Blog Feed

Ingredients (for two servings):
1 Onion
1 Green pepper
1 Tomato
2 African hot peppers
5 Maggi cubes
1 Package Chicken tray
⅕ cup of vegetable oil 

Instructions:
1.) Pour 5 oz. of dehydrated attieke into a large pot.
2.) Heat 5 oz. of water until warm. Pour the water in the pot with the attieke while stirring gently. Allow the attieke to soak for 5 to 10 minutes.
3.) Place the pot on the stove and cook for 4 to 5 minutes. Stir the attieke continuously. Use a fork to prevent the grains from sticking together.
4.) Turn off the heat and remove the pot from the stove.                             
5.) Place the attieke in a large bowl and wait for it to cool down.
6.) For the second part of the dish, place the chicken in a large Ziploc bag. Then, place the 3 maggi cubes in the Ziploc bag with the chicken. Keep the chicken in there for 30-60 minutes. 
7.) Take the Ziploc bag with the chicken and put it in a refrigerator. You can refrigerate the chicken for up to four hour. The chicken will absorb the flavors.
8.) Take the chicken out of the fridge. Allow the chicken to come to room temperature before grilling it.
9.) Grill the chicken in a grill pan till both sides of the chicken turn brown and crispy.
10.) Place the grilled chicken in a plate and put the attieke next to it.
11.) Cut up the onion, tomato, African hot pepper, and green pepper and put them in a Ziploc bag. Put one maggi cube and ⅕ of vegetable oil in the Ziploc bag. Let it sit for 30 minutes.
12.) Put the mixture that is in the Ziploc bag on top of the grilled chicken and the attieke.

Analysis:

Our meal consists entirely of processed foods. The total amount of calories in our meal is 851.4. Since there are so many calories in our dish, if eaten often, the human body would gain weight and grow to be less healthy. The amount of fat in our dish is 18.1 grams. Since our dish is fairly low in fat, the human body is more likely to work more proficiently. It is also less prone to get diseases associated with a fatty diet. These include diabetes, heart disease, and cancer of the lower digestive system. However, if you ate this meal everyday, since it is low in fat, it can lead to problems like overeating, depression, and hormonal imbalances.

All of our ingredients were harvested in the United States. However, some of them are native to West Africa (African hot pepper, etc.). On average, our ingredients travelled 600 miles to get to Philadelphia. According to research, the manufactures of the ingredients to not harvest it organically.

The chemicals used can have a negative impact on the planet in many ways. One of these is pollution. As the chemicals get washed away, they end up in rivers. This ultimately decreases the quality of the affected river. Given each ingredient, the meal cost five ten dollars to make. This is about the same cost as a fast food meal. 

One ingredient of particular interest to us was the African hot pepper. To grow it, a seed was placed in the ground. It was watered once everyday and sprayed with pesticides. After growing, it was picked, packaged, and sent to the store to be sold. After being purchased, it ended up in our dish.

Personal Reflections:

Ronald: One of the main problems with America’s food system is that people are lazy. In this unit, we have learned that people simply do what is most convenient when it comes to obtaining food. For instance, I remember one of the graphs that we looked at showed how far away the average person is from a supermarket. I realized that this distance often determines whether or not a person has access to healthy organic foods, as if unhealthy foods are closer, that is probably what the consumer will choose.

If I could make changes to my food choices, I would I would eat more vegetables. The reason is because I sometimes go days without eating them. I feel that if I ate more vegetables, I would become a healthier person. One impact that eating more vegetables would have is that I would have more lasting energy. Although eating foods that are high in sugar gives me energy, it burns out quickly. As a sprinter, this can lead to me tiring out in the middle of a race. 

After realizing that I need to eat more vegetables, I am prepared to make a change. Now, I make sure that I eat vegetables at least once a day. I plan to increase my intake even further.

Mabintu: I have learned a lot about foods this unit; food that is good for you and food that is bad for you. We also learned about why some foods are the way they are and what the government has to do with the kind of food we eat. When we looked at the health/food maps we came to an understanding that most of the overweight/Obese people are in the poor areas of Philadelphia. We talked about how food companies be lying about in the food and the labels. We talked about organic food and how it is more expensive and you have less of a variety to choose from. That is why people spend most of their money on presses food because they cause less. I do not need to change anything about my diet because I usually eat homemade food. When I eat outside I do not eat health because it’s they only time I can eat something that I think is good. I do not eat unhealthy most of the time I eat unhealthy like twice a week or so. I guess I need to make a little change to my diet, as to what times I eat. Right now I eat any time I hungry and sometimes I eat even when I’m not hungry. That will have to change.

Serving size: 7-8

12.00 dollars

Ingredient

1/2 cup of magrine

1/2 cup of Sugar

4 eggs

 1 cup of skim milk.

