Nashrah Malik's quarter 2 artwork

This quarter I followed tutorials from draw space website. My aim for this quarter was to work on shedding and I did. I worked hard this time and I see some improvements as well. I am trying my best to improve more. 
IMAG0125-1
IMAG0125-1
IMAG0124-1
IMAG0124-1
IMAG0123-1
IMAG0123-1
IMAG0122-1
IMAG0122-1
IMAG0120-1
IMAG0120-1
IMAG0119-1
IMAG0119-1
IMAG0118-1
IMAG0118-1
IMAG0117
IMAG0117
IMAG0116
IMAG0116
IMAG0115-1
IMAG0115-1
IMAG0114-1
IMAG0114-1
IMAG0112-1
IMAG0112-1
IMAG0111-1
IMAG0111-1
IMAG0110-1
IMAG0110-1
IMAG0109-1
IMAG0109-1
IMAG0108-1
IMAG0108-1
IMAG0107-1
IMAG0107-1
IMAG0106-1
IMAG0106-1
IMAG0105-1
IMAG0105-1
IMAG0104-1
IMAG0104-1
IMAG0103-1
IMAG0103-1
IMAG0102-1
IMAG0102-1
IMAG0101-1
IMAG0101-1
IMAG0100-1
IMAG0100-1
IMAG0099-1
IMAG0099-1
IMAG0098-1
IMAG0098-1
IMAG0096-1
IMAG0096-1
IMAG0095-1
IMAG0095-1

School Troubles

In the second grade I was transferred out of my original elementary school into a school on york and dolphin right around the corner from kensington avenue. Kensington avenue is a part of philadelphia that is dominated by one race, well not one race but one “type” of people that type of person(s) are latino or latina. So me moving from a predominantly african american school to this one was a huge adjustment. Me, myself being a african american with no ties to the latinos or their language which at the time seemed to be an alien language. The closest “tie” to latino language is being around my grandpa's house, he lives around the corner from Edison high school this area is also a latino dominated area. Me going to this new school was difficult. This new school that i would graduate at the top of my class in eighth grade was called “William H. Hunter elementary school” (school district of philadelphia.)  In this school they did everything differently such as way they teach, the way they learn, what they teach. In this school i had many language obstacles to overcome perhaps the biggest was the fact that i didn’t talk or understand. Me not knowing spanish was an extreme disadvantage even more so than being a different race than everyone else.

Throughout my first year in “Hunter” I had difficulties in all my classes because not only were the students almost always speaking spanish but so were the teachers, so that the kids would understand the material. This was the biggest obstacle but not the only one. Another obstacle was that when i did speak the little spanish i had picked up i spoke it very slow, even to this day thats a disadvantage in high school during spanish class i speak slow so that i can pronounce each words properly. In elementary school when i spoke spanish slow i was laughed at. Another bad thing that came out of my first year in that school were i received my first “C”. I was laughed at and talked about because of my language,but i made a friend. We became friends what they learn and the language they thought in. Since I come from an African American household where English was the only language we spoke and so did he. This change want only drastic for me but also for my friend as well as, my family because now they worried about how I would learn rather than if i would learn. Also the way the school ran also affect the other black boy because he had similar problems with language so we became close friends because of language. Due to the other kids not accepting us we were forced to become friends. Me and the other boy had another big possible with acceptance we were called a name "Moreno" at the time I had no idea what that word meant. All i knew was that it was a reference to blacks. This problem was resolved quickly. After these acts my school experience became a lot better. There were no more classes with Spanish teaching or talking.

Also there were more kids of the black variety. In my mind the reason my experience became better is because of the addition of more black something the school was missing. From these experiences i learned how important language is to acceptance, popularity, and the overall ways people act toward each other because of differences. My experience with language wasn’t all bad during this time i also learned that language also brings people together because of either similarities to the group or differences. Language also shaped me to the person i am today because of that experience i learned to be careful with language because of language battles and language wars. I also learned to stay true to yourself because though all of the struggles you come  by there can always be a good outcome.








Mar Adentro

Morgan Marant
Synopsis



Sinópsis
La película Mar Adentro se trata de un tetrapléjico Ramón Sampedro. Ramón Sampedro vivío en Porto do Son, Galicia, España. Ramón fue pescadero, un día pasado él fue a nadar y el rompío el cuello. Entonces se le paralizado del cuello hacia abajo. Durante muchos años, hermana de Ramón y su hermano-en-ley tiene que cuidar de él. Él vive en agonía, sabiendo que él nunca será capaz de caminar, correr o nadar de nuevo. Su hermano se opone a la eutanasia, pero Ramón se encuentra a dos mujeres que se enamoran de él. Julia, una abogada que sufre de una enfermedad, se crea un caso legal para Ramón, pero se enamora de él, y él con ella.

Julia le ayuda a publicar un libro de su poesía, pero luego, tras acordar un conjunto suicidio, ella cambia de opinión y decide no suicidarse. Entonces una mujer llamada Rosa, una joven madre soltera que ha tenido una vida muy dura, también se enamora de Ramón. Ella trata de cambiar de opinión, y argumenta que su ejemplo ha inspirado y la salvó de una vida de desesperación. Ramón le desafía: "La persona que me ama de verdad va a ser el que me ayuda a cometer suicidio".

A partir del caso legal de Ramón se ha perdido, él parece estar lleno de desesperación y no tiene a donde ir. Aunque Rosa, modificado por su amor a Ramón, finalmente accede a ayudar a morir. Su objetivo en un extremo grabado en video en el que sostiene que lo que está haciendo es su derecho y que no se debería culpar a los demás o procesados ​​por ella, sorbos de cianuro a través de una paja, y muerte.

Muchos de los temas en Mar adentro habló sobre el derecho de la persona de vivir y morir. ¿Las personas tienen derecho a quitarse la vida? ¿El gobierno tiene el derecho de decirle a la gente que no puede quitarse la vida? Otro tema, que se encontraba en el Mar Adentro había sobre el amor. Si un amante te apoyo completamente? Incluso si quisiera quitarse la vida? Ramón Sampedro encuentra dos amores en la película a pesar de que ambos son diferentes.

Creo que el gobierno no tiene el derecho de decirle a alguien si deben vivir o morir. Yo creo que la pena de muerte no es justo. Las personas deben ser capaces de vivir de la manera que deseen. Incluso si esa vida se refiere a la muerte. Especialmente en el caso de Ramón Sampedro, un hombre que es un parapléjico. Él no tiene ningún uso para su cuerpo, se siente como si su vida es una pérdida de tiempo y una gran carga para sus familiares. Creo que nadie debería ser una carga. Ramón también quería desesperadamente a morir, pero sabía que no podía pedir a sus miembros de la familia para hacer eso por el riesgo que ellos irían a la cárcel.

