Banana Crunch Muffins

I made banana crunch muffins and I think that its 50/50 processed and whole food because it uses the usual things you use when baking like flour and sugar but it doesn’t use a lot of the processed ingredients. If you constantly ate this meal everyday, you most likely after a while would get fat from the sugar intake even though its not high and a good portion of the sugar comes from the bananas in it. Your body breaks down sugar and turns it into energy. I think that most of the stuff thats out of season comes from warmer climates outside of the country. I think the bananas traveled the farthest. I think that homemade food highly differs from fast food because fast food has lots of preservatives in it. In total the meal was about 30 dollars because I had to make more servings. Banana come from tropic areas. Most bananas sold by the British market come from Latin America and Africa. America gets their bananas from a number of places depending on the season. We get our bananas from Columbia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, the Philippines, and Panama. We couldn’t grow own bananas here unless in warm climates, but we wouldn’t be able to have them all year round. Growing bananas yourself could prove difficult rather than getting bananas from another country.



Banana Crunch Muffin Recipe:


Makes 10 muffins


1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 bananas, mashed

3/4 cup white sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/3 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.

In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.

Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Source: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/banana-crumb-muffins/


Reflection:


This unit we learned about different things relating to health and diet. Like Diabetes, disease related to diet, processed food, organic food,  obesity, and how we contribute to the food system. I think that we contribute to the food system with what we buy, and how we choose to eat and how we eat in our families. How we choose to eat at home is really important because if you constantly eat healthy at home, and cook it helps you lead a healthier lifestyle. Some people raise their kids vegetarians, some people make home cooked meals every night. I think the biggest issue with our food system is unhealthy food is too available. You can have it delivered to your house. Its easier than grocery shopping, because there aren’t a lot of places where supermarkets are in walking distance. Some changes I’ve already made in my food diet are to eat at least one fruit and veggie a day, and try to choose the healthiest option for me out of what I have, and drink a lot of water. I think it would benefit me in the long run. I feel like its a change I’m willing to make fruit is pretty easy to get, and its good.


Food Rule:


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Mini Banana Cream Cookie Pie

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​Ingredients:
 1 package of ready-to-use sugar cookies
 banana pudding mix
 3 bananas 
 reduced fat whipped cream

Instructions:
1) Roll cookie dough into balls and place into mini cupcake pan
2) Bake cookies for 10 minutes
3) Shape cookies into cupcakes
4) Place back in the oven for 3 minutes
5) Prepare banana pudding
6) Take 2 tablespoons of banana pudding and drop into cookie pies
7) Slice bananas
8) Lay 1 banana slice on top of pudding
9) Finish off with whip cream
10) EAT!

To make mini banana cream cookie pies I used 5 ingredients to make a total of 24. About 90% of my food is a whole food. A processed foods mostly have along list of ingredients. The ingredients I used consisted of bananas, whipped cream, ready to use cookie dough, milk and banana cream pudding mix. Some sugars can be processed, however none of the sugars in my ingredients had high-fructose corn syrup in them. 

One cookie pie was 13 calories, one teaspoon of banana cream is 10 calories, one banana slice is about 8, the whip cream topping is 5 calories. The total amount of calories for this snack is 36 calories. The sugar content of this dessert has 10 grams of sugar in the cookie pie, the banana cream has 4.5 grams of sugar, one slice of banana has 2 grans of sugar and less than 1 gram from the whip cream. There are less than 17.5 grams of sugar in this dessert. The only ingredient that contained fat was the cookie pie and that was less than 1.5 grams.

The body will breaks done food by mixing it with fluids. When your stomach digests food the carbohydrate in the food breaks down into a different form of sugar, glucose. The glucose then gets released into the blood stream and stored for energy. Some possible health issues that could arise if you ate nothing but this meal everyday would be your body isn't intaking even protein. The only ingredient in this meal that contains protein is the banana and it isn't enough to power a human body. Another risk your body would be experiencing is not eating enough calories a day. It only contains 36 calories. If a man 30 years old 5’10 and 165 pounds needs to eat approximately 1550 calories a day. That means he would need to eat 43 desserts a day. That would result is weight gain and less energy.

My bananas came from Guatemala, the pudding mix is from Illinois, cookie mix came from Utah and the whipped cream traveled from Indianapolis. The banana traveled the farthest, more than 1852.7 miles. The bananas were organically grown from guatemalan soil. 

This meal to make 24 cost 9.16. Fast food restaurants don’t sell that many desserts. Some fast food restaurants, McDonalds for example sell chocolate chip cookies 3 for $1. In this case it would be cheaper to buy McDonald cookies by $0.14. The Pillsbury Factory, Del Monte Factory, Reddi Whip and Jell-O Factory all made a profit off of this meal. They are all large corporations. 



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Q2 BM Changing Worlds Essay

Analytical Essay

Dealing with the death of someone close is a life changing event that no one has control over. Because they lack this control, people become shocked of the news and it takes a while for them to fully understand that person is now gone.


Losing someone who is close to a person is the worst feeling in the world. When someone passes away, their loved ones and the people closet to them go through a long and hard process that takes lots of time to get over. In the book, “The Yellow Birds”, when Bartle and Sterling are watching Murphy’s body go down the river, Bartle was stunned and did not know how to feel about it all. But, Sterling said, “ Like it never happened, Bartle. That’s the only way.”( Pg. 211).  Sterling is telling Bartle that the only way for him to get over the death of Murphy is to forget that it ever happened. But what if that makes things worse for Bartle? What if    he can not forget it and move on from this whole new experience. This could maybe help him move forward in life by remembering little moments from this event.


With death, people start to regret things that happened to that person or things that happened between the person. In the book, Murphy’s mom says that she wished he would have stayed home and did not go off to war but she also knew that it was his duty to go war for his country. Murphy’s mom knew that it would have been better for him to stay home where he could have been safe. When you are a loved one or a friend of that person you wish that you could have done something that could have prevented their death to come.

Sometimes when there is a lot of deaths happening around you, you want to ignore it all so that you In the book, Murphy is telling Bartle about a guy who was just killed and Murphy cut in front of him in a  lunch line. Murphy didn’t even know the man but because he was just killed, he felt bad about it. Bartle told Murphy to not worry about it. This shows that with death happening around Bartle that he is being insecure and just brushing off Murphy’s concerns with the man. Bartle also wants to ignore the death happening around him and ignore it because it is shocking news to him. It shows he also understands it could’ve been him and he has no control over it. 

In a interview about the book, “The Yellow Birds”, the author, Kevin Powers says, that with death,“All pain is the same. Only the details are different”. What he is trying to say is that the pain of losing somebody close to you feels the same for everyone. It’s how you deal with it and get  through the pain and grief that is different. Death is something in life that takes a lot to overcome. 



Narrative Essay


During my life, I have lost both my grandmother and my father. Both were completely important people in my life. I didn’t know what to do after losing them both. It was strange to live without them and go about my day now thinking that they will not be in my life anymore. With death, it is hard to forget it after some time. You don’t think that this would happen to you this fast in your life. It’s something you don’t expect to happen so quick and soon in your life. 


Hearing the news is the worst part no matter how bad or how good your day is going. When I found out my grandmother had passed away, I was home in my room just laying in bed listening to music. I get a knock on my door. It’s my mother. I tell her to come in. When she opens the door, I see her crying.  I only knew what it could be. She tells me the news and begins to cry more. I never want to see my mother cry. I bring her into my arm. She explains to me that my grandmother loved me and was a very good woman. I knew all of that but I just sat quiet and nodded my head. She left me standing in the middle of my bedroom floor. I heard in my head what my mother told me. “Your grandmother passed away”. I continued to repeat it until it was stuck in my head and the last time it was repeated, I broke down in tears. I didn’t know what to do. There was no one to hold me now. Flashbacks of my life with her and things that we used to do started to flood my mind as I sit there with tears running down my face. 


The same thing happened when I heard the news with my father but very different. For my father, I was waiting for my report card conference. While I was waiting, I get a call from my brother saying that my mother called him saying she sounded like she was crying telling him to hurry home and she had something to tell us. Without hesitation, we followed her instructions and headed straight home. We get close to home and we get another call from our mother saying that our uncle will come to pick us up. When our uncle came to pick us up he stopped us and said. “listen. I want to tell you this before I take you over to your father’s house. Your father passed away today. Your mother and your sister found him today. Your sister and your mother are very emotional right now and it is ok to cry.” He then told us that he is here for us if we need him for anything. We get in the car and begin to head to wear my father lived at. The whole time I was thinking to myself, how could this happen so soon? I had just spent the weekend over his house like I would normally do. He wasn’t feeling good when I saw him but it wasn’t this bad. I started thinking about what could have happened. How would my life now be without one of my very important people in my life.


The days after losing them was the most depressed I had ever felt. There was nothing that could really cheer me up. Everything seemed to move slowly. I was out of school for a lot of the time so that meant that I would have to make up some work and homework to catch up. I couldn’t do it. I could barely turn in work on time. Everything was being turned in late or forgotten about over time. My grades started to fall dramatically. I had to find a way to catch my self up before the quarter ended. I tended  to not have the urge to go down for dinner when it was ready or get up to find food until my stomach began to grumble. I couldn’t go to sleep at night because I would be reminded of them every other hour.


But sometimes with death, comes a sense of happiness. With my family, both funerals weren’t quiet and depressing. They were us and friends reflecting on the life of my grandmother and my father. We talked about his life and how kind and friendly he was to other people. With my grandmother, we did the same thing. With my family, we believed that people who die, will go on to heaven. This made it somewhat easier to cope with the death of both my grandmother and my father. It helped me ensure that both of them would be in a better place. You then get to see pictures that you never got to see before and share more memories. Dealing with death is a hard thing to deal with but when you surround yourself with more positive things and people, you begin to get back into your normal life and not worry so much about it anymore.

Fruit Salad

By Lala Doumbia & Pierce Luck

Ingredients

4 servings, serving size: 1 cup


2 apples, cut into bite-size pieces

2 oranges, peeled and break into pieces

1 lb strawberries

1 lb blueberries

3 Kiwifruit

2 Mango, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces

1/3 cup of sugar

2 tablespoon- balsamic vinegar

1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping (such as Cool Whip®), thawed


Process


  1. Refrigerate, 8-10 glasses in the Refrigerator

  2. Cut all fruits into 3rds or 4ths.

  3. Add all fruits into large bowl

  4. Then add 1/3 cup of sugar & 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

  5. Gently Stir

  6. Next, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour

  7. Last, spoon fruits from bowl to the chilled glasses.

  8. add one serving of cool whip

  9. Enjoy!


Analysis:


The percent of the meal that is processed is 20%. We are using all organic fruit from whole food. This store is the only store that sell organic food only. That mean all the fruit are not processed and locally grown. But we do know that the balsamic vinegar, sugar, and cool whip are factory made. One person will be consuming 39 caloric per serving, 1.5 g total fat, 1 mg sodium, 6 mg potassium, and  5.1 g  Sugar. We would be able to process the food better because it doesn’t have a lot of genetically modified ingredients. It will also mean that when you was to work off the fat it will not be as hard. We would not have any protein in our meal but we will have your 9 serving of fruit everyday.

We think all our food (fruits) for our recipes were locally grown in the U.S, since we brought them from whole foods.The Whole food products come from local farmers across the country. The apples are prominently grown in Washington. The Oranges are grown in Florida, California, Texas and Arizona. The strawberries are grown in California. The blueberries are from Michigan and Indiana. The Kiwis aren’t from here but are grown in California. The mangos are also grown in California and Florida. Most of our fruits are from the South or West where there is nice weather all year around. The foods that travel the farthest would be the ones from California which are the Oranges, Strawberries, Kiwis and Mangos. Our fruits were organically grown from these farms. The fruits were organically processed and it’s better for the environment because there are no outside chemicals tainting the environment.

