My eating manifesto: the balance of the nutrients and regular meals

       Based on my food journal, I find out a serious problem. I only eat the food I like, but I pay no attention to the nutrients I get from the food. I almost eating French fries every meal. Hamburgers, French fries, and cokes almost become a necessary part of my meals. However, having a meal like this is not good for my health because these foods only contain fat, calories, and proteins, but contain no vitamin and cellulose. So, in order to be healthy, I have to keep the balance of the nutrients   and form a healthy eating habit. The healthy eating recipe is my manifesto on what to eat. Also, eating three meals a day is important as well because eating three meals a day can provide me enough energy to do the daily works. So this is my manifesto on how to eat. But, you may curious about, why I think is it important to keep the balance of the nutrients? What is my healthy eating recipe? Why I have to emphasize eat three meals a day? How I can get benefits from eating three meals a day? I will answer all the questions in the follow paragraphs and I strongly believe that these answers help me to improve the quality of my meals and my life.

       First, in order to keep the balance of the nutrients, I have to explain what kind of nutrients is important to our body. In fact, there are seven nutrients we need every day. Minerals, fats, proteins, vitamins, carbohydrates, water, and dietary fibers are the seven important nutrients for our health. These seven nutrients are the main sources that provide the energy to human bodies. According to the scientist’s research, 70% of the energy is from the carbohydrates, 10-15% of the energy is from the proteins, and the rest energy is from the fats. So the food that contains proteins, carbohydrates, and fats is necessary for our health. However, different from the proteins, carbohydrates and fats, the vitamins and water is not the energy providers. They are used in the metabolism in human bodies. As we all know, the metabolism happened every day. It helped the human body refresh itself. Another two important nutrients, minerals and fibers, are the indispensable materials to form our body systems and keep our body systems work. Without them, our body systems will not work and we will absolutely suffer from the diseases. So now we can see the importance of these seven nutrients.

       Building further on the seven important nutrients, where to find them? Well, the answer is obvious, from the daily food. Beef, fish, eggs, beans, and oils are the foods that contain lots of proteins and fats. Milk, rice, and noodles are the foods that contain the carbohydrates. Carrots, corns, cabbages, and most of the vegetables are the foods that full of vitamins and fibers. Some vegetables are full of minerals. For example, the carrots can provide lots of calcium while tea can provide the manganese. As for water, according to the doctors in Mayo Clinic, they said “drink eight-ounce glasses of water a day is the best” (par. 7). So now it is clear that what kind of food can provide the nutrients we need and we can start to establish our own eating recipes.

       According to the Harvard School of Public Health, they gave us a perfect idea. They described the healthy eating plate. The healthy eating plate is made up by four parts: Vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and healthy proteins. The whole grains mean the brown rice, whole-wheat bread, and whole-grain pasta. Healthy proteins are the representation of the fish, poultry, beans, and nuts. Also, the oil we used to cook has to be careful selected. It is better to choose olive or canola oil. Same as the oil, the water we drink every day should be the water that contains some minerals. If you think the water is not enough, then try some milk. But we can only drink 1-2 servings of milk every day because if we drink the milk too much, it is not good for our health either (The Nutrition Source, par. 1-3).

       Follow the advices given by the scientists, I make my own meal plan. For breakfast, I need to eat some whole-wheat bread, an apple, and a glass of milk; for lunch, I have to eat some fish, carrots, cabbages, some rice, some strawberries, and some water; for dinner, I have to eat tomatoes, cucumbers, some meat, a banana, and some pasta. I have tried this meal plan for one week and the effect is obvious. I felt that I am full of energy every day, my skin become more smoothly, and the quality of my sleep is improved. So I sincerely advise everyone to try the healthy meal schedule in order to receive the greatest benefit from the food we eat.

       Keeping the balance of the nutrients is absolutely an important part of the healthy eating habit. However, there is another important part of the healthy eating habit: eat three meals a day. Based on my research of our class’s food journals, I found that some of my classmates skip their breakfast every day. Most of them give me the reason like this: I want more time to sleep. It seems that skipping breakfast is not a huge problem because we can still receive the nutrients from the lunch and dinner. However, according to Mike Adams, the health researcher, he said “skipping breakfast may lead to weight gain as well as increase the risk of the heart disease in healthy people over time” (par. 5). So, based on his point of view, it is better not to skip breakfast because we have to both consider our weight and the healthiness of our heart.

       Building further on regular meals, there is another advantage to eating three meals a day: to provide enough energy for the brain and the body. As we all know, sugar is the main source that provides energy to the brains. Eating three meals a day can provide enough sugar for our brain. To be more specific, if you skip breakfast, then you will feel weak in the morning because no sugar provides energy to your brain and your body. The main function of the breakfast is to refill the body. Since our body has just gone for six or more hours without food and has already digested all the food we eat yesterday, so it is better to eat breakfast in the morning to recharge ourselves (Tucker, par. 2). Different from breakfast, the lunch is used to maintain the energy. Since the energy we get from the breakfast is all used in the morning, so we have to eat lunch and store some energy for we to use in the afternoon. So this makes the lunch become the most important meal in one day. As for the last meal of a day, dinner, do not eat too much sugar and fats. Too much sugar and fats will store in our bodies overnights and it will cause the weight gain very fast and the blood pressure rise as well.

       With the understanding of the importance of the regular meals, I believe that my mother showed a great example on obey the “three meals a day rule”. As a very successful business woman, my mom is very busy every day. Her working time started at 8am in the morning and ended at 6pm in the evening. But no matter how busy she is, she will always eat three meals every day. She gave me an explanation like this: in order to finish all the works quickly and efficiently, I need plenty of energy. And the quickest way to get the energy is to eat meals regularly. So eat three meals a day is the best choice. Not only it is great for health, but also it is the perfect way to recharge myself.