La película Mar adentro fue sin duda una lacrimógena. Eso me puso en la posición de alguien que luchó con vida. Creo que la película y la actuación fue bien construido. Las escenas eran hermosas. Y el entorno era perfecto. Me conmovió y me hizo llorar. Creo que fue una gran película porque te hizo pensar. Lo que te hacía preguntas. Daban ganas de luchar por los derechos de una persona que nunca te conocí. Películas como Mar Adentro son importantes porque hacen que la gente cuestiona los motivos de nuestro gobierno. Si el gobierno tiene el control completo. ¿Debería el gobierno jugar a ser Dios?
sea_of_galilee
sea_of_galilee

Julian Makarerchi- Quarter 2 Sketches and Artist Statement

I am Julian Makarechi a sophomore at Science Leadership Academy. I have taken some art classes in the past at my old elementary school, but nothing serious. This is my second year taking art at SLA and my second quarter in this advanced art class. Like last year I have Ms. Hull as my teacher and she has been able to teach me many different methods to improve my artistic skills. The sketches below are drawings that were assigned to do on drawspace.com. This site is very helpful, its explains how to do each drawing and shows you other peoples sketches as well. As the quarter went by my sketches started to improve, I was able to get a general understand of most of the topics. The sketches vary from portraits and animals to shading and squirkles. I am pretty happy with my art work and how I have developed it. 



How to make flickr slideshow:
1. Create a flickr account on flickr.com (very simple; you may sign up with gmail or facebook)
2. Upload you pictures to your photo stream (you may rotate and add caption them if you would like)
3. Transfer all your desired pictures from your photo stream to a set by "clicking create set"
4. Finally turn that set into a slideshow and take the embed code to post on other sites.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Language AutoBiography: Restrictions

There are a lot of different ways that people can say so many words. It differs each time you go to a different state. I am from South Philadelphia, and I was born and raised here, and the way that I say some words differs from the way others say some words. I sometimes put an extra syllable at the end of my words, or i stretch the word out and my parents mock me for it so I try to change the way I speak, but it’s hard because I’ve spoken that way for as long as I can remember. Sometimes I leave a letter or the ending of a word out, and that’s just because of my accent. My boyfriend’s mom’s name is Jen, and she is from New York, so she has a different way of saying some words than I do because of our different accents. Some of the words we say are the same, but some of them are completely different. “Joe go get your ‘beg’!” Yelled Jen from the top of the basement stairs. “Jen what did you just say?” I asked her because I didn’t think I heard her right. “I asked Joe to get is beg.” she said with a confused look on her face. “You mean bag, Jen?”  “I’m from New York I have a different accent than you.” “Oh okay.” I giggled as I said it because I forgot that I have an accent too, its just hard to realize it because almost everyone around me has the same accent that I do. There is more than just one word we say differently because of our two different accents. Another word we say differently is bagel. Jen says it as “baygel” and I say it as “begel”. Sometimes people that have the same accent as me say words differently. I was talking to Alexis about needing an envelope for money and she said, “Bail, I need an onvelope for this money.” “Lex you mean you need an envelope?” “Bail, it’s onvelope.” “No Lex, it’s envelope. It’s spelled with an -en.” We went into this long conversation about if its pronounced envelope of onvelope, and we even asked Joe, my mom, and Joe’s little brother Matty, until we just realized that it could be said either way depending on your accent. Another word a lot of people have controversy over how it’s said is caramel. Some people say it as it is spelled, so caramel, and other people say it with out the second -a, so carmel. It’s hard to understand some accents and some are very easy to understand because some of them could possibly sound a little bit like your accent, but the ones that are very hard to understand will probably not even be close to your accent.  Every time you say something that is different from the way someone else says it, it usually means that they have a different accent than you, and that’s not a bad thing, it just means that they say words differently than you, or their voices sound different when they say words.

Kimberly Parker's Quarter Two Artwork.

During the second quarter of senior art class, I brushed up a lot on my drawing skills. I bought myself a brand new sketch book to start fresh and my goal was to only draw things in it that I knew I was going to be really proud of. Before this quarter, I was working a lot with charcoal so I wanted to switch it up a little and just use my pencil for a lot of the work that I did. I really wanted to improve my drawing skills so my drawings look a little more realistic. I think this really showed through with my daffodil drawing. That is the drawing I am most proud of doing this quarter. It took me about three class periods to complete because I was being very meticulous with the shading. I wanted it to look good enough to be a tattoo, that is what I kept envisioning. 

I also worked on a project at home. I was doing some research online and I came across a Crayola canvas. It really looked interesting and I wanted to try it out. I went to the craft store Michael's and picked up a new canvas and the biggest pack of Crayola crayons I could buy. I color organized the crayons the way I wanted them to be on the canvas. I then hot glued each crayon onto the canvas in a zig zag pattern. My next step was to take a hair dryer and put it on high and melt the tops of the crayons so the wax melted and dripped down the canvas. I was very happy with the way it turned out. I used my friend’s professional camera to take a picture of it. 

After that project, I went back into pencil drawings. I drew a bunch of pictures of my favorite cartoon characters. This included the Cheshire Cat, the Caterpillar, Alice, and the Mad Hatter, all from the movie ‘Alice in Wonderland.’ Then I drew Jake and Fin from ‘Adventure Time’, my favorite TV show. I also threw in one charcoal drawing I drew down Valley green and two flower pastel drawings. I really enjoyed art this quarter because I did a variety of different things and I got to brush up on my drawing skills and make a Crayola canvas. 



photo-1
photo-1
photo-3
photo-3
photo-2
photo-2
photo-4
photo-4
photo-9
photo-9
photo
photo
photo-6
photo-6
photo-5
photo-5
photo-7
photo-7
photo-8
photo-8
75091_151128198372361_734596571_n
75091_151128198372361_734596571_n

Lang Auto Bio




For  our second benchmark mark we are studying languages within ourselves. I choose to write about the code switching I do between my friend, family,and to older people.



Language is how you speak. Everyone has a different way of speaking.When I’m with my friends I may come off as sarcastic or as if I do not care. When I really take a sad story and turn it into something I can cope with. But not every story me and my friends talk about that way is sad. When a person asks a question they already know the answer to we speak sarcastic. For example if you ask how many fingers a normal person has you should already know the answer. I look at my friend they will look at me and then we would start smiling. Next comes our sarcasm. We might respond with something such as “15” or to really laugh we might say “non, we do not know what a finger is.”



I thought that writing about this could help me really understand why I do it. I guess that if people knew what I do then they might stop acting dumb. Well those who read this. What does sracman mean to me? I think of it as a way to insult idiots without them realizing it. Am I a mean person for it? Well I don’t think so. I’m sarcastic 75% of the time, but that doesn’t mean that i’m never serious.


There was this time when abounce of my friends and I was sitting around a table. Of course there when outsiders there but when do they ever matter? We were talking about this youtube video about this girl who was dancing on a locker and she fell off.  We watched the video over and over again because it was funny. A Bi-standard walked by and was like omg did she just fall? We laughed again but this time not at the video at the dummy with a stupid question. I replied no she did it because she wanted to. She bumped her head because she thought she could become smarter. Everybody laughed. The dummy with a dumb question felt stupid. My goal is complete.  


