak and has lost most of her memory we can’t talk to her but if she still was capable  of doing that I think she would be like Morrie a little bit she wouldn’t be depressed that  she was dying but more of she’s going to a better place and she would of done what she could to spend her last days with her family and just having a good time because she’s a very fun and outgoing type of person and even though she’s slowly dying she’ll be making jokes.  I also wish that I had gone to visit her before she got put into the nursing home because I don’t have any recent memories of her before she got put into it and if I did I don’t remember them because it was so long ago that I spent time with her.

                The nursing home that my aunt is at, isn’t the best it could be better and my cousin (her daughter) and my mother want to move her to a better one but then that’ll be even further away and they feel better having her in North Carolina since most of her family lives in South Carolina so its not a big commute. Also compared to nursing homes here it looks very poor and isn’t the best the nurses don’t do such a great job to take care of their patients and you can tell when you walk in by the way the patients look and the way the building looks. This shows how the nurses don’t care which sucks since my aunt is there and isn’t getting all the care that she needs. But if she was put into a nursing home that was here she probably would have been taken real good care of and we wouldn’t have to worry as much it probably would of cost more but it would have been worth it because right now they aren’t getting their money’s worth for care she’s been given.

HW . 21b comments

for anthony - I like how you connected Beths experience with the book we Are reading in class Tuesdays with Morrie and how you added our own opinion on it . But I disagree a little bit I think that Morrie and Beth have very similar views on death and that they delt with it similarly they both were open to it knew that it was coming and couldnt do anything about it and was able to accept it. Also I like how you mentioned how you would feel better to accept and deal with death the way Beth did.

HW . 22

HW . 22
 
  The book I'm reading Tuesdays with Morrie an old man, a young man, and lifes greatest lesson By Mitch Albom 

  So far the book is mainly told through the point of view of the author Mitch and his experience with his teachers death. Mitchs teacher has a disease that's killing him slowly and instead of being depressed like some people he actually looked at it differently and made it so last days were filled wit joy and being with the ones he care about. Mitch at first when he left college lost contact with the teacher when he heard about him dying came back in his life and the teacher became more of a friend and mentor for him. One insightful quote I found interesting is when Mitch and Morrie were having one of their conversations and Morrie tells him "learn how to die, and you learn how to live" and I think the point of the message is that you have to accept death and learn that everyone will die, you can spend your life in happiness and doing what you want and living it to it's fullest. Another insight I found interesting was "83 everyone knows they're going to die, but nobody believes it. If we did we would do things differently" I agree with this quote because I always knew that were going to die I just never really believed it will happen at any moment or tried to change my life. "Mitch I embrace aging" this quote reminded me of when I was younger and I couldn't wait to get older and grow up but slowly as I got older I started to wish I was younger again. 

 The way that Morrie approaches death in this story is very different to how I see my family go about it. In my family it's kept on the low not talked about alot brought once or twice but that's it and theres never a happy side of it like Morrie sees it. But a connection I can make is how the only time you really see the people in your family or your friends is when your dying. Just like Mitch he lost contact with Morrie but the fact that he was dying he went and spent time with him. 

HW .18

When it comes to any big holiday I usually switch around who I spend it with and this thanksgiving I spent it with my cousins in Jersey, which I enjoy because I'm close with all my cousins on that side and where all around the same age and I can always expect to have fun or something to happen good or bad, and theirs so much that goes on that It's almost like a reality show. When i had first got heir though i saw two people that i didnt know ans i felt a little awkward but by Friday night we became closer. On Thursday instead of staying in the house and waiting hours for the food to be finished me and my cousins went to their high schools football game to kill time. I really don't mind football it's not a sport I'll turn on the tv to watch I'd have to be in the stands to actually enjoy it. But when we went I was ready to leave because it was so cold and we forgot to bring towels since the seats were wet and I wasn't dressed warm enough, but I stuck it out because I had nothing better to do. 

Before we could eat we had to move a lot of chairs around so that everyone has room but when it comes to dinner time the kids never sit with the adults we have our own table, which is sort of a tradition, also on holidays praying before we eat and another tradition that goes on is having the adults get their food first and then the kids. We always have a lot of left overs and me and my cousins always stay up late and you can always find us going upstairs to the kitchen at 3am getting a snack. I was up at around 2:15 am getting some cake to help me stay awake because I was getting a little tired. Sneaking food at night has became another tradition and we did it so much that the adults even know now and theirs really no reason for us to try and hide it, theres not a night that I haven't gone up and taken food while everyones asleep. Also you can always expect something to happen during the holidays it wouldn't be normal if something didn't. This thanksgiving my family had a falling out that was waiting to happen and this had a really big impact that I don't know if I'll be going back there for Christmas. 

