Ingredients:

- Fellow Sheets (Flour Sheets) One pack 20 sheets
- Canola oil half cup
- Almonds half pound
- Sugar 4 tbsp
- Vanilla
- Syrup (4 small cups of sugar and 1 1/2 cups of water and 1 tbsp of lemon juice)

Directions:
1. Bring the a rectangular tray and brush it over with the canola oil so it doesn't stick to the pan
2. Divide the 20 sheets into 2 groups: one group for the bottom and one group for the top.
3. Put 10 flour sheets on the tray for the bottom and every two sheets you put down, brush the whole surface with canola oil.
4. Put half a pound of almonds into a food processor and grind until it is in small pieces.
5. Take the almonds out of the food processor and place into another bowl. Then proceed to add the 4 tbsp of sugar into the almonds and add the vanilla in as well.
6. Put in a bit of water and mix.
7. Spread the almonds onto the sheets you prepared and then take the other group of 10 sheets and every two sheets you put down, brush the surface of the sheet with canola oil.
8. Then proceed to cut the whole thing into small square pieces. (you can make the pieces big or small). Then spread canola oil all over the top.
9. Then put the whole tray into the oven on 325˚ for 30 minutes. Then after the 30 minutes has passed, raise the temperature to 450˚ for 5 minutes exact.

(Meanwhile you already prepared the syrup just by mixing the 4 small cups of sugar, 1 1/2 cups of water,  together and then put them on the stove until it boils. Then lower the flame a bit and add the 1 tbsp of lemon juice in. Let it proceed to boil until the mix looks like a honey mixture. Let it cool completely.)
10. Proceed to take the tray out.
11. Right when you take it out, spread the cooled syrup on top of the whole baklava.

Analysis

a. I would say that its approximately 25% processed and 75% whole foods. Everything is whole except the Almonds. The almonds are the only processed.

b. The caloric count is about 250 calories, about 7 grams of sugar id assume, and about 10 g of fat I'd say. My body will store some of sugar that it obtained from the baklava I made and get rid of what it doesnt need to the liver.  Some health issues that would come up if I ate this meal every day would be diabetes because of the amount of sugar it has, possibly get sick because I am not taking in certain amounts of nutrition, just alot of protein, sugar.

c.  About everything came from the United States I'd say, but I would say that it was mostly grown in California, because it is a popular place to grow many ingredients, especially the almonds. The sheets and vanilla traveled far I know because they were bought from an Arabic Store, in which most of the products were made in Middle Eastern countries. It was not organically grown. The processing for the sheets may effect the environment, but on the package it said it was processed in a factory, so the factory probably uses gas and that gas goes to the atmosphere, etc.

d. The meal, not counting everything in all of the packaging (only the amount of ingredients used) approximately costed 10 dollars. It is so much better than fast food because 2 sandwichs from Mcdonalds would cost about 10 dollars while this 10 dollar pastry would last you a very long time because of the large quantity made from the partial amount of ingredients.

Companies:
Fellow flour sheets

Berkley and Jensen

Wesson

Domino

Badia

I would say that Berkley and Jensen and Wesson are big companies and the others are smaller espeicially because they are from middle eastern companies. I believe that there is always a bigger company that controls everything.

e. I'd say that they probably added some preservatives and also grew them in a certain way to make them either grow faster or grow a certain size/ have a certain taste etc. Just like we saw in the movie, how they use different fertilizers and feed differently makes the product different than if you were to grow normally. Many companies say certain things to attract customers. They will say anything to please the people; money over everything basically. Growing the ingredients myself might not give me the best quality that you get from using different fertizlizers and such, but it would still be fresh and "clean".

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Personal Reflection

If it weren't for this quarter, I definitely would not have known this much about food and the real story behind where your food comes from. I learned things that I really was surprised about, such as the point that 90% of all foods are either made with or from corn, food conditions (how they are slaughtered, treated, etc.), how the food industry has a hold on everyone, and how every single word you say can be used against you. I could keep naming so many more things I learned, but it would make this more of a list, not a reflection. Learning all this information in this unit, making presentations on the Food Inc. movie, presenting all that infromation; it made me think about what I can do to inform people about what is truly in their food and how their food is produced. Many people don't get the chance to be informed like we did, and its a problem. People need to become educated and find out more; do research, do interviews, go the extra step. The government doesn't want us to know about the truth, but if we knew the truth and we spread the word, it would impact the world in a big way, and possibly make change in the food industry. Another problem in our food system is the point that its basically all about the money. If the people don't know about it, then why tell them and possibly lose the money? People have to really fight to put all of this out in the open. After watching and learning so much this unit, it has actually change my eating habits in a big way. I started eating less outside, I encouraged my parents to buy many products from the amish stores around the block and they finally did so, and I even started reading the nutrition facts and trying to avoid the bad stuff like high fructose corn syrup, etc. These choices have really played a great impact. I stopped spending so much money, I'm becoming more informed, and I'm more content with what I'm putting into my mouth. I think that if everyone were to take the same step I took, it would really impact their lives for the good as well. In conclusion, this unit has really taught me alot, and though many people might not think the same way I did after this unit, I'm really glad I learned what I did. From Food Inc. to organic/non-organic foods, this unit was a great learning experience.