Is what i’m doing a nice thing? Can people benefit from how I speak to them? Probably not, but the big question is ask me if I care. It’s not my fault that I think sometimes before I talk unlike most of the students that goes to my school. Asking question you know the answer to will get you nowhere. It’s like asking your mother how many siblings you have, when you live with all of them everyday. Or asking how many numbers is in the alphabet when you use a computer to make a living.


There are times where people ask question they know the answer to and you can not reply sarcastic. You must look at them differently and or begin to laugh.





Here’s a time when my sister said something that almost made me want to homeschool her my self. My father was mins away from getting a foot operation. He was telling us about the other operations he has overcome. One of them was when he had gotten his appendix removed. After he said it my younger sister turned around and replies “You have no kidney?”

What can you say to a question as such. Nothing you sit there and crack up laughing. You laugh until your “Kidney” falls out.



I use sarcasm a lot. my definition of it is I think of it as a way to insult idiots without them realizing it. I wouldn’t speak to someone who is older then me and is my family the way I do to my friends. I am not addicted to sarcasm so much that I use it every time. I know who I should use it on and who I shouldn’t. If my mom says something she already knows the answer to I’ll just answer it and not make her seem dumb. But if it is one of my friends well thats a whole new story.

***1/30/12 WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE***

​8:15
Seniors - report to CAFE

Juniors - report to 5TH FLOOR

AMES - - - - - - - - - - - 506
BAIRD/MENASION - -504
HULL - - - - - - - - - - - - 502
MILES - - - - - - - - - - - 521
KAY/HIRSCH- - - - -501

Sophomores - report to regular ADVISORY ROOMS

Freshmen  - report to
BEY - - - - - - - - - - - -LIBRARY
MARTIN - - - - - - - - - LIBRARY
LATIMER/POHOMOV - 301
JONAS - - - - - - - - - -313
MANUEL - - - - - - - - -207
VK - - - - - - - - - - - - 304

***THE REST OF THE SCHEDULE CAN BE FOUND ON THE FRONT PAGE OF MOODLE***

My q2 Work

Screen Shot 2013-01-01 at 10.50.11 AM
Screen Shot 2013-01-01 at 10.50.11 AM
​I spent this quarter really working on my web design skills and perfecting my website portfolio because I was informed that it can count (if I want) as a part of my portfolio. Above was my original lay out. In the original lay out I have a small self description, background music option, a comment section, a page view counter, and a slide show of my art. I was okay with this lay out for a while but I was receiving a lot of feedback that I needed to make it look more professional. 

Below is the results of me changing things up; the current lay out of my website. 

Basically, I googled what a professional website portfolio looked like and then tried to make something close to the things I was seeing without losing the feel that I wanted my gallery to have. I kept the color scheme that I had originally had but got rid of the unnecessary things like the page view counter and comment section. I also changed the format of the way the pictures were displayed. Originally I had them in a slide show format but I didn't like the fact that depending on the size of the picture, the size of the entire webpage would change. So to fix that, I put all the pictures onto in a "div" and then set it so that the side bar locked and you could auto scroll down through the images using the buttons on the side. 

I'm like the new lay out more than the old mostly because of the fact that everything on the site now is coded by my hands. On the original layout, a few things were codes that other  people had made and then I had modified to fit my needs whereas in this one, all the coding was done from the ground up by me because I have a little better understanding of how to do things now. 

There's still plenty work and adjustments to be made and tons more coding that I need to learn but It's a process. One that I look forward to reaching the end of. My next mission is to figure out how to set things so that when you click on the picture it can show you a description and backstory of each individual one. 



On a side note I did make a few new art pieces since last quarter in between my web designing. 
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 11.57.06 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 11.57.06 PM

Ronald and Mabintu's Attieke and Grilled Chicken

Ingredients (for two servings):
1 Onion
1 Green pepper
1 Tomato
2 African hot peppers
5 Maggi cubes
1 Package Chicken tray
 cup of vegetable oil 

Instructions:
1.) Pour 5 oz. of dehydrated attieke into a large pot.
2.) Heat 5 oz. of water until warm. Pour the water in the pot with the attieke while stirring gently. Allow the attieke to soak for 5 to 10 minutes.
3.) Place the pot on the stove and cook for 4 to 5 minutes. Stir the attieke continuously. Use a fork to prevent the grains from sticking together.
4.) Turn off the heat and remove the pot from the stove.                             
5.) Place the attieke in a large bowl and wait for it to cool down.
6.) For the second part of the dish, place the chicken in a large Ziploc bag. Then, place the 3 maggi cubes in the Ziploc bag with the chicken. Keep the chicken in there for 30-60 minutes. 
7.) Take the Ziploc bag with the chicken and put it in a refrigerator. You can refrigerate the chicken for up to four hour. The chicken will 
absorb the flavors.
8.) Take the chicken out of the fridge. Allow the chicken to come to room temperature before 
grilling it.
9.) Grill the chicken in a grill pan till both sides of the chicken turn brown and crispy.
10.) Place the grilled chicken in a plate and put the attieke next to it.
11.) Cut up the onion, tomato, African hot pepper, and green pepper and put them in a Ziploc bag. Put one maggi cube and 
 of vegetable oil in the Ziploc bag. Let it sit for 30 minutes.
12.) Put the mixture that is in the Ziploc bag on top of the grilled chicken and the attieke.

 

Analysis:

Our meal consists entirely of processed foods. The total amount of calories in our meal is 851.4. Since there are so many calories in our dish, if eaten often, the human body would gain weight and grow to be less healthy. The amount of fat in our dish is 18.1 grams. Since our dish is fairly low in fat, the human body is more likely to work more proficiently. It is also less prone to get diseases associated with a fatty diet. These include diabetes, heart disease, and cancer of the lower digestive system. However, if you ate this meal everyday, since it is low in fat, it can lead to problems like overeating, depression, and hormonal imbalances.

All of our ingredients were harvested in the United States. However, some of them are native to West Africa (African hot pepper, etc.). On average, our ingredients travelled 600 miles to get to Philadelphia. According to research, the manufactures of the ingredients to not harvest it organically.

The chemicals used can have a negative impact on the planet in many ways. One of these is pollution. As the chemicals get washed away, they end up in rivers. This ultimately decreases the quality of the affected river. Given each ingredient, the meal cost five ten dollars to make. This is about the same cost as a fast food meal. 

One ingredient of particular interest to us was the African hot pepper. To grow it, a seed was placed in the ground. It was watered once everyday and sprayed with pesticides. After growing, it was picked, packaged, and sent to the store to be sold. After being purchased, it ended up in our dish.

 

Personal Reflections:

Ronald: One of the main problems with America’s food system is that people are lazy. In this unit, we have learned that people simply do what is most convenient when it comes to obtaining food. For instance, I remember one of the graphs that we looked at showed how far away the average person is from a supermarket. I realized that this distance often determines whether or not a person has access to healthy organic foods, as if unhealthy foods are closer, that is probably what the consumer will choose.

If I could make changes to my food choices, I would I would eat more vegetables. The reason is because I sometimes go days without eating them. I feel that if I ate more vegetables, I would become a healthier person. One impact that eating more vegetables would have is that I would have more lasting energy. Although eating foods that are high in sugar gives me energy, it burns out quickly. As a sprinter, this can lead to me tiring out in the middle of a race. 

