Week 10: Roast Beef vs. Cold Pork Shabu

Roast Beef vs. Cold Pork Shabu from Hiroshi Sekiguchi and Yuji Miyake's The Dotch Cooking Show (YTV, Japan)

Week 10 
Mon 8.8
In-class: Writers Workshop; Final exam preparation; Presentations
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (DRAFT 2, BRING IN THREE COPIES OF THE FIRST EIGHT PAGES OF YOUR RESEARCH PAPER); REFLECTION 8; SYNTHESIS ESSAY

Wed 8.10
In-class: FINAL EXAM (BRING ONE LARGE YELLOW BOOK), Course review
Catering: Group 4—Dessert Course

Fri 8.12
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (FINAL DRAFT; EMAIL TO ME BY MIDNIGHT ON FRI 8.12) 

A Record 45.8 Million American Using Food Stamps

From CNNMoney.com 08.05.11

Nearly 15 percent of the U.S. population relied on food stamps in May, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

The number of Americans using the government's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) -- more commonly referred to as food stamps -- shot to an all-time high of 45.8 million in May, the USDA reported.

That's up 12% from a year ago, and 34% higher than two years ago.

The program provides monthly benefits to low-income individuals and families, which they can use at stores that accept SNAP benefits.

To qualify for food stamps, an individual's income can't exceed $1,174 a month or $14,088 a year -- an amount that is 130 percent of the national poverty level.

The average food stamp benefit was $133.80 per person and $283.65 per household in May.

The highest concentration of food stamp users were in California, Florida, New York and Texas -- where more than 3 million residents in each state received food stamps in May.

The State of Male Eating Disorders

By Catherine Pearson, The Huffington Post
08.02.11

It took Matt Wetsel, 26, more than a month to work up the courage to try group therapy for anorexia, the eating disorder he says consumed two years of his life. A college student at the time, Matt said he would plan to attend a meeting, become overwhelmed and would shy away.

When Wetsel finally steeled himself enough to attend, a woman stopped him and asked if he needed help.

Unable to explain himself, he handed her a flier promoting the group. The woman disappeared, returning a few minutes later with the news that he could not take part. The group, it seemed, was for women only.

"I have never felt so defeated," Wetsel said in a speech on Capitol Hill last spring.

Eating disorders have long been believed to be a female issue. The National Institute of Health estimates that girls are two-and-a-half times more likely to have an eating disorder than boys, while groups like the nonprofit National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders state that women are "much more likely than men to develop an eating disorder." Yet a growing body of evidence suggests that such numbers and statements may not truly reflect the large number of boys and men with eating disorders -- be it anorexia, bulimia, binge eating or the broader category of "eating disorders not otherwise specified."

Earlier this month, the BBC reported that hospital admissions for men with eating disorders increased by 66 percent in the last decade in the U.K. In the U.S., a recent study in the Archives of General Psychiatry found that binge eating and bulimia were indeed more prevalent among adolescent girls than boys, but that the prevalence of anorexia nervosa was exactly the same.

"The one million dollar question is what this means," said Daniel Le Grange, Ph.D, director of the eating disorders program at The University of Chicago and an author of that study.

"We don't know what happens to them, we don't know if [the prevalence] has changed or increased," he continued. "We don't know if the fact that we tend see more girls in a clinical realm means that boys tend to recover more readily on their own; we don't know why they don't come in for treatment more. We don't know."

Sam Thomas, founder of the U.K.-based charity Men Get Eating Disorders Too, echoed the sentiment, saying that the recent findings raise questions about whether eating disorders are up in earnest or if more practitioners are simply recognizing the symptoms.

"We suspect that these new findings are only the tip of the iceberg, as we know that there is still a large majority of male sufferers who struggle to get the help they need, due to the stigma and stereotypical gender assumptions still made about eating disorders," Thomas told The Huffington Post.

For his part, Wetsel -- who has been in recovery for more than five years and has become an eating disorder activist, running the blog ...Until Eating Disorders Are No More -- has written that his recovery mandated he fit himself into a "culture mostly designed, tailored and intended for females." Many of the books he read referenced women only, using the pronoun "she."

Wetsel said he developed a thick skin about such gender issues, but imagines that other men struggle as well, particularly in light of the consternation he faced when telling people about his disorder.

"I want to say, 'Well, what should a recovered anorexic look like? Should I be female? Should I be emaciated?'" he said. "If you saw me around town I'd probably be wearing a band shirt and some shorts cut off at the knee. You'd probably see a few tattoos. I guess no one's expecting someone by that description to have a story about being anorexic."

Which could be a reason why men are less likely to seek treatment: The people around them, including their practitioners, may not recognize the symptoms and encourage them to get help.

"It often doesn't cross parents' or doctors' minds, because the public is so schooled to think that eating disorders are a female thing only," said Le Grange of the University of Chicago. He estimates that generally, for every 10 cases they see in his program, one or two is a boy. Last week, however, he saw four cases alone.

What is needed next, according to Le Grange, are further studies looking at the prevalence and impact of eating disorders in boys and men to better understand any differences in treatment strategies, as well as to assess what happens to boys with eating disorders in the long term.

In the meantime, people like Wetsel -- who was eventually welcomed into the group meetings at his university and said they were integral to his recovery -- are speaking up.

"This is serious stuff. There isn't any room for people to treat eating disorders as anything less than a life-threatening illness," he said. "It's bad enough and hard enough for women to get help and be taken seriously, and men have to deal with an additional layer of stigma that supposedly challenges the way people see their masculinity and sexuality."

Assignment: Synthesis Essay

How would you characterize our society's obsession with dieting? What can be said of our insatiable desire to have the perfect body, especially through diets? And when do our physical perfection fantasies meet the reality of American obesity rates? What do you make of preoccupation with being thin? In a concise essay, synthesize the following diverse texts into a snapshot of America's current dieting obsession:

• Sara Rue 2010 Print Advertisement from Jenny Craig
• “What's the Best Diet? Eating Less Food” by Tiffany Sharples from Time 
• “Choose Your Bad” Cartoon by Cathy Thorne from EverydayPeopleCartoons
• “10 Things the Weight-Loss Industry Won't Say” by Trevor Delaneylisa Scherzer from SmartMoney
• “Hottest Bodies 2010" from People
• "Overweight and Obesity Statistics" from The US Department of Health and Human Services
• Scene from “Brush with Greatness” from The Simpsons

Requirements:

• MLA format, including parenthetical citation
• 3-page minimum 

The best papers will:

• Stay within the parameters of the prompt
• Have a concise thesis
• Find "common threads" amongst a diverse group of texts and combine them to create a "snapshot" of America's current obsession with dieting
• Properly cite evidence using MLA's parenthetical citation method
• Conclude with a summation of your points
• Be in MLA Style

Due: Mon 8.8

Extra Credit Assignment: Comparative Analysis Essay

Anthony Bourdain's journey from lowly seafood cook to world-renowned chef was long and colorful. In his career, he has paid his dues in a number of somewhat questionable eating establishments, but also reaped the rewards of an uncompromising work ethic and an undying love of food. In a concise essay, compare and contrast Bourdin’s formative years in Provincetown with his time as an executive chef in New York City. Use specific examples from Kitchen Confidential to support your thesis.