Me and my cousins never have conversations about illness and dying everything is fun we joke around a lot and don become serious unless something serious happens and then we just start discussing it. Like on Friday night my cousins got into a big fight and we just stayed up to 4 am discussing everything that happened that night. The most that we talk about when it comes to food and nutrition is how many plates were going to get or with one my cousins how shes gonna have to portion off her food since she doesn't want to gain weight but the ends up getting forgotten when it's actually time to eat. When it's time to eat, the point is to feel comfortable. We don't sit in hard chairs the ones we have have cushions some have arm rest, thanksgiving not suppose to be a punishment to our body, and after most of end up going to sleep or sitting on a couch to relax. Our bodies aren't being punished which effects our moods and makes the time more enjoyable. 

HW . 17

    When I think of illness and dying, I imagine all the things that causes illness such as drugs, car accidents, murdering, someone with tubes going in and out of their body, just the typical things that just sums up death because illness leads to dying. Growing up in my family I experienced people in my family dying when I was around 6 when at first I didn't know what was going on just that they were very sick. But as I got older and when family members passed away I learned why, but it's not something that was ever hidden from me; my parents didn't try and cover it up and say oh your grandfather went to sleep with the angels or anything like that my parents told me the truth. 

     In society today the normal thing for someone who is Ill is to start making funeral arrangements getting the will together, which is what I think makes the whole process more stressful because that's what most of the people are worried about if they are getting something from the will. A typical norm for dying is a funeral with everyone around wearing black, I guess black is suppose to signify death. But I disagree at my funeral I would want people to wear white because it signifies a new beginning almost and not a dreary and depressing color, and I would want people to feel like I'm going to a better place and not feel all depressed about it. 

     In my family illness is not something that's taken lightly but it's also taken advantage of and abused. If theirs a cousin or uncle I haven seen in a year or longer you'll see them when theirs a sick family member because they are trying to get their way in to the will and usually it ends up working even though they don't really care about you. When visiting a sick relative becomes more of a who's going to get what, or you shouldn't get that I should and so on and less about taking care about the person which I think is very disrespectful and a useless arguing. You should deal with what you get or don't get, you lost a family member and your worried about material things that you can replace you ant replace a person . 

HW . 11

               I tried to change my diet and become a vegetarian; it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. It’s something that I think that I could do maybe once a month eat any meat become vegetarian. For breakfast when I ate It or had time to I would eat fruit like strawberries or oranges and for lunch I would have pizza, a salad maybe, rice, beans, yogurt and whatever I didn’t have for lunch then I would have that for dinner. It was filling after trying It for a day or to but I noticed I ate allot of snacks In between and It felt different not eating meat every day; almost as If I went thru meat withdraw. I also tried tofu which I didn’t like even though it was suppose to taste like the regular food it was very different and something that would take allot of getting used to for me to eat it every day. I also took the chance at eating sushi It was good and would keep eating but It’s not that filling I noticed that even though right after I thought I was full but after about 30 minutes I felt hungry again or just when I saw more food I would all of a sudden feel hungry again.

               I also tried to change my families food shopping Instead of going to supermarkets go to local markets but Its more expensive and out of the way because we don’t have any In the area so that something that'll probe happen once In a while. After learning that they bleach beef and add ammonia to it that one meat product that I’m not eating anymore because ammonia is usually In cleaning products or hair dye products that you don’t eat. Plus companies plan on making beef at least 100% made out of ammonia, to me I think you might as well just drink bleach if you’re going to inject that much ammonia.

               My family has also tried to now eat all together at the table or at least all

Together on the couch even If it’s around the TV were still together and eating. We try to cook more and eat less take out but It’s not always possible because everyone Is always busy and when they get home don’t have time or feel like cooking. We also try to experiment with different things I decided that beef shouldn’t be eaten anymore or Tyson or Perdue chicken. At first when I said I wanted to stop eating beef I thought It would be a problem because we a lot of If that I noticed but It was easy to have the same foods but find a substitute for like for burgers Instead of beef have turkey which Is better as far as I know.

               I always had a concern about my food or where It came from but never felt the

Need to actually found out but now that I've found out all that I know it has

Changed my perception of how I eat and what I eat. I think that It has changed for the better because now I’m eating healthier which Is going to benefit me now and In the future and everyone should know no more a out where there food come from because I think they do but to some degree no one knows their meat Is bleached. One way that I think I could get others to then see what I see and know what I understand is to try and make a difference in my family and friends who will then tell their friends and so on. I can try and get people to stop eating as much fast food and go for local markets so that slowly over time everyone will stop and things will change like obesity rates. The way that people are eating know Is slowly lowering everyone’s death rate an average women probably could of lived to 100 now It’s probably 85 which Is 15 extra years you ruined because you wanted to take the cheap easy way by eating big Macs.

