Science and Society - Best - E — Science Leadership Academy @ Center City

Sieanna

Posted by Sieanna Williams in Science and Society - Best - E on Friday, January 23, 2015 at 1:15 pm

Pesto Chicken Florentine

Sieanna Williams & Brian Birkmire

Ingredients

- Olive Oil (2 Tbsp)

- Garlic (2 cloves)

- Chicken breast (boneless/skinless/4 count)

- Fresh Spinach Leaves (2 cups)

- 1/2 White/Yellow onion (chopped)

- 1/2 cup of white wine

- Pepper/Sprinkle of Salt

- 1/4 cup cream

- Basil

- Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Boil pot of water, preferably large pot. Boil pasta.

2. While preparing the pasta, cook the chicken. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the raw chicken. Heat some olive oil in pan and brown both sides of the chicken breast. Remove chicken when browned.

3. Add chopped onions and sauté for about 2-3 minutes. While the onions are cooking, slice the chicken in strips. Put aside any pieces already cooked by the browning and the others that aren't cooked to be finished.

4. When the onions begin to brown, add the garlic and sauté for another minute, roughly. Add white wine and and boil until it is half reduced.

5. Add the spinach and undercooked chicken to the pan. Using tongs, turn them over to coat them with the juices in the pan. Continue to cook, turning and stirring often, until the spinach is wilted and the chicken cooked through, about 2 minutes.

6. Turn off the heat and add some black pepper, the pile of cooked chicken pieces and the pesto (basil, olive oil, parmesan cheese sauce). Stir to combine. Drain the pasta put it in a large bowl. Add the cream to the sauté pan and stir well to combine. Add the contents of the pan to the bowl with the pasta and mix well.

ANALYSIS

The beautiful thing about our meal is that it contains 0% of processed food. There are no additives or preservatives and some of our food is even homemade. Brian and I were originally going to buy fettuccine sauce but it had modified enzymes so we opted to make it ourselves with natural ingredients, as well as the pesto. The spinach leaves were not organic but they were organically grown. The only ingredient on the back was spinach.

We carefully read each of the ingredients on the back of the labels of the foods we used, all of them contained less than 10 g of sugar and fat. There is very little to no grease and the only oil used was olive oil (very little) on the chicken which was sauteed thoroughly. Although our dish is very healthy and will not caused any harm to one’s body from eating it once or twice in a row, the pasta is what dominates the dish. Pasta contains lots of starch and too much starch is very harmful to the body, so we strongly suggest to never eat a pasta meal every single day. On the other hand, it has low Glycemic Index which means it does not increase glucose levels rapidly this makes it easier for the body to maintain energy for longer periods of time. Pasta also has folic acid which is crucial for reproduction.

Our meal contains a variety of crucial dietary nutrients. It is a cleansing meal that will not only taste good but make you feel good.

Personal Reflection

Ever since I joined the Girls Ultimate Frisbee team last school year, I’d begun to seriously think about eating more healthily. Not only had I never played frisbee before, but I had very little experience with exercise. I’d just joined the team when both boys and girls had gone to the states championship. For both tournament days, my coach, Ms. Echols, kept me in every single game for several points straight. I had never been so run down in my life and I couldn’t figure out how the rest of the girls had so much energy. When I finally had the chance to break, I looked upon the food parents and coaches brought with them. All that had been there were granola bars, bananas, sandwiches, etc. I didn’t think much of it but went on eating. Almost immediately I noticed a change in myself throughout the tournament. The food wasn’t only delicious, but I felt better on the inside. It was then that I’d seriously begun to consider eating more whole foods.

