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Possible Topics?

I can't really think of a lot but...

One possible topic can be our fascination with social networking. For example like facebook, myspace, etc. Something that EVERYONE is pretty much familiar with. What was our orginal way of social networking and basically socializing before all these facebook and myspace. And why do we need these certain internet networks to socialize?

Also I haven't gotten too far in the book but at least I am reading it, most of the time I would brush off a book by now. I wish I was a better reader like most people :(
But before I read the book I read the summary on Wikipedia to get an idea of the story and the story sounds a lot like the movie "The Island" accept with a different structure and it is mainly kids rather then adults.

July 4th

So I wonder why many people celebrate July 4th or if they are celebrating it for the right reasons. Much like Christmas and Thanksgiving I think 4th of July is a holiday mainly for fireworks. Although the fireworks were not as great as last year as the Mayor or whatever decided to make it so damn far on the west side that I did not get to see it. I spend the WHOOOLEEE day sitting in my house alone because my dad went to Florida for Disney Land with his other family for a week (my dad was married once before with two daughters and now with a grandson before he married my mom). My dad said "This is like the 20th time ive been to Disney land and I told them I don't wanna go fucking Disney land damnit. I went with every single one of you at least like 5 times. ugh" Which made me laugh really hard. But back to my point about July 4th. Not many people in my opinion celebrate this day as independence day at rather just a normal day accept at night their is fireworks. I myself do not even get the significance of this day. As the fireworks went on from miles away my boyfriend mentioned how there use to be fireworks everywhere, when he was younger people would be able to do fireworks themselves and that there were even parades. And then we mentioned how society now seemed so sad since there is mainly none of those things anymore. It was kinda depressing.

SUMMER BLOG 1

1. In the beginning of the summer as soon as class was over with I started focusing on trying to find a summer job. I applied for a numerous amount of places, really typical places such as Staples, DSW, Victoria Secrete, Petco, Dylan's Candy Bar, all places that I have failed to get jobs at. My dad keeps on pushing the idea of find a summer job but after my failed attempt so far to find one I have just been trying to relaxing and spend more time with my boyfriend and friends as well. Maybe I will attempt to find a job again in a week or so.
Also lately many people seem to be passing away such as Micheal Jackson, Billy Mays, and that chick who was in the old Charlie Angels. Its weird because people have been paying more respect to Micheal Jackson after he has passed then he was alive. Every time I turn on the t.v. I see his music videos, story of his life, interview with people, etc. It's weird to me how many people or fans it has "effected" deeply.
Also I have been trying to focus on finding things to do outside because I happen to find myself sitting at home being bored a lot more.

2. I am SO glad for this summer vacation, i thought it would never come. Its weird to think about how next year I will be a senior and it will be my last year of high school. So far I have not been doing much and feel as if I have been wasting my summer by sitting around at home. It is usually like this for me for the first few weeks of summer vacation but after a while I find things to do and go outside more. I personally do not really miss anything about school. I am kind of socially awkward so I do not really miss any of the socializing from school. I just keep in touch with a few people from school to hang out once a week or so. I am just really glad to have a break from all the projects, writing, lab reports, stress. I felt that my junior year was by far my most stressful year so its not knowing what the stress level is going to be like next year. I feel I need to be more progressive this summer, read a book or start doing some college stuff. Although since its only the beginning I want to enjoy my last summer of high school.

3. Well I am really not a good reader and have a hard time focusing on reading a book especially if I know I don't actually need to since its summer and if the book is really not interesting to me.
Easish book: 5
Hardish book: 4
Combined: 9
But it may change depending on the book.

4. I'm not very active person and I am sooo out of shape but I think its time to get back into shape so I don't mind taking a walk and doing activities and stuff. The films and strange movies sound fun. Everything sounds good to me.

5. Well I know that my dad is going to keep complaining for me to get a summer job so I may eventually have to and if I do, depending on what times I will work I think I might be able to still meet once a week. If anything I'll let everyone know.

6. I'm not really sure for now but the experience of being sounds good to me.

AWOL Final Assignment

When first arriving into Andy's class, looking back at my views then I basically thought history class was most likely going to be how every other history class was since freshman year. In the beginning of the year I was not doing as well as I am now. I think it was because I was not sure the concept of the American way of life. I did not understand what it was yet I am living in the basic American way of life. Like every other basic American I felt I was blinded by many "flashy" show-like factors of America which brought my attention away from the importance of certain values of how we live, why we live and what we live for. It blinded the values and purposes of every single factor of the American Way of life such as birth, the economy, our health care, our eating habits, and other aspects that may not have been a topic in class such as our emotions, the education system, how we respect each others values, holidays, etc. I think the class was an opportunity for me to help and find my own values about the American Way of Life, my way of life, and the aspects in my life that is the American way of life. I have developed my own opinions, how to analyze my values, other people's values, and American values. I think I have learned to resist certain factors of the American way of life and to just accept other aspects of the American way of life. Not only have I learned things but I felt like by developing my own values and really thinking about the way our lives are run I think it has really helped some parts of my physical life. For example is the way I eat, my relationship with my father, and the way I think.

When learning about Capitalism in the beginning of the year I was still quite unsure of what the point of learning this was. I kind of thought it was just another useless subject that the education system shoves into our mind that we most likely do not need in the future like trigonometry or the chemical reaction. Now that I look back on it I feel that I am glad to learn about this because at least I know about what capitalism really is, about supply and demand, the way a company would run it's businesses and why certain clothing stores sell their products at the price that they do. And I this information may not effect me now but maybe will in the future in what ever career track I end up in. It also helps to know this stuff because Capitalism is one of the main fundamentals of the American way of life. I learned what how capitalism is defined, the three ideas of Land, Labor and Capital. This also makes me think of the fact that my dad basically has his own business with his partner friends of selling his glasses and the designs of glasses. This small little business that he does most definitely is a big part of capitalism, he most likely uses supply and demand as he sells these products to buyers that are companies such as Bed Bath and Beyond or the QVC channel of television. Sadly I must say that I have never had a great understanding of what my dad does for a living or maybe i must say how my dad does what he does for a living. I feel like learning about this stuff gave me some clue into maybe how my dad works his business.

After the capitalism unit I think it was like a warm up for our minds (or at least my mind), how to think about what goes on around us, how things work, and why? So when the birth unit came, it was probably my second favorite unit. Well firstly I learned about my own personal birth story which I never actually thought of asking about before. The crazy thing is that during this unit I had happen to have found picture frame that I did not no opens up. When I accidentally dropped it and as it opened up I found a bunch of picture of the day of my birth. Pictures of me right after I was born, pictures of my mother and father in the hospital. And with the excitement of listening to birth stories and how birth works I learned the American way of birth. Had I know there was such thing as American way of birth before this? Obviously not. Like most I thought birth in hospitals were practical and not unusual because it was common and normal. What is so wrong about something that is common and normal. After many articles, movies, videos I started to think outside of the box, maybe birth is not so common not because it is so effective or the best way of birth but because it is all a business. I started to analyze the hospital's service and started to realize how it was not so comforting and connect it back to why. One quote from a previous assignment that I have written, I stated "it makes me wonder if the doctor's basically put on a show, blinding us with the fancy machinery and tools it, takes are attention away from the importance of child birth and the value of it." This relating back to the basic idea that the American way of life provides a big show to cover up for many flaws in the America way of life that many people do not see. This "blinding show" takes our attention away from the values of things that we do in our every day life. Also learning that there is an alternative of natural birth with midwives. I have never once heard of what midwives were. After learning about both point of views of hospital births and midwives I learned to develop my own insights and point of view about the American way of birth by developing my own birth ideas. For myself, I never want to have kids because I feel that I do not have the responsibilities or the mother-hood skills to really take care of a child but if in 20 years that ever changes or according to Andy that all births happen because it is usually a mistake and if I were to mistakenly get a baby bump I feel that I personally would prefer and birth in the privacy and comfort of my own home with a midwife. I personally thought that hospitals may not be completely bad but hospitals are mainly for people who have been insured or suffering from a sickness. This is one of the factors of the American way of life in which I felt that needed to be resisted and I learn not to enjoy (not through a physical birth of course but through other sources). Birth is not a sickness so I don't think hospitals are qualified for natural birth but I do think in times of emergencies such as premature births a hospital should be a back up. This is most the insight and opinion I had come to develop, i felt like from this point on i started to develop my skills of analyzing and creating my own insights as well as looking at things without a blindfold on (metaphorically speaking).




