20 strawberries

add

1 chopped up cantuelope

1 chopped up honey dew

half a chopped up watermellon

The recipe to making it was extremely simple as it was just fruit products chopped up into little pieces. The labels claimed the fruit to be organic so the environmental impact was likely helpful because more plants means more fertile soil and air for us all yay fruit. It was entirely whole food literally what comes up from the ground when you plant a seed and care for it and pluck what grows from it. There was no nutrion label on the side of my food because fruit doesn't come with that. However the nutritional value of a strawberry is 4 calories and 1 gram of sugar. The nutritional value of watermelon for a slice in 86 calories 22g carbs 18g sugars and 2g proteins. The nutritional value of a pineapple is 28 calories per slice and 7g of carbs and 6g of sugar. one wedge of honey dew is 45 calories 11g carbs 10g sugar and 1 g protein. All and all the food seemed to be high in sugar and carbs but it was all natural if you ate a lot of it you would need to produce more insulin to lower your blood sugar levels because of the increase in glucose your body received. I am pretty sure that the items went straight from farm to market to plate because you can not do much else with fruit in between it grows you pick it then eat it the end.

2 cups Basmati Rice

3/4 kg Chicken Pieces

1/2 cup Milk

1 cup Yogurt (curd)

3 sliced onion

1 teaspoon Ginger Paste

1/2 teaspoon Garlic Paste

1 teaspoon Green Chilli Paste

1/2 cup Tomato Puree

2 teaspoin Red Chilli Powder 

1 teaspoon Turmeric Powder 

1 teaspoon Roasted cumin powder 

2 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder (seasoning)

1/2 teaspoon Green Cardamom Powder 

Saffron a pinch

1 teaspoon Coriander Powder 

2 tablespoon Green Coriander Leaves 

Salt to taste 

7 tablespoon Oil

 Recipe: 

Mix tomato puree, yogurt, ginger garlic paste, green chilli paste, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, roasted cumin powder, garam masala (seasoning), coriander powder and salt. Stir well.

soak the chicken with this mixture and keep aside for 3-4 hours.

Heat oil in a pan. Fry the onions until golden brown.

Add the soaked chicken and cook for 10 minutes.

Add 4 cups of water to the rice. Mix saffron in milk and add to it.

Add cardamom powder. Add the chicken pieces.

Pressure cook the rice. Mix gently.

decorate with green coriander leaves and serve hot.

25% of the meal is processed and 75% is whole food. 

•Health/nutrition:  

Calories- 520 Per serving

Total Fat- 12g

Saturated Fat- 3.5g

Cholesterol- 40mg

Sodium- 1240mg

Sugar- 13.g

Protein- 23.0

Since my meal is high in protein, it will help the bones become more stronger and healthier. Its also not that high in fats so the people that's eating it doesn't have to worry about getting fat. It takes about 24-72 hours for the food to digest. It takes about 6-8 hours after you eat for the food to pass through your stomach. 

•Environmental:  

Chicken- Delaware/United States

Seasoning- Pakistan

Vegetable oil- United States

Salt- United States

Sugar- United States 

Onions- Texas/United States

Rice- Pakistan

The rice and seasoning traveled the farthest. Approximately 8250 miles. The rice and onion was organically grown. Then chicken is processed. Since the chicken is processed, it went through couple of stages of machinery before it reached the store for sales.   

 •Political/economic: This meal cost about 25-30 dollars depending on how many people you want to serve with. Even though it might be a little expensive then fast food, it's fresh and home made unlike fast food its not old and not touched by multiple people. The company that deals with the rice made money, the chicken factory, people that processed the salt, sugar, and onions and also the seasoning.  The meat and rice factory is involved. 

•Social: Growing rice here in the city is hard but if a person were to grow rice rather then buying the ones at the supermarket then it would be more organic because it would be more natural. Also taking care of chicken is hard because they need a place to live, eat and run around. But if someone were to make chicken biryani with rice that was grown at home and chicken that was slaughter at home, that chicken biryani would be more fresh and healthier because it won't be as processed as the one I made.  

2lbs Sweet Italian Sausage

2 cans of crushed Basil Tomato Sauce

3 Tomatos 

Boxed Spaghetti

2 Onions

3 Slices of Bacon

3 Bay Leaves

1 cup of sugar

2 cups of ketchup

chili powder

dry oregeno

cumin

dry parsley

dry basil 

roasted garlic

Seasoning salt

salt and pepper

olive oil

The first thing you do when cooking spaghetti is to create your sauce. Create this by pouring 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and then slicing your 3 pieces of bacon and start to cook that. While that is cooking you cut the sausage into pieces the size that you want them to be. After the bacon is crispy but not burnt you take it out and put the sausages into the pot.  While the sausages are cooking you want to chop up the 2 onions into small pieces and cut the garlic so you can roast it. When the sausages are done take them out and put the garlic and onions into the pot and let them start to brown. 