The issue with my new resolution was that once I left frisbee and once I left my boyfriend’s home there was nothing to go home to but processed, artificially flavored and sugary foods. I live in a home where we only have as much food as we do because we are fortunate enough to receive food stamps. But even so, our food stamp money has been continuously cut despite our lowering income. Because of this, my mom has stopped buying as much fruits, she’s opted for pop tarts instead of oatmeal and often I’m starting to see more and more snacks than usual. I know my mom understands that I want to eat healthily (as well as I’m sure she understands that we should be eating this way), but we have a mutual understanding that we simply cannot afford such foods. What do I think is the biggest problem with our food system? There’s too much consumption. Too many people are buying so much food and I believe that’s what has upped the price on natural foods and set the price low for sugary foods. This way, farmers get what they work for by growing so much food so fast and companies make profit. Either way, it’s human consumption that’s caused these issues. There’s too much food circulating when there really does not need to be. Despite this issue, I will continue to try to eat as healthy as possible. Not just because it tastes a lot better, but because it makes me feel a lot better.

Food Project: Brian

Posted by Brian Birkmire in Science and Society - Best - E on Friday, January 23, 2015 at 12:59 pm

Dish: Pesto Chicken Florentine

Ingredients:

- Olive Oil (2 Tbsp)

- Garlic (2 cloves)

- Chicken breast (boneless/skinless/4 count)

- Fresh Spinach Leaves (2 cups)

- 1/2 White/Yellow onion (chopped)

- 1/2 cup of white wine

- Pepper/Sprinkle of Salt

- 1/4 cup cream

- Basil

- Parmesan cheese

How to cook:

1. Boil pot of water, preferably large pot. Boil pasta.

2. While preparing the pasta, cook the chicken. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the raw chicken. Heat some olive oil in pan and brown both sides of the chicken breast. Remove chicken when browned.

4. When the onions begin to brown, add the garlic and sauté for another minute, roughly. Add white wine and and boil until it is half reduced.

In our recipe, we have integrated multiple nutritional necessities. We have a healthy balance of protein, vitamins, sugars, carbs, fiber, sodium, etc. With the chicken, this can come from “organically” grown chickens that have the ability to free roam and are fed and raised properly. Depending on where you buy the chicken and which brand you choose. Perdue wouldn’t be the best choice if you want chickens that were raised how nature intended. That’s the main source of protein in the meal.

Basil, a delicious herb that is more than meets the eye. Researchers say that basil, not only good for pesto, but is also good at fighting bacteria, viruses, and chronic diseases. As well as the healthy benefits of basil, olive oil, another key ingredient in pesto is known to help reduce the chances of heart disease. Lastly, in the delicious pesto sauce is everyone’s favorite; garlic. Garlic has been around for centuries and has been used from food to theories of keeping you safe from vampires. Not a bad health benefit, if it were real, but garlic does however reduce blood pressure, fight bacteria, improve cholesterol levels, lots of antioxidants, and detoxifies metals in the body.

Although pasta is known for it’s starches and carbohydrates, it actually has beneficial nutrients. Pasta does have a low GI (Glycemic Index) meaning it doesn’t raise glucose levels quickly. It also has folic acid, a key factor for pregnant women. Last, the carbohydrates that pasta withholds is helpful for athletic people. Most athletes will go on a massive carb intake before a game because the glucose from the carbs is a fuel for the body. The pasta releases the glucose energy slowly allowing the body to maintain energy much longer than something with artificial sugar.

In all, the benefits of eating our meal would be a collected portion of every important dietary intake. Our meal is guaranteed to help you gain and maintain energy while cleansing your body and making you feel healthy.

Personal Reflection:

I learned a lot this unit and I’ve enjoyed every second of it. One of my favorite topics to learn about is nutrition and how it affects the body, mainly because it’s something that is relevant to me everyday. I’ve recently been in the mood to watch “Food Inc.” all over again. Looks like I’ll be watching it later on Netflix.

I think, in relevance to Food Inc, the biggest problem about food in America is that we will do anything we can to produce cheap and unnatural foods to not fill our stomachs but fill our pockets. This goes for just about everything we consume in today’s society. I know that for companies like Perdue, they produce chickens that are genetically modified to grow bigger than the average chicken in nearly half the amount of days. If I remember, it takes about 72 days for a chicken to grow to about it’s fullest potential. The GMO (chickens in this sense) are modified to grow in about 42 days, thus producing more which makes the companies more money. This goes for many other foods as well. Some tomatoes are modified with fish DNA so they will stay fresh longer when refrigerated, that’s disgusting and unnatural. Other crops are modified to grow faster, be immune from pesticides, etc. Another problem with our government is that they make the foods that are nearly 100% natural to be much more expensive then the stuff that harms your body. When you can go through a McDonald’s “drive thru” and get a burger, fries, and a drink for about three bucks, compared to two apples at the same price, most people will pick the “drive thru” meal. Unfortunately, this results in health issues like high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, etc.