(These are pictures of my mom and dad holding me on the day of my birth. I always wanted to show them during the birth unit but did know how to scan it to the computer at the time)

After speaking of how hospitals are a place for sickness, health care was another big factor in America. Insurance companies are frequently brought up when thinking of the topic of health care. Personally I have to admit that before this unit I had no idea how health insurance or any type of insurance in general worked. Made me feel quite stupid at first since everyday we see these adds for insurance, television commercials for medical or any other insurance types of insurance. And most importantly I never thought of how extremely important it is to have health insurance and to learn about those who do not have health insurance was just tragic. That one of the main factors to so many deaths in the United States is effected by no health insurance. I feel that this topic was most definitely something about the American way of life that I do not enjoy. Unfortunately I feel that it is something more difficult to resist than the way of birth. Before this unit I really thought that since American is one of the most richest country we would have one of the best heath care systems in the world. Amazing by watching movies such as Micheal Moore's Sicko showed me how countries such as France or even Cuba's health system is far more effective then ours. Why? Because its free, their health care is all free. It made me learn about why the dentists I go to keep denying me of fixing that annoying feeling on my tooth, because my health care insurance does not want to pay for it. A significant point that I brought up in a previous health care essay based on a quote from Micheal Moore's movie about improving our health care, I wrote " ' We live in a world of 'we' not 'me', we'll never fix anything until we get that one basic thing right. and powerful forces hope that we never do.' Without this basic concept of thinking as a country whole and not just about the money we make in out pockets America will keep being one of the only countries without free health care and will remain at a low on the list of good health care. And the "powerful forces" may have more power but if we continue to give them that power and not do anything about it we may never receive anything that will better out lives and our health." Using this idea and relating it to, for example how the citizens of France get what they want out of their government is by protesting. This concept gave me the insight that American citizens are too scared of the government, in countries such as France the citizens are feared by the government as for us it is the opposite. How this really connects to me? Well it is my health as well as everybody else. I feel that for this many are not blinded as it has effect everybody at least once, it is just that people are either too lazy, scared, busy or whatever excuse there is out there to remember to care or actually do anything to improve our health and the health of those who are less fortunate. This health care topic really helped me realize things about my own life as well. For example is my fathers health, this year I realized that the reason I get the oppourtunity to go to school, eat, sleep is because of the support of my father. I started to learn to appreciate that more. Unfortunately my father is almost 70 and he faces a lot of health problems already. I fear that maybe he would face a health problem that our health insurance would deny to treat. Also for my own health as well for I am still young, hopefully if our health care system will change within years.

Following up after health insurance topic was poverty which is definitely a big part of the American way of life since taking from my previous poverty assignment "around 35.9 million people are living below the poverty line, the poverty line is 1400 dollars in the US." Thus making it a great impact since most Americans are poor. Before this unit, my perspectives were that for me to end up with a successful future I had to work hard in the bullshit they give in school and take whatever the education system gives me, go to a decent college which will give me a better chance in landing a decent career. What is mostly told to us especially as young teenage students that those who are poor are most likely poor because they were slackers, drug attics, drop outs, etc. For me I did not believe this so much but I did think that people were poor mainly because they were maybe born into a lower class and without money they were had less opportunities for better colleges or clothing to look good for an interview, whatever the scenario is. Although this can be true I learned the government factor to why many people are under the poverty line. Remembering back to my "Wealth is like Musical Chairs" blog i started to realize that maybe it is not the fact that people in poverty cannot find opportunities but maybe because there are not enough opportunities provided. This is definitely really tragic as it kind of makes my thought process of doing extremely good in school, I will still most likely have a chance of not getting that one "slot" of oppourtunity. And if there was any opportunities it would most likely be one out of a million open to the lower class so that the government has an excuse to say that they do provide opportunities. The fact that most lower class do not have access to these opportunities is what most likely causes them to be drug attics, be homeless, etc. because most have probably given up. This sadly is one factor of the American way of life. This connecting back to the health insurance subject, those who do not get the oppourtunity become poor, the poor cannot pay for health insurance which are not able to treat their health problems which most likely are dumped out on the streets to die. I definitely do not enjoy this part of how America is based on, although I am not under the poverty line I am supported by my father, in a couple of years it makes me wonder how I or everyone else in my generation will end up especially with our economical crisis today. Looking back at my previous blogs I notice I had found a reason to why so many people are in poverty: "Approximately 750,000 Americans are homeless due to lack of employment, mental illness, drug abuse, physical and mental abuse, lack of or low education, developmental disabilities and the stigma of HIV/AIDS." Looking back on this I realize how ignorant people are and again how blinded they are to the reasons why so many Americans are poor. Personally if I were to change this I would say in my own developed opinion is that Approximately 750,000 Americans are under the poverty line or homeless due to he lack of opportunities and aid provided by the government, given to those who seek really seek opportunities to provide a decent living for themselves to get out from under the poverty line. The fact that so many people think the that the website's definition is what keeps many people under the poverty line since no one would want to help, it really makes us believe in the wrong values and make many Americans loose the confidence to speak up.

(I really laughed at this photo but I felt like for me it shows that even those with great potential cannot show their potential or work for it to survive because they are not given the oppourtunity to do so.)

Following after was the food unit which I felt explored more on the habits of a typical American, how, and why? For me I think this was my favorite unit mainly because I thought it was most interesting. I mean who does not love food? This and because I felt like it impacted me a lot more then just learning how to create my own insights and opinions but physically impacted a part of my lifestyle. Firstly I must state what I have learned of course and how it relates to the American way of life, then my life. I always always been against animal cruelty and already had a sense at home animals are treated but I felt like I have develop more ideas such as the antibiotics and growth hormones they feed to animals, that I was never aware of. It is definitely unhealthy as it is cruel and I feel like it gives me more of an idea what to say when people keep asking why I am a vegetarian. Although I am vegetarian as it may limit my food choices and keep me away from ugly harmful yucky meat corpses I can still be effected. How? Well it is not only effects our health but our environment as well as our community (local family farms). Remember back to the Meatrix video and how all the factory farms and shit that the animals live in cause pollution and such. Also the apples and "fresh" vegetables we find and eat from our common super markets are not as healthy as vegetables should be. This is also because of factory farming. Fruits and vegetables are sprayed with pesticides. I think that many Americans are living in the Meatrix, they do not have a realization of what they are really eating. It kind of shows again the values of people, it gives a sense that Americans are even oblivious to what they shove in their mouths. They are blinded by labels and their flashy television screens and the big mac on the add in the subway train. Food companies have a great way of being able to cover up the flaws in how our food is made and given to us. Many people, even I in the beginning was blinded by corporate food companies. My food habits were horrible and I have the fridge assignment on my previous blog to prove so. I remember in class when I provided somewhat of a metaphor that industrial food companies use labels to hide the rotten shit that is underneath. I thought of this when I bought a bag of lettuce with my dad. I feel that now I am able to look past those labels and "Happy Cow commercials" and really look at the real picture. As if I was that ass kicking pig in the Meatrix video....maybe not as awesome but being able to know where my food comes from helped my eating habits which help my health. As an alternative I learned what the concept of organic food really means and why people say it is healthier. "Even though organic food is pricey in the long run we would be paying for our health and the health of our future generation by eating organic foods and supporting small family farms." This is one thing that I wrote on my final food assignment. I think that this kind of shows how many people don't realize how they are placing money before they are to health because many people refuse to buy organic because it is more expensive. I think people really need to open their eyes and help spot the industrial food companies before all family farms are gone and all foods found in supermarkets will be tortured animals and fruit/vegetables drowned in pesticides. Personally for me it is also difficult to buy all organic foods but with a couple of organic things bought I think would definitely help then buying none at all. Plus it is one tiny step from making my eating habits better and better.
(Before and after shots of my fridge. This is how the food unit had kind of a effect on me. I stopped being lazy and got off my ass and went to the store more often with my dad.)

