You Say Tomato I say To-mato, You Say Potato I Say Pah-tato

Well, Well, Well apparently we all have come a long way from those blogs where we don't get to the point or we just don't do it. While I was sort of sitting in on another class Andy addressed that the grades have gone up alot from the beginning of the year. He seemed sincerely perplexed...Well let me just say, that the point of school is to learn, and if given time, the right teacher and the right materials believe it or not Andy this thing called learning will happen. Eventually, the things that have been drilled in to our heads will stick, I've been told that brainwash...er I mean 'clever manipulation' works best. It seems that now it's almost impossible to see anything the same as we did 8 months ago, (not that that's completely bad). A commercial isn't just a commercial anymore, its a message to get people to spend money in the worst ways, birth isn't just birth anymore its a "billion dollar business", health care isn't the warm and loving doctors waiting to help us, its a scheme to make us all poor.I believe there's a thin line between deeply criticizing something and paranoia.

Food #8 Industrial Food

Addressing the following sources: Industrial Food Isn't Cheap & Animal Cruelty

For the first one, I agree. Although I do see some area's for argument. The major food franchises such as McDonalds, Burger King, Quiznos, Subways, 711, KFC, Popeye's and so on; have some prices that are a bit outrageous. They [major food franchises] have invented some clever ways to keep people interested: 1. Introduce more food for cheaper prices, 2. Include more food in the meal, 3. Adapt a similar food from another food franchise for cheaper, 4. Have monthly sales where things such as 'chicken' nuggets are sold for .99c These corporate schemes pull people in to the point where they wake up one morning and notice that they've gained 400lbs overnight.

Which connects to what the source addresses in the first line of the article "If you added the real cost of industrial food -- its health, environmental, and social costs..." that this fast food thing that America has going here is costing more than this weeks paycheck. Food is a big deal here and advertising it is even bigger. It pulls us all in at some point, you see some coupons for Starbucks in the Sunday paper, chances are that you are going to use them. To an extent everyone is pulled in to the fast food world. And it's not good for your wallet or your body. But getting people to stop would be almost completely out of the question, prices will raise and lower and recessions will come and go but ultimately at the end of the they the typical American must have fast food, soon to become faster food.

For the second source, animal cruelty is something that I think most people are familiar with, when it comes to using baby alligator skins for new purses or African chinchilla's for new mink coats but people tend to act oblivious to animal cruelty when it comes to actually eating it. When you see the poor defenceless cow being tied down and then slaughtered for next week's Big Mac, people get jumpy and disgusted, its almost like they [humans] know that eating all these animals in mass amounts is bad, and for the most part isn't exactly nice but if they [humans] actually have to see it it's completely out of the question. I feel that if these animals have to be eaten they should at least be treated with respect before they meet their certain doom.

One of My Favorite Simple Recipes - LATE

Uh... Honestly this is as simple as I'm going to get.

What You Need:
- 1 Blender
- 1 Container of Strawberries
- 1 Bag of Grapes
- 1 Pineapple
- 1 Mango
- 2 Banana's
- 1 Container of Cran-Grape Juice
- 1 Cup of sugar
- 1 Cutting Board
- 2 Ice Cubes

How Long Should It Take:
It shouldn't take long, once you have the fruit and juice and sugar, place the ice in the cup first then you can add all the fruit in whatever order pleases you best. If you want it 'smooth' add only 1 teaspoon of sugar and blend for 5 min. If you want it 'thick' add it 2 tablespoons of sugar and blend for 8 min. Then Enjoy

My Home Made Smoothies

- Strawberry's (cut in 1/4's)
- Pineapple (cut in cubes)
- Grapes (the darker ones)
- 2 Bananas
- 2 Mango slices
- 1/3 cup Cran-Grape Juice
- 2 Tablespoons of sugar (just because I like it that way)

This isn't going to make it to school...I'm going to drink this when I'm done with this post.
This is one of my favorite recipes because it is quick and simple and not to mention it tastes good, and it seems to be filling and semi-healthy. Its cheaper than going to Jamba Juice or Pink Berry; its my own private way of sticking it to the man!!

Make Up - Pollan Response

The book was semi-interesting, the introduction was engaging and not overly wordy. I like the fact the he brought up that Americans have too much of a variety that we glorify the things that shouldn't really be glorified. I agree completely, no matter what the topic or the subject there is always 1,000,001 ways to do it. Like choosing a home: do you wanna live in the suburbs? or in the city? do you wanna big house? or a studio? Like having a baby: do you wanna have it naturally or do you wanna let the doctor rip it out of you? (you'll never guess what women choose) Like choosing a history teacher: do you want the funny black guy? or the sarcastic white guy?. We have so many choices to make everyday, so when it comes to food as 'omnivores' we have a huge dilemma. The books goes on to say that America lacks basic culture when it comes to food, because of our large superficial variety. As opposed the (I can't recall the name of the tribe) who have a large diet composed of only corn or mostly corn.