This meal will cost about $5.00 per serving which correlates to about 20$ for the 4 servings which would feed about 8 people. Our price for this healthy meal is more expensive but way healthier than a fast food “McDonalds Meal”. Fast Food restaurants use a lot of grease and fatty materials and processed foods that ultimately is unhealthy and will kill the consumers. There food is cheap and will cause great health problems vs. our slightly more expensive healthy alternative. Our food isn’t genetically modified or tampered with as it has very little preservatives and is organically grown. The businesses involved are Whole Foods cooperating with the local farms, also the Cool Whip® Product at General Foods. There aren’t any social ramifications of our meal choice because it is a healthy delicious meal that everyone could enjoy while sticking to a healthy way of living.
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​Reflection Lala
I learn a lot of about organic food and what we should eat and not eat . I believe my role in the food system is to learn and inform people on what's happing with how they know if the food is good for them and how they can fix there what they want to eat to be healthy in life. We read about people how are overweight in the U.S and where the places are. People tend to buy fast food when they are at work and it lunch time. People don't see that buying the food that's not made by yourself. One thing that I leaned in Mr.best class what organic food is. Organic food promote healthy eco-systems and prohibit the use of genetically engineered seeds or crops. For live animals they have be humanely treated animals by providing organically-grown feed and healthy. So of the thinks that I will be changing about what I eat is if i can't read and understand 5 ingredients than I should eat it.
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Reflection Pierce
So far in this quarter, I feel that I have learned a lot about food and food in the major industries. This was probably one of my favorite quarters because it's a topic that I can really relate to. In my opinion I don't have a major role in the larger food system, but I impact it in small ways. Major industries rely on the common people to but what they have to sell. They depend on us for their profit. That's why these industries use so much propaganda and advertisements to drive us in looking for food alternatives, healthy or not. I feel as though the biggest problem in the food industry is the amount of processed and unhealthy foods being sold to the U.S people. From 2 early assignments form earlier in this quarter, "Obesity in the US" and " Teach Every Child About Food(Ted Talk)" told us that 2/3 people that's about 66% of the U.S population is obese or will become obese. That is an extremely unhealthy way of living that could and will kill our people. It also stated the Japanese people of obesity is about 6%. This fact really stuck with me that the U.S knows that we are living so unhealthy but we still sell our people garbage. Changes in my diet that could make would be to eat foods that are less processed, not organic foods though because there too expensive (Simpsons Episode). If I just cut down on my sugary snacks and junk and instead eat more leafy foods than I would be living a healthier life. My diet would be better and I would be healthier. I am willing to make these changes but only by a little bit. I workout a lot and stay in shape. The sugars and cakes go against that, but I burn it off regularly. So I would limit my treats but not get rid of them. One of the "food rules" said you shouldn't deprive yourself, you want it eat it, just be smart. 

Fruit Salad: Fruits Galore

Ingredients

4 servings, serving size: 1 cup


2 apples, cut into bite-size pieces

2 oranges, peeled and break into pieces

1 lb strawberries

1 lb blueberries

3 Kiwifruit

2 Mango, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces

1/3 cup of sugar

2 tablespoon- balsamic vinegar

1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping (such as Cool Whip®), thawed


Process


  1. Refrigerate, 8-10 glasses in the Refrigerator

  2. Cut all fruits into 3rds or 4ths.

  3. Add all fruits into large bowl

  4. Then add 1/3 cup of sugar & 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

  5. Gently Stir

  6. Next, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour

  7. Last, spoon fruits from bowl to the chilled glasses.

    8. Add, 1 serving of whipped cream.

    9.Enjoy!


Analysis:


The percent of the meal that is processed is 20%. We are using all organic fruit from whole food. This store is the only store that sell organic food only. That mean all the fruit are not processed and locally grown. But we do know that the balsamic vinegar, sugar, and cool whip are factory made. One person will be consuming 39 caloric per serving, 1.5 g total fat, 1 mg sodium, 6 mg potassium, and  5.1 g  Sugar. We would be able to process the food better because it doesn’t have a lot of genetically modified ingredients. It will also mean that when you was to work off the fat it will not be as hard. We would not have any protein in our meal but we will have your 9 serving of fruit everyday.

We think all our food (fruits) for our recipes were locally grown in the U.S, since we brought them from whole foods.The Whole food products come from local farmers across the country. The apples are prominently grown in Washington. The Oranges are grown in Florida, California, Texas and Arizona. The strawberries are grown in California. The blueberries are from Michigan and Indiana. The Kiwis aren’t from here but are grown in California. THe mangos are also grown in California and Florida. Most of our fruits are from the South or West where there is nice weather all year around. The foods that travel the farthest would be the ones from California which are the Oranges, Strawberries, Kiwis and Mangos. Our fruits were organically grown from these farms. The fruits were organically processed and it’s better for the environment because there are no outside chemicals tainting the environment.

This meal will cost about $5.00 per serving which correlates to about 20$ for the 4 servings which would feed about 8 people. Our price for this healthy meal is more expensive but way healthier than a fast food “McDonalds Meal”. Fast Food restaurants use a lot of grease and fatty materials and processed foods that ultimately is unhealthy and will kill the consumers. There food is cheap and will cause great health problems vs. our slightly more expensive healthy alternative. Our food isn’t genetically modified or tampered with as it has very little preservatives and is organically grown. The businesses involved are Whole Foods cooperating with the local farms, also the Cool Whip® Product at General Foods. There aren’t any social ramifications of our meal choice because it is a healthy delicious meal that everyone could enjoy while sticking to a healthy way of living.


Personal Reflection

So far in this quarter, I feel that I have learned a lot about food and food in the major industries. This was probably one of my favorite quarters because it's a topic that I can really relate to. In my opinion I don't have a major role in the larger food system, but I impact it in small ways. Major industries rely on the common people to but what they have to sell. They depend on us for their profit. That's why these industries use so much propaganda and advertisements to drive us in looking for food alternatives, healthy or not. I feel as though the biggest problem in the food industry is the amount of processed and unhealthy foods being sold to the U.S people. From 2 early assignments form earlier in this quarter, "Obesity in the US" and " Teach Every Child About Food(Ted Talk)" told us that 2/3 people that's about 66% of the U.S population is obese or will become obese. That is an extremely unhealthy way of living that could and will kill our people. It also stated the Japanese people of obesity is about 6%. This fact really stuck with me that the U.S knows that we are living so unhealthy but we still sell our people garbage. Changes in my diet that could make would be to eat foods that are less processed, not organic foods though because there too expensive (Simpsons Episode). If I just cut down on my sugary snacks and junk and instead eat more leafy foods than I would be living a healthier life. My diet would be better and I would be healthier. I am willing to make these changes but only by a little bit. I workout a lot and stay in shape. The sugars and cakes go against that, but I burn it off regularly. So I would limit my treats but not get rid of them. One of the "food rules" said you shouldn't deprive yourself, you want it eat it, just be smart. 







Eggplant fries

Crispy Eggplant Fries
Ingredients
  • 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1/4 inch thick 'fries'
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
  • salt and pepper to taste
Directions
  1. Dredge the eggplant slices dip them in the egg and then into a mixture of the panko breadcrumbs, salt and pepper.
  2. Place the eggplant slices on a wire rack on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 425F oven until golden brown, about 7-10 minutes.

Analysis

First on average Americans consume about 29 pounds of french fries a year. Deep fried potatoes, now just imagine if you change the potatoes to eggplant, and them being deep fried to being bakes. One order of medium fries from a fast food restaurant is 365 calories, the same amount of eggplant fries in only 160, and thats with cheese.  

One order of medium fries is 117 grams, which is equal to 0.25794085 pounds, divide that by 29 pounds which is what we consume a year is 112.42887662, multiply that my 365 calories, thats around 41036 calories a year just from french fries alone. 

So for my meal I wanted to show a substitute for french fries. Eggplant is a vegetable that people often skip over. Although it is filled with vitamin B6niacinpotassium,folate, and vitamin K. Eggplant isn't a food that is often grown in America although many people grow them in gardens, the food is usually shipped from countries likeChinaIndiaEgyptIran, and Turkey. Eggplant is one worlds healthiest foods, eggplant helps regulate your digestive system, helps control diabetes, they are very low in calories, help lower cholesterol and help prevent blood clots.

There are no really no known big companies that sell eggplants alone. Many eggplants that go to local super markets are sold by who ever sells the tomatoes. So the markets and company that provides the tomatoes are the ones that making a profit off of the sell.


Panko bread crumbs and japanese style, they are mainly used for foods that are deep fried, but I used them fro baking. The ones I bought wear organic. Panko is breadcrumbs with out the crust of the bread, and they are larger and thicker. The eggs I got where from shopright, most eggs in the us come from hen houses, it really hard to say that a egg is bad, but most of the hens that lay these eggs and caged and feed corn and things like that. And salt was from trader joe's and it was sea salt, most of the US sea salt doesn't actually come from he sea, the one a bought was organic so hopefully it is genuine sea salt.  



  

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Slide

I have a real problem with just eating something because it is in front of me, and it's a horrible habit. It mostly happens when I'm bored, and I don't think I'm the only one that has this problem. I've learned that if food easily available to you than you are going to eat it, when we have to go somewhere to get the food or we have to make it we aren't willing to do those things. Like have you ever drove past a fast food place and went I could eat, they do that on purpose. They know that when food is fast and easy to get people are going to get it.
​Personal Reflection

I've learn in this unit that I really need to start watching what my family and I eat. I find I don't even care that much the only thing I refuse to eat is McDonalds but I still eat the fries. I know that most things should not go into my body yet I still eat them.

There is no real reason that I don't eat better or watch what I eat, and I do understand that there are people out there that can't eat healthier or better because of cost, but I don't have a real reason. I think my main reason is that my mom and dad don't care that much and they aren't going to stop eating things because they were in cages or that are genetically modified. I feel like I'm making it harder on them when I say a refuse to eat something because of this.

But my real fear is that all these foods with GMOs will kill us. Learning more on this made my fear even worse, because in America they don't have to say what they put in our foods. The real question I have when I don't buy things from like whole food or trader joe's is what am I eating. Especially in the meat what ever they are giving our cows, turkeys, pigs, and chickens are killing us. And the media and public like to turn a blind eye because we can't afford to say I'm noting going to eat meat, or I'm going to start buying my meat organic. It just doesn't work, and until people real start learning about whats in our food things will stay the same.  

Soldiers in the changing world

The Yellow Birds connection to the Changing World:


When soldiers serve their country, they have different experiences. But despite the mixed reactions of the soldiers, their emotional damage can not be ignored. Despite the seriousness of PTSD, soldiers are still expected to adapt to their old life as if their service never occurred. But to adapt to such changes, one must accept that it is a multi step process, there is no one right way, and failure along the way is not weakness. In Powers novel, The Yellow Birds, we are told the tale of how the main character, Bartle, personally deals with the after effects of war. Dealing with death in one’s own terms accomplishes self peace and reflection more effectively than following other’s procedures. An individual must react to change in their own terms, not how someone else has succeeded, or how one believes is the “right” way.

Throughout the novel, death is one of the most prominent themes. The main character, Bartle, makes a best friend while enlisted named Murph. As the are deployed together they experience a lot of death, both of the enemy and of their brothers. Shortly into the war, a woman carrying a surrender flag starting walk to the soldiers and they open fire, not realizing she came in peace. The boys had mixed reactions, but Bartle and Murph were part of the newbies. This was their first rhedo. “Holy shit, that bitch got murdered.” Murph said. There was no grief, or anguish, or pity in that statement. There was no judgement made. He was just surprised, like he was waking from a long afternoon nap, disoriented...” Their LT then walked over to comfort each of the boys, telling them they’d be OK. “it was hard to believe that wed be OK and that we fought well. But I remember being told that the truth does not depend on being believed...we lived murph and me.” (Pg. 22-23) War can invoke different emotions out of different people. Throughout the book we see how very different characters cope with death. Murph unfortunately died because he tried to process death the way people around him approved of. From that day forward, death became a daily part of the boys lives, and they were expected to deal with it as their sarge did, despite the lack of time to adjust. Their LT gave them a pat on the back and moved on normally. No one talked about killing an innocent civilian or acknowledge what they would do to the soldiers, until after their home and counselors are shoved down their throats, but pressured to not accept them. The more experienced soldiers are able to sweep instances like this under the rug, Murph is able to to recognize it and try and process it but Bartle just floats along. By finding a coping mechanism that fits for himself, not everyone else, he is able to handle lose more effectively.