HW . 7d

OMDYR
chapter 17:
I was going to take some food home with me back to california, but that would be
everything that joel stands for so I decided against it and decided to cook for
some friends that lived close. The meat and products we get from animals is
always better for us when they eat their natural food because their are certain
things our bodies need and specific amounts such as omega 3. But we can only get
it if cows or fish are eating their natural foods like grass or phytoplankton.
But corn fed cows or fish end up rising the amount of omega 3s they have so that
their will be a raise in heart disease in our society. I wounder if the
companies that are adding corn and all of these extra products know or care that
they are the ones that are responsible for slowly killing our society. They are
the ones that are making obesity, diabetes, etc. rise in america. Yet they dont
do anything to try and stop it. It would make sense to change it because people
will soon realize that maybe it is the food causing their loved ones to die or
become obese and then stop buying those products.

chapter 18:
I wanted to try one more thing out by making a meal where everything has been
hunted and gathered for. Hunting is probably the best way to have a healthy
meal, but since theirs not much game or time for people to go and hunt no one
does it. After getting my license I started looking everywhere for what could
potenionally be part of my dinner, but everyhing was divided into the maybe good
to eat pile or what could possiy kill me and theirs a 50% chance that anything I
pick up could not be edible and a chance that I'm not willing to take. A hunter
gatherer meal is the safest and the best meal and I think if everyone started to
eat like that then all the problems that we have with our health will go down.
But then the problem would be how do you know what is safe to eat and what's
not. So it seems for everything theirs going to be a downside to it. For locally
grown food it's trying to find one close to you or the price.

chapter 19:
To become a vegetarian isn't as easy as it seems you have to make rules on what
you can and can't eat I decided to eat anything with out a face so oysters and
clams were okay. Animals suffer a lot, for chickens in egg farms when they feel
stressed or put under harsh conditions they will act out which causes the the
workers to find ways to punish them such as cutting off the tails for pigs so
that when they bite them it'll hurt more  but they'll know  not to do it.
Mcdonald's even think that it's okay that hey have a 5% error rate and that even
that some of the cows were still alive when they get butchered.

chapter 20:
I was so excited to go hunting for the first time and We could of hunted for
turkey or deer but I felt more comfortable with the wild pig since it's known as
a nuisance here in California. I spotted a a few pigs and was ready to shoo but
y rifle wasn't ready and to put a bullet inthe chamber would make noise so I let
Richard take it. The next time I actually killed one and I was overwhelmed with
emotions and I couldn't see this pig as being meat and that I actually killed a
pig. I couldn't belive that after this Angelo was able to talk about food and
different dishes while I'm still caught up on how I just killed it and was I
going to be able to even eat this. This journey was to look at where or food
comes from and it's food chain and we are simply a part of it. But how we are
going about to get our food is all wrong.

HW . 10

This film is to show the truth behind our food and reveal all the secrets that big companies and the government are trying to keep us from knowing. The way we eat has changed over the last 50 years all the food we eat now is coming from a factory and the labels on the packages with little farms or free range are lies. By keeping this a secret people don’t know that the chicken they ate is mostly made up of chemicals or that the beef they are about to eat has about 70% of ammonia in it. The way to get people to eat it and not worry about things like this is to trick them, we need sugar, salt and fat so what’s better then going to McDonalds or Wendy’s were you get all three for a cheap price. Since food is addictive we got people to choose the cheap "fulfilling" bad food over the good healthy food that’s not going to make you obese by eating it. "This isn’t farming this is mass production like an assembly line in a factory" all the companies care about is making the most of something from very little and making a lot of money off of it, even if its not healthy and good for us. At factories they took pointers from fast food places and made it so that they can add chemicals and do what they have to do like an assembly line. Its kind of disturbing to find out that companies actually bleach our food which I never knew was possible and that companies wish to make it so that 100% of our food is made out of chemicals such as ammonia. I wonder then what do the people that know what there doing to the food eat. If I was a worker for Tyson or Perdue chicken or a beef company and new what was going on with the food I definitely wouldn’t eat it anymore, and I meet even try to stop people from eating it because its bad. But then if everyone stops eating chicken from those companies then they will start loosing money and firing workers and I would then loose a job. But companies automatically assume that people don’t care were their food came from but I think they would if they new especially what was going on. Also the movie gave more insight into what goes on with our food and shows how the big companies know they are doing something wrong if they don’t like  people coming in and looking around at what they are doing.  

HW . 9

In the movie Freakanomics they show how your name affects you and what kind of lifestyle you’re going to have. If you have a ghetto name then you’re probably going to grow up and go to jail a couple times and not have a positive outlook in your life. This isn’t true it depends on where you live and it’s just a coincidence that people with the names such as Tyshawn, Sheniqua or Tyaisha just are in jail or steal pregnant at a young age. In the movie they show that correlation is the causation but that people like to believe that it is. Before you meet someone and you learn their name your automatically going to get a image in your head of what you think the person’s skin color is or how they act or where they from, that’s just from their name and it’s a natural thing because everyone does it  if not always on purpose. But the movie does prove that correlation leads to causation. This is when applying for something either a job or college anything that you are chosen on just by an application. The Indian guy in the movie showed how two job applications were sent out and both had the same exact qualifications only one had a very white name I guess you can say, and the other name was Tyrell.  It only took 10 weeks for the application with the white name to find a job and about an extra 5 weeks for the name Tyrell to find a job. So I agree with the correlation is causation but only when you are in the situation were your not going to physically see the person or talk to them and its just your name that’s known. But that’s how life is when it comes to names people tend to look too much into it and believe that they know everything bout the person already. If I my name was put on a college application they would probably automatically assume that I was white or anything not black especially since Kristin isn’t a common black name. They would probably be surprised when I came into the interview and find out that I was anything but white. That would probably then change their whole assumption of who I was and what they thought of me. I also think people shouldn’t be judged by their names because a name isn’t what makes your who you are its just a word to identify yourself with.