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees

2. Mix the bowls with the ingredients.

3. Bake the 350 degree oven for an hour before serving.

Serving size 2 people.

Some of the food is process and some is whole. The pineapples and eggs are not process and they are whole foods. But the extra ingredients like sugar margarine is process. Its pretty healthy as it only has 166 calories. I say it’s like 55% process and 45% not process. It is very high in natural sugar and process sugar. It also has eggs for protein and bread for bread use. This food dish lacks vitamin A, B and D. Also it does not have a lot of cholesterol. Some of the food that is processed all of the food will go straight to your systems that will be processed and then go to your stomach. Margarine comes from vegetable oil and skim milk. That is healthier then butter.

Margarine comes from vegetable oil and skim milk. So they came from a farmers.  So does the eggs that were made. My specific margarine and eggs comes from Kentucky. I am not aware wear my eggs came from but its company was Foodhold USA which is in Maryland. The rolls came from Florida and my Pineapples also came from Florida. That is a total of 1324 miles traveled just to get in my home. The Margarine, bread, pineapples, and sugar were all processed. Only the eggs were not processed. But the chicken who laid it was.

This meal cost around 12 dollars. This meal is suppose to serve 8 people. This is a lot more expensive then a 4 dollar menu burgers from McDonalds. This is an outrage that a dish served for 8 cost so much more. The stuff that cost the most is pineapples which were 2.00 dollars. Obviously the Martians, Doles and other foods won the deal by stealing my money. 

My bread cubes cubes some soybeans and Monocalcuim in it. I have no idea how they managed to add those items in bread  but the did.  I’m pretty sure if I made the bread those items would not be included in my bread. My eggs have no significant source of Dietary fiber or sugar. But I have no idea how to make eggs the right way. Plus I have no chickens.

I learned different effects that food can have on someone. I knew that eating unhealthy can cause an unhealthy life in the future. I knew that liver problems and other serious diseases are caused by eating habits. What I learned the most was from the videos, even though we didn’t finish the movie I learned a lot about the food culture. I learned that the food producers are a bunch of a-holes. Sorry for the rude language but it’s beyond me that a food company can just about contaminate almost all of the natural foods to make them more fattening just for money. It’s terrible to kill the cows, chickens and pigs the way they do. Not only make them fat but you basically make them kill them in the most gruesome way. And once someone talks about it, they get sued by the food companies. The workers can’t stop because they need the money to survive. So no one wins. This is a messed up society we have. Another reason why this world is messed up is because people in low income can not afford healthy foods because 1 low income and 2 there are no grocery store. This a terrible world we live in.

Over the past three years of living in Philadelphia my language has changed dramatically compared to when I lived in Delaware. Not only did I move to a totally different state with a different way of living, talking, dressing, etc., but I got older as well. Living in Philly I definitely have picked up the slang that’s used on a daily basis. When I am with my friends we use different slang words then someone maybe from south Philly. My weekends are full of fun random sayings that we make up.

My friends that live in West Philly, together we call each other The Mob. In the Mob my closest friend is Shania. She Is the one closest to my age (17). “Shine bright like a diamond” a song by Rihanna (my sister Shania’s ringtone) begins to play as my day is interrupted by her daily text messages or phone calls. Most the time she is calling or messaging me to ask if im going to come down there that day to chill or go to a party. “Yo shawty. Whats up? Instead of just “Hey” or “Hi” those are usually the things she’ll say. My response mainly sounds something like “Hey love. How r u?” I use love as a way to show I care about you on some level. If I call you my love its basically like calling you my friend or my homie.  Majority of the Mob’s conversations involve finding out the swerve (the move; activity) of the day/night. They can also involve a lot of plotting and planning sessions.

Our conversations go on they begin to get sillier and sillier. Someone will say something that someone else should have already known the answer to. Or (usually) Shania will ask a dumb question like five times in four different ways. We are the youngest of our crew of about 20 people (we are 16). The oldest direct member of our family will be 21 this year. Shania and I being the young ones, they basically took us in as there lil sisters/ young bulls. For someone who doesn’t hang out with us on a daily basis they would think we are they WEIRDEST people alive. One thing that we do to basically laugh at each other is what is called Follow ups. “That’s one…follow ups”; this is usually stated when someone does something wrong or says something totally Stupid off. What happens is that you get hit on the shoulder back arm area by everyone around you. You can say “No Follow ups” Saying this is basically acknowledging that you screwed up in some way. It also yells “dont hit me!”