Last but not least is collapse. Although we did not spend as much time on this unit I think I was still able to grasp the concept. It was started off where most of the class probably did not know the significance of oil as we did not really know how it was even made. Now I have the understanding that oil equals EVERYTHING. The American way of life is surrounded by many things that need power to work such as computers, televisions, cars, heaters, etc. Seriously...everything. I feel like its good knowledge to realize what is the reason why we have all the luxuries and necessities we have around us. After knowing what oil gives us I learned about how oil can effect us. It sort of scared me to know that America has already reached it's oil peak. Reading about how Easter Island used up their main natural resource and how their society collapsed definitely gives a clue to how our society may most likely collapse as well as we are using up our main natural resource of fossil fuel. Although some believe, such as my dad that before then America would be able to create a substitute for oil. Although it makes me wonder, the islanders never really created a substitute for their trees? Maybe because if the society we live in will eventually collapse it is more of a slow collapse. I think this was a good way to end the year and all the different units we have learned about. I remember when Lauren Coen brought up the idea that there are many different types of collapses. I think most of the negative aspects that we learned about that America is facing could all eventually collapse. Whether it is a collapse in our economy, our health system, our values of birth, our health, food habits. I think people really need to look over what the real value of everything. I think that my eyes have probably not even opened up to the factors that are blinding me yet but I feel like I have more of a general idea on how to look past certain values that we consider being a true American and whether it is good or not. Not only way i really able to develop certain skills that i either never knew I had or learned to do it has also effected my way of life. For example, if remembering back to my "way of life video" Andy made us make I described how family was not really included in my video. This was mainly because (if you do not already have a clue) my family is very separated and rarely speak. I do not speak to my mom because of personal reasons and my brother no longer lives with me. It is basically me and my father and even under the same roof we rarely spoke and locked each other in different rooms. Through out this year I found myself getting closer to my father, sharing insights, asking questions, and sharing what I have learned just like I do in the classroom. I feel like it made my relationship with my father a lot more close and made me learn about his personal point of views about what he thought the American way of life is as well as he was able to learn about mine. Personally I have grown to understand more about how my life is some way was very typical American way of life. Going back way way waaaaaay back to maybe the first blog ever i stated "I think my way of life is what you definitely can call a typical American way of life." I feel that now it is some what unavoidable because I live in American and my lifestyle (comparing it to all the units we have done) many factors in which the American way of life is like such as the American way or birth, food, poverty, etc. And I realize how different my feelings are now when I think of saying "I live in the American way of life" then how i felt saying this in the first month of this school year. I feel that for now i enjoy the American way of life because nothing is effecting me directly FOR NOW but I feel like there are many aspects that needs to be resisted and changed. Our values do not create the way we live but I feel like the way we live is effecting and changing our values and that definitely needs to be changed and people need to be less oblivious and more aware of this.

(When put the word "values" on google this is what came up. I think this is interesting because through the all the units most of them kind of go against what this picture represents.)

Quotes to people: Comment on Sandy's Final Paper
Blogger dudeitscloesblog said...
I really like the fact that you had one main theory and aspect to the American way of life which is mainly about "authority". I do definitely agree that people are extremely dependent on authority figures or people who we think are superior then we are. I liked that you pointed out that people are really oblivious to this factor which is definitely true. Your paper was very solid and I think that being oblivious to people's dependent on authority really keeps citizens or America it's self to find it's true potential or true values. <333

Comment on Kevin's essay:
Hi Kevaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
Okay well first I really enjoyed reading your final essay because I can really imagine you as I read it. I really liked how you are able to state your feelings and personally are able to connect to each course emotionally, and what knowledge you gained. It really shows how you were really living the American way of life based on what we have learned. And I also wanted to say I am really proud of you kevin, this year for history class you really worked. I really like your observations about the supermarkets and how the people push "healthyness" but yet we all eat junk food.

By the way, to respond to your comment to my blog: Well i first started being vegetarian mainly because of animal cruetly. Usually for many people being vegetarian is really hard to keep up with for a whole but amazingly for me as soon as i decided to be a vegetarian it came pretty easy to me. I think mainly because I really like animals and sometimes when I look at a piece of meat someone else is eating I don't really think about how it's a piece of animal but if someone were to put a piece of meat on my plate and tell me to eat it I would think about how it was once an animal who was once alive, had feelings, a way of living, and was defenseless. Also I don't believe that anyone should call them selves a vegetarian or vegan unless they are really truly committed to it, because I know some people who say they are vegetarian and yet still eat meat "once in a while".....that stupid son. lol

Comment to Jacara:
I really liked how you put how you make sense of America before and after. It shows how you were able to now have a new perspective of how America is. You showed this well through the examples of each unit. It basically shows that the class did teach you something and impacted your views. And I really enjoy how fun and the remarks you make on your blogs, it keeps it entertaining and I feel it is personable because it is really the way that you speak in a way. You paper is also really well organized and I really like how you were able to split it up in little sections of before and after perspective, your opinions, and your overall feelings. Good work Jacara<3333

:)

Collapse Mini Essay

Everything. Everything around us from the our television, our fancy cars, our heaters, cool air, even how our food is processed is all helped produced from one main factor. This factor is fossil fuel/oil. Without fossil fuel everything we see in front of our faces would not even exist. What is fossil fuel or oil? When Andy asked the question of what oil is and where it came from no one seemed to really give a credible answer. I did not even know where it comes from. This is really ironic because fossil fuel, the thing that keeps our lives running the way that it does every single blinking moment, and yet we do not even know what it really is or how it is made. Why is fossil fuel so important? I think all that needs to be cleared into people's heads is that it's important because literally almost everything is made from oil. My amazing laptop in which I do these wonderful blogs off of use energy which is used from oil.

In our present time apparently we have already reached our oil peak. Our oil peak supposedly happened in 2005 or 2006. According to the Energy Bulletin (Oil Peak Primer) "Oil is a finite, non-renewable resource, one that has powered phenomenal economic and population growth over the last century and a half." There is only a certain amount of oil and a oil peak indicates that about 1/2 of that oil has already been wasted. Some effects of the waste of oil is the increase of prices. "Oil and gas are feedstocks for plastics, paints, pharmaceuticals, fertilizers, electronic components, tyres and much more." The fact that all these resources, food, power run from oil the fact that as oil decreases is will make the value go up which most likely will increase the price of everything/ every resource. I guess showing how important it is you can compare it to the collapse of Easter Island. Easter Island use to be an a rich, beautiful, tropical place which many natural resources. Unfortunately now they almost live in complete nothingness. Their health is horrible and their diets are horrible because of the lack in natural resources. Where did their natural resources go? For the islanders they build they huge massive statues, in order to make these statues they needed to use large amounts of natural resources around them. One for example is the trees. These statues were of great value to these islanders as they represented their wealth status. The bigger and nicer the statue, it showed off your wealth and status. Thus making the islanders a very competitive groups of people. The more natural resources they wasted the bigger their statues. The main thing they wasted were the trees, they chopped down all the trees to roll these statues and such and the extreme loss in trees completely caused a collapse in their society. How does this connect to America? Basically it was stated in class which is really true which is that fossil fuel is like the trees in Easter Island. As we waste all the oil we will eventual cause a collapse in our society since oil makes everything!

I first described the part in which I learned about in class and in discussions/ lectures. There is a second way in which I think of these topic although I am not so sure I am correct but I will still write about it since we did not spend much time on this collapse unit. I think eventually obviously we will run out of oil but I feel like maybe the more richer countries such as America and China will collapse slower then other poorer countries such as Africa if that makes sense? The reason for this is that since America is a more richer country it will be able to afford oil more to keep our lifestyle going longer. Although this may cause conflict because as oil gets more expensive there will be disproportionate wealth of nations, richer companies will be able to afford oil which can create conflict. For example my dad told me that it's like Japan attacked China for natural resources. I am not sure if this would be realistic or true but maybe since we will be able to keep our lifestyle going longer then poorer countries, scientifically maybe we would be able to develop replacements for oil just in time before oil runs out in 20 to 50 years. For example i researched about some things they eventually made to replace wasting resources: one is rubber. Apparently during world war two there was a big need for rubber and most rubber was made from "rubber trees" (what I call them) which are basically trees that produce a rubber base. Before we wasted these trees we eventually made synthetic rubber. So I was wondering if it maybe be possible hat long before we run out of oil and our earth comes to a stand still will America or our Earth be able to develope a replacement or "synthetic" to our oil?

Easter Island...