A common stigma in war is that one can not be weak. Soldiers can not break done and let their emotions get to them while in War. They can not analyze what just happen, they just have to keep moving. In an interview with The Guardian, author Kevin Powers, Iraq Army Veteran, he states,“I was interested in trying to describe this state between apprehension and comprehension. That is one of the primary characteristics of the experience of being at war: it's so intense and you don't have time to process.” (Powers) A lot of Powers personal experiences and feelings were transferred into his writing and shown through Bartle and Murph. People sitting at home watching more and more soldiers return home with PTSD tell them they have to process what happened. Which is true, one must process what happened, how it made them feel and how they are able to move on if they wanted to continue their life. But they need to do so at their own pace, in their own comfort zone. To be able to self reflect on such drastic changes that death carries happens in phases, different and unique to each individual. While processing death in these environments can be near impossible, they should also not be completely ignored because a lieutenant can handle it. In order to come to peace with the horrific things that happen in war, one needs to allow himself to cope within their own terms.

When Bartle returned home from his tour in Iraq, he had some difficulties adjusting, understandably. He had not yet started processing what happened in Iraq and how much that would change his life when he got back home. Everyone was so excited to be going back home, not just because they missed their family, but because they made it. But none of them spoke of how returning home didn’t mean slipping back into the life they once had, but starting a whole new one. ““You all right, hon?” My mother said...” Yeah, ma, I’m fine.”...I was disappearing. It was as if I stripped myself away in that darkened bedroom… I would be another number for the cable news shows. I could almost hear it. “Another casualty today,” they’d say, “vanished into thin air after returning home.” (Pg.110-111) When Bartle returned home, he was under pressure from his mother. Despite her best interests, returning home from war at his age with his experiences is not something he wants to discuss with anyone, let alone his mother. He needed time; something that he did not always have in Iraq. He was restless at night, but he slept that night, once again dreaming of Murph. He needed to figure out how to let go of Murph and all the other ghosts in his head in his own way or he would never truly be letting them go. He wasn’t done experiencing new things and even something as familiar as being in his mother’s house would feel like he was doing it for the first time. By taking the time he needs to self reflect and come to terms with what happened over seas, he will give himself more peace in the future.

While some may argue adapting to change in “this way” or “that way” is unhealthy, it is not for them to decide. When servicemen return home, they are entitled to the freedom they fought for. They are allowed to go through the anger and skip back to denial, they do not have to follow a 12 step program. Adapting to a new world, diagnosed PTSD or not, can be tremendously hard for anyone. Allowing them to react in their own space will allow them to feel like they still have power over something. They can go on their own terms and their own pace, benefiting them more than someone elses “right way” ever could.



Personal Connection to the Changing World:


My thesis previously mentioned dealing with death in one’s own terms being a more effective method of coping, than following what worked for someone else. Trying to connect this back to myself is hard.. the only real loss I’ve felt was my great uncle dying. When he passed, it put death into perspective for me. I felt like death was real now and that it could happen to anyone around me at anytime. My uncle and I weren’t super close, but I seen the way his death hit everyone around me. So when I was alone in my room, I would just think about my uncle and all the people that died in my family before I got to meet them and prayed that I wouldn’t lose anyone else.

I don’t know if I can really say my prayers worked because my pop is sick. I’ve surprisingly told a lot of people about my pop being sick, but I think it was more so an explanation of my tattoo. I don’t really talk about what’s going on with my pop because it gets me so upset. So when I got a tattoo of a cross with rosaries inside of angel wings, I wanted it to represent him. I wanted it to bring God on his side. I wanted him to have all the help in the world because I don’t know if I would survive if I lost my pop. Just thinking about losing him gets me emotional. Thinking about him being sick makes me think about my nan as well and if, when, the same thing is going to happen to her. Or my mom, my dad, my uncle, my sister...

My pop started getting sick before last christmas. No one told me that he was sick for a really long time. I had to overhear conversations between my mom and nan to understand that something was going on. I was in 9th grade I believe, when it was known that he was sick, but no one ever came up and told me personally. That christmas everyone just talked about it and asked him how he was doing. I had no idea what he was sick from or how serious it was. I would come to know that he had sclerosis of the liver, the same thing my Uncle Stevie had passed from in 2011. That was really hard to deal with because I assumed he would have the same ending as my uncle. Little did I know, cirrhosis  wasn’t the only thing wrong with him. His cirrhosis  has now progressed to liver cancer and without a transplant...

My pop got increasingly sick this past summer. He was admitted to the hospital several times because he was incoherent and spaced out. He had already been diagnosed with diabetes and he became insulin dependent. That was when I basically moved in with my nan. I only had my permit at the time, but it was enough to help get my nan around as she doesn’t drive. She depended on my pop to drive her wherever she had to go, but he was too sick to stand let alone drive. I remember one time he was feeling really bad and wanted to go to the hospital. My nan and I was the only one home so I drove them to the hospital and had to drive the car back myself. It was a bittersweet moment- it was my first time driving alone, but the reason why shadowed that.

I’ve been mostly living with my nan from about August, when my pop started getting too bad to drive. I didn’t understand everything that was going on. All I knew was that my pop had the cirrhosis, he had bad diabetes, his cirrhosis had enhanced to liver cancer, and he had hepatitis C. I began to understand how serious things were when he started radiation treatments and chemo last year. But I still had a lot of hope.. the treatments can, will, work. My hope began to fade the week before school started.

I was at my house with my best friend Grace from grade school watching my little sister. My parents had went to Atlantic City for the weekend and they were supposed to be on their way back to my house. But my nan called early that sunday morning and told me they had to take poppy to the hospital so my parents left A.C right way and went to the hospital. They didn’t come home until late that night. My whole world changed after my dad and I took my friend home. As we pulled away from her house he told me he had something he wanted to let me know. He thought I should, that I deserve to know. My dad told me that poppy was worse. The cancer had taken over most of his liver and he would need a transplant to survive. They were giving him 3 months to live.

I felt like my whole world fell apart. I was struggling to breathe through my tears but my dad wasn’t done. He told me that I needed to prepare myself and to help my mom out, but also not to tell my sister what was going on. I didn’t know what to do. How was I supposed to deal with losing my pop? How is everyone else going to deal? I felt like I had to do what everyone else was doing...ignoring it. My mom didn’t mention anything when I got home and I felt like I shouldn’t either. But my mind wouldn’t stop racing, thinking of everything he was going to miss out on in my life. I needed to talk to someone. My family might be able to act like nothing was wrong, but that didn’t work for me. So I texted Grace about how I felt..How I felt knowing he wouldn’t see my graduate..wouldn’t see me get married. It killed me inside but I didn’t feel like ignoring the situation would help me.

When school started, one of the main things teachers asked was what was something that would interfere with my work this year or something I would want them to know. At the time, I put that my pop was sick because I thought he only have a little bit of time left. Thank god he has been doing better and is on a transplant list, but that doesn’t mean we are out of the woods. Sometimes I get overwhelmed with everything going on. One day my life was fine, and the next I barely see my parents and sister and my pop is sick. It has happened in school a few times this year and my friend Gabby has been there for me each time.

My immediate friend group knows my pop is sick, and after my tattoo everyone does. But not many people know what “sick” means. I didn’t bother telling people because I didn’t even know what “sick” meant for a long time. But I’m now at the point where I can tell someone my pop is sick, when before I just ignored what was going on. That wasn’t working for me so I coped by talking. I continue to cope my crying when I need to. I don’t follow what others around me are doing and I don’t listen to things I see online. I need to process the change death plays on my mind in my own way, just as Bartle did.

Following someone else's success does not guarantee that it will work for you as well. There is no right or wrong way to deal with death, just as coping does not discriminate against gender. No one needs to “man up” and “quit being a girl”. Dealing with death is whatever way you see fit may not seem healthy at times, but giving yourself that control will help you overcome the grief and give yourself peace better than any steps other people tell you.

Food recipe and slide

Instructions on how to make Bengali Lachcha Semai or in english Vermicelli Pudding.


This recipe is approximately for 10 people


Ingredients needed

  • ¾ gallon of Milk

  • 2 Cardamoms

  • 2 Bay leaves

  • Sugar (according to taste)

  • 1 pack of vermicelli

  • Raisins (desired amount)

  • Coconut shreds (optional and desired amount )


Tools needed

  • Stove

  • Pot

  • Bowl

  • Large spoon


Directions


  1. In a pot add milk, sugar, 2 cardamoms, and 2 bay leaves.

  2. Heat the ingredients until the milk comes to a little thick consistency which will take about half an hour


While the milk is heating you will want to start on creating the base 

  1. In a bowl, line it with a pack of vermicelli

  2. On top of the vermicelli, drizzle on coconut shreds

  3. Finally, drizzle on raisins

  4. Once the milk come to a thick consistency, set it aside to let it cool for about half an hour

  5. Once the milk has cooled, pour the liquid into the bowl of vermicelli

  6. Let it sit for a few minutes and then grab a bowl and a spoon and enjoy.


Analysis of dish

This recipe contains very simple ingredients that are more whole food rather than processed foods. However, this can change depending on where someone gets the ingredients that are listed above. I believe the vermicelli that is used in this dish is processed since it was most likely made in a factory.

The milk that is in this dish is whole milk and on the label it says that it contains 8g total fat, 130 mg of sodium, 12g of total carb, 12g of sugar, 8g of protein, and 150. It also contains vitamin A 6%, vitamin C 4%, calcium 30%, and vitamin D 25%. The spices such as cardamoms and bay leaves are brought from a bengali store where the product has come from Bangladesh as well as the vermicelli. Cardamom and bay leaves are more used for flavoring rather than having health benefits.  A lot of the ingredients come from my home country, Bangladesh, meaning that is has traveled quite far before it came into my presences. I don’t think the process of the ingredients cause any harmful effects to the environment. The ingredients price value range from $1 to $5, meaning that a person can expect to pay about $10 in order to create this dish.

Overall, this dish is easy to make and does not contain that much processed ingredients.


Personal reflection

I never would have thought that we would have a unit in which we learn about food. This unit was very helpful because I now have more knowledge about organic and non-organic foods. I think that every school should provide their students with a unit like this so that the students are more aware about the foods they way. They should know where the food that is being placed of their plate comes from. If they do not know, then it is kind of like they are going to life blindly. This definitely is not a good thing because you need food in order to survive so its really important to know what you are putting into you body.

During this unit there are many things that I learned but the one thing will stick with me for ever is the TED Talk called “Teach Every Child About Food” that we watched  in class. The speaker did a experiment with children where he asked them to identify vegetables and a lot of children failed to do that. This made me realize that if a young child does not know their vegetables then what does that say about adults and their food knowledge.

Some of the biggest problems that I see in our food system is that media plays a big role in influence the mind of consumers. Companies know that people always watch T.V and this becomes their way of advertising the food they make to look better than the real product. Also there are so much of influencing people to stay be fit but on the top of that there are so many unhealthy foods that can just devour the fitness down.  

Recently, I have already made changes to my food choices. Now, I tend to eat less processed food such as instant food because I understand know how much chemicals go into the products to keep it looking fresh or appealing to eat. I know processed foods tend to have a lot of sodium and high about of things in them so if I decrease those intakes I would be a much healthier person.

Food rule side

Below is the food rule side I made. For my design I kept it real simple, with just words and color grouping. I wanted my slide to be something that catches your attention and the color red seems to do that. I divide my text in black and white so that there is a pattern.
E2rzKUZ65LuhIjvINf1aINvKHxb9r9aL78GaY3Yrnfw
E2rzKUZ65LuhIjvINf1aINvKHxb9r9aL78GaY3Yrnfw

Q2 Benchmark (Chris Tran + Nikki Adeli)

Fried Rice: (Brown rice alternative)

Ingredients:


  • 2 cups of brown rice

  • 1 cup of mixed vegetables

  • 1 cup of ham or any kind of meat

  • Salt

  • 2 Garlic

  • 2 Red onions

  • Pinch of Vegetable Oil


Recipe:


  1. Gather all of the ingredients needed, prepare a small frying pan and add a pinch of vegetable oil.

  2. Chop the garlic and onions into small pieces.

  3. Prepare the ham or any kind of meat wanted with rice.

  4. When the pan is hot add the chopped onion and garlic. Fry until it is the color of gold.

  5. Then add the rice into the frying pan and stir fry the rice, onion, and garlic for about 5 minutes. Add ⅙ teaspoon of salt and continue to stir fry for another couple of minutes.