I will never forget my mother’s word because I believe what she says is always right. So I just follow her advice and try my best to eat three meals a day regularly. Now I can tell the benefit I received from my mother’s advice. I felt that every day I was full of energy and I never felt sick or tired when I was in the class. Moreover, I believe I finished all the homework more quickly and efficiently than I expected. I have to thanks to my mother for giving me such a nice advice so that now I have plenty of energy to solve all the difficulties bravely in my life.

In general, the best way to keep healthy and improve the quality of life is to keep the balance of the nutrients and eat three meals a day regularly. The balance of the nutrients can provide all the nutrients I need every day while the “three meals a day rule” provide me enough energy. All these two factors can influence my body health significantly. After I follow the healthy recipe and “three meals a day rule”, I felt myself full of power every day. Although now I am a college student and I have to attend three classes a day, I still feel that I am full of energy. So I believe my own eating manifesto is great to try and it obviously has some great effects. Here are some tips for healthy meals: make half of your plate veggies and fruits; add lean proteins; include whole grains; don’t forget the dairy; avoid extra fat; satisfy your sweet tooth in a healthy way (Nutrition Education Series, No. 7). Follow all the tips here and the advice I mentioned above, I believe everyone can also have a healthy life and green future.

The summary of this quarter's study

The most interesting thing I learned this quarter is that I learn how to interpret the food value and culture based on the advertisements and observations. In the past, when talking about food, the only thing come to my mind is eat food. But now, when talking about food, I will think about deeper meanings of the food. Maybe the nutrients of the food, the history and production of the food. Also, the research method I learned this quarter is useful as well. When writing an academic essay, especially the research essay, the data is a very important way to support the claim. So in my future research paper, I may pay some attention on the data of the analysis as well as my point of view.

interesting parts in others short essay 5

I read Ying's and Difei's short essay 5 today. Ying is mainly focus on talking about the positive and negative effect of the soft drink. The most interesting part I found is that the soft drink still have some positive effect. Based on my own perspective, I only think that the soft drink is harmful for out health. However, Based on Ying's research, she said that the caffeine contained in soft drink can quickly recharge ourselves and can help to build bones. From Difei's essay, he mainly talk about the yogurt. The most interesting part in his essay is that he said the yogurt can protect us from disease, especially colon cancer. In my mind, I just treated the yogurt as a kind of dessert and I never thought about the nutrients contained in yogurt. So after reading Difei's essay, I believe I learn more about yogurt.

Eating like a omnivore

In Pollan’s article, “Unhappy Meals”, Pollan’s opinion about the American contemporary food issue is that the American people’s eating habits is not healthy enough in recent years. More and more people just eat what they like to eat but they pay no attention on the healthiness or nutrients of the food. He gave out several advices to improve the American eating habits, and to be more specific, I want to mainly discuss two of them.

First, according to Pollan’s opinion, he said “Avoid food products containing ingredients that are unfamiliar, unpronounceable, and contain high-fructose syrup” (page 16). These three parts ingredients are not harmful themselves, but if they are processed, they can be really harmful to us.

Second, Pollan said that “eat mostly plants, especially leaves” (page 16). As we all known, the plants absolutely contain less calories than meat. According to Pollan’s perspective, he believed that the vegetarian is healthier than carnivores. So he agreed with this conclusion: change the plants as the main dishes on our tables in order to become healthier.

However, another author, Dupuis, showed different opinions. Dupuis disagree with Pollan’s perspective. He said “Injustice is worth serious attention, but diet won’t do the trick” (page 43). Unlike Pollan, Dupuis’s main idea is that people should not consider much about the healthiness and nutrients of the food. Our eating habits should follow our heart, our taste. Consider much is a waste of time.

Nowadays, the eating habit of American people is become more and more unhealthy. Some people only eat meat while some people only eat vegetables. Based on my perspective, I believe that become omnivore is the best choice. People should eat both meat and vegetables every day so that they can receive enough vitamin and calories. Maybe this is the best way to become a healthy person. 

Eating tomatoes means eating health

       Since I keep recording my own eating journal last week, I found out some really interesting facts: I ate tomatoes almost every day. According to several people opinions, the vegetable is always the green color and with leaves. But in my mind, the tomato is also a kind of vegetables. However, different from other kinds of vegetables, the tomato is red, a little bit sweet, juicy, and contains lots of nutrients. The reason why I like to eat tomatoes is that first, I like sweet things, but I also care about my weight, which means I cannot eat so many sweet things. So the tomato becomes my best choice. Second, because the tomato is juicier than any other vegetable, so it become one of the most popular vegetables on my eating habits. I eat tomatoes every day because it is one of my favorite foods. Because the tomato is tasty and full of nutrients, I sincerely advise everyone to add the tomato in your eating recipe. However, there is still two questions exist. When we eat tomatoes, what kind of nutrients did we get? What are the nutrients used for? So I did the following research to find out the answers.

       Tomatoes are now eaten widely all over the word. Many people believe that eating tomatoes is great for their heart, among other organs. After doing several experiments, the scientists finally found out that the tomato contained so many carotene lycopene, which is one of the most powerful natural antioxidants that can defeat the cancer. In the same time, the lycopene is also been found to improve our skin’s ability to protect against harmful UV rays (Tomato dishes “may protect skin”). Besides the advantages of prevent from the cancer and improve the skin’s ability, the nutrients tomatoes contain also plays significant roles in human body. It contains large amount of vitamin C and beta-carotene; it also contains large amount of mineral manganese and vitamin E. (Tomatoes, par. 5). All these nutrients are really good for our health, especially our bone health. So in order to prevent from the cancer disease, we’d better eat tomatoes. For the women who care about the beautiful, they can also eat some tomatoes to improve their skin’s ability in a natural way and make themselves more beautiful.

