Vanessa Arceo Senior Reflection
Wednesday, June 6, 2018
Tuesday, June 5, 2018
Monday, June 4, 2018
AF: How to Upload your Video
Seniors, below are some YouTube videos that provide instruction on how to upload videos. The first video explains how to upload it to YouTube; the second from YouTube to Blogger (the class blog).
Follow these instructions exactly!
When you do upload your video, please make sure to title your post as follows:
Student first and last name (video title)
Example:
Justin Turner (Swing for the Fence)
*** IMPORTANT: Your video cannot be listed as "private" otherwise the embed will not play on this public format. ***
Here are the instructional videos:
Follow these instructions exactly!
When you do upload your video, please make sure to title your post as follows:
Student first and last name (video title)
Example:
Justin Turner (Swing for the Fence)
*** IMPORTANT: Your video cannot be listed as "private" otherwise the embed will not play on this public format. ***
Here are the instructional videos:
Sunday, June 3, 2018
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
AF: Shared Inquiry Circle, #1
Each Circle has three members, so read this list horizontally!
The Shared Inquiry Slides are HERE at this LINK, and slides 15-21 should answer any questions you may have.
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Consumer Knowledge on GMOs
With the increasing use and advances in technology, science has reached the tables of many families across the world. Genetically modified organisms have been around since the 1990’s and have been used to improve the nutrition and reliability of the food supply, but these benefits come along with unknown effects in the long run. Although the adoption of new gmo crops has increased, consumer knowledge about them remains very uncertain. The journal entry from the link discusses the dangers of having misinformation or not really knowing about gmo products that we are consuming. In the research they conducted, the findings showed that most of the American public do not feel that they know much or anything at all about gm products and the knowledge they have is just misinformation. This shows how important it is for there to be consumer education on the pros as well as the cons of genetically modified organisms.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4642419/
- Samantha Covarrubias
Consumers should be put in the dark about what’s in their food. They have the right to know how their food is being made, where it’s being made and also what’s put into our food that we so blindly consume. According to a FDA “Trade Secret” article that I read, companies are not allowed to be forced to reveal trade secret ingredients and that basically means anything they consider their secret ingredient they can hide it from us. Although according to the article you can send a trade secret request to the FDA and they will review it within 180 days. They also noted that just because you make a request it does not meant that it will receive a final answer within that time span or an answer at all. My idea behind using this source was to tie it to my question of why the FDA allows hidden ingredients to be put into our food when the consumer has no idea about what they are eating and aren't allowed to see the ingredients on food labels.
Source: https://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/Labeling/ucm414211.htm
Source: https://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/Labeling/ucm414211.htm
childhood obesity
My research paper is about factors that contribute to childhood obesity. At first my question was about how food advertising alone affects childhood obesity, but as I was writing the first draft of my paper and did more research on the subject, I realized that advertisements aren’t the biggest cause for it. It was also hard to just find articles about food advertisements so I’ve been researching more about childhood obesity as a whole and all of the factors that go into it. One source I found gives statistics on how much childhood obesity has risen in more recent years and gives a few examples of factors that affect it. This source is helpful providing basic background on the subject that’s helpful to know before doing more in depth research.
http://www.apa.org/topics/kids-media/food.aspx
http://www.apa.org/topics/kids-media/food.aspx
School Lunches
The link I have inserted takes you to a reputable source that discusses how school lunches fail to improve students health. Among many other reasons I am looking into for my paper, this source focuses on school lunches failing to improve health because students simply do not eat the healthy food. A study explained in the article talks about even when students in a random survey choose healthy items on their tray seventy five percent of them took barley a barley one bite of protein and an even sadder twenty four percent had only one bite of whichever vegetable they took. Something that surprised me in this article was the talk about how environmental factors affect what children eat. Things like noise level, eating with administrators, longer periods of time, and other factors showed impacts on the amount and types of food eaten. As short as a few years ago, schools used to find loopholes in health regulations and serve worse lunches, and now with stricter regulations schools have to use trial and error methods to find out what students most enjoy. Not enough has been added to the regulations to ensure school lunches are properly prepared. The new “healthy” foods fail to account for processing additives and 90% of the time the food is frozen and pre prepared. If you are like me and your question involves the school lunch program you may want to look into this article.
Link-https://www.google.com/amp/www.medicaldaily.com/students-arent-eating-healthy-school-lunches-despite-availability-how-cafeterias-fail-310934%3famp=1
Link-https://www.google.com/amp/www.medicaldaily.com/students-arent-eating-healthy-school-lunches-despite-availability-how-cafeterias-fail-310934%3famp=1
-Brooke Sasse
Vegetarianism
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/becoming-a-vegetarian
This post is about vegetarianism and its health benefits and risks. There isn't just one type of vegetarian so you can pick what kind is better suited for your health. It goes a little more in depth with how vegetarianis may have reduced risks of getting major diseases, however, the more pressing concern is how they sometimes lack in certain vitamins and nutrients they need presently. Some of the vitamins they don't get often can cause serious damage so being a vegetarian requires discipline. In this source, there are other sources that explain their reasoning and evidence even more.
Alyssa Maneja
This post is about vegetarianism and its health benefits and risks. There isn't just one type of vegetarian so you can pick what kind is better suited for your health. It goes a little more in depth with how vegetarianis may have reduced risks of getting major diseases, however, the more pressing concern is how they sometimes lack in certain vitamins and nutrients they need presently. Some of the vitamins they don't get often can cause serious damage so being a vegetarian requires discipline. In this source, there are other sources that explain their reasoning and evidence even more.
