There are a few interesting things I have learned during this quarter.  I’ve learned a lot about the negative effects on skipping meals.  I was also able to learn a lot about what foods are healthy and why.  For example eggs are much healthier that I had thought they were.  Another thing that I learned was that advertising is much more intricate than I had thought before.  I had assumed that foods used advertisements that appealed to everyone equally but this is not the case.  Foods advertise to specific groups of people.  I plan to employ this knowledge by eating a better diet.  Now that I know more about food I will be able to balance my diet better and eat healthier.  

My Eaters Manifesto

Early classes are the bane of college students.  Waking up early to go to classes is difficult for everyone.  To get some extra shuteye many people will skip breakfast.  In order to get more work done some people opt to skip lunch and dinner.  In a world where you hear about people who are trying to find the perfect healthy diet it is surprising that people would choose this route.  Even if you are eating a healthy balanced diet you need to eat the standard three meals per day.  Eating three meals per day is one of my most important core food vales.  I never really noticed how important this was for me until I began to write this paper.  While trying to come up with a topic for this paper I noticed that a few people were not eating three meals per day.  These meals were being replaced by snacks and meals at irregular times.  This made me ask why people would skip meals if they are trying to eat a healthy diet.   

At first I just wanted to double check that it is true that meals, mainly breakfast, are skipped as much as I had noticed it is.  In a more thorough search of the food journals I found that the majority of people do not eat a full breakfast at least once in the three day period.  To double check that this wasn’t an isolated occurrence here at DU I found a study that supported this.   A study from California State University, Chico on college aged students showed that, “thirty-three percent of the survey population reported that they consumed breakfast ‘never’ or ‘seldom’.”  That means that one of every three people doesn’t eat breakfast.  In a time where people are trying to eat healthy diets that number is alarmingly high. 

After thinking about it for a while I came to the question, could it be that breakfast isn’t needed to have a healthy diet? A simple answer is No.  Breakfast is needed if you want to live a healthy lifestyle.  By skipping breakfast you are exposing yourself to unhealthy conditions.  The time between dinner and breakfast is already long.  If you skip breakfast your, “blood sugar levels remain low in the morning causing tiredness, lethargy, lack of concentration, irritability, poor performance in the workplace and an increased tendency to make mistakes or have an accident.” (Heerden)  This is not the only problem with skipping breakfast.  Without breakfast your scholastic performance can decline, you tend to snack more causing weight gain, and you miss out on obtaining vitamins and minerals that you need from breakfast. (Heerden)  These drawbacks from skipping breakfast aren’t something to scoff at.  One of the drawbacks is a poor academic performance and as college students I feel that this single purpose would encourage people to wake up a little earlier to get breakfast. 

                Seeing that skipping breakfast can have such negative health effects I wonder if the same problems can be found by not eating three meals per day.  A study was done to answer this question.   The study focused on middle aged (40-50 years old) men and women.  The study lasted six months.  In this six month period there was two eight week segments where the participants would either eat three meals a day, as a control, or 1 meal per day.  There was an eleven week period that separated the two eight week segments where the subjects were allowed to resume their normal diets.  The nutritional levels were balanced so that the people eating three meals a day would be eating as much as the people who ate only one meal per day.  Simply put, the people who ate only one meal per day ate enough food in that one meal to equal the three meals that the other subjects ate.

                This study concluded that overall it was unhealthy to eat only one large meal per day.  The subjects eating only one meal per day experienced a, “significant reduction of fat mass and significant increases in levels of total, low-density lipoprotein, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.” (Carlson, Olga, et al.)  To clarify, high density lipoproteins are good for you.  These proteins act as ball bearings in your blood that break up any clots or blockages in your blood stream.  Low density lipoproteins are the bad type of blood soluble proteins.  Because of the low density they are able to lodge themselves in your bloodstream and possibly cause a blockage.  When you have too much low density lipoproteins in your blood a large blockage can form possibly causing a stroke, fatal blood clots, and other detrimental health problems. 

Furthermore in this study there was also an increased sensitivity to insulin in the one meal per day subjects. This caused the participants to have an, “improved cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk profiles.” (Carlson, Olga, et al.)  This shows that there are major health consequences if you skip meals and do not have a regular eating schedule.  Why is it that the health conscious people will skip meals with health risks as real and dangerous as diabetes and heart problems? 

                A possible explanation for this is the increasing need for people to be efficient with their time.  This need for efficiency is caused by two things; technology and capitalism.  Advanced technology makes it so that right now you can pick up a phone in Denver, dial a number, and in a few seconds be talking to your friend in London.  You can hop on a plane in Denver and be talking face to face with that same friend in a little over nine hours.  The internet allows instant access to the largest database ever created by mankind.  Capitalism is set up where the best and hardest workers will achieve the most.  How does this relate to being efficient with time?  The combination of the speed that everything gets done and the need to outdo competitors means that taking a break to eat a meal could mean that you will miss out on achieving your goals.  This causes everyone to be as efficient with their time as possible so that they aren’t left in the dust.   

Keeping with this need for efficiency, breakfast is the hardest meal to make fiicienct.  Eggs, breakfast meats, pancakes, and other standard breakfast foods take time to cook.  All of the syrups and sauces that can be added to breakfast foods make it difficult to take it to go.  Because of this there are a lot of snacks that can take the spot of breakfast.  These snacks are generally not healthy and only supply your body with the bare minimum to keep you full until lunch.  For example pop tarts, cold cereals with lots of sugar, and other sugar and carbohydrate rich foods are sold to replace breakfast.  The difficulty of taking breakfast to go combined with the multitude of substitutes makes it the most efficient choice to skip breakfast or to grab something that isn’t healthy. 

Colleges have noticed that students are trying to increase their efficiency.  While college administrators cannot do anything to get you to wake up earlier, they are making it more convenient for you to eat.  College cafeterias are adapting their hours to stay open longer.  For example , “at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, residential restaurants at Fox Hall and South Campus have changed to continuous dining, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.” (Rosenberg, Janice)  This change is allowing students to be as efficient as possible and still not skip meals.  Because food is available all day students no longer need to combine meals and work.  It is as simple as getting the work out of the way whenever you have time and then as long as it is between the hours of 7am and 8pm food is available.  Even here at DU they started the Late Night Pub for students to grab a late night meal.  While this doesn’t counter the original problem of skipping meals it does help to enable students to eat lunch and dinner.