            In the movie the authors uses incentives to make their point and prove it they find evidence. One of their studies was seeing if students will get better grades if they are given the incentive of money. So to figure out if it would work or not they paid students who were able to get their grades up. One boy was going to try and bring his grades up with the incentive that he was going to be paid and that then he could buy skateboard stuff but he ended up failing. While another boy was really excited and actually did improve his grades and did get paid which shows that incentives does work but I think it depends on what it is and who the person is. If they had gave the other boy the incentive of meeting a Pro skateboarder a year supply of skateboard equipment I believe he probably would of tried to do better. The authors look for the evidence they believe will prove their point and by doing that they run test, ask regular people off the street questions, or people who have studied or know personally about what they are looking for. For the sumo wrestling they wanted to know if people were planning the fights and paying people to cheat. So to find out they asked retired sumo wrestlers who then even confessed that they were in on the cheating to at times and that the reason it was used is because there was an incentive. So basically everything revolves around incentives people will do whatever it takes if they are given a good incentive to do it.  

HW . 7c chapter 11,12,13,14,15,16

The Omnivores Dilemma The Secrets Behind What You Eat Chapter 14:

            The pens are arranged very carefully and moved ten feet a day and in about 56 days chickens will be ready to be taken to slaughter house and killed. Joel moves the egg mobile to the area were the cattle had been three days earlier and he waits exactly three days before moving the egg mobile gives the larvae a chance to get fatter but not turn into flies. Another secret to Joel’s farming is he adds corn to the manure then the pigs come and turn the compost over by airing it out which kills and harmful bacteria. On a industrial farm tress would be torn down and seen as unnecessary space were crops could be put down when really its actually helping the grass to grow. The way that Joel takes care of his farm and has everything balanced is almost like our body and how we must keep homeostasis so that nothing goes wrong. By adding to much you through everything off balance, just like adding more chickens to his farm will through it off balance. There will be to much manure, more cows would have to be purchased.

The Omnivores Dilemma The Secrets Behind What You Eat Chapter 13:

            I learned a different way to look at grass, which is the way that cows look at it and that its not all the same its like a salad bar with a variety of grass to choose from. Joel doesn’t use fossil fuel and the secret to why his grass survives better is because he doesn’t let his cows take a second bite. Like on other farmers their cows just sit around and eat up all the grass without giving it a chance to then re grow and then it starts to soon disappear. To stop the cows from getting a second bite Joel moves them around and he knows the grass so well that he knows at what point the grass should be eating by the cows. The best way to take care of your farm is by knowing your grass from the inside out like Joel does.

The Omnivores Dilemma The Secrets Behind What You Eat Chapter 12:

            I visited the Polyface Farm in Virginia compared to other farms it was very different with animals grazing in the field on grass. It is the only non industrial farm that’s still around and not owned by a big business and even the farmers dress differently. Joel Salatin works his farm as a big rotating circle and each animal have a part in it. The reason why Joel lets the chickens roam free is because they go around and clean up after the cattle like a sanitation crew and they put down nitrogen without putting too much that’ll add to our pollution. Joel Salatin’s farm is what I think a organic farm should be and we should have more farms like that, but we never will because then the big companies would be making less money. What’s considered a organic farm today is more of just a step up from an non organic farm and more expensive Joel’s farm is more of an organic farm. Not only are there aren’t chemicals added but everything is naturally taken care of and the animals are treated better to.

The Omnivores Dilemma The Secrets Behind What You Eat Chapter 11:

            I visited a free range organic chicken farm called Rosie. I was expecting a farmhouse or a barn like what’s on the package of the chicken but when I got there I didn’t see that at all, but more of a chicken factory and not farm. Supposedly the birds that live there have it better because they have just a few more inches of space to move around and the option to go outside even though they never do. The organic meal that I made was better than a chicken that’s feed corn and filled with many different pesticides or vegetables that have been sitting in the back of the truck so it is worth it but the paying 35 dollars just to make the meal isn’t cheap especially if you have a big family. Organic is better than a non organic products but the labels on the front are always telling the truth that the animals are on a free range and the farmers pay isn’t that much different than an industrial farmers pay plus all the fossil fuel that’s used to ship the food and keep it fresh isn’t any better. Everything has its ups and downs organic food tastes better but only some, its fresh but it uses up so much fossil fuels to ship it around the world, and there aren’t any pesticides added to it. I would choose to eat an organic chicken over a non organic one because personally I always thought that chicken tasted bland and had no flavor only the skin but I thought that’s just how it’s supposed to taste. But finding out that the reason for that is because those chickens were the corn mixture, antibiotics which altered the taste of the chicken.