My family and I don't really listen to the 'experts ' whoever they may be. My mom likes the food network and the recipe website I'm not sure if that could be considered as 'listening to the experts'. I will say that in some ways we do, take all these new and flashy products, like the 'magic bullet' a new and sleek blender that chops food up...yeah gotta have it. In this case the 'experts' do say "You'll love this little baby, its small and fast and sleek only here for $19.95" So naturally that commercial is going to attract the eye of someone. I think that the biggest influence on the food we eat second to the advertisements on posters and TV, are friends and family; the people that you spend the majority of your day around. If a close friend says something like "oh, that place makes the best fries" eventually you're going to go there to try the "best fries" if your mother says, "oh get this meal because it has less calories" you're going to take that in to consideration and get the meal with the fewer amount of calories.

For A Teacher With Morals

Yes, this lovely suggestion came directly from Mr. Snyder. "We should all take a trip to Queens" (Snyder, 5/6/09). Anyway, on to the food unit, at first glance one would think that this may be the one unit where Andy wasn't...well Andy. Even if its something small its always something that we are being brainwash.. er I mean manipulated slowly to do. This is a unique and clever set up might I add, that shows us to 'eat healthy'. Take the food journal, for instance, we all post things like MacDonald's, and other various junk foods, whereas Andy posts smoothies with flax seed and almonds. Or when we made a lists of veggies and fruits that we eat in a typical week, we had never even heard of anything like that, but Andy topped us all with a record breaking 40+. (GASP, you deserve an award). Was this meant to make us take a look at what we eat or convert us? Not sure, but let me say this,I'm so happy that Andy is given us the new and fresh look on food and life. "Teachers love it when they feel like they've helped a student" (Snyder, 5/5/09). There, there Mr. Snyder.

How my family uses the grocery store... extension of Veggies, Fruits & Grains eaten in a typical week...by me

Depending on how bad my family needs a certain food will affect where we shop. Mostly my step dad will stop by Wall Mart on his way home. This is where we get the bulk of our items because things tend to be cheaper here than at the grocery store by our home. We get the milk and cereal and juice and frozen foods and chips and case waters and movies and all that other good stuff. But if my mom is in the middle of cooking and she needs buttermilk or rosemary for something then the corner store will have to do. In many ways its convenient, its close and it has things that aren't offered in other places in the city. I think my mom and step dad have OFSD level 3. Other wise known as Obsessive Food Shopping Disorder, its a fatal disease. It used to be worse, they would be at the grocery store every other day. I guess the fact that the freezer wouldn't close anymore gave them the hint that they need to stop. But I think that there are a lot of people who buy a bunch of things that they may not need at the moment but they buy it just to have it for later... and the time after that ... and the time after that.

What Veggies, Fruits & Grains I eat in a typical week

Fruits:

Orange
Cantaloupe
Pear
Apple
Banana
Strawberries
Blueberries
Pineapple
(mostly in a smoothie)
Tomato

Veggies:

Broccoli
Squash
Yam
Corn
Collard Greens
Spinach
Green Beans
Carrots

Grains:

Potato Bread (not sure if this belongs here)
Rice (sometimes)

Extra Credit... all the way from Brooklyn..

Well today was kind of fun, I'm not going to lie. Some friends and I registered and then we looked around at a few of the displays that they had at the tables in the gyms. The table displays were kind of interesting, I liked the tables where they gave out buttons, and pens mostly the free stuff. There was a table that was selling cookies and brownies that I liked (because I was hungry). There was also a table that talked about the rapidly declining number of bees. We then stayed for a workshop on school lunch, it was not what I expected... The speakers were advocating for more healthy foods in New York City Schools. I'm not against that but I am against that being the only food that is available in school for us to eat. I thought that it was great how they wanted to have more plant-based foods that kids might appeal to offered in schools. I don't think they are going to get to SOF. What bothered me even more was the fact that they had kids who attend John Jay High School on the panel and they were also advocating for only healthy food to be served. The only thing that was running through my mind was they are ALL lying. Then the panel went on to discuss how they want vending machines to be taken out of the schools. SOF would disintegrate if there were no Snapple's or FRESH water or gummy bears that we could snack on. Maybe I'm blinded by junk food, but I think they should see things from kids point of view and maybe they can come to a compromise about healthy vs unhealthy.

May Day

I didn't know about may day at all. What I know is that in American society we block out everything that the big boys up top don't want us to know about. Why would we be educated about a day when workers got together to 'stick it to them man' if the mass majority of underpaid workers, uninsured workers, mistreated workers etc. got together that would be a nightmare for the books. But then again things have been horrible in the United States for generations, how would the education of one day when the workers took their power back do anything. I feel that we have been trained in a way to do what we are told and to never challenge authority. So a day that goes against what the bosses...the rich bosses believe in is something that very little to no people will know about.