Daniel Varnis: Banana Bread (With and without nuts)

RECIPE AND ANALYSIS

Banana Nut Bread

Recipe

Ingredients:

⅓ cup of shortening

½ cup of sugar

2 eggs

1¾ cups of all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon of baking soda

½ teaspoon of salt

1 cup of a mashed ripe banana

½ cup of chopped walnuts (optional)

 

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 350° F

2. Cream together the shortening and sugar

3. Add the eggs and beat well

4. Sift together the dry ingredients

5. Add dry ingredients and banana to the mixture

6. Mix together

7. Fold in nuts (optional)

8. Pour into well-greased 9x5x3-inch load pan

9. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until done

10. Put on cooling rack

 

Analysis

Being a nutritionist and ooking at the list of ingredients, six out of nine are natural ingredients, so about 67% of the dish is all natural. The human body should be able to deal pretty well with eating a slice... or two... or three... or ten slices of the banana nut bread, considering it’s all natural. Since the the pan it’s cooked in has a length of nine inches and each slice is cut about ¾ of an inch, that should be 12 slices. Then doing the math, each slice should only contain around 0.04 cups of sugar, which is barely anything. Then for the unnatural ingredients, each slice would only contain 0.04 teaspoons of baking soda, 0.08 teaspoons of baking powder, and 0.02 cups of shortening.

From the standpoint of an environmentalist, there shouldn’t really be any issues. Almost every ingredient is manufactured or grown in the US except the bananas. Those are probably grown in South America, which isn’t too far.

From a politicians perspective, the cost of one loaf banana bread probably costs around $2.00 - $3.00. This meal cannot be compared to fast food for a few reasons. First, fast food restaurants don’t serve banana nut bread. Second, most of these ingredients are natural. And third, you know the bread isn’t bad for you.

From a socialists perspective, the one thing that might be conflicting are the bananas and eggs. For instance, it would probably be more convenient to have a farm on your property so you can grow a banana tree and tend to chickens that will lay the eggs for the bread.

FOOD RULE SLIDE

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REFLECTION 

During this unit, I actually learned a lot of things…particularly about food! In all seriousness, I looked at the idea of food at a more in depth perspective. At first, if anyone were to ask me “What are a few things that come to your mind when you think of the word food?” I would probably say some pretty broad things like “It’s the stuff that gives the ability to live” or “A human’s best friend.” Now that I have (almost) completed the food segment of our class, I’d probably respond to the question with answers that are focused on the idea of food, rather than the static object of food itself. For instance, I’d probably say stuff like “One of the biggest money makers in the world” or “An stabilizer of the human race” or even “The one thing that could give enough information to explain a human’s personal life.”

Looking at the suggested questions, I would say that one of the LARGEST problems with the food system is their carelessness for the well being of the consumers. There are so many distributed foods in the world that are healthy, whereas there is an equal amount of, if not more, unhealthy goods. One thing that really stuck to me from this unit was the integration of high fructose corn syrup in foods. In the past, I never questioned why so many foods contained high fructose corn syrup. Until this unit came about, I would’ve never known that it was two things. First, it’s a cheap replacement for sugar, and two, it’s in so many foods because of the overpopulation of corn in this country. If I remember correctly, 30% of the land in the US is covered in corn. THAT’S A LOT OF CORN. Although it’s a cheaper alternative for sugar, I think it has to be voided from many foods that are being distributed because it’s presence is only a catalyst to worldwide obesity.

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