Another language that is used a lot in my life is the language of arts. Whether its rap poetry or singing its always happening (especially if im with my friends) We use it to not only express ourselves but to make things more fun. We could be walking down the street and someone will randomly start singing or rapping about what we are doing. Seven out of the 15 people in The Mob rap and go to the studio. When PurpVarsity (the rap group) with Cazz, Drew and two people not from The Mob throws parties they preform and give other people the opportunity to perform as well.  The arts have become of big part of how I communicate to strangers and very close people. Its not pressuring, its comfortable and fun.

Over the short amount of years I have been in this world, I have learned a lifetimes worth of things just from language alone. I have learned ,thanks entirely to the judgment of others, that my way of speaking is 'white'. Which on paper sounds kind of ridiculous as you wouldn't think of language as actually having a color. But I assure you people in this day and age have color coded the english language. While slang and grammatically incorrect english is usually referred to as 'black' more articulated, polished english is thought of as 'white'. There exist a grey zone where broken english falls into but that's a story for another day. In the hierarchy of colored language someone speaking in a 'white' manner is always thought to be smarter than someone who speaks in a 'black' or even 'grey' dialect and that shouldn't be so. Take my first day of 6th grade for example.

“Welcome to Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love!” I still remembered the giant billboard ushering us into Philadelphia after what seemed like endless drive along a highway that seemed like it stretched on forever. Now I stood at a classroom door, scared nervous, out of my element. I put doubt behind me as I remembered I was in the city of brotherly love of course they would accept me they had too. Right? I slowly crept through the door accidently closing it a bit harder than I intended to. Instantly 30 pairs of eyes swallowed me whole from my hair to my skin color to the shoes I wore. Everything  was put on the forefront. I remember my teacher, Ms.Graves, booming voice. “Okay class this is Charles” Char-els she somehow managed to shove two syllables in my name “Char-els tell us about yourself!” It was more of a command then a suggestion. I looked out at my classmates they were hungry for information their eyes said so. “Well, my name is Charles,” I said emphasizing the way my name is supposed to be spoken the way my mom says it. In one breath, short sweet, but it carried power. I remember getting weird looks just from this statement, not form what I said, but form my annunciation and pronunciation, nervously I continued. “I’m from Atlanta, Georgia. I just moved here not to long ago and I—“ “Why is you talkin’ so white?” This outburst came from a girl right in front of me, it wasn’t a tease, it was not an insult. It was a sincere question. Why did I talk so white? The whole class went up in laughter; they had all been wondering the same thing apparently. I never did answer that girl, I didn’t know how too. 

That was the first time I had not only realized i talked differently from other black kids, but I was assumed to be smartly purely from just me muttering a few words. My time in 6th grade was spent trying to adjust to the Philadelphia dialect. At first I had mental cringes every time a kid would say "I be" or "They is" and I'll admit at time I thought of them as stupid or uneducated. But then came the days we had classroom discussions and it were those days that I realized my peers 'black' language did not reflect how bright there minds were. My fancy words didn't make my point anymore valid than the next man-- or kid in my classroom and I realized from that day on that people assuming intellectual levels based on speech is ignorance at it's finest. In their defense, it's only logical to think an idea is only as good as it is portrayed verbally. However what we overlook is what's being spoken and what's being spoken are two very different things. 

In closing, a persons mastery over their respective language, or even others, should not reflect how educated or smart you think they are. doing that is not only ignorant but it's one of the very prudent forms of modern racism. Thinking this way can only hurt you in expanding your mind to the different cultures of the world.  

Land O Lakes Butter: Land O Lakes butter comes from a farmer-owned cooperative that can be found in Arden Hills, Minnesota. This butter is created on many farms and is shipped over 1,171 miles to reach Philadelphia. The butter is made with milk which can spoil easily if not contained in proper refrigeration. The butter claims to be packaged in a “FlavorProtect” wrapper that keeps the rich flavor in the butter from escaping it’s packaging. Land O’lakes butter contains 100 calories, 17 percent fat, 37 percent saturated fat, 10 percent cholesterol (30mg), and 4 percent sodium

Morton’s Sea Salt: The salt is the highest quality of sea salt and is harvested from the Mediterranean Sea on Spain's Costa Blanca. The product is then distributed from the Morton International, Inc. located in Chicago, IL. This product travels 765 miles to reach the local grocery shops of Philadelphia, PA. Salt is a self-preserving ingredient so “food miles” surely has no effect on it. Morton’s Sea Salt contains a daily value of 0 calories, 0 percent fat, 23 percent sodium, 0 percent total carbohydrate and 0 grams of protein (Percent Daily Values are Based on a 2,000 calorie diet).

http://voices.yingshton.com/reviews-morton-sea-salt-coarse-vs-fine-sea-salt-1625215.html?cat=22 $4.75