After realizing that I need to eat more vegetables, I am prepared to make a change. Now, I make sure that I eat vegetables at least once a day. I plan to increase my intake even further.



Mabintu: I have learned a lot about foods this unit; food that is good for you and food that is bad for you. We also learned about why some foods are the way they are and what the government has to do with the kind of food we eat. When we looked at the health/food maps we came to an understanding that most of the overweight/Obese people are in the poor areas of Philadelphia. We talked about how food companies be lying about in the food and the labels. We talked about organic food and how it is more expensive and you have less of a variety to choose from. That is why people spend most of their money on presses food because they cause less. I do not need to change anything about my diet because I usually eat homemade food. When I eat outside I do not eat health because it’s they only time I can eat something that I think is good. I do not eat unhealthy most of the time I eat unhealthy like twice a week or so. I guess I need to make a little change to my diet, as to what times I eat. Right now I eat any time I hungry and sometimes I eat even when I’m not hungry. That will have to change.

Screen Shot 2013-01-29 at 10.13.15 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-29 at 10.13.15 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-29 at 10.14.49 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-29 at 10.14.49 PM

TRINIDAD JAMES

Nadir: ¡Hola!
Terrance: ¿Que Pasa? Bien venido a la discoteca de caballeros! 
Sasha: "¡Te parece a Trinidad James!"
"Realmente? Quiero estar en tu video próximo."
"Vamos al baño"
Wendy: ¿Como era tu dia?
Kami: "Ohh ah ew si.."




https://vimeo.com/58420510

Msanders Science BMark

Serving size: 7-8

12.00 dollars



Ingredient

1/2 cup of magrine

1/2 cup of Sugar

4 eggs

1 bag of wheat bread crumbs


20 onces of crush pineapples.

 1 cup of skim milk.

2 tablespoons of salt.

5 tablespoons of pumpkin spice.

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees

2. Mix the bowls with the ingredients.

3. Bake the 350 degree oven for an hour before serving.

Serving size 2 people.



Some of the food is process and some is whole. The pineapples and eggs are not process and they are whole foods. But the extra ingredients like sugar margarine is process. Its pretty healthy as it only has 166 calories. I say it’s like 55% process and 45% not process. It is very high in natural sugar and process sugar. It also has eggs for protein and bread for bread use. This food dish lacks vitamin A, B and D. Also it does not have a lot of cholesterol. Some of the food that is processed all of the food will go straight to your systems that will be processed and then go to your stomach. Margarine comes from vegetable oil and skim milk. That is healthier then butter.


Margarine comes from vegetable oil and skim milk. So they came from a farmers.  So does the eggs that were made. My specific margarine and eggs comes from Kentucky. I am not aware wear my eggs came from but its company was Foodhold USA which is in Maryland. The rolls came from Florida and my Pineapples also came from Florida. That is a total of 1324 miles traveled just to get in my home. The Margarine, bread, pineapples, and sugar were all processed. Only the eggs were not processed. But the chicken who laid it was.


This meal cost around 12 dollars. This meal is suppose to serve 8 people. This is a lot more expensive then a 4 dollar menu burgers from McDonalds. This is an outrage that a dish served for 8 cost so much more. The stuff that cost the most is pineapples which were 2.00 dollars. Obviously the Martians, Doles and other foods won the deal by stealing my money. 


My bread cubes cubes some soybeans and Monocalcuim in it. I have no idea how they managed to add those items in bread  but the did.  I’m pretty sure if I made the bread those items would not be included in my bread. My eggs have no significant source of Dietary fiber or sugar. But I have no idea how to make eggs the right way. Plus I have no chickens.

I learned different effects that food can have on someone. I knew that eating unhealthy can cause an unhealthy life in the future. I knew that liver problems and other serious diseases are caused by eating habits. What I learned the most was from the videos, even though we didn’t finish the movie I learned a lot about the food culture. I learned that the food producers are a bunch of a-holes. Sorry for the rude language but it’s beyond me that a food company can just about contaminate almost all of the natural foods to make them more fattening just for money. It’s terrible to kill the cows, chickens and pigs the way they do. Not only make them fat but you basically make them kill them in the most gruesome way. And once someone talks about it, they get sued by the food companies. The workers can’t stop because they need the money to survive. So no one wins. This is a messed up society we have. Another reason why this world is messed up is because people in low income can not afford healthy foods because 1 low income and 2 there are no grocery store. This a terrible world we live in.


Screen Shot 2013-01-24 at 7.59.13 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-24 at 7.59.13 PM

My Auto-Biography

​This Quarter in English we learned about language and how it affects many people's lives.  Our benchmark for the quarter was to create a language auto-biography which shows reflection on language and it's influence over my life.  Partnered with my auto-biography is a video that summarizes the main theme of my auto-biography, change.

" My mother told me that my first words were “up please”, something simple for any child to ask- except I was the ripe age of 9 months old. I have always had a complex vocabulary, according to my mother I was able to say 26 words by the time I was a year old.  Since I was unable to walk yet, I suppose I attempted to let my mother know exactly what I wanted and needed.  My mother likes to relate my early talking with the fact that I could read basic reading books with ease by the time I was two.  Needless to say that language is possibly the biggest part of communication.  Now, at 15 years old, I speak multiple different “languages”.  I define language as something that is spoken by a group of people, so by my definition there are languages within languages.
The first language I learned was English.  There are many different variations of English in my life.  Proper English, improper english, slang, Philly Slang, New England Slang, but the form of english I am most fluent in besides English, is basketball.  Yell out “backdoor cut” into a crowd and watch how many people turn around.  By the time I was 6 I could watch basketball, speak basketball, sign basketball and do scoreboards.  I have basketball in my blood, its not a second nature to me.
In a bigger way New England flows through my veins.  The New England terminology is my first language.  I spent the first five years of my life in Amherst, Massachusetts.  About two and a half hours west of Boston, in Amherst the accent is a little thinner, the English is more proper, there is no difference between the inner city accent and the suburban accent because Amherst is more of a farming town.  I still have a faint New England accent to show my roots.  

I remember when I first moved to Philly, I was five years old and beginning my kindergarten year at Norwood Fontbonne Academy, a Catholic School in Chestnut Hill.  I walked down the stairs in my favorite polo dress and my hair in one ponytail and hopped in the car after what seemed like thousands of pictures from my overly emotional mother.  I never understood the tears, I mean, I did go to preschool for three years before that.  We rolled into the construction filled school in our Ford Explorer with the Massachusetts license plate.  Nervousness ran through my whole body. I sat down on the “magic carpet” when we went around the circle to say our names and where we are from.  When it was my turn I sat up straight, head held high, and said “My name is Gabrielle Aahrnold and I am from Amhuuuuurst Massachusetts.”  Naturally my teachers were concerned that I wasn’t developing my phonics correctly.  Fast forward 10 years later with a little “Hooked on Phonics” and “speech therapy”, I speak with little to no accent.  