  6. Add 1 cup of meat into the frying pan and stir fry for about 2 to 3 minutes.

  7. Then add 1 cup of mixed vegetables and stir fry for about 2 to 3 minutes

  8. Then decorate your plate with the rice and enjoy!


Analysis:


My version of a healthy fried rice is mostly whole food. About 90% of my fried rice’s ingredients are whole foods and only 10% processed. For my fried rice the total calorie is about 250 calories. The sugar content is pretty low at 10 g in total, the sodium is 25 mg., total carbohydrates is 27 mg., and protein is 4g. Well based on my research my meal doesn’t take long to digest because it is only 270 calories all you need to do after you eat is to exercise and you can work it off. Based on personal experience, I have lost 20 pounds due to this recipe. Well for the sugar, proteins, and carbs, they are something that our body needs to do simple things everyday and they can also help our bones and our body become stronger or slimmer. Well some of the health issues that can rise from this would be nothing because rice is something that my culture has ate for almost 2,000 years and nothing happened to our health. It would just improve our health a lot more than it would hurt.

Well most of my foods are from the U.S, but the brown rice is from China. The food that travelled the furthest would be the brown rice. This rice would have to be organically grown because this brown rice is filled with nutrients that no processed food have. Well since none of my foods are processed. I would have to say that processed foods can cause pollutions due to the factories creating it creates pollution and the processed foods can also create cancer or can cause diabetes.

In total, the cost of the meal was $20.79. All of our food choices were from fresh ingredients and where much more wholesome than a fast food restaurant. That being said, it was more expensive to prep and buy all of this food in comparison to fast food. Most of our food ingredients are regulated by the FDA and USDA to ensure that our Chicken doesn’t have salmonella and that our vegetables aren’t covered in herbicides. The majority of the people who made money off of the food we purchased will benefit the farmers who grew the crops and chickens. The biggest corporation that will make the most money off of our ingredients is the infamous Monsanto. They have dominated the market have a monopoly in their favor.

There are no social ramifications of my meal choice, but there are some controversy involving the import of rice from China to the U.S. The trace for rice would be that it was grown in a field in China or any warm climate environment and was picked and packed and sent to the U.S. Now for the rest of the ingredients they are all from the U.S. Also the side dish most of the ingredients are common things that we eat. These items are purchased at a local chinese supermarket. They are healthy, organic, and convenient. The organic rice are grown in fields and takes months to grow compare to factory rice. They grow it chemically and then picked and processed. Then for the herbs its the same process. They grow it organically and for companies they grow it chemically and picked it and processed it. Now for the vegetable oil they just make it by factory, its possible but you would have to dry the plants or veggies and then get the oil out of them.


Personal Analysis:


Chris: Looking back into this unit, I think my role in the larger food system is that I contribute to the fast food business and contribute to the growth in obesity in this country. I think I should turn to a more healthy diet after this unit and continue to work out everyday to contribute to the growth of a healthier America. I think the biggest problem with our food system is that we add too much carbs and sugar into our food. It is hurting people and causing diabetes and heart diseases. Another problem would be that fast food has artificial meat which hurts Americans and everybody else because we are not taking in the healthy, real, natural meat that is needed in the human body. Some of the changes that I can make with my food choices is to choose more healthy food and to cook more instead of eating out. The impact of these changes would be losing weight and living a healthy life. Yes, I am willing to make these changes because this is something that I need to be healthy.  I feel like after watching the TED talk that Jamie Oliver did I wanted to quit fat food and move on to the more healthy alternative. 


Nikki:


Food Slide Rules:



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NothingNatural (1)

Science And Society BM- Plantians

Screen Shot 2015-01-16 at 10.08.37 AM
Screen Shot 2015-01-16 at 10.08.37 AM

Plantains Recipe:

⅓ SALT

Plantains

Oil or water

Process:

Peel the Plantains

slice it small

add salt

Wait until the oil is hot then put the plantain in there

or if using water just put it in water and let it boil.

when turn reddish which would be about 8 to 9 mins take out and enjoy!


Analysis:

Plantains are a type of bananas, they are not bananas but are a type of bananas. My family has been eating plantains for many years because of one poverty at the time and also because they pretty delicious. Plantains are appetizer but could be also be a meal if you add other things like fish to it. Plantain are very healthy because according to foodworks “Fat free, cholesterol free, sodium free, an excellent source of vitamins A and C and a good source of potassium.” Despite the fact that plantains are really healthy food when my family makes it I think they take away all that. They put way too much salt and too much oil, and I was thinking maybe instead of using vegetable oil maybe use some coconut oil. As far as boiling it, that would work because you are just adding a little salt and that would still make the food good for you. Now the plantains could also be fried with red oil, red oil is healthy and could make the plantain more healthy. To make plantains is not very expensive, it is a poor food to make.The food from what I know definitely started in Africa, and as slave trade it then move up here.

According to food works “Plantain found its way into Madagascar from Malaysia and India through trading Asian merchants and by Arabs during the Trans-Saharan trade boom. Plantain and banana trade along with yam and other food crops became a very important factor in the wealth, prosperity and rapid expansion of the Bantu Kingdom of central and southern Africa around 1500 AD. Up till date, plantain is still a major and popular staple meal across Uganda and the rest of the former Bantu region.” The food cost about four dollars. This food has traveled 3450 miles from Africa to south America. Compare to fast food this food is actually a lot cheaper so therefore no excuses as to why it couldn’t be purchased. Growing this food could be a lot better, but if it is grown in the farm they may process it too much, there are also organic plantains that you can definitely look into.

Self Reflection:

The unit has been very interesting because we have been talking about food, I can relate to this because I love food and everything about food. I have a very major role in the food system because in order for something to change I feel like everyone should feel like they can do something so with that being said I am consider myself to be a very big part of the food system.  I definitely feel like big companies uses advertising to make everyday people buy their product and since I am a everyday people I think I could start to watch what I buy or consume. Since we talked about obesity this quarter and talked about about 66% of the U.S population is obese. That a pretty big percentage. Watching the the ted talk also gave us a lot information on how school lunch isn’t even healthy. Something that was very major was the japanese obesity was only 6% compare that to U.S was very strange. Another statement that was very interesting was when we talked about “If you are not hungry enough to eat an apple then you are not hungry”. I am definitely going to change my food choices, because this situation is serious and I don’t think we are taking actions as a society. I have come to a conclusion that healthy food is the way, but that also remembering that even “Healthy food” is also processed but as a consumer I just have to be aware. This was a very good unit, I enjoyed everything about it and I am looking forward to actually getting more knowledge on what I a consume.






The war and changing the world

Analytical Essay:


War is dense. It pulls at the mental and physical stability of a person until they are constantly running off of an adrenaline rush in order to survive the intense circumstances that is war. “The yellow birds”  depicts this easily by constantly personifying the war, calling the air of shrapnel it’s breath, how its constant weight of death is a heavy reminder that war is patient, and murderous. Powers begins the book by saying “The war tried to kill us in the spring . As the grass greened the plains of Nineveh and the weather warmed” This completes imagery and personification of the war is continuously used throughout the book to prove a further point on which Powers decides to elaborate, on. War creates the armor of the soldier. It makes him numb to all things human, and embeds the constant feeling of survival, a life on adrenaline, a permanent fight or flight syndrome. War strips a person of their emotional connection to life due to survival, resulting in PTSD and a severe lack of empathy and room for grieving. Changing the world starts with the empathy for people, without it nothing can be changed because no one is understood. The eradication of war would create a world united in improvement and not destruction.

In a war it is said that one, a soldier is their country, that they are fighting for the very glory and victory of their own nation. However the truth to be seen is that in reality there are no winners in a war. Those who empty there guns first and find themselves with the most bodies at their feet envy the deceased, because they now live with the permanent memories of gore embedded in their minds, are called cowards if they cannot cope with the after math of their doings or admit that they might need help. How can one be able to create a change if they are not able to seek help? To find guidance and be in agreement on the problem? Instead problems are created at home. In a heated discussion with his mother Bartle says “Got dammit Mama all I fucking do is think.” After she asks him what he does in his room all day. After this statement springs out of his mouth it becomes clear to the reader the amount of agitation he is feeling, constantly on edge in the small expert of expression within a sentence to his mother. This is the first time Bartle comes home before he dies. After seeing enough, after not wanting to see anymore.

Many would argue that war is a constructive way of solving conflicts. That it has its purposes and allows the job to get done with as much gratification for its successor as possible. However the toll that it takes in the aftermath of itself proves to be far more harmful than beneficial. It begins the road to poverty from destruction people who had nothing find themselves having less than before, people betraying their countries in order to survive and dying at the hand of the war with no one to grieve their loss. “Shukran, Afwan, Qumbula, Thank you, Your welcome, Bomb. This is Maliks old stomping grounds!...We did not see Malik get killed but murph and I had his blood on both of our uniforms.... Doesn’t count does it? No. I don’t think so. Where are we at? Nine-sixty eight.” (Powers 11) The beginning of the conversation has such a thankfulness ring to it. As if Malik is of value and immediately after his death they didn’t even include them in their count of dead men, for the loyalty to their own soldiers. For the defense of their own bodies.

The soldiers will later go home to grieve in silence. To never open up their room or windows, and while The Yellow birds tells the story of two men who had died and follows them through the most painful and concise instances of their life. Without war, they could’ve kept the streets clean, help build from the rubbles that had been lost, but war has changed the world. It has turned it gray and shoved soot into the lungs of children crying for their fathers while they watch their mothers dig bodies out of the ground at dawn, while we force our children to dig cereal from a bowl before school. It has deprived those who rightfully so deserve it. War is a last breath, is a barbaric resort to a frustration for the yearning of immediate gratification.




Works Cited for Analytical Essay:

Powers, Kevin. The Yellow Birds: A Novel. New York: Little, Brown, 2012. Print.


Dahlen, Dr. Barbara Van. "PTSD / Video." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2015.



Narrative Essay:


In 1973 Richard Nixon installed a coup to take down Chilean president Salvador Allende. To be rid of the communist rule that had gained so much power for the poor people in the country. A country rigged with classism prior to his election. The coup lasted for years, and resulting in the assassination of Salvador Allende and the installment of Pinochet killing millions of communist and liberal chileans. There was a black-list that had my uncles name on it.

The first time I watched my family shunn us back home I was 12. I was reaching for my cousin Rodrigos hand when my aunt smacked it. She had me go back to my mother and my cousin sat there crying with a blank face as though he knew what had happened and he knew why but didn’t want to. I could feel the back of my eyes pulling at me and I was holding my hand toward my chest. It didn’t hurt, but it made me upset

Final Food Project by Will Amari

Wile E. Willie's ol' Southern Boi Carolina Corn Bread 


Ingredients:


-2 cups all-purpose flour

-2 tablespoons baking powder

-1 teaspoon salt

-2 cups yellow cornmeal

-1/2 cup sugar

-1 1/2 teaspoon cayenne 

-1 cup milk

-1 cup no fat plain yogurt

-2 large eggs

-2 sticks unsalted butter, softened 


Preparation:


-Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit 

-Butter up a large cast iron skillet

-Throw ingredients all into a large bowl 

-Stir the crap out of it with a electric beater until batter is thin

-Pour batter into iron skillet

-Place in oven (after it has preheated) on the middle rack 

-Let it sit in oven for about 50 minutes (it should look golden brown at the end)

-Take out of oven

-Wait ten minutes to let it cool down

-Sit down for a spell 

My cornbread is not that healthy, but still it would be fine eating it in small portions. 


Analysis: 


Most of the ingredients are conventional and/or non-organic. This means that the food used to make this dish has either been made with GMOs, chemicals like pesticides, or both. 