Spice Classics Ground Black Pepper: Spice Classics black pepper is freshly ground from peppercorn plants that are grown in agricultural fields all across America. It is manufactured at the Por Han-Dee Pak Inc. in Cockeysville, MD. This product travels 104 miles to be sold in local supermarkets. Pepper is also self-preserving so “food miles” has no effect on it. This product contains 0 calories, 0 grams of Saturated Fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 0 milligrams of sodium, 0 milligrams of Potassium, 0 grams of Carbohydrate, and 0 grams of Dietary Fiber.

http://www.foodfacts.com/NutritionFacts/Spices-Seasonings-Cooking-Products/Spice-Classics-Ground-Black-Pepper--oz/12864 $2.59

Meal Analysis

If this meal were to be prepared with the need of all ingredients, it will cost $11.85 and approximately 20 minutes of your time. The meal is overall healthy for it avoids high use of carbohydrates and salt in comparison to fast food products. But if this meal were to be eaten everyday, ones health will defiantly be in risk of obesity. Pasta has a high amount of carbohydrate and is eaten with many sauces/cheese products that raise blood pressure. Although it may not be healthy to consistently eat this meal, it is wiser to stick to pasta rather than a Big Mac and Fries. This meal is prepared easily but it is not as convenient as to order a meal through drive through. There is no labor behind the stove and no long wait. In conclusion both sums of money will provide a meal for 8 but one is simply more convenient than the other. Unfortunately Americans are willing to risk their health for a faster and easier way to eat a meal. Until the public realizes this lifestyle is threatening to their health, there will be no progression towards a “healthier America.”

The U.S. food system is corrupt in many ways. One of which is the average American’s diet. From personal experience and the research done for this project I tend to notice that the average American diet consists of a lot of salty and sugary foods. Soda is heavily preferred with a meal as apposed to water or other non-chemically carbonated beverages. Also the American diet lacks diversity.  Every meal consists of a type of meat and or bread covered with cheese. The average American diet lacks color, greens, and grains of white rice, fish and or vegetables. It seems to define itself with a restricted type of food that consists of no rich vitamin of minerals that is necessary in a diet.

The U.S. also provides convenient and affordable meals when it comes to “fast-food”.There are now fast food restaurants open 24 hours a day providing large amounts of processed foods for a cheap price. These restaurants not only provide cheap unhealthy food but also quick food. These foods come out of window instead of out of hard work over a stove so why work for food? The issue is that the average American work schedule is intense and the availability of fast food is too convenient to pass up over resting. These issues can all be resolved. I believe that with the simple step of enhancing the quality of food that surround us it will eventually reach the homes of citizens. This will turn the tables and create a culture in which cooking at home will be more convenient than buying fast food. With the first step of introducing alternate access to food (more diners), the U.S. food system will reach the idealistic health level it needs.

6 apples - peeled, cored and chopped

1 cup of finely chopped walnuts

1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon 

1/3 cups of sweet red whine ( this is being replaced with a similar trap juice that is non alcoholic. )

Place the apples and walnuts into a large bowl. Mix together the cinnamon, sprinkle over the apples. Stir in the grape juice. Serve immediately, or refrigerate until serving.

Analysis:

This meal is traditionally a jewish meal that is ate at passover, which is a jewish holiday, although I am not jewish i do have family that are jewish. Usually this meal has some processed food in it, however the way I am making it is made with completely 100% whole food. When it comes to fat content sugar content and caloric content all of these are very low for this dish aside from the traces of sugar throughout the meal there isn't really anything that contains a lot of calories or fat. Its not something that would have any negative effects of your body and it actually can make you feel more energetic and healthy. This food is pretty much completely organically grown and all the ingredients can be pretty easily found in nature. This meal is much much healthier then fast food because its not greasy or fatty and isn't processed.

 I feel that my role in the food system is that I am a human. I feel that each human has a certain role where each animal has a role. The food chain is a huge part of the food system and I feel that although most humans don't take part in this role our role should be keeping balance in the food system and making sure the world and ourselves are healthy. Most humans don't do this, and to be quite honest neither do I. However, I feel that in a perfect world we would all eat healthier and try harder to keep a balance in the worlds food system. The biggest issue we have as a food system is our lack of healthy foods and our abundance of animal slaughter for food. I love to eat unhealthy food and animals, but I see where it is too much and wrong. I see that as people we don't want to balance things and that is a huge and major issue with our culture, society and food system. This is because we are raised in a way that we see ourselves as superior and life has been like that for so long that that is all we seem to know anymore. Changes I would personally like to make and that I could make would be less fast food and fatty foods in my diet to be replaced with more healthy foods. I would also want to eat less fatty foods and maybe cut down on the amount of food that I eat. The impact of these changes would be little to nothing on a grand scale, but could very well change and even save my life. Part of me is willing to make these changes, but I know that it will be something that is very hard for me because I am accustomed to eating the way I do. I have tried being vegetarian and although I could do it I just didn't feel like me and I wouldn't ever change myself. 