HW . 7B

The Omnivores Dilemma The Secrets Behind What You Eat

-Chapter 8:
Some animals have a certain diet that they stick to and will never change like the koala bear, it eats only eucalyptus leaves which keeps it healthy and never to much or to little. Wherever you came from and your culture affects what you eat but their is no culture and when going shopping in the supermarket thiers just so much and no culture to fall back on. Our mouths have many different taste buds from bitterness to sweetness so our body is born liking that taste and having as weet tooth. So on instinct we try to eat as much as we can because you never know when you'll get more. One of the most important tools for an omnivore became cooking because we were able to cook it change all the possiblities of food we can eat which is just more food for companies to try and get us to eat. But the omnivores dilemma is much bigger than that, foods are marketed as being convienent and quick for on your way to school, or after a long day of work just pop it into the microwave and heat it up. So that now eating has become more of something that you have to do and not seen as comfort for you to sit around and spend time with your family.

-Chapter 7:
Food companies scheme to get us to eat more than we need has worked out. The reason behind all that is that for kids all they do is sit and play video games sit at desks  in school all day and eat fast food because the advertisment are so encouraging. When Coca-Cola came out companies would switch the sugars because it was a few cents cheaper which is saving them money and instead of trying to lessen the obesity problem they make the bottle bigger, so that your just drinking a bottle of sugar also known as corn. The man who created supersized meals and drinks David Wallerstein was able to get people to believe and think that they were eating better. Instead of going back up to a Mcdonals counter to get another order of fries and feel liek they are fat, just buy one and you dont feel as fat or greedy. Food companies in a way are brainwashing children with their advertisements to certain foods and candy. Since little kids are like sponges and just soak up anything they see or hear its easy to get to them. Thats why obesity has gone up mostly in kids because all they do is eat and why not if your also getting a free toy and all kids love toys.

-Chapter 6:
Americans eat alot of corn without even knowing it. To find out how the corn is processed I visited a wet mill were the corn is broken down and then put back together to become the sweetner in our soft drinks or the starch in our hamburgers. Processed food sells better for the companies, but not for the farmers they make more money selling whole foods then something that has been processed. The US government helps pay for the raw materials and they end up getting most of the money which is good but with so much corn they need to find ways to get people to eat more of it and humans can only fill their stomachs up so much so next they have to find ways to get americans to spend more money for the same amount of food and eat more then we need. When food is advertised on tv its always something catchy like for children theirs a yogurt that came out and they used a dinosaur to advertise it so of corse children are going to want it becasue its something that they like and think is cool. I also find it interesting that companies will spend so much money to advertise their product even if they know that to much of it can hurt people or that its not good yet they still try and get people to buy it so then they get thier piece of the profit.

HW . 7 chapter 2,3,4,5

Michael Pollan, The Omnivores Dilemma The Secrets Behind What You Eat, Chapter 5:



When I came to poky feeders the cows were standing what I thought was 
mud but actually manure. I bought my own cattle and it costs 1.60 a day for its 
room and board the feedlot isn’t the best place to stay. The purpose of a feedlot 
is to turn corn into beef and when cows come to the feedlot they are forced to 
eat corn and mixture of other things which can range from chocolate to chicken 
manure. Feedlot cattle are always sick because of the corn diet they are forced 
to eat. New types of bacteria have mutated now and can be found in the beef. "7 
pounds of corn = 1 pound of beef" I found it interesting that the reason beef 
costs more than chicken is because of how much corn it’s given and that so much 
corn goes in and only a little bit of beef comes out of that. So your practically paying for 
corn and not beef. I think that the cattle should go back to being feed grass because it’s not 
only healthier for them but us to because there’s a less chance of one of them 
getting sick and then we eat it and get a mutated gene of E coli.
 
 
Michael Pollan, The Omnivores Dilemma The Secrets Behind What You Eat, Chapter 4:
             
I went to the grain elevator in Iowa were they keep all the corn at in tall big concrete tubes. The corn thats in the silos isn't the same corn we eat and their was so much of it that it piled up outside on the ground but it wasn't a problem because its all going to get processed anyway. All the corn at the grain elevator is all treated the same way even though its not but its all treated as type number 2 corn. The factory farmers take the corn and turn it into other products and most of the corn is used as animal feed or used as ethereal fuel for cars. I found it interesting that the farmers force their animals to eat corn even though its not what they naturally, but they have so much of it that they have to find new ways to use it. I think that less corn should be made only the needed amount and not so much that they then have to force feeding it to the animals because thats unfair and then what will happen to the leftover corn from if they don't want to eat it, it'll get wasted .