Alyssa Maneja
Organic Benefits
So I'm doing my research log on things relating to organic foods, if they are healthy and things of that context. As such, comparing organic foods and traditionally grown foods is a topic that is a major part of my whole paper. One of the sources I found from an article about the benefits and differences between the two types of foods. It describes what is and what is not used in the organic farming methods, as well as how to tell if a food in a supermarket is organic or not. Such as how there are different types of organic foods and the goals that come with organic farming. The last couple paragraphs on the page also clarify the difference between organic and natural, which are different. So if you are doing any sort of research on organic foods or differences between organic and conditionally methods, this is a nice article to get some more information in there or if you just want another source for your research log if you still need some more to reach the twelve mark.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/organic-food/art-20043880
-Brendan Stilwell
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/organic-food/art-20043880
-Brendan Stilwell
Benefits of learning how to cook
Learning how to cook is a life saver in every way. It is a basic strategy that also benefits your pocket. In the article "The Benefits Of Learning To Cook" by Michelle, he lists reasons why people should cook at home more often. One can save so much money by preparing and eating his/her own meals rather than spending money on foods in restaurants. Sure it costs money to buy the ingredients as well however proportion wise, the amount of food one could cook with the money to buy one meal could be double the proportion. This eliminates any kind of service fees as well that could've been added to the expenses of eating out. Comparing a basic PB&J sandwich made at home to a juicy steak bought at any restaurant would make the steak much more tempting and an easier option. However just because it is the easier option, it doesn't make it the better option. Cooking skills are just like a muscle that will expand and grow over time with practice. This will also increase your creativity level my mixing in desired ingredients and will get the food exact to your liking. It's not only the cheaper option but also the healthier one. Not every plate comes with a list of ingredients and quantities or salt or other chemicals added. Fast foods usually grease up their foods or add more salt or other chemicals to make it more flavorful and more appealing, however this is not beneficial to your body. Because there is no nourishing factors in grease, it can cause one to gain an insignificant amount of weight and could lead to further health problems.However in cooking at home one can control every single ingredient and chemical being added to their meal to make it healthier and more nutritious.
article link: http://healthfoodlover.com/hfl/2010/06/the-benefits-of-learning-to-cook/
hunger
This article talks about the hunger in Yemen and what two Yemeni have to say about the calamity in their country of Yemen. All 28,723,951 Yemeni people are at risk of famine or are in famine. The reason for this hunger and starvation is the Yemeni War. The Yemeni War began in 2015 but can be dated back to 2004. Yemen is the sixth hungriest country in the world but only makes up .42% of the people in the entire world who are hungry. This lack of food and water has caused cholera and malnutrition. Cholera is often caused by contaminated water. Malnutrition is the lack of proper nutrition, caused by not having enough to eat, not eating enough of the right things, or being unable to use the food that one does eat. 3.3 million of the Yemeni people are malnourished and 2.1 million of those are children. There has been 10,000 deaths in the country due to this crisis, yet we hear nothing about it. The war is so severe that people are either dying from bombing or from hunger. The rebels, whom the Yemeni are fighting, are destroying all the Yemeni’s property so even if there is food available to them, they can’t even afford it. Hunger is a problem that affects the whole world. There is more we need to do.
Equality and Longevity
In regards to the link, it talks about food rationing in Cuba in which it has positively led to "impressive levels of longevity, and low infant mortality." This is due to the fact that after 1959 they made it a point to have a socialist and food production system, that can ensure "a level of heavily subsidized food for everyone." Now seeing that Cuba has been cut off from trade, its highly impressive to see what they have done with their automobiles and food sources. Regarding America, when we think about all the poverty stricken people who can't afford the food they need to survive, it's only right to consider a different approach called food rationing. I know this seems like a communistic approach in which everyone is considered equal when it comes to food rationing, but everyone's a beneficiary no matter what financial class you are in. This will then correlate to having better food products, because the food industry will make better use of their resources to meet the, perhaps, monthly quota of dishing out boxes of food to everyone. Additionally, fast-food restaurants will lose it's power because there would be no need to go to a McDonald's if the government steps in and feeds everyone equally. From there it would drastically limit the rise of obesity and starvation, making everyone happy in this win-win situation. Of course, I'm not saying that this food is absolutely free, so therefore, there should be something of a "National Food Tax" legislated in such a way that is affordable and more than enough for government spending. As I mentioned before, with the fast-food restaurants decreasing in sales, I'm not completely pro for eliminating them. After all this is a free country, so I think, inspired by what my friend Javen Pacion mentioned in his post, there should be a junk-food tax. Then that tax money can go to those who may be so poor, that they can't even afford the "National Food Tax". The whole purpose is not to take away peoples' freedom, but to ensure our sustainability of our food resources, as well as presenting a healthier and equal alternative that will benefit everyone in the long-run. -LaVanton Gilmore
www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/24/cubans-food-struggle-rations-consuming-obsession.
www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/24/cubans-food-struggle-rations-consuming-obsession.
Flaws in Locavorism
https://alumni.berkeley.edu/california-magazine/winter-2009-food-thought/locavores-dilemma is a source reporting on the possible problems of relying on locally grown food and the flaws in locavore beliefs. For example, locavores, people whose diet consists of locally grown food, believe that they're helping the environment by eating locally. However, this website argues that distance isn't as relevant as the mode of transportation used when transporting food across the country. The author uses the example of cows, which are grown by both large corporations and small farms, to demonstrate that both producers are generating greenhouse gases through their raising of cows. Therefore, locally produced food doesn't necessarily reduce environmental damage. Another instance of the article revealing flaws in locavore ideas is when it mentions that more resources would be needed to grow food compared to the current way of producing food. This is because not all places are properly suited for growing certain crops. If we were to grow crops in poorly suited areas, then resources would have to be diverted to those areas to compensate for the lack of suitability. With such limited space in our world, it would be inefficient to use unsuitable land for food growth. Finally, the article brings up the question of whether locally grown food could sustain the world. This is especially concerning considering that there are countries that rely on industrial food growth in other countries, such as the U.S. and Europe, to maintain their standards of living. The article is effective in emphasizing the flaws in a local food growth system, however puts little attention on the benefits of such a system so further research into the topic would be necessary.