1/2 cup vegan margarine (80% fat is best)

1/4 cup  sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg

1 1/4 cups unsweetened applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla

Steps                                             

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Cream margarine until fluffy.
3. Add to organic unbleached sugar and blend.
4. Sift together dry ingredients.
5. Add to margarine mixture alternately with applesauce, mixing well after each addition.
6. Stir in vanilla and nuts.
7. Spoon into 12 cupcake pans sprayed with vegetable pan spray or use paper baking cups.
8. Bake 15-20 min.

VEGAN BUTTER CREAM ICING

1 cup powdered sugar

3 tablespoons cocoa poweder

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons of warm-hot water

Steps

1. Mix cocoa and powdered sugar
2. Blend in vanilla.
3. Add in water gradually

Recipe Analysis

This recipe doesn't really tie in culturally to me. However, it does tie in slightly to my family. My family has a small history of having lots of health issues so to have recipes that are as healthy and wholesome as possible is often preferred. This recipe is vegan, which means that it does not rely on the use of animals. Soy milk is a very popular milk alternative for vegans. Margarine is also a popular butter substitute.

The cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, and salt are the most whole foods used in my recipe. Some of the stuff is processed. REAL soy milk is fairly unprocessed and because of this it generally would last only a few days in the refrigerator. Processed soy milk is designed to last about 2 weeks or more.

I chose this recipe mainly because after seeing how terribly we treat animals in the production of meats, I thought against using meat for a dish. Instead, I decided that since it’s a Friday, why not celebrate with some awesome vegan cupcakes! Doing something like this is good to bring attention to issues like animal cruelty.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes (or so)
Servings: 13

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons of pure olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped fine
2 cherry tomatoes, cut into small chucks
2 cloves of garlic, minced
¹/₄ yellow squash, peeled and cubed
1 zucchini, peeled and cubed
10 mushrooms, washed and cut into thin slices
8 baby carrots, washed and cut lengthwise
¹/₂ red bell pepper, washed and cut into thin slices
¹/₂ green bell pepper, washed and cut into thin slices
All the stalks of broccoli, washed and cut into chucks
5 cups of water, preferably from the kitchen faucet
A box of Barilla Whole Wheat Rotini
    A tablespoon of bubbarai
    Salt, pepper and cumin to taste
    Chopped Italian Parsley as garnish
 
Recipe:

1.) Heat up oil in a wok under medium heat.
2.) Add in onion and stir occasionally for five minutes.
3.) Toss in tomatoes and garlic and continue to stir.
4.)  Combine the yellow squash and garlic, the mushrooms and carrots and bubbarai, the salt and pepper and cumin and half of the Italian Parsley, the red and green bell peppers, and the broccoli with five minute intervals in between.
5.) Turn the flame down to low. Splash water into a standard pot and turn the heat on high.
6.) When water is boiled, gentle spill rotini.
7.) Stir when needed.
8.) Drain off almost of the water; leave roughly two cups left.
6.) Finish by tossing the vegetables and the rotini (with water) together. Top off with the remainder of the Italian Parsley.

Analysis:

The olive oil, water, pasta and two of our seasonings are probably the only pieces of this dish that are processed. If I am not mistaken, many of the vegetables in our household come from a farmers’ market in New Jersey and the rest hail from a store that exclusively sells fruits and veggies. Yes, the drive does release harmful gases into the air, but at the very least, we know where our food is coming from. As for the spices, we have a community garden that grows herbs, like the parsley, and we keep them handy until the time comes.

Although they are considerably low in protein and fat, veggies have varying proportions of vitamins, minerals, fiber and carbs throughout. It makes for a pretty well-balanced meal, even so eating this all day would not be very smart. As a remedy to where it is lacking, adding some well done meat or nuts of some kind to mix would beneficent to one’s health. Having it once a day is okay move for it does not necessarily hold everything a human body requires.

We know that the pasta was manufactured in the United States and the olive oil was imported from Italy, but there is one other thing that has traveled a far distance to end up on this plate. My grandfather is visiting from Ethiopia and the bubbarai that was used is a combination of spices that is a homegrown concoction. He made it with his bare hands, I swear. The trip over took him roughly a day, though and no matter how I look at it, that has to take away from the overall environmental impacts because yeah, the taste literally had to fly via airplane, the ecologist deathtrap.

Price has never been my strong point, still if I had to guess, I would say that a portion reaches into the nine dollar and seventy-six cents category. The actual price of each could not have been exceedingly expensive, but there was a bucketload to incorporate. On the bright side, dividing it between that many people should be about enough to cover the cost.