In all, I’ve enjoyed learning about diabetes, obesity, and everything else involved with food and the human body. It’s important to know these things because we will carry them the rest of our lives while we teach the next generation the importance.

Q2 Benchmark (Chris Tran + Nikki Adeli)

Posted by Chris Tran in Science and Society - Best - E on Thursday, January 22, 2015 at 10:01 pm

Fried Rice: (Brown rice alternative)

Ingredients:

2 cups of brown rice
1 cup of mixed vegetables
1 cup of ham or any kind of meat
Salt
2 Garlic
2 Red onions
Pinch of Vegetable Oil

Recipe:

Gather all of the ingredients needed, prepare a small frying pan and add a pinch of vegetable oil.
Chop the garlic and onions into small pieces.
Prepare the ham or any kind of meat wanted with rice.
When the pan is hot add the chopped onion and garlic. Fry until it is the color of gold.
Then add the rice into the frying pan and stir fry the rice, onion, and garlic for about 5 minutes. Add ⅙ teaspoon of salt and continue to stir fry for another couple of minutes.
Add 1 cup of meat into the frying pan and stir fry for about 2 to 3 minutes.
Then add 1 cup of mixed vegetables and stir fry for about 2 to 3 minutes
Then decorate your plate with the rice and enjoy!

Analysis:

My version of a healthy fried rice is mostly whole food. About 90% of my fried rice’s ingredients are whole foods and only 10% processed. For my fried rice the total calorie is about 250 calories. The sugar content is pretty low at 10 g in total, the sodium is 25 mg., total carbohydrates is 27 mg., and protein is 4g. Well based on my research my meal doesn’t take long to digest because it is only 270 calories all you need to do after you eat is to exercise and you can work it off. Based on personal experience, I have lost 20 pounds due to this recipe. Well for the sugar, proteins, and carbs, they are something that our body needs to do simple things everyday and they can also help our bones and our body become stronger or slimmer. Well some of the health issues that can rise from this would be nothing because rice is something that my culture has ate for almost 2,000 years and nothing happened to our health. It would just improve our health a lot more than it would hurt.

Well most of my foods are from the U.S, but the brown rice is from China. The food that travelled the furthest would be the brown rice. This rice would have to be organically grown because this brown rice is filled with nutrients that no processed food have. Well since none of my foods are processed. I would have to say that processed foods can cause pollutions due to the factories creating it creates pollution and the processed foods can also create cancer or can cause diabetes.

In total, the cost of the meal was $20.79. All of our food choices were from fresh ingredients and where much more wholesome than a fast food restaurant. That being said, it was more expensive to prep and buy all of this food in comparison to fast food. Most of our food ingredients are regulated by the FDA and USDA to ensure that our Chicken doesn’t have salmonella and that our vegetables aren’t covered in herbicides. The majority of the people who made money off of the food we purchased will benefit the farmers who grew the crops and chickens. The biggest corporation that will make the most money off of our ingredients is the infamous Monsanto. They have dominated the market have a monopoly in their favor.

There are no social ramifications of my meal choice, but there are some controversy involving the import of rice from China to the U.S. The trace for rice would be that it was grown in a field in China or any warm climate environment and was picked and packed and sent to the U.S. Now for the rest of the ingredients they are all from the U.S. Also the side dish most of the ingredients are common things that we eat. These items are purchased at a local chinese supermarket. They are healthy, organic, and convenient. The organic rice are grown in fields and takes months to grow compare to factory rice. They grow it chemically and then picked and processed. Then for the herbs its the same process. They grow it organically and for companies they grow it chemically and picked it and processed it. Now for the vegetable oil they just make it by factory, its possible but you would have to dry the plants or veggies and then get the oil out of them.