Open the cans of tomato sauce and pour them one by one into the pot. Cut the tomatoes into small pieces and then put them into the pot. Make sure the pot is on a low flame keep stirring everything so that it doesn't stick and you get the flavors in everything. Add the bay leaves, cup of sugar, 1 1/2 cup of ketchup, chili powder, cumin, dry oregano parsley and basil; add to your liking. Add the salt and pepper, bacon bits and sausages back into the sauce. Get another pot fill it with water and wait for it to boil. When it boils add enough salt to the water (the water should taste like ocean water) and then add the noodles. (the amount depends on how much sauce you are making but normally you use a half of box). When then noodles are soft enough drain them with a strainer and then add them into the sauce, make sure you stir and then eat.

Analysis

Spaghetti isn't a totally nutrition meal but it is a meal. But then again I think it's the way you make it, because of the way I make mine then might not be that nutritious. I would say that half of the ingredients are whole foods and the other half are processed. I don't really know how much my meal cost but I would say that it had to be no more than $50. I didn't have to travel far because I live near the grocery store it is about 5 block away from my house. Some of the spices were freshly grown (basil, bay leaves, etc.) I think there are some health issues that come along with eating this everyday, you could get fat because there is oil and other fatty substances in the ingredients. But I think over all it is a good meal for a family who doesn't have the highest income and for people who just want to feed many.

In this unit I have learned a lot about the food industry and how horrible it actually is. I have also learned of the importance of "fracking" and how it can help and/or harm our area.  I have looked at and examined the food industry as a whole. Taking apart the different groups and jobs, I have an idea of how the industries manage to conceal the truth; or tell the truth,  just not the whole truth. It was interesting to see everything unfold and it actually had an effect on my emotions. I was angry at the industries and they made me not want to eat their food. However, learning about all of this made me realize that I not only can't but don't want to stop buying the industries creations. My role as a consumer does not allow me to stop.  I think that is the biggest problem with our food system. They don't want us to stop so they create higher prices for the healthier food and continue to give us unhealthy food for what we can afford. I want to help change this but the thing is I can't exactly think of ideas to actually put in action. 

Recipe & Analysis 
Healthy Rasta Pasta Meal

1. (1 serving)

- Steamed broccoli (1/4 cup)

- Rotini noodles (bowl)

- Small-diced carrots (1/5 cup)

- Loose corn (1/7 cup)

- Black pepper (3 pinches)

- Parmesan cheese (5 pinches)

- Garlic butter sauce (3 spoons)

Steps....

• Boil noodles at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes until they are soft

• Steam broccoli with black pepper, small diced carrots and corn in a pot for about 10 minutes

•  Drain noodles after soft, and mix noodles with the broccoli, carrots and corn

• Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the meal

a.             I'd say that the majority of the food is processed, because I had to chop and remove the outside layer of the carrots, and cut the broccoli. I bought the corn loose as it was, but I assume it was processed because corn comes from cob, they are attached, and so the company shaved the corn off of the cob. I am not sure about the noodles, but more than likely it is processed. 

b.             The Caloric count is 140, 5 grams of sugar (a lot, did not realize that), 8 grams of fat (I think its a lot with 4.5 of that being saturated fat.  That is mostly likely from animals. Saturated fat is greasy, or oily and that’s understandable because this meal was pasta that had garlic BUTTER sauce. My body will store some of the sugar that it got from the meal, and eject what it does not need into the liver.  3,500 calories is stored in your body for when you are not active. This is the body's way of saving energy that is mean o be burned off, it not, then it stays stored can most likely will be hard to "unstore".

c.            If I were to eat nothing but this meal everyday, then I would not be getting the OTHER essentials that my body needs, and my body would get tired of the same fats, oils, sugars, etc. 

d.            I think that my ingredients didn’t come from that far because I only have farming veggies and noodles. The veggies can get old fast, and if traveling from a far, that more dangerous or more aware you want to be about your food. So I think mine came from the far east coast of the U.S. My corn/broccoli/carrots came from a farm in Minneapolis, from a company called Green Giant. I was close. They came more so from the Middle Western part of the U.S. where they have that more of a hot weather and requirements to actually farm.

e.             This meal costs, $4.79. Compared to other junk and fatty foods, this meal costs less than a meal from McDonalds where those meals there can be $ 5.00 and unsurprisingly higher. However, a person can benefit more from just my meal. It is owned by General Mills.

f.              From a company, they add a lot of preservatives, and fertilizer rather than just you growing your own food. Companies advertise differently in order to attract hungry consumers. They say things to make a consumer want to buy from them. They have commercial ads that supposedly show where they are producing the broccoli, how, where it’s being packaged to etc, just to make the consumer feel comfortable. 