Thankfully, this was a flavorful vegetarian dish sans any type of meat, in other words, no corn for us. This project really delved deep into our food system and the phrase”made from scratch” is given an entirely different meaning. The ingredients that allow for it all to come together are not conveniently placed in our backyards. The distance traveled probably outweighs the health benefits, but now, we know.

PERSONAL REFLECTION::

I am the daughter of a consumer. While I do eat out with my friends on our weekly excursions, the grand majority of my meals are eaten in the dining room / kitchen area. Shoveling down whatever is available is considered okay for there are very few stomach-turning products make it past my mother. She is a critical human being and her judgement is adequate by my standards because my not-dying-yet is a testament to her choices.

However just because she gives into her motherly duty of combing through whatever she places on the table does mean the rest of country can. The way foods are labeled confuses, the practice in which they are introduced to the public is wholly disgusting, but more importantly, the American government allows multinational companies to carry on with their operations scott free. The healthy is far more expensive than the fast and all of this is playing on my wry humor more than it should.

Maybe it is just our mindset, because we are too young to have been corrupted with the temptations of the big bucks that we are able to think clearly. The food system is a cutthroat business where only the rich and cunning can rule and the ones trying to fight for the betterment of humanity are left to perish. Ah, and suddenly, this nation seems more like the land of the exorbitant and the home of the convenient.

Personally, this unit has entitled me with of the facts and figures to make the correct assumptions altogether. I have noticed that I look more critically at the soft drinks than the bottles of water, that I pass over the deep fried for the whole grain. Hopefully, there is something to be said here.

Lemony pasta with wilted arugula

Ingredients: (4 servings)

• coarse salt and ground pepper

• 3/4 pound short tubular pasta

• 3 ounces wild or baby arugula (3 cups)

• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest, plus 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 3/4 cup grated pecorino cheese, plus more for serving

Steps: 

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions. In a large bowl, compbine arugula with lemon zest and juice; season with salt and pepper. Drain pasta and immediately add to arugula along with oil and cheese. Toss and season with salt and pepper. Serve topped with more cheese (if desired).

Analysis:

While the specificity behind its name would insinuate a unique history and background, "Lemony pasta with wilted arugula" is simply an alternative to both salad, and pasta. The ingredients are simple, and incorporate whole foods and processed foods. The pasta is a toss-up. Normally, pasta is considered a "whole food", yet many genetically modified strains of pasta are sold in supermarkets and local delis. The arugula is typically bought local, so it is almost definitely a "whole food." The lemons used for juice and zest are also whole foods. The only other potentially GMO besides the pasta is the olive oil (the cheese is also bought 'organically').

Overall, the meal is fairly healthy, albeit one or two exceptions. In one serving, you consume 443 calories, approximately 13 grams of fat (4 of which are saturated), 18 grams of protein, 65 grams in carbohydrates, and 3.1 grams of fiber. The meal would be great after a long run, or extended break in a day's meal. While 443 calories for one serving is a lot, the standard calorie count for a main dish at a meal is 510 cal. 

The environmental impact is very low. While the liquids may have been processed, the other foods are purchased locally at delis or farmers markets that sell food from local farms. I can proudly say that the meal is entirely American, and the majority of the meal only traveled approximately 100 miles (excuse the liquids). 

Depending on the quality of pasta, cheese, lemons, and other ingredients, the meals price varies. This dish costs approximately $22, however broken down over four people it only comes to around $5.50 per person (assuming only four people are eating. When you double the amount of people, you double the ingredients). 

The social ramifications are not steep. The farm that the arugula comes from is in Lancaster County, PA, and was purchased at a local farmers' market at Clark Park in West Philadelphia. The majority of the food that my family buys is from local farmers' markets, so Supreme Shop n' Bag would not be gaining profit. 

Over the course of this unit, I’ve learned a great deal about the production and consumption of food. Furthermore, we have studied the cause and effect behind everyday foods - going into depth about the effects of sugars, carbohydrates, and fats. Placing myself into the larger food system, I realize that my footprint in the food market directly aligns with the footprint of other consumers - whether I like it or not. This is one of the biggest problems in our food market: while we can choose what to buy at the store, we do not choose where it comes from. The simplest solution to these problems would be to buy things locally, and support non-industrialized farming. For me, this would mean supporting the local farmers market, and purchasing food grown in Lancaster Country or other rural parts of Pennsylvania. Preferably non-genetically modified foods as well. While the impact would be small, I would hope these trends transcend my own food-footprint and into other communities. 

Unfortunately, it’s not easy to make these changes. Local food is often more expensive than industrial food because its price is based on quality, and the time it took to make. However, I am willing to try to make these changes. 

