Reflection blog post

I think the most useful thing i learned in this classs is how to do a research on a specific topic and how to use others' article to support and strengthen my own argument. That is quite helpful because it seems less authoritative and persuasive if i just use my own analysis. And when doing some research, i can always find something new and interesting. So i may combine my analysis and outside resourse more in the future.

A Pescatarian’s Eating Manifesto (EE2 Draft)

Yesterday I ate lunch in memory of my parents. It is a pescatarian meal consists of salmon sushi and vegetables. I always had lunch with my parents when I was in China although they were quite busy all the time. They are both pescatarians and I was already affected by them when I was very young. Usually, our meals consist of fish and vegetables. We seldom eat poultry and red meat only if some important festivals require them. When first observing this special eating habit of my parents, I was curious. So I asked my mother, “why not eat other meat?” Her answer was that fish and vegetable were much healthier than poultry and red meat. This is a really simple reason, which is not strong enough to eliminate my doubts. Therefore, I decide to do some research about pescatarian and find out whether it is healthier to be a pescatarian or not and how this eating manifesto affects people’s food choice.

Many people become pescatarian and give up eating other meat because they concern about eating ethically. For pescatarian, eating fish is more ethical than eating poultry and other meat for the reason that fish are cultivated more ethically. “Fish don't spend their lives in the harsh conditions that much livestock on factory farms does, and fishing generates less pollution and uses less water and fuel than farming.”(Sherman, PARA4) As Sherman says, compared with other factory-farmed animal products, fish suffer less pain during the process of breeding and producing. Some factory-farmed livestock such as chickens and pigs are treated badly. For example, thousands of chickens are locked up in relatively small sheds and cages, which are crowded and contaminated. Therefore, if one chicken died and is not separated from healthy chickens timely, other chickens will be infected. Also, enormous poultry plants force chickens bred for meat to grow too large too fast. Some may even feed chickens with chemical hormone, which result in “freaky chicken”. “Freaky chicken” is used to describe chickens with several heads and wings. Therefore, the bad treatments to poultry encourage us to be pescatarian.

Pescatarians like to eat high-quality fish like salmon not only because of the good taste of it, but also for the reason that it is full of essential nutrition, such as vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin B-3, and vitamin B-6. “Sashimi fits into a well-balanced and healthy diet, providing a source of essential nutrients to nourish your body's cells and tissues.” (Tremblay, 3) As Tremblay says, sashimi provides rich resource of nutrition, which is undeniably beneficial for our health; strengthening immune system, preventing diseases, improving blood circulate on and helping the proper nerve transmission in our brains.

Many people become pescatarian not only for health and ethical reasons, but also for slimming. Fish is a pretty good substitute for red meat because it is also rich in protein. But fish has less saturated fat then meat has, which efficiently reduce the risk of getting fat. Although being a vegetarian seems more effective to lose weight, most people may prefer to be pescatarian eating fish and vegetables to fulfill their desire of eating meat. 

A group of people make up a study team and verify the connection between red meat consumption and higher mortality risk of chronic diseases. They organized two cohort studies, which effectively support their assumptions and analysis. “We found that greater consumption of unprocessed and processed red meats is associated with higher mortality risk. Compared with red meat, other dietary components, such as fish, poultry, nuts, legumes, low-fat dairy products, and whole grains, were associated with lower risk.”(Red Meat Consumption and Mortality, 562) It is likely to be the conclusion of their studies, which indicates that eating fish will reduce the higher mortality risk and keep healthy.

Moreover, Sherman mentions that fishing is more environmental friendly in the quote talked above. For example, “Holy Cow! What’s Good for You” is a commentary article specifically explaining the connection between red meat consumption and increasing mortality of chronic diseases and global warming crisis. In the analysis of global warming crisis, the author says, “Many people are surprised to learn that animal agribusiness generates more greenhouse gases than all forms of transportation combined.” (PARA13) It does surprise me because in my mind transportation pollution is much more harmful than animal agribusiness and I never connect global warming problem with animal agribusiness. However, the data provided in the article verify that the large amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated by factory-farmed animals and the large amount of earth’s entire land surfaces used to raise livestock are the main reasons resulting in global warming crisis, which cannot be underestimated and ignored. Therefore, being a pescatarian, eating fish instead of poultry and red meat is an effective and efficient way to reduce greenhouse gas.

The complicated, dangerous procedure and the fast speed of food production cause disorders among poultry workers. It is necessary for them to wear protective boots, gloves and aprons since there are many bacteria during the production and quick working speed will easily cause injuries. But many workers just have none of them because they cannot afford any of them; they are treated indifferently by poultry plants, doing one of the most dangerous works but earning very little money. “Injured foreigners aren't eligible for welfare or disability benefits.” (Christopher, 42) This sentence mentioned in “Fowl Trouble” effectively shows the inhuman treatment towards poultry workers, especially those who are immigrants. Nonetheless, one of the important factors leading to the dangerousness during production is the fast working speed. And it is the increasingly larger consumption of chicken products that result in the fast working speed. Therefore, being a pescatarian is good for reducing the consumption of poultry, alleviating the heavy pressure of poultry workers and increasing the safety of them during the food production.

I just said that I give up eating all kinds of meat except fish, which seems a little bit monotonous. However, pescatarians do have numerous kinds of fish dishes, which are delicious enough to satisfy our desire of eating meat. For instance, my friends and I like to eat salmon sushi. Last Sunday, I went to a Japanese restaurant with some of my friends to eat salmon sushi. Japanese food there is tasty, especially for us, who are tired of eating food in university cafeteria and want to make some changes. I still remember how satisfied I was when eating the salmon sashimi above the salmon sushi. The small slices of salmon sashimi taste good because of their softness and freshness. And the salmon sashimi in this Japanese restaurant is relatively thick and high-quality.