Michael Pollan, The Omnivores Dilemma The Secrets Behind What You Eat, Chapter 3:

After World War 2 the government would use weapons to
fertilize corn crops and all plants need nitrogen to grow. The Naylor’s don’t
produce their own nitrogen but buy it and the factories that make it use a lot of
fossil fuels. The hybrid corn eats a lot of nitrogen but farmers use so much of it
still and its bad for our environment and increases global warming. I had a
conversation with George Naylor about the problem of how all American farmers are
going broke but the agribusiness companies are taking billions of dollars of
profit. An interesting insight that I found is that the farmers are using
products to help grow our food but at the same time are deadly. The nitrogen they
are using to fertilize their crops is bad for the planet and adding to our pollution.
Also I find it wasteful that we are spending so much money and energy on or
food and get less out then what we put in.
Michael Pollan, The Omnivores Dilemma The Secrets Behind What You Eat, Chapter 2:

            Back then corn wasn’t the only thing that farmers produced  in 1920 they grew a wide variety of things such as cattle, chicken, apples, cherries, grapes, bees, gooseberries, sweet corn, tomatoes, cabbage, oats, sheep and over time it has lessened to just corn, soybeans, cattle, horses, hogs, oats and sheep.  Seed companies started making a hybrid corn seed that had the good qualities of being resistant to diseases and produce a lot and the only way to make sure you came out with the good qualities was to buy new seeds each time which was a positive for the seed companies. Seed companies then started creating GM corn which are created in laboratories and farmers such as George Naylor disagree with the genetically modified corn seeds and doesn’t plant them. Corn dominated the world. When I get food I usually don’t consider or think about where it comes from, or anything about it, but now seeing at how corn has basically taken over and no one even notices how much of an impact it has on our world. It’s surprising because if something was to happen and there was no more corn that’s about a quarter  of our food that we won’t be able to get till theirs a substitute for corn. Which shows how much we depend on things in  our society and not just in food.

HW . 7 chapter 1

Michael Pollan, The Omnivores Dilemma The Secrets Behind What You Eat, Chapter 1:

            Most of the Products that Americans use today are made with corn from food to cosmetics.  Corn is in everything we eat and hidden with names such as Maltodextrin, Monosodium etc. which are all made from corn. It’s the biggest crop planted in America and has even put farm workers out of a jobs. Corn has become so popular because it is able to adapt easily and grow all around.   A quote that I found very interesting was “read the label on any processed food, and corn is what you’ll find. Corn is in the non-dairy creamer, and the Cheez Whiz, the frozen yogurt and the TV dinner, the canned fruit and the ketchup. . .” I was surprised to find out that corn was in most of the food that I eat and not even noticing it. That’s something you would never guess but it makes sense because the animals where your food comes from their feed corn so obviously it’s going to be in your food too, but it just never crossed my mind that it’s in so much. Even in vegetables the wax coating is made from corn. I also found interesting that most of the weird chemicals that you see on the labels of things are made from corn. But why not put that it’s corn and not weird names that people can’t pronounce or know?

HW . 6

        On Wednesday I ate one meal I had fried chicken, collard greens and mashed potatoes that my father cooked for diner. For lunch I had a slice of pizza. I also had some junk food like chips, and fruit roll up, and cake.

               On Thursday I didn’t have breakfast again because I never have time or in the mood to eat it during the week but I ate a cheeseburger and French fries for lunch and for dinner a slice of pizza and yogurt after. A typical teenage girl is suppose to receive 1760 calories a day and I get about 1000 or just a little bit over.  

-pizza calories (800)

-fried chicken calories (750)

-collard greens calories (35)

-cake calories (194)

 

               What I enjoyed most on Wednesday was my dinner. My father’s fried chicken is one of my favorite meals because it’s crispy and has al lot of flavor and fills me up I rarely need sides to go with it. But like my mother and father I noticed that I’ve never questioned the food that I eat when I’m given it and over time I just grown to like whatever the food is. I think that’s something that I have picked up from my parents and never really had a say in what I eat. That’s why when my parents order out food and ask me what I want I never know because I’m so used to people giving me food and eating it with having a say. I wonder if it is genetics that affects what people eat and not just something that’s learned while growing up?  

  When people are skinny everyone tends to assume that they are healthy. But not necessarily for me I eat a lot of junk food and I don’t think I get all the nutrients that I need each day, the reason why I am skinny because I have a fast metabolism not because I eat right. Eating right to me I think is when you eat a lot of vegetables and fruits and eat your three servings a day the right proportion no fast food and at the right time. I think the time does have an effect because I’ve been told that you should never eat after 9 because then you gain more weight eating like that. It makes sense because after that time you usually go to bed and don’t do anything to work the food off so it just sits there in your body.