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Food Rules Slide

Recipe & Analysis 
Healthy Rasta Pasta Meal

1. (1 serving)

- Steamed broccoli (1/4 cup)

- Rotini noodles (bowl)

- Small-diced carrots (1/5 cup)

- Loose corn (1/7 cup)

- Black pepper (3 pinches)

- Parmesan cheese (5 pinches)

- Garlic butter sauce (3 spoons)

Steps....

• Boil noodles at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes until they are soft

• Steam broccoli with black pepper, small diced carrots and corn in a pot for about 10 minutes

•  Drain noodles after soft, and mix noodles with the broccoli, carrots and corn

• Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the meal

a.             I'd say that the majority of the food is processed, because I had to chop and remove the outside layer of the carrots, and cut the broccoli. I bought the corn loose as it was, but I assume it was processed because corn comes from cob, they are attached, and so the company shaved the corn off of the cob. I am not sure about the noodles, but more than likely it is processed. 

b.             The Caloric count is 140, 5 grams of sugar (a lot, did not realize that), 8 grams of fat (I think its a lot with 4.5 of that being saturated fat.  That is mostly likely from animals. Saturated fat is greasy, or oily and that’s understandable because this meal was pasta that had garlic BUTTER sauce. My body will store some of the sugar that it got from the meal, and eject what it does not need into the liver.  3,500 calories is stored in your body for when you are not active. This is the body's way of saving energy that is mean o be burned off, it not, then it stays stored can most likely will be hard to "unstore".

c.            If I were to eat nothing but this meal everyday, then I would not be getting the OTHER essentials that my body needs, and my body would get tired of the same fats, oils, sugars, etc. 

d.            I think that my ingredients didn’t come from that far because I only have farming veggies and noodles. The veggies can get old fast, and if traveling from a far, that more dangerous or more aware you want to be about your food. So I think mine came from the far east coast of the U.S. My corn/broccoli/carrots came from a farm in Minneapolis, from a company called Green Giant. I was close. They came more so from the Middle Western part of the U.S. where they have that more of a hot weather and requirements to actually farm.

e.             This meal costs, $4.79. Compared to other junk and fatty foods, this meal costs less than a meal from McDonalds where those meals there can be $ 5.00 and unsurprisingly higher. However, a person can benefit more from just my meal. It is owned by General Mills.

f.              From a company, they add a lot of preservatives, and fertilizer rather than just you growing your own food. Companies advertise differently in order to attract hungry consumers. They say things to make a consumer want to buy from them. They have commercial ads that supposedly show where they are producing the broccoli, how, where it’s being packaged to etc, just to make the consumer feel comfortable. 

My role in the larger food system consists of different views. For me, the way that the food system is treating what and me I am receiving is OK. Mainly because the side effects of fracking aren’t affecting me directly, is why I am ok with it.  Also, the way that our food is preserved, companies use too much of this, and too less of that.  Too may cloned, plants that isn’t what the mother of nature provided freshly from nothing. My food has to be cloned. The sound is very uncomfortable. However, if I were the resident of a house who lived in an area that was being bombarded by frackers, and that effected my physically, and the food, there would not be one pinch of happiness within me. I would not even want to stay at my house to fight the system because I would already be disgusted that it has already begun.  Then again, if I was the system, I would do what   I have to do in order to better the country. As for the whole western diet. SMH. It is a matter of a person. The person who has that overweight problem has to be motivated in order to take action to change their weight.  Is the problem that they are not being motivated enough? They take death lightly? Why is that?  

My Food Rule Graphic

My Food Slide

A Play On Saladworks Sophie’s Salad.