I used to made salmon sushi when I was in China. Sometimes, I brought them to school and shared them with my friends during the lunch time. I was glad that all of them liked the salmon sushi I made. My cooking process of salmon sushi is quite easy. First, cook some sushi rice. During the time of rice cooking, wash the salmon, cut it into small slices and freeze them. Once the sushi rice is cooked, put them into a small bowl and then stir in sushi vinegar and a little salt. Then, wash some cucumbers and cut them into pieces. After the preparation of these basic materials, place a nori sheet on a bamboo rolling mat and spread sushi rice evenly on the nori sheet. Next, place the slices of salmon sashimi, cucumber, pickled vegetables and some meat floss in a straight line at one edge of the nori sheet. Then, roll the sushi up from the edge and slice the sushi roll into several pieces. However, the Japanese restaurant I mentioned before made other types of salmon sushi. For instance, they will put slices of salmon sashimi above the sushi rice ball, which makes it easier for consumers to taste the softness and freshness of salmon sashimi directly.

What to eat?

According to Dupuis, we’d better stop asking the question “What to eat?” Stop listening to and following intermediaries, who keep advocating various eating guidelines without authenticities. Nowadays, a large number of people obey the food advice of popular food writers without consideration, no matter how confusing and implausible these food advices are. They just lost their faith in religion and science, letting popular food writers control their eating habits. We pretend that our food choices could resolve the politic problems. But the history has already showed the fact that we were pursuing eating perfectly while we always failed. Following various food advices will just result in inequality instead of making many improvements in our diets. Therefore, he is opposed to listen to popular food writers’ eating advices.

Different from Dupuis, Pollan still comes up with several eating advices although he mentions that many food advices today are confusing and unreasonable at the beginning of the article. For example, “Just last fall two prestigious studies on omega-3 fats published at the same time presented us with strikingly different conclusions.”(Pollan, page1) And he also points out that nutritionism is ideology instead of science. As he said, “Ideologies are ways of organizing large swaths of life and experience under a set of shared but unexamined assumptions.”(Pollan, page2) However, at the end of his article, he suggests that do not eat industrial foods and processed foods; eat real foods instead of foodlike things, which our ancestors wouldn’t recognize as foods. Also, he says that we’d better eat food with high quality instead of large quantity.

The most helpful suggestion by Pollan is that eating like French people, that is, eating various kinds of food but eat just small portions of them. This method not only fulfills our desire of eating a wide range of cuisines, but also prevents us from getting too fat and unhealthy. I am also confused to varied food advices advocated by numerous food writers and professionals, but i believe eating less and eating mostly vegetables will have positive effects on our health.

Thoughts on Eating Practices

I eat breakfast everyday, and this is the eating practice i want to keep. Eating breakfast early in the morning is a effective and efficient approach to recharge myself quickly. Also, i will drink a bottle of water when i get up everyday, which helps to improve the blood circulation and metabolosm.  I always eat a lot at dinner, which makes me feel uncomfortable at night. So i am considering change it and eat less during dinner time. And i will stop eating late-night snacks.

Reading Yusi's SE5

I read Yusi's blog and find some interesting points. For example, the tomato contained so many carotene lycopene, which is one of the most powerful natural antioxidants that can defeat the cancer. Also, eating tomatoes a lot will improve our skin’s ability to protect against harmful UV rays. Before i just knew tomatoes contained a lot of nutrition, but now i realize that they have many positiive effects on our bodies.

Are Soft Drinks Bad Or Good?

Is drinking soft drinks harmful to you? I guess the answer is yes. In fact, this question is not new for us. Numerous people hold the opinion that soft drinks are bad for our health, although they have neither substantial evidences nor persuasive analysis. Moreover, I find several classmates of mine like to drink soft drinks such as coke and soda from their eating journals. This fact reveals that drinking soft drinks already becomes a pervasive eating habit for people; it is also the comfort food for them. Therefore, the association between the increasingly more large consumption of soft drinks and our health encourages me to do some researches on soft drinks, verifying whether drinking soft drinks is harmful or not. And, is it better for us to reduce the large consumption of soft drinks?

During my research of soft drinks, I found a representative experimental study, which verified the negative effect of drinking too much soft drink: chronic diseases. This is the first large-scale study showing the association between the large soft drink consumptions and the increased risk of getting asthma and COPD. Asthma and COPD are prevalent chronic diseases in South Australia and people there often drink soft drinks. So this study randomly picked up interviewees among the adults living in South Australia. Each month, health interviewers use a computer-assisted telephone interviewing system to interview at least 600 selected Australia adults. They asked many questions about their personal history, symptoms of asthma/COPD as well as consumption of soft drinks to collect the important data. For instance, those interviewees would be asked “Have you ever been told by a doctor that you have chronic bronchitis or emphysema” and “On average, how many liters of soft drink and sports drink do you usually have in a day?” (SHI, P364)

After analyzing the data collected, the researchers found, “Among those with asthma and COPD, 13.3 and 15.6%, respectively, consumed 0.5 L or more of soft drink per day.”(SHI, P365) This group of data indicates that people regularly drinking soft drinks have higher risk of getting asthma and COPD, compared with those who rarely drink soft drinks. Also, the study figured out that the negative effect of combination of soft drinks and smoking is significantly associated with the increased risk of asthma and COPO, which emphasized the importance and necessity of healthy habits and lifestyle. Moreover, it mentioned that chemicals from the plastic bottles of soft drinks may also lead to asthma. Thereby, this experimental study verified that drinking soft drinks too often increases the risk of asthma and COPD as a result of various factors, recommending the reduction of soft drink consumption.

In addition, I found other harmful effects of soft drinks on the Internet. Drinking too much soft drinks for a long time will intake too much caffeine, which makes people addicted to it and feel uncomfortable right after stopping drinking soft drinks. More than that, people regularly drinking soft drinks will feel headache, tired and anxious after energizing nervous system for a long period by caffeine. Furthermore, a US research team also assumed, “One soft drink a day raises ‘heart attack danger’ by 20%.”(Fiona Macrae, 1)They verified these sugar-sweetened soft drinks contribute to the high level of dangerous blood fats and of proteins linked to heart diseases.