One could argue here that because the cafeterias are starting to have longer hours it is easier to have an irregular meal routine.  Because of the extended hours of operation students can eat many meals per day without needing to go further than their cafeteria.  This would be the case if students didn’t have scholarly or personal obligations that limit their free time.  We all know that most college students don’t have this luxury.  The extended hours of operation is for students that have classes during regular meal time.  If you have class from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. and if the cafeterias are only open for lunch until two you’re out of luck.  With the extra hours you can get lunch whenever you don’t have class as adjust your other meal times to make it easy to eat the healthy three meals per day. 

Another tactic that cafeterias are using to help students eat meals and be efficient is that food to go is becoming more and more popular.  The increase in popularity of food to go has drawn the attention of the cafeteria workers as well.  Proof of this is in the size of the portions.  The food is perfectly portioned to fit into a to-go box.  The size of the portions helps the workers serve more people.  So in a sense, the cafeterias have become as efficient as possible to cater to the students who are trying to be just as efficient.  The quest for efficiency is changing how people choose to eat their meals as well as how the suppliers of the food choose to serve it.

Skipping any meal during the day will have negative consequences.  If you don’t eat breakfast you will run into the problems that are talked about above.  Skipping lunch can seem easy but by the time dinner rolls around you will probably over eat and this can cause weight gain and other eating problems.  Dinner could be the worst meal to skip.  Assuming you eat dinner around 6:30 p.m. and breakfast at 8 a.m. that means that your body is without food for thirteen and a half hours.  That is a long time for your body to be without food.  Any missed meal on occasion is fine but to have a healthy diet you need to eat three balanced meals per day. 

                Eating a balanced healthy diet is only half of the battle to be healthy.  Eating three meals a day is incredibly important.  That goes for eating the correct amount as well.  When trying to figure out what the best diet that you can be on individually just trust your body.  The best advice that I have ever heard in terms of eating right is from Michael Pollan.  He said, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” (Pollan, Michael)  Eating three meals a day makes it so that you have the opportunity to eat enough vegetables and so that you won’t get the urge to eat too much.  Three meals also helps keep you away from eating unhealthy snacks.  By doing this you can stay away from the health problems such as weight gain, diabetes, and heart problems.  

                Waking up and extra twenty minutes early to get breakfast is difficult.  The same goes for any meal when there are more pressing matters that require your immediate attention.  The main thing that I’ve learned from my research is that I need to make time and avoid skipping meals.  Not only will I be healthier but I will also feel better because of it.  This is why I will continue getting up early to get breakfast and making time so that I can get lunch and dinner as well.    

Works Cited:

Silliman, Kathryn, Kathleen Rodas-Fortier, and Michelle Neyman. "A Survey of Dietary and Exercise Habits and Perceived Barriers to Following a Healthy Lifestyle in a College Population." California Journal of Health Promotion 2.2 (2004): 10-19. Web. 20 May 2012. <http://www.hawaii.edu/hivandaids/Survey_of_Diet_and_Exercise_Habits_in_a_College_Population.pdf>.

Heerden. "Breakfast - the Most Frequently Missed Meal." Health24. 9 Feb. 2007. Web. 21 May 2012. <http://www.health24.com/dietnfood/Daily_meals/15-3707-3708,18362.asp>.

Carlson, Olga, Bronwen Martin, Kim S. Stote, Erin Golden, Stuart Maudsley, Samer S. Najjar, Luigi Ferrucci, Donald K. Ingram, Dan L. Longo, William V. Rumpler, David J. Baer, Josephine Egan, and Mark P. Mattson. "Impact of Reduced Meal Frequency without Caloric Restriction on Glucose Regulation in Healthy, Normal-weight Middle-aged Men and WomenImpact of Reduced Meal Frequency without Caloric Restriction on Glucose Regulation in Healthy, Normal-weight Middle-aged Men and Women." Metabolism 56.12 (2007): 1729-734. Web. 14 May 2012. <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0026049507002806>.

Rosenberg, Janice. "A Revolution in College Dining." The Boston Globe. 6 Nov. 2005. Web. <http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2005/11/06/a_revolution_in_college_dining/?page=full>.

Pollan, Michael. Unhappy Meals. 2007. Print.

Post 9

From reading both articles I feel that Pollan gave the best advice at the beginning of his article.  He said, “Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants.”  Both articles talk about how people have been wondering what the perfect diet is.  Studies have been done on food to try to answer this question and popular dietary trends have come and gone.  This is all because people are trying to figure out what to eat.  Could it be that we are looking into this too much? 

                We are looking for an answer that fits our unique life.  Maybe the answer isn’t quantifiable.  If it was then there would be specific amounts of each type of food that we need to eat each day.  Without going much deeper than the beginning of these articles you can understand that the answer to the question is that you need to eat mainly healthy food and not too much.  People are looking for a study that will show that eating their favorite food is healthy. 

                It is funny to me that so many studies have been done trying to tell us what to eat.  There are too many variables to manage to get a straightforward correct answer.  People who are worried about what to eat should talk to someone on an individual basis.  Everyone is different with different metabolisms and dietary needs.  I try to eat what I need.  Not what studies say I should eat.  When I choose what to eat I take into account how I feel and what I’ve been eating recently.  I don’t look at food studies to tell me what to eat.     

SE 5 response

The first fact that I found interesting is about soda.  This fact is that soda can increase how hungry you are.  Going further, soda is a common drink with unhealthy food and fast food.  By drinking soda with this unhealthy food you are inadvertently making yourself more hungry to eat more unhealthy food.  This could be one of the causes to the obesity problem in the united states.  Another food fact that I find interesting is that eggs can help with disease prevention and treatment.  I have always heard that eggs are healthy but I’ve never heard that it can help your fight disease.  

Irregular Eating Habits

            After reading over a few of the food journals I found a trend that most people didn’t have a regular eating schedule.  This made me curious if there were any negative or positive outcomes from not eating consistent meals.  While looking for a medical journal that reported studying in this area I had assumed that eating the routine three meals a day was the most healthy way to eat.  I was very surprised to find that while there were some detrimental effects from having irregular meals some aspects of health were unchanged.

            The study focused on middle aged (40-50 years old) men and women.  The study lasted six months.  In this six month period there was two eight week segments where the participants would either eat three meals a day, as a control, or 1 meal per day.  There was an eleven week period that separated the two eight week segments where the subjects were allowed to resume their normal diets.  The nutritional levels were balanced so that the people eating three meals a day would be eating as much as the people who ate only one meal per day.  Simply put, the people who ate only one meal per day ate enough food in that one meal to equal the three meals that the other subjects ate.

            This study concluded that overall it was unhealthy to eat only one large meal per day.  The subjects experienced a, “significant reduction of fat mass and significant increases in levels of total, low-density lipoprotein, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.” (Carlson, Olga, et al.)  While high-density lipoproteins are good for you, the low-density lipoprotein is not.  Also a significant increase in both is detrimental to your health.  There was also an increased sensitivity to insulin in the one meal per day subjects. This caused the participants to have an, “improved cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk profiles.” (Carlson, Olga, et al.)