Personal Analysis:

Chris: Looking back into this unit, I think my role in the larger food system is that I contribute to the fast food business and contribute to the growth in obesity in this country. I think I should turn to a more healthy diet after this unit and continue to work out everyday to contribute to the growth of a healthier America. I think the biggest problem with our food system is that we add too much carbs and sugar into our food. It is hurting people and causing diabetes and heart diseases. Another problem would be that fast food has artificial meat which hurts Americans and everybody else because we are not taking in the healthy, real, natural meat that is needed in the human body. Some of the changes that I can make with my food choices is to choose more healthy food and to cook more instead of eating out. The impact of these changes would be losing weight and living a healthy life. Yes, I am willing to make these changes because this is something that I need to be healthy. I feel like after watching the TED talk that Jamie Oliver did I wanted to quit fat food and move on to the more healthy alternative.

Nikki:

Food Slide Rules:

Q2 Sci & Soc Food Benchmark

Posted by Audrey Pham in Science and Society - Best - E on Thursday, January 22, 2015 at 1:48 pm

Recipe: Light stir-fry chicken and vegetables with Chinese egg noodles

*This recipe can be vegetarian/vegan friendly by simply replacing the meat with eggs or tofu, or even taking meat out completely!

Note:

There is no specific measurements for most of the ingredients because it is your preference on how much vegetables, noodles, or meat you want to eat/use. Also, you don’t need to completely follow these ingredients, feel free to use whatever vegetables or meat you want. Anything that is laying around in the fridge that needs to be used such as leftover vegetables or different kinds of meat such as beef or pork is fine. And for the noodles, it is not completely necessary to use Chinese egg noodles, regular noodles that you have on hand can be used. And if you don't want to eat noodles, you can totally forget about it and just make meat and veggie stir fry and serve this over your choice of rice.

Adjust measurements according to how many people this meal will be serving to.

Ingredients:

Boneless skinless chicken breast

Carrots

Onion

Broccoli

Snow peas

Bell peppers

Mushroom

Soy sauce

Minced garlic

Chinese egg noodles

Salt

Black pepper

Red pepper flakes (Optional: only if you want it to be spicy)

Any kind of cooking oil (cooking spray or olive oil are the healthy choices)

How many minutes it takes to prepare and cook:

15-20 minutes

Everything will be cooked very quickly!

Directions:

Cut up all your vegetables and meat into bite size pieces.
After you finish cutting up your main ingredients, get a wok or a big skillet pan and put it over medium-high heat. Add your cooking oil(1 tablespoon) or cooking spray. Let the pan heat up for at least 3 minutes.
Depending on what kind of noodles you are using, if it is not cooked yet, you may need to get a saucepan and boil water, then add in the noodles and blotch noodles for 2-3 minutes, take it out and strain the noodles, then set it aside to dry. (This is an extra step if your noodles are not cooked. Skip this step if it doesn't apply to you)
Finely mince the garlic.
Throw the minced garlic and onion into the wok/pan and stir fry that until you noticed the pieces of garlic turn golden brown and smells very fragrant and the onion becomes translucent. If you are making this dish spicy, this is the time to also add in your dry hot pepper flakes. This should take 2-3 minutes.
Turn the heat down to medium. Add in your sliced chicken or other choice of meat then stir fry until the meat is almost cooked through. You don’t want to cook it all the way yet because you haven’t added the vegetables yet (overcooked meat will taste bad and hard to chew). This will take a few minutes.(If you are using sliced beef, cook for only one minute!)
After your meat is cooked about half way through, turn the heat back up to medium-high and add in all your vegetables. Stir fry until vegetables are slightly cooked but do not overcook or else your vegetables will become too soft or soggy (you still want that “crunch” when you bite into your veggies). This will take 2-3 minutes.
Add in the noodles and stir fry with kitchen tongs or chopsticks until noodles are heated. (Tongs or chopsticks will be easier to cook with the noodles. If you use a regular spatula, it might break the noodles) This will take 2-3 minutes since you are just reheating the noodles.
Turn the heat down to low and add two teaspoons of soy sauce and a pinch of salt and black pepper. Stir this for a minute and then turn off the heat. Do a taste test and see if you need anymore soy sauce or salt/black pepper. But don’t forget, too much sodium isn’t good for you.
Serve this in a plate or a bowl and you are ready to enjoy your quick, healthy, light stir fry!