What’s more, I was surprised to learn about the positive effects of soft drinks during my research, because all my expressions of soft drinks before were unhealthy and harmful. According to Rice University, caffeine contained in some soft drinks could stimulate our nervous system and quickly recharge ourselves. Therefore, if we have to do some difficult work which needs lots of energy, we will benefit from the caffeine in soft drinks. Also, the alkaline of soft drinks helps to build bones while the minerals and vitamins contained in diet sodas enrich the nutrition in our body. Looking at these positive effects, it seems that reducing drinking soft drinks is not that necessary.

I feel glad to know more about soft drinks after doing these researches. Learning soft drinks comprehensively helps me to drink soft drinks in a healthy way. As all the factors mentioned above, soft drinks have both negative and positive effects. But above all, moderate consumption of soft drinks is the most important. Drinking either too much or too little soft drink cannot have a positive effect on our body. However, I still incline to the idea that it is necessary for us to reduce soft drink consumption because they are more or less harmful to our health. Some other healthy drinks, such as water, low-fat milk and unsweetened juice, are much healthier and safer. But if some people do not want to reduce soft drink consumption, drinking diet soft drinks is a good choice for the reason that they are sugar-free and reduced-calorie, which prevent people from getting fat and diabetes after drinking them regularly.

Food Journal

Thursday, May 10
Breakfast(8:00am): a bottle of skim milk + an apple + an orange + two overhard fried eggs
Lunch(2:30pm): a bottle of orange juice + a piece of sausage pizza + some French fries + small slices of tomatoes, cucumbers, eggs and carrots
Dinner(5:00pm): hot water + vegetable salad + cheese cake

Friday, May 11
Breakfast(8:30am): a bottle of skim milk + an apple + two overhard fried eggs + butter croissant
Lunch(12:00am): a bottle of orange juice + some French fries + humburger
Dinner(5:50pm): hot water + vegetable salad + watermalon

Saturday, May 12
Breakfast(8:00am): a bottle of skim milk + an apple + an orange + chocolate croissant
Lunch(12:30pm): a bottle of apple juice + roast chicken + some French fries + cup cake
Dinner(6:00pm): a cup of hot chocolate + vegetable salad + broccoli + slices of tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers and eggs

Salmon Sashimi: not just food, but also a life motivation.

Last Sunday, I went to a Japanese restaurant with some of my friends to eat Japanese cuisines. It is closed to the campus but I cannot remember its name. Japanese food there is tasty, especially for us, who are tired of eating food in university cafeteria and want to make some changes. I still remember how satisfied I was when eating the salmon sashimi above the salmon sushi. The small slices of salmon sashimi taste good because of their softness and freshness. And the salmon sashimi in this Japanese restaurant is relatively thick and high-quality. So the salmon sashimi, which is one of the main ingredients of salmon sushi, most interested me and left a deep impression in my mind. Therefore, I decided to do some research about salmon sashimi after coming back from the Japanese restaurant.

I used to made salmon sushi when I was in China. Sometimes, I brought them to school and shared them with my friends during the lunch time. I was glad that all of them liked the salmon sushi I made. My cooking process of salmon sushi is quite easy. First, cook some sushi rice. During the time of rice cooking, wash the salmon, cut it into small slices and freeze them. Once the sushi rice is cooked, put them into a small bowl and then stir in sushi vinegar and a little salt. Then, wash some cucumbers and cut them into pieces. After the preparation of these basic materials, place a nori sheet on a bamboo rolling mat and spread sushi rice evenly on the nori sheet. Next, place the slices of salmon sashimi, cucumber, pickled vegetables and some meat floss in a straight line at one edge of the nori sheet. Then, roll the sushi up from the edge and slice the sushi roll into several pieces. However, the Japanese restaurant I mentioned before made other types of salmon sushi. For instance, they will put slices of salmon sashimi above the sushi rice ball, which makes it easier for consumers to taste the softness and freshness of salmon sashimi directly.

This cooking process, however, is not that standard, which is convenient and only used by people making salmon sushi at home. After doing some research about salmon sashimi, I find that salmon sashimi requires a relatively high standard of hygienic production; the steps of dealing with the raw salmon sashimi are quite complicated and challenging. In order to kill poisoning bacterial, such as Salmonella and Listeria, raw salmon sashimi must be stored frozen in refrigerator for at least 24 hours at a temperature of no more than -20 ℃. Also, before touching the salmon sashimi, we should wash our hands and equipment carefully to keep all the things clean. Moreover, we’d better eat salmon sashimi above the salmon sushi with some wasabi. Not just the special taste, but also the use of killing poisoning bacteria encourages us to eat salmon sashimi with wasabi. So these complicated steps of salmon sashimi contribute to the safe production of salmon sashimi.

People like to eat salmon sashimi not only because of the good taste of it, but also for the reason that it is full of essential nutrition, such as vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin B-3, and vitamin B-6. “Sashimi fits into a well-balanced and healthy diet, providing a source of essential nutrients to nourish your body's cells and tissues.”(Louise Tremblay, 3)Since the salmon sashimi provides rich resource of nutrition, it is undeniably beneficial for our health; strengthening immune system, preventing diseases, improving blood circulation and helping the proper nerve transmission in our brains.

The most interesting and startling part I found during my research about salmon sashimi was “salmon spirit”. They all know that it is extremely hard to reach the upstream; and they will certainly die after spawning at upstream. Nonetheless, they are still determined to follow this process. “Salmon are anadromous fish, meaning that they migrate from oceans to freshwater streams to reproduce.”(Salmon, 1) As the article “Salmon” says, thousands of salmons will swim to the upstream to spawn during the period from July to August. Most of them are coming from Pacific Ocean. Because the water is reverse-flow, salmons have to keep jumping during the whole period, which will make them hurt by the rocks along the riverbed. This is also the reason why the meat of salmon is red at upstream instead of light colored at downstream; their blood vessels are broken by the rocks. After spawning, salmons will die. Thereby, it is not hard to find that salmons have to experience numerous difficulties before reaching the upstream and some may be killed during this process.