I was taken by surprise by three results of this study.  The first thing that I was surprised by was that, “all subjects maintained their body weight within 2 kg of their initial weight throughout the 6-month period.” (Carlson, Olga et al.)  I would have guessed that the people eating three meals per day would maintain a constant body weight while the individuals eating only one meal per day would gain or lose weight.  The second result that I found surprising was that there were no long lasting ill effects on glucose levels once the subjects returned to a regular 3-meal per day diet.  Also, health benefits do come from eating only one meal per day. This is only applicable when the one meal contains all essential nutrients and enough calories to keep you going but, this diet “can result in health benefits including improved glucose regulation, but only if there is an overall reduction in energy intake.” (Carlson, Olga, et al.)  I am surprised that there is any good in only eating one meal per day. 

            From this study, simply put, it is apparent that eating one large meal per day is bad for your health.  There is an increase in rick for cardiovascular problems as well as an increased risk for diabetes.  While eating a smaller balanced meal once per day can help regulate your glucose I still feel that eating three meals per day is the healthiest way to consume food. 

Works Cited:

Carlson, Olga, Bronwen Martin, Kim S. Stote, Erin Golden, Stuart Maudsley, Samer S. Najjar, Luigi Ferrucci, Donald K. Ingram, Dan L. Longo, William V. Rumpler, David J. Baer, Josephine Egan, and Mark P. Mattson. "Impact of Reduced Meal Frequency without Caloric Restriction on Glucose Regulation in Healthy, Normal-weight Middle-aged Men and WomenImpact of Reduced Meal Frequency without Caloric Restriction on Glucose Regulation in Healthy, Normal-weight Middle-aged Men and Women." Metabolism 56.12 (2007): 1729-734. Web. 14 May 2012. <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0026049507002806>.

P8 response

Bobby went into a lot of detail with his blog.  He described what he was doing and as to why he chose to ate what he did.  Shelby added pictures of most things that she chose to eat.  Quinn’s blog is a lot more Spartan.  It contains the date and time and what he ate.  It lacks any extra detail, but it perfectly meets the assignment of recording when and what he ate.  

Food Log (P8)

Thursday May 10^th:

7:20 a.m. - Omelet with ham, spinach, jalapenos, cheese, and black olives.  Glass of chocolate milk.

11:15 a.m. – Taco with steak, pico de gallo, sour cream, cheese.  Side of beans, rice, and chips.  Dr. Pepper to drink. 

6:00 p.m. – Cheese burger, fries, salad with caesar dressing and a glass of yellow Gatorade.    

Friday May 11^th:

8:30 a.m. – Scrambled eggs with breakfast sausage and hash browns.  Glass of water

11:15 a.m. – Piece of chicken with a side of pasta and fresh pineapple.  Glass of water

7:15 p.m. – Snarf’s French dip sandwich.  In the sandwich there was roast beef, provolone, and lettuce. 

Saturday May 12^th:

8:25 a.m. – Bowl of Cheerios with 2% milk and a glass of orange juice.

12:10 p.m. – Chicken enchilada with a side salad, rice, and beans. 

4:30 p.m. – Chocolate almond Cliff Bar

6:10 p.m. – Meat lasagna, fries, and a Caesar salad.  Yellow Gatorade to drink.      

  

Short Essay #4 "Rice"

                My most recent meal is a Chipotle burrito.  In this burrito there were a lot of different ingredients.  There were rice, beans, steak, lettuce, salsa, and cheese.  Of these ingredients there is one major ingredient that has been a main staple of many people’s diets.  This ingredient is rice.  It can be traced as far back as 2500 B.C. (Rost, Thomas)  Many countries use rice as a major component is most meals.  I am intrigued by this ingredient because it is so common in every culture and it is present in most meals. 

                Rice is found in many different cultures because its seeds are incredibly versatile and durable.  This many it easy to be transported great distances and traded to new cultures.  Rice originated in china. (Kiple, Kenneth F. and Kriemhild C. Ornelas)    From china it made its way to Sri Lanka and India.  There it was traded to areas in the Mediterranean.  Once there it was spread throughout Europe and North Africa.  Rice was brought to North America from England and to South America by Spain and Portugal.  (Rost, Thomas)

                Rice found its way to North America by accident.  The story goes that in 1685 a storm battered ship was forced to make port at the Charleston harbor.  The colonists helped to repair the ship and as a gift of thanks the captain gave the colonists rice seeds.  There were incredibly fertile marshlands close to the colony so growing the rice was relatively easy.  In just 15 years rice became a major crop for the colonists and in one year 300 tons of rice was grown.  It was grown on such a large scale that there were not enough trading ships to send all of the rice back to England.  Just 26 years after the year that 300 tons of rice was grown, Charleston was exporting 4500 tons of rice annually.  (Ehler, James)

                Initially Rice was grown by throwing the seeds into wetlands.  The early Chinese civilizations that did this eventually began to build small berms to keep the water in and contain the fields.  Harvesting the crop is very labor intensive.  It would be common for entire communities to help with the harvest.  It became easier to plant and harvest rice once tools and advanced machines were developed.  In modern day America planes are used to spread the seeds over the targets fields.  With tractors and pumps it is easier for farmers to create ideal irrigation conditions for the seeds to grow.  Only once the tools evolved enough were people able to farm rice without needing a massive amount of labor.   (Kiple, Kenneth F. and Kriemhild C. Ornelas)

                I have learned a lot about rice from doing research and writing this paper.  The most surprising thing that I was able to learn was the difficulty of harvesting rice.  For example, “Even with ox and mule-drawn equipment. . . .rice ‘farms’ or plantations of only a few hundred acres required from 100 to 300 laborers.”  (Ehler, James)  I had always thought that because of the abundance and the low cost of rice that it was easy to harvest.  I was also surprised to learn that rice was brought to America unintentionally.  I would have guessed that rice was brought to the colonies intentionally as a crop that they would try to grow to survive.  Instead it was because a ship needed repairs and the captain thanked the colonists by giving them rice seeds.  I also found the path that rice took to spread around the world was interesting.  I wasn’t that surprised that it started in the east and made its way to the west, but it was interesting to have it mapped out. 

                This knowledge doesn’t affect how I will treat my consumption of rice.  Because plantation and cultivation of rice has been mechanized there is no need to respect rice over other plants.  If rice was still hand cultivated then I would have much more respect for rice.  I would cherish meals that contain rice as much as meals that contain other difficult foods and spices to grow.  An example of something that I do cherish a lot is anything with saffron.  This is a difficult spice to obtain and when I eat dishes I try to savor the flavor much more.  This would make paella, a saffron rice based dish, one of my most respected and savored dishes. 