Reading the Easter Island article, I felt as if it was really repetitive and I could not really find when the writer of this article was getting to his main point. Anyways, although it was tough for me to focus on reading this article I did manage to find some things interesting. Firstly I've always recognized these weird little statues and compared it to Hawaii or something but never really thought anything of it or the significance of them when I see them in cartoons or t.v. and such. These statues were like clues that there was once rich civilization for these statues could not have been build without many natural resources. When describing the actual environment of where the islanders live and the islander's physical appearance and way of living it does not seem as if these statues would have been build by the same people. The writer stated that it was as if these statues sprung out of the ground. The article described that the island lacked many resources for food. For example, in the water it lacked many coral reefs or lagoons which meant that their were not many fish or shellfish. And there were no trees which is probably the most important resource. There diets were really high in carbohydrates which is really bad and often substituted healthier things with foods that were not very good to eat everyday since there was a lack in healthy foods.This article mainly focused on was these mysteries huge statues. The islanders in the past wasted extreme amount of natural resources around them that they could have used on their selves but instead used them to see who can build the bigger statue. The main things that they wasted was the trees. The trees were used to roll and help in making these huge statues that they were so fond of. The reason for this was that they were very competitive and the ones that made the largest investment into building their statues was like a sign of wealth. In class we discussed why they may have not been thinking of the outcome of wasting the trees. The reason could be the values of the people, none of them really thought about speaking out and focused mainly on pleasing their chiefs and trying to show off their wealth and status. This reminded me of how we discussed that in America many people display a sign of wealth by showing off things. For example people show off their wealth by wasting their money on the "fly-est" car and the most expensive, or the cleanest shoes, or the biggest, most power sucking, most expensive HD television or whatever else people try to show off. Many people complain about global warming, pollution, killing natural environments, killing endangered species, etc. but no one really does anything about it and no one thinks anything of it because most people will probably enjoy living their lives and think it won't directly effect them. In class we discussed how this may connect to the America, the American way of life. In America a natural resource that make every single part of our life going, by keeping our televisions on, our lights on, building anything we use in our daily lives, all of these things are dependent on fossil fuel/ oil. "Fossil Fuel is like the trees in Easter Island" said by Andy. I thought this quote was really interesting for we only have an limited amount of fossil fuel and America is wasting it at an extreme rate yet no one really realizes how fossil fuel effects us. Unfortunately for many cases people do not realize how to appreciate and treat something till it is not there anymore. When our whole society collapses because we have run our of fossil fuel and past out oil peak, that is when everyone will scratch their heads and wonder "maybe i should have cared...". Although as many people try to spend big on luxuries, making their house look nice, making their ride look nice which is our way of showing our status and wealth, they don't really think about how these things might not exist as the more people buy and waste natural resources the faster our society is going to get to that point of collapsing. And buying hybrid cars and going green may help a little but won't stop the processes of decrease in fossil fuel as those things still need oil to be built.

Final Food Assingment

Why that happy singing cow is not so happy and the fresh squeezed smiling orange is not so fresh. What lies behind the label.

When we sit down for dinner and see the food in front of us, most of us enjoy what we eat. We try to enjoy the flavor, the texture, the essence, but do they really know what they have put in their mouths? Why is it so good? How did it get here? Where did it come from? And most importantly, is it good for you? Many people do not tend to think of these things when they eat or buy food at grocery stores or fast food restraints. I must say even before this unit, even acknowledging animal cruelty and being vegetarian I have not come to learn all the things I needed to know about what they did to animals and the other foods that I do eat until this industrial food unit.Maybe the reason why most people cannot really get the answer to those basic questions is because most of us have been blinded by corporate food industries as these industries do a great way to manipulate and hiding what really goes behind the scenes of what you eat. People's food habits and thought processes is what keeps corporate food industries alive and richer than ever. The supermarket to many people is like a sanctuary of food, I always had curiosity as to why supermarkets are the main source of food to most people. According to Micheal Pollan's Omnivores Dilema, he stated that there are just too many choices of food for an average American. The fact that there are almost no fresh foods to that are affordable and accessible to most Americans most end up shopping at local grocery stores where most of the food are packaged foods from industrial food companies which provided Americans with choices. This I think is definitely true, fresh organic food is definitely a lot harder to find then industrial food but I also think that most people are just use to and comforted by the labeling on packaged foods. We believe that what we buy is cheap and believe what we see on the label when a carton of juice says "100% fresh squeezed fruit". When looking down at a Tropicana fruit juice carton, what comes to mind? A fresh farm full of beautiful orange trees with the sun in the sky and the wind blowing through the workers hair as they all hum and pick oranges? What do you see when you look down at a pack of eggs? Happy chickens running around on the grain, frolicking with their fellow chickens? While exploring the topic on industrial food it is pretty clear that this is not the case. The fruits oranges and apples are not natural and the chickens are not happy. The corporate food companies do a great job at blinding people by their marketing and labeling. People should start thinking outside their dinner plate and think: Why don't industrial food companies tell us what goes behind their food labels?

When I use to eat meat when I was a little younger I did not realize or think much about the fried or grilled dead corpse lying between a bun and sitting on my plate. I eat it because it was food, I did not no any better. Many Americans most likely do the same, they eat things mainly because it is edible and it taste good. Growing up I have had a soft spot for animals, most animals I see I tend to think and react to animals like most people react to babies. People tend to find it amusing when I "awe" at dogs like many do to little kids. I remember the first few times I started to wonder about meat. I knew it was from an animal but I did not quite get it. As I started learning how to use the internet and heard others talk about how meat was made I was heart broken. Most of the pork, chicken, beef people eat are treated horribly and tortured. Most of the animals such as chickens are thrown around tossed around. They are slaughtered by being cut by the throat or even being plugged while still alive. Many pigs and cows are being treated no different. As this may be what most Americans eat, for the chickens and other farm animals that are not slaughtered for America's "wonderful" Big Mac the rest of them are confined and stuffed in small cramped spaces, fed antibiotics to keep these animals alive. This can be seen in the video www.chooseveg.com. Most animals such as cows never get to see sunlight and feed or natural grass. They do not even let the cows have natural breeding as it was shown in the movie Our Daily Bread. Remembering when I first found out about how animals are treated so cruelly it was like the time when my brother ruined my childhood Christmas holidays by telling me Santa Clause was not real when I was 6 years old. Although I do not think it compares unless my brother would have told me that Santa Clause was beaten, tortured, cut up and was currently the pork chop sitting on my plate. That to me is how I pretty much felt when I found how the meat ends up in the supermarket. As those who are not sympathetic to creatures that are tortured and have no way of offending and would continue to eat meat, they way they treat their animals also effects our health as well. As stated in The Meatrix, animals such as cows are fed unnatural things like antibiotics, artificial hormones and these things spread diseases such as mad cow diseases. These places is where most dairy products come from as well, not just the beef people eat.

Factory farming is not just involving animals but it is like this for many of the fruits and vegetables that we get in the grocery stores. In many of the commercials I see such as the Tropicana Orange Juice commercial shows a man on a orange tree farm speaking about how freshly squeezed the orange juice is. In the background is other white farm workers picking out the oranges. As most people probably are niave and either are in denial that this is how fruits are really picked out and and totally healthy or people just seem to not care anymore. There are a lot of things that go on in fruit and vegetable farms that effect many people such as the workers and our health. For example is that workers tend to be exploided, in the movie Our Daily bread it shows all the workers, silent, bored, picking food, planting seeds, being closely watched to make sure they are no slacking on their work. When I watched these scenes I felt that it was so dead, and the farm owners do not even think about the workers as they were spraying the sprinklers while some workers were still working. Most of the workers had to get in a line, kneeling down to talk to their boss to receive their paychecks. Many family factory farms are put out of business and destroys certain communities. Most of the fruits and vegetables are sprayed with pesticides which are obviously unhealthy for us. Some harmful pesticide are even harmful for the brain as they can damage the brain especially for young children. According the an article I found called Harmful Pesticides Found in Every Day Food Products by Andrew Schneider (hmm, that last name is ironically similar to Andy's)says that apparently in January 2008 and government had promised to get rid of pesticides but are not doing their job as a year long study seemed to show found that the urine and saliva of children eating a variety of conventional foods found biological markers of organophosphates, the family of pesticides spawned by the creation of nerve gas agents in World War II. According to the article I think this took place in Seattle (http://www.seattlepi.com/local/349263_pesticide30.html). As I am a vegetarian and eat many fruits and vegetables I never thought that in these food products I would not find any problems but unfortunately industrial food companies seem to find a way to make our fruits and vegetables harmful as well. In Vrroooomm Farming for Kids (or what ever it is called) even though trying to come from a more kid friendly approach it showed giant tractors who picked cabbages and potatoes off the fields. These giant machines, like cars use oil for fuel which causes pollution and of course as we all know pollution is bad for us human's health. Speaking of pollution the confined animals that are forced to live in seeping amounts of animal excrement can really effect our pollution as well. Which is another way that effects our health. In the article Third Myth: Food isn't cheap, "Intensive use of pesticides and fertilizers seriously pollutes our water, soil, and air. This pollution problem grows worse over time, as pests become immune to the chemicals and more and more poisons are required." So if we do not in some ways stop our most of these industrial food factories and farms we will keep letting them growing where they will completely effect the lives of animals, the lives of workers, our environment, and what should be most important which is our lives and health.