Analysis of the recipe:

In my recipe, the only ingredient that might have be processed is the choice of noodles you use. I used thin Chinese egg noodles that I bought from a local asian supermarket near my house. I’m sure they’re processed because I did not make these noodles from scratch, they pre-made. All I had to do is blotch them in boiled water for 3 minutes, drain it, then it was good to eat or use in any meal I prep. I would say 30% of the recipe is processed because I put in a good amount of noodles but there’s more vegetables than noodles. The vegetables and boneless skinless meat is whole food, not processed.

Since my recipe is overall healthy, the sugar count and fat count is extremely low because we did not use sugar at all in this recipe and since we used boneless skinless chicken breast and we only used a tiny bit of oil in the pan, this is very little fat. The calorie count shouldn’t be so high because these are mostly veggies, so I can’t estimate it but I am aware that the calorie is not high. If you eat this recipe every day, there wouldn’t be any possible health problem arising because it’s not high in fat, sodium, sugar or anything.

I am not really sure where most of my ingredients came from, I’m positive my vegetables and meat are from this country but I don’t know which state. I don’t think the travel is that far because I’m pretty sure there’s a farm or meat factory nearby. I think the Chinese egg noodles might possibly be from California because lots of Asian food are processed or made in California. I don’t know if my vegetables are grown organically because I bought my vegetables from Shop Rite, not from Whole Foods Supermarket or Trader Joe’s.

This meal does not cost that much, in all honesty. This stir fry recipe is very easy to make and you can use any choice of vegetables, choice of meat or choice of noodles or seasoning. If you have leftover vegetables that need to be used before it goes bad, you could simply cut it up and throw into the wok/pan. If you have raw beef in the freezer or leftover chicken in the fridge, that can be used to. Chinese egg noodles isn’t common in American households so if you don’t have it or can’t find it, some pasta in from the cabinet can be substituted. You don’t really need to make a trip to the grocery store to buy these ingredients unless you want to eat specific vegetables, meat or noodles. I would it’s as cheap as fast food because this recipe is for anything that is laying around in your fridge. I didn't even go to the grocery store to buy my ingredients, I already had it in my fridge and my mom didn't use it for her cooking so I just took all of it and cooked this. I know where we bought it from but I already had it at home.

All my vegetables that I used were grown from farms that I don’t really know about. So the intermediate steps could’ve included chemicals to grow it. I don’t grow any vegetables at home. So if I were to grow my green peppers, onions or garlic at home, I’d have to buy the seed, go through a bunch of steps to get the right kind of soil to grow my vegetables, maintain these plants and make sure I water it, and a ton of more steps. As for commercial production process, they handle it themselves and I just simply purchase these vegetables without the hassle of growing it myself.

Personal Reflection:

Although before this unit, I was aware of some of these issues that we have in our food system, however, this unit has taught me even more about our food system and I actually learned "numbers" and "statistics" involved in it. The biggest issue I see in our food system is how much the government lies to us about it. The "sugar free", "low fat" labels are just lies. These low content food is just being covered up with another kind of terrible chemical or make it taste as good it normally would be. I think that is the worst corruption in our entire food system because this is going into our body and we are being lied to. Some of the changes I can make to my food choices is to make healthier decisions in my diet. I eat healthy during weekdays because I usually eat homemade food since I'm not going out with friends(my mom cooks pretty healthy) but sometimes I should eat brown rice instead of rice. Or whole wheat bread instead of white, and greek yogurt instead of mayo, something like that. The impact of these changes if that I think I will physically feel a lot better and have more energy to go through my day. I also think this will impact while I'm exercising, I'll notice more physical changes if I eat right. I'm willing to make these changes because I want to be fit and I want to be healthy. I don't want to have heart disease or diabetes, it already runs in my family. I want to decrease my chance and beat my genetics by being healthier. I really enjoyed the warm ups we've previously done in this unit because I've read some great facts and educated myself more about this.