               

Works Cited

Rost, Thomas. "Rice: History." Rice: History. 1997. Web. 06 May 2012. http://www-plb.ucdavis.edu/labs/rost/Rice/introduction/intro.html

Ehler, James. "RICE: The History of Rice in the U.S." Rice History, Development & Methods. USA Rice Federation. Web. 06 May 2012. <http://www.foodreference.com/html/art-rice-history.html>.

Kiple, Kenneth F., and Kriemhild C. Ornelas. "The Cambridge World History of Food- Rice." The Cambridge World History of Food- Rice. Web. 07 May 2012. <http://www.cambridge.org/us/books/kiple/rice.htm>.

Post #7

                The article “Fowl Trouble” by Cook tracks the history and production of cheap fast chicken products.  The main focus of the article is what the workers go through to work at these facilities.  It talks about how the workers must endure fast repetitive motion and dangerous working conditions while not getting paid enough to warrant these hazards. 

I was troubled by what was presented in Fowl Trouble.  I had never read anything that broke down all the hazards and problems with the working conditions at chicken processing plants.  I had always assumed that it was much safer for the workers and that they got paid more than in some cases $6.50 an hour.  In a country where there are laws and unions that protect workers I am surprised to learn that there are still jobs where the workers are viewed as replaceable. 

                “On the Tomato Trail” uses tomatoes as a focus of study.  This article talks about how tomatoes from Florida are picked while still perfectly green and are ripened artificially by being exposed to gasses.  After this are they sent to the stores perfectly red and shaped but flavorless.  Then on the other hand home grown tomatoes are less than perfect.  They may or may not be perfectly red, usually lumpy, and would burst if dropped from too high up.  While these traits may turn people away, the true tomato consumer knows that the flavor from these tomatoes is unbeatable.  

                 I found it very interesting that the tomatoes in Florida are so hardy.  The example of tomatoes being almost completely unharmed after being thrown from a moving truck was very surprising.  I was expecting the author to say that there was exploded tomato everywhere on the road. 

                An Animal’s Place talks about animals and their rights.  It talks about people are changing their approach as to how their view animals.  Countries are starting to give animals more rights so that they are not abused or that the possibility of abuse is eliminated.  For example England has banned the production of animals solely for their fur.  

Blog post #6

Pollan starts out by talking about “Carbophobia” which is the fear of eating too much carbs.  He talks about how pasta, bread, and other carbohydrate rich foods vanished because they were labeled as unhealthy.  The cause of this fear is that Americans are trying to be overly healthy.  We are not eating to how our body feels but that we are eating only foods that have been deemed healthy by someone who may or may not be credible. 

                I found the most interesting part of this was the comparison to the French.  I was surprised that the main answers from Americans were related to health while the French associated those types of foods with pleasure and more positive connotations.  What is even more surprising is that while we eat food based on health we are not that healthy.  And that the French who choose to eat food depending on pleasure are more health than us.  I would of guessed from just this information that the French would be less healthy than us.

                I choose what I eat depending on my past meals, how I am feeling, and what I have planned until my next meal.  If I have been eating unhealthy or unbalance meals I try to make up for what I was missing in my next meal.  If I am feeling sick I will usually try to get more healthy food in me over eating unhealthy food.  And if I have an activity planned for later in the day that is strenuous I try to eat more carbs and protein to keep my energy up.  If I am planning on having a lazy day I will usually eat healthier food. 

Efficiency of Eating

Today you can pick up a phone in Denver, dial a number, and in a few seconds be talking to your friend in London.  You can hop on a plane in Denver and be talking face to face with that same friend in a little over nine hours.  The internet allows instant access to the largest database ever created by mankind.  Capitalism is set up where the best and hardest workers will achieve the most.  How does this relate to meals?  The combination of the speed that everything gets done and the need to outdo competitors means that taking a break to eat a meal could mean that you will miss that promotion you’re looking for.  This causes everyone to be as efficient with their time as possible so that they aren’t left in the dust.   

What does it mean to be efficient?  To be efficient you need to get the most amount of work done with the least amount of time wasted.  The manner that meals are eaten is changing because of the quest to be efficient.  People are choosing to multitask while enjoying a meal instead of enjoying that meal with no distractions.  More and more people are choosing to take food to go to be able to eat when the timing is more appropriate.  Even the food industries themselves are being affected by this change.  Fast food is increasingly popular as well as food products that cater to people who are in a rush.  An area where this is clearly apparent is on college campuses around the country. 

While college doesn’t pit students against each other, there is still competition to get good grades.  After all, the person with the highest grades when they graduate has a better chance of getting the dream job.  A week or so ago I sat in a college cafeteria and made observations about anything that I could find.  The most apparent observation that I made directly supports this thesis.  This observation was that every table had people doing work while eating.  Most tables had a laptop or two open and others had open notes or books.  It used to be that lunch was a time to get away from work and obligations but now lunch has become a time for people to get some extra work out of the way.

Another interesting observation was that there were a large number of people who would get food to go.  This new sensation of food to go allows for people to go to their best location to get work done instead of eating only in the cafeteria.   The increase in popularity of food to go has drawn the attention of the cafeteria workers as well.  Proof of this is in the size of the portions.  The food is perfectly portioned to fit into a to go box.  The size of the portions helps the workers serve more people.  So in a sense, the cafeterias have become as efficient as possible to cater to the students who are trying to be just as efficient.  The quest for efficiency is changing how people choose to eat their meals as well as how the suppliers of the food choose to serve it.

Colleges are changing more than just the abundance of food to go.  College cafeterias are beginning to have longer hours so that students can choose to eat when they don’t have as much work to do.  For example , “at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, residential restaurants at Fox Hall and South Campus have changed to continuous dining, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.” (Rosenberg, Janice)  This change is allowing students to be as efficient as possible and still not skip meals.  Because food is available all day students no longer need to combine meals and work.  It is as simple as getting the work out of the way whenever you have time and then as long as it is between the hours of 7am and 8pm food is available. 

While this shift in food culture is apparent on college campuses everywhere, it is also apparent in different industries.   For example, why would anyone ever choose to eat a Twinkie?  Is it because they taste good? Probably not.  If flavor was the only deciding factor than a slice of cake from even a mediocre bakery would best a Twinkie.  The reason is the convenience.  For those who are trying to grab a quick treat the Twinkie would probably win them over simply because it is much easier to eat.  Hostess plays at the idea that the frosting for the cake is on the inside instead of the outside. (see image 1)  This makes it easy to eat with your hands and not get frosting everywhere.  People are more concerned with wasting time than eating better food.  Being efficient by not spending too much time eating allows you to get more work done.  Like I said earlier, the one who does the most work will probably get the promotion.  Most people will choose to sacrifice the better food to eat something quicker that will allow them to get work done while eating. 

