Industrial Food (F8)

While watching the video Animal Cruelty, I was really disturbed. The animals were treated horrifically, their throats being slit while they are still alive, beaks being cut off, being kept in horrible conditions. It seemed as though the people were simply going through the actions as they brutally killed or tortured the animals. I would often have to look away because it was too disturbing, but I would continue to hear the sounds of cows or pigs crying.
After the video, a few people around me proclaimed that they want to stop eating meat because of the video. Although I think I was just as affected by the video, I also think it's difficult for someone to say that they will entirely change their eating habits because of it. I think eating meat is a natural thing, as it's something many animals do. However, what I do not think is natural is how the humans involved in these slaughter houses seem more interested in torturing the animal than using it for food. It seems that with industrial food, it's become more about torture and money and excess than the basic necessity of some kinds of food. I think humans are very greedy and selfish and that has what led to them being capable of such disgusting things. I think if we didn't view ourselves and so superior to other animals, and saw it more about respecting other animals that we need to help us survive, it coud be much more moral.

LATE F7

Recipe: Appetizer- Chiles con Queso

What you'll need:
- 2 Tbsp of unsalted butter
- 1 white onion
- 2 large ripe tomatoes, finely chopped (reserve juices)
- 2 poblano or anaheim chiles roasted and finely chopped
- 1 jalapeño chile, seeded and minced
- 1/2 tsp of sea salt
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- 6 oz. monterey jack cheese
- 6 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, grated
- 3/4 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
- chafing dish

In a large skillet, over medium heat, melt the butter, add the onion, and cook until the onion turns translucent - about 5 minutes. Stir often so onion doesn't stick and burn.

Add the tomatoes and their juices, chiles, salt, and cayenne pepper. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Stir in the grated cheeses and continue to stir until the cheese begins to melt and blend in. Slowly add the cream and cook for 10 more minutes. Taste and add salt and more cayenne pepper if needed. Serve immediately in a hot chafing dish.

i hate high school

Response to Pollan

I think that Pollan's argument about our food culture is correct. We are a fairly young country compared to others in the world, and are made up of a mix of many different cultures and it shows through our food. We have a mixture of types of food, and it may seem as though that would make us cultured, but it also just leaves us without a clear idea of what to eat because there is so many options and we as a people don't have a specific connection to any of them. We also have this obsession with appearances, and we're constantly trying to live up to the ever-changing idea of perfection. Because we are looking for that acceptance from society, we also look to society to tell us how to measure up, which is why we turn to nutritionists and other people totell us what to eat.

Grocery Store and Habitual Food

My mom generally goes to a nice grocery store like Fairway that has a lot of different varieties of foods to choose from, however most of the time we end up buying the same things we always get unless we're going through a time where we have a good amount of money. If it's a really bad time, we will go to the grocery store down the block that has cheap and mostly brand name (or fake brand name) items, but we rarely actually go there.
We try and buy the items at Fairway that are locally grown or locally made. However, I've noticed in most stores, they dont have local things like that, and they often just push the most popular brand name items, by putting up signs or putting up deals (buy oen get one half off, etc). Those are probably the items they get the most of, because they are big brand name companies, and I guess that is why they want to sell them so badly.

Food Cultures- Home and Corporate

My parents like to think that we're all really cultured so when we eat together or when one of them is cooking, it's often other cultures foods. With my moms side of the family, theres a fish market called Dawsons Seafood thats been in our family so we eat a lot of seafood. Theres a lot of cheese and bread on that side because they're french. They also like really typical mainstream white american food. They make a lot of chicken pot pies and soups and cakes.
My dad likes to get food according to convenience. He'll microwave south beach diet dinners for us. He also likes to go to the same Asian Cuisine sorts of places a lot (chinese, japanese, thai, etc.). He also really likes to grill things like burgers and hotdogs, but he'll get wheat buns and turkey burgers. Sometimes he grills watermelon for fun.
My eating habits are about the same as my parents. I eat a lot of typical mainstream things like Subways or something, but I also really like trying new things and eating more exotic meals that my mom likes to try cooking.