For example, instead of using good-old-fashioned organic valley butter, I used Land-O-Lakes salted butter. This contains a lengthy list of ingredients ranging from partially hydrogenated soybean oil and hydrogenated cottonseed oil to artificial flavor and cream, which warns us about its’ trivial amount of cholesterol. I used two sticks of this, but hey, at least it’s USDA double A—not the worst thing for you, but not the best thing either. Along with this, I also used Indian Head Old Fashioned Stone Ground Yellow Corn Meal, which contains some organic compounds like Niacin and enriched thiamine mononitrate. I wished I used real corn, but oh well. It seems like I used the next best thing. Corn meal also contains a healthy dose of riboflavin (vitamin B2), and iron.


The ingredients aren't what I would call, locally grown. In fact, the corn meal came from Maryland, that’s for sure the most local I ever got. While the butter came from Minneapolis and the milk came from as far as Idaho. At least all the food came from America, right? The positive side to having a lack of organic food in a recipe is that it means it is very cheap to make. Cornbread in general is cheap to make, only costing five to six dollars in price. I’ll take it. 


The coolest thing about some of the brands I used is that some of them care a little about the world. Dominos sugar for a hundred years been organic. It comes from the pure sugar cane and is harvested and milled on the same day. It is a US company owned by American Sugar Refining Industry. Land-O-Lakes is a little more controversial (PETA released an undercover video of animal abuse of dairy cows), but their eggs are supposedly cage-free. That’s good enough for me. 


I would say that overall my cornbread is fine as along as it doesn’t act as a replacement for real vegetables like broccoli, carrots, and of course... corn. 


Self Reflection:


After doing some personal reflection I have concluded that I have a very small, yet essential role in the larger food system. My food decisions, whether or not to go organic or conventional, has an effect on myself (my health and well being), on my family (I could influence my family to go organic), and of course on the business I am supporting (Whole Foods versus Monsanto). As long as you want to eat, you have to support some business that will be making some capital, so you minus well research and find out the best business to support. Some conventional farms use chemicals and pesticides to grow vegetables and drug chickens and cows to make them grow fatter, faster. Is this really the business you want to support? On the other hand organic foods can be a rip off and your bananas will only last you a couple days—you would have to go shopping more often. I think that’s the biggest problem with our food system. There doesn’t seem like an obvious right and an obvious wrong. Unhealthy foods are cheap and convenient, which will easily feed a starving family of four, but most foods are highly processed foods that are killing Americans more than any other cause of death. Organic sounds nice until you look at the price and then you realize being healthy is for rich people. What a shame. 


I generally buy organic, but that doesn’t mean I’m living a healthy life style. They say to eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a jack, and dinner like a surf. I don’t eat anything for breakfast, I eat a apple and some bread for lunch, and for dinner I pig out with second helpings. Probably not healthy. I have already started to make changes. For breakfast I had fruit salad and a danish. If that’s not eating like a king, then I don’t know what is. It is important to remain healthy and eat right. I want to out live my parents. 

 
Screen Shot 2015-01-22 at 9.39.07 PM
Screen Shot 2015-01-22 at 9.39.07 PM

Food Recipe - Cunningham

Ingredients:

  • Bell Peppers
  • Cheese
  • Ground beef
  • pot
  • pan
  • knives
  1. Boil the peppers in boiling water.
  2. While the bell peppers are in the pot of boiling water, you need to fry the ground beef
  3. Make sure to season the ground beef first with your desired seasoning
  4. After the beel peppers are done, take each of them and cut the top part.
  5. after that is done, the ground beef should be almost done. Make sure it is brown and not pink
  6. Add cheese on the ground beef and let it sit until it melts
  7. Turn off the pan and insert the desired amount of ground beef into each bell pepper

This is actually quite healthy for you. It is after all eaten inside of a bell pepper. Now as far as how healthy the pepper is. It depends on what kind of pepper it is, and where you get it from. For instance, a save a lot pepper, isn’t going to be as fresh as a pepper that is from trader joes or produce junction. Then it’s all about storage. If you keep fresh and in a plastic bag inside a refrigerator, it will maintain it fresh status. As opposed to having it sit out on the table for a couple days. It would cost more the fresher it is.


The meat is also fresh by carrier. If you get it from like a pathmark or a acme, its not gonna be as fresh as if you went down to the italian market and got it fresh. It would cost more but you do pay for what you buy. They say that red meat isn’t good for you, but in my Foods Rules slide, the rule that i made was that you shouldn’t eat things that don't eat healthy themselves.


I have actually learned a lot this quarter. I learned about how healthy food actually is and the different between processed, and organic food choices. Before we came into this unit, i didn’t know as much as i know now about food. It was interesting getting to know the real reason why organic food is more expensive than the trans fat, processed food. I also did not know what organic food was made out of. When I thought of organic food, I also thought immediately that it was healthier and that was why it cost more. Now i know that it actually takes more to make food organic. The most interesting part about this unit was the TED talk. It was interesting to see him talk about food and how it connects to our society so well. I liked especially when he talked about how gross the school lunches were and how the lunch cooks weren’t at blame. Everything he said was true, they try to do so much with so little and cheap food in the kitchen. Moving forward from this unit, I will think a lot about the food that I buy and the food that I eat. Especially after seeing the TED talk and looking at numerous BMI charts.
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Screen Shot 2015-01-22 at 9.09.24 PM

Food Benchmark Project

Partner: Amani Bey (separate analysis though)


Ingredients:

1 lb. of lentils

half an  onion

spinach

Cumin

salt

pepper

Chicken Broth

Coconut Milk

Chicken

Butternut Squash

Tomato Paste

Zucchini


Steps:

  1. Brown onions and zucchini in a pot with vegetable oil

  2. Add desired amount of pepper

  3. Put in half a can of chicken broth

  4. Bring to a rolling boil

  5. Put the lentils in

  6. In separate pot Combine 1/2 can of coconut milk, butternut squash paste, a dash of tomato paste and cumin, add pepper and cayenne to taste

  7. Put the coconut mixture in the lentils once the broth in the lentils evaporate.

  8. Let the lentils cook down until they become paste-like.

  9. Chop and add spinach.

  10. If needed, add more cumin and pepper to taste.


Lentils are one of the world’s healthiest food. They are the third highest of any legume or nut in protein by weight, only to be succeeded by soybeans and hemp. Lentils contain dietary fiber, vitamin B, folate and other essential minerals. Lentils can be grown in many types of conditions. The two leading countries in the production of lentils are Canada and India. Together, the account for over 50% of the worlds lentil production. The United States is 5th on the list. Lentils is a good choice if you need to lower cholesterol. It has high levels of soluble fiber which helps keep arteries clean. Lentils being a good source in folate and magnesium make it a good choice for people who are struggling with heart health. Magnesium improves blood flow and oxygen. Lentils have also been found to be able to help with blood sugar stabilization, weight loss, and increasing energy.

A bag of all natural whole lentils cost about $2 for a 16 oz bag. That equates to about 8 servings. That is under $0.30 a serving. This is a way better price compared to the unhealthy dollar menu that in the long run will cost more than one dollar if that person develops health issues. In this recipe, only 1/12 of the ingredients is processed. The rest are all natural ingredients.This is great because the consumer will not have to worry about whether there are harmful chemicals. Overall lentils is a great food option, not only is it extremely healthy, but it is also a product that does not cost a plentiful amount of money.

During this unit, I learned that food is a real essential topic in America. I learned that the food industry is larger than the food businesses themselves. It branches out into government agencies, health and fitness. I learned that making good food choices is not always getting the organic kind because organic doesn't mean natural. There are a lot of pretenders that advertise themselves as healthy but really are not. I think the problem with our food system is that we allow trash to be labeled as food. McDonalds, Wendy's, Pop-Tarts, Meat with multiple animals inside or chemicals and fillers. Nearly all foods in the supermarket that is boxed on shelves or in cans is unnecessarily unhealthy. Also, the healthier choice is too expensive and poorer people do not have the choice but to buy the unhealthier product. If I could make changes it would be to get rid of fast food places that sell half food, decrease organic food prices and distinguish healthy organic and not healthy. I would outlaw the ability to overprice the healthier option and under price the unhealthier option. Hopefully with these changes more people will have access to healthier food choices. I would if I could.




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Screen Shot 2015-01-15 at 8.02.57 PM

Amani's Lentils

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Screen Shot 2015-01-14 at 10.05.38 AM
 My family has a rule about having at least three colors on our plates. This allows for more vegetables and less starch. The color wheel bleeds off the page and everything is in the thirds. My recipe is a stew or sorts, but it encourages for many colors and vegetables, and has room to be a different dish each time. 



As a  Diasporic person in America , I have no set culinary culture. My grandmother converted to the Moorish American way of life in the 70s. The Moorish people were dark people with great influence in the Arab and Spanish world.  My grandmother always cooked with chick peas, but I don’t like them, which is why I’m using my favorite bean, the lentil. Lentils were commonly traded in India but made their way on Moorish trading routes. Cumin, one of the most distinctive flavors in the meal, was grown in India, as well, but made it’s way to Spain and many other countries by way of the Moores. Tangine usually includes tomatoes, but I use a butternut squash sauce instead, as homage to my great grandmother who's father was Native American. It also  tastes better. I’m slightly allergic to the acid in tomatoes. Mirepoix, or what most would call celery,carrots, and onions, hails from France and New Orleans. I spent a year there during 5th grade and my little sister’s family is from New Orleans. Kale is a European crop. This stew, is like my family, a mixture of things and flavors.


Recipe

Ingredients:

1 lb. of  red split lentils 

half an  onion 

spinach 

Cumin

salt 

pepper 

Chicken Broth 

Coconut Milk 

Chicken 

Butternut Squash 

Tomato Paste

Zucchini 


 

Steps:

  1. Brown onions and zucchini  in a pot with vegetable oil 
  2. Add pepper liberally 
  3. Put in half a can of chicken broth
  4. Bring to a rolling boil 
  5. throw them lentils in
  6. In separate pot Combine 1/2 can of coconut milk, butternut squash paste, a dash of tomato paste and cumin, add pepper and cayenne to taste 
  7. Put the coconut mixture in the lentils once the broth in the lentils evaporate. 
  8. Let the lentils cook down until they become paste-like. 
  9. Chop and add spinach. 
  10. Add more cumin and pepper to taste.


**This recipe gives more of an Indian cuisine taste than a morrocan taste. For a Morrocan flavor, replace coconut milk with tomato paste, or go half and half, use more cumin and no coriander. Add mirepoix.  
IMG_4477-3
IMG_4477-3
Analysis

This meal is considerably very whole. Lentils are unprocessed, as are the vegetables within.  I went to the Reading Terminal for the produce and when Iovine has organic produce from independent farmers for reasonable prices. Dollar bags of vegetables are accessible in the middle of the city.   1 cup of lentils contains 20% of the daily value of Potassium, 13% of DV carbs, 64% of fiber. The fiber in lentils is insoluble, meaning that it can not go ingot he blood stream but it is great for the bowels and colon health. It scrubs everything out. Cumin, which is a big spice in this dish, is great for digestion and fighting off infections. Its aroma has capabilities as well. The chicken and lentils both contain large amounts of protein which  is broken down in the intestines and absorbed through amino acids and used for cellular structures. It's great for muscles. Lentils also increase oxygen flow, which is great for everything. 


Coconut milk is a processed food, but many distributors have standards as to how its harvested. I admire the coconut because its harvesting involves the entire fruit (it's actually a one seeded drupe). The flesh and liquid within are consumed, the shell is squeezed and pressed for oil, and the husks are used for building structures. In Pacific cultures, the coconut tree has been called the "tree of life". This reminds me of the chapter from  "Survival of the Sickest" about Lima beans , because it is good for but can also kill you if you're not careful.  Coconut milk contains chains of saturated fats that are actually good for you, they're called MCFAs and they're absorbed and used for energy by the liver, but too much is not good for you. Both lentils and coconuts should be used in moderation.

The coconut milk I had came from the Philippines and was processed and packaged in the United States. The Philippines are over 3,000 miles away, yet the can I got from my corner store was only $1.29. Coconuts are what Americans consider "foreign", yet unlike other culinary oddities they are not very expensive, like that of french truffles, or South American peppers.