Another industry that is being affected by this shift in priorities is the fast food industry.  The need to be as efficient as possible has caused fast food chains to be increasingly popular.  First just take a look at the name, “fast food.”  The companies are advertising to people who want to be able to get something to eat quickly so that they can get onto their other obligations.  When the average wait time is 193.2 seconds it makes sense that people would choose this option to save time. (Garber, Amy)

Next take a look at the food offered at fast food restaurants and compare it to food offered at sit down restaurants.  While food from fast food restaurants is edible, the food pales in comparison to restaurants where you sit down and order.  That begs the question, why would anyone choose to eat at a fast food restaurant?  It is because it doesn’t take that much time, “one of the primary advantages of eating at a fast-food restaurant is getting fast service.” (Koeppel, David)  The fast pace of service at these food establishments allow people to spend the least amount of time eating.  This allows for more time to be spent getting work done.

The restaurant business is not the only business to see that people prefer efficient meals.  There are many things that average consumers can find at stores that cater directly to limiting the amount of time wasted by eating.  For example, “none leave behind the pot, stove, bowl, spoon, or table more fully than Campbell’s Soup at Hand.” (Horwitz, Jamie)  Campbell has designed a new product that is soup in a microwaveable container.  To make it even better for those in a hurry, the container fits into most car cup holders.  Preparation is as simple as putting the cup in the microwave and turning it on for the correct time.  With this it’s very easy to quickly prepare a meal and maximize the amount of time working.

  Thinking about efficiency for people who need to drive, this soup cup is perfect.  All you need to do is drive and drink the soup.  You don’t need to spend time eating before or after the commute and there is no cleanup time at all.  Campbell understands the need for efficiency and designed their cup to fit into cup holders in cars.  This plays directly into everyone’s need to optimize their time by doing as much as possible. 

Another example of this is TV dinners.  While the name was originally designed to make them seem advanced and cool,(Horwitz, Jamie) they also are able to be advertised as an efficient way to eat a meal.  When all it takes is to open it, put it in the oven or microwave, and enjoy, it’s a very efficient meal.  If you usually watch television then this is an opportunity to get two things done at once.  Eat a meal and watch some television.  The low preparation time lets you work until very close to when you want to watch television.  The easiness and convenience of the tray lets you eat and watch the show at the same time.  And there is practically no cleanup.   This product is found in almost every decent sized grocery store because people like the convenience that it offers. 

The American society is a society where the hardest worker will achieve the most and speedy technology makes time extremely valuable.   This has caused people to change their usual meal routines.  Almost everyone is spending less time eating and more time getting things done.  This shift has caused a major change in how food is presented to us.  Fast food is increasingly popular across all ages.  Commonly bought products in grocery stores have had their taste perfected leaving the presentation the main focus.  This presentation is playing into eating quickly and spending the least amount of time actually preparing the meal.  Today meals are viewed as either something that must be done quickly to not waste any time or as a time when work can be done along with eating.  It is all about efficiency. 

Images

#1

 

Works Cited

Rosenberg, Janice. "A Revolution in College Dining." The Boston Globe. 6 Nov. 2005. Web. <http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2005/11/06/a_revolution_in_college_dining/?page=full>.

Koeppel, David. "Drive-Thru Wait Times Getting Longer." Slashfood. 27 Nov. 2009. Web. <http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/27/drive-thru-wait-times-getting-longer/>.

Horwitz, Jamie. "Eating at the Edge." Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Summer 2009). June-July 2009. Web. <http://blackboard.du.edu/bbcswebdav/courses/2009.201230/Eating%20at%20the%20Edge%20-%20Horwitz.pdf>.

EE #1 Rough Draft

Efficiency.  Everyone tries to do as much as they can in the least amount of time.  One of the effects of this is that meals are changing.  People are choosing to multitask while enjoying a meal instead of enjoying that meal with no distractions.  More and more people are choosing to take food to go to be able to eat it when the timing is more appropriate.  Even the food industries themselves are being affected by this change.  Fast food is increasingly popular as well as food products that cater to people who are in a rush.  The cause of this is a combination of advancement in technology and capitalism.

Today you could pick up a phone in Denver, dial a number, and in a few seconds be talking to your friend in London.  You can hop on a plane in Denver and be talking face to face with your same friend in London in a little over nine hours.  The internet allows instant access to the largest database ever created by mankind.  Capitalism is set up where the best and hardest workers will achieve the most.  How does this relate to meals?  The combination of the speed that everything gets done and the need to outdo competitors means that taking a break to eat a meal could mean that you will miss that promotion you’re looking for.  

While college doesn’t pit students against each other to get the best grade, there is still competition to get good grades.  A week or so ago I sat in a college cafeteria and made observations about anything that I could find.  The most interesting observation that I found was that every table had people doing work while eating.  Most tables had a laptop or two open and others had open notes or books.  It used to be that lunch was a time to get away from work and obligations but now lunch has become a time for people to get some extra work out of the way. 

Another interesting observation was that there were a large number of people who would get food to go.  Even the food was portioned properly to fit into a to go box.  These people would get the food to go presumably because they have prioritized work over food and they don’t have time to eat at that moment.   There are some people who would go so far as to skip a meal so that they get more work done. 

Colleges have begun to adapt to this shift in priorities.  Cafeterias are beginning to have longer hours so that students can eat when they don’t have as much work to do.  For example , “at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, residential restaurants at Fox Hall and South Campus have changed to continuous dining, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.” (Rosenberg, Janice. The Boston Globe)  This change is allowing students to be as efficient as possible and still not skip meals.  Because food is available all day students no longer need to combine meals and work.  It is as simple as getting the work out of the way whenever you have time and then as long as it is between the hours of 7am and 8pm food is available. 

This shift in priorities is also affecting different industries.   For example, why would anyone ever choose to eat a Twinkie?  Is it because they taste good? Probably not.  If flavor was the deciding factor than a slice of cake from even a mediocre bakery would best a Twinkie.  The reason is the convenience.  For those who are trying to grab a quick treat the Twinkie would probably win them over simply because it is much easier to eat.  Hostess plays at the idea that the frosting for the cake is on the inside instead of the outs ide.  This makes it easy to eat with your hands and not get frosting everywhere.  People are more concerned with wasting time than eating better food.  Being efficient by not spending too much time eating allows you to get more work done.  Like I said earlier, the one who does the most work will probably get the promotion.  Most people will choose to sacrifice the better food to eat something quicker that will allow them to get work done while eating. 