what's in my refrigerator

bread (wheat, italian hoagie buns)
milk
juice
gingerale
fruits (plums, strawberries, pineapple) (we don't keep bananas in the fridge)
paremsian cheese
italian wedding soup
cookie dough half eaten
nuts
raisin, cranberries
2 left over coronas
flour
sauces (bbq sauce, teriyaki sauce, mustard, ketchup, soy sauce)
eggs
lemons
vegetables (lettuce, asparagus, broccoli)
my smoke alarm
leftovers that look gross
meats (bacon, ham, turkey, hot dogs)
provolone and american cheese
tortillas
pita bread
hummus


I think this shows my mom needs to go grocery shopping more. We used to do family dinners a lot last year where we would set the table and eat with candle light and it would be her and her boyfriend with me and mine. This year, I eat in my room and she usually eats in her office. I think it's a pretty typical fridge with mainstream things but then with a dash of more "cultural" food because my mom likes to think we are.

Health Project

Growing up in the United States, when one thinks of health, the most obvious thing one thinks of is physical health and well-being. Throughout the unit, we have learned of other forms of health, such as social, spiritual, emotional, mental, and moral. However, the way people tend to choose to determine the healthiness of an individual, is often purely through their appearances, rather than their mentality. People have a tendency to associate health with this idea of the perfect body- toned, muscular, tan, skinny. There is this idea of perfection that people long for and, when they fall short of that, they may appear "unhealthy" to the rest of society. In actuality, I feel mental health is probably one of the, if not the most important aspects of health. Rather than promoting "Flatter Abs" and "Tighter Tummies" on the covers of magazines, I think society should also work towards addressing the basic mental problems that people face. For instance, the lengths at which people go to in order to maintain that perfect healthy body, can not at all be mentally healthy.
In discussing the issue of emotional health, the class debated whether or not a person was healthy depending on the emotions they were presenting to the world. For instance, if one person is constantly happy, or another experiences extreme highs and extreme lows, are these people emotionally healthy? In this discussion, it seemed that most people agreed that it all depended on the reasoning behind the persons emotions, and that they were somewhat aware of said reasonings. If someone were to experience something heartbreaking, we would expect them to mourn for a bit and acknowledge that that is the reasoning behind they're sad demeanor. However, if they remained in that state constantly for months, we would feel that that person was not emotionally stable. Essentially, it was determined that emotional health is when a person is able to experience varied emotions to a reasonable degree and be able to comprehend the reasonings for these emotions.
However, for some people, this is much easier said than done. Some people have to deal with emotional instability and therefore seek out help from professionals. In this case, we are dealing with a persons mental health. In our course, we examined different types of therapy and the ones we found to be most effective. A clinical psychologist is "a professional who is concerned with helping people live healthy and productive lives - someone who helps people solve problems of living or resolve mental health problems." (Paul G. Mattiuzzi, PH.D., http://everydaypsychology.com/2006/10/what-is-psychology.html). As a psychologist speaks to a patient, they hear about a persons issues related to everyday life (job, family, etc), while they try to understand the mental functions of the patient and their mental processes. There are many different subfields of psychology, and clinical psychology focuses on identifying destructive behavior in a persons life, and looks to understand and prevent it. I feel this is an effective way to help mental health. It creates a relationship with someone who helps to identify what the problems might be in your thinking or way of life, and how you can overcome it, in order to lead a healthier life.
I feel that an understanding of mental health is much more crucial than the emphasis we put on physical health and its appearance. Physicality is always so encouraged, and although I do believe that it is also necesarry in order to live a healthy life, it is not the only thing. Society should balance out the emphasis they put on both physical and mental health, in order to prepare people to be more rounded individuals.