Besides salmon’s tragic fate, I see more value in their persevering spirit when facing difficulties. “Salmon spirit”, also, is one of the most crucial factors contributing to success. Our life is similar to the spawning process of salmon. We both have to go through several frustrations. But the difference is we human beings will not die when reaching the destination. Therefore, I was educated by “salmon spirit” and it encourages me to fight against difficulties in my life with persistent effort and a strong heart. Only by going through these difficulties can we realize our goals.

As I mentioned above, I learned a lot from my research about salmon sashimi, which brings some changes to my attitude towards salmon sashimi. Now I will pay more attention to the hygienic production of salmon sashimi to avoid bacterial infection. Moreover, I know about “salmon spirit” while I just knew the nutrition of salmon sashimi before. Salmon sashimi now is not just a food for me, but also a representative of “salmon spirit” and a motivation of my life.

Salmon sashimi above sushi rice ball

Salmon sushi

Making salmon sushi with slices of salmon sashimi

                                          

Go back to food production, go back to poultry workers

The most noteworthy part I find in “Fowl Trouble” is the brutality to workers in American’s poultry plants. The writer uses broiler chicken as a representative instance, showing the complicated and dangerous procedure of food production. As the article mentions, broiler chicken are harmful because meat inspectors will examine the carcasses. However, they have to examine the carcasses in a very fast speed and other poultry workers have to process chicken quickly because of the rising demand of broiler chicken, which will inevitably cause disorders among poultry workers. “Scissors and knives quickly dull, and workers often lacerate themselves or their neighbors when blades slip off the slimy carcasses.” (Christopher, 14) The fast working speed causes heavy pressure of most employees in poultry plants. Also, these workers are treated indifferently. They are doing one of the most dangerous works but earn very little money. It is necessary for them to wear protective boots, gloves and aprons in that there are many bacteria during the production and quick working speed will easily cause injuries. But many workers just have none of them because they cannot afford any of them. Some workers lose their fingernails while some even lose the use of their hands due to the exposure to the bacteria in the chicken carcasses. Those people who are benefit from the hard work of poultry workers seldom care about the safety and health of their employees. As the article mentions, “Injured foreigners aren't eligible for welfare or disability benefits.” (Christopher, 42) Consumers who are enjoying the “harmless” broiler chicken will not concern about the health of poultry workers either. What a cruel world! This fact tells us that we have to pay attention to the production of food. Moreover, not only the food health, but also the safety and health of poultry worker during the procedure of food production should be widely concerned. And, this idea is the most meaningful and society-friendly part of writer’s tracing of food production.

Eating Disorder

In Pollan’s article “Our National Eating Disorder”, he analyzed the symptoms and the causes of American national eating disorder. I find out the two main factors, which cause the disorder eating habit of Americans. First, as the article mentions, “a scientific study, a new government guideline, a lone crackpot with a medical degree can alter this nation's diet overnight.”(Pollan, 1) Many Americans blindly pursue eating health without direction and consideration. Any scientific researches about food are authentic for them and they will follow these theories without hesitation.  Another factor that causes Americans disorder eating habits is their worrying about food.  For instance, many Americans will feel guilty after eating a piece of cheesecake or a chocolate cake because both of them may lead to obesity.  Eating healthily seems to be the primary food value of most Americans. However, people from French do not worry too much when they are eating; they just enjoy various delicious cuisines. The food value of most French people is eating for pleasure. And surprisingly, French people are healthier than most American people although they eat much “unhealthy” food to Americans. Why? As the author says in his article, “they eat small portions and don't go back for seconds; they don't snack; they seldom eat alone, and communal meals are long, leisurely affairs.”(4) This is exactly what I think. Americans may go back and get another chocolate cake after finishing the first one, while French people eat food in small portions and eat different kinds of food without going back for second one. French people can both enjoy various kinds of food and keep healthy because of their reasonable and right attitudes about eating. So Pollan comes up with the conclusion - “our anxious eating itself may be part of the American problem with food.”(4) But “social and psychological context in which it is eaten” is quite difficult to change in the near future. Pollan’s analysis about anxious eating attitude of Americans and the comparison between American’s food value and that of French people is the most interesting part of his analysis. As for me, eating for pleasure is the first priority; I eat whatever I like. But I still concern about eating healthily. I always eat a lot of vegetable and fruit during each meal.

Convenience: the primary food value for college students

    “Convenience overrides not only considerations of health but also the social and cultural meanings of meals and mealtimes.”(Marion Nestle, 19) This sentence argues that convenience becomes one of the main food values for people and overrides other old food values and cultures. Yes, I do find the significance of food convenience for most colleges. To be specific, I find that the primary food value for most college students is convenience in that their focus is generally centered on study; and they do not have kitchens in all of their dorms. Also, the daily schedule of most college students is irregular; they eat whenever and wherever they like.

College students are always in a rush heading for classes, which means they do not have enough time to make food even to eat food. Coffee shops, cafeteria, dorm and fast food restaurants, therefore, become the main places for college students to get food. I always see many college students order some drinks and small eats at Jazzman’s café & bakery, a cafeteria style coffee shop, and then take out them to class, dorm and library. Fortunately, most food in Jazzman’s is take-out food, such as chocolate croissant, brownie, cupcakes, milkshake, sandwiches and coffee. It is convenient for many college students and effectively saves a lot of time for them. Also, many college students prefer Jazzman’s because of its convenient location. It is located on the second floor in Driscoll, which is like the center of the campus, so most students will pass Jazzman’s on their way to classes. However, some students may stay at Jazzman’s during the break time after ordering some food. Those students coming alone will sit at the bar or the single tables near the windows, drinking coffee, eating dessert and studying, while some students coming as a group may sit around the big tables or sit on the sofa in the lounge area after ordering some food. Most of time, they will discuss group project and do the homework together. Jazzman’s is a really good place for students to study and quick recharge themselves during the short break between classes, because the atmosphere there is quiet and comfortable and the food in Jazzman’s is made fast. Thereby, students do not have to waste too much time to wait for the food, saving the time to study and relax. Moreover, Jazzman’s is close to Penrose library, so students who study in the library for a long time will go to Jazzman’s and buy some ready-made sandwiches and sliced fruit to have some nutrition and energy. Because of the increasingly rapid pace of school life today, those students studying in the library sometimes skip several meals and study for the whole day, thus, a convenient place like Jazzman’s is really important and necessary for those college students to quick recharge themselves. Burger king is a good place for many college students to get convenient food as well. It allows us to drive to burger king, order food in the car and eat with little effort. A few minutes later, the food is already packaged and we can take them away to any place. And, the cup of Burger King is designed to fit in a car cup holder, which is very portable. Therefore, all the factors mentioned above reveal that many college students emphasize the convenience of food for the reason that they want to save their time to study.