As learning about all the new effects of how the American way of food can really effect our lives as individuals in such harmful ways there are alternatives as well. For example is organic food. Organic food such as organic vegetables are foods produced without harmful pesticides or the chickens are not fed growth hormones, antibiotics and any other harmful junk. As a vegetarian I personally think people should just not be eating animals at all but I know that it is most likely unrealistic and I don't have the right to tell people to stop eating meat but this reminded me of the small discussion we had in class the other day about cultures of food such as Kosher food and Halal food. In class Andy taught about how in certain cultures they believe that you are not allowed to torture the animal or feed it anything harmful and when killing it the animal cannot see the knife and must be killed with one cut. Although I would not approve of any animal killing I think for those who must eat meat for some reason I like this idea better then the way the animals are treated in factory farms. Someone in the class made a comment to this that there is no difference between the cultures way of killing the animal the the factory's farm way of killing animals since the animal is going to suffer the same and be eaten. In response to that comment now I must say that if you (not just stating the person who said this because I do not remember who that way) were a defenseless animal who only had a few days to live would you rather spend that time being tortured and living in your own poop or would you rather spend it on a field and be put killed quick and almost painless? To me I would not kill an innocent animal but if I were an animal and knew I was going to die I would not want to be thrown around and beaten first. And also an alternative to the fruits and vegetables that industrial food companies companies produce, organic food is a lot healthier and better. Although organic food is definitely pricier then industrial food, even for myself it would be difficult for me to buy all organic foods all the time but I think a couple of organic bought foods would definitely help family farms and my health. In the article Food isn't Cheap it made a point that I really liked which is that even though organic food is pricey in the long run we would be paying for our health and the health of our future generation by eating organic foods and supporting small family farms.

Let there be food....

My fridge has come a long way since the last photo which was like the beginning of the food unit.

Food 8: Industrial Food

I mainly watched the videos since obviously videos are more eye catching for teenagers of our age. The Meatrix especially was really entertaining but as cheesy as it was having a pig that kicks ass I felt like it could really be an eye opener for a lot of people. For me, animal cruelty was one thing that I knew a good amount about and I felt like this video broadened my knowledge even more about other things. This video showed me more about the "greedy agriculture corporations", how blinded most people are about what lies in their food, and how it can effect our environment and health. Many food corporations blind people from what really goes on in there factory farms. The best way they do this is through the media. When I watched the Meatrix the first thing I remembered is the California Milk Commercial where "Real Milk Come From Happy Cows of California" or something along that line (just like Cindy mentioned in class). I've watched this commercial many times and never really thought anything of it then being just another commercial but I just realized how they do not tell you what really goes on in their factory farms, about the animal cruelty, the diseases being spread, pollution of the environment, and how the our community as well as family farms are all most no longer existent. Instead they put a pretty, healthy looking, cute cow that speaks English and sings. Although from the Meatrix it clearly shows there is no singing at all. Although Americans are not farm animals with cool ass kicking abilities, I feel like it is as if a lot of us live in the Meatrix since we do not realize and see the big picture as we continue buying these packaged foods from these factory farms/ food corporations. In our culture I feel like not only are we blinded by commercials on television but the labels on the food products really effects us since it comfort us. This connect to the small class discussion about how many of us did not really no about the edible plants and foods that grow around us in gardens, parks, etc. And that even if most of us knew we most likely would not go out into a garden or grow things ourselves to get the food obviously. I feel like most of the time we buy these certain foods that are freeze packed or packaged in plastic not because we are not aware of these food corporations and how they produce what we eat but mainly because we are lazy and are already too use to the comfort of label that says "healthy fat free blah blah blah". The package makes us feel as if it does comes from a clean place and when taken out of the package it is already clean. No one really wants to think about the disgusting shit that the produce go through as it ends up in our stomach. Although I have all these insights I must admit that I myself have fallen under the comfort spell of food corporations, I am vegetarian because i am against animal cruelty and such but I am not vegan. I do drink milk and eat eggs but I felt like this unit really opened my eyes and smacked me over the head, reminding me that milk and eggs still come from mistreated animals and are most likely general unhealthy. Not only milk and eggs and such but also vegetables and fruits. This would not all a sudden make me Vegan but maybe think about more about which kind of milk and eggs to buy. It showed me how miserable and how much crap is sprayed into these products until it ends up in the supermarket and in my mouth. Generally I feel like its not just the food corporations/ factory farms faults but I also feel as if it is partially our fault and the fault of the government, not as if we would generally do something about it as much. Even though I may be sounding like a smart ass with all this food stuff, I do not really understand how the government plays a role into these big food corporations and would want to follow up on how it connects. I know it may be a dumb question but I really want to know because if there is then if definitely is partially the governments fault for letting this go on. The fact that people in America keep buying these products from factory farms and such is what keeps these corporations going and small family farms almost gone. Don't they think about the small family farms that are all slowly disappearing? I do not think I have the right to start telling people how to eat and what foods to pick but I feel like people should be known or told of how there foods end up in front of them. If certain people are okay with this or end up just not caring then it is their own choice and that cannot be changed, that is life.

The Micheal Pollan video was amusing to me and it showed the idea i kind of had about how I think it will be impossible to stop agriculture food corporations and I do not think they should all be destroyed but there should be a voice that really gives people knowledge and at least a better and more sanitary way for these factories to produce their foods that we eat. I imaged Micheal Pollan a lot different. Since I actually saw him in this video and how he spoke he seemed just like a normal person but over all I felt like as much as videos are probably the best way to get people's attention the video of Micheal Pollan is not very helpful since it seemed to distract my attention away from anything about food corporations to their jokes about each others facial complexion and hair. The animal cruelty video I have happened to have watched several times on different web sites and I have never been able to watch even half of that video because it is just way too intense for me. I am not going to ramble on about animal cruelty and junk but since the other two videos were not as helpful to me, as painful as it is I forced myself to read at least one of the articles. Ugh....reading.

In the Industrial Food is Cheap article it was general stating more about our health and how people should support family farms and more organic farming and produce because even though it may be a little more costly for our pockets it would be better as it benefits our health and the health of the future generation. I really liked the idea of how they are basically saying that organic foods and produce maybe a little more pricey to actually buy but the general benefits we can get for our health and such from organic foods is priceless. I am not sure why but I felt like this article took a more friendly approach by speaking more about are health then the videos, or maybe its just me. I feel that this is a hard thing to over come since money is most definitely the number one thing that everyone always worries about and it would be hard for anyone and even for myself to totally give up on how cheap industrial foods is. This relates back to the whole fast foods issue and how it is so unhealthy but it is generally cheaper for those who cannot afford expensive organic foods and such. I told my dad to read this article for no apparent reason and he actually did and we had our own little mini discussion. He agrees with how we should generally buy more organic foods and support small farms and such since it is much healthier but he does not really care much about the effect it has on the eating habits of the future generation. He says this is because he is 66 years old (And yes my dad is old) and since he is already old there is no point but I am still young so I still have hope. My dad is just a goof ball like that but I think my dad is usually a lot more healthy then I am and I would not be surprised at his comments about organic foods since he general tries to buy organic food once in a while. I remember once when my dad attempted to be cultural for a day and brought Kosher foods home. (this reminds me of our little lesson on Kosher and Halal foods in class). My dad's attempt to be Kosher failed not to long after he brought home Kosher food because my dad LOVES food too much and can cook really well, he is always watching the food channel and if not that he watches the news. We just tend to be too lazy to end up cooking or going out to get groceries. (my dad is Jewish in case people did not know, most people do not know. This is most likely why I do not look completely Chinese when people look at me sometimes.) I feel like this unit had the most effect on me, the health unit and birth units were eye openers and interesting too but ever since this food unit in class it has really been starting to change my eating habits little by little. It takes time... I have been trying to buy more organic food and asking my dad to buy milk, eggs, cheese, that are from animals that are not part of these corporations.