               When I eat I unhealthy I know it’s bad for me but I still eat it because it’s good. So then I’ll eat fruit or yogurt sometime during the day to so that I know that I might be getting all the nutrients I need. But when someone cooks a meal for me I feel good about it because it’s not processed and had chemicals added to it and its good for me compared to fast food. So over the 48 hours is typical for me sometimes I’ll get something that’s cooked and healthy for me while maybe the next day for dinner and lunch I might just eat fast food.

               I eat a lot of junk food which isn’t healthy. Whenever my mom asks me what I want from the supermarket actual food never comes to mind, I could never really think of anything I would want her to make. Sometimes I think that I could just live off of junk food because a big bag of chips can fill me up as if it was one meal. This isn’t healthy because junk food is nothing but sugar, salt and grease and that’s not healthy and can lead to obesity that’s why most kids today are obese because all they eat is junk food and a lot of fast food.

           

I personally don’t like milk and cheese so I try to eat a lot of yogurt so that in the future I won’t suffer from a bone disorder or something worse. But the problem I have is that I’m never consistent with it I’ll eat once in a while which is good but not good enough.  

HW . 5

I think that dominant discourse is something that shapes who you are and when related to food I think it’s how food shapes who you are through the media. The media put out information proving that food is a killer or that food is medicine and when people listen to the information it then shapes how they eat and what they eat.

            Someone who was well informed on the media and what it had to do with food. Would be a very healthy person because the media is trying to change people food habits and make them healthier. So someone who was following the Medias views on food would probably eat a lot of organic fresh foods and makes their own because eating out can’t always be the healthiest, you don’t know how other people are cooking your food and how they are making it. Also their view on food would probably be different to someone else, food would probably have mixed views and have a hard time trying to do everything that the media says like eat 3 meals a day but eat a serving of vegetables; meat and bread, but then don’t eat too much. So eating would probably be difficult because their trying to keep up with what the media is saying.

            When food is looked at as a “killer” doctors and scientist try to then attack what they think the problem and find a way to then fix it. The food on TV is described as if it was a poison and a threat that you’re going to die and the only way to fix it is to eat what they think or claim to be good or the right food for you. In a way they are forcing people to eat what they want by threatening them that if they don’t their life are at stake.  By doing this the media is then controlling what you eat and your lifestyle because changing what you eat might not affect just your diet but the rest of your life and maybe not in a positive way. I think it’s a bad thing that people are paying too much attention to the media because usually when they advertise food, they show the food off using a beautiful model to lure people in or catchy slogans and then after you buy it they put out that the food is bad for you and can cause a disease.

            I noticed how doctors and scientists tell people what to do when it comes to food but they don’t know everything there is to know, because at first they’ll tell you not to eat this much or in a few years you’re going to die of high blood pressure but at the same time eat it but not to much. So in a way doctors don’t know what’s right either, but they are still able to shape the way people eat in society. But nowadays people are opening up more fresh food markets and people are even buying from them because the media advertises it as being good for you, like carrots they make your eyesight better according to doctors. So people who have bad eyesight or where glasses are going to start eating more carrots, I even started eating more carrots hoping that my eyesight would then improve. When food is looked as a medicine it really can be good for you and do good for you it’s just the problem getting those foods because it’s not something that’s common.

HW . 4

When it comes to food and my family they all basically see and approach food the same way. For my mom when she gets food on a typical day she tends to eat only one or two meals a day because she sometimes works through lunch. But when she gets home she eats small portions of food and snacks like pretzels, chips, cookies and ice. The reason I believe she eats the way she does because I think she doesn’t look at food as something she wants or comforting to make you feel good but mostly she has to or needs to. For example when she doesn’t eat lunch it’s more of a need for her to eat because and she can’t go the whole day, be healthy and live eating just snacks, so the way I see it it’s more of a need for her to eat when she gets home so that she’ll at least get the nutrients she needs. Also my aunt when she was raised she was taught that “if you don’t like it don’t eat it” and “eat everything on your plate there are children in Africa starving” so now she only eats what she likes and is a picky eater. So because she was taught that it shapes the way she eats and approach her food, which is to eat everything that she is given and you should appreciate what your are given. But at the same time make you feel guilty that there are kids who don’t have food and you do but at the same time want to waste it by not eating it all.

       On special occasions food is looked as a source of comfort and to bring the family closer even if no one is really talking, just having everyone around you eating gives you a sense of comfort. On my mom side of the family they eat a lot of grits, eggs, meat, greens and yams while on my father side which is West Indian they eat a lot of potatoes, rice, fish, fruit, and drink a lot of alcohol or use it in food. Those foods were used on typical occasions because they had time to cook. But since me or my mom don’t always have time to cook a full meal or in the mood to do all that work, when we order out we still tend to eat rice, and some kind of meat as a everyday thing even if it’s not a typical southern or West Indian meal.