Requirements:

• MLA format, including parenthetical citation
• 3-page minimum 

The best papers will:

• Stay within the parameters of the prompt
• Have a concise thesis
• Clearly support their thesis with solid evidence and a logic structure, highlighting similarities and differences in Bourdain's experiences then and now
• Properly cite evidence using MLA's parenthetical citation method
• Conclude with a summation of your points
• Be in MLA Style

Worth up to 15 pts.

Due: Due via mail on Fri 8.5 by midnight

Week 09: Orecchiette with Greens

Orecchiette with Greens from Giada De Laurentiis' Giada at Home (Food Network, USA)

Week 9
Mon 8.1
In-class: Presentations, Reading discussion
Due: EDITORIAL ESSAY (FINAL DRAFT; ATTACH DRAFT 1 TO BACK)

Wed 8.3
In-class: Writers workshop; presentations
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (DRAFT 2, BRING IN THREE COPIES OF THE FIRST SIX PAGES OF YOUR RESEARCH PAPER) 
Catering: Group 5—Cheese Course

Fri 8.5
Due: EXTRA CREDIT ESSAY (EMAIL TO ME BY MIDNIGHT ON FRI 8.5)

Week 10 
Mon 8.8
In-class: Final exam preparation; Presentations
Due: REFLECTION 8; SYNTHESIS ESSAY

Wed 8.10
In-class: FINAL EXAM, Course review
Catering: Group 4—Dessert Course

Fri 8.12
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (FINAL DRAFT; EMAIL TO ME BY MIDNIGHT ON FRI 8.12) 

I decided to cancel our field trip so that we could concentrate on finishing up our summer session. Note new due dates for the remaining assignments (including your research paper, which will now be due via email on Aug 12th). 

Here is a roundup:

Mon 8.1: EDITORIAL ESSAY (FINAL DRAFT; ATTACH DRAFT 1 TO BACK)


Wed 8.3: REFLECTION 8; RESEARCH PAPER (DRAFT 2, BRING IN THREE COPIES OF THE FIRST SIX PAGES OF YOUR RESEARCH PAPER) 


Fri 8.5: EXTRA CREDIT ESSAY (EMAIL TO ME BY MIDNIGHT ON FRI 8.5)


Mon 8.8: REFLECTION 8; SYNTHESIS ESSAY 


Fri 8.12: RESEARCH PAPER (FINAL DRAFT; EMAIL TO ME BY MIDNIGHT ON FRI 8.12) 

Reflection 8: Eating with our Eyes—Exploring Food Blogs

Special occasions can go badly in Cake Wrecks.

An increasingly popular segment of blogs has been those centered around food. The topics of these blogs range from amateur cooking to specialty foods to culinary photography. In short, there is a food blog for just about any taste (pardon the pun). For your final reflection, peruse the various food blogs below, find three that pique your interest and write about them. What are they about? What attracted you to them? How do they lure in readers? Finally, can the joy of food be successfully translated onto a computer screen?

• Food Porn Daily
• 80 Breakfasts
• not martha
• Great Food Photos
• Sugar Stacks
• Cooking with Amy
• Tartlette
• Food Goat
• Last Crumb 
• What the Hell Does a Vegan Eat, Anyway?
• Pork Cracklins
• Cake Wrecks
• Chocolate & Zucchini
• BBQ Junkie
• This is Why You're Fat
• Vegalicious
• delicious days 
• Smitten Kitchen
• Chubby Hubby
• Pinch My Salt
• Cupcakes Take the Cake
• Sexy Food
• Extra MSG
• Kitchen Chick
• Men Who Like to Cook
• Sunday Suppers
• Lemonpi
• I'm Basil. I bake.
• Matt Bites
• Dessert First

Required:

• MLA format
• 2 full pages

Due:  Mon 8.8

Assignment: Research Paper, Pt. II

Chinook salmon are amongst the species of fish that are threatened,

Here are the technical requirements for your research paper:

• Length: 10 pages minimum, plus a Works Cited page
• Sources: 8 sources (must include: 3 academic/peer reviewed texts AND 2 books—print or electronic; do not count Wikipedia as a source) 
• Format: MLA Style  
• Citation style: MLA's parenthetical citation 
• No title page or illustrations

McDonald’s Trims Its Happy Meal

By Stephanie Stromm, New York Times
07.26.11

Bowing to pressure from health advocates and parents, McDonald’s is putting the Happy Meal on a diet.

The company announced Tuesday that it would more than halve the amount of French fries and add fruit to its popular children’s meal in an effort to reduce the overall calorie count by 20 percent.

But McDonald’s appeasement only went so far. A toy will still come with each Happy Meal despite criticism that the trinkets, often with tie-ins to movies like “Toy Story,” foster a powerful connection between children and the often calorie-laden meals.

While Happy Meals account for less than 10 percent of all McDonald’s sales, the signature box and its contents — first introduced in 1979 — have become a favorite target in recent years. Lawmakers and consumers have rallied around breaking that childhood link between toys and fast food, with the efforts increasing as Michelle Obama and national public health officials point to the estimated 17 percent rate of obesity among the nation’s youths.

San Francisco, for example, has banned the inclusion of toys in children’s meals unless certain nutritional requirements are met. A New York City councilman is proposing a similar law.

Other restaurant chains have gone further than McDonald’s in acceding to calls for improving the fare on children’s menus and eliminating marketing appeals. In June, Jack in the Box announced the end of toys in its children’s meals, and this month, Burger King, IHOP and more than a dozen other restaurant chains backed an effort led by the National Restaurant Association to serve and promote healthier options for youngsters.

“McDonald’s is not giving the whole loaf, but it is giving a half or two thirds of a loaf,” said Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which is representing a woman in California who is suing McDonald’s for including toys in its Happy Meals. “This is an important step in the right direction.”

McDonald’s made it clear that it was changing the composition of Happy Meals in response to parental and consumer pressure. It also pledged to reduce the sodium content in all of its foods by 15 percent, with the exceptions of soda and desserts. It set a deadline of 2015 for limiting salt, and said it would spend the rest of this decade cutting back on sugars, saturated fats and calories and making adjustments to portion sizes.

The new Happy Meals will be introduced in September and rolled out across the company’s 14,000 restaurants by April 2012. They will all include apple slices, but in a smaller amount of three to five slices than the current eight to 10 offered as an alternative. (The Apple Dippers also will be renamed after the company phases out the caramel dipping sauce, according to Tuesday’s announcement.)

“It’s a trade-off between everybody getting a small portion and 10 percent of kids getting a larger portion, which is better than nothing and maybe will accustom kids to eating fresh fruits and vegetables when they go out to eat,” Mr. Jacobson said.

Parents will have the option of requesting more fruit or, possibly at a later date, vegetables instead of fries. McDonald’s will also offer a fat-free chocolate milk option, along with the option of low-fat milk or the traditional soda. The price is not expected to change.

Today’s Happy Meal with chicken nuggets has 520 calories and 26 grams of fat, and the reconstituted version, with 1 percent milk, will total 410 calories and 19 grams of fat, according to the company.