By the way, Andy kept on talking about how he liked Broccoli Rab so much or something like that and so the other day I had the opportunity to try some and I general thought it was good but it had a weird after flavor. I enjoyed trying something new but I probably wouldn't eat broccoli rab again because it was just too bitter. :)

To Andy and Everyone That has Commented

I do not really know this blog stuff really well besides from writing and checking for assingments but I was looking through my past blogs and I did not realize till today that you guys actually commented and some of my blogs from blogs back from the birth unit. (duhh) So Thank you for the comments and your welcome for the insights. I will probably try to check from now on for comments. :P And a comment Samantha Rios gave me an idea about our eating habits, here is the comments:

Blogger Sam Rios said...

I find it interesting how you say when you go to Hong Kong you don't eat as much. When i go to puerto rico, I don't eat as much either. Everywhere you go, you need a car and obviously I can't drive yet so I'd take walks to the store. Also maybe after 2 or 3 days in PR, I usually get tired of how much grease is in the food so I hardly eat.

Blogger dudeitscloesblog said...

For some reason I hear from a lot of people that when you go like "back to there own country" or like where they spend most of their holidays at they tend to eat less. You actually just gave me some new insight I think. I think it is because of the traveling, in Hong Kong you have to take a cab or a long train ride to get to restaurants or places to eat. Around my old apartment in Hong Kong it was almost deserted. I think the fact that in America there is so many different ways to get food so easily just a few steps away makes people indulge and eat more. Also I think it may be because of the heat, the heat sometimes get people eat less. Although in American even when its hot I still heat like a fatass lol. Its America :D
Thanks for the comment, I love you<3

Baked Sweet Potato Fries...Yummm

Made this recipe and wrote it myself, did not take it off a website.

Ingredients:
-Sweet Potato, as many as you feel like eating.
-salt
-olive oil
-pepper
-paprika

Directions:
1. Wash the sweet potatoes and if you do not like the skin then peel them off, other wise they are pretty okay to keep them on.
2. Cut up the sweet potatoes into the shape of fries, or what ever way you want to cut them in.
3. Place them into a large bowl and pour a little bit of olive oil on the potatoes.
4. (MAKE SURE YOUR HANDS ARE WASHED, DIRTY...) Use your hands to mix around the not yet cooked sweet potato fries so the oil blends all over the potatoes.
5. Sprinkle a some salt, pepper, and paprika over the potatoes. Then mix them again.
6. Spread the potatoes over a pan and place in the oven, place the oven on 400 degrees.
7. Let the potatoes cook for around 20 minutes, or until the the edges become brown.
8. They should be done in no time and ready to eat.

I love this recipe. Quick and easy. :)






Done! :)

Recipes

One of my favorite thing to make is Salmon Artichoke Dip

Preheat oven to 350°
1 package (8 oz) Cream cheese, softened
1 cup Mayonnaise
1/2 cup chopped Smoked salmon
1/3 cup chopped Onions
1 can (14 oz) chopped Artichoke hearts
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Mix softened cream cheese and mayonnaise together until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and mix gently but thoroughly. Spread into 1 quart baking dish. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and bake at 350° for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an addition 15 - 20 minutes until bubbly and golden. Serve hot. Refrigerate any leftovers. Eaten with tortilla chips best!

I am not sure if i can bring this in because I need an oven to heat it up for it to taste good (taste like shit when cold, and I am not sure if there is an oven in school that I can use unless Andy lets me use his tiny little oven which I am not sure can fit a class size dish of dip.

**But another thing I like to cook is strawberry cake with vanilla icing which I may bring in one day if I have time for extra point.Or anything else I can find that I can make and bring in. :)

The Omnivore's Dilemma

According Micheal Pollan (to what I think he is trying to say) his argument is that our past knowledge about eating and how to eat has been replaced with confusion and anxiety on what to eat. Most Americans today rely on these experts of foods such as diet books, commercials, magazines, etc. to tell us what we can or cannot eat to make your eating habits healthy. I think that this argument is definitely very true for many Americans today. Today people have some weird fad on food, eating healthy, eating certain ways to look like what the media says your suppose to look like. Many people listen to these "experts" and following the experts plans not knowing that some probably are not good for us or do not even work at all. For most people, these "experts" can completely change our daily eating habits and what can be found in our kitchens or change what we shove in our mouths. Although it makes me wonder why we trust these experts when they, to us, are basically are strangers and most of us have probably never met these experts. Ironically though what these experts say to eat or not to eat people will most likely definitely follow whether it is because they want to loose weight or eat "healthy". It makes me wonder if some new famous food expert were to magically pop up on the media sooner or later and says "its healthy to not eat any foods at all and just go anorexic", will people be that blind as to listen? Ever though there are many of those who follow these food experts as if a religion there are those who do not and indulge in foods that are probably worse to eat such as McDonalds, Burgerking, Junk food, etc. And although they do not follow any experts that may probably be wrong it does not make them any better with their foods habits.

For me, as much as I wish I could say I have never followed these experts advice on eating I must admit that I definitely have. In the past I have struggled with my weight and the first thing I obviously do is ask the experts on how to loose some weight. And back then I weighed around 148 pounds and following many advice, looking on many magazines, being very unhealthy I became 126 pounds rapidly. Right now though I tend to eat what ever I want besides from the fact that I started to be vegetarian about two years ago. I became vegetarian not because of dietary reasons but because I am against eating innocent animals being killed without being able to defend themselves ( i guess that is an easy way to put it). Being vegetarian was through my own will and not from any "expert". Now I weight 133 pounds and I do not feel embarrassed about my weight because I feel that I am easting fairy healthy. The way I get my eating habit advice from is from my father. To me my father always seemed like he knew what he was doing but when thinking about it my father probably got his easting and diet ways from what we are calling "experts. And even though you do not read diet books or magazines and listen to people on television there are still people that you ask for advice on how to eat healthy. This for example is like your parents or friends. And who do these close family and friends get their food advice from? Most likely some sort of dietary expert. Or if they were to ask their friends and family at some point all the knowledge is directed back to one sources which is most likely what we know as these "experts".

Fruits, Grains, and Vegetables

List of Vegetables that eaten on a typical week:
-Lettuce
-Carrot
-Potato
-Onions
-Garlic
-Corn
-String Bean
-Artichoke
List of Fruit:
-Mango
-Banana
-Apple
-Pineapples
Beans/Grains:
-Black Beans
-Lime Beans
-Rice
-Soy Beans

Food is a hard subject for me because eat probably up to two meals a day which is really unhealthy. Its ironic because just yesterday my father asked me if I wanted to go grocery shopping and I said no. When my brother use to live with my father and I we use to go grocery shopping a lot, i guess its because my brother was kind of in charge of the food. My brother has always eat nothing but meat and I never eat meat so the house would usually be filled with fresh meat and junk food a and no vegetables. I think maybe I just got use to not having much foods that I can eat in the house. Now that my brother is gone my kitchen is filled with less meat, actually no meat at all. When I do go to the grocery store on the same block from my house known as "Gristides" it makes me realize how many people are too lazy to shop at places that may be cheaper such as Key Foods or places uptown by 116 street since I live on 95 street. My boyfriends family drives to a totally different borough with their van where they stash a bunch of food to bring home, although its far its worth it as the food they get is more fresh as well as cheaper. This made me think that there are a lot of people in America that are just really lazy, they just give into the expensive groceries store a block from their house rather then walking a couple more blocks to somewhere cheaper. Once I went to the super marker for some drinks and as I was on line a couple was buying groceries and foods as there total cost came up to 130 dollars as they responded in shock to the cost....."really?". The boy on the registered told them that if he was them he would shop up on 116th where you can get a a stack of coke cans for 5 dollars rather then 10 dollars which the couple was paying for.
Also when I shop the the super marker I realize how much frozen food products there are and then actual fresh foods like fresh meat, fresh fish, fresh vegetables. There are mostly frozen t.v. dinners, frozen vegetables, etc. This reminded me of when I watched the food channel the other day about big food corporations and what kinds of foods they freeze and that can be made in a few minutes by popping it into the microwave. I was really surprised on how much different types of food they freeze pack: mac and cheese, lasagna, clam chowder, and a lot more. The thing is people buy this stuff too because if they weren't these big food corporations would be out of business and wouldn't exist at all. It just shows that a lot of Americans at most times are really lazy to cook foods. I heard that its a lot healthier to have home cooked meals then fast foods, frozen foods, etc. but Americans are always in a rush or always too lazy that they take the easier route of popping stuff into the microwave to cook. Although this may not always be because of laziness but can be because of how a person's was raised to eat.