-Jaime Izabal
-Jaime Izabal
Ways to Reduce Food Waste
Food waste is ultimately affecting the starving population. It may mean nothing to a person with a stable income when they throw away leftovers or unwanted food but to a person starving and in need of food, it means their life. Taking small actions to end food waste is an easy way to help the hungry. Start by limiting how much food you purchase at grocery stores and food markets. There is no reason to buying in huge masses unless you’re throwing a party but either than that it is likely that you will not be eating everything due to expiration dates and signs of rotting despite how appealing it is to have a large menu of food. Storing food is also a huge must. Properly storing food will increase the lifespan of many food from take out to home cooked meals to leftovers. Containers that are airtight and as well as zip locks will drastically increase lifespan and freshness of each meal that you want to save for later. Though preserving food is a great solution to reduce food waste it would mean nothing if it’s not eaten. Eating whatever is left in the fridge goes hand in hand with storing food. It may be a drag to constantly eat the same food over and over again so planing is the next best thing. Organizing meals from what was left in your fridge for specific days throughout the week will help with encouragement and motivation to eat the scraps and leftover from previous meals. Adding new ingredients will also help spice up your food so you won’t get bored of it.
https://www.epa.gov/recycle/reducing-wasted-food-home
-Sean Pacheco
https://www.epa.gov/recycle/reducing-wasted-food-home
-Sean Pacheco
Food int the Future
In my food research paper i decided to talk about what food will be like in the future. I'm pretty sure people don't just sit round and ask themselves what they'll be eating in the future, which is why i decided to research it. A lot of the articles i read pretty much had the same ideas. I'm sure we've all heard about what a good source of protein insects are, just like meat. Also 3-D foods, i read about how a company tried to make a 3-D cheeseburger, it looked like a cheeseburger, but tasted nothing like it. Most 3D printers are deposition printers, meaning they deposit layers of raw materials in a process known as addictive manufacturing, some examples would be pizza, stuffed pasta, and brownies. They also talked about how there would be GMO everything, which stands for genetically modified organism. Today, a lot of food crops, such as corn and soybeans, are genetically modified.However, I didn't realize how important algae could be. If scientists can get a good understanding on it, it could be another source of food we'll be eating one day. It could provide a solution to food shortages. Some futurologist believe that in the next five to seven years meat will double in price, making it a luxury item. "The best possible change for the American diet would be less meat and less processed food. More real cooking. If we reach young people now and give them better options, they could open the current way of eating in one generation." - Daniel Patterson
The Benefits of A Tax on Unhealthy Foods
My research paper discusses the potential effects of a junk food tax. While surfing the web, I found this article on the International Journal of Obesity. The experimenters did a study which examined the effects of warning labels and a junk food tax on food options. After raising awareness of harmful ingredients and increasing the prices of unhealthy foods, the study demonstrated the influence the government can have by enforcing these requirements. With these changes, consumers became discouraged to purchase unhealthy foods because they were aware of the risks in eating particular products and these products were also unhealthy. Cost play a huge role in the decision-making process of consumers. In regards to the law of demand, with an increase in price, the demand of the product decreases. This relates to the food industry as well. By increasing the price of unhealthy food, there is a lower demand for the food. Also, it opens the door for an increase in demand for alternatives. With fewer people wanting chips and cookies, healthier options such as tomatoes and bananas can gain a greater demand. People want to save money, so they will buy inexpensive items while pricey products remain on the shelves of grocery stores. With the growth of obesity in America, the implementation of a junk food tax can help curb obesity levels in the nation. The study revealed that the increase in price of unhealthy food caused consumers to make healthier diet decisions. The change in price caused people to consume less, intake less energy, and lose weight, providing consumers with a better opportunity to adopt healthier lifestyles.
https://www.nature.com/articles/ijo2010228
-Javen Pacion
https://www.nature.com/articles/ijo2010228
-Javen Pacion
The psychological effects of food on your mind and how big business exploits them
In my research paper, I talk about the psychology of food and how businesses exploit our psychological tendencies when it comes to food. Most people don't know why smelling their favorite food really makes them hungry they just assume that's the way it is supposed to be. When you smell your favorite food the brain increases in metabolism which fires neurons to the Hypothalamus which is the part of the brain that makes you hungry. Businesses understand this and they often leave doors and windows open when they are cooking so that consumers walking by unknowingly walk right into this psychological trap and we spend money when we might not have if we didn't smell the food. One would do well to watch themselves so that we don't fall for many of the business tricks that are used today.
Harvard Article on Pesticides and GMOs
While I was researching my topic, I came upon an in-depth article published by Harvard regarding the usage of pesticides and GMOs. It provided a lot of information by giving examples while comparing and contrasting how pesticides and GMOs help and harm. The writer brings in concepts about how these practices help us to sustain the economy and agriculture but at the cost of health risks. On one hand, it helps us purchase our foods and clothing at low prices and also keeps us safe in our homes from pests like termites. However, one of the studies they referred to in their article was related to how prolonged exposure to pesticides leads to an increased risk of diabetes which would probably surprise a lot of people. While these chemicals are considered relatively safe, there are still a lot of mysteries about how long-time exposure is affecting our bodies. Doctors have been noticing an uptick in neurological related illnesses in farm workers. The writer also brought awareness about how there are certain plants with natural pesticides that get rid of the annoying critters without the harmful artificial chemicals that come with the pesticides we commonly use. With the constant use of these chemicals that farmers employ, crops and pests are quickly becoming resistant and no longer responding to them. This particular source was really helpful because it's from a prestigious institution that gave unbiased, educated insight into the issue. Not only that but Harvard is one of the leading institutions in science and innovation.
http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2015/gmos-and-pesticides/
Peter Nguyen
http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2015/gmos-and-pesticides/
Peter Nguyen
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
I can't talk about it
My Dear Students,
My best friend, and my daughter’s best friend --
our dog Hank -- has all kinds of medical problems that we did not know about
until last Friday afternoon. He is dying.