The company said it had experimented with eliminating French fries altogether from the boxes, but that generated a lot of customer complaints. Danya Proud, a spokeswoman for the company, said that McDonald’s tests also found that parents wanted soda among the drinks available, too. “That’s what we’ve really felt all along, that ultimately, it’s a parent decision to make about their child’s well-being,” she said.

McDonald’s has long offered parents the option of asking for fruit rather than fries, although a study by Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity found that only 11 percent took advantage of that option.

While some critics of fast-food and public health officials praised the moves (Mrs. Obama called them “positive steps”), others complained that McDonald’s did not go far enough. Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University and an outspoken critic of the food industry, called the changes a “sham,” in part because McDonald’s is not doing more to limit soda with the Happy Meal.

“They’re going to get huge publicity for this — an ounce less of French fries,” Dr. Nestle said. “I’m not impressed.”

In fact, when apples are added to the Happy Meal with a soda, the amount of sugar in the new package increases.

As part of an effort to provide better access to nutritional information about its foods, the company has developed its first mobile application for the public. McDonald’s executives also plan to tour the country to hear directly from consumers about their concerns.

“We are doing what we can,” Ms. Proud said. “We have to evolve with the times, and the times require us and our customers are asking us to offer more options.”

Ms. Proud said that even with the changes, the Happy Meal would not meet San Francisco’s requirements, which demand both a fruit and vegetable serving, among other things, before a company can include a toy with a child’s meal.

Public health experts expect the company to mount a legal challenge to that ordinance before it goes into effect in December, but Ms. Proud said McDonald’s was still evaluating its options.

Week 08: Homemade Egg Tagliatelle

Homemade Egg Tagliatelle from Jamie Oliver's Jamie at Home (Channel 4, UK)

Week 8 
Mon 7.25
In-class: Reading discussion; Presentations
Due: EDITORIAL ESSAY (DRAFT 1, BRING 3 COPIES)
Catering: Group 4—Main Course

Wed 7.27
In-class: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ESSAY; Writers workshop; Presentations
Due: REFLECTION 7; RESEARCH PAPER (DRAFT 1, BRING IN THREE COPIES OF THE FIRST THREE PAGES OF YOUR RESEARCH PAPER) 
  

Reflection 7: Wasted—College Binge Drinking

Has binge drinking played a role in your college experience?

Much to the chagrin of universities and parents everywhere, binge drinking—drinking excessively with the intent of becoming highly intoxicated—is now a common part of college life in America. In fact, binge drinking is now so ingrained into the fabric of contemporary college life that some universities have even begun including information about the dangers of the excessive consumption of alcohol into their freshman orientations. It is difficult to argue that we are not in an era when many young people drink only to get drunk, but is it, as some suggest, an epidemic? How has binge drinking affected your own college experience? What do you believe will be the long-term effects of such practices on students? Finally, what do you believe universities can do to curb this practice?

Include in your discussion at least two of the following:

• "Survey: Nearly 1 in 4 Americans Binge-Drink" (USA Today)
  
• "'Just Say Yes': Millennials and Alcohol" (The Oregonian)
  
• "Drinking Too Much: Women and Alcohol" (Women's Health)
• "Half of College Students Have Blackouts" (UPI)

Above located in the eR.

Required:

• MLA format
• 2 full pages

Due:  07.27.11

Grocery Store Financing Program to be Announced

The $200-million California FreshWorks Fund is designed to encourage grocers to expand into underserved communities to improve access to healthful, affordable food. 

By P.J. Huffstutter, Los Angeles Times
07.20.11 

In a bid to fight childhood obesity and change eating habits on the local level, First Lady Michelle Obama is expected to announce a healthful food financing initiative Wednesday that aims to draw grocery stores into so-called food desert areas in California.

The $200-million program, dubbed the California FreshWorks Fund, is a joint effort by the California Endowment and a team of grocery industry groups, healthcare organizations and leading Wall Street banks.
Modeled after similar funds launched in New York City and Pennsylvania, the idea for the California fund was hatched about 18 months ago by the California Endowment, a private, statewide health foundation. Starting with a $3-million grant and $30 million in seed capital, the organization recruited partners to grow the loan pool, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Kaiser Permanente, savings bank NCB, the Unified Grocers wholesale cooperative and the California Grocers Assn.

The goal, said organizers, is to provide financing at or below market rates to encourage grocers to set up shop in underserved communities such as South Los Angeles to increase consumers' access to healthful, affordable food.

"It's key to getting developers to realize they can operate in these areas profitably, to get past some of the myths of operating in these communities," said Dudley Benoit, senior vice president of JPMorgan Chase's community development banking.

Fund organizers said they also hope the fund will spur economic development in these areas at a time when bank lending remains tight. The financing should be enough, said fund officials, to create or retain about 6,000 jobs in California.

The loans will be available to food retailers big and small. Fund organizers expect that a portion of the lending will help mom-and-pop grocers and small, independently owned chains expand existing retail space and install new equipment such as refrigerated displays for fresh produce, eggs and meat, or build new stores in underserved communities.

The money could also be used by grocers to develop new distribution models, such as mobile produce trucks, to bring healthful foods into these neighborhoods. Or it could be used to finance collaborative, wholesale purchasing to help small retailers lower their costs. Details are still being worked out, but organizers are planning outreach efforts to advertise the loan program.

"When we started down this road, we were trying to figure this out for South L.A.," said Tina Castro, director of mission-related investments for the California Endowment. "Then, we realized that if we were going to put together the pieces of the puzzle for one area, why couldn't we expand and look statewide."

The fund comes at a time when the grocery store landscape has become increasingly competitive, particularly in Southern California. The region's three largest unionized supermarket chains — Vons, Ralphs and Albertsons — are embroiled in tense labor contract negotiations with area United Food and Commercial Workers locals.

At the same time, big-box competitors are ramping up efforts to sell fresh foods to consumers.

Still, there are nearly 4.4 million people in California who live in areas with limited or no access to healthful food options, according to an analysis of grocery availability in California conducted by Social Compact, a nonprofit organization that works to draw financial investment into inner-city communities.

Access to healthful groceries has long been a struggle in low-income areas. After the 1992 Los Angeles riots, four major grocery chains promised to build at least 30 supermarkets in affected neighborhoods. But nearly three decades later, these neighborhoods still lack many full-service supermarkets.

The problem is also seen in some rural areas across the state and nation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently released an online map highlighting thousands of areas where families have little or no access to fresh food. According to the agency, up to 10% of the country is considered a food desert.

Although access to supermarkets has become a public policy issue and part of Obama's campaign to battle childhood obesity, a recent study found that grocery store availability doesn't necessarily mean consumers make more healthful choices.

The study, by the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill's Nutrition Transition Program, tracked the diets of more than 5,000 people in low-income communities in four U.S. cities with high obesity rates for a 15-year period.

Published by the Archives of Internal Medicine, the study found that income and close proximity to fast-food restaurants were leading factors in food choice. It also found that building a supermarket wasn't enough to get people to eat more healthfully. Other factors included food costs and cooking skills, the study said.

Calorie Counts Found Lacking

The Chipotle Burrito bowl with 390 stated calories, the bowl actually has 639.