       Building on the nutrients of tomatoes further, tomatoes also have some medical properties. As I said before, the lycopene contained in tomatoes is a great weapon to kill the cancer diseases. So in medical field, according to Rao and Balachandran’s perspective, tomato consumption has always been associated with decreased risk of breast cancer, head and neck cancers and might be strongly protective against neurodegenerative diseases (Nutritional Neuroscience 5). In fact, cooking tomatoes can release more lycopene from the tomato cells than the raw tomatoes. So it is better to eat cooking tomatoes rather than just eat raw tomatoes. A very special kind of tomatoes called jumbo tomato can effectively reduce the high blood pressure because it contained lots of potassium (Medicinal Applications of Tomatoes, par. 13). As we all know, the potassium can reduce the high blood pressure. So for the older people, especially the older people who have the high blood pressure, eating jumbo tomatoes is a great choice.

       In the United States, Florida and California are the top two fresh tomato producing states, together comprising over two-third of the total U.S fresh tomato acreage (Commodity Profile: Tomatoes, fresh market, par. 2). Nowadays, the demand of the tomato in United States increased heavily. More and more people recognized the importance of the tomato and became the “tomato eaters”, just like me. However, the ways people eat tomatoes are different. Some people prefer to eat raw tomatoes while others prefer to eat cooked tomatoes; some people would like to eat tomato sauces instead. But, whatever the way people choose to eat tomatoes, their main purpose is the same. People want to receive the nutrients contained in tomatoes to keep them healthy. The women would like to eat tomatoes because they want to keep their skins beautiful; the older people like to eat tomatoes because it can prevent them from high blood pressure and cancer diseases.

       With the help of the high technology, nowadays, tomato growers plant several different kinds of tomatoes. For example: beefsteak tomatoes, which is widely used in sandwiches; plum tomatoes, which is mainly used in tomato sauces; cherry tomatoes, which is smaller than other tomatoes; Campari tomatoes, which is low acidity and lack of mealiness. The cherry tomato is my favorite tomato because it is easy to deal with. All I have to do is clean them and then eat them. In our modern society, the tomato is an indispensable vegetable on our tables. It almost becomes a symbol of health. More and more people realize the nutrients that contained by tomatoes is really great for the health, so they would like to spend more money buying tomatoes. 

My own food journal

May 8^th, Tuesday, sunny

Get up at 9:30 am

10:00 am (breakfast time) ----- An apple and a bottle of skim milk (FAT FREE!!!), a piece of bread with some peanut better.

12:10 pm (lunch time) ----- Some tomatoes and cabbage, corns and an egg, little French fries and a piece of pizza, a cup of vanilla soy milk, and a small piece of brownie.

1:50pm ----- A cup of ice latte with three packages of no calories sugar.

5:00 pm (dinner time) ----- A piece of fish, an hamburger, some cucumbers and cabbage, a cup of water, an banana.

9:45 pm ----- Some chips and two cups of water.

May 9^th, Wednesday, cloudy

Get up at 9:50 am

10:20 am (breakfast time) ----- A cup of white chocolate mocha

2:10 pm (lunch time) ----- Two pieces of bread and a piece of cheese, some tomatoes and cucumbers, some chicken and a cup of coke

3:40 pm ----- An apple

5:30 pm (dinner time) ----- An egg, some cucumbers and carrots, French fries and some fried chicken, a cup of orange juice and a cupcake with a fresh strawberry and some peanuts.

10:00 pm ----- Some cookies and three cups of water

May 10^th, Thursday, sunny

Get up at 10:00 am

No breakfast that day.

12:10 pm (lunch time) ----- An hamburger, some French fries, some cabbages and tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, a cup of chocolate soy milk and an banana.

4:20 pm (dinner time) ----- A piece of bread and a piece of cheese with a cup of diet coke and some fresh watermelon cubes.

8:50 pm ----- chips and water

May 11^th, Friday, cloudy (REALLY COLD)

Get up at 11:00 am

12:00 pm ----- A cup of white chocolate mocha

2:00 pm (lunch time) ----- An piece of bread and a cup of hot water

EXPECTING ON THE BIG DINNER TONIGHT!!!

Strawberry: My Own Favorite Fruit

      Last Friday, when I finished my writing class, I felt really hungry. So I went to the dining hall in Centennial Halls to get something to eat. Fortunately, there were some strawberry cakes served in the dining hall that day, so I took one piece. I ate the strawberry cake happily and enjoyed the fresh strawberries on the top of the cake a lot. I am that kind of girl who loves to eat strawberries. Not only because the strawberry tastes sweet, but also because the strawberry contains so many nutrients. Now the only thing I know about strawberry is that it is full of nutrition. However, other important properties of the strawberry are still mysteries to me. So, in order to find out other important properties of the strawberry, I have to search and analyze the history and production of the strawberry.

       My high school history teacher once said that “knowing the history of one thing makes us better understand this thing”. It is true. So in order to better understand the property of the strawberry, we have to analyze the history of the strawberry at first. In the early history, the strawberry had not been seen as a kind of fruit. People only gave the name to the strawberry, but no one actually paid any attention to it (Dallow, par. 1-2). In Dallow’s book, he explained that Pliny (23-79 A.D) was the last known writer to mention the strawberry. “In the twenty-first book of [Pliny’s] Natural History, he listed ‘Fraga’, the fruit of the strawberry, as one of the natural products of Italy” (par. 5). However, time goes by, the strawberry became more and more popular all over the world. By the 1300’s, many French recognized the importance of the strawberry and began to plant a kind of strawberry, the wood strawberry. “In 1368, King Charles V had his gardener, Jean Dudoy, plant no less than 1200 strawberries in the royal gardens of the Louvre in Paris” (Darrow, chapter 3, PARA 7). Just like France, England was also an early admirer of the strawberry. The greatest contribution England people made to strawberry is that they changed the name of strawberry, from “Streowberige” and “Strea Berige” to “StrebereWyse” and “Strawberry”. Nowadays, the word “Strawberry” is widely accepted by the people all over the world and fruit strawberry becomes one of the most famous and delicious fruits on our tables.