​Heya! Sasha Sapp here presenting my Food Unit Benchmark. This unit covered from individual health, to comunal health, to the food industry and its political role in the nation. My Benchmark has 3 parts: a "Food Rules" slide, a personal reflection of the unit and a recipe an analysis of my home family dish. Enjoy!

Part 1: Food Slide


 

Part 2: Personal Reflection 

I can definitely say that this has been a very relevant and engaging unit in more ways than one. While the point of this class is to merge the relevance of science within everyday society, I feel like this unit really touches more on the role of the individual, and makes everyone accountable- in a way. Firstly, I've always been aware of the disparities in our world among food, access, resources, and other things. Yet, this unit has made me see these disparities a bit differently- I now see everything as more interconnected. For example,  I learned the roles that physicians and health care play in and the national debt from Doctor Brenner. It presented the idea of a very minute group controlling the system of out healthcare; furthermore, the idea of a very small group controlling an entire system, in general. That is the way that the world works. This also ties into the very few, powerful companies controlling our entire food systems. The degradation of food quality, and even how we obtain out food has been corrupted. Yet the furthest corner of my mind, I can see no other way. 

Firstly, there are over 7 billion people on this planet; of course, we don’t have the adequate resources to feed, clothe, and house them all. It’s just impossible. That being said, how exactly is it supposed to be that everyone is “entitled” or “should” have access to the better quality food. Regardless, there’s someone out there that doesn’t have access to food in general. While our system isn’t just in some aspects, it is adequate to feed people, in the moment. It can still be improved in the long run- maybe. I say “maybe” because we have no idea how we’ll be in the next 50 years, let alone 20, so what sort of substantial promises to better access and quality to basic resources can we make, when we cannot sufficiently supply all right now? I believe it is that problem that must be tackled, in the most practical of senses. What are to do with an ever growing population, and continuously decreasing supply of land and resources- the Earth is not ever-expendable. 

In all, it’ll take years to re-work system so firmly established- when there’s money being made, it’s hard to fight against it. Food/health is just another thing that has been turned into a product of capital gain, and for that reason, the system- while wrong and corrupt- will remain. Considering the socio-economic factors that dictate health and lifestyles only solidify that. I suppose my point overall is that in a grander scheme of things, its impractical to put the importance of “good food” over food at all- though I realize that we only have this argument in the first place because we are in a country that has the luxury to do so (please don’t mind, my thoughts are sort of rambling). It's not that I don’t care about having good quality foods, I just think that looking outside- and even still within, this country- having food in general is the more important problem to be tackled. America and other nations that are developed can afford to say, “people need better food!”. Though, a ridiculous amount of other countries do not have that luxury. I think we need to look beyond ourselves as a nation, just for a bit, and see that on a grander scheme of things, having food at all will be the questions for the next generations.

Chicken Fried Rice

Serve 8:

Calories Per Serving: approximately 400

Cooking Time: 1 hour

Boneless Chicken Breast (family pack)- (140 calories per slab)

White Rice (5 cups)- (242 calories per cup)

Onion (1) (44 calories)-

Green Pepper (1)(33 calories)-- 

Habanero Pepper (1)-

Pepper (1)-

Season Salt (1)-

Onion Salt (1)- 

Chicken broth (1 can) 94.55 calories-

Recipe:

1. On a cutting board, slice the chicken slabs into assorted chunk sizes. Also, slice the onions and peppers.
2. Setting the stove to high, bring a skillet to a low simmer with butter. 
3. Once the butter is thoroughly melted, toss the chicken into the skillet and turn the burner low. Add the sliced peppers and onions as well as a few dashes of each seasoning. 
4. Turn the pilot very low and sauté the chicken for 60 minutes (the low simmer allows for a well-marinated taste). At the same time, as the chicken broth for extra flavor.
5. 40 minutes through the sautéing the chicken, fill a crocpot with water and add the 5 cups of rice to the water. Let the rice cook for 20 minutes 
6. When the 60 minutes are through, combine the chicken and the rice. Eat and enjoy!

Analysis:

My meal as a whole is mostly healthy, and ecenomically sound, but it is mostly socially impactful. 

Processed vs. Whole: The majority of the foods in this meals are whole foods, other than the white rice and the chicken broth. The white rice would be is bleached to the make it look white- it would've been healthier to use brown rice. As the for the chicken broth, it is only a compilation of chicken extract and other flavors, therefore it is not a whole food. The peppers and onions, however, are whole foods.

Environmental: Just about all of the ingredients are harvested on US soils, so any effects that we see occur here. The production off the peppers can be taken into question, as the peppers that I bought were grown commercially. The peppers are sprayed with Ethephon, which is used to promote early ripening. However, the toxicity of the Ethephon is quite low, so the environmental impact isn't as bad as it could be.