Maddy came home at 3:00 on Friday as usual, but he barely lifted his
head. Usually when one of us comes home,
he will grab the nearest thing he can find -- a box of kleenex, a stuffed
gorilla, a cardboard box, the laundry basket -- and trot around like a little
tease. So when he acted so dispirited, Maddy started feeling around and
looking into his mouth, and she noticed that his gums were pale -- barely pink
at all -- and cold to the touch.
I left MHS in a hurry, and met her at the vet’s
office. Dr. Bang was already sending us off to the 24-hr. ER vet on South
and Palo Verde. We got there by 4, Hank was put into an oxygen cage, and
a series of tests began. We were sucker punched by this turn of events. He was fine in the morning,
and he’s only 8 years old. He’s active,
well-exercised, well-fed -- a loved and cared for dog. But they found either cancer or blood clots
all over his lungs, and a later ultrasound revealed that he had lots of fluid
in his pericardial sack -- that little purse that holds your heart.
Because the fluid was exerting so much pressure, his heart could not pump
out mightily to distribute blood throughout his body. His body was oxygen-deprived, which made his
gums pale and cold (they’re better now, but this is the first thing we keep
checking). His heartbeat is erratic and
wildly out of rhythm.
None of this good, and none of it is hopeful.
We could embark upon the path of more and more medical intervention,
chemotherapy maybe, or a cardiologist to figure out what is the matter with his
heart. We probably could even get a heart transplant. But we asked ourselves, “what does quality of
life mean to a dog?” JK Rowling quoted
Seneca in her commencement speech -- “As is a tale, so is life: not how long it
is, but how good it is, is what matters.” We could spend all of our money
chasing down a cure, keeping Hank on operating tables and in oxygen cages, or
we could bring him home, and make him happy.
So we asked the vet to draw off the fluid that
had collected around his heart. When that was done, the vet told us it
was bloody, so he now suspects a slow leak from a tumor in Hank’s heart.
How this happened, and so suddenly, I’ll never understand. But Hank perked up quite a lot after that
fluid was gone, and we brought him home to spend his last days at home with us,
and his toys, and his neighborhood. When his time comes, we will call a
vet to the house.
Leaving the vet on Saturday night, after 30
hours in the hospital, we did not expect Hank to make it to Sunday night.
Or to Monday. And especially not
until Tuesday. But the boy is hanging in
there, and Maddy and I have to go back to work! As much as we want to, we
can’t just stay home and watch Hank sleep, and feed him little bits of chicken
and grassfed beef, and freeze-dried duck treats, and scratch his ears and tell
him how handsome he is. Every minute we’ve had with him has been a gift
-- a miracle, really. We made a nest in
the living room with blankets and a futon mattress, and we’re hanging out with
him. The doctor was not saying
encouraging things at all, but here we are. Lots of people are praying
for us, and I think we’re living in a little bubble of grace somehow. We’ve asked Carlos to come over and stay with
Hank for the hours that we must be at work, so I’ll be back to school
tomorrow.
I cannot talk about this, or I will cry. I’ve
been crying a lot already, and I don’t think I’m done. So let’s just do our
work, and be kind to one another. What do you say?
And right now, I’m going to take Hank for a
slow, slow walk around the block so he can smell on his favorite things, and
pee on stuff.
See you Wednesday.
PS. I am out again on Thursday, for a
previously scheduled professional development day. I’m just not going to
see you very much this week.,
Why Factory Farms Aren't Sustainable
http://www.worldanimalfoundation.org/articles/article/8949042/186280.htm
With the world's growing population, the demand for food only increases. This article addresses the insanity of factory farming and how it has proven to be unsustainable for the planet and its inhabitants. The article highlights how the bulk of the grains produced are fed to animals, even when there are millions of people around the world who are starving and malnourished. In fact, "for every 10 kilograms of soy protein fed to America’s cattle only 1 kilogram is converted to meat. Almost the entire population of India and China, nearly two billion people, could be fed on the protein consumed and largely wasted by the United States’ beef herd". This goes to show how comfortably unaware we are with our food choices; we do not realize how much of an impact we have on the rest of the world when we put certain foods onto our plates. All in all, we must drastically change our eating habits if we are to feed the world sufficiently. People are going hungry while the increasing number of animals are fed vast amounts of food in a hopelessly defective system. This issue is a matter of reevaluating our values and our morals as a society. Should our demand for animals as food be the determinant of world hunger? Is this industry sustainable? Ask yourself these questions. Confront your humanity, because is it really humane to support an industry that is a leading cause of world hunger?
- Jasmine Kim
With the world's growing population, the demand for food only increases. This article addresses the insanity of factory farming and how it has proven to be unsustainable for the planet and its inhabitants. The article highlights how the bulk of the grains produced are fed to animals, even when there are millions of people around the world who are starving and malnourished. In fact, "for every 10 kilograms of soy protein fed to America’s cattle only 1 kilogram is converted to meat. Almost the entire population of India and China, nearly two billion people, could be fed on the protein consumed and largely wasted by the United States’ beef herd". This goes to show how comfortably unaware we are with our food choices; we do not realize how much of an impact we have on the rest of the world when we put certain foods onto our plates. All in all, we must drastically change our eating habits if we are to feed the world sufficiently. People are going hungry while the increasing number of animals are fed vast amounts of food in a hopelessly defective system. This issue is a matter of reevaluating our values and our morals as a society. Should our demand for animals as food be the determinant of world hunger? Is this industry sustainable? Ask yourself these questions. Confront your humanity, because is it really humane to support an industry that is a leading cause of world hunger?