 



​Personal Reflection



One of the greatest lessons I've learned from this unit is that you should know your body and how it works. Due to different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds we eat differently and have different reactions to certain things. The study with aboriginal peoples showed that certain groups of people are better adapted for a certain amount of living. I think the Western Diet is trash because the "West" has not existed for thousands of years, so people have not had time to evolve to be better adapted to the "sweets and meats"  it entails. One size fits all diet and lifestyles don't fit. We concluded BMI does not work in class (I am 5 feet tall and according to BMI, I am 40 lbs overweight, but I am healthy as a horse). Treat your pancreas well so that you can last in life. 

The food system is flawed because access to good food is hard. Impoverished people are more at risk for being obese. In order to fix this problem, many of the whole foods are too expensive. The FDA allows many things to let fly . I am cutting back on sugar and increasing my water intake. The relationship between my liver and pancreas is important and I need to respect it by not putting crap in my body. I feel the difference when my blood sugar is low. I go a little cray.  

After cutting back on my sugars and drinking water, I noticed a terrible change in my mood, so I have been working on incorporating fruit into my diet. 

Michael Nicolella Food Project

Instructions on how to make Italian Wedding Soup

Ingredients:

For the meatballs:

1/3 cup parsley

1 egg

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon salt

1 spoonful of breadcrumbs

1/2 cup parmesan

8 oz. ground pork

8 oz. ground beef

For the rest:

12 cups of chicken broth

1 lb. of chopped escarole

2 tablespoons of grated parmesan

Add salt and pepper until you find the appropriate amount. 

 

Process:

1) Put the meat in a bowl along with all of the other meatball ingredients. 

2) Mix until you think its fully mixed .

3) Saute meatballs until they turn brown

4) Bring broth to a boil and add escarole and meatballs first. Make sure the escarole is evenly distributed.

5) Add parmesan to broth.

6) Keep pot under flame and periodically stir the soup for 1hr.

 

Analysis:


Overall I think that this soup is very healthy due to the escarole which is a vegetable and it makes up most of the soup. All of these ingredients can be made organic. For example the beef or pork can easily be purchased organic instead of factory farmed and they are not farmed far away usually. Escarole is another ingredient that can be easily made organic, although it does depend if its in season which I believe starts in early spring and all throughout summer. This can lead to problems but it can probably be grown somewhere else where it is able to be harvested. Also, even though red meat is proven to not be that good for you, it is a good source of protein and you will mostly be tasting the other things in the soup.

Depending on the quality of the ingredients, this soup can be either cheap or a little expensive since meat is quite expensive, especially organic meat. But the good thing about this soup is that there is a lot and it can feed a very large family. This is definitely nothing like fast food. It will take a good hour and a half to cook this and many of the ingredients are quality. I think that some social issues would arise from the meats in this soup, but that involves any dish with meat in it. There are people like vegetarians/ vegans who don't eat meat and there are people who specifically don't eat pork like Muslims. 


Personal Reflection


I thought that this unit was helpful to many people, including myself because of all of the helpful info that we learned during this unit. Since obesity and diabetes are a huge problem in this country, it seems only right that we be educated on how to prevent this stuff and eat healthier. One of the most impactful lessons that was given this unit was the ted talk by Jamie Oliver. It seemed a little extreme when he told a mother that she was killing her children, but it was true. That showed how childhood obesity affects our lives and how it can ultimately shorten it. Before this unit, I never really knew what organic food was honestly. There was really no obvious way to tell what food was and what food wasn't. Now I know to read the label. Also being someone who's family members are affected by diabetes, it really was a great lesson to learn about what causes it and how it can be prevented. I also noticed through this unit that America's food industry tries to be as cheap and efficient as possible, sacrificing the healthiness and quality of the food. All of these things can be changed, and hopefully over time it will. I have learned a lot of useful things and now i feel confident and more knowledgable in this subject thanks to this unit.


Food Slide


Food rules
Food rules

Spanish Benchmark Victoria Westaby

¡Hola! Mi nombre es Victoria, pero mi apodo es Vivi. Tengo catorce años y mi cumpleaños es veintiséis de agosto. Me gusta escritura creativa y a veces escuchar musica. ¡Ah, y dibujar! Tengo dos hermanas y un gato. Soy inteligente y más o menos baja.


Ella es Erica. Somos amigos por cinco años. Nos conocimos en escuela. Erica el pelo cafe y rubia. Los ojos pardos. Tiene catorce años, y su cumpleaños el cinco de marzo. Ella bastante adorable y algo baja. Asiste a Nuevas Fundaciones. Ella es mi mejor amiga.


Nosotras mi y mi hermana. Su nombre es Amanda. Ella es dos años viejo que mi. Ella es muy inteligente y guapa. Asiste a Lincoln la escuela secundaria. Ella es en grado once. Su cumpleaños es veinticinco de agosto. Nos encanta escuchar musica y pasar un rato con amigos. Nosotras también encanta dibujar .  


Ellas son mi mejor amigas. Ellas son muy inteligentes y bastante artísticas.  Alex es alta y muy cómica. Erica es bastante adorable. Les gusta dibujar y escribir. Ellas los dos asiste a Nuevas Fundaciones y es bueno estudiantes.


¡Eso es todo! Yo esperar te gusta y gracias por tú atención. ¡Adios!

Art Q2. final presentation Luke R.

My art mostly comes from a place of longing for something different for my community.  This is tied with imagination and realism about the world. I’m real about worldly topics, but also imagine something crazy and different. I enjoy pencil work because I like the versatility of the tool. Also a lot of this unit was making art for the sake of learning the techniques.


Q2 Sci & Soc Food Benchmark

Recipe: Light stir-fry chicken and vegetables with Chinese egg noodles


*This recipe can be vegetarian/vegan friendly by simply replacing the meat with eggs or tofu, or even taking meat out completely!


Note: 

There is no specific measurements for most of the ingredients because it is your preference on how much vegetables, noodles, or meat you want to eat/use. Also, you don’t need to completely follow these ingredients, feel free to use whatever vegetables or meat you want. Anything that is laying around in the fridge that needs to be used such as leftover vegetables or different kinds of meat such as beef or pork is fine. And for the noodles, it is not completely necessary to use Chinese egg noodles, regular noodles that you have on hand can be used. And if you don't want to eat noodles, you can totally forget about it and just make meat and veggie stir fry and serve this over your choice of rice.


Adjust measurements according to how many people this meal will be serving to.


Ingredients:

Boneless skinless chicken breast

Carrots

Onion

Broccoli

Snow peas

Bell peppers

Mushroom

Soy sauce

Minced garlic

Chinese egg noodles

Salt

Black pepper

Red pepper flakes (Optional: only if you want it to be spicy)

Any kind of cooking oil (cooking spray or olive oil are the healthy choices)


How many minutes it takes to prepare and cook:

15-20 minutes

Everything will be cooked very quickly!


Directions:

  1. Cut up all your vegetables and meat into bite size pieces.

  2. After you finish cutting up your main ingredients, get a wok or a big skillet pan and put it over medium-high heat. Add your cooking oil(1 tablespoon) or cooking spray. Let the pan heat up for at least 3 minutes.

  3. Depending on what kind of noodles you are using, if it is not cooked yet, you may need to get a saucepan and boil water, then add in the noodles and blotch noodles for 2-3 minutes, take it out and strain the noodles, then set it aside to dry. (This is an extra step if your noodles are not cooked. Skip this step if it doesn't apply to you)

  4. Finely mince the garlic.

  5. Throw the minced garlic and onion into the wok/pan and stir fry that until you noticed the pieces of garlic turn golden brown and smells very fragrant and the onion becomes translucent. If you are making this dish spicy, this is the time to also add in your dry hot pepper flakes. This should take 2-3 minutes.

  6. Turn the heat down to medium. Add in your sliced chicken or other choice of meat then stir fry until the meat is almost cooked through. You don’t want to cook it all the way yet because you haven’t added the vegetables yet (overcooked meat will taste bad and hard to chew). This will take a few minutes.(If you are using sliced beef, cook for only one minute!)

  7. After your meat is cooked about half way through, turn the heat back up to medium-high and add in all your vegetables. Stir fry until vegetables are slightly cooked but do not overcook or else your vegetables will become too soft or soggy (you still want that “crunch” when you bite into your veggies). This will take 2-3 minutes.

  8. Add in the noodles and stir fry with kitchen tongs or chopsticks until noodles are heated. (Tongs or chopsticks will be easier to cook with the noodles. If you use a regular spatula, it might break the noodles) This will take 2-3 minutes since you are just reheating the noodles.

  9. Turn the heat down to low and add two teaspoons of soy sauce and a pinch of salt and black pepper. Stir this for a minute and then turn off the heat. Do a taste test and see if you need anymore soy sauce or salt/black pepper. But don’t forget, too much sodium isn’t good for you.

  10. Serve this in a plate or a bowl and you are ready to enjoy your quick, healthy, light stir fry!


Analysis of the recipe:


In my recipe, the only ingredient that might have be processed is the choice of noodles you use. I used thin Chinese egg noodles that I bought from a local asian supermarket near my house. I’m sure they’re processed because I did not make these noodles from scratch, they pre-made. All I had to do is blotch them in boiled water for 3 minutes, drain it, then it was good to eat or use in any meal I prep. I would say 30% of the recipe is processed because I put in a good amount of noodles but there’s more vegetables than noodles. The vegetables and boneless skinless meat is whole food, not processed.

Since my recipe is overall healthy, the sugar count and fat count is extremely low because we did not use sugar at all in this recipe and since we used boneless skinless chicken breast and we only used a tiny bit of oil in the pan, this is very little fat. The calorie count shouldn’t be so high because these are mostly veggies, so I can’t estimate it but I am aware that the calorie is not high. If you eat this recipe every day, there wouldn’t be any possible health problem arising because it’s not high in fat, sodium, sugar or anything.

I am not really sure where most of my ingredients came from, I’m positive my vegetables and meat are from this country but I don’t know which state. I don’t think the travel is that far because I’m pretty sure there’s a farm or meat factory nearby. I think the Chinese egg noodles might possibly be from California because lots of Asian food are processed or made in California. I don’t know if my vegetables are grown organically because I bought my vegetables from Shop Rite, not from Whole Foods Supermarket or Trader Joe’s.

This meal does not cost that much, in all honesty. This stir fry recipe is very easy to make and you can use any choice of vegetables, choice of meat or choice of noodles or seasoning. If you have leftover vegetables that need to be used before it goes bad, you could simply cut it up and throw into the wok/pan. If you have raw beef in the freezer or leftover chicken in the fridge, that can be used to. Chinese egg noodles isn’t common in American households so if you don’t have it or can’t find it, some pasta in from the cabinet can be substituted. You don’t really need to make a trip to the grocery store to buy these ingredients unless you want to eat specific vegetables, meat or noodles. I would it’s as cheap as fast food because this recipe is for anything that is laying around in your fridge. I didn't even go to the grocery store to buy my ingredients, I already had it in my fridge and my mom didn't use it for her cooking so I just took all of it and cooked this. I know where we bought it from but I already had it at home.

All my vegetables that I used were grown from farms that I don’t really know about. So the intermediate steps could’ve included chemicals to grow it. I don’t grow any vegetables at home. So if I were to grow my green peppers, onions or garlic at home, I’d have to buy the seed, go through a bunch of steps to get the right kind of soil to grow my vegetables, maintain these plants and make sure I water it, and a ton of more steps. As for commercial production process, they handle it themselves and I just simply purchase these vegetables without the hassle of growing it myself.

Personal Reflection:

Although before this unit, I was aware of some of these issues that we have in our food system, however, this unit has taught me even more about our food system and I actually learned "numbers" and "statistics" involved in it. The biggest issue I see in our food system is how much the government lies to us about it. The "sugar free", "low fat" labels are just lies. These low content food is just being covered up with another kind of terrible chemical or make it taste as good it normally would be. I think that is the worst corruption in our entire food system because this is going into our body and we are being lied to. Some of the changes I can make to my food choices is to make healthier decisions in my diet. I eat healthy during weekdays because I usually eat homemade food since I'm not going out with friends(my mom cooks pretty healthy) but sometimes I should eat brown rice instead of rice. Or whole wheat bread instead of white, and greek yogurt instead of mayo, something like that. The impact of these changes if that I think I will physically feel a lot better and have more energy to go through my day. I also think this will impact while I'm exercising, I'll notice more physical changes if I eat right. I'm willing to make these changes because I want to be fit and I want to be healthy. I don't want to have heart disease or diabetes, it already runs in my family. I want to decrease my chance and beat my genetics by being healthier. I really enjoyed the warm ups we've previously done in this unit because I've read some great facts and educated myself more about this.



Food Rule: 
Food Rule
Food Rule

Liza's Food Project - Q2 BM

Screen Shot 2015-01-14 at 10.00.07 PM
Screen Shot 2015-01-14 at 10.00.07 PM

Recipe and Food Analysis for Pasta E Fagilo

(Pasta with Pinto Beans)

Ingredients:

Whole Grain Ditalini Pasta

  • if you can't supply whole grain pasta, a traditional kind is just fine
  • Ditalini Pasta is a small, cylinder shape pasta but any type of pasta works 

 2 cans of Goya Pinto Beans

Salt

Pepper

Olive Oil

Water

3 to 4 Clove of Garlic 

 Process:

1. Fill up pot with water and put it to a boil (size of pot and amount of water varies for how many people you are serving)

  • The average size for a container of pasta would be 4 to 6 quarts of water. 

 2. Once water is boiled, add pasta.

3. Boil pasta for 10 minutes.

4. While the pasta is boiling, in a separate pot, heat 6 tablespoons or more of extra virgin olive oil. 

5. Add 3 to 4 cloves of pressed, chopped garlic into the same pot.

6.  a half of a teaspoon of red pepper flakes. 

7. Let that sautee for a few minutes. 

8. Add 2 cans of the 15 oz. Goya Pinto Beans.

9. Add 1 can of water (use the empty can of Goya Beans).

10. Let beans simmer while pasta is boiling for 10 minutes.

11. Before draining the pasta, take one full cup of pasta water to reserve for the final dish to mix.

12. Remove pasta from stove and drain well after 10 minutes.

13. Put half of the pasta into a bowl and add half of the beans.

14. Mix.

15. Add the rest of the beans and pasta.

16. Blend together with cup of pasta water.

17. Serve and enjoy!

Optional: Add chopped kale for color and flavor!

Food Analysis:

Although pasta is a processed food, there are benefits to eating it. It has an extremely large amount of carbohydrates which gives your body a lot of fuel. Whole grain pasta even includes dietary fiber. Pasta is also low on sodium and cholesterol. Keep in mind that too many carbs is not good but if you need to fill up on calories, pasta would be an appropriate way to do so. Even though pasta is a processed food, Goya pinto beans are incorporated into this mean - which is a whole food. Because of the canning process, a lot of salt is added to the whole food which increases its serving of sodium. To decrease your intake of sodium, it is extremely helpful to wash off your beans and put them to as much of a boil as possible. On the bright side, pinto beans give you a large amount of protein, such as 15 grams worth, along with fiber and iron. 

It is important to keep in mind that you can't control everything you eat. It is impossible to lessen the amounts of fat, sodium, etc into a food that is already processed, prepared, and ready to cook to serve. However, you must cook and serve responsibly so that you don't overdose on the negative factors that even meals that are good for you might bring. Too much pasta is never a good thing. However, you are going to come across situations where you need calories or more carbs. This is why pasta is a very popular ingredient that is served with many meals for athletes. If you were to eat this meal entirely too much, or any meal that involves pasta, it may not be in your best interest. Pasta is an extremely popular dish in most homes, which is why it is recommended to balance the serving size of pasta out with a salad on the side (for example). This way you are eating less pasta, but still having a full meal. 

The most popular brand of pasta is Barilla (which is the brand I am using for this dish). It comes straight from Italy but since it is packaged we know that it goes through a food process to arrive here. Luckily, Barilla advertises on their boxes that they try their hardest to minimize the amount of energy and water to import the pastas. Pinto Beans are grown in places like Spain, Mexico, Central America, and South America. They are imported to the U.S. and are packaged at the Goya Headquarters in Syracuse, New Jersey. 

Not only does this meal take a very short amount of time to prepare - around 20 minutes, but it is extremely cheap. Depending on where you purchase your ingredients at, the prices may vary. However, all of these ingredients you can find at any super market. A box of pasta usually varies from $1.25 to $1.60. A can of Goya beans costs around 98 cents. If you are interested in adding chopped up garlic to your dish, a clove usually costs 25 cents. These are how much the main ingredients cost. This is an extremely cheap meal that is just as cheap as fast food but is better for you and serves more people. These large cooperations like Barilla Pasta and Goya Beans are making money from every customer that invests in their products but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Its better than McDonalds taking your money. 

The process of making these ingredients yourself and buying them already ready for you in the store is completely different. There are plenty of people that can make their own pasta but this is usually not common in the average household, but it might be for Italian families. Restaurants and even some homes use a machine to make pasta. This is already a reason why people don't usually make pasta themselves. Even without a machine, making your own pasta would mean purchasing dough, rolling it out, cutting it, and preparing the dough with flour, egg, oil, etc. This is already a longer process and more expensive than going to your local super market. The same goes for pinto beans. You would have to purchase the beans and go through the process of growing them properly into bean stalks. If everyone was to home make all of their ingredients, it would be more expensive and a longer process. This is why we have supermarkets so people can afford to eat and the serve the meals they would like to make themselves but simply can't because it isn't in their reach.

Overall, this is a cheap, easy to make, not-so unhealthy meal that is great to serve for any family! Although there is a processed food involved, the dish supplies a lot of good nutrients but never forget to eat responsibly! Enjoy!

Reflection:

I was extremely passionate about this past unit. It was really convenient that all of this relates to what I will be studying in college - so it kept my interested even more. During this unit, I didn't necessarily learn anything new, but I definitely expanded my knowledge on topics and concerns that I was already familiar with. I learned a lot about where what food and what things connected to food are causes so many problems for people's lives in America. I learned about ways in which we can all do things like simply exercise 30 minutes a day or be more responsible when reading the labels of our food. There are simple ways that we can prevent deaths like heart disease, diabetes, etc. This unit also helped me realize where the problem is in terms of our country's food system. People are not knowledgable of what they are putting intro their body which is why they are putting themselves more at risk.

I have always been very careful with the foods I put into my body and have always been interested in living a healthy lifestyle. Therefore, I am going to continue the habit that I have been in for years now in terms of the way I eat and exercise. Watching the TED Talk in class was just another reminder of why I make the healthy decisions that I do in life and I never regret them. Unhealthy food tastes good but it not worth it in the end. I would like my habits and patterns of healthy living to hopefully rub off onto other people, to inspire them to do the same. People my age are not concerned with eating healthy but it is because they are so wrapped up in eating unhealthy, they actually have no idea what it is doing to them. And most kids are too stubborn to even give healthy food a chance - they think all healthy food is expensive and doesn't taste well. This is not always true and this has to become a more brought up topic of discussion so kids can turn around their bad habits.

I am studying athletic training and nutrition in college and I am definitely going to try to get to that point where I can reach out to a large audience and get them to change their lives around. I strongly believe that one day I will be able to say that I taught people a lot and people came to me for help, and now that they are making progress and healthy change. The way our food system has been looking doesn't look it's best and I am willing to take the time to make sure me and other workers on my team (whatever team that may be in the future) get society to be looking and eating the way they should be. 

Q2 BM Changing Worlds Essay

Analytical Essay:

After every war, or every deployment to war, there are always soldiers who come back with emotional damage being expected to mold back into society’s way of life. Changes such as the one Bartle was expected to go through when returning from war come in multiple phases. Soldiers are expected to come back and almost instantly get their normal lives together while adjusting to an environment that doesn’t have them constantly feeling like they are still deployed at war. As a result, they go through severe phases of depression and a lot of times, things like suicide is a popular option among these guys.

We saw this in chapter 7 when Bartle finally decided to go out with some friends for the first time since coming back from the war and leading up to that part of the book we learned pretty much Bartle’s daily routine after the war. We know that he is going through a depression and it all comes to a climax when he takes this small trip with some friends. He’s out with friends and decides to go out into the river while his friends are all still on shore not really noticing at first. As time goes on he kind of dozed off and ends up falling asleep face down in the water.

His friends then notice and see that their depressed friend Bartle is lying face down in the water and drag him out thinking that he has drowned which he probably did but that is not the point. The point that the writer of “The Yellow Birds” is trying to make that goes almost perfectly with the thesis of this essay is that soldiers coming home from war go through a tough time. It comes in a set of phases, now how many phases, nobody knows, it is different for almost every person coming from war. As stated in the thesis as well, a lot of times, this time of severe depression(PTSD) can and has a lot of times led to suicide.






Works Cited for Analytical Essay:

  1. Anderson, Pauline, and Désirée Lie. "Depression, PTSD Worsen Several Months After Soldiers Return." Medscape. Medscape Medical News, 15 Nov. 2007. Web. 12 Jan. 2015. <http://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/565954>.



Narrative Essay:

So sophomore year was by far my worst ever academic year. I wasn’t motivated to do anything my self esteem dropped severely and I felt like an outcast at home. Well as time went on between February 2014 and April 2014, people(my parents) started to take notice(mainly because my advisor noticed and pointed it out at the first narrative conference of the 2013-2014 year.) Anyways my parents realized that the same ways they treated my two younger siblings(my brother and my sister) wasn’t going to do a good job of helping my situation with school at all.

As a result, people like my parents and my brother and sister started to hang around me a little more thinking that spending time would heal all of my emotional wounds. So the school year finished, I barely passed World History and my parents decided not to really punish me for the bad grades but they put limits on all the things I could do like play video games. So summer started rolling through and things were starting to go back to normal until mid July.

It honestly felt and until that point of the day had gone on as any other day, wake up, get dressed, do chores, eat breakfast, play video games, eat lunch,play more video games with friends, but around like 6 or 7 pm, I paused the game just to stretch out and I pulled out my ipod touch and saw that I had a bunch of messages on the kik messenger app. I open it up to see what was happening and I see that one of my friends had sent me a text saying that a mutual friend of ours had run away from home and left a note saying he was going to kill himself.

I stopped everything and started talking to a bunch of friends and everyone is going crazy. I made up my mind right then and there that I was going to go help search for him. I knew my mom wasn’t going to help search and I figured that my dad who had been the Leader of my scout troop the last time that kid had come would also not hesitate to help search and that no matter how much begging I was going to have to do, I was going to help in the search any way that I can. My dad came home from his night shift at work and he must have heard about the situation on his way home because he was scrambling to change out of his police uniform so he could go search. Honestly my mom didn’t really want me to go and at first so did my dad. It took about ten minutes of back and forth arguing before I just stopped listening and changed out of my pajamas into regular clothes.

We searched and searched for hours and couldn’t find him. By the time we got back to the house, we could see the sun rising. We knew that there would be searches going on all week until they found him and though my parents didn’t really agree with me going to all the searches, I went and we didn’t find him. Keep in mind he went missing on a monday or tuesday I believe, and that saturday, my dad had worked during the day and when he got home, again just your normal day for a teen during the summer, we had friends over and I remember my dad pulling me and my little brother and sister aside and telling us that a body had been found in the area where we thought my friend had gone missing and that they were trying to confirm his identity through DNA.

I had the feeling inside when I heard the news that it was him and we had been told that his mom had indeed ID’d him through just seeing him as they wheeled him away.


Chocolate Covered Strawberries

By: Jules James

Recipe:

Dark chocolate chips (Milk chocolate chips are fine too but just note that they have less health benefits)

Coconut Oil

1 package of fresh strawberries

 

Process:

Put the chocolate chips in the pot

Put the pot on the stove

Put the stove on medium to melt the chips

Add the coconut oil

Dip the strawberries inside of the chocolate

Place a little bit of oil on the aluminum foil

Place the strawberries on the foil

Place them in the refrigerator to cool down 

 

Analysis:

Everything in this meal, which is dark chocolate covered strawberries,  is whole food. But the ingredients does contain calories, fat, and sugar. The body preforms a process called lipolysis to break down fats into glycerol and fatty acids. Then the fatty acids are broken down to receive energy, which is called gluconeogenesis. And to break down sugar, the enzymes from the saliva in your mouth  starts off by breaking down the carbohydrates and once the food is swallowed it digests in your stomach. Once your food gets there your stomach will break down carbohydrates into sugar molecules and molecules will pass through the lining of your stomach and gets sucked into your bloodstream. I believe that the dark chocolate is imported from Africa because it holds about half of the cacao species, the strawberries was imported from California, and the coconut oil is imported from Europe, which means the dark chocolate traveled the furtherest by a land-slide. This meal traveled 14532.0699miles to get to me, which is very far to only cost $17 for the whole meal. Even thought this cost way more than a Big Mac meal it's also more healthy and very fulfilling and it also benefits Walmart, Pathmart, Whole Foods, and the farmers. 