Meat Sauce and Spaghetti Recipe: 

1.5 lbs of ground beef

2 packets of onion soup mix (one box usually contains two packets)

2 cloves of garlic

2 twenty-six oz bottles of traditional tomato sauce

1/4 cup of sugar

6 Italian sausages (approx. 12 oz)

1 tsp of worcestershire or A1

bay leafs

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp fresh ground peppercorn

1/4 cup of sugar

1 medium-sized bell pepper (green or red)

1 medium-sized yellow onion

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tbsp basil

1.  Begin to brown the ground beef in a skillet on medium high heat

2. While browning the meat, add one packet of onion soup mix and 1 tsp of Worcestershire or A1 sauce.

3. Add two bottles of 26 oz traditional tomato sauce to a slow cooker (crockpot), set on low heat. 

4. Mince two cloves (or as much as desired) of fresh garlic

5. Once the beef is browned, drain the meat, then add it to the crockpot with the sauce, stir well

6. Remove the casing on the Italian sausage. 

7. Separate the sausage meat the best you can and put the sausage into the skillet on medium-high heat and brown the sausage while chopping it with the spatula.

8. Add a few bay leaves, the salt, pepper and sugar to the sauce and stir well. 

9. Cut 1/2 of a medium-sized pepper into fine cubes and add it to the crockpot

10. Cut 1/2 of a medium-sized onion and add this to the crockpot also, stir well

11. Add the second packet of onion soup mix to the sauce, stir

12. Add garlic powder and basil to the sauce

13. Let the sauce simmer on low heat for about an hour while stirring occasionally. 

Spaghetti 

2 boxes (any kind desired) 

Pot

Water 

Strainer

Spoon 

1. Fill a big pot mostly with water and let it boil

2. Once the water comes to a rolling boil, gradually add the spaghetti noodles

3. Stir occasionally to make sure that the noodles do not stick to the bottom or the sides of the pot

4. Remove the pot from the heat once the noodles are soft and drain the water

5. Top with warm sauce

Because some people in the class do not it pork, we make two bowls of the sauce. One bowl we poured right in from the crock pot and the other bowl we put the rest of the sauce into another bowl and we added the sausage to eat for those of whom that can eat pork and want some. Then we put the rest of the onion soup mix into the bowl with the sauce and sausage. So when making this dish you might want to fix it based on who will be eating it. 

Analysis: 

The reason why I wanted to make this meal is because first of course I love, love love Spaghetti. But, it is a family thing, we eat it all the time. When my granddad was younger he use to eat it all the time with his family and he still eats it with his family now. So Sabrina and I wanted to combined. We used all fresh things to make this to try and help keep a good diet. 

Personal Reflection: 

During this unit I have learned a lot about what I “thought” I knew about food. Before it seems as if as students were not taught the “truth” about things because we were younger. But now the truth comes out it seems a bit not normal. I say that because of the food unit we just had. I use to think that some of the foods that we ate we some what healthy, but it turns out that nothing we eat is really “healthy”. If man made it then it is not good for the human body and man makes EVERYTHING. I feel like I do not really have a “role” in a larger food system because in a sense there is nothing that just one individual can do to change the way we eat as a whole. The biggest problem is our food system that nothing is purely organic and basically everything is GMO. Some changes I can make to make food choices is to not eat as much or drink as much soda as I would like to all the time. Most of the time I like to drink water but once I have a taste of soda I always want to drink more of it. I can just tell myself that I don’t need it and that it is not healthy for me to drink it as much. My family has changed the way we eat as a whole and I just have to make sure I stick to that way of eating. These changes would really have an “impact” per say It’s just a healthier way of living. Well, I guess you can say a healthier way of living would be the “impact”. Yes, I am willing to make these changes after seeing the video of how our meat/food is made. It just makes me want to change some of the things that I put into my body. 

Potato Salad Recipe

Step 1:

Clean 6 potatoes 

Step 2:

Peal the 6 potatoes 

Step 3: 

Boil the 6 potatoes 

Step 4:

After boiling the potatoes, cut the potatoes anyway you like 

Step 5:

Get a big size bowl, perfect size for your servings.

Step 6:

Jar of light mayo (of your choice) 

Step7:

Boil 5 eggs

Step 8:

Peal shell off of eggs

Step 9: 

Cut eggs (or put into grinder) 

Step 10:

Pour the cut potatoes and cut boiled eggs in to bowl

Step 11:

Scoop hole jar of mayo, or half jar of mayo into the bowl then stir

Step 12:

After have two onions cut and pour into bowl

Step 13: 

Stir ingredients together

Step 14: 

Your choice of seasoning but if not add salt and pepper 

Step 15: