Kimberly Parker, Food Project. Tag Food11E

Ingredients and Recipe for Baked Eggplant

 2 large eggplants(Organic) 

2 cups of Extra Virgin Olive Oil(Organic) 

1 cup Balsamic Vinegar 

Salt(Raw)/Pepper(Organic) to taste 

Fresh grated Locatelli Cheese 

Directions on how to cook ‘Baked Eggplant’

  Heat oven to 350 degrees. Remove the top and bottom of the eggplant using a knife. Slice eggplant from top to bottom (about 1/4 inch slices).

   In a large bowl, pour olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper over the eggplant and coat the liquid mixture evenly using your hands or a basting brush. Once evenly coated, place eggplant slices on a raised baking pan and bake uncovered until edges are crisp and center is tender about 35-45 minutes depending on thickness of each slice.  

Grate fresh Locatelli Cheese over the top and ENJOY. 

Recipe Analysis

  Approximately what percent of this meal is processed vs. whole food? -0% of this meal is processed. These are all whole foods. The eggplants are whole foods because they were grown on a farm and not tampered with any chemicals or growth hormones. The olive oil is a whole food because it is organic and not processed with any chemicals or additives in which I cannot pronounce. The balsamic vinegar is not processed because vinegar is naturally oxidized from fermented organic grapes. I used raw salt and organic pepper so neither one of those ingredients are processed foods.The fresh Locatelli cheese is also not processed because the cheese comes from cultured bacteria and goat’s milk only. (There is a process to make and produce these products but I personally do not consider them to be “processed foods”)

 •Health/Nutrition There is 33 calories, 1 gram of fat, 13 grams of sugar, 6 grams of protein, and 11 grams of sodium per eggplant. There is 1909 calories, 216 grams of fat, and 4 mg of sodium per cup of olive oil. There is 224 calories, 38 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein per cup of balsamic vinegar. There is 6,976 mg of sodium per tbsp of salt. For pepper, there is 16 calories, 3 mg of sodium and 2 grams of dietary fiber per tbsp. For Locatelli cheese, per ounce, there is 110 calories, 8 grams of fat, 30 grams of cholesterol, 55 mg of sodium and 7 grams of protein. If a person was to eat this meal everyday, depending on how much salt they used, it could create high blood pressure. There is a lot of olive oil in this dish and if someone were to consume that much oil everyday, they would gain weight and possibly clog arteries. 

•Environmental The eggplants I bought came from California and the rest of them I believe came from Pennsylvania because I purchased them at a local organic shop that only carries local ingredients in order to support local businesses. The eggplant traveled the furthest. The eggplant was organically grown and all of my ingredients are also organic. •Political/Economics This meal altogether costed me $17.00. This compares to fast food because fast food is much cheaper. It’s cheaper because I don’t have to buy all the ingredients when I eat fast food to make it, I just buy that one single item and it comes out to be much cheaper rather than preparing a whole meal. The items in my meal are regulated by making sure they are all actually organic and not processed. The small businesses involved are local organic food markets and the farm in California where the eggplant was grown. 

•Social There are no social ramifications of my meal choice. The eggplant I bought from the local organic market directly purchased the vegetable from the farmer in California. The olive oil I bought from the market probably directly bought the olive oil from another local market that got it from an organic distributer that bought it from an organic olive farm where the olive oil is made. It would have been cheaper for me to buy eggplant seeds and grow it myself, but it was more convenient for me to go to the market and purchase it.

Personal Reflection: 

During this unit of science and society we focused mainly on stem cell research, America’s food system, obesity/diabetes rates, and how the food system is linked to obesity and diabetes. In the beginning of this unit, Mr. Best introduced the idea of stem cell research, I had no idea about what this concept was. While studying stem cell research, I learned the pros and cons to using stem cells in research and cures. In the assignment, “Intro to Stem Cells” I got to discover what kind of stem cells can be used on different parts of the body. For example, I learned where scientists can find somatic cells in brain tissue, teeth, skin, liver, gut, blood, and muscle tissues. It was interesting because Mr. Best also showed us two sides of stem cells research, why people think it’s a good thing and why it might be considered a bad thing to do. We did come to a conclusion as a class that stem cell research doesn’t mean killing babies. 

The second half of the unit is where the class focused in on food systems. We started off with a warm up and we were asked to write down a few things that was can do personally to live longer. The next assignment let me discover how much overweight America really is. I learned that in about 20 years, America went from between >10% and 15% to >or equal, all the way to 30% overweight. That means about 30% of Americans are overweight. After learning about America’s obesity rates, I learned about the disease that goes hand in hand with obesity, diabetes. The diabetes rate is rapidly increasing along with the obesity rate. I discovered that the a lot of the areas that are impoverished are also overweight, this is because no one in the area can afford healthy food. Healthy food has become more expensive than fatty, high processed foods like McDonald’s. This is because the food system has become skewed. The “whole foods” are so much more expensive because they are real foods rather than fake, this is the biggest problem in our food system. I learned that I could make a lot of changes to my food choices. I need to stay away from processed foods altogether because people consume so many chemicals everyday and it’s unnatural and very bad for us to be eating on a daily. If everyone stopped eating processed and fatty foods, the obesity and diabetes rate would drop down. Personally, I am willing to make these changes if it means living a healthier life. Food Rule Slide:
screenshotfoodrule
screenshotfoodrule

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