Final Food Project

***Peter is working with me

Ingredients & Instructions for Enchiladas 

• 1 can of black or pinto beans
• 8-10 flour tortillas
• 1 small onion
• any vegetables you like
• 1 can of diced green chiles
• 3 cups of shredded cheese
• 1 can of enchilada sauce
• herbs for garnishing
• salt and pepper to taste
• *can add chicken or beef if you’d like

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F
2. Add some oil to a pan and sauté the onions and green chiles for 6-8 mins
3. Add the other vegetables you want to use and cook them throughly
4. Remove vegetables from the heat and set them aside for later
5. In order to assemble the enchiladas, speed out a tortilla on a flat surface. Then, spread enchiladas sauce on it and fill it with the beans, cooked vegetables, and cheese. Then, wrap them up and place them into a long baking dish.
6. Before placing it into the oven, cover the enchiladas with more sauce and cheese.
7. Place it into the oven for 20 minutes uncovered. 
8. Remove it and serve with fresh herbs as a garnish. 

Analysis

The ingredient for this dish are mostly processed foods, however the vegetables are fresh and not processed. There is a possibility to make your own tortillas and buy fresh beans from a farmers maker and cook them yourself for somewhat of a ‘healthier’ dish. However, for the sake of this project and our wallets, we decided to go with some of the processed foods, however it’s completely possible to make this dish more ‘whole’.The estimated calorie content of the dish per serving is 404 calories, 22.1g of fat, and 2g of sugar, which isn’t bad for one meal. One serving is one enchilada, and even that can be a little too much for one person (since they’re pretty big in general). You couldn’t eat this everyday because if you did, you would probably have bathroom problems from all the beans and a lot of carbs from the flour tortillas. Most of the food was processed and probably grown with ingredients grown on mass production farms with fertilizers and chemicals and whatnot. The meal cost under $15 which is really goo, especially when feeding an entire family. 

Personal Reflection

I’ve learned a lot about how food effects us in different ways, even after we consume it and feel full. I knew about obesity and why food contributes to that disease before coming into the unit, however I wasn’t aware that many of the top ways to die in this country is by food. It boggles my mind that we are more likely to die from the food we eat than under and being in an accident. However, what can we do? It’s difficult to really pinpoint the problem in this since there’s needs to be a systematic change in the way we eat and produce food. But it’d difficult to change a system that’s been working for so long, and that’s so important to millions of Americans. 

My personal role in the larger food system is somewhat hard to explain. Yes, I purchase food and consume it on a daily basis, however, I feel like my few dollars don’t make such a huge impact as everyone seems to make it out to be. If I solely stop purchasing unhealthy food, then what will happen ? It’s difficult to just say that I’d be willing to change my food choices since there’s not that many choices in the first place. Only a handful of corporations actually produce the food we eat. And they own so much of it, it’s hard to run away from them effectively. 

 So honestly, no, I won’t change my food habits. Especially since I don’t have a personal income and even when I go off to college, I’ll be worrying about my studies than what I’m eating. And ‘healthy’ foods are so expensive in the first place, it’s difficult to get them anyway.

Food Slide

This is my food rule. I picked this one because I see too many times on labels that the entire package isn't one serving, but only a couple of pieces of the product are indeed on serving. And most people think that the calorie count on a food product is the total amount of calories for the entire product, even though it's only for one serving.