Dark chocolate is not only delicious but it's also very good for the body. Because the main ingredient is cocoa beans, which contains antioxidants, this helps fight off heart disease and keeps your organs and cells in tip top shape. Dark chocolate is also know to keep your blood pressure low. These are all benefits that milk chocolate does not provide. But the reason for it's chocolatey goodness is because it also have sugar and fat inside of it. These fats are called oleic acid, palmitic acid, and stearic acid. Dark chocolate has 160 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, and 12 grams of sugar.

Along with the dark chocolate I will also be using coconut oil. Coconut oil is fatty oil from coconuts. This oil is much healthier than vegetable oil but it doesn't provide any evidence based benefits. It's suppose to protect your body form Alzheimer's disease but their is no proof of that yet. Coconut oil have 120 calories, 14 grams of fat, and no sugar.

And lastly, we have the fruit, which is the strawberries. Strawberries are not only delicious by themselves but taste even better dripped in chocolate. But strawberries alone lowers a person's risk of cancer and it also lowers blood pressure. This is because strawberries contain phytonutrient and potassium. Strawberries contain only 20 calories, zero grams of fat, and only 3 grams of sugar. Basically chocolate covered strawberries is very healthy.


Reflection:

Throughout the food section, I've learned that two thirds of America is either obese or overweight. The obesity level in the world today is increasing every year and one if the reasons for this is because we don't buy enough organic foods but more fatty sugary non-organic foods. I've figured out that heart disease is the number one reason of deaths in the U.S. and that's because of the obesity level. But the part of the world that is mostly effected by this is the southeast side. They are seen as the most unhealthiest part of the U.S. And studies have shown that watching too much TV, playing games, and being on the computer is the main way to become obese. We lack of exercise and eating right and this hurts us a lot. And from the TED talk I've also learned that eating school lunch is definitely not the way to go and people today is ignorant about how to show the correct way. 

Something I could change in my food choices is first how much I eat. I know that non-organic foods are not good for you but it's not like you can't eat it, you just can't eat a lot of it. And other thing I could change is what I eat. I need to try to intake more fruits and vegetables than sugar. I could also keep a calorie tracker, eat healthier, and exercise more. But making these changes I would have more energy lose some weight, and become happier. I will try to commit to make these changes.


Food Rule:

food rule
food rule

Q2 FOOD PROJECT

Aaron Tang 

For 4-5 people. For more people, double the ingredients. 

Ingredients:

-1 table spoon of salt 

-2 eggs

-3 cups of rice

  • 2/4 vegetable oil 
  • 2/3 soy sauce 
  •  shredded chicken, beef or pork
  • water
  • 2 cilantro 


Process:

1). Pour rice on a rice cooker and make sure it is flat. (If you do not have a rice cooker, then use a pot).

2). Put water in the ricer cooker (fill water about 2 cm above the rice).

3). Wait about 15 minutes until the rice is fully cook (If using pot, stir it frequently). 

4). Cut the  2 cilantros into tiny pieces

5).  Pour vegetable oil to the pan (make sure the oil is evenly spread) and wait for a minute to heat up the oil.

6). Put the meat in the pan (If you're a vegetarian, you can skip step 5 and 6). 

7). Stir for 2 minutes 

8). Put all the rice onto the pan along with the salt 

9). Gradually stir for 5 minutes 

10). Eggs on the pan while stir it around 

11). Pour the soy sauce, add cilantros and stir, so all the rice can be golden brown. 

12). Enjoy your Fried Rice!


Analysis:

I feel like this particular food is a lot healthier than deep fried food because the food contains a lot of proteins and carbs. Since fried rice is an asian culture, people have different styles to make it. You can either add spice or adding any type of meat.  Besides soy sauce, oil and white rice are processed, this type of food has couple natural ingredients. Fried rice is very easy to make, and any one can make this at home. If you are a vegetarian, you can simply still make this dish.  Either way, our body needs salt, oil, carbs and proteins. If you eat this everyday, try to not eat a lot of carbs because eating a lot of carbs. Carbs will actually make you become obese since you are not going to eat other stuff from the food pyramid. To make it healthier, you can try it with brown rice! Brown rice will make the body resist on this.

Fried rice originated from Asia and most countries in Asia have a unique style of making their own fried rice. Generally you will need rice, and eggs to have fried rice.  Rice is the base food from Asia. Rice can be grown all year round as long it has a wetland and people will have to pick the rice. once it is pollinate. Immigrants came to America and started to embrace their culture by making this type of food. 

It is always cheap to cook at home. Generally the ingredients cost about $5 or less and when you go outside to buy it from a restaurant, it will cost about $10. Fast food will always be cheaper and it depends what you get. Since fast food places do have meals that include with a drink, some people would prefer the unhealthy food than fried rice.  Fast food joints tend to be everywhere than healthier food, so people would drive there.  Chinese Restaurants will always have fried rice and if people want Chinese food, just go there and order it or go home to cook the food. 

In Asia, people will like to add anything to their fried rice. There are so many different styles and different families make it differently. Rice can be process differently because at the super market there are many different colors. Rice is have different forms and sizes which makes it harder for buyers to really know what type of rice they can use to make fried rice. It is personal reference what rice you like to eat.  Meat can range from couple companies in the United States. Each company process their meat differently, and it depends what kind of food the animals eat. 

Screen Shot 2015-01-22 at 1.35.14 PM
Screen Shot 2015-01-22 at 1.35.14 PM

Q2 Benchmark- Julian Makarechi & (Andre Gallagher)

Julian Makarechi & Andre Gallager 

Instructions on how to make Pasta al Pesto

Ingredients:

- pasta (500 g)

- pesto (5oz)

- salt (pinch)

- water (fill pot & 1 table spoon for pasta bowl)

- parmigiano cheese

Process:

1. Boil pot of water. Put a pinch of salt in the water. 

2. Once water is boiling, put pasta in the water for about 8-10. You want the pasta to be a little bit had and not extremely mushy. 

3. Once done cooking the pasta, strain the pasta. 

4. In a large serving bowl, put your pesto at the bottom and put 1 table spoon of water to make the sauce creamy.

5. Dump the cooked pasta into serving bowl, mix well and add parmigiono cheese.

6. Ready to serve.


Analysis:

Since most people do not make homemade pasta, the pasta used in this meal is almost all processed. Pasta is made of mostly flour, eggs, wheat, in other a lot of gluten. However, the pesto is 100% whole foods if you get it fresh.  

In one box of Barilla, there is about 8g of fat, 336 carbs, and 0 sugar. The carbs and fat will cause weight gain but also a lot lipids to fight of viruses. Carbohydrates give your body with a lot of energy that we our bodies need. The process of how we digest pasta is quite simple. As soon as the pasta hits the tongue, the saliva immediately starts to breakdown the carbohydrates so it is easier to go through the stomach.  The cell walls and acid then deconstruct the pasta. Eating pasta everyday is not a good idea, it will make you gain way to much weight, and too much gluten isn't good for you. 

The pasta was probably made in Italy, but they probably got some of the ingredients from other countries in Asia. Since Barilla is such a large company, the pasta was manufactured  commercially. 

This is a pretty cheap meal, because pesto costs about 7$, and then box of pasta is 12$. A whole box is about 500 grams, which feeds 4-6 people. So per person it would be out 4$ per person, if there are about 5 people. 

Making pasta at home takes a lot time, effort and precisions. I think that just buying a good brand of pasta is a lot more convenient. Especially since it takes so long for the pasta to go bad, so you buy a lot at a time. 

Screen Shot 2015-01-14 at 10.18.31 AM
Screen Shot 2015-01-14 at 10.18.31 AM

Q2 Benchmark

Dylan Long

Science & Society Q2 Benchmark


Ingredients

(1 serving)

2 Fresh Avocados

1 Lime

1 Package of Cilantro

1 Onion

Garlic

Salt


Tools

1 cutting board

1 sharp cutting knife (large)

1 spoon (large)

2 bowls (1 large 1 small)

1 tupperware


Directions

  1. Take your avocados and split them open by cutting the outer shell open in a 360 fashion around the entire shell. Once you have completed the cut, twist the avocado open into two halves. Take your knife and whack the center of it onto the pit so your knife is wedged in the pit, turn your knife 90 degrees and remove your knife; the pit will come with it!

  2. Use your spoon to scoop out the avocado from each of the halves and empty it into your large bowl.

  3. Once all your avocado is in your bowl, throw out the shells and pits and mix your avocados to a pasty texture.

  4. Take out your cutting board, large knife, cilantro, onion and lime.

  5. Chop up your cilantro and onion into small diced pieces and dump them into your large bowl.

  6. Cut your lime into eighths and squeeze anywhere from 1-8 pieces of lime into your guacamole at your preference.

  7. Use your spoon to stir your bowl thoroughly so that all of the ingredients mix together with the avocado.

  8. At your own discretion/preference, add a couple sprinkles of salt to your guacamole.

  9. Use your spoon to scoop your guacamole out of the bowl and into your tupperware.

  10. Enjoy your fresh all-natural guacamole with some chips or tacos!


Analysis


The ingredients that I used in my recipe are simple, all-natural, healthy and can be found in the local grocery market or supermarket. All 100% of this food is whole food and not a single ingredient is processed; only vegetables, herbs and fruits! With my dish, there is no need to worry about any added sugars, fats, preservatives or artificial additives. Unless you have an allergic reaction with one of the ingredients, this is a healthy meal that will yield only good things for your body! In addition to being a great standalone dish, my guacamole is a fantastic way to increase both the flavor and nutrition of many common dinner meals! Going to a party and need to bring something along? My guacamole takes a quick ten minutes to concoct and tastes delicious. It can also be added onto tacos, enchiladas and more.


The ingredients that go into this guacamole (there are few) all come from the local grocery, which likely comes from all over the place. What I do know is that these fresh ingredients are not mass produced with artificial additives and preservatives. My ingredients come from real plantations and farms, and are transported to the local markets while retaining their fresh and authentic essence.


This meal does not cost much at all! With the finer ingredients, this meal falls under the $10 range. In comparison with fast food, guacamole and chips is far more healthy, filling and budget-friendly than fast food. In addition, you can make it in your own home! No need to make any side-tracked pit stops on the way home, guacamole is easy to make it under ten minutes! The thing that I enjoy the most which is another comparison that can be made between guac and fast food is that buying fast food supports massively corrupt corporations, and buying the ingredients for guacamole supports small, local businesses!


There are very few (if any at all) social ramifications of my guacamole. The economy prospers from the buying and selling of the ingredients, the one(s) consuming the guacamole are obviously extremely satisfied, and the ingredients are all natural! The avocados and cilantro come from the farmers market around my home, specifically in the 9th Street Market. Natural ingredients are sold there in the masses by Spanish families. The ingredients presumably come from all over the world! Avocados grow on trees, cilantro grows on farms, et cetera! Once all of these ingredients are combined, you are in for an absolute treat.


I learned a lot about nutrition this quarter! I learned about the various body parts and how many different ingredients and nutrients affect our body. I learned that sugar and fat are the leading cause for obesity, and that a LOT of America is obese. Even more of America is destined to become obese in the near future too! I learned that exercise is only half of staying in shape, you must have a healthy balanced diet on a consistent basis. The biggest problem for nutrition in America is the fact that we make consistently poor decisions about our nutrition and we feed ourselves pure garbage. I am very eager to continue making positive changes towards a better and healthier diet and lifestyle as time goes on.


food slide