In class we discussed about how peoples eating habits can be a result of how they were raised to eat as a child. A parent that gives there child junk food and snacks for breakfast may cause that child to eat junk food for breakfast forever as that is their trained eating pattern. For me, I never really eat breakfast in the morning as a child. My parents did provide me sometimes with the daily meals of breakfast, lunch, snack( or when I grew up in Hong Kong, "dim sum" which is like tea time), and dinner but as my family split apart as I grew up they never really kept track of what was healthy for me and more about if I was eating in general. I think in result it caused me today as a teenager to not have a healthy eating pattern. I always usually skip breakfast, I have a small lunch, and small dinner. Sometimes I would even go days on just small bowls of foods such as pretzels, peas, lime beans, etc. Although I do like to cook but I find that sometimes when Im hungry and I feel like cooking a meal, after I have finished cooking the meal I am not hungry anymore. As if just cooking the meal either satisfied me or got me sick of the food since it took me forever to cook.

Here are some things I like to make either for myself or other :)
-coconut rice
-salmon artichoke dip recipe
-Breaded artichoke
-Mapo Tofu
-Fried Rice
-Fish balls (not what it sounds. Its packed up fish made into balls)
-Garlic Shrimp
-Shrimp Red Curry
-Banana Smoothies
-Different types of pasta
-Banana Pancakes
And a lot more but the list goes on and I don't want to write all of them. :)

May Day

Until May 1, 2009 I have to say that I have never heard or known of this Holiday known as May Day. I think I have heard it pop up in the past once or twice but I have never really looked into it until it was mentioned in history class. When I asked people, such as classmates and such, none of them really know what May Day really represents. Many people said that May Day was to celebrate the first day of May which is a really stupid answer because wouldn't we be celebrating the first day of every month? Apparently it is a day where people are suppose to celebrate the social and economic achievements of those of working class.

Its weird because this holiday is suppose to be the date where people are suppose to help people work towards getting better working conditions. Many people around the world probably besides from the United States are supposedly on May 1st march through the streets with their fellow union worker. Its ironic though because there is so many people in the United States in the working class, its weird how the people of United States celebrate very common holidays such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, etc. all days which people exploit their money for presents, food, etc. and the only day where people come together and celebrate the working class people don't seem to even know this day exists.

Food Journal

Ma Po Tofu (Chinese Tofu Dish, its usually made with ground beef but didn't eat it with beef)- Eaten yesterday evening for dinner. Extremely satisfying since I only eat one other thing that day during lunch. It was very delicious and had not eaten Ma Po Tofu since I was young. I cooked it myself, it was a pain to cook but eat it fast. It was very hot, eaten with spoon. Eaten in my dad's room while doing math homework which was surprisingly easy so I was in a pretty satisfied and good mood but the environment was that it was very hot but I had a fan which helped a little.



Doughnut- Eaten this morning around 10:00am. Eat with right hand, no utensils. Given to me by Paul (guy in our class), I don't usually eat breakfast so it satisfied me pretty good. Eat it in the science class room, many other people were eating the doughnuts he gave everyone while Mr. Avigan makes a fail attempt to get authority and tell people to stop eating.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich- Eaten while walking down stairs to math class to work on exhibitions. Eaten with right hand, it was sort of sticky. It was too much peanut butter and jelly for my taste and was sort of too sweet but was quite hungry so eat it anyways. Drank a whole bottle of 16oz. water to get full (I always drink a lot).


3 Strips of Twislers - Eaten during "Making Your Own Choice group" with a couple of students that I am pretty comfortable with. Eaten in Andy Snyder's room. Pealed off plastic, eaten with mainly right hand. The environment was pretty uncomfortable consider I sat in that same room for about 2 and a half hours. The feelings when I eat this was amused since I was joking around with the others while I was eating.

Four bites of gold fish crackers - Also eaten during "Making Your Own Choice group for after school. I had a few bites but my feelings for it were pretty bland and I ended up not really wanting it and put it in my bag. Eaten by holding the bag with my left hand and gold fish crackers in my right. I eat most of this food during the class is because it is free.


Small bottle of apple Juice - Drank this during the same class. Very much enjoyed this apple juice because I was really thirsty and I really like apple juice. Drank with my right hand.

Slice of extremely thin pizza (cheese was mozzarella) - Eaten around 8:30pm. Got home late so I was pretty hungry and the slice of pizza was really satisfying. Eaten with 4 cups of water because I can never eat anything without drinking A LOT. Eaten with my boyfriend, no toppings or pepperoni or anything like that because we both don't eat meat. Eaten in my dads room since my dad is gone on a business trip. Eaten while watching "ghost hunters". I eat it pretty quick because I was really hungry, eaten while sitting on the bed next to my boyfriend.

Cup of green tea- Was extremely satisfying and felt relaxing to drink. It was very warm and satisfying. Drank through a coffee mug while watching t.v. and checking email. I drank this very slowly because it was hot.

-Between the green tea and going to bed I had around 3 cups of water.

"Foodways"

Through my life I have been assimilated many times when dealing with the way I eat or my food ways. This may have something to do with the different family changes in my life dealing with divorce, moving, family members moving out, etc. So mainly for me the way my family works has a significant part of the way I eat. When my family was still together my family was very big on eating traditional chinese dinners with occasions of eating different foods and going out to eat and having "dim sums" which are chinese equivalent to tea time which was extremely big with my whole chinese family including grandparents, aunts and uncles. Real chinese food that I use to eat in Hong Kong was extremely different then the fake chinese food here in America. In Hong Kong there is no such thing as chicken and broccoli or sesame chicken and most of the foods are more freshly made. When I moved to New York when I was ten years old my eating habits changed completely. I no longer eat dinners or any meals at the dining table, there were no more dim sums and my family was pretty separated most of the time. This was the time I was living with my father for the first time and my father mostly eat out, I eat in front of the television, and my brother eat his meals while hiding in his room playing warcrafts (which i must state I hate warcrafts and anyone who plays that mine sucking game is a looser). I started to indulge on a lot of things because when I moved to America it was my first time eating certain things like McDonalds. There was always a good amount of food in my old apartment that I lived in when I first moved to America. I think this really relates to the mainstream corporate food ways since most Americans eat in front of the television and I never really heard of any other families eating together at a table unless it was when they went out to a restaurant. My present eating habits are pretty much the same but a little different. I do not actually eat full healthy meals that a human is suppose to eat, breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner. Sometimes i eat up to one to two meals a day, this may be because of the fact that I am usually really busy. For example in the morning when I wake up I always try to get ready and rush to school and not be late making no time to eat breakfast. I think this is true for many other Americans as America or New York is a rushing city where everyone is always in a rush. There are many time that there are foods that I am not able to finish and although at times I wrap them up to save in the fridge they end up either staying in the fridge to rot forever or end up being thrown away, I think this definitely show the typical mainstream food ways since most Americans waste hundreds of dollars worth of food a year. American has become a country that cares so much on making money off of anything that people make money off of something people need on a daily bases to survive, food. Since food is processed so much in America and all the different types of foods that people do not really see it as something with a lot of value like gold or luxury items and tend to waste it a lot not thinking of the many people in other countries or the many who are in poverty who can't get the basic foods they need.

At the restaurant that my boyfriend works at, me, my boyfriend and some other friends eating. The restaurant is Italian or supposedly Italian and a little fancy. I stuffed my face that day since food was free. We get free food since my boyfriend works there on weekends.


This was taken in Hong Kong of Summer '08. Me and my friend from Hong Kong met up and eat dinner together. This dish is the real Chinese version of what you can find in Americanized Chinese restaurants as "Pan Friend Noodles". This day we only eat this dish for dinner, which we shared. I do not eat and stuff my face as much when I am in Hong Kong then when I am here in America.

Food Question Assignment

One question that I had on my mind was: How much food that is harvest gets wasted by an average American household?
America apparently is known to be the "throw-away society" where many Americans waste a large amount of food that is thrown away and never consumed. According to a study by the University of Arizona shows that 40 to 50 percent of all foods that are harvest and never actually consumed/ eaten and end up being thrown away and wasted.

How much can America or an Average American can save on the wasted foods they do no eat?

To an average household of four people the percent of food wasted is 14 percent and the money they are wasting away can add up to $590 per year just from meat, vegetables, fruits, and grain products. And as nationwide household foods can add up to 43 billion dollars which can be a major economic situation.