- Jasmine Kim
In the paragraph that I just read. What I comprehended was that the meat industry isn't as clean as we think it is. Meat bigger than before, one way that to be safe from food would be to separate raw meat from other foods and wash your hands before and after touching it, guarantee this will prevent your family from getting sick and the article gives you more ways how to stay safe and also more things you need to know.
Why are our honey bees dying?
https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/07/climate-change-killing-bumblebees/
Even though bees scare us all they are a major necessity to our food chain. Our life and the worlds life would be so different if we didnt have bees to pollinate. Honey bees and other pollinators help provide us with $19 billion worth of agricultural crops in the U.S. Our bees are dying due to the insecticides sprayed on the flower and crops by the the farmers. Some of these plants rely on assistance with their pollination process. Pollination is essentially plant reproduction, without help from our pollinators our everyday food supply would look much different. Bees help pollinate crops that you would never think of such as Apples, squash, cucumbers, melons, tomatoes and many more. There has been a reduction in the variety of flowers on which bees feed because of monocultural farming and suburban development. Add up all these factors and others and the weakened bees have an uphill battle. Here are are just a couple of way that you can help save the bees: Do not use pesticides, fungicides, or hericides in your garden; plant your garden with native and bee friendly plants, its important for bees, as for us, to have a diverse and regular food supply; educate kid and yourself about bees, bees are not dangerous, they forage on a flower and dont attack humans. Bees are an integral part of our food chain. We need to give honeybees the credit they deserve and if we don’t protect them now, they may not be around to collect their sweet glory.
Monday, March 19, 2018
Food safety
Food Safety Home Page | CDC
https://www.cdc.gov › foodsafety
This Article talks about The food we eat is no longer good we need to find ways to stay safe, its dangerous to eat food alot of Americans can get foid poisoning and die. I feel like their should be away where food should be safe, because honestly we don't know what they put in the meat.... what so ever !. Another thing i see a chicken so big they cut it, now are food is contaminated, but also they put more chemical inside animal body
so the meat we eat don't effect our body, but i think its just horrible. They don't even wash / clean the animals. The FDA, should do something with the meat, where it should be safe. But ingredients in the back so people know what their eating. ingredients are good to watch our calories because people die from eating something horrible its terrifying to see and hear. To keep your family safe from getting sick: separate raw meat from other foods and wash your hands before and after touching it . guarantee this will prevent your family from getting sick and the article give you more ways how to stay safe and also more things you need to know , because people can tell you one thing , but it will be a whole different situations. The source will tell you what type food you eat , what type of symptoms or illnesses that will affect you and your family. It's always good to be cautious what you eating , and what are you eating and read up on it to see if its okay to eat it. This source helpful because its giving you different ways how to be careful to eat.-Christine
Sunday, March 18, 2018
Budget cuts that will slice America in half
During these few months, Trump has almost been successful with budget-cutting School meals in America.These threats will be affecting school lunches and how healthy they will be. Who's to say that will be affected? 1.8 million of the population who are middle to low income families will be affected. Already there are tons of children who are dependent on breakfast and lunch meals and due to this budget many will suffer. It seems utterly unbelievable how special little President Trump is making America any better again. Its ironic. How we are the country most affected by obesity, but also affected by hunger. But after School organizations such as Girls an Boys scout give after school meals to the children in Mississippi. Sherry Jackson runs this federal program an tells us that," all this makes her feel so sick". Seeing how these children will suffer when they depend so much on school lunches makes me sick to the stomach as well. As a person who experiences this, I understand the worry this can give.This budget cuts have been a suggestion due to the high percentage of school lunch being wasted. Michelle Obama's act of decreasing sugar and salt in school lunches was a drastic change for all students. But it help tremendously as more and more new generations of children are loving to eat vegetable and fruits. But seeing the school lunch waste increase it was either to keep the program going or to face cut backs. Cut backs that will decrease how much food children are feed and increase how much sugar, salt and white bread is given. The children don't need this, what children want is what makes them grow stronger. But if we don't do anything, we are faced to accept it if we don't try to stop it.
Friday, March 16, 2018
Food Symbolism
Link: https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1637&context=honorstheses
In this student research done by Sandra Johnson from Colby College she talks about how food is not only a substantial necessity to live but a way of fighting for your rights. Crazy isn’t it? Something simple a food is a way to protest for something you believe in. When we think about protest we think about making signs, tying ourselves up on a tree, and writing angry letters to the man. But something such as throwing tea overboard because you want change from government isn’t the first idea that comes to your mind. Johnson also talks about how food is a gateway of expressing ourselves. What we eat, what we don't like to eat, it all shows our personality one way or another. If you’re a person who likes to try out new food you’re probably someone who is outgoing and willing to try new experiences and on the other hand if you like to stay within your comfort zone and only eat things you are familiar to, it may reflect to how your personality is. This may not always be true but its a reasonable idea. Johnson also talks about how food connects us and how it “is symbolically associated with the most deeply felt human experiences, and thus expresses things that are sometimes difficult to articulate in everyday language.” There is so many ways food can be associated with memories and a simple gesture of love towards another person. Remembering that meal your parents or grandparents made you brings memories that make you feel like nothing else will. Food connects us all in ways you cannot imagine and it's a wonderful sight to see food bring us together and fight for something we believe in.