Food Rule:

Liza's Food Project - Q2 BM

Posted by Liza Cohen in Science and Society - Best - E on Thursday, January 22, 2015 at 1:21 pm

Recipe and Food Analysis for Pasta E Fagilo

(Pasta with Pinto Beans)

Ingredients:

Whole Grain Ditalini Pasta

if you can't supply whole grain pasta, a traditional kind is just fine
Ditalini Pasta is a small, cylinder shape pasta but any type of pasta works

2 cans of Goya Pinto Beans

Salt

Pepper

Olive Oil

Water

3 to 4 Clove of Garlic

Process:

1. Fill up pot with water and put it to a boil (size of pot and amount of water varies for how many people you are serving)

The average size for a container of pasta would be 4 to 6 quarts of water.

2. Once water is boiled, add pasta.

3. Boil pasta for 10 minutes.

4. While the pasta is boiling, in a separate pot, heat 6 tablespoons or more of extra virgin olive oil.

5. Add 3 to 4 cloves of pressed, chopped garlic into the same pot.

6. a half of a teaspoon of red pepper flakes.

7. Let that sautee for a few minutes.

8. Add 2 cans of the 15 oz. Goya Pinto Beans.

9. Add 1 can of water (use the empty can of Goya Beans).

10. Let beans simmer while pasta is boiling for 10 minutes.

11. Before draining the pasta, take one full cup of pasta water to reserve for the final dish to mix.

12. Remove pasta from stove and drain well after 10 minutes.

13. Put half of the pasta into a bowl and add half of the beans.

14. Mix.

15. Add the rest of the beans and pasta.

16. Blend together with cup of pasta water.

17. Serve and enjoy!

Optional: Add chopped kale for color and flavor!

Food Analysis:

Although pasta is a processed food, there are benefits to eating it. It has an extremely large amount of carbohydrates which gives your body a lot of fuel. Whole grain pasta even includes dietary fiber. Pasta is also low on sodium and cholesterol. Keep in mind that too many carbs is not good but if you need to fill up on calories, pasta would be an appropriate way to do so. Even though pasta is a processed food, Goya pinto beans are incorporated into this mean - which is a whole food. Because of the canning process, a lot of salt is added to the whole food which increases its serving of sodium. To decrease your intake of sodium, it is extremely helpful to wash off your beans and put them to as much of a boil as possible. On the bright side, pinto beans give you a large amount of protein, such as 15 grams worth, along with fiber and iron.

It is important to keep in mind that you can't control everything you eat. It is impossible to lessen the amounts of fat, sodium, etc into a food that is already processed, prepared, and ready to cook to serve. However, you must cook and serve responsibly so that you don't overdose on the negative factors that even meals that are good for you might bring. Too much pasta is never a good thing. However, you are going to come across situations where you need calories or more carbs. This is why pasta is a very popular ingredient that is served with many meals for athletes. If you were to eat this meal entirely too much, or any meal that involves pasta, it may not be in your best interest. Pasta is an extremely popular dish in most homes, which is why it is recommended to balance the serving size of pasta out with a salad on the side (for example). This way you are eating less pasta, but still having a full meal.

The most popular brand of pasta is Barilla (which is the brand I am using for this dish). It comes straight from Italy but since it is packaged we know that it goes through a food process to arrive here. Luckily, Barilla advertises on their boxes that they try their hardest to minimize the amount of energy and water to import the pastas. Pinto Beans are grown in places like Spain, Mexico, Central America, and South America. They are imported to the U.S. and are packaged at the Goya Headquarters in Syracuse, New Jersey.