By Kay Lazar, Boston Globe
07.20.11

Posted calorie counts in chain restaurants are often inaccurate, and weight-conscious consumers who select soups and salads are especially likely to be served heftier dishes than advertised, according to a new study from Boston researchers.

Their analysis of a wide assortment of items from 42 national fast-food and sit-down restaurant chains found that nearly 1 in 5 samples, when measured in a laboratory, were at least 100 calories over the amounts listed on the restaurants’ websites.

The team also identified many items that contained fewer calories than advertised. Restaurants tended to overstate the amounts in higher-calorie foods such as pizza, meats, and side dishes, but lower-calorie foods, such as soups and salads, were among the most likely to have understated calorie listings, the researchers reported yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

On average, restaurants’ websites were about as likely to understate calories as to overstate them, according to the study by scientists at the Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University.

But the wide variability among many of the samples is troubling, said the study’s lead author, Susan B. Roberts, director of the energy metabolism laboratory at Tufts, given the growing numbers of consumers who regularly eat out and the legions who are struggling with their weight. More than half of the nation’s adults are overweight or obese.

“This turns dieting on its head,’’ Roberts said, “especially if you go to a restaurant and think you’re being good by ordering a soup or salad.’’

While 100 extra calories lurking in a salad may not seem alarming, a consumer who ate that additional amount each day would pack on, on average, 10 pounds a year, she said.

Roberts said the scientists do not know why lower-calorie foods, especially salads, tended to exceed the posted calories, but said it could be that workers preparing the items may have used more dressings and cheese than intended.

Roberts’s team randomly selected 269 items from 42 restaurants in three states - Massachusetts, Arkansas, and Indiana - between January and June 2010.

The National Restaurant Association, a trade group that represents nearly 1 million restaurant and food service outlets, said it was pleased the study showed that, on average, calorie counts were on target.

But spokeswoman Joy Dubost said that restaurants, particularly sit-down restaurants, will be working harder to ensure that meals prepared by kitchen staff more closely adhere to posted calorie counts.

Driving that effort is the federal health care overhaul bill, passed last year, which will require restaurants with more than 20 locations to post that information on menus and menu boards. Final regulations are expected to be issued later this year, with a start-up date probably next summer.

“We have to keep in mind that restaurant food is hand-prepared and it invariably contains variation,’’ Dubost said. “But with the new menu-labeling law we know that many restaurant chains are looking to tighten up kitchen quality-control standards.’’

The federal Affordable Care Act does not include any provisions to ensure that what is served does adhere to posted calorie counts, said Linda Van Horn, a research nutritionist and professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

“Labeling is a wonderful thing, Van Horn said, “but periodically, there should be some external monitoring so restaurants would need to know they should be conscious of any changes that take place.’’

In the study, scientists ordered the items as take-out - including soups and salads, meats, side dishes, sandwiches, pizzas, and desserts - and analyzed them in a lab. They found significantly larger discrepancies between advertised and actual calorie counts in sit-down restaurants, compared with fast-food chains.

“Fast-food restaurants are always considered the bad guys, but, in this case, they were the good guys, if you want a reliable calorie count, because there is more control in the factory’’ where the food is prepared, Roberts said.

Many of the restaurants tested had some food items that contained fewer calories than were posted, as well as offerings that exceeded the amount, including Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse. At Olive Garden, for instance, two of the soups - zuppa Toscana and chicken and gnocchi - were at least 200 calories over the posted amount. Yet the steak gorgonzola alfredo came in 238 calories under.

“The nutritional information we provide to our guests is based on preparing each one of our menu items multiple times and having them tested by a professional third-party laboratory that specializes in nutritional analysis,’’ Mike Bernstein, a spokesman for Olive Garden and LongHorn, said in an e-mailed statement.

“We are confident that the results are as accurate as they can be for dishes that are individually crafted by hand,’’ he said.

At Boston-based Uno Chicago Grill, eight of nine items tested, including Buffalo chicken deep dish pizza, contained fewer calories than posted, with steamed seasonal vegetables being the only offering that came in over, by 68 calories.

“We consider this to be a single incident, though we will reemphasize to our chefs the importance of ensuring accuracy,’’ Rick Hendrie, Uno’s marketing senior vice president, said in an e-mailed statement.

The most glaring discrepancy found was for the chips and salsa at On the Border Mexican Grill and Cantina. That measured more than 1,000 calories over the advertised amount. On the Border did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Assignment: Editorial Essay

One provision of the Obama administration's recent health-care overhaul was a mandate for chain restaurants (those with with 20 or more outlets) to post the calorie counts of their food on their menus. The rationale for this was that increased consumer awareness would lead to smarter food choices. Critics, however, counter that the provision illustrates an overreach of the government's authority and an undermining of consumer choice. What do you think? In your view, what has been the effect of this part of the law? Has it affected what you choose to eat at restaurants? Is this an example of the government ensuring that an important service is provided or has it stepped in to do what you are capable of doing for yourself? In a concise editorial, share your views on this issue. Cite evidence from the articles below to support your thesis:

• “California Calorie Law Alters Chains' Fare” (Sacramento Bee)
• “Want a Warning Label with Those Fries?” (Boston Globe)
• “Health Law Makes Calorie Counts Hard to Hide” (MSNBC)
• Cheesecake Factory Nutritional Guide (NutritionAnalysis.com)
• “Leave Calorie Counts Off the Menu” (Los Angeles Times)
• Drink Nutrition Information from Starbucks
• “How Many Calories Do You Think Are in this Muffin?” (EatingWell)
• Editorial: New Law Will Help Those Who Want It (Chico Enterprise Record)

Requirements:

• MLA format, including parenthetical citation
• 3-page minimum
• Cite at least four articles

The best papers:

• Stay within the parameters of the subject matter
• Have a concise thesis which clearly outlines a position
• Are written in a voice that is casual, yet informed
• Clearly support the thesis with solid evidence and a logical structure, citing from the calorie count articles
• Cite a minimum of four articles
• Conclude with a summation of the argument
• Properly cite evidence using MLA's parenthetical citation method
• Are in compliance with MLA Style

Sample editorials:

• "Yet Another Political Game" (New York Times)
• "The Best Remedy for the Price of Gas" (Los Angeles Times)
• "Trial by Media" (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
• "Sleeping Flight Controllers are One Harsh Wake-Up Call" (The Oregonian) 
• "Leading Society by Example" (Boston Globe)

Due: Wed 7.20 (Bring three copies)

Week 07: Savoury Semolina Cake

Savoury Semolina Cake from Anjum Anand's Indian Food Made Easy (BBC Two, UK)

Week 7 
Mon 7.18
Read: KITCH—pg. 75-218; eR—Sara Rue 2010 Print Advertisement from Jenny Craig, “What's the Best Diet? Eating Less Food” by Tiffany Sharples from Time, “Choose Your Bad” Cartoon by Cathy Thorne from EverydayPeopleCartoons, “10 Things the Weight-Loss Industry Won't Say” by Trevor Delaneylisa Scherzer from SmartMoney 
In-class: Reading discussion; Presentations
Due: Catering: Group 3—Soup Course

Wed 7.20

(MEET IN MLK LIBRARY, ROOM 213 @ 9 AM)

Read: KITCH—pg. 219-295; eR—“Hottest Bodies 2010" from People, Overweight and Obesity — Statistics from The American Heart Association, Scene from “Brush with Greatness” from The Simpsons In-class: 1B research session; Writers workshop; Presentations

Due: REFLECTION 6; EDITORIAL ESSAY (DRAFT 1, BRING 3 COPIES) 

Reflection 6: Which Fork Do I Use?—Table Manners and You

How do your table manners compare to the official rules?