- Jainah Fajardo
Attacking the Obesity Epidemic Before It Bites Back
Obesity is a lifestyle disease that is on the rise in America and most other developed countries all over the world. What makes obesity such a serious menace is the fact that it is the leading cause of tens of opportunistic fatal diseases which include hypertension, cancer, and heart failure. The overreliance on technology has reduced the mobility of children and this coupled with comfort eating has led to a new phenomenon – the upsurge of childhood obesity. This has led to the rise of children affected with diseases that were initially thought of as diseases for adults. There is therefore the need to examine this and take some precautionary steps to curb it.
This topic is widely prevalent around me. I believe the reason why childhood obesity is on the rise in America is because of the influence of poor eating/choosing habits that has brought to the social world. Options have slimmed down to a few when it comes to what is seen on TV. Lifestyles have changed in the last two decades. The fast food industry has overshadowed the minds of those who watch their advertisements that mislead watchers. People are lured in to the fast food life because of how convenient and affordable it is. Thus, the obesity rate has not stopped growing. Obesity leads to many health factors in adults and health problems that you would not see in kids before but are now a common disease in children such as Type 2 Diabetes. So who is to blame for the effects of obesity in America? The fast food industry? The government? Or is it the responsibility of what people decide to consume? Your opinions are great appreciated and may be sources of insight for my research paper :)
-Margareth Simbillo
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Tuesday, February 6, 2018
I think with Gethen culture it's different when he says "There is no unconsenting sex, rape..... Genly see things different and he always asks why and tries to make his points and where the setting at it's like he never gets anything always asks why. also, i think they both confused in this story honestly I'm still confused but to guys that intimate with each other but to them, it doesn't matter because the world they live in its so much different and they don't see nothing wrong in their eyes personally and as they start getting to know eachother they start to feel eachother the attention the communtation well genly is and he start to realize I feel like the plot of this story is a fairy tail which nobody will believe and some will believe but where it takes place its unbelieveable because people going to be like.. "where this at are they on another planet/earth" the whole time its fictions not real at all and in the setting genly start to realize things and start to understand more. - christine Walton, wave 3
myths aka hearth tales
In The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula Le Guin, there are a couple chapters where instead of continuing the plot of the story we encounter some myths. These myths are considered folk tales which the Getheniens refer to as hearth tales. The hearth tale of the two brothers is when we are introduced to what is known as "kemmering." Kemmering in a way is like being in heat but also what their intercourse is called. Through this we learn a bit more of the way the Gethenien culture is. Following the fact that they are androgynous, they are also unprejudiced about individuals sex. They also do not shame incest. They do have restrictions though. The two siblings may kemmer together but they cannot vow oath to each other which is like marriage on earth. No life-long incestuous relationships are allowed. When one of the brothers, Hode, hears they are not allowed to remain together he commits suicide. When the news of Hode's suicide went around, Getheren, the other brother, is driven out of town into the coldest place. This also represents the Gethenien culture and how severely they shame and close people off after shameful acts such as suicide or whatever it may be. He ends up finding his brother who has committed suicide there. He tries to capture him but he gets way. He ends up having to amputate his left hand and after this happens his old town begins to prosper again after their famine. These myths are not coincidences but reveal characteristic of the Gethenien culture and they also foreshadow the rest of the book.
A Story Within A Story
Throughout the book there are many myths and folk tales, which the Gethenian people refer to as “hearth tales” throughout the book. I usually would just quickly read through these chapters of books, however for The Left Hand Of Darkness it's so important to acknowledge these chapters instead of taking a glimpse at them. Chapters 4 and 9 I believe, were hearth tales. The purpose of reading those chapters were so that we could understand the Gethenian culture and history better. One of the myths I recall was about two brothers who separated and remet in the Place Inside the Blizzard. We are given knowledge about the rules from their culture which is that siblings can have a child together but not more than one. Also, we learn that suicide is seen as something super shameful and sinful. Something else that I noticed while reading is that the cold plays a huge impact in the ancient myths of Gethen, since that is a big part of where they live. For example, the odd place that the two brothers met could have been in another location such as a rainforest, a hotter place such as a desert, or any other place.
-Brianna Rubio
Culture Shaping Myths
Throughout The Left Hand of Darkness, the story is told from different points of views and there are different little myths thrown in here and there. In total there were five myths: The Place Inside the Blizzard, The Nineteenth Day, Estraven the Traitor, On Time and Darkness, and An Orgota Creation Myth. There were put there to prepare you for the next chapter or maybe explain the backstory of certain traditions. Take for example The Nineteenth Day and On Time and Darkness. Both of these chapters had to do with the Foretellers and having questions answered at the cost of something valuable to them. They showed how seriously the Gethens trust these future seeing people over the centuries of being there. In The Nineteenth day someone starts to go mad from knowing the day he will die, but not the exact date simply because he asked his question with too little detail. On Time and Darkness, one of the foreteller groups is asked a question that could not be answered and ended up being able to see everything changing his life entirely. In both cases, these foretellers change the lives of those that encounter them simply because they are so involve in the current culture of the Gethens and they believe to the letter every word they say. The Gethens are people that seem to like having the answers to whatever questions they have and are willing to trade for those answers. Their culture around Foretellers has developed over the years into what it is during the time of the book to show how trusting the people are of them.
-Brendan Stilwell
-Brendan Stilwell
Myths Myths Myths
All the myths in the book sporadically relate to the plot. Such as The Place Inside the Blizzard (ch. 2), this myth talks about two brothers that vowed kemmering to each other. Hode committed suicide which is a BIG NO-NO for the Gethenian culture, the other brother Gethren was banished. Both of the brothers later reunited at the place inside the blizzard in the planet of Gethen. In Chapter 4, The Nineteeth Day Lord Brestory rem ir Ipe went to Thangering Fastness and offered forty beryls and half the years yield from his orchards as the price of a Foretelling. Then later Lord Brestory rem ir Ipe asked the foretellers when he will die. Although all the myths in the book relate to the plot you can surly tell how these myths are all really important to the Gethenian society because in ch.15 Gethly and Estraven go to cross the Karhide glaciers and then Genley brings up the The Place Inside the Blizzard myth.