 The quest to be as efficient as possible has caused fast food chains to be increasingly popular.  First take a look at the name, “fast food.”  The companies are advertising to people who want to be able to get something to eat quickly so that they can get onto their other obligations. 

Take a look at the food offered at fast food restaurants and compare it to food offered at sit down restaurants.  While food from fast food restaurants is edible, the food pales in comparison to restaurants where you sit down and order.  Then why is it that anyone would ever choose to eat at a fast food restaurant?  It is because it doesn’t take that much time, “One of the primary advantages of eating at a fast-food restaurant is getting fast service.” (Koeppel, David. Drive thru Wait Times Getting Longer)  The fast pace of service at these food establishments allow people to spend the least amount of time eating.  This allows for more time to be spent getting work done. 

The restaurant business is not the only business to see that people prefer efficiency when eating.  There are many things that average consumers can find at stores that cater directly to limiting the amount of time wasted by eating.  For example, “none leave behind the pot, stove, bowl, spoon, or table more fully than Campbell’s Soup at Hand.”  Campbell has designed a new product that is soup in a microwaveable container that fits into most car cup holders.  Preparation is as simple as putting the cup in the microwave and turning it on for the correct time.  Thinking about efficiency, while driving it is not too difficult to eat, but it is very difficult to do work.  This means that it is prime time to eat a meal.  Campbell understands this and designed their cup to fit into cup holders in cars.  This plays directly into everyone’s need to optimize their time by doing as much as possible. 

Another example of this is TV dinners.  While they were originally called this to make them seem advanced and cool, they also are able to be advertised as an efficient way to eat a meal.  When all it takes is to open it, put it in the oven or microwave, and enjoy, it’s a very efficient meal.  If you are planning on watching your favorite television show at the same time that you are going to eat then you are killing two birds with one stone.  You can work up until your show is about to start, eat while you watch your show, then go right back to work.  Because you were planning on doing no work while watching television anyway you are not losing any work time, and because you can fit a meal into the time that you are watching television you are maximizing the time you can work. 

In a society where the hardest worker will achieve the most and with technology that makes the difference of minutes matter eating meals has taken a subservient position to working.  Students and people with jobs alike are spending less time eating and more time getting things done.  This shift has caused a major change in how food is presented to us.  Fast food is increasingly popular across all ages.  Commonly bought products in grocery stores have had their taste and consistency perfected leaving the presentation the main focus.  This presentation is playing into eating quickly and spending the least amount of time actually preparing the meal.  Today meals are viewed as either something that must be done quickly to not waste any time or as a time when work can be done along with eating. 

 

P5 Eating on the Edge

Horwitz begins her argument by talking about how the times are changing.  Things are speeding up with the invention of almost instantaneous communication and quick travel methods.  This change is effecting how we choose to eat our meals.  She uses soup as one of her first examples.  It used to be that someone would prepare the soup and clean all the dishes.  Today soup has evolved into single serving prepackaged containers that require no extra dishes and no preparation.  This is all playing into how our society is becoming more efficient with our time. 

                Horwitz then explains what possibly started this trend of efficiency while eating.  The TV dinner is what most likely caused this shift.  It caught on quickly because it was “cool and modern.”  Even the author fell for this type of advertising, she says, "Like many other baby boomers, I recall being dazzled by the tv dinner on a tray table." (Horwitz, Jamie. Eating at the Edge page 44) The simple consistent meal that it contained broke down a major component of dining.  While before the most important person at the table would have the best meal, now with the uniform meal trays there is no variation in quality.  This throws off the normal table hierarchy and causes a shift in what was once normality at the table.  

                I am able to relate to this shift as a college student.  Like what I wrote in the most recent short essay, our lives are all about budgeting time well.  If a meal can be eaten while getting other work done at the same time, that’s an ideal situation.  With soup cups, TV dinners, and other convenient prepared foods that only require heating and next to no dishes it makes life easier to get work done and eat. 

I do enjoy going back home and having a long sit-down dinner with my family.  The break from obligations to get things done is great.   But the reality of it is that at college there is too much going on to spend over an hour just eating food and enjoying the company of your friends three times a day every day.  

Gotta Love that Cafeteria Food

Being efficient with your time is one of the most important things that college students can learn.  One part of the day where most people don’t waste any time is lunch.  From my observations in the Nagel dining hall I can conclude that everyone tries to maximize their productivity while eating.

Generally the Nagel dining hall is full of a bunch of students that are grabbing some food and doing some homework between classes.  Almost everyone in the dining hall is a student and most tables have at least one school related object along with the food that people are eating.  In addition to the books and notes, almost every table has at least one person one their laptop.  Some faculty or school employees stopped by and got something to eat, but none of them sat down and ate their meal in the dining hall.  This is probably because most of the faculty have their own offices where they can eat while getting work done.  This means that not only are the students trying to get work done while eating but almost everyone is.

Across the country dining halls are changing their methods to help students be efficient with their time.  They are doing this by increasing their hours of operation.  In Massachusetts at UMass-Lowell the dining halls, ”stay open later and longer, often from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., with continuous service between meals.”  This allows students to prioritize their work over meals because they know that at almost any time they are going to be able to get food.  Even if it is not during regular operating hours food is available. 

Most of the students that eat at Nagel are sophomores and some freshmen.  This is probably because Nagel is a sophomore dorm and it is located adjacent to Nelson which is another sophomore dorm.  This closest freshman dorm is J-Mac but the majority of freshmen live in Halls.  Halls has its own cafeteria so most freshmen choose to eat there.  As for the seniors and juniors, most of them don’t live on campus.  The majority of them have an apartment or house where they can cook their own meals.  This makes it so that they do no need to go to the cafeterias to get food.  Another reason they avoid the cafeterias is because most of them don’t have meal plans.  This presents them with a fork in the road where both paths require them to spend money to get food.  One path is buying cafeteria food and the other is restaurant quality food or groceries.  Most people that I know would choose the ladder of the two. 

Another reason that juniors and seniors would choose to avoid the cafeterias is that it is also a loss in efficiency of their time.  During lunch you can assume that they would head back to their apartments or houses so that they can drop off materials for past classes and grab whatever they need for later.  And to grab something to eat if there is enough time.  If they are done with classes then the best place for them to start doing work would be at home.  After all, there are a lot of distractions in the cafeterias that makes doing quality work difficult.  If I was in that position I would choose to head home and cook myself a good meal and eat that while doing work.   