Not only does this meal take a very short amount of time to prepare - around 20 minutes, but it is extremely cheap. Depending on where you purchase your ingredients at, the prices may vary. However, all of these ingredients you can find at any super market. A box of pasta usually varies from $1.25 to $1.60. A can of Goya beans costs around 98 cents. If you are interested in adding chopped up garlic to your dish, a clove usually costs 25 cents. These are how much the main ingredients cost. This is an extremely cheap meal that is just as cheap as fast food but is better for you and serves more people. These large cooperations like Barilla Pasta and Goya Beans are making money from every customer that invests in their products but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Its better than McDonalds taking your money.

The process of making these ingredients yourself and buying them already ready for you in the store is completely different. There are plenty of people that can make their own pasta but this is usually not common in the average household, but it might be for Italian families. Restaurants and even some homes use a machine to make pasta. This is already a reason why people don't usually make pasta themselves. Even without a machine, making your own pasta would mean purchasing dough, rolling it out, cutting it, and preparing the dough with flour, egg, oil, etc. This is already a longer process and more expensive than going to your local super market. The same goes for pinto beans. You would have to purchase the beans and go through the process of growing them properly into bean stalks. If everyone was to home make all of their ingredients, it would be more expensive and a longer process. This is why we have supermarkets so people can afford to eat and the serve the meals they would like to make themselves but simply can't because it isn't in their reach.

Overall, this is a cheap, easy to make, not-so unhealthy meal that is great to serve for any family! Although there is a processed food involved, the dish supplies a lot of good nutrients but never forget to eat responsibly! Enjoy!

Reflection:

I was extremely passionate about this past unit. It was really convenient that all of this relates to what I will be studying in college - so it kept my interested even more. During this unit, I didn't necessarily learn anything new, but I definitely expanded my knowledge on topics and concerns that I was already familiar with. I learned a lot about where what food and what things connected to food are causes so many problems for people's lives in America. I learned about ways in which we can all do things like simply exercise 30 minutes a day or be more responsible when reading the labels of our food. There are simple ways that we can prevent deaths like heart disease, diabetes, etc. This unit also helped me realize where the problem is in terms of our country's food system. People are not knowledgable of what they are putting intro their body which is why they are putting themselves more at risk.

I have always been very careful with the foods I put into my body and have always been interested in living a healthy lifestyle. Therefore, I am going to continue the habit that I have been in for years now in terms of the way I eat and exercise. Watching the TED Talk in class was just another reminder of why I make the healthy decisions that I do in life and I never regret them. Unhealthy food tastes good but it not worth it in the end. I would like my habits and patterns of healthy living to hopefully rub off onto other people, to inspire them to do the same. People my age are not concerned with eating healthy but it is because they are so wrapped up in eating unhealthy, they actually have no idea what it is doing to them. And most kids are too stubborn to even give healthy food a chance - they think all healthy food is expensive and doesn't taste well. This is not always true and this has to become a more brought up topic of discussion so kids can turn around their bad habits.

I am studying athletic training and nutrition in college and I am definitely going to try to get to that point where I can reach out to a large audience and get them to change their lives around. I strongly believe that one day I will be able to say that I taught people a lot and people came to me for help, and now that they are making progress and healthy change. The way our food system has been looking doesn't look it's best and I am willing to take the time to make sure me and other workers on my team (whatever team that may be in the future) get society to be looking and eating the way they should be.

Q2 FOOD PROJECT

Posted by Aaron Tang in Science and Society - Best - E on Thursday, January 22, 2015 at 12:36 pm

Aaron Tang

For 4-5 people. For more people, double the ingredients.

Ingredients:

-1 table spoon of salt

-2 eggs

-3 cups of rice

2/4 vegetable oil
2/3 soy sauce
shredded chicken, beef or pork
water
2 cilantro

Process:

1). Pour rice on a rice cooker and make sure it is flat. (If you do not have a rice cooker, then use a pot).

2). Put water in the ricer cooker (fill water about 2 cm above the rice).

3). Wait about 15 minutes until the rice is fully cook (If using pot, stir it frequently).

4). Cut the 2 cilantros into tiny pieces

5). Pour vegetable oil to the pan (make sure the oil is evenly spread) and wait for a minute to heat up the oil.

6). Put the meat in the pan (If you're a vegetarian, you can skip step 5 and 6).