My accent was one of the things that defined me.  Amherst is in my blood.  My accent made me different from everyone else.  I stood out from the crowd.  I wasn’t just a Philly girl, I was an Amherst girl, and damn proud of it.  I still am an Amherst girl... but a Philly girl as well.  My accent was a conversation starter, something distinct, something beautiful.  That’s the beauty of language, regardless of how your voice sounds, where you are and who you’re with.  There will always be someone who will listen to your voice and instantly connect with you.  Their voice rubs off on you.

I began attending Germantown Friends School September of 2003.  My vocabulary from the time I was very young has always been vaster than what was the expectation. Over time I began to talk more and more like my peers, we began our own language.  “Obvi” began to slowly creep into my “all the time vocabulary, annoying my parents and pushing my cousins to call me “white girl”.  My aunt began to taunt my cousins and I when she saw us talking, “And I’m like, and he’s like, and I’m like and he’s like”.  She says this to this day.  I’ve changed schools so the taunting hasn’t been as severe since I picked up a majority of my other cousin’s vocabulary when I began attending Science Leadership Academy in the fall of 2011.

When I began attending Science Leadership Academy, I learned a new type of English, Philly slang.  Most of my friends at GFS were from the outskirts of Philly, we had our own slang.  “That’s dead” slowly began to creep into my vocabulary so much so that my mother has begun saying it.  

I love that my language reflects all the places I have been in life.  Amherst, Philly, Norwood, SLA.  My language is like one of my style, something that is visible always and represents who I am to the fullest. "


https://vimeo.com/58413181

The Mob

 

Over the past three years of living in Philadelphia my language has changed dramatically compared to when I lived in Delaware. Not only did I move to a totally different state with a different way of living, talking, dressing, etc., but I got older as well. Living in Philly I definitely have picked up the slang that’s used on a daily basis. When I am with my friends we use different slang words then someone maybe from south Philly. My weekends are full of fun random sayings that we make up.

My friends that live in West Philly, together we call each other The Mob. In the Mob my closest friend is Shania. She Is the one closest to my age (17). “Shine bright like a diamond” a song by Rihanna (my sister Shania’s ringtone) begins to play as my day is interrupted by her daily text messages or phone calls. Most the time she is calling or messaging me to ask if im going to come down there that day to chill or go to a party. “Yo shawty. Whats up? Instead of just “Hey” or “Hi” those are usually the things she’ll say. My response mainly sounds something like “Hey love. How r u?” I use love as a way to show I care about you on some level. If I call you my love its basically like calling you my friend or my homie.  Majority of the Mob’s conversations involve finding out the swerve (the move; activity) of the day/night. They can also involve a lot of plotting and planning sessions.

Our conversations go on they begin to get sillier and sillier. Someone will say something that someone else should have already known the answer to. Or (usually) Shania will ask a dumb question like five times in four different ways. We are the youngest of our crew of about 20 people (we are 16). The oldest direct member of our family will be 21 this year. Shania and I being the young ones, they basically took us in as there lil sisters/ young bulls. For someone who doesn’t hang out with us on a daily basis they would think we are they WEIRDEST people alive. One thing that we do to basically laugh at each other is what is called Follow ups. “That’s one…follow ups”; this is usually stated when someone does something wrong or says something totally Stupid off. What happens is that you get hit on the shoulder back arm area by everyone around you. You can say “No Follow ups” Saying this is basically acknowledging that you screwed up in some way. It also yells “dont hit me!”

Another language that is used a lot in my life is the language of arts. Whether its rap poetry or singing its always happening (especially if im with my friends) We use it to not only express ourselves but to make things more fun. We could be walking down the street and someone will randomly start singing or rapping about what we are doing. Seven out of the 15 people in The Mob rap and go to the studio. When PurpVarsity (the rap group) with Cazz, Drew and two people not from The Mob throws parties they preform and give other people the opportunity to perform as well.  The arts have become of big part of how I communicate to strangers and very close people. Its not pressuring, its comfortable and fun.

Color Coded Conversations

Through an assignment assigned by Mr.Block my classmates and I were to each write a short auto biography about our unique experiences and uses of language. This short essay by me, Charles Matthews explores the impact language has had on my life.




Over the short amount of years I have been in this world, I have learned a lifetimes worth of things just from language alone. I have learned ,thanks entirely to the judgment of others, that my way of speaking is 'white'. Which on paper sounds kind of ridiculous as you wouldn't think of language as actually having a color. But I assure you people in this day and age have color coded the english language. While slang and grammatically incorrect english is usually referred to as 'black' more articulated, polished english is thought of as 'white'. There exist a grey zone where broken english falls into but that's a story for another day. In the hierarchy of colored language someone speaking in a 'white' manner is always thought to be smarter than someone who speaks in a 'black' or even 'grey' dialect and that shouldn't be so. Take my first day of 6th grade for example.

“Welcome to Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love!” I still remembered the giant billboard ushering us into Philadelphia after what seemed like endless drive along a highway that seemed like it stretched on forever. Now I stood at a classroom door, scared nervous, out of my element. I put doubt behind me as I remembered I was in the city of brotherly love of course they would accept me they had too. Right? I slowly crept through the door accidently closing it a bit harder than I intended to. Instantly 30 pairs of eyes swallowed me whole from my hair to my skin color to the shoes I wore. Everything  was put on the forefront. I remember my teacher, Ms.Graves, booming voice. “Okay class this is Charles” Char-els she somehow managed to shove two syllables in my name “Char-els tell us about yourself!” It was more of a command then a suggestion. I looked out at my classmates they were hungry for information their eyes said so. “Well, my name is Charles,” I said emphasizing the way my name is supposed to be spoken the way my mom says it. In one breath, short sweet, but it carried power. I remember getting weird looks just from this statement, not form what I said, but form my annunciation and pronunciation, nervously I continued. “I’m from Atlanta, Georgia. I just moved here not to long ago and I—“ “Why is you talkin’ so white?” This outburst came from a girl right in front of me, it wasn’t a tease, it was not an insult. It was a sincere question. Why did I talk so white? The whole class went up in laughter; they had all been wondering the same thing apparently. I never did answer that girl, I didn’t know how too. 

That was the first time I had not only realized i talked differently from other black kids, but I was assumed to be smartly purely from just me muttering a few words. My time in 6th grade was spent trying to adjust to the Philadelphia dialect. At first I had mental cringes every time a kid would say "I be" or "They is" and I'll admit at time I thought of them as stupid or uneducated. But then came the days we had classroom discussions and it were those days that I realized my peers 'black' language did not reflect how bright there minds were. My fancy words didn't make my point anymore valid than the next man-- or kid in my classroom and I realized from that day on that people assuming intellectual levels based on speech is ignorance at it's finest. In their defense, it's only logical to think an idea is only as good as it is portrayed verbally. However what we overlook is what's being spoken and what's being spoken are two very different things. 

In closing, a persons mastery over their respective language, or even others, should not reflect how educated or smart you think they are. doing that is not only ignorant but it's one of the very prudent forms of modern racism. Thinking this way can only hurt you in expanding your mind to the different cultures of the world.  