My role in the larger food system consists of different views. For me, the way that the food system is treating what and me I am receiving is OK. Mainly because the side effects of fracking aren’t affecting me directly, is why I am ok with it.  Also, the way that our food is preserved, companies use too much of this, and too less of that.  Too may cloned, plants that isn’t what the mother of nature provided freshly from nothing. My food has to be cloned. The sound is very uncomfortable. However, if I were the resident of a house who lived in an area that was being bombarded by frackers, and that effected my physically, and the food, there would not be one pinch of happiness within me. I would not even want to stay at my house to fight the system because I would already be disgusted that it has already begun.  Then again, if I was the system, I would do what   I have to do in order to better the country. As for the whole western diet. SMH. It is a matter of a person. The person who has that overweight problem has to be motivated in order to take action to change their weight.  Is the problem that they are not being motivated enough? They take death lightly? Why is that?  

My Food Rule Graphic

My Food Slide

A Play On Saladworks Sophie’s Salad.

Makes: 4 Servings

Time: About 20 Minutes

Ingredients

-       1 bag or head of Organic lettuce (Any brand)

-       ½ Apple

-       2 handfuls of lo Mein noodles

-       2 handfuls of croutons (If preferred)

-       1 chicken

-       ½ Cup of shredded cheddar cheese

-       ½ cup of walnuts (Or any nut you’d like)

-        Raspberry Vinaigrette  Salad Dressing or Oriental Sesame Salad Dressing (Desired Amount)

Directions

- Grill Chicken Breast and cut into long stripes and then dice chicken up

-  Cut up head of organic lettuce and put into a large serving bowl or pour bag of lettuce into serving bowl

- Cut apple half into bite size cubes and put into a separate bowl with your ½ cup of walnuts and shredded cheese (All of these ingredients will be kept together to prevent wilting and sogginess of other ingredients)

-  Hand mix apples, cheese and walnuts together to even out the portions

- Pour apple, walnut, and cheese mix into the serving bowl with lettuce

- Lastly, Sprinkle Lo Mein noodles and croutons onto the salad mix and pour on desired amount of salad dressing

-- Grab a bowl and Enjoy!

     I believe that depending on the type of each ingredient you purchase that determines how much of this meal is processed and how much is whole food. For example, if you were to purchase organic chicken breast as oppose to the processed chicken breast that would drastically change the percentage of processed food in the meal.

      Since I usually change the original recipe to my liking and what I’m in the mood for the calories are very different each time I make this dish so below is the nutritional information for the original Sophie’s Salad.

    I’m positive that each ingredient in my salad came from the U.S.  I don’t believe any of these ingredients would have to travel any extreme distance. Again, I would say that depending on the type of ingredient you were to purchase that would determine how organic the meal was

      I believe that all together this meal cost around $25.00 and serves 4 people and sometimes more if you were to use bigger portions of the ingredients. I believe that a huge corporation would be Perdue  because they are well known chicken producers and the chances of people paying the extra amount of money to get organic chicken breast and this salad can’t be made without chicken so usually people settle for companies such as Perdue.

 My Source: 

- http://nutrition.saladworks.com/nutrition/salads

 I really enjoyed this unit because I learned a lot about some things I had never even heard of especially while watching the Food, Inc. Movie. There were some things in this unit I already knew and my knowledge was just increased and then there were things such as the “Pig Scolder” that I knew nothing about.

     My role in the larger food system would definitely be a consumer because most if not all of my money is spent on fast food.  I can honestly say I order or pick up an order of French fries once a week.

     The biggest problem with our food system is that nothing is real anymore. Everything that we are served as a society is processed or shot up with hormones in some sort of way and the foods that are real and organic are way out the average price range of families so they can never afford to eat the way they should.

     Some changes that I could make to my food choices are that I could spend less money on take out and fast foods by making more meals at home that are more healthy for me such as organic. Instead of trying to order out everyday I could make my lunch at home which would be healthier and cheaper.

     Once I made these changes not only would I actually have money during the week but I’d be way healthier and it would probably help me do things with less of struggles such as walking to the 5^th floor of the building everyday.

     Honestly, I’m not willing to give up fast food because I enjoy eating French fries too much. If there was a way to get healthier fries for the same price as fast food and they tasted just as good as the unhealthy fries I would be more incline to stop eating fast food.