Makes: 4 Servings

Time: About 20 Minutes

Ingredients

-       1 bag or head of Organic lettuce (Any brand)

-       ½ Apple

-       2 handfuls of lo Mein noodles

-       2 handfuls of croutons (If preferred)

-       1 chicken

-       ½ Cup of shredded cheddar cheese

-       ½ cup of walnuts (Or any nut you’d like)

-        Raspberry Vinaigrette  Salad Dressing or Oriental Sesame Salad Dressing (Desired Amount)

Directions

- Grill Chicken Breast and cut into long stripes and then dice chicken up

-  Cut up head of organic lettuce and put into a large serving bowl or pour bag of lettuce into serving bowl

- Cut apple half into bite size cubes and put into a separate bowl with your ½ cup of walnuts and shredded cheese (All of these ingredients will be kept together to prevent wilting and sogginess of other ingredients)

-  Hand mix apples, cheese and walnuts together to even out the portions

- Pour apple, walnut, and cheese mix into the serving bowl with lettuce

- Lastly, Sprinkle Lo Mein noodles and croutons onto the salad mix and pour on desired amount of salad dressing

-- Grab a bowl and Enjoy!

     I believe that depending on the type of each ingredient you purchase that determines how much of this meal is processed and how much is whole food. For example, if you were to purchase organic chicken breast as oppose to the processed chicken breast that would drastically change the percentage of processed food in the meal.

      Since I usually change the original recipe to my liking and what I’m in the mood for the calories are very different each time I make this dish so below is the nutritional information for the original Sophie’s Salad.

    I’m positive that each ingredient in my salad came from the U.S.  I don’t believe any of these ingredients would have to travel any extreme distance. Again, I would say that depending on the type of ingredient you were to purchase that would determine how organic the meal was

      I believe that all together this meal cost around $25.00 and serves 4 people and sometimes more if you were to use bigger portions of the ingredients. I believe that a huge corporation would be Perdue  because they are well known chicken producers and the chances of people paying the extra amount of money to get organic chicken breast and this salad can’t be made without chicken so usually people settle for companies such as Perdue.

 My Source: 

- http://nutrition.saladworks.com/nutrition/salads

 I really enjoyed this unit because I learned a lot about some things I had never even heard of especially while watching the Food, Inc. Movie. There were some things in this unit I already knew and my knowledge was just increased and then there were things such as the “Pig Scolder” that I knew nothing about.

     My role in the larger food system would definitely be a consumer because most if not all of my money is spent on fast food.  I can honestly say I order or pick up an order of French fries once a week.

     The biggest problem with our food system is that nothing is real anymore. Everything that we are served as a society is processed or shot up with hormones in some sort of way and the foods that are real and organic are way out the average price range of families so they can never afford to eat the way they should.

     Some changes that I could make to my food choices are that I could spend less money on take out and fast foods by making more meals at home that are more healthy for me such as organic. Instead of trying to order out everyday I could make my lunch at home which would be healthier and cheaper.

     Once I made these changes not only would I actually have money during the week but I’d be way healthier and it would probably help me do things with less of struggles such as walking to the 5^th floor of the building everyday.

     Honestly, I’m not willing to give up fast food because I enjoy eating French fries too much. If there was a way to get healthier fries for the same price as fast food and they tasted just as good as the unhealthy fries I would be more incline to stop eating fast food.

Own Reflection

Coming into the food unit I knew nothing about food.  I learned a lot of fascinating facts about food. For example 90% of our food is made from corn.  As I was watching the Food, Inc documentary I felt very bad for the ways that animals had to be brought in to be slaughtered.  As I was riding home on septa I was having a conversation with my dad and stated to him that I watched Food, Inc documentary and said,  “I feel bad about what happens to the animals as they get brought in to get slaughtered,” so his response to me was are you going to stop eating meat and become vegetarian?

As a response to this comment I stated, “I can never become vegetarian and that I will always be a meat eater and that it would be very difficult for me to cut this out, even though it is killing animals.” According to the 10 Biggest Issues with the Global Food System, most of the problems in the food system stem from one gigantic problem concentration of power, land, wealth, and political influence in the hand of a few large players who have gamed the system for their benefit.  Some changes I could make to my food choices are to eat healthier.  The impact of these could help me lose weight and not have the health problems I currently have now such as being over weight, and having high blood pressure.  Yes I would be willing to make these changes because I want to have a healthy life and not to have continuous health problems in life.