       Same as the history, the production is another important way for us to analyze the strawberry. As a kind of plant, strawberry is a little bit different from other plants. It requires a fairly long-term commitment because it is normally harvested during the second, third, and fourth seasons after planting, while other plants are always harvested in their first season (Davis and Fellman). As for the management, the strawberry also requires more complex management than other plants. Davis and Fellman once described the difficulties of growing strawberries, “Growers must know the physiological needs of the crop, proper cultural practices, and identification and control of insects, diseases, weeds, and pests” (par. 6). Just because the strawberry will only be harvested in the second, third, and fourth season, so for the growers, they have to consider the cost of the strawberry and the money they will lose on the first season of the strawberry. All these factors should be considered in the production of the strawberry. So we can say that the production of strawberries is not only mainly focused on the soil condition, the brand of the prestige, or the sunshine time, but also focused on the original cost while planting strawberries. In the United States, California is the main state that produces strawberries. In the article “The U.S. Strawberry Industry”, written by Dlane Bertelsen, the author said “California produced nearly 80 percent of the U.S crop on less than half of the strawberry acreage due to higher output per acre than other States” (par. 1). So, if the people in Denver want to eat strawberries, they have to be transport from California to Denver.

       After finishing all this research, I do feel that I learned a lot in strawberry’s field. In the past, the only thing I knew is that the strawberry is full of nutrition; but now, I know something new. I know that the strawberry was first famous in France, then import to England, and finally, well-known all over the world. I also knew that the production of the strawberry is really complicated. The growers not only have to consider whether the environment is suitable for the strawberry to grow, they also have to determine whether the costs they spend are greater than or less than the benefits they receive from the strawberry. I also know that California is the biggest State that grows the strawberry in United States, so next time I decide to go on a tour, I will definitely choose California as my destination.  

With the understanding of the difficulties of the strawberry growers, I think I will cherish the strawberry I eat every day more because every strawberry contains the hard work of the strawberry growers. The strawberry is not only my favorite food, but also the greatest example for me to learn. In my studies and works, I must work very hard, just like the strawberry growers, so that I can receive the sweetest “strawberry” in the future. 

History and production of the food: compare three pieces

According to the infographic by Cook, the author mainly talked about the harmless broiler chicken in North America. The author used lots of data to analyze the bad effect of the broiler chicken. He said: “a figure based not on how quickly workers can safely do their jobs but on how quickly USDA meat inspectors can examine the carcasses” (Cook, PARA 1). He tracked for the history and production of the food by looking at the time and effect.

Different from the infographic by Cook, the introduction part of the book tomatoland mainly focus on searching the look and taste of the tomatoes. The author believed that different tomatoes grow in different area will have different taste and look. So his conclusion is that in order to find out the history and production of the tomatoes, we have to compare the look and taste of the tomatoes which grow in different places in United States.

Since Michael Pollan’s article “An Animal’s Place” analyzed the history and production of food in so many ways, I want to talk about specifically in one way. Pollan argued that the domestication and domestic animals can be seen as a mutually beneficial exchange. For example, we drink milk everyday. The milk comes from the cow. So our humans receive the benefit from the cows. However, the cows receive the benefit from us as well. We build the house for cows to live, we provide the fresh grass for cows to eat. Humans and cows all get some benefit from each other. This can be called a balance.

After reading these three pieces talk about the history and production of the food, I find a part that is noteworthy. I really like to eat chicken, no matter which part of the chicken. However, after reading the infographic of Cook, I was shocked by the harmful effect of the chicken. The data the author mentioned in his article is scared. So next time I eat the chicken, I have to consider whether this chicken is good for my health or bad for my health.

Choose our own favorite food

In Pollan’s article “Our National Eating Disorder”, he mainly discussed the causations of the national eating disorder and the symptoms of the national eating disorder. He said “a scientific study, a new government guideline, a lone crackpot with a medical degree can alter this nation’s diet overnight” (PARA 3). Based on this kind of influence, American people will surprisingly found out that the food they love to eat in the past is suddenly found to be “lethal”. Another kind of reason that cause the national eating disorder is that the exotic culture’s import. Large amount of people from different places immigrate to the United State of America, thus the culture in America is certainly variety. However, different cultures certainly represent different kind of food, so it is understandable that why American people have so many choices for their dinner.

According to the author’s perspective, he claimed that the healthiness of the food and the nutritious of the food is an important factor for American people to consider when they choose the food. It is really interesting for me because I used to say the same thing in my own essay. I do believe that the healthiness and nutritious should be considered at first because it directly affect our own health. Another interesting thing I found in this article is that the author said different culture may treat the same food in different ways. For example, when talking about the phrase “chocolate cakes”, American people will say “guilt” while French people will say “celebration”.

The way I choose for my own meal is very simple, the healthy food and the comfort food. The healthy food is good for my health and the comfort food makes me feel happy and relax. For today’s dinner, I ate some rice and cabbages, I also enjoyed some French fries. The rice and cabbages is the healthy food while the French fries is the comfort food for me. 

Eating green in America

“In many folklores and literatures, green has traditionally been used to symbolize nature and its embodied attributes, namely those of life, fertility, and rebirth” (Robertson, page 470-472). It is true because when talked about green, everyone will come up with the words “spring” or “tree” or “vegetable”. The color green is always connected with the beautiful things or sceneries. However, in Chinese culture, the color green is a symbol of luck. Because the clover is green and it represents the luck, so Chinese people also take the color green as a representation of the luck. Maybe in American literary culture, the color green represents life, fertility, and rebirth, but in American food culture, the color green has different meanings. It represents the freshness, healthiness, naturalness, and environmental consciousness of the food. The phrase “Eating green” means that eating in a fresh, healthy, natural, and environmental conscious way.