Not only study, but also the reason that college students have no kitchens in our dorms encourages them to pay more attention to the convenience of food. In my dorm, there is only a microwave oven and a refrigerator. So I can just buy some frozen fast food and heat them up in the microwave oven. This looks unhealthy so I often buy some fruit and vegetables, putting them in the refrigerator, washing and cutting them into slices before eating. Apparently, it is impossible for college students who have no kitchen in their dorms to cook a normal meal, instead, most of them prefer to buy some frozen food from the supermarket, such as frozen delicatessen, frozen vegetable blends, frozen chicken rings, and frozen pizza. Sometimes, I will eat frozen dumplings with my friends in the dorm. However, I find that boiled dumplings are far more delicious than frozen dumplings although frozen dumplings are easy to cook. It is quite convenient to make frozen food because all the things you have to do before you can eat them is to put them into microwave oven and wait for about 3 minutes. Moreover, the containers, spoons and forks of frozen meals are always disposable, so we do not need to wash them after finishing eating frozen meals. How convenient the frozen meal is! Instant noodle is also a good choice for many college students eating at the dorms. I always buy a box of instant noodles when going to the supermarket in case of having no time to eat lunch at university’s cafeteria. However, I think instant noodles are so unhealthy that eating them too often will have negative effect on our health. Sometimes, many college students eat some snacks as a meal to satisfy their stomach since it is even easier than heating up frozen food. But eating snacks too much will cause obesity and a lack of nutrition. As Jamie Horwitz mentions in “Eating at the Edge”, “David Cutler and colleagues explain that the increase in Body Mass Index over the past twenty years is a result of calories consumed from what people call snacks, while the calories consumed at meals, particularly at dinner, actually decreased during the same period of observation.” Many snacks contain a lot of trans fat and calories, which will easily increase our weight. Therefore, eating convenience is important for college students because they lack facilities to cook their own food in their dorms. But I strongly suggest college student to pay more attention to eating health rather than eating convenience.

Additionally, most college students eat for convenience because they do not have a reasonable class schedule. Many college students have classes during the lunch time, which means they do not have time to have lunch at school cafeteria. Most of time, they will bring small snacks, take-out food and some drinks to the classes. My friends and I have class at 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and we have to run the whole way during the 10-minute break between two classes. So we often buy some desserts and coffees at Jazzman’s and then bring them to the class, otherwise, we will have lunch after 2 p.m. Therefore, the convenience of food is extremely important for college students under such situations. At this point, the convenience food means quickly made, portable and easy to eat.

I also find that convenience of food is more important for college students than that of working-class people, especially office staffs. Most working-class people have normal business schedules. On their schedules, there are always some breaks for lunch and dinner. Also, they have enough time to have breakfast before going to work because many working-class people start working at 9 a.m. Having more time to eat, working-class people can go out and eat at different places. So they have a lot of choice of food, while college students have limited food options. From the comparison between working-class people and college students, I can find that the people who are not college students may also look for the convenience of food, but convenience is not the primary food value for them.

Furthermore, many college students do not have regular eating schedule and eat at timeless time for the reason that the life in college is so free that we do not have to follow many arrangements and schedules; we can eat whenever we are hungry and wherever we like. Eating irregularly is also like a symbol of freedom for college students, revealing that their time in university is dominated by themselves freely.  So the convenience of food is important for these students. Moreover, eating at university is not same as eating at home, we can choose whatever we like and do not have to care too much about others’ tastes because many students eat alone instead of eating with others around a big table. Eating in front of the computer, eating at class and even eating hurriedly in the street are very common at present, while eating as a group becomes rarer and rarer. Jamie Horwitz says, “Consider soup. What was once an archetype of the commensal is now widely available in a variety of single-serving packages” (42-43). In the past, people liked to have soup with a big pot since many people ate together and shared the same soup. Nonetheless, many manufacturers now serve out the soup into single-serving packages because of the trend of eating alone and eating at different places. I always see some students walking on the campus with a box of food in their hand. So the single-serving package reflects the eating habits of many college students; and the portability of these packages indicates their food value of convenience too.

    With my thick observation of today’s college students, I find convenience is the main food value and culture for them. They eat for convenience because of study, the lack of facilities and irregular daily schedule. But think about the health. Eating for convenience like most college students will undeniably cause health problems. “These multifaceted disorders affect the emotions, thinking, behavior, and physical health of afflicted individuals.” (Phillips, EL, 1) How can we college students concentrate on study if we lack nutrition and feel sick because of eating disorder? So we have to find the balance between study and eating. And, this is the most wise and effective way to do everything well at the same time.

Frozen food

EE1 Draft

Convenience becomes one of the main food values for most college students in that their focus is generally centered on study and they do not have kitchens in all of their dorms. Also, the daily schedule of most college students is irregular; they eat whenever and wherever they like.