Since half of my family is West Indian and live in the West Indies, they tend to eat. I grew up loving rice and fruit and the reason for that I think is because it’s something that was used a lot in my family so it has been passed down and then I was raised eating a lot of rice and fruit too. Also when it comes to eating food on that side of my family you’re supposed to get a little of everything and if it’s something new you should still get some and try it, so when I go out to places or just at home I try to get a little of everything to eat to try it all and what I don’t like I wont eat it again. My father just like my mother used food as a sense of comfort and Sunday’s tend to be a big deal because they go all out and make a big dinner because it’s the only time that everyone can really sit down and be together. Which is something that I learned now and was taught . A foodways related to culture is that when you’re in a West Indian household and someone gives you food and it something you don’t like or never ate before you have to eat it or you will looked at as being rude and will lose some respect for doing that.

For any meal that my family cooks its always prepared with everyone helping out. Even if they’re not in the kitchen literally cooking their still doing something in the living room to help out. Usually the women would be the ones cooking food in my household because they tend to have the all the skills and know all the recipes that were passed down from generations compared to the men. Then when the food is served you notice who’s plate is for a man or who is for a women because the men tend to fill their plate up and put as much as they can on the plate while woman will get just a little bit and if they want more they will go back to get it. When it comes to me I do a little bit of both I’m greedy and like to take as much food as I can because I don’t want it to be gone by the time I’m finish, but also go back to get a little bit more while I still have some on my plate.

HW . 3

When I think of fast food I think of something hot greasy and oily, that will always fill me up even if it’s just a medium size French fries. With organic foods the first thing that come to mind is usually fresh vegetables and fruits things that are healthy for you and hasn’t sat in hot oil.

One thing that I’ve noticed about fast food restaurants, especially McDonalds is how they have changed over time, they used to have bright reds and yellows I think to catch the attention of customers because it stands out. But now over the years it has toned down and started to look like a typical café almost like a Starbucks only with bright pictures on the windows and cheap food. I never paid attention to, before but in fast food restaurants you’re most likely to only see minorities. Like today I saw about just a few Caucasian people in McDonalds and they seemed dressed up as if they were in a rush for work and had to get something quick to eat but had to settle for McDonalds because it’s convenient, fast and cheap even though it’s not what they really want. When we were at McDonalds we asked a few people why they come there, and the reason was mostly because the food is good or they have the munchies and it’s cheap. I also noticed how fast food restaurants try to give customers a feeling as if they have privacy even though their in a public area, by having private little seats, I guess to make it feel less awkward having strangers around you eating and looking at you.

I noticed that there has never been a green market uptown from 100^th and up I guess because you’re going into Harlem then the Heights and the population is mostly blacks and Spanish so market owners probably feel they won’t make a profit selling up their because blacks and Spanish people can’t afford it. If they could make money than they wouldn’t have green markets just downtown where the population is mostly white. But I also saw a sign at the market saying that they accept food stamps and EBT cards which I guess is supposed to be their way of trying to reach out to other races such as blacks because they now accept food stamps. Even at the market today I didn’t see any black, Spanish, but I did noticed that they men that were delivering the food were Mexicans or of some Spanish decent and it’s probably a low income job to deliver it to the markets to. Also having a market right across the street from McDonalds you would think some people would choose to get something that’s cheap and fast for breakfast just something quick on their way to work but they would rather pay more money for breads and fruit that wont fill you up as much unless you pay more.

HW . 2

To me food is an essential in my life. It’s something I like and enjoy but also need to live that’s what makes it so important. An average human can only go a certain amount of time before their going to need food to just survive. But food can also been seen as a want at times and not necessarily a need. At times if I just see food and it’s something I like ill eat it even if I’m not hungry at the time. Mostly the reason on why I like food so much is the fact that it feels me up, and it’s something that makes me feel better, it’s a positive thing. But I think food can be influenced by your emotions and your mood at the time and then it can become a negative thing. For those who look at food as to cope from something like depression they might then take advantage of that and eat all the time which can then lead to obesity especially if they aren’t eating healthy foods. Food can also be influenced by money, if you’re someone that doesn’t have a lot of money, then you’re always going to have to settle for what you can get and that might not always be the best. The best things in life are always the most expensive and it’s the same with food. For someone who can only afford McDonalds as their everyday typical meal isn’t healthy but for those who have more money someone can get something healthy like steak, lobster, etc. So money is always going to have an influence on your food.  

When it comes to food I’m not someone that has priorities so I’m not a picky eater, but I am kind of scared when it comes to trying new foods that are very out of what I’m used to, like sushi. I’ve been told by people that’s it’s something that you would have to just have the taste for because it has an special taste that not all people are used to. But if it looks good and I know I’ll like it then its fine for me. But then again I try to stay away from the fast food places because it’s unhealthy and even though now it might not affect me 10 years from now it will. So I personally try to stay away from McDonalds, Burger King, etc. For something to be an ideal meal for me it’ll just have to be something that I will enjoy. If I’m given food that I don’t like or tastes weird then I won’t eat it. The point of food is that it’s supposed to taste good, and be to your liking and fulfill the need you have and when I find something that I enjoy I tend to get greedy, but its good so I don’t care.