         From my own perspective, I think that the freshness of the food is the first thing American people care about when they choose the food. The Subway and Ben & Jerry’s advertisements can serve as the perfect examples for my point of view. In Subway’s advertisement, the designer used the color green as the main color of the background. The reason why the designer used the color green is that he wanted to tell the customers the Subway fast food restaurant obeys the “Eating green” rules. In the middle part of the image advertisement of the Subway, there is a sentence “endless fresh creations”, which means the food served in Subway are all fresh food and the Subway restaurant will keep on invent some new sandwiches for customers to try. Under this sentence, the designer gave out the ingredient of the sandwiches served in Subway. For example: fiesta, zesty sauces, crisp veggies, and freshly baked bread. Through the ingredient of the sandwiches, customers can easily find out whether the sandwiches served in Subway restaurant is fresh or not. In the right part of the advertisement, there are some real sandwiches pictures. All these sandwiches look tempting and really fresh. The designer used the real pictures of the sandwiches to send this kind of message to the customers: our sandwiches are the best tasty sandwiches and they are really fresh.

Different from the Subway’s advertisement, the Ben & Jerry used color green in another way. The background of the Ben & Jerry’s video advertisement is the blue sky, white clouds, and the green grassland. Some cute cows are eating the green grass happily and relaxing. The explanation that why the designer used this kind of picture as the background is that the designer wanted to show the freshness of the milk used by Ben & Jerry. Because the cows are eating the fresh green grass, so the milk they made should be fresh as well, so this maybe the key point that why Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream and frozen yogurt tasted so delicious.

Not only the restaurants or ice-cream shops follow the “Eating green” rules, coffee house did it as well. Starbucks, one of the most famous café all over the world, is a great example. The main color of the logo of the Starbucks is green and the straws used in Starbucks are green as well. The staff in Starbucks all wore the green aprons. In Starbucks, the coffee is often made after customers ordered and the coffee beans, milk, and creams in Starbucks are always fresh. The cakes sold in Starbucks are every day value and looks tempting and fresh. There are so many places and pieces of evidence that show the importance of the freshness of the food, so I can draw a conclusion that the freshness of the food is the first factor for American people to consider about when they choose the food.

         If the freshness of the food is the first factor that American people concern about when they choose the food, then the second factor should be the healthiness of the food. Nowadays, more and more people become vegetarians because they care about their health. They thought the meat is not as health as the meat in the past, so they prefer eating vegetables than eating meat. Consider about the healthy factor, the advertisement made some changes to show the healthiness of their products. In Ben & Jerry’s advertisement, there is a sentence in the bottom of the advertisement “Phish food frozen yogurt, 60% less fat than Phish food ice cream”. The meaning of this sentence is very clear, the frozen yogurt served in Ben & Jerry is healthy because it contains almost no calories. When tasting Ben & Jerry’s frozen yogurt, the customers do not have to worry about the fat or calories. Same thing happened in Starbucks café as well. Some milk and sugar served in Starbucks are fat free. Starbucks do concern about the customers health so that they prepare some fat free milk and sugar for their customers to choose.

         For the people who like to eat outside, the restaurants or cafeterias that obey the “Eating green” rules is a smart choice. But for the people who like to cook at home, the choice of the supermarket is obviously very important. Wholefood supermarket is a nice place and it follows the “Eating green” rules very well. First, the color of the logo of the Wholefood is green. Second, the food sold in Wholefood is every day value. The biggest difference between Wholefood and other supermarkets is that the Wholefood only sold the organic food. Such as: organic vegetables, organic fruits, and organic milk. Apparently, the organic food is healthier, so most American people would choose the Wholefood supermarket. From American people’s perspective, maybe the healthiness of the food is not as important as the freshness of the food, but the fresh food should another kind of healthy food.

         However, the organic food sold in Wholefood is not only the representation of the healthy food, but also the representation of the natural food. “Organic foods are the foods that are produced using the methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers” (Allen, Gary J & Albala, Ken, page 288). This sentence means the organic food is the food that grows in a natural way, no pesticides and no chemical fertilizers. So it is not too hard to understand why most American people prefer buy the staffs in Wholefood supermarket, because the food sold there is healthy and natural. The naturalness of the food is a basic requirement of the healthy food and fresh food.

         After considered about the freshness, healthiness, and naturalness of the food, the fourth factor is the environmental consciousness. Maybe this is the least important factor for American people to consider when they choose the food in the past. However, nowadays, more and more people consider about this factor when they choose the food. In this part, both Starbucks and Ben & Jerry did really well. The napkins used in Starbucks are all recycled and the cups in Starbucks are all made of papers or plastics. Same as Starbucks, Ben & Jerry also used the paper cups to contain their ice-cream and frozen yogurt. The reason why these two shops only used the paper or plastic cups is that both paper and plastic cups are not so harmful to the environment. Nowadays, the pollution of our environment is more and more serious, so we have to do whatever we can to protect our one and only living place, earth.

         The advertisement of Subway and Ben & Jerry, the Starbucks café and Wholefood supermarket are great examples that represent American food value and culture. Eating in a fresh, healthy, natural, and environmental conscious way is a symbol of the American food value and culture, or what we called “Eating green” rules. However, totally different from the American food value and culture, there are no “Eating green” rules in Chinese. The main reason for Chinese people to consider about when they choose the food is the price of the food. Most of the Chinese people do not care whether the food is healthy or the food is natural, they just care about the price of the food. The cheaper the better. I do think that “Eating green” is a perfect method because it will lead people to a correct and healthy way to eat. The fresh, healthy, and natural food is better for our body health, and the environmental conscious is better for us to protect our environment. Without the pollution, the food we eat can be fresher, healthier, and more natural. So the relationships between these four factors can be treated as a circle, each one can affect other three. Nowadays, more and more American people choose to eating green because they realize the importance of the rules “Eating green” and they just want to follow the most famous American food value and culture.

         Since “Eating green” is such an important rule, it is time to create a recipe based on the principle of “Eating green”. In order to consider about the freshness, healthiness, naturalness, and the environmental consciousness, the best choice for out tables is the vegetables and fruits. “Leafy green vegetables and fruits are loaded with antioxidants, minerals, folate, and flavonoids. These all work to prevent unstable molecules called free redicals from damaging cells” (Star Lawrence, Eating green is easier and tastier than you may think).

Draft of the extend essay 1

Eating green in America

Green is representing important values in American food value and culture.