Q2 THenry -Senior Art

For the second quarter, I followed the drawing tutorials available on drawspace.com in order to practice shading, drawing fur on forms, and other important drawing lessons.  It gave me the chance to draw things that I wouldn't have normally attempted to sketch.
This was an opportunity to learn how to shade using hatching lines, which is something I didn't previously know how to do.  The shading would have gone a lot better if I used a wider range of   pencil mediums for the darks and lights.  I already had experience using natural shapes for faces and animals, which made some pictures a little easier to sketch than others.


Some of the drawings used scribbles as opposed to normal lines which provided a different affect for the final drawing.  The drawings were broken down into more steps than I would have originally thought, but it made things come together much easier later. The second picture is more of a doodle than anything else, it was not a part of the lessons on shading and shapes.
2013-01-28_10-32-21_57
2013-01-28_10-32-21_57
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 12.26.00 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 12.26.00 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 12.27.05 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 12.27.05 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 12.28.03 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 12.28.03 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 12.28.56 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 12.28.56 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 12.29.57 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 12.29.57 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 12.31.51 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 12.31.51 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 12.32.44 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 12.32.44 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 12.34.00 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 12.34.00 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 12.35.03 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 12.35.03 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 12.36.42 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 12.36.42 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 12.38.10 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 12.38.10 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 12.39.15 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 12.39.15 PM
2013-01-28_10-32-36_927
2013-01-28_10-32-36_927
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 1.07.40 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 1.07.40 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 1.08.36 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 1.08.36 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 1.09.14 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 1.09.14 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 1.09.55 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 1.09.55 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 1.10.33 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 1.10.33 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 1.11.28 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 1.11.28 PM
2013-01-28_12-59-49_88
2013-01-28_12-59-49_88
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 1.12.48 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 1.12.48 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 1.13.29 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 1.13.29 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 1.14.03 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 1.14.03 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 1.14.45 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 1.14.45 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 1.15.20 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 1.15.20 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 1.16.09 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-28 at 1.16.09 PM

Sci-Soc: Food BenchMark Q2

1 lb of salted cod 
1 large yellow onion, sliced
1/2 large avocado or a whole small avocado, chopped 
2 hard boiled eggs, diced 
olive oil 
 

preparation

First rinse the salt off the cod. If you have the time you can also let it soak for about 30 minutes. I usually don’t have the time so I just give it a good rinse. 

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, drop your cod in let it boil for about 10 mins and then change the water. Repeat this step 3 times, changing the water each time. 

During the last boil add your eggs. boil for about 7 minutes, transfer to a bowl with some of the hot water and let it sit about another 5 minutes or until ready to peel and dice. 

Sweat onions into a hot skillet with 2 Tbs of olive oil. Cook the onion until they just begin to get opaque, do not cook them through, you want to maintain a bit of a crunch. 

Drain cod fish. Combine, onions, cod fish, eggs and avocado in a large bowl. Drizzle with 3 Tbs of olive oil and toss, breaking up cod fish.

Served over a bed of white rice. Keep the olive oil handy in case you want an extra drizzle.

 

Analysis- 

Analysis- Continued

Approximately what percent of the meal is processed vs. whole food?

Eggs- whole food

Cod Fish- Processed

Olive Oil- Processed

Onions- Whole food

Avocado- Whole food

 

Health/nutrition:  

Use the nutritional info on the label to estimate the caloric content, sugar content, fat content, etc.  



Reflection:

What is your role in the larger food system?

 

My role in the food system is to dictate what needs to be mass-produced. If I buy a lot of one product the need for that product increases. Such as during ‘Food Inc.’ when the need for one product increase, manufacturers ramp up the form of production. If more people began changing that way they eat, or how it is produced then the food industries would have no choice but to change.

 

What do you see as the biggest problems with our food system, and why? The problem with our food system is how food is made and the type of changes it has made on the human digestive system. When you add higher amount of sugar or salt to the human diet it changes how humans function

 

What are some changes you could make to your food choices?

When Mr. Best read from the book about health, there was a part that said do not eat anything that has more than five ingredients, or even just not eating products that have ingredients that you can not pronounce.

 

What would be the impact of these changes?

There would be less mass-produced foods mainly due to the fact that they have thousands of ingredients and many of them are sugar, salt, or acid related.

 

Are you willing to make these changes?

It this stage of my life, I do not have to means to make such a decision, if in the future I have more money or an easier why of getting to an organic market that I would change, but going into college I don’t have the capability to promise such a change

Egg- 63 Calories, 4g Fat, 186mg Cholesterol, 6g Protein

Un-washed Cod Fish (2.oz)- 60 Calories, 0.5g Fat, 30mg Cholesterol, 3720mg Sodium (is reduced when washed), 15g Protein

Olive Oil (1 tbsp)- 119 Calories, 14g Fat

Onion (sliced)- 46 Calories, 5mg Sodium, 11g Carbohydrates, 1g Protein

Avocado (1 cup)- 240 Calories, 22g Fat, 11mg Sodium, 13g Carbohydrates, 3g Protein

 

It will easily digest it, and use the vitamins and other nutrients with in the meal. Your stomach take out the various vitamins and proteins to help your body, then as it passes through your system, a great deal of the salt is also taken out. You would gain high blood pressure from overexposure sodium, and fat.

 

Environmental:  

 

What state/country do you think your ingredients came from?

Eggs- USA

Cod Fish- Canada

Olive Oil- Italy

Onions- USA

Avocado- Mexico

 

Which food traveled the farthest?  Olive Oil 

 

How many total miles did your meal travel?  8012 Miles, all together



Was it organically grown (not as much fertilizer/pesticide/fossil fuel) or commercially grown?  

Eggs- commercially grown

Cod Fish- commercially grown

Olive Oil- organic

Onions- organic

Avocado- organic

Trosario- FoodRule
Trosario- FoodRule

Malik's Barilla Pasta

Barilla Mostaccioli

“White pasta”

 

Ingredients

-       2 oz of Barilla Mostaccioli pasta

-       4-6 quarts of water

-       Pot

-       Strainer

-       One stick of Land O Lakes Butter

-       2-5 teaspoons of Spice Classics ground Black Pepper

-       3-6 teaspoons of salt.

 

Steps to making “White Pasta”

  1. Pour 4-6 quarts of water into a pot and bring to a boil.
  2. Place 2 oz of Barilla pasta into the pot.
  3. Stir and add 3-6 teaspoons of salt for flavor.
  4. Once the pasta is tender, strain the water from the pot.
  5. Place one stick of butter into the pot and mix.
  6. Add 2-5 teaspoons of black pepper for additional flavor.
  7. Done!

Analysis

Barilla Pasta: Barilla Pasta derives from the Montebello Food Corp Located in the New York Metropolitan area (Brooklyn). Assuming the products used to make the pasta is made gathered from an agricultural plane (Wheat, flower, eggs etc), Barilla’s product travels a long way. The processed pasta is sent to the food corp. in New York and is then sent 100 miles by bus/plane (burning more energy than it costs to produce to product) to Philadelphia. Barilla pasta contains 200 calories, 2 percent fat, 14 percent total carbohydrate, 8 percent dietary fiber and 7g of protein per serving.