Directly or indirectly, we are all taught that a certain protocol exists during meals. Every meal is accompanied by long list of dos and don'ts, some of which we may be conscious of and some of which we may not. How would you rate your own table manners? What are you conscious of and which areas could use some work? How important is the etiquette of those with whom you are eating? Do you have any pet peeves about your eating companions? What bothers you about other people's manners at the dinner table? Finally, what do a your own table manners say about you as an individual?

Include in your discussion at least two of the following:

• "Table Manners Quiz—How Do I Eat THAT?" (SquidQuiz)
• "How Table Manners Benefit Kids Later in Life" (Etiquette En Vogue)
• "A Man’s Guide to Dining Etiquette and Proper Table Manners" (The Art of Manliness)
• "Mealtime Common Etiquette Mistakes & Dining What-If's" (The Huffington Post)

Above located in the eR.

Required:

• MLA format
• 2 full pages

Due:  07.20.11

Class Canceled This Week

Unfortunately, there will be no class this week. If you have a presentation this week, be ready to go next Monday. As for your reflection and persuasive essay, follow the due dates on the website (Reflection: Saturday, July 16th at midnight, Persuasive essay: Friday, July 15th by midnight). Both are emailed. Also I'm pushing back the editorial a bit, so don't worry about that for now.

Sorry to have to cancel. Enjoy your week.

Week 06: New Orleans Shrimp Pot Pie

New Orleans Shrimp Pot Pie from Sunny Anderson's Cooking for Real (Food Network, USA)

Week 6
Mon 7.11
Read: eR—“California Calorie Law Alters Chains' Fare” by M.S. Enkoji from The Sacramento Bee, “Want a Warning Label with Those Fries?” by Jeff Jacoby from The Boston Globe, “Health Law Makes Calorie Counts Hard to Hide” by Mary Clare Jalonick from MSNBC, Cheesecake Factory Nutritional Guide from NutritionAnalysis.com
In-class: Reading Discussion, Presentations, Writers Workshop

Wed 7.13
Read: KITCH—pg. 3-74
In-class: Reading Discussion; Watch—Food Inc. (2008)

Assignment: Persuasive Essay

Over the course of the semester we’ve examined a number of popular trends in American eating, the most prominent of which is organic eating. As we have seen, people are adopting it for a variety of practical and philosophical reasons. But to fully embrace it often means adhering to a strict behavioral code. Altering purchasing habits, knowing food’s origins, and spending more money are just a few of the requirements of true organic eating. Even so, many organic eaters swear by its positive attributes, and point to benefits ranging from the personal to the global. Still, others are not convinced that eating organically makes a significant enough difference, personally or otherwise. For this assignment, you must argue for OR against the merits of eating organic foods, either processed or unprocessed. In a clear and concise persuasive essay, argue why adopting organic eating is—or is not—worth the effort. Cite specific evidence from the essays we read to support your argument.

Us the following articles in your argument:

• “Organic Foods: Are They Safer? More Nutritious?” from The Mayo Clinic
• “All You Can’t Eat” by Crystal Allen from Metro Silicon Valley 
• “Organic Food is No Healthier, Study Finds” by Ben Hirschler from Reuters
• “Feast of Burden” by Sara Deseren from 7x7 
• “Is Local Food Really Miles Better?” by Roberta Kwok from Salon
• “Organicize Me” by Michael A. Stusser from Seattle Weekly 
• “Don't Write Off Organic Food” by Molly Conisbee from The Daily Telegraph 
• “Is Organic Food Marketing Hype?” from Newsweek

Requirements:

• MLA format, including parenthetical citation
• 3-page minimum

The best papers will:

• Have a concise thesis with a clear argument (for or against organic eating)
• Utilize rhetorical techniques in order to convince readers of their position
• Support their thesis with solid evidence organized in a logical structure
• Properly cite evidence using MLA's parenthetical citation method
• Conclude with a summation of your points
• Be in MLA Style

Due: Email to dhdelao@gmail.com on Friday, July 15th by midnight

Reflection 5: Tasting the Bounty—California Farmers' Markets

Our farmers' markets are amongst the best in the world

Summer in California means amazing farmers' markets abound. Silicon Valley, with its proximity to both the Central Valley and the Pacific Ocean, is especially blessed with several markets throughout the week. And it is not an exaggeration to say that these markets bring with them some of the finest foods in the world. Your task for this reflection is simple: Go to a local farmers' market and sample what it has to offer, then write about the experience. Be sure to take in the market's colors, smells, textures, and, most importantly, tastes. Describe the feel of the market, its clientele, and the foods.What is it like being at a California farmers' market in the summer?

Below is a partial list of farmers' markets around Silicon Valley; choose whichever is most convenient: 

Sunday
Alum Rock (San Jose)
James Lick High School, 57 N White Rd.
8 AM - 1 PM

Blossom Hill (San Jose)
Princeton Plaza Mall, 1375 Blossom Hill Rd.
Sundays 10 AM - 2 PM

Campbell
Downtown, Campbell Ave.
9 AM - 1 PM

Evergreen (San Jose)
Evergreen Village Square, 4075 Evergreen Village Square
9 AM - 1 PM

Milpitas
Indian Community Center, 525 Los Coches St.
8 AM - 1 PM

Mountain View
Mountain View Caltrains Station, 600 West Evelyn Ave.
9 AM - 1 PM

Palo Alto
California Ave., California Ave. at El Camino Real
9 AM - 1 P

Santana Row (San Jose)
Park Valencia, 3055 Olin Ave.
10 AM - 2 PM

Wednesday
Cambrian Park (San Jose)
Cambrian Park Plaza, 14418 Union Ave
4 PM - 8 PM

Evergreen (San Jose)
Evergreen Village Square, 4075 Evergreen Village Square
9 AM - 1 PM

Thursday
Los Altos
Downtown, State St. and Second St.
4:30 PM - 8 PM

Friday
Cupertino
Vallco Shopping Mall, 10123 N. Wolfe Rd.
9 AM - 1 PM

San Pedro Square (San Jose)
San Pedro Square, N. San Pedro St.
10 AM - 2 PM

Saturday
Berryessa (San Jose)
Berryessa Union School District, 1376 Piedmont Rd.
9 AM - 1 PM

Morgan Hill
Third Street Promenade, 3rd St.
9 AM - 1 PM

Santa Clara
Franklin Square Mall, Jackson St.
9 AM - 1 PM

Santa Teresa (San Jose)
Kaiser Permanente,  250 Hospital Pkwy.
10 AM - 2 PM

Saratoga
West Valley College, 14000 Fruitvale Ave.
9 AM - 1 PM

Sunnyvale
Downtown, Murphy Ave.
9 AM - 1 PM

Willow Glen (San Jose)
The Garden Theater, 1165 Lincoln Ave.
9:30 AM - 1:30 PM

You are not limited to these markets.