There are three types of food offered at Nagel.  You can pick Mexican food, Barbecue, or pizza.  Most people choose to eat either the Mexican food or barbeque.  This is probably because all of the other cafeterias offer pizza and most people I have talked to are sick of pizza from eating so much of it.  The way that the food is served to people who get it to go plays into being efficient with time.  The portions fit perfectly into to-go boxes.  This allows anyone who is running late or is short on time to stop by, grab a meal to go, and eat it when more time is available. 

The quality and quantity versus cost of the food is very reasonable.  The food is arguably the best on campus and most people pay with a meal swipe.  The food that is offered is always the same but the chefs know how to cook what they make and it is always consistent.  Sometimes the food at other cafeterias tastes bland but at Nagel the food is consistently tasty.  Because the portions are enough to fill you up without overfilling you and you pay as much as any other cafeteria I argue that it is the best place to eat on campus. 

The décor of Nagel is a modern cafeteria.  There are a couple large booths and there are tables scattered in the rest of the open space.  Two TVs are located in the eating area to entertain the patrons of the cafeteria while they eat.  To get your food you go to the counter that offers what you want; barbeque, pizza, or Mexican.  Then the chef puts what you want on your plate and gives you your meal.  To pay for the meal it is as simple as walking to the register paying with whatever method works best for you. 

http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2005/11/06/a_revolution_in_college_dining/?page=full

College Dining Hall Source

This blog talks about how cafeterias are adapting to the average college student.  My main point from my observations is that most students are efficient when they go to eat.  This is because they are usually doing homework or socializing while eating.  The blog talks about how more and more dining halls are changing their hours so that students can eat at times when it is most appropriate for them.  This allows students to be more efficient with their time and not forgo eating so that they can get work done. 

The link to this website is:

http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2005/11/06/a_revolution_in_college_dining/?page=full 

A look into China and a San Francisco Jail

Both authors offer very different looks about the importance of meals.  O’donnell offers a look into the foods that eaten in China.  In the north beef is much more prominent while in the south seafood is more common.  Cate shows a look into how people in a San Francisco county jail eat when it is not during a meal time. 

                Cate talks about how inmates make “spreads” as a way to make life better while in jail.  Starting with a Ramen noodle base the inmates create meals from items that are available when other is not being served.  These spreads act as a way for prisoners to spice up the monotony of prison food and as a way to socialize.  While most people choose to share spreads so that they aren’t eating alone, spreads separate prisoners into different classes.  The class that is able to afford the ingredients and those who cant. 

                O’donnell starts out by explaining the differences between northern China and southern China.  She says that in the north beef is a major part of most meals.  She then relates the northern beef eating people to being socialist and not as quick witted as people from the south.  People in the south are more associated with being quick witted and capitalistic.  This can be attributed to the difficulty of catching the food.  It is easy to farm cattle because they aren’t that agile and the government supports the cattle farmers.  Fishing is different.  The fishermen would need to rely on outsmarting the fish and catching enough to eat.  The government isn’t able to supply the fisherman with extra fish if they aren’t successful.  This creates a capitalistic situation where the best fisherman catches the most fish and makes the most money and the worst fisherman makes the least.  

second essay comparison

I chose to read the blog post Gatorade vs. Crystal Light.  The link to the blog is, http://foodiesnotwelcome.blogspot.com/2012/04/gatorade-vs-crystal-light.html.  This blog was very different when compared to my blog.  There are two major differences that I have found.  The first difference is that I chose to compare and contrast specific aspects that the ad would play into while the Gatorade vs. Crystal Light blog analyzed each one individually.  For example I compared the easiness to eat the product on the go as a reason why one product would be picked over the other.  Another difference is that I talked more about why one would choose one product over the other because of price and convenience and Dani chose to talk more about the emotional connections that the ads tried to make. 

                I feel like both approaches, while different, are effective.  They both bring up major aspects of the ads and then evaluate how that ad attempts to make people buy the product.  Also, the two blog posts are different because I used two pictures and Dani used two videos.  In videos there is motion and sound which is better suited to spark emotional responses while a picture only appeals to your eyes.   

Cake Battle

I have chosen to compare the ads for a hostess Twinkie and an ad for various cakes at a local restaurant where I live called Rosine’s.  Both of these are directed at people who have a sweet tooth and want to eat dessert.  The most obvious difference between the two adds is that the Twinkie is much cheaper and more readily available and a Rosine’s cake is only available back in Monterey California.  

            The ad for the Twinkie is more geared toward people who are looking for a sweet snack, while the ad for a piece of Rosine’s cake is geared for someone who is planning on eating a meal followed by the cake as dessert.  Both ads lack price tags but it is easy to tell that one Twinkie will cost less than one slice of cake.  Especially because the box contains 10 Twinkies.  Therefore if one decides to buy a Twinkie there is no need to buy and prepare a good meal that can be followed by absurdly delicious slice of cake.  If you do buy a slice of cake from Rosine’s it is much better suited to be eaten as a dessert after a meal so that the meal as a whole can be as good as it can be. 

An advantage that the ad for a Rosine’s cake has is that it uses kiros, or timing.  In the caption of the Facebook add it says, “Desserts for today.”  Then one would look at the picture, 

and the first thought that comes to mind is that after today these cakes won’t be available.  The ad for the Twinkie doesn’t play into a limited timing at all.  Hostess has intentionally or not done the exact opposite.  While it doesn’t say it on the box, it is almost common knowledge that if a massive natural disaster happens, you can count on finding edible Twinkies to nourish yourself.  So for the person who is deciding what to buy, only taking into account availability, most people would choose the gourmet cake because of somewhat limited availability.

            Believe it or not, Hostess has an advantage over the gourmet cakes.  This advantage is that Twinkies are easier to eat.  A caption on the box says, “golden sponge cake with creamy filling.”  For those who are trying to eat a quick lunch or perhaps are eating a snack on the go this would probably win them over simply because it is much easier to eat.  Hostess plays at the idea that the frosting for the cake is on the inside instead of the outside.  This makes it easy to eat with your hands and not get frosting everywhere.  Looking back at the Rosine’s ad there is only one item that can be eaten with your hands and not get frosting everywhere.  That item is the partial image of the cookies at the bottom of the picture.  As a local and a friend of the owner I would pass up eating a slice of cake for a cookie because I know how good they are and that I can go back another time and get cake.  But for someone who isn’t certain, the images of cakes are overwhelming when compared to the image of a few cookies. On the go eating is played down by Rosine’s and Hostess plays directly at being able to eat it as a snack on the go.   