It includes freshness, environmental consciousness, and naturalness, healthiness.

Subway and Ben & Jerry’s advertisement:

The green background of the Subway’s advertisement and the green grass of the Ben & Jerry’s video advertisement all represent the freshness and healthiness. In the Ben &Jerry’s video advertisement, the cows are eating the green grass, which showed that the milk used in Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream or frozen yogurt is fresh and natural.

Starbucks’s observations:

The main color of the logo of the Starbucks is green and the straws in Starbucks are all green. The napkin and the cups in Starbucks are all recycled. So it represents the environmental consciousness. Starbucks use its own way to show the freshness and healthiness. The coffee is always made after the customers ordered and the cakes are all contain in the glass cabinet and is every day value. Some sugar and milk served in Starbucks are no calories and fat free, which lead to the healthy life style.

Green is a symbol that leads American people on the right way to eat food

“We” refers to American middle class people because the main customers of the Subway, Ben & Jerry, and Starbucks should be the middle class people in America. 

Eating alone or eating with friends

In Horwitz’s article, he did the research about where, when and how modern people eat their meal. And the result is obviously, "several people ate on their own space and ate on their own time, not the regular mealtime. Instead of eating with family and friends, most people would rather eat alone nowadays"(45-46). The author then used a simple example to prove his opinion, the soup. "In the past time, the soup is contained by a bowl or pot and a bowl of soup is quiet enough for several people. However, nowadays, the soup is changed into the single-serving package, more and more people prefer hold the soup on their hand than enjoy the soup in front of the table"(42-43). In the past, eating meals have some sociological meanings. If we eat with our friends, we can communicate to others and may get some useful information. Also, the friendship between us will be more stable. But now, more and more people eat by themselves, which means, no communication and no laugh any more. The author’s meaning by using the phrase “Eating at the edge” is to "refers to occasions when food is an additive to a situation"(Horwitz, 42).   

As for myself, I don’t like to eat alone or be alone. I prefer to eat with my friends or my family. However, I am a college student now and my schedule is totally different from my friend’s schedule, so it is hard for us to find a time eating together. Sometimes, I have to eat alone. Just like I really concern about whether eating alone or eating with friends, I also care about the regular mealtime. I force myself to eat at the regular mealtime because it is good for my health. The regular mealtime is established after several experiments did by the scientists. So the regular mealtime must be the perfect time for people to eat. So combine all the factors together, although I am now living in the twenty-first century, I still keep the old habits that I like to eat with my family or my friends and I do obey the regular mealtime. 

Starbucks: a great place for middle-class people to relax and work

        Last Sunday is a sunny day and the temperature is pretty well, so it is a great day for people to go out. Around 3 o’clock, I finished almost all my homework so I decided to go to Starbucks with my friend and order a cup of ice latte, which is my favorite drink, to relax and refresh myself. When I arrived at the Starbucks, it was full of people so that it is really hard for me and my friend to find a table. Luckily, a table in the corner is empty. We took the seat at that table and ordered two cups of ice latte. We talked together and laughed together and time just passed so quickly. When we left, there are still several people stayed in the Starbucks. I really enjoy the time I spent with my friend last Sunday because it is the time for me to stay away from the pressure and stress.

       This Starbucks is one of my favorite café because, first of all, it located on the business street, Evan’s Ave, which is only 15 minutes’ walk from my dorms. There are some iron tables and chairs outdoors with an umbrella as a decoration. Few people chose to sit outside to enjoy the fresh air and the beautiful scene. This Starbucks has two doors. One for enter and one for exit. Inside of the Starbucks, there are several tables for two people and a bar for single customers. Some sofa placed in the center of the café. All the tables and chairs inside are made of wood and the floor is made of bricks in order to be easy to clean. There is a shelf near the enter door with lots of coffee cups and several bags of coffee beans. The shelf is also made of wood. The lights in Starbucks are all small lights. Almost all of them are black, except four lights near the bar. They are red. Quite a few decorations are on the wall, just one Starbucks’s logo and some pictures. The music played in Starbucks is the light music. And the volume of the music is not very loud. So the general style of this Starbucks is more like the country style and made people feel relaxing.

       Moving further from the location and the style of this Starbucks, there is another reason why I love to go to this Starbucks rather than other cafés. Because almost all the staff are young man and woman, so they are very polite and always full of energy. They always smile to the customers and wait patiently for customers to order. With the infection of the staff’s attitude, the customers in Starbucks behaved politely as well. They talked quietly and drank softly. The staff in Starbucks all wore black T-shirts and green aprons. Most of the customers wore informal T-shirts and jeans while few customers wore formal suits. The coffee is made after the customers ordered and there is a table near the enter door that contained sugars, milk, and honey for the customers to change the coffee to their own favorite taste. All the cups in Starbucks are made of plastic or paper. And the straws in Starbucks are all green. The Starbucks’s coffee tasted really nice and the price is not too expensive. The menu in Starbucks is the cafeteria styles so that it is easy to find out the size and the price. However, not only the coffee in Starbucks is popular, the cakes are also well-known. The cakes were cut into pieces and displayed in the glass cabinet. The working time of the Starbucks is from 5am to 8pm during the weekdays while 6am to 8pm on weekend.

       Because the Starbucks opened such a long time and its setting is really enjoyable, lots of people, especially working class people, will choose to work or spend their free time on Starbucks. On Sunday, it is so crowded in Starbucks and almost all the people bring a computer or a book with them. Several people read the book quietly; some people surfed on the internet using the free Wi-Fi provided by Starbucks; the rest of the people worked on their computers. But no matter what the customers did, they all ordered a cup of coffee or a cup of tea. No one in Starbucks is in hurry. Everyone seemed relaxing and enjoyable. The most interesting thing I observed is that, there are only single customers or several groups with two people in Starbucks, no group is greater than two people.