College students are always in a rush heading for classes, which means they do not have enough time to make food even to eat food. Coffee shops, cafeteria, dorm and fast food restaurants, therefore, become the main places for college students to get food. I always see many college students order some drinks and small eats at Jazzman’s café & bakery, a cafeteria style coffee shop, and then take them away to class, dorm and library. Fortunately, most food in Jazzman’s is take-away food, such as chocolate croissant, brownie, cupcakes, milkshake, sandwiches and coffee. It is convenient for many college students and effectively saves a lot of time for them. Also, many college students prefer Jazzman’s because of its convenient location. It is located on the second floor in Driscoll, which is like the center of the campus, so most students will pass Jazzman’s on their way to classes. However, some students may stay at Jazzman’s during the break time after ordering some food. Those students coming alone will sit at the bar or the single tables near the windows, drinking coffee, eating dessert and studying, while some students coming as a group may sit around the big tables or sit on the sofa in the lounge area after ordering some food. Most of time, they will discuss group project and do the homework together. Jazzman’s is a really good place for students to study and quick recharge themselves during the short break between classes, because the atmosphere of Jazzman’s is quiet and comfortable and the food in Jazzman’s is made fast. Thereby, students do not have to waste too much time to wait for the food, saving the time to study and relax. Moreover, Jazzman’s is close to Penrose library, so students who study in the library for a long time will go to Jazzman’s and buy some ready-made sandwiches and sliced fruit to have some nutrition and energy. Because of the increasingly rapid pace of school life today, those students studying in the library sometimes skip several meals and study for the whole day, thus, a convenient place like Jazzman’s is really important and necessary for those college students to quick recharge themselves. Burger king is a good place for many college students to get food as well. We just need to drive to burger king and order food in the car. A few minutes later, the food is already packaged and we can take them away to any place.

Not only study, but also the reason that we have no kitchens in our dorms encourages us to pay more attention to the convenience of food. In my dorm, there is just a microwave oven and a refrigerator. So I can just buy some frozen fast food and heat them up in the microwave oven. This looks unhealthy so I often buy some fruit and vegetables, putting them in the refrigerator, washing and cutting into slices before eating. Therefore, it is impossible for college students who have no kitchen in their dorms to cook a meal, instead, most of them prefer to buy some frozen food from the supermarket, such as frozen delicatessen, frozen vegetable blends, frozen chicken rings, frozen pizza. It is quite convenient to make frozen food because all the things you have to do before you can eat them is to put them into microwave oven and wait for about 3 minutes. Instant noodle is also one of the easiest food to make. I always buy a box of instant noodles when going to the supermarket. However, I think instant noodle are so unhealthy that eating them too often will have negative effect on our health. Sometimes, many college students even eat some snacks as a meal to satisfy their stomach since it is even easier than heating up frozen food.

Also, most college students eat for convenience because they do not have a reasonable class schedule. Many college students have classes during the lunch time, which means they do not have time to have lunch at school cafeteria. Most of time, they will bring small snacks, take-away food and some drinks to the classes. My friends and I have class at 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and we have to run the whole way during the 10-minute break between two classes. So we often buy some desserts and coffees at Jazzman’s and then bring them to the class, otherwise, we will have lunch after 2 p.m. Therefore, the convenience of food is extremely important for college student under such situations. At this point, the convenience food means quickly made, easy to take away and easy to eat.

Eating habits

Hortwiz found that a large number of people are used to eat alone instead of eating with family and colleagues around a big table. Eating in front of the computer, eating at class and even eating hurriedly in the street are very common at present, while eating as a group becomes rarer and rarer. So he considers the eating habit of people now as “eating on the edge”. Hortwiz starts his analysis with the representative instance of soup. In the past, people liked to have soup with a big pot since many people ate together and shared the same soup. Nonetheless, many manufacturers now serve out the soup into single-serving packages because of the trend of eating alone and eating at different places. Ordering food for one person, people do not have to care about others’ taste any more since all the things they need to do are ordering whatever they like and take away the food. Also, the size of the packages is exactly fit many car’s cup holder. The portability of the new packaged soup makes it popular among numerous people, encouraging them to eat at different places they like. Moreover, he mentioned the eating habit of crews in space flight. It is common to see some of them eating food when working at computers. Therefore, many astronauts prefer eating on the run and eating alternatively. Another eating habit mentioned in the article is eating in timeless time. Numerous people do not follow the normal eating schedule; they eat whenever they like. It is common for many university students as well. University student are always in a rush heading for classes. So they usually order some food during the break between the classes and take away them to class and dorm; some may even eat when they are walking. My friends and I always have class during the lunch time, so we have to eat lunch after 2 p.m. However, we still like to eat together. We chat a lot when eating together, sharing our happiness and strengthening our friendship. Chatting with friends at dinner will effectively relax me after studying for a whole day.

Food culture and values of university students

Jazzman’s Café & Bakery is a cafeteria style coffee shop with some small eats. It is located on the second floor in Driscoll. During weekdays, most of the customers are the students of University of Denver. Some students just order a cup of coffee with some dessert and take them away in that they are always in a rush heading for classes. According to these students, the food values of them are convenience and fast. Fortunately, most food in Jazzman’s is take-away food, which is so convenient for university students and effectively saves their time. Also, many students coming alone will sit at the bar and the single tables near the windows, drinking coffee, eating dessert and studying, while numerous students coming as a group may sit around the big tables or sit on the sofa in the lounge area after ordering some food. Most of time, they will discuss group project and do the homework together. Sometimes, they just eat bread and chat with each other, recharging and relaxing themselves during the break time between classes. At the weekend, most of the customers are visitors. Always, a large group of high school students and their parents come to Jazzman’s together, ordering some food and drinks after walking around the campus, relaxing and feeling the comfortable atmosphere in Driscoll. Thereby, it is not hard to find that the main target customers of Jazzman’s are university students.

As I mentioned above, different tables in Jazzman’s such as single table, big table, sofa and the bar, satisfy various demands of students, which makes Jazzman’s a good place for them to study, eating and chatting in their spare time. Customers can either stay for a long time or a short time. Also, they may also meet some people that they never talked to before and then get to know each other. Jazzman’s, therefore, offers students opportunities to make more friends in their school life.