            The two ads also play at the difference between home cooked versus factory made.  The hostess Twinkies come is a box of ten.  Rosine’s cakes are made daily by hand and the selection is always different.  This is another difference that can tip the scales.  If a person wants to buy something that you can enjoy ten different times and have the same taste and texture then Twinkies will win.  But if a person wants to enjoy a slice of cake that is more or less unique but will probably last only one meal then a slice of Rosine’s cake will win. 

            Back at the central coast of California, where Rosine’s is located, there is always talk about preservatives in food and packaged goods and the benefits of eating organically.  Most people agree that when presented with the choice of processed food versus non-processed food the better one is the non-processed one.  This gives the Rosine’s ad an advantage.  There is no packaging other than the plates that the cake sits on.  The Twinkies come in a box.  

Without reading the ingredients list and seeing what is actually in the food, the cakes look like they contain much less preservatives and other chemicals the some people don’t care for. 

            Personally, I don’t think I have ever eaten a Twinkie.  Something that can never go bad isn’t all that appetizing for me.  When presented with the choice between a slice of cake or a Twinkie the cake trumps any and all appeal for the Hostess snack.  

Complexity of Potato Chips

Ever since I was very young I have wondered why some types of food had simple language on the bag and some had complex language.  I had guessed that the potato chips with the complex writing were better tasting chips.  I have eaten both the “expensive” chips and the “cheaper” chips and other than slight differences I have never been able to figure out why one would cost more than the other.

The most interesting thing about the article for me is that the reason we pay more for the complex labeled chips is because they are marketed towards people who have more money to spend on chips.  And that you would pay less for other chips just because they are marketed to people who have less spending money for snacks.   It is not directly because the more expensive chips are that much better than the cheap ones.  At least I’ve never heard anyone complain that their potato chips aren’t high enough quality.  From what I understand it is more about people paying more so that they can eat potato chips that represent their socioeconomic status. 

I’ve seen this around a lot when it comes to Costco brand or Safeway brand foods.  Those brands are always cheapest if you are buying them in their respective stores and it seems like not too many people buy them.  After reading this it makes sense.  People buy these brands when their budget only allows them to spend that much money.  And the people that do spend the extra money are trying to buy the appropriate consumables that are directed at their social class. 

The power of food

Joe Woolpert

The Power of Food

            We need food.  Without it we would die.  This necessity for nourishment has driven cultures to create dishes that are unique to certain regions.  These unique cultural dishes could be attributed to religious ideals or available resources.  It makes sense that beef and chicken are major parts of the American diet because that resource is very abundant in the United States.

Today food is no longer difficult for us to obtain.  Combined with efficient travel methods people have been able to spread different cultural dishes away from their origins.  For me, whenever I am able to eat a unique dish from another culture I am able to associate memories with the meal. 

            Being from a primarily British family I am used to eating traditional British foods.  My favorite dish that sparks most memories for me is shepherd’s pie.  Ground beef mixed with peas and other vegetables topped with mashed potatoes and cheese in a casserole dish and baked in the oven.  When I was much younger my grandmother would make it for me when I would visit her.  Not only did the meal supply me with the nutrients that I need but it also would make me think of family and my heritage.  Whenever I eat shepherd’s pie I think of my grandmothers cooking and my family.  

            Food doesn’t only spark thoughts of who usually cooked that dish.  It also provides us with a way to observe different cultures.  I have traveled a lot in my life and one way that you can get an unadulterated look into a society is to go to the local market and see what is for sale.  For example if the local market mainly sells fish then you know that the culture depends on fish and that you are probably close to a large body of water.  If the market only offers beef then you know that the culture depends on cattle and that most likely there isn’t a nearby body of water. This is significant to me because I am always interested in different cultures and how people live their lives.

            Before leaving my home to go to college food has been one of the main rallying points for my family to set down and talk about what is going on in life.  Eating dinner with my sister and my parents was one of the few times in the day where we were all together and not busy.  This gave me the opportunity to talk about what I have been able to accomplish and to listen to what my family has been accomplishing.  Even if I didn’t like what we were eating I still would be happy that its dinner time because I was with my family. 

            Having a daily family dinner where my entire family can sit down and eat and enjoy each other’s company is something that I always liked.  Now that I am at college and away from all of my family, dinner is still something that I look forward too.  This is regardless if I am able to meet up with friends or if I am trying to eat a quick dinner alone.  While eating dinner alone is definitely not as much fun as eating with friends, I still enjoy it occasionally.  Eating alone helps me to remember all of the dinners I ate with my family and all the things we talked about.  It is a way to reminisce of the days before I had almost complete independence. 

When I am eating with my friends those memories usually stay in the background.  With friends we all talk and share our stories just like I used to do with my family.  I will not be surprised if later in life when I eat dinner I will be reminiscing to the times when I ate cafeteria food with friends.  My point is that eating with friends is great because it is where memories can be made and shared with each other. 

 There has always been one meal that was the most meaningful to me.  That is thanksgiving dinner.  It is when tradition is able to blend with spending time with close and distant family.  I view thanksgiving is a dinner where the company is above average and the food is delicious.  I will always be able to remember the thanksgiving meals that I had with my family. 

Food can be wolfed down and treated as something that is only meant to sustain you until the next meal.  It can also be treated as a way to socialize with friends and catch up with family.  I choose the ladder of the two because for me food is a conduit that we can use to create memories and remember past experiences. 

             

Kimchi or Bangers and Mash? That is the question.

                Geoff Nicholson attaches his eating experience to his youth and to his mother.  He explains how his father was a simple eater who only wanted meat and potatoes.  This left his mother to decide what else she wanted to add to the meal.  Because his mom cooked during WW2 when food was rationed she was forced to choose from simpler ingredients.  Also, because of his moms faith she choose to eat white foods.  He attributes this to the significance of the color white.  White represents innocence and purity in the catholic faith and by consuming white food she though she is making herself better. 

                Roy Ahn goes about describing his experiences with food from his own perspective.  He explains how he was born in Korea and then moved to the US early in his life.  He then had the influence of his parents and his friends all weighing in on what he is supposed to eat.  His parents both wanted him to eat Korean food but his father was much more outgoing in mixing the Korean culture with the American culture. 

                The two authors have a different perspective on their experiences with food.  Geoff Talks about what his mother would of liked or not liked to eat.  Roy talks about the food that he came into contact with in his life and how traditional Korean food blended with food from the United States.  Also, the two authors come from different sides of the planet.  Roy is from Korea and Geoff is from England.  They both have been exposed to very different cultures that have very different common foods. 

                My grandmother immigrated from England In her early twenties.  She had enough time to grow up and learn all the traditions and customs of a Londoner.  She taught my mom a lot of these traditions so it is common for my mom to prepare very traditional English meals for me whenever I am at home.