Monday, February 5, 2018
It's a cold and harsh world
From the start of the novel, the world of Gethen is introduced to the reader as an extremely cold planet. Cold in theory is related to loneliness and isolation which Genly Ai feels due to the fact that he struggles to "fit in." Where Ai comes from the cold was never a problem. "They told me, keep the Envoy warm, he's from a hot world, and can't stand our cold" (117). The theme of loneliness is portrayed through Genly because he is an envoy, a loner in a different planet where he was put in. There is a place inside the blizzard is cold and empty which promotes isolation. It is where those who committed suicide go and roam forever. In this place they are not able to talk to each other forcing them into isolation. The constant cold of Gergen contributes to the theme of isolation and loneliness because it affects Genly Ai a lot of physically and shows similarities in the way he acts.
-Sean Pacheco
-Sean Pacheco
Sunday, February 4, 2018
assuming gender
Genly comes from a world where gender role is a thing. Men dominance is typical from the planet Genly comes from. It's normal to feel attracted to someone based on physical feature including their beauty, style, race, and gender. However now Genly is in a gender-less planet. His struggle is adjusting to this culture. As we know, they do not have any gender that will distinguish their identity. To be with someone is as easy as to just vow "kemmering". This system of marriage eliminates all forms of sexual discrimination, even better it seems like they have solved that flaw that is found on our planet earth. It leads a Gethenian to be capable of taking on both roles as a woman and/or as a man. Despite Genly's years of research about the Gethenian culture, his attitude towards gender is wired to automatically label a person as a male or female on the first encounter.
loneliness can never be a friend
Throughout this book, the cold has been the overall mood of the novel. A cold stricken land where Gethenians choose to stay has change everything about them. how they get there food, there clothing, and life style all revolves around the cold. Especially now with genly and Esterven trapped in the vast land of snow trying there best to get back to karhid. its hard for Genely when Esterven tells him the only way they can survive is to travel all through the mountains. Genly still argues whether it would be safe to cross the ice-crossing than wait till spring. But Esterven only tells him," solitude.." (202) implying that no one will be there during this winter. Also, as they struggle with food supply Estreven come back with a pile of food only to imply that he had stolen it. This also gives out how hard it is to live in the cold were no food can be provided in hand and drastic measures have to be precocious in order to survive.
Furthermore, when Genly explains that,"where there is no beer on winter there is orsh, where there is neither beer nor orsh there are no people"(202). Stating the fact that without something warm and conforming like a hot cup of "orsh", there would be a Communion of people to fight out the solitude the cold give.
Another thing too is that when both are in the most coldest conditions and being close to warmth, Genly ask,"then i am AI-who uses first names?" " hearth brothers or friends..."
later leaving Genly to think "a friend. what is a friend in a world where any friend may be a lover at a new phase of the moon?...they were no flesh of mine, no friends, no love between us"(213). Even in the cold, Esterven strongly tells genly that they could never be friends. This is the solitude cold gives. even in the depth of death these Gethenians choose to be alone in there own world. Helping but never wanting to be friends. This is why solitude and isolation is being portrayed to the cold, because so as the cold wants to be alone, so do these Gethenians who only struggle to survive in there strange world.
The Collateral of the Cold
Genly Ai is already an outsider as it is, from a planet not nearly as cold as Gethen. Throughout the novel, Genly struggles to “fit in”; he is darker and taller than Gethenians and belongs to “...a society of perverts” (38). His mind is already conditioned to see only male and female, despite his years of educated research on genderless beings of another planet. Moreover, Genly finds it difficult to withstand the numbing cold of Winter, which in theory, makes him feel even more lonely and isolated from the people of Gethen, because Gethenians are able to endure the weather in Winter without the need of extra clothing or Chabe stoves. Although, it is not only Genly that feels isolated and alone. Estraven’s exile was a measure that pushed him towards a life of solitude, which is a pretty brutal sentence on a freezing cold planet, and since when one is in exile, it is prohibited for another man to help an exile flee or give an exile shelter. When Estraven fled Karhide and settled in Orgoreyn, he was an outsider, a Karhidish man surrounded by Orgota men. Later in the novel, both Genly and Estraven “...are equals at last, equal, alien, alone” on their three month trek through -40 degree weather, blizzards, and crevassed areas on the Gobrin Ice (251). On the last stretch of their journey, a monstrous blizzard left them trapped in their tent. Genly noted that “outside, as always, lies the great darkness, the cold, death’s solitude” (258). This line illustrates the collateral of the planet’s heinous weather, forcing people to stay inside, isolating them from the rest of the world.
Jasmine Kim
Genly vs. Gethen
Cold is a contrast of heat. Cold weather is often associated with isolation and loneliness because the violent cold climate is a challenge to survive. Throughout the years, televised news programs have reported multiple stories of tragedies that occur to people that are caught in mountains that are covered in snowstorms. Casualties and missing individuals headline these stories as few people are able to survive such harsh conditions. It is like the world is against you, and there is very little hope for survival. You are alone.
