Ingredients

Most of the ingredients we used were mostly whole, fresh foods. The biggest difference was the 100% whole wheat pasta, it contained nothing in the ingredients box other than whole wheat. We changed canned tomatoes to fresh tomatoes and used fresh garlic as well. We also used other natural ingredients such as olive oil and water. Although we used mostly healthy ingredients, I wouldn’t recommend it to eat every day. This is because it still leaves out many food groups. For example, there isn’t any kind of meat or a lot of protein. This means that if you ate it every day, you wouldn’t get all the nutrition that you need. As for calories, the thing that would probably add the most to that count would be the pasta. 

The tomatoes we used most likely came from California because they are the top tomato producing state. This leaves them a fairly far distance to travel. Other ingredients we used probably didn’t come as far. 

Our meal didn’t cost too much to make. We spent less than $20.16 overall not including some items from our homes. The people who probably earned money from our meal would be the farmers that grew the tomatoes, the garlic, the people who made the seasoning, and also Shop Rite, since that is where we bought the food. Most of the food did not come from small companies considering we went to a chain supermarket.

These food items came from all over, the tomatoes were shipped from Jersey to here, The garlic was grown in PA, the Pasta was made in New York, and the Olive oil was manufactured in NY but it says it's Italian. If we grew the tomatoes at home we would have less pesticides (even though they say they don't have any) and they wouldn't have to come from Jersey. If we made the 100% whole wheat pasta at home we would probably mess up, homemade pasta is difficult to make let alone making it with just whole wheat.  

Reflections:

Sarah Charlotte- 

Many things that I learned this unit had to do with some things I already knew, however, I learned about them more in depth during this unit. I found this really interesting. There are a few things (such as some of the things we saw in videos) that cannot be unseen, and that might make some of the food I eat seem slightly less appetizing. For example, the meat industry needs to be changed and I might not look at corn the same way ever again. 

I think that we each have big roles in the food system. I think the main role we have is choosing what we eat, where we get the food from, and who we pay for our food. The companies that make the most money are going to be the ones that stay out there. Like McDonalds. If they don't treat their chickens or cows right and we still buy from them, that won't be stopping anything because we are still giving them our money so they don't see the need to change anything. I think that one of the first things we need to change (besides where we give our money to) is to stop using corn in everything. An easy change to step towards that would be to stop feeding cows and other animals that we raise for meat corn and give them what they are supposed to eat (like grass for cows). 

There are a few things that I can change in my food choices. One of these things would be to change out my regular pasta for whole wheat pasta, buy organic foods, and to overall eat healthier. I don't know if I can actually easily do this, but I am willing to try. 

Helen-

I have honestly learned so much in this unit, obviously I knew that not organic food was worse for you because of the pesticides and growth hormones they inject it with, but I had no idea how bad. In this unit we watched a documentary of this women who worked in a chicken farm, she showed us illegal footage of how the undocumented workers treat the animals. Another thing that ties into not treating animals right is how ecoli spreads in large factories, and could also lead to consumer death. Another thing we did in class was learning about the western diet. The western diet is super bad, not only because of weight gain but because of all of the chemicals to "preserve" or "enhance" flavor. Overall I've realized you should make your own food from scratch.

Basically this unit has widened my eyes to the terrible truth, before this all I knew was organic is better... now I know why. From now on I am going to try to only by organic fruit, meat, and dairy. Although it is going to be super tough, seeing what those animals went through and what I am putting in my own body, I would rather sacrifice a couple of bucks than my health. 

Food Slides:

Helen- cake

Sarah Charlotte- plate

• Ingredients 
• 2 lbs fresh tuna
• 1 lb yuca, fresh or frozen
• 2 tbs sunflower oil
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• ½ red onion, diced
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 8 cups of water
• 5 cilantro sprigs
• Salt to taste
• Analysis

Pasta Salad

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Rotini Noodles, 1 red pepper, 1 yello pepper, broccoli, salad seasoning, italian dressing, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

Directions:

Step 1: boil water for 20 mins
Step 2: prep vegetables; dice red and yellow peppers
Step 3: add rotini noddles into water
Step 4: cover pot for 20 or until rotini noodles are fully cooked; check occasionally
Step 5: boil another pot of water with broccoli for 5-10 mins; broccoli should not be fully cooked
Step 6: turn off pot with rotini noodles once fully cooked
Step 7: pour noodles into  mixing bowl
Step 8: turn off pot with broccoli
Step 9: add broccoli into mixing bowl with rotini noodles
Step 10: add diced red and yellow peppers into mixing bowl; stir it all together
Step 11: add Italian dressing
Step 12: sparkle Parmesan cheese on top
Step 13: sparkle salad seasoning on top
Step 14: put top on mixing bowl
Step 15: Shake mixing bowl
Step 16: sit in refrigerator until cool
Step 17: serve

Analysis:

All the ingredients in my dish is healthy and good for you. I used fresh products and made the whole dish from scratch so that way I knew what was going in it. This dish isn't necessarily organic because I used rotini pasta noodles however the vegetables I used are. The red and yellow peppers and broccoli was made natural without any harsh chemicals. This dish is something I really like but since some people like to put crab meat in it, which I'm allergic to I wanted to make it my own by not adding crab meat. Plus crab meat really isn't organic and healthy. And this is a really popular dish in my family. 