       Obviously, the price of the coffee in Starbucks is suitable for the middle-class people, so most of the customers should be the middle-class people. Based on my observations in Starbucks last Sunday, I come up with some ideas about American food value and culture. The Starbucks is just like a living room for mid-class people because everyone in Starbucks seems happy, relaxing and enjoyable. The staff’s friendly attitude makes the coffee house more like a home. However, the way that American people relax themselves is totally different from the way that Chinese people relax themselves. American people would rather go alone or with one or two friend while Chinese people would rather go with several friends. The plastic and paper cups used in Starbucks show the importance of the recycle materials. Since the main color of the Starbucks’s logo and the straws, green, reflects another kind of American food value and culture. American people mainly concern about the green, organic, and healthy food. “Eating healthy is one of the most important things you can do to lower your risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease” (American Diabetes Association, Eating Health, PARA 1). Perhaps this is a reason why American people mainly care about the healthiness of the food. 

         

Food: an important role in communities

  The community that Cate studied in his article is the prison in San Francisco. The food he studied is the spread made by the prisoners themselves and the institution served in prison. Because the institution is bad and disgusting and the meal time is not logical, so prisoners decided to make their own food around 9 o’clock in the evening. Some prisoners made the spread by mix all the food served in institutions together; some prisoners bought the food from stores to make the spread. That’s the difference the food showed in this community. The spread is a symbol of the wealth. People who ate the spread made by the store’s food are rich while people who ate the spread mixed by the materials of the institutions are poor. So this is the role that the spread plays in prison.

  In O’Donnell’s article, he did the research about Chinese food, especially Shenzhen food. He found out that the food in China can show the differences between regions. For example, the northern people like to eat beef while the southern people like to eat fish. In general, cows are easier to catch and kill than the fish. So that’s the reason why the southern people are more nimble than the northern people. The southern people did pretty well in economic just because the food they eat trained themselves to think and react quicker than the northern people. Just like the Chinese food, Shenzhen food can also showed the history of the old Shenzhen in Old Shenzhener’s mind and the images of the new Shenzhen in New Shenzhener’s mind. When eating Shenzhen food, the Old Shenzheners will always remember that Shenzhen is like a commune and everyone worked for the common aim. However, when eating Shenzhen food, the New Shenzheners will always come up with the images of the increasing wealth and the proliferation of commodities.

  After reading these two articles, the most interesting part I find is the part that O’Donnell used the beef and fish to tell the differences between northern China and Southern China. So the food can be the sign of the communities. As a Chinese people, I can say that the beef is the symbol of the northern part of China while the fish is the symbol of the southern part of China. So I think his claim is correct and I cannot agree more. 

Reading Ying's essay

Ying's essay

Both Yusi and Ying mentioned the exigence of the food advertisement. the exigence of the food advertisement is attract consumer's attention in order to sell their products. According to my analysis, the healthy food is the most important part of the American food culture and value, while Ying also talked about eating for health. Based on my second advertisement, I said the happy food, or comfort food is also a representation of the American food culture and value. Compare with Ying's words "eating for pleasure", we almost share the same thought.

Food advertisement: a great way that show the food culture and value

  Because our world developed rapidly and stably, nowadays, food advertisements are presented in so many different ways, for example: on the newspapers, through the internet, on the television, and so on. The design of each advertisement is different as well. From colors to shapes, from sizes to styles, each advertisement is amazing and unique. But whatever the advertisements are, they all have the same purpose, or what we called exigence, to attract the consumers attentions in order to sell their products. However, the audience of each advertisement is different. Every advertisement only appeals to group of people but not everyone. For instance, the meat advertisement only appeals to the people who enjoy eating meat, but for vegetarians, the meat advertisement is useless. Although the food advertisements have the advantages, there is still a limitation. Food advertisements can be noticed only when people are reading newspaper, using internet, or watching television. So the probability is not 100 percent. Besides the exigence, audience, and limitation, the food advertisements also represent the food culture and value of a country. In order to prove my pinot of view, I will compare two different kinds of food advertisements from America to show the American food culture and value.

  The first advertisement is a image describes the Subway’s sandwiches. In this advertisement, the designer uses green as the color of the background and put the price and size of the sandwiches on the left top. On the opposite side, the image says the every day value of the Subway’s sandwiches. Under the price and size, there is a sentence: “endless fresh creations” and below this sentence are the ingredients of the sandwiches. On the right side of the image, the designer put some pictures of the real sandwiches and the ingredients of the sandwiches. From my perspective, each element has its own importance. As we all know, the Subway is a fast food  restaurant, so it appeals to the working people who have no time to cook, or appeals to the middle-lower class people because the price of the sandwich is not very expensive, only $5 per footlong sandwich. The every day value proves that the value of each sandwich is great. The sentence “endless fresh creations” means the American people like the fresh food while the pictures of the real sandwiches and the ingredients show that the American people like the tasty food. The color of the back ground is green, which represents that the health food is also a kind of food that the American people consider about. So the Subway advertisement claims that the American food culture and value is the fresh food, tasty and healthy food, and also the value of food.

  Compare to the first advertisement, the second one is totally different. It is a video talk about the Ben & Jerry’s frozen yogurt. The advertisement uses the blue sky and white clouds as the back ground, and some cows stand on the green ground. Then the advertisement says the frozen yogurt contains the chocolate fish, caramel, and marshmallows. In the bottom of the whole screen, there is a sentence: “Phish Food Frozen Yogurt Dessert, 60% less fat than Phish Food Ice Cream”. In the end of the video advertisement, it says: “if you taste the frozen yogurt, your smile may be a little bigger.” This advertisement is really interesting so that I saw it several times. The blue sky, the white clouds, the cute cows, and the green ground remind me of my childhood, so I believe this advertisement appeals to the children. In addition, because the video shows the key words “less fat” all the time, so it also appeals to the people who are on diet or do not like fat and calories. The ingredients of the frozen yogurt try to tell the consumers that how tasty the frozen yogurt is while the bigger smile is a symbol that the frozen yogurt will be the comfort food that makes people smile. From this advertisement, we can draw a conclusion that the American food culture and value is the healthy, tasty, fat –free food and also the comfort food.