The harsh, cold climate on Gethen contributes to the theme of isolation because the harsh, chilly climate emphasizes Genly's loneliness. In the novel, Genly is traveling alone through a foreign planet as the sole representative of the Ekumen. He is out of place on Gethen where he is much taller than Gethenians and is permanently male in contrast to the androgynous nature of Gethen's people. The cold weather furthers Genly's isolation because it is him against the cold world of Gethen. In Chapter 5, Genly travels with a bunch of strangers on his trek to find the Foretellers, and he observes the harsh weather and dangerous mountains of Gethen. On the trip, Genly is forced to sleep on a hard seat in a cold cab as he stated "Karhide is no country for comfort." (51) which demonstrates the theme of isolation because Genly is seeking warmth on the journey, but he is met with discomfort and a lonely night sleep due to the cold weather and isolation from the Gethenians. The cold forces people to stay indoors where there is heat; however, it locks people indoors while isolating people from interacting with others that are scattered outside. Furthermore, as a stranger to Gethen, Genly is not accustomed to the climate and cannot handle the cold weather. He wouldn't be able to survive if he was traveling alone; therefore, the constant cold of Gethen supports the theme of isolation because Genly is the only person who doesn't have the adaptations to handle the cold climate. Luckily, Genly has always had Estraven to support him because without Estraven, Genly would have died in the storm called Gethen.
-Javen Pacion
The harsh, cold climate on Gethen contributes to the theme of isolation because the harsh, chilly climate emphasizes Genly's loneliness. In the novel, Genly is traveling alone through a foreign planet as the sole representative of the Ekumen. He is out of place on Gethen where he is much taller than Gethenians and is permanently male in contrast to the androgynous nature of Gethen's people. The cold weather furthers Genly's isolation because it is him against the cold world of Gethen. In Chapter 5, Genly travels with a bunch of strangers on his trek to find the Foretellers, and he observes the harsh weather and dangerous mountains of Gethen. On the trip, Genly is forced to sleep on a hard seat in a cold cab as he stated "Karhide is no country for comfort." (51) which demonstrates the theme of isolation because Genly is seeking warmth on the journey, but he is met with discomfort and a lonely night sleep due to the cold weather and isolation from the Gethenians. The cold forces people to stay indoors where there is heat; however, it locks people indoors while isolating people from interacting with others that are scattered outside. Furthermore, as a stranger to Gethen, Genly is not accustomed to the climate and cannot handle the cold weather. He wouldn't be able to survive if he was traveling alone; therefore, the constant cold of Gethen supports the theme of isolation because Genly is the only person who doesn't have the adaptations to handle the cold climate. Luckily, Genly has always had Estraven to support him because without Estraven, Genly would have died in the storm called Gethen.
-Javen Pacion
Waves of Myths and Folktales
The Left Hand of Darkness contains chapters that don’t directly deal with the plot of the story, but instead provide the reader with a richer sense of the history, culture of Gethen and where the story takes place. A chapter called “The Question of Sex,” taken from the field notes of an Investigator, provides detailed information about the biology and behavior of the non-existent gender of the Gethenian race. Although the nature of Gethenian sexuality, or the lack of it, has already been alluded to, within the main narrative. This chapter helps provide insight into the ways in which sex and gender have influenced Gethenian culture as a whole. Another chapter, “The Place Inside the Blizzard,” gives readers a better sense of Gethenian cultural norms regarding incest and suicide. On the other note, folktales and myths give depth to the anthropology accounts of the Gethenian people’s habits and customs. For instance, although ice giants likely did not create Gethen, as suggested in “An Orgota Creation Myth”, the chapter provides a useful insight into the Orgota culture, as it explains the culture’s ideas and the basis of their spiritual life about the cycle of light and death, and the important role that darkness and shadows play in daily life and in mythology.
Overall, The Left Hand of Darkness emphasizes on the fact that there is no single, objective truth about the world. By using many types of stories told from many perspectives, Ursula Le Guin, weaves a complex and even sometimes in opposition of the picture of reality. This shows that a variety of viewpoints gives a more complete picture than a single viewpoint could not possibly provide. Although Genly Ai and earlier Investigators can provide the anthropology studies of the world, its people, their observable biology and behavior, it is the chapters written from the myths, and the legends of the Gethenians, that render a true depiction of the people of Gethen as fully-formed beings with complex internal lives and centuries of rich culture and tradition.
-Margareth Simbillo
Friday, February 2, 2018
¡Ai, caramba! These Myths
There are many myths present in Gethenian culture, and what I have observed is that the myths all sort of re-occur more than once in order to align with the plot. For example, one myth that is mentioned very early on is the Place Inside the Blizzard, which basically talks about how after one kemmering brother committed suicide, and the other was banished, both brothers reunited in a place inside of the storm of the planet of Gethen. I think a big part of myths in this world is about seeking to express or explain the attitudes of Gethenians when it comes to things they don’t necessarily agree with. The world was against siblings vowing kemmering so they told a story of what happened to people who once tried that. Later on, I am not sure exactly the chapter (I believe 15 or 16), Estraven and Genly are making their way to Karhide crossing glacier and Genly is worrying about whether or not they will survive the cold and Estraven mentions possibly finding the Place Inside the Blizzard. The fact that Estraven brings up this tale again can be a sign of how widely known myths are in the society, and possibly how many people actually think they are true.
-Brooke Sasse
-Brooke Sasse
Myths and Folk Tales
In chapters 4 and 9 the book gives us little short stories in the form of Gethenian Folk tales, which the call hearth tales.These tales allow us to have a better understanding of the history and culture of Gethen and its people. Chapter 12 tells a couple of legends Meshe, the prophet of the Orgoreyn religion.In chapter 4,Lord Berosty goes to Thangering Fastness to request a foretelling from the Weaver Orden, he asks him what day he will die.Orden tells he with die on "Odstreth", which is the 19th day of any month. After, Lord Berosty gets upset and asks the Weaver Orden what day, but he wouldnt say. So Lord Berosty decides to lock himself in the Hearth-Tower for 10 months. This book is seen as a "science-fiction" which I can see why, but it also has some characteristics of a fairytale, as seen in this chapter. No one can predict death.So what this tells me about their culure is that they dont really have a godly figure to look up they have foretellers and kings.
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