During this course I learn more than I was expecting to learn. This was a really interesting class and I enjoyed it a lot. In this class I learned what my larger role in the food system was, how a baby’s brain develops, neuroscience about criminals, etc. I wan’t expecting to learn how a baby’s brain develops or the effects nutrition and nurture has on a person for their lifetime. I learned that I have a huge role to play in the food system because I’m the one eating the food and I eat what I eat eats, which was something I didn’t really think about before. It got me thinking about changing the way I ate but then again at the same type I didn’t really find another wrong with the way I eat. Since we all are going to die anyways there’s no need to really try to eat better.

During the course of the class, I had some ups and downs and I got frustrated at times because I didn’t understand what was going on. However I was to overcome the obstacles I had and fall back into flow with the rest of the class. I ending up doing all good both quarters and I have the grades to prove it. This was one of the best classes I’ve ever had, it was interesting and thought provoking. 

Reese family chicken noodle soup recipe - 

1 whole onion sliced 

3 stalks of celery chopped

3/4 cups of carrots chopped

1 pound of Boneless skinless trimmed Chicken Thigh sliced

10 cups of water poured

2 large russet potatoes halved

2 Table Spoons of parsley poured

1/2 bag of Pennsylvania Dutch yolk free home style ribbon noodles poured

1/2 tea spoon of salt poured

1 teaspoon of pepper. poured

1 table spoon of oil

2 tons of love 

1 ton of caring

3 cups of Secret Reese Family Ingredients

Directions: Lightly brown chicken thighs in vegetable oil... Add two stalks of celery and one onion quartered. Cover with water. Let simmer for one hour. Remove from heat. Place a strainer into a large pot and place cheesecloth in the bottom of the strainer. Pour contents of pot into the stainer. Remove chicken. Break chicken into small pieces- remove as much fat as possible. In a clean pot, add a small amount of oil ( just enough to coat the bottom of the pot) add 3 stalks of chopped celery, one chopped onion, and carrots.  Place a fresh piece of cheesecloth into a strainer and strain the broth again back into the pot to cover the simmering vegetables. Add the chicken, potatoes, additional water. When boiling- add noodles and parsley and cook for 7 min. Salt and pepper to taste, and add love and care along the way. 

All of the ingredients aside from the chicken, oil, salt, pepper, and noodles are all natural straight from the farm to the store about  45% of the ingredients are processed. One serving is about 240 calories containing about .23 grams of sugar, 1.3 grams of total fat. The body is actually nourished greatly by authentic pennsylvania dutch soup, my mom says that traditionally the dutch grow all of the ingredients and that it is used to cure several ailments of the body and soul. The body is not labored by the digestion process due to the low sugar and fat content of the soup, if you cut out salt and pepper it makes the dish healthier but I season to taste. All of the ingredients are either extremely low in sodium and fat or all natural and our bodies are meant to digest it, living in an urban environment it is hard to acquire fresh ingredients for some parts of the recipe. The meal is actually a poor mans meal meaning it can be eaten everyday and sustain the person without causing bodily harm of course if all the ingredients are kept natural as they are supposed to. I wouldn't even know where to start guessing where the ingredients were grown, probably rural states like Ohio and Idaho. I think the salt traveled the furthest, there are no foreign ingredients so probably less than 2,000 miles. The vegetables were not organically grown although traditionally they should be all naturally grown. The price of the soup was under 10$ to make including the cost of using the stove. Of course corporations can do this on a larger scale and for less money but my families soup tastes far superior because there is one ingredient that is special to mine, love. 

My role in the larger food system is to balance the ecosystem by making sure to eat the things that reside lower in the food chain. As a human I am at the top of the food chain and my responsibility is to hunt and eat.  The biggest problems with our food system is that we over consume proteins and starches which leads to a unhealthy and unbalanced diet that causes diseases of the body due to dietary unhealthiness. We need to switch to eating more natural and energy efficient food such as vegetables and fruits.  I could cut sodas, sugars, caffeine, fast food, and other heavily processed and unhealthy food.  The impact of these changes would probably make my heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys healthier. I am not willing to make these changes.