Not just the tables, but also the food make Jazzman’s a comfortable place. The main stuff in Jazzman’s is coffee. It offers many kinds of coffee; and most importantly, Jazzman’s brews only 100% sustainably sourced coffees from individual farming cooperatives, which is healthy and high-quality. Meanwhile, I find that most students like to drink coffee when they want to relax and recharge themselves. Thus, coffee is a kind of comfort food for many university students. Also, numerous students like to eat pastries, cookies and muffins in Jazzman’s because of their freshness; they are all baked fresh every morning, right in the store. And the fruit in Jazzman’s has everyday value too. So the food in Jazzman’s has both good taste and high quality. Chocolate croissant, brownie and cupcakes in Jazzman’s are my favorite. They are my comfort food because eating them makes me happy. Last weekend I observed that many students ordered hot chocolate and white mocha. I ordered both of them because they both smelled good. Furthermore, they were neither too sweet nor too diluted, which is the desired taste for most people. However, hot chocolate and coffee made by different staff taste different. That’s inevitable but won’t have too much influence.

There are often two staffs working together. The staffs in Jazzman’s are always smiling and happy. I often see them following the music, singing and dancing with joy. Their optimistic and jubilant mind will always have a positive effect on me, especially when I talk to them after having a bad day. So I really enjoy the relaxing atmosphere in Jazzman’s.  Also, the atmosphere in Jazzman’s is always quiet because many students will study when they are eating and it is close to the Penrose library.  Jazzman’s often plays dynamic music in the morning and plays soul music in the afternoon. The arrangement of the music is really reasonable since dynamic music cheers people up at the beginning of the day, while soul music makes people feel relax after studying for the whole day. Therefore, people coming to Jazzman not only because of the food it supplies but as well, the comfortable atmosphere there.  At this point, the food value of many Americans is eating for pleasure.

Moreover, the staffs of Jazzman’s all wear green t-shirt, the style of which is not very fashion but the green color looks comfortable and symbolizes freshness of the food supplied. Therefore, the fresh fruit, bread and the green t-shirt indicate the food culture of Jazzman’s and a large amount of Americans - eating health and fresh. As the article “Authenticity in America” said, food preferences and food value people are looking for are closely related to their educational level; well-educated people mainly focus on the health of food. University students have comparatively high education level, which means, they may pay more attention on the nutrition and healthiness of the food, which is one of the reasons why these students like Jazzman’s.

From all the thick observations mentioned above, I am able to come to the conclusion that the food culture and values of most university students are eating for convenience, pleasure and health. A large number of university students like to take away the food right after ordering them because of the increasingly rapid pace of school life today. Take-away food brings a lot of convenience to university students and gradually becomes an indispensable food for them.  Moreover, coffee is one of the comfort food for many university students because drinking coffee will relax and quick recharge them in their spare time, therefore, drinking coffee reveals their food value of eating for pleasure. Also, numerous students enjoy the relaxing atmosphere in Jazzman’s and prefer studying and chatting there, which brings them pleasure and shows their food value too. Last but not least, eating health is becoming one of the most popular concerns in present-day society. As the article “The Importance of Healthy Eating” said, “healthy eating is important in order to prevent illness.” Masses of people from middle and upper classed are focusing more on the healthiness of food, so do the university students. Thus, Jazzman’s is the right place, providing university students with convenience, pleasure and health.

http://www.jazzmanscafe.com/beverages.html

reference

American food culture
http://www.kerrcenter.com/nwsltr/2005/spring2005/food_culture.htm

Different communities, different food significances

O’Donnell’s article “The Culture Politics of Eating in Shenzhen” offers us an idea that the socialist meals of Old Shenzheners carried the Shenzhen spirit during the old period while the food of newcomers reveals another different culture of the present-day Shenzhen. Old Shenzheners liked to eat together at an alfresco restaurant, which enhanced the relationship between each other by various conversations. A large amount of them were heroes contributing to the revolutionary development of Shenzhen; they shared the same target: benefit both society and individuals. So the sense of unity and the harmonious atmosphere among the old Shenzheners made up the Shenzhen spirit during the old times. Also, for different old Shenzheners, food could recall different experience and meanings. The story of Big Sister Liang was a representative instance. For the reason that there were no bathrooms in the fields when she was working, she chose to eat cornbread, which is dry, instead of urinating outside near the fields. Thereby, cornbread will always remind her of the memory of sacrificing her physical well-being for the country. The value of self-sacrifice was extremely respectable and played an important role in the revolution of Shenzhen. So the food of old Shenzheners, especially some food like cornbread, represent their patriotic emotion to the country. Different from that of old Shenzheners, food of new comers is just used to satisfy their bellies and tastes. Old Shenzheners were always thinking about benefiting all the Chinese while new comers mainly want to seek the economic opportunities Shenzhen offered. The changes of people’s targets, therefore, bring the transform of the role that food play in the communities.

“Breaking bread with a spread” written by Cate introduces a unique and creative food in a San Francisco county jail- “spread”. As the article said, making a spread is “crush everything together, throws it in one bag, a few cups of hot water and blam.” The procedure looks really strange but people in the jail like to make spread very much. After reading through the whole article, I find four main reasons why spread is popular in the jail. First, dinner time in the jail rigidly begins at 4 p.m., which is so early that inmates will feel hungry at the end of evening. Second, official meals in the jail are monotonous and monochromatic while spread could be more colorful and abundant. Third, inmate can make any kind of spread they want with their materials, that is, they do not have to listen to others’ arrangement and follow the eating schedule of the jail when making and eating spread. At this point, spread is not just food, but a represent of freedom for the inmates, which is worth cherishing. So the third reason for me is the most interesting and meaningful part of the article. Forth, making spread helps inmates fight to addiction, pay more attention to the meaningful things, which is truly effective to reform them. Moreover, spread reveals the status of inmates in that those inmates who have money to buy ingredients of spread in the commissary are being taken care of; their relatives or friends may send money to their accounts. And, surprisingly, some inmates will also make spread when they are outside the jail. But it is grounded and reasonable since spread is not only food but also a sense of hope for those inmates. They find great fun in making and eating spread, bringing a little color to their boring life and enjoying a little freedom in the jail.