Source: http://www.news-medical.net/?id=6445

Whats in my fridge...

In my fridge contains:
-Frozen Peas
-Frozen Ego Waffles
-A Blue Ice Packer Thing
-Butter
-Pasta Sauce
-Two Potatoes
-Month old almost empty orange juice carton
-Two apples
-One fairly old orange
-Icing
-Milk
-Craft Cheese
-Almost empty Perrier bottle
-And a crap load of different sauces such as Caesar dressing, soya saucse, Italian dressing, ketchup etc. that has probably never really been used.

In my fridge it may be noticed that it does not contain a very large content of fresh foods and mostly frozen foods. I think compared to many other middle class families or households with two people would probably on average have a lot more food in their fridge compared to my fridge. I do not think this has anything to do with the fact that I am vegetarian although my friends seem to think so. Personally I think the lack of fresh foods such as fresh vegetable or even drinks or fruits and other common fridge items is mainly due to either 1) me and my father are too lazy to go shopping 2) I don't eat very much and somtimes only eat 1 meal a day with some small snacks throughout the day and 3) my dad doesn't spend much time at home so the majority of his meals are eating outside in resturaunts or wherever he eats at. I think by looking at the content in my fridge, if anyone else has the same amount of food as I do, shows that maybe americans tend to have a lot of frozen foods that can be kept in the fridge for a long amount of time such as frozen waffles, frozen vegtables, t.v. Dinners, frozen everything! I think this is because of the laziness of americans to actually cook a whole meal from scratch. Everyone does it the easy was of popping things into the microwave. One two three and ready to eat. I personally do not know many people who actually cook meals from scratch besides from my boyfriend's mother who is spanish. I think it is a tradition and common for her to cook her daily rice and beans, fish, and chicken compared to my daily life to frozen peas. She does not work and spends most of her time at home, but not everyone is lucky like my boyfriend to have a mother who loves to cook huge amount of meals for the family. Another thing that my fridge may say amount how people buy food in America may be the fact that people tend to buy foods that they may sometimes leave in the fridge till they grow mold and eventually needs to be thrown away. In America, people who are at least living over the poverty line probably most of the time buy foods that they don't actually really end up eating and if they do cook it most people tend to waste food and even over flow there plate and not put the amount they can actually consume which results in perfectly good wasted food. Although my fridge may not contain a lot of foods it still can show how people deal with their food on a daily bases.

This is a picture of my fridge. I eat the frozen peas so you even though its on the list it is not in this picture. This picture when i saw it made me laugh because it somewhat embarrassing on how empty my fridge is. And I also put a picture up of whats in my cabinet so that I can show that even if my fridge is completely empty my cabinet is somewhat full and that there is a a few things I would eat that is in the cabinet.

American Health Care Essay Assignment

Comparative Analysis to Health care in the United States vs. Health Care in Canada and a little bit to other countries. Why is health care so difficult in the United States and why doesn't anyone do anything about it?

In the United States health care is a big issue that people and families have to face at least once whether it is a big medical treatment that is denied by health insurance or the big expenses and dept from medical care. America is supposedly one of the countries that spend the most on health insurance according to the OECD (Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development). This is ironic because America is also one of the countries with the highest prices and expenses for one to get health care services(Wikipedia.com). In America, there is almost no such thing as free health care. Insurance companies have made is extremely difficult for people to get the right health care, especially for those who are poor and cannot afford health insurance at all. The result of this is the 18 million out of 50 million people who die because of the fact that they do not have health insurance (Micheal Moore, Sicko). It makes one wonder why so many are left with no medical care. It is said that citizens from other countries such as Canada or Britain are far more healthier and have a longer life span than Americans. In Micheal Moore documentary Sicko, mentions that according to the Medical Health Associations, illnesses such as hearth diseases, stroke, lung diseases, cancer, etc are more common and significantly higher to Americans. What is it that causes all the citizens in other countries to be far more healthier? What system are they using that America seems to fail to adopt or realize? The answer may be free health care.

In the United States the health care system are run by a system known as HMO (Health Maintenance Organization). It is a specific type of health care plan that sets guidelines under which doctors can operate and are also mainly run mostly by private businesses. When joining HMO plans a person is usually given a negotiation of certain affordable health care and eliminate unnecessary treatments so HMO can reduce cost. A person is usually provided with one doctor where the doctor works with the HMO in determining what treatments a person does and does not need. Health care coverage through the system of HMO is supposedly to cost less than traditional health care coverage but the catch is that there is usually a limitation and denial of a range of different treatments(WiseGeek.com). In other countries such as Canada, the system is different but first to explore the difficultly that people face with the health care in the United States.

In the United States most people cannot afford certain medical treatments, and most people always seem to have some difficulty when dealing with insurance companies. In my family I have medical insurance known as child health plus and although I have come to many small annoying conflicts with my insurance company I am lucky enough to say I or anyone else in my family have not have any major medical treatments that were denied by our health insurance. As I wish I can say this is true for other families unfortunately in most cases people can be denied of medical treatment whether how extreme the medical problem may be. In the United States those who cannot afford to pay for health insurance or medical bills are thrown out on the street like garbage. This is especially true for homeless people in America. In Los Angles many who cannot afford to pay for a medical bill in hospitals are dumped by the hospitals to the Union Rescue Mission group in downtown Los Angles or maybe even just dumped out on the street(Sicko). This is shown in Micheal Moore documentry as he states "Is this what we've become? A nation that dumps their citizens like so much garbage on the side of the curb because they can't pay for the medical bill?" Those who can afford health insurance and afford to pay medical bills get the medical treatment they need but as for the others are associated to garbage. This is most likely why the 18 million people out of the 50 million die.

It is common to hear that Canada has a better health care system then the United States. Although this can be a matter of opinion. In interviews that were conducted during a session in history class there were many different opinions on the American health care system by common citizens in the streets of New York. Many who said that they very much liked the American health care system are people who were most likely either rich or are payed for by the government since they were people who worked for the government. For example was a elderly man on crutches, he stated that the health care system in the US was a 10 out of 10 for him and the best health care. He stated that his doctor charged him more for a medical treatment since he was rich and he was okay with that. This shows the idea how those who can afford the medical bills get the medical treatment they they need. Although others disagree with the American Health care system such as Scott Chesler who stated "Health is a right and the government should be giving people means to be more healthy." and that "If the government is not keeping us healthy then what are they doing?" He also mentioned that the health care system maybe should not be exactly socialist like England or Cuba but the government should definitely provide the health care that is needed. Unlike the United States Canada's health car esystem is more of a single payer which is a system where everyone is covered by the same plan which pays private providers(Class Notes, Andy Synder). The advantages to this is that since it is free it enables there citizens to get the proper health care they need. This may be one of the main reasons that some Americans citizens who cannot afford health care go to Canada to get there health care even though this is illegal if you are not an acutal Canadian citizen. Many Canadians who visit America on the other hand tend to buy insurance before stepping over the boarder because of the 'just in case' reasons since they do not want to get caught in the American Health system in case anything happens that causes them to need medical attention (show in Sicko). "It turns out that Canadians live three years longer then we do" (Micheal Moore, Sicko).

Another country with free health care along with England and Canada is France. What are some reasons that these countries are using this system and not America? I mean free health for everyone does not sound like a bad thing does it? One of the reasons is fear and protest. For example in Sicko, Micheal Moore interviews a group of Americans that are living in France and something I found insightful that was mentioned to why America may not be getting the basic needs they want as much as France is because the government in France are afraid of the people.As if the people run their country the government fear protest and bad reactions from the citizens. In the United States it's almost the complete opposite, the people seem to be more afraid of the government and are afraid of protesting. We fear the government that we are not willing to stand up what we believe is unfair or wrong. Micheal Moore also mentioned that as America sees another good idea such as a better car, a better wine, better technology that another country comes up with, America does not seem so hesitant to adopt that idea so why is it that America is having such a hard time being able to adopt a better health care system that will insure better health and at least one less hardship for all? The answer to this could be the conclusion that Micheal Moore's documentary when he stated that other countries" live in a world of 'we' not 'me', we'll never fix anything until we get that one basic thing right. and powerful forces hope that we never do." Without this basic concept of thinking as a country whole and not just about the money we make in out pockets America will keep being one of the only countries without free health care and will remain at a low on the list of good health care. And the "powerful forces" may have more power but if we continue to give them that power and not do anything about it we may never receive anything that will better out lives and our health.