Required:

• MLA format
• 2 pages minimum

Due: In order to maximize your opportunities to visit a market, email your reflection to dhdelao@gmail.com by Saturday, July 16th at midnight.

Joey Chestnut, 'Black Widow' Win Annual Hot Dog Contest

Joey Chestnut scarfed down 62 hot dogs to win his 5th consecutive Fourth of July hot dog-eating contest at Coney Island. Sonya Thomas, known as the 'Black Widow', also won with 40 downed dogs. (The Associated Press)

Growing a Revolution: America's Founding Gardeners

The founding fathers won a war, established a government and birthed a nation. And through it all, they never forgot to water the plants. Monticello garden director Peter Hatch and historian Andrea Wulf discuss how Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison helped create the uniquely American garden.

Hear the whole story at NPR's Science Friday.

Week 05: Prawns with Kiwifruit

Prawns with Kiwifruit from Mark Gardner and Ben O'Donoghue's Surfing the Menu (ABC, Australia)

Week 5
Mon 7.4 
No class—Independence Day

Wed 7.6
Read: eR—“Leave Calorie Counts Off the Menu” by Trice Whitefield from The Los Angeles Times, Drink Nutrition Information from Starbucks, “How Many Calories Do You Think Are in this Muffin?” by Lisa Gosselin from EatingWell; GDoc—Editorial: New Law Will Help Those Who Want It from The Chico Enterprise Record
In-class: Reading discussion; Presentations
Due: REFLECTION 4
Catering: Group 2—Salad Course

Diet Soda and Weight Gain: The Connection May Be, in a Way, What You Think

By Marissa Cevallos, Los Angeles Times
07.01.11

Diet soda may indeed be associated with weight gain, as a new study suggests, but the fault may lie in your head, not necessarily your metabolism.

In a study that has sparked headlines along the lines of “Diet soda makes you fat,” researchers found that people who drank diet soda for nearly a decade gained more stomach pudge than diet-drink abstainers.

The study wasn’t huge or broad, assessing only 474 elderly participants from the San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging. But it concluded that those who drank two or more diet soft drinks a day had the largest waistline increases—about five times more than that of non-drinkers. The results, which haven’t been published or peer-reviewed, were announced this week at a meeting of the American Diabetes Assn. in San Diego.

The researchers, from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, were fairly measured, writing in their abstract: “Data from this and other prospective studies suggest that the promotion of diet sodas as healthy alternatives may be ill-advised: they may be free of calories, but not of consequences.”

Note that this doesn’t mean artificially sweetened sodas make you gain weight. (See "For the record" below.)*

As Richard Mattes, a nutrition scientist at Purdue University, points out: Heavy people simply might choose to consume diet drinks more.

Mattes has studied how artificial sweeteners affect appetite and food intake. He believes that many studies reporting a link between diet soda and weight gain are actually hitting on a behavioral phenomenon—people think they can eat more calories because they’ve swapped their regular soda for a Coke Zero.

“That’s not a fault of the product itself, but it’s how people chose to use it,” he says. “Simply adding them to the diet does not promote weight gain or weight loss.”

The recent study didn’t track how many calories people consumed, though it did consider age, sex, education, neighborhood, diabetes status, leisure activity level and smoking status.

Study co-author Sharon Fowler, an epidemiologist, agrees – to a point. Yes, the diet drink association is partly psychological, she says, but she also believes there could be physiological explanations for why chemicals in diet sodas could lead to weight gain.

In rodent studies, researchers have observed artificial sweeteners stimulating cells in the pancreas to change insulin secretion, altering the pH in the gut, and affecting hunger-regulating cells in the brain. Fowler and colleagues also reported this week that diabetes-prone mice exposed to aspartame for three months had higher blood-sugar levels than those not exposed at all.

Previous studies have found links between obesity and diet drink consumption.

“My feeling is there is something going on here,” says Fowler.

But rodent studies and associations are a far cry from causation.

Dariush Mozaffarian, a Harvard epidemiologist who recently studied how a long list of food and drinks contribute differently to weight gain, says zero-calorie soda could be a good choice for people trying to lose weight, calling it an “intermediate step” to going “cold turkey” with sweets and soda.

“Artificial sweeteners may be a good short-term option to bridge people away from refined sugars, but consuming moderate or high amounts long-term should be avoided as possible," he wrote in an email.

Iowa Select Farms Undercover Video: Mercy For Animals' Footage Shows Inside One of Nation's Largest Pork Producers (WARNING: GRAPHIC FOOTAGE)

From The Associated Press
06.29.11

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- An animal welfare group that has used undercover videos to generate public outrage over the treatment of livestock said it now plans to use secret recordings to pressure large grocery chains to stop buying from farms that use practices it considers abusive.

The effort seemed to be working as several chains viewed the video and then either halted purchases from the targeted Iowa hog farm or expressed concern even before Chicago-based Mercy for Animals formally unveiled the recording at news conferences planned Wednesday in four cities.

Earlier this week, Mercy for Animals met with or sent letters to officials at Costco, Hy-Vee, Kroger and Safeway and provided links to its 2 1/2-minute video, then asked them to stop buying pork from Iowa Select Farms. The group said it secretly recorded its video between April and June at an Iowa Select Farms operation in the small town of Kamrar, about 50 miles north of Des Moines.

Nathan Runkle, Mercy for Animal's executive director, said his group and others have used secretly recorded videos to raise public awareness, but this was among the first major efforts to use such recordings to pressure retailers. The group previously used another video to convince Costco to change its policies dealing with veal obtained from an Ohio producer, he said.

"We are looking at grocery chains buying from this facility and asking them to implement stronger animal welfare policies," Runkle said. "They have a responsibility to make sure animals that appear on their store shelves are not mistreated."

The group planned news conferences Wednesday in Seattle, Des Moines, Cincinnati and San Francisco, which are near headquarters for the four grocery chains.

Iowa Select Farms is among the nation's largest hog producers, with dozens of operations scattered throughout the state.

Howard Hill, a veterinarian and the company's director of external affairs, said Iowa Select was looking into the video but believes the recording gave an inaccurate picture of their operation.

"We're currently in the process of investigating the whole thing," Hill said. "We do know that a lot of this video is inaccurate, that it was staged. But until we get a full investigation done, we're not going to make any specific comments about the video."

Hill added, though, that he found such undercover videos to be unfair.

"We feel that pork producers are hard-working, honest people, and they don't deserve this kind of undocumented journalism, if you want to call it journalism," Hill said "It's not innocent before you're proven guilty. You're guilty immediately because it goes on YouTube and everybody wants to believe what they see."

The new campaign comes as farmers are pushing harder to make secret videotaping of livestock illegal.

Legislators in at least four states – Florida, Minnesota, New York and Iowa – considered measures this year backed by farming groups that would have outlawed the practice, but all the proposals stalled after opposition by animal welfare groups.

In the Mercy for Animal's video, sows are shown in small cages, known as gestation crates, that limit their ability to move, and workers are shown castrating piglets and removing their tails without anesthetics. There also are images of ill hogs.