$1.78

http://www.montebellofoods.com/

 

Land O Lakes Butter: Land O Lakes butter comes from a farmer-owned cooperative that can be found in Arden Hills, Minnesota. This butter is created on many farms and is shipped over 1,171 miles to reach Philadelphia. The butter is made with milk which can spoil easily if not contained in proper refrigeration. The butter claims to be packaged in a “FlavorProtect” wrapper that keeps the rich flavor in the butter from escaping it’s packaging. Land O’lakes butter contains 100 calories, 17 percent fat, 37 percent saturated fat, 10 percent cholesterol (30mg), and 4 percent sodium

http://www.landolakes.com/Products/Butter/
$2.73

 

Morton’s Sea Salt: The salt is the highest quality of sea salt and is harvested from the Mediterranean Sea on Spain's Costa Blanca. The product is then distributed from the Morton International, Inc. located in Chicago, IL. This product travels 765 miles to reach the local grocery shops of Philadelphia, PA. Salt is a self-preserving ingredient so “food miles” surely has no effect on it. Morton’s Sea Salt contains a daily value of 0 calories, 0 percent fat, 23 percent sodium, 0 percent total carbohydrate and 0 grams of protein (Percent Daily Values are Based on a 2,000 calorie diet).

http://voices.yingshton.com/reviews-morton-sea-salt-coarse-vs-fine-sea-salt-1625215.html?cat=22 $4.75

Spice Classics Ground Black Pepper: Spice Classics black pepper is freshly ground from peppercorn plants that are grown in agricultural fields all across America. It is manufactured at the Por Han-Dee Pak Inc. in Cockeysville, MD. This product travels 104 miles to be sold in local supermarkets. Pepper is also self-preserving so “food miles” has no effect on it. This product contains 0 calories, 0 grams of Saturated Fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 0 milligrams of sodium, 0 milligrams of Potassium, 0 grams of Carbohydrate, and 0 grams of Dietary Fiber.

http://www.foodfacts.com/NutritionFacts/Spices-Seasonings-Cooking-Products/Spice-Classics-Ground-Black-Pepper--oz/12864 $2.59

Meal Analysis

If this meal were to be prepared with the need of all ingredients, it will cost $11.85 and approximately 20 minutes of your time. The meal is overall healthy for it avoids high use of carbohydrates and salt in comparison to fast food products. But if this meal were to be eaten everyday, ones health will defiantly be in risk of obesity. Pasta has a high amount of carbohydrate and is eaten with many sauces/cheese products that raise blood pressure. Although it may not be healthy to consistently eat this meal, it is wiser to stick to pasta rather than a Big Mac and Fries. This meal is prepared easily but it is not as convenient as to order a meal through drive through. There is no labor behind the stove and no long wait. In conclusion both sums of money will provide a meal for 8 but one is simply more convenient than the other. Unfortunately Americans are willing to risk their health for a faster and easier way to eat a meal. Until the public realizes this lifestyle is threatening to their health, there will be no progression towards a “healthier America.”



Reflection

The U.S. food system is corrupt in many ways. One of which is the average American’s diet. From personal experience and the research done for this project I tend to notice that the average American diet consists of a lot of salty and sugary foods. Soda is heavily preferred with a meal as apposed to water or other non-chemically carbonated beverages. Also the American diet lacks diversity.  Every meal consists of a type of meat and or bread covered with cheese. The average American diet lacks color, greens, and grains of white rice, fish and or vegetables. It seems to define itself with a restricted type of food that consists of no rich vitamin of minerals that is necessary in a diet.

The U.S. also provides convenient and affordable meals when it comes to “fast-food”.There are now fast food restaurants open 24 hours a day providing large amounts of processed foods for a cheap price. These restaurants not only provide cheap unhealthy food but also quick food. These foods come out of window instead of out of hard work over a stove so why work for food? The issue is that the average American work schedule is intense and the availability of fast food is too convenient to pass up over resting. These issues can all be resolved. I believe that with the simple step of enhancing the quality of food that surround us it will eventually reach the homes of citizens. This will turn the tables and create a culture in which cooking at home will be more convenient than buying fast food. With the first step of introducing alternate access to food (more diners), the U.S. food system will reach the idealistic health level it needs.

Screen Shot 2013-01-11 at 1.07.24 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-11 at 1.07.24 PM

BM- Project

Recipe:

 

6 apples - peeled, cored and chopped

 

1 cup of finely chopped walnuts

 

1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon 

 

1/3 cups of sweet red whine ( this is being replaced with a similar trap juice that is non alcoholic. )

 

Place the apples and walnuts into a large bowl. Mix together the cinnamon, sprinkle over the apples. Stir in the grape juice. Serve immediately, or refrigerate until serving.

Analysis:

 

This meal is traditionally a jewish meal that is ate at passover, which is a jewish holiday, although I am not jewish i do have family that are jewish. Usually this meal has some processed food in it, however the way I am making it is made with completely 100% whole food. When it comes to fat content sugar content and caloric content all of these are very low for this dish aside from the traces of sugar throughout the meal there isn't really anything that contains a lot of calories or fat. Its not something that would have any negative effects of your body and it actually can make you feel more energetic and healthy. This food is pretty much completely organically grown and all the ingredients can be pretty easily found in nature. This meal is much much healthier then fast food because its not greasy or fatty and isn't processed.


Personal reflection:

 I feel that my role in the food system is that I am a human. I feel that each human has a certain role where each animal has a role. The food chain is a huge part of the food system and I feel that although most humans don't take part in this role our role should be keeping balance in the food system and making sure the world and ourselves are healthy. Most humans don't do this, and to be quite honest neither do I. However, I feel that in a perfect world we would all eat healthier and try harder to keep a balance in the worlds food system. The biggest issue we have as a food system is our lack of healthy foods and our abundance of animal slaughter for food. I love to eat unhealthy food and animals, but I see where it is too much and wrong. I see that as people we don't want to balance things and that is a huge and major issue with our culture, society and food system. This is because we are raised in a way that we see ourselves as superior and life has been like that for so long that that is all we seem to know anymore. Changes I would personally like to make and that I could make would be less fast food and fatty foods in my diet to be replaced with more healthy foods. I would also want to eat less fatty foods and maybe cut down on the amount of food that I eat. The impact of these changes would be little to nothing on a grand scale, but could very well change and even save my life. Part of me is willing to make these changes, but I know that it will be something that is very hard for me because I am accustomed to eating the way I do. I have tried being vegetarian and although I could do it I just didn't feel like me and I wouldn't ever change myself. 



DylanC food
DylanC food

Alex's Vegan Cupcakes!