Reading yusi's essay

Yusi's essay
The biggest difference between her essay and mine is that all the ads she talked about have a specific group of target consumers, while the audience of Whole Foods advertisement mentioned in my essay can be anybody. Whole foods ads are more likely to be educational lectures instead of commercials in that they just keep encourage people to eating healthily and organically.

Eating for health and eating for pleasure

Food advertising is increasingly more important in our daily life, since it plays an indispensable role in our preferences of food, which means it directly affect our health and mood. Different individuals have various preferences. So food advertising becomes a kind of culture, which is worth studying and analyzing. For me, the most important step of food advertising is to target the potential consumers and find out their preferences. Nevertheless, the exigence of food advertisements is to induce people to choose their products, no matter who the target consumers are and what their products are. So I would like to show several food advertisements and how do they appeal to their audience.

                                    

  http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/burger_king_real_big_burgers

The first picture is a creative advertisement of Burger King. Even though it is simple, this picture lefts us a lot to think about. The chapped lip in the picture exaggeratedly shows that the burger is so big that it can even make our lips chapped, which also reflects the slogan in the bottom of the picture: Real big burgers. Therefore, it might not be a surprise for us to find that people from lower and middle classes are the main target customers of Burger King. Here are the two apparent reasons. First, this advertisement focuses on the large size of burgers instead of their heath and taste. Second, large size suggests that people can buy more food with little money. Most middle and lower class people pay more attention to the quantity and prices of food, hence, these two strong appeals will undoubtedly attract them. This refers to the cultural preference mentioned in the “Authenticity in America” written by Joshua Freedman and Dan Jurafsky. Moreover, education level is always the main method to distinguish different social classes. The language used in the slogan of this advertisement is easy to comprehend; it has no complex grammar and uncommon vocabularies. So the simple language of the slogan supports my speculation that people from lower and middle class are the main audience of this advertisement and the target customers of Burger King as well. Besides the social status, people who are on diet are not the target consumers of Burger King since these burgers are full of meat and calories.

As for me, it is an extremely creative and successful advertisement, concisely showing the main demand of Burger King’s target consumers and inducing people with direct visual impact. From this picture, I find that “large quantities of food” is the food value of these people preferring Burger King.

                           

http://mollierolf.tumblr.com/

Unlike most advertisements of Burger King and other fast food emphasizing generous quantities and low prices, the focus of Larkburger’s advertising is generally centered on the health of its products and environmental protection. Hanging the ingredients signboard of its products on the wall, Larkburger highlights its natural ingredients and eco-friendly equipment; Making food out of 100% natural materials, Larkburger cooks in pure canola oil and its products have no preservatives or additives; saving energy and protecting the environment, Larkburger uses energy efficient commercial equipment, reclaimed timber, biodegradable and eco-friendly packaging. Moreover, the signboard also mentions that it is 100% wind powered. All the factors mentioned on the ingredient signboard contribute to the distinctive products of Larkburger, appealing to the people who are on diet and the upper-class individuals. Upper-class individuals are more likely to care about the nutrition, raw materials and manufacturing process of food. Also, people who want to eat with low calories may prefer Larkburger because using canola oil makes Larkburger’s products are free of trans fats.

Not only health and the natural ingredients, but also the sense of protecting the environment of Larkburger attracts a large amount of people. Looking at the second advertisement of Larkburger, I find the beans are packed into a box made out of paper while many restaurants use plastic containers. It apparently shows the healthy food and environmentally friendly packaging of Larkburger.

Protecting environment is becoming increasingly more important in the present-day society, that is, eating eco-friendly food will become the mainstream of the times in the near future. The green consciousness, therefore, is the most meaningful and superior advantage of Larkburger’s advertising, which really benefits the whole society. So the three strong appeals of Larkburger are: health, low calorie and protecting the environment.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsYBm9lRzIo

When it comes to the green consciousness, the organic food of Whole Foods is also a representative instance. This is an advertisement of Whole Foods: “Food in Reverse” . At the beginning of the video, it says “People are thinking backwards to take the food movement forward,” which means that the focus of numerous individuals tends to move from having enough food and eating whatever they like to the quality of food. People now pay more attention to the manufacturing process and the raw materials of food, which pushes our eating preference to a higher level- eating healthily and organically. Then the video starts asking some questions about food. For instance, “Where did it come from?” “Was it generally modified?” “Did it live in a cage?” and “How many artificial ingredients are in there?” It starts with a series of questions, generally inducing the audience to consider the source and the manufacturing process of the food they are eating and advocating people to think before they eat. This good start validly encourages its potential consumers to think about the idea of organic food.

The video of Whole Foods actually consists of two small videos. One is on the right, showing some questions and ideas; another is on the left, showing the source and the manufacturing process of its food. It is called “Food in Reverse” in that it plays the process from cultivating food to eating food in reverse. Undeniably, it is a direct and vivid approach to show its natural ingredients to consumers, making a promise that all the food in Whole Foods are organic. Further, the whole process of its food serves as a logos, supporting and verifying the idea of organic food.

The target audience of Whole Foods’s advertisement could be anybody, in that this video is similar to an educational short lecture instead of a commercial. All the sentences in the video are calling for eating healthily and organically. But people who are on diet and upper-class people may prefer Whole Foods. In the end, the video says “every bite has a story” and encourages people to learn more about the stories behind food. This video is attractive in that it shows the whole manufacturing process of food in reverse, effectively proofing that the food of Whole Foods are all organic.

According to the advertisement of Larkburger and Whole Foods, the food value of numerous Americans trends to be eating for health. It does not reveal that eating fast food like Burger King is wrong; comfort foods do not have to be healthy and organic, eating for pleasure is always the first priority. Nonetheless, we cannot deny the strong tendency towards eating healthily, and also, it becomes one of the most popular slogans in many food advertisements.