There are repeated shots of workers tossing piglets across a room. In one shot, a female employee says it doesn't hurt the piglets because they are "bouncy," and she compares it to a "rollercoaster ride" for the animals.
Runkle said Mercy for Animals was most concerned with ending the use of gestation crates.

"If there is pressure by grocery chains to phase these gestation crates out, we can eliminate animal abuse in a shorter period of time," he said. "Subjecting them to nearly a lifetime of confinement is really one of the most egregious longstanding abuses."

John Mabry, director of the Iowa Swine Industry Center at Iowa State University, hadn't seen the video, but he said gestation crates have been commonly used for years and that it's an industry standard to castrate piglets and cut off the last 3 inches of their tales without anesthetic.

Producers keep pregnant sows in gestation crates in an effort to reduce aggressive behavior by separating them from other hogs and to ease feeding of individual sows.

Male pigs are castrated because otherwise their meat develops a bad taste and has little value. The tails are clipped to keep dominant males from biting the tails of other piglets, which can cause various health problems.

Both are generally done within the first 24 hours of a pig's life because it's believed the animals feel less pain then, Mabry said.

Mabry questioned the credibility of undercover videos but said Mercy for Animals' plan to put pressure on individual companies might be effective.

"If they can impact one grocery store, they can impact a lot of consumers," Mabry said. "What they're doing is just another way, a new way to do it."

After watching the video, officials at Pleasanton, Calif.-based Safeway said they had stopped purchases from its supplier, JBS Swift, which distributes pork from the Iowa company, until an investigation into the conditions shown on the video can be completed.

"Safeway does not tolerate animal abuse of any kind and finds the images and animal handling practices contained in the Mercy for Animals video to be extremely disturbing and in violation of our animal welfare policies," spokeswoman Teena Massingill said in a statement.

Kroger spokesman Keith Dailey said his company also had asked JBS Swift to investigate the conditions shown in the video. Until that investigation is completed, Kroger has told JBS Swift to stop supplying the chain with pork from the Iowa operation.

Craig Jelinek, president of Seattle-based Costco, said company officials met with a representative of Mercy for Animals on Monday to discuss the company's animal welfare policies and would investigate the matter with its supplier.

A spokeswoman for Hy-Vee, a Midwest chain based in West Des Moines, Iowa, said the company received a letter from Mercy for Animals outlining the group's claims of animal abuse and would talk with its supplier.
Mabry said such videos would put heat on retailers but animal welfare groups won't see lasting change until they engage farmers with their concerns.

"They need to work with the production sector to do that," he said. "Grocery stores can't do that."

Reflection 4: Unwrapped—Eating Whole Foods

How long can you go without processed foods?

Since WWII, America has come to rely heavily on processed foods—those foods that have, in some way, been altered from their natural state. Low costs, ease of use, and wide availability have made processed foods convenient and popular options at every meal. However, in recent years many have begun to rethink the place of these foods in the American diet. Now, as people are again recognizing the value of whole foods, processed foods are increasingly under fire for their role in everything from obesity to malnutrition to Diabetes. How difficult would it be for you to avoid eating any prepackaged or processed foods for 48 hours? Can you abstain from eating anything that comes frozen, in a box, a can, a bag, or any type of packaging, instead eating only whole, natural foods? Which processed foods would be the most challenging for you to give up? Likewise, with which foods are you most likely to cheat? And if you must cheat, explain the circumstances. For this reflection, attempt to eat only whole foods for two full days, excluding dairy, meats, grains, coffees and teas.

Include in your discussion at least two of the following:

• "Surviving Without Processed Foods" (The Miami Herald)
• "How to Avoid Processed Foods in a Healthy Die" (CBN)
• "Package-Free, Zero-Waste Grocery Sore to Open in Austin, TX" (DigitalJournal)

Above located in the eR.

Required:

• MLA format
• 2 pages minimum

Due: Wed 7.6

The American Diet Then and Now: How Snacking Is Expanding the Country's Waistline

By Katie Moisse, ABC News
06.28.11

Americans eat roughly 570 calories more per day than they did in the 1970s, according to a new study. While supersize portions are partly to blame, steady snacking is the bigger culprit.

"We're a generation of constant eaters," said Barry Popkin, distinguished professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Popkin used surveys to probe the American diet since 1977. Americans began eating more in the '80s and '90s, but in recent years, they've begun eating and drinking more often -- like almost all the time.

"It used to be you'd have three meals a day. And if you snacked, it was unsweetened tea or coffee," said Popkin. "Nowadays, everywhere you turn there's food. If you're driving, you have a big bag of Doritos next to you while you drive."

More than one-quarter of adults in the United States are obese, according to a 2010 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- a proportion that has steadily grown over the past 30 years as Americans tend to "eat more and do less," said Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center.

"We joke about the 'see food' diet. We see food and we eat it," said Katz, explaining how Americans have come to expect food at every turn. "People panic at the thought of spending a couple of hours somewhere where there might not be refreshments on hand."

Despite their growing obsession with food, fewer Americans are willing to sit down and enjoy it.

"We're no longer eating at a table with a knife and fork," said Keith Ayoob, director of the Rose R. Kennedy Center Nutrition Clinic at Albert Einstein College in New York City. "As a society, we think it takes too long to eat a bowl of cereal. We want a breakfast you can hold in one hand."

As a result, Americans choose foods that are loaded with flavor and calories for immediate gratification, only to feel hungry again an hour or two later.

But it's not just salty foods that are expanding the nation's waistline. Sugary drinks like soda, fruit juice and sweetened coffees pack on the pounds too.

"We're drinking ourselves to death," Popkin said. "Several hundred of these extra calories are coming just from drinks."

Popkin said he hopes the study will be an eye-opener for people who might not realize how many calories they're consuming.

"We have to focus a lot more attention on cutting down how often we eat if we're truly going to do something about this as a society," he said. But in a world where people are perpetually bombarded by food and drink advertising, it won't be easy.

"We don't need to have food every couple hours, so we need to change the environment so that we don't encounter food everywhere we go," said Katz, adding that a little willpower can go a long way.

"We kind of just have to grow up," he said. "We weigh too much and our health is on the line."

Week 04: Potato Croquets

Potato Croquets from David Rocco's Dolce Vita (Food Network, Canada)

NOTE: Starting Monday, we will be in Clark 117.

Week 4
Mon 6.27
Read: eR— “Organic Foods: Are They Safer? More Nutritious?” from The Mayo Clinic, “All You Can’t Eat” by Crystal Allen from Metro Silicon Valley, “Organic Food is No Healthier, Study Finds” by Ben Hirschler from Reuters; GDoc—“Feast of Burden” by Sara Deseren from 7x7
In-class: LITERARY ANALYSIS/SHORT ANSWER RESPONSES; Reading discussion; Presentations
Due: EXPOSITORY ESSAY
Catering: Group 1—Appetizer Course

Wed 6.29
Read: eR—“Is Local Food Really Miles Better?” by Roberta Kwok from Salon, “Organicize Me” by Michael A. Stusser from Seattle Weekly, “Don't Write Off Organic Food” by Molly Conisbee from The Daily Telegraph, “Is Organic Food Marketing Hype?” from Newsweek
In-class: Book discussion; Lecture—“Food on Film”
Due: REFLECTION 3 
 

Reflection 3: That's How We Do It—Family Food Traditions

Which foods are required at your family's gatherings?