Food Recipe Analysis:

The recipe of Fudge Brownie contains at least 75% of processed foods and approximately 25% of whole foods. A pinch of salt is 1/16 of tsp and 147 mg of sodium. I cup of flour contains 440 calories.  Four eggs contain 280 calories. One teaspoon of baking powder has 440 mg of sodium. Two teaspoons of vanilla contain 0.8 mg sodium, 24 calories, and 1 g of sugar. One cup of butter is 112 calories, 880 mg sodium, and 112 g fat.  One 12-ounce bag of chocolate chips has 1,680 calories and 96 g of fat. 

With a “sugar high” you are going to have one of two reactions. You are going to feel either happy and energetic or nauseous and drowsy.  This is because the amount of sugar intake is increasing the amount of insulin in a person’s body. The insulin is trying to dominate the sugar in your blood. Salt is somewhat healthy for the body; however, the problem with salt is not the salt itself but the condition of the salt that influences the quality of the product. Salt is considered a healing process to the human body.  Flour can cause glucose levels to rise that can lead to obesity.  Eggs are very healthy, full of lots of vitamins, proteins, and fats, which is able to help a person lose weight by controlling your hunger for the rest of the day. Semisweet chocolate is healthier than dark chocolate because it contains less sugar, lowers blood pressure, decreases cholesterol levels and lowers the chance of heart disease.

Food Directions:

1 package semisweet chocolate chips

Cup of butter

Salt

Sugar

Eggs

Baking powered

Vanilla

Nuts

1.     Grease 9x13 inch baking pan: preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.      Combine chocolate chips and butter in a large saucepan.

3.     Melt over low heat stirring, constantly, remove from heat. In a small bowl combine eggs, salt, sugar: blend well.  Add chocolate mixture blend well. Stir in flour, baking powder, and vanilla until well blended.

4.     Stir in nuts if desired.

5.     Pour into prepare pan bake 25 minutes  or until brownie begins to pull away from edge of pan.

6.     Let stand until cool. Cut into bars.

http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/the-nutrition-of-semisweet-chocolate.html 

http://www.puristat.com/standardamericandiet/processedfoods.aspx 

http://www.puristat.com/standardamericandiet/processedfoods.aspx 

http://altmedangel.com/salt.htm

http://nutrition.about.com/od/askyournutritionist/f/eggs_protein.htm

My role in the larger food system as of now is the consumer I would like to become an active consumer. And what I mean by active consumer I that to get more involved in knows in about what I’m eating as well as was it came from. I see the biggest problem in the food system to be the food testing companies. Because after watching Food Inc I noticed that if the food testing companies start testing food correctly less people would get sick and harmful food products wont even make it to the shelves of stores.

After watching Food Inc. and reading several items would like to change my diet but it would be extremely hard because I’m’ already used to process unhealthy foods. But if I were to change my diet I’d try eating thing that didn’t have a lot of corn or products in them as well as try to buy the mostly organic food. 

Jazzy Jambalaya

Ingredients

2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil

2 Tbsp Flour

1 Green Pepper (chopped)

1 Medium Onion (chopped)

1 Garlic Clove (miced)

1 ½ Cup of Vegetable Juice

1Pkg 14 oz Smoked Turkey Sausage (Thinly sliced)

1 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast (one inch chunks)

¼ Tsp Ground Black Pepper

¼ Tsp Salt

1/8 Tsp Ground Red Pepper

Hot Cooked Rice

Directions

Cook and stir oil and flour in large skillet on medium-high heat for 2 minutes until golden brown. Add green pepper, onion, and garlic. Cook and stir for 2 minutes until vegetables start to soften. Stir in juice, turkey sausage, chicken and spices. Bring to boil; cover. Reduce heat; simmer for 10 minutes until chicken is cooker through, stirring occasionally. Serve over rice. (Makes 4 servings)

The ingredients I used in my dish were green peppers, onion, garlic, vegetable juice, turkey sausage, and chicken breast. The percentage of my ingredients was processed was 40% which was the chicken breast and the turkey sausage. The other 60% was whole foods. There was 12 grams total fain the chicken breast and 4 grams of fat in the turkey sausage. As fro the vegetable juice there was 0 grams of fat. There were also o grams of fat for the green pepper, onion as well as the garlic. The vegetables and vegetable juice would probably sit best with the stomach and are the healthiest of the six ingredients.

The meal itself is a great nutrious meal its something that everyone can eat. And doest has a lot of processed ingriendtss. But the cost of the ingriends to prepare the meal would scare some families away because it cost about 25 dollars for the indriens and it only makes 4 servings. As far was the food actually cam from I’m not sure. I pretty sure the vegetables came from a farm close by because I bought them from a produce junction. But as far as the meats are concerned I think they were raised in one of the farms we see in the Food Inc. movie.