  Although these two advertisements represent two different kinds of food, they still have some similarities. Both of these two advertisements talk about the healthy and tasty food in different way, so I believe that the taste and health may be the first thing American people consider about when they choosing the food. However, the difference between the first advertisement and second one is that the first one mentions the freshness and value of the food while the second one mentions the fat-free food and the comfort food. These are also important factors for American people to consider. So studying the food advertising is good for the food companies to improve their own advertisements because the food advertisement is a really great way that show the food culture and value of a country. 

Food advertising analysis: a great and useful method

 In the past, I always believed that the usage of food advertisements is to attract the consumers. But, after reading the article “Authenticity in America: Class Distinctions in Potato Chip Advertising”, written by Joshua Freedman and Dan Jurafsky, I change my mind. The food advertisements not only have the usage of attracting people, but also have the usage of analyzing the distinctions between classes. Freedman and Jurafsky do the analysis mainly focus on the Potato Chip Advertising.

Before doing the experiment, the authors choose twelve bags of potato chips and divide them into two groups based on the price per ounce. Then they examine the language on both two groups. They surprisingly find out that the expensive chips always use the complex words, negation words, long sentence, and more concern about health. Also, different from the inexpensive chips, the expensive chips focus on telling consumers the naturalness, ingredients, and process. However, the inexpensive chips are not doing as well as the expensive chips. The number of the complex words and negation words is less than the number of the expensive chips; the inexpensive chips always use short sentence instead of long sentence; most important, inexpensive chips choose to focus on the historicity and location rather than focus on naturalness, ingredients, and process. But how can food advertisements show the difference between social classes? Apparently, we can suppose that the expensive chips represent the upper class in America while the inexpensive chips represent the lower class in America. From the distinction between expensive chips and inexpensive chips, we can clearly draw a conclusion that the upper class more concern about health, organic food, and also have higher education level than the lower class (the long sentences mean higher education level). However, the lower class more concern about the location and the history of the food rather than the naturalness of the food. So one kind of food advertising can show great connections and distinctions between language and culture.

My favorite part of this article is when the authors examine the complexity of the words. When the words are longer, they are more complex. I think this method of food advertising analysis is also useful for meat advertising. In expensive meat package, it will say “organic and succulent” while the inexpensive meat package will say “fresh and juicy”.

 

Dinner on Spring Festival

The Spring Festival is a special holiday for Chinese people. In Chinese culture, the day after the Spring Festival is the beginning of a new year. On that day, each family will celebrate it in their own way. Based on the Chinese culture, family should gather together on the Eve of the Spring Festival and celebrate the holiday together. Moreover, the dinner on Spring Festival is very delicious. It contains fish, chicken, beef, pork, carrot, corns….the most important and indispensable food on the Spring Festival’s dinner is the dumpling. In Chinese culture, the dumpling is a representative of the luck. Eating Dumpling on the Eve of the Spring Festival is the symbol of get good luck in the coming year. So that’s why the dumpling is the most important food appears on the dinner of the Spring Festival. Another tradition of the Spring Festival is light the fireworks on the midnight. This kind of tradition is based on a legend. Long time ago, there is an atrocious monster. This monster is ugly and carnivorous and it only appears on the Eve of the Spring Festival. Unfortunately, no one can kill this monster so that everyone is afraid of this monster. One day, a smart person comes up with a great idea: drive away the monster instead of kill it. Because the monster is afraid of fire and light, so people decide to light the fireworks all night on Spring Festival in order to drive away the monster and this idea works pretty well. So after long time’s evolution, it becomes a tradition of the Spring Festival. Among all the festivals and holidays, the Spring Festival is the most meaningful festival for me. I will never forget the food I eat and the happiness I get in the Spring Festival.

Last year, 2011, is a great year for me. I took the SAT test and get a very high score; I received the offer of the University of Denver and also the scholarships; I celebrated my 18^th birthday with my friends and my family. Most important, last year is the last chance for me to celebrate the Spring Festival with my family in China. I will never forget the day January 23^rd, because it is the date of the Spring Festival in 2011. In the morning of that day, my mom and grandma got up early to prepare the big dinner. They cleaned the fish, cut the vegetables, sliced the beef and pork, bowled the sweet porridge… Around 4 o’clock in the afternoon, everything was ready and the food looks tempting. The fish was in the center of a round plate with some carrots as a decoration; the beef was covered by gravy; the sweet porridge was contained by a beautiful glass bowl. We lighted part of the fireworks before we started the dinner. Then we started eating and sent wishes. My mom wished me have a great grade in college while my grandmother wished me have a happy time in my college. I wished my grandmother becomes healthier and my mother becomes more beautiful. The dinner on the Eve of Spring Festival always lasted two hours. My mother, father, aunts, uncles, grandparent, sisters and brothers all gather together on my grandparent house. We eat together, talk together, and laugh together. These two hours must be the happiest time I had in my life.

Now I am a college student in United States. Because I have no chance to go back to China on the Spring Festival of this year, so I celebrate it with my friends here. Although we cooked the same food as I had last year, I still feel that something is different. Not only the taste of the food, but also the emotions and feelings. The friendship is totally different from the love of parent, family. Wherever we are, our parent will always care about our health and feelings. The dinner on the Eve of Spring Festival is really significant and unforgettable for me because I can feel and touch the love from my family. This kind of love has no shape, no color, but it really exists in this world. When I feel lonely and lost, I will always tell myself: “Don’t worry, you have already had the warmest family in the world, what else can stop you moving forward?” I really want to thanks to my parent and grandparent because they give me the power and strength to solve the problems I meet in my life. And because their love is always in my back, I am not afraid of anything.

The dinner on the Eve of Spring Festival is really important for me. Not only it tastes delicious, but also it brings me the love of my family. I know I am an eighteen years old girl, so I should grow up and become more and more independent. But no matter where I am, my family will always be the last stop of my life.