Often, dishes tell a family's history better than anything else. Maybe it’s your grandma's favorite cookie recipe or the Thanksgiving dinner tradition no one can remember having started, either way, food plays an integral role in defining who we are as families. Is there a "must have " dish at your family's gatherings or during the holidays? What is it and who's responsible for it? What's the story behind the dish? Write about a significant dish or food-related tradition in your family or a family that you know. Whether its a Taco Tuesday tradition or Uncle Michael's to-die-for ribs, what do these foods and/or traditions say about your family, as well as the larger dynamics at play?

Include in your discussion:

• "You Gonna Eat That?" (This American Life; choose “Full Episode” to hear)
• "Christmas Food Traditions" (CHOW)

Above located in the eR.

Required:

• MLA format
• 2 pages minimum

Due:  06.29.11

So, Who Will Pick the Fruit? Kicking Out Immigrants Has a High Price

What would happen if the illegal immigrants didn’t show up?

By Tracy Warner, The News Tribune 
06.26.11

Look around and get a few hints. See Georgia, for instance, where with great fanfare the Legislature passed an immigration enforcement law that did Arizona one better.

Among many provisions, such as authorizing local police to investigate and jail illegal immigrants, it makes it a crime to use fake identification to get a job, with penalties of up to 15 years in prison and $250,000 fines.

Even before the law takes effect, there are effects. In the fields especially, where Georgia farmers are grappling with a sudden and severe shortage of harvest labor. Berries, peaches and other perishables are ripe, and it appears a good share of them will be left to rot.

“The labor shortage is potentially putting hundreds of millions of dollars in crops at risk,” said the Atlanta Journal Constitution, quoting state agriculture officials.

Gov. Nathan Deal ordered a survey. It found 11,000 harvest workers were needed now, about 14 percent of the total workforce. This is a problem. Agriculture is Georgia’s largest industry. Its farmers would hire 81,000 workers annually and the fruits of their labor support many more jobs than that.

“After enacting House Bill 87, a law designed to drive illegal immigrants out of Georgia, state officials appear shocked to discover that HB 87 is, well, driving a lot of illegal immigrants out of Georgia,” wrote Journal Constitution columnist Jay Bookman. “It might be funny if it wasn’t so sad.”

The governor suggests farmers hire out-of-work criminal probationers, as there are several thousand sitting around. Advocates for the probationers (there are always advocates) say you can’t make them take those lousy jobs. Crops will be lost.

This should give us some idea of what happens when we pursue an enforcement-only approach to immigration, without regard to the consequences. If you kick out the immigrants and leave it at that, as many want us to do, you will find out why those people were here in the first place. They came to work, inhaled by the economic vacuum to do jobs the rest of us don’t need or want. A lot of those involve harvesting the food we eat.
Blaming farmers and “big agriculture” and telling them to keep raising wages until they attract workers is excruciatingly naive.

Farmers don’t set the price for their product. Higher wages have to come out of their profits, such as they are. There are limits and most farmers are probably pretty close to the edge already.

Not even in America can we pay workers more than the economic value their labor produces, not for long anyway. Farms can go out of business, reduce the supply of the commodity and therefore raise the price for the survivors, who then could pay more attractive wages, at least in theory.

Competition from outside the country might thwart that plan quickly, but do we really want food and labor shortages and bankruptcies as part of our long-term business model?

The economic experiment may soon go national. The House is still considering a bill that would require every employer in the nation to use the federal E-Verify database, or else. The system identifies workers whose documents don’t match the legal list, and makes them unemployable. The Georgia law requires its employers to use E-Verify starting next year. The advocates of the Legal Workforce Act of 2011 say they expect it to pass, and open up millions of jobs for citizens.

“Twenty-four million Americans are unemployed or have given up looking for work,” said the bill’s sponsor Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas. “Yet according to the Pew Hispanic Center, seven million people are working in the U.S. illegally. These jobs should go to legal workers.”

Most won’t. Some of those jobs will disappear, along with their would-be employers. Which will be more evidence that immigration enforcement and closing borders without regard to the consequences will be destructive. A means to allow willing immigrants to enter the country to fill unfilled jobs, as we have always had, needs to be a priority.

Chocolate Milk is Ideal Drink to Recover from Exercise and Boost Performance, Claim Scientists

From The Daily Mail
06.23.11

After an exhausting session on the treadmill, many athletes reach for an isotonic sports drink or good old-fashioned water.

But two new studies from The University of Texas at Austin show that chocolate milk is the ideal post-workout recovery drink.

'Serious and amateur athletes alike enjoyed physical recovery benefits when they drank low-fat chocolate milk after a vigorous workout,' said lead researcher Dr John Ivy.
'The advantages for the study participants were better body composition in the form of more muscle and less fat, improved times while working out and overall better physical shape than peers who consumed sports beverages that just contained carbohydrates.'

Dr Ivy and his team compared the recovery benefits of drinking low-fat chocolate milk after exercise to the effects of a carbohydrate beverage with the same ingredients and calories as typical sports drinks as well as to a calorie-free beverage.

They asked 10 trained cyclists to ride a bike for 90 minutes at moderate intensity, then for 10 minutes of high intensity intervals.

The scientists found the athletes had significantly more power and rode faster (reduced their ride time by an average of six minutes) when they consumed low-fat chocolate milk rather than a carbohydrate sports drink or calorie-free beverage.

The team also tested 32 amateur male and female cyclists, putting them through five intense spinning sessions a week followed by one of the three beverages.

They found after four and a half weeks that chocolate milk drinkers had twice the improvement in maximal oxygen uptake compared to the others.

Maximal oxygen uptake is one indicator of an athlete's aerobic endurance and ability to perform sustained exercise.

The amateur cyclists also built more muscle and shaved off more fat during training when they drank low-fat chocolate milk.

'We don’t yet understand exactly what mechanism is causing low-fat chocolate milk to give athletes these advantages - that will take more research,' said Dr Ivy.

'But there's something in the naturally-occurring protein and carbohydrate mix that offers significant benefits.'

Dr Ivy added that a three-minute recovery window after exercise, for people of all fitness levels, was as important as the nutrition supplement.

The study was published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

Assignment: Expository Essay

Pollan traces corn's extensive reach into our daily lives.

Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma examines the ways in which we have become disconnected with the foods we eat. In fact, it is a dizzying illustration of the journeys plants and animals take their way to our dinner tables. Still, reading Pollan's book can be an overwhelming experience, one in which readers invariably examine their own eating habits—for better or worse. In a concise essay, highlight three practices offered by Pollan which consumers can adopt to help both themselves and the environment. Use specific examples from the book to support your thesis.

Requirements:

• MLA format, including parenthetical citation
• 3-page minimum

The best papers will:

• Stay within the parameters of the prompt
• Have a concise thesis
• Clearly support their thesis with solid evidence and a logical structure
• Properly cite evidence using MLA's paranthetical citation method
• Conclude with a summation of your points
• Be in proper MLA Style

Due: Monday, June 27th