FoodSlide_AlexJ
FoodSlide_AlexJ
Recipe

VEGAN CUPCAKE INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup vegan margarine (80% fat is best)

1/4 cup  sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg

1 1/4 cups unsweetened applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla

 

Steps                                             

  1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
  2. Cream margarine until fluffy.
  3. Add to organic unbleached sugar and blend.
  4. Sift together dry ingredients.
  5. Add to margarine mixture alternately with applesauce, mixing well after each addition.
  6. Stir in vanilla and nuts.
  7. Spoon into 12 cupcake pans sprayed with vegetable pan spray or use paper baking cups.
  8. Bake 15-20 min.

VEGAN BUTTER CREAM ICING

1 cup powdered sugar

3 tablespoons cocoa poweder

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons of warm-hot water

Steps

  1. Mix cocoa and powdered sugar
  2. Blend in vanilla.
  3. Add in water gradually

Recipe Analysis

This recipe doesn't really tie in culturally to me. However, it does tie in slightly to my family. My family has a small history of having lots of health issues so to have recipes that are as healthy and wholesome as possible is often preferred. This recipe is vegan, which means that it does not rely on the use of animals. Soy milk is a very popular milk alternative for vegans. Margarine is also a popular butter substitute.

The cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, and salt are the most whole foods used in my recipe. Some of the stuff is processed. REAL soy milk is fairly unprocessed and because of this it generally would last only a few days in the refrigerator. Processed soy milk is designed to last about 2 weeks or more.

I chose this recipe mainly because after seeing how terribly we treat animals in the production of meats, I thought against using meat for a dish. Instead, I decided that since it’s a Friday, why not celebrate with some awesome vegan cupcakes! Doing something like this is good to bring attention to issues like animal cruelty.

Analysis

One of the main things that I learned during the course of this unit is that the American food system is fucked. The American food culture revolves around the 'need' (which is more of a want) for convenience. However, when we take a deep analysis of our own behaviors, we realize that our diet is very unhealthy for both ourselves and our environment. If we could take a step back from all of the regulations and red tape and see the system for what it is. We as a country should reevaluate what good food is and what food is actually good for you. I'm sure that if every person in America knew their meat was 90% likely to be washed by ammonia, they wouldn't eat meat and would boycott it. It all begins at home with making conscious choices to eat healthy, wholesome food, and preparing good meals. I'm willing to make these changes but I'm sure a good chunk of America is too stuck in its ways. I could personally begin to make healthier choices when buying food. Yeah, it is easy and cheaper to buy the unhealthy food but it will cost me more in the long run to eat many unhealthy meals as opposed to one or two healthy meals. Although I’m in a lower SES, I do try my best to eat healthy and wholesome food. After watching Food Inc., I’m not even entirely sure if I want to eat meat, knowing how it is processed. 

Science & Society Benchmark: Food Project.

ConolaWave
ConolaWave
​VEGETARIAN-STYLE ROTINI::

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes (or so)
Servings: 13

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons of pure olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped fine
2 cherry tomatoes, cut into small chucks
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 yellow squash, peeled and cubed
1 zucchini, peeled and cubed
10 mushrooms, washed and cut into thin slices
8 baby carrots, washed and cut lengthwise
1/2 red bell pepper, washed and cut into thin slices
1/2 green bell pepper, washed and cut into thin slices
All the stalks of broccoli, washed and cut into chucks
5 cups of water, preferably from the kitchen faucet
A box of Barilla Whole Wheat Rotini
    A tablespoon of bubbarai
    Salt, pepper and cumin to taste
    Chopped Italian Parsley as garnish
 
Recipe:

1.) Heat up oil in a wok under medium heat.
2.) Add in onion and stir occasionally for five minutes.
3.) Toss in tomatoes and garlic and continue to stir.
4.)  Combine the yellow squash and garlic, the mushrooms and carrots and bubbarai, the salt and pepper and cumin and half of the Italian Parsley, the red and green bell peppers, and the broccoli with five minute intervals in between.
5.) Turn the flame down to low. Splash water into a standard pot and turn the heat on high.
6.) When water is boiled, gentle spill rotini.
7.) Stir when needed.
8.) Drain off almost of the water; leave roughly two cups left.
6.) Finish by tossing the vegetables and the rotini (with water) together. Top off with the remainder of the Italian Parsley.

Analysis:

The olive oil, water, pasta and two of our seasonings are probably the only pieces of this dish that are processed. If I am not mistaken, many of the vegetables in our household come from a farmers’ market in New Jersey and the rest hail from a store that exclusively sells fruits and veggies. Yes, the drive does release harmful gases into the air, but at the very least, we know where our food is coming from. As for the spices, we have a community garden that grows herbs, like the parsley, and we keep them handy until the time comes.

Although they are considerably low in protein and fat, veggies have varying proportions of vitamins, minerals, fiber and carbs throughout. It makes for a pretty well-balanced meal, even so eating this all day would not be very smart. As a remedy to where it is lacking, adding some well done meat or nuts of some kind to mix would beneficent to one’s health. Having it once a day is okay move for it does not necessarily hold everything a human body requires.

We know that the pasta was manufactured in the United States and the olive oil was imported from Italy, but there is one other thing that has traveled a far distance to end up on this plate. My grandfather is visiting from Ethiopia and the bubbarai that was used is a combination of spices that is a homegrown concoction. He made it with his bare hands, I swear. The trip over took him roughly a day, though and no matter how I look at it, that has to take away from the overall environmental impacts because yeah, the taste literally had to fly via airplane, the ecologist deathtrap.

Price has never been my strong point, still if I had to guess, I would say that a portion reaches into the nine dollar and seventy-six cents category. The actual price of each could not have been exceedingly expensive, but there was a bucketload to incorporate. On the bright side, dividing it between that many people should be about enough to cover the cost.

Thankfully, this was a flavorful vegetarian dish sans any type of meat, in other words, no corn for us. This project really delved deep into our food system and the phrase”made from scratch” is given an entirely different meaning. The ingredients that allow for it all to come together are not conveniently placed in our backyards. The distance traveled probably outweighs the health benefits, but now, we know.

PERSONAL REFLECTION::

I am the daughter of a consumer. While I do eat out with my friends on our weekly excursions, the grand majority of my meals are eaten in the dining room / kitchen area. Shoveling down whatever is available is considered okay for there are very few stomach-turning products make it past my mother. She is a critical human being and her judgement is adequate by my standards because my not-dying-yet is a testament to her choices.

However just because she gives into her motherly duty of combing through whatever she places on the table does mean the rest of country can. The way foods are labeled confuses, the practice in which they are introduced to the public is wholly disgusting, but more importantly, the American government allows multinational companies to carry on with their operations scott free. The healthy is far more expensive than the fast and all of this is playing on my wry humor more than it should.

Maybe it is just our mindset, because we are too young to have been corrupted with the temptations of the big bucks that we are able to think clearly. The food system is a cutthroat business where only the rich and cunning can rule and the ones trying to fight for the betterment of humanity are left to perish. Ah, and suddenly, this nation seems more like the land of the exorbitant and the home of the convenient.

Personally, this unit has entitled me with of the facts and figures to make the correct assumptions altogether. I have noticed that I look more critically at the soft drinks than the bottles of water, that I pass over the deep fried for the whole grain. Hopefully, there is something to be said here.