7). Stir for 2 minutes

8). Put all the rice onto the pan along with the salt

9). Gradually stir for 5 minutes

10). Eggs on the pan while stir it around

11). Pour the soy sauce, add cilantros and stir, so all the rice can be golden brown.

12). Enjoy your Fried Rice!

Analysis:

I feel like this particular food is a lot healthier than deep fried food because the food contains a lot of proteins and carbs. Since fried rice is an asian culture, people have different styles to make it. You can either add spice or adding any type of meat. Besides soy sauce, oil and white rice are processed, this type of food has couple natural ingredients. Fried rice is very easy to make, and any one can make this at home. If you are a vegetarian, you can simply still make this dish. Either way, our body needs salt, oil, carbs and proteins. If you eat this everyday, try to not eat a lot of carbs because eating a lot of carbs. Carbs will actually make you become obese since you are not going to eat other stuff from the food pyramid. To make it healthier, you can try it with brown rice! Brown rice will make the body resist on this.

Fried rice originated from Asia and most countries in Asia have a unique style of making their own fried rice. Generally you will need rice, and eggs to have fried rice. Rice is the base food from Asia. Rice can be grown all year round as long it has a wetland and people will have to pick the rice. once it is pollinate. Immigrants came to America and started to embrace their culture by making this type of food.

It is always cheap to cook at home. Generally the ingredients cost about $5 or less and when you go outside to buy it from a restaurant, it will cost about $10. Fast food will always be cheaper and it depends what you get. Since fast food places do have meals that include with a drink, some people would prefer the unhealthy food than fried rice. Fast food joints tend to be everywhere than healthier food, so people would drive there. Chinese Restaurants will always have fried rice and if people want Chinese food, just go there and order it or go home to cook the food.

In Asia, people will like to add anything to their fried rice. There are so many different styles and different families make it differently. Rice can be process differently because at the super market there are many different colors. Rice is have different forms and sizes which makes it harder for buyers to really know what type of rice they can use to make fried rice. It is personal reference what rice you like to eat. Meat can range from couple companies in the United States. Each company process their meat differently, and it depends what kind of food the animals eat.

Q2 Benchmark- Julian Makarechi & (Andre Gallagher)

Posted by Julian Makarechi in Science and Society - Best - E on Thursday, January 22, 2015 at 12:33 pm

Julian Makarechi & Andre Gallager

Instructions on how to make Pasta al Pesto

Ingredients:

- pasta (500 g)

- pesto (5oz)

- salt (pinch)

- water (fill pot & 1 table spoon for pasta bowl)

- parmigiano cheese

Process:

1. Boil pot of water. Put a pinch of salt in the water.

2. Once water is boiling, put pasta in the water for about 8-10. You want the pasta to be a little bit had and not extremely mushy.

3. Once done cooking the pasta, strain the pasta.

4. In a large serving bowl, put your pesto at the bottom and put 1 table spoon of water to make the sauce creamy.

5. Dump the cooked pasta into serving bowl, mix well and add parmigiono cheese.

6. Ready to serve.

Analysis:

Since most people do not make homemade pasta, the pasta used in this meal is almost all processed. Pasta is made of mostly flour, eggs, wheat, in other a lot of gluten. However, the pesto is 100% whole foods if you get it fresh.

In one box of Barilla, there is about 8g of fat, 336 carbs, and 0 sugar. The carbs and fat will cause weight gain but also a lot lipids to fight of viruses. Carbohydrates give your body with a lot of energy that we our bodies need. The process of how we digest pasta is quite simple. As soon as the pasta hits the tongue, the saliva immediately starts to breakdown the carbohydrates so it is easier to go through the stomach. The cell walls and acid then deconstruct the pasta. Eating pasta everyday is not a good idea, it will make you gain way to much weight, and too much gluten isn't good for you.

The pasta was probably made in Italy, but they probably got some of the ingredients from other countries in Asia. Since Barilla is such a large company, the pasta was manufactured commercially.

This is a pretty cheap meal, because pesto costs about 7$, and then box of pasta is 12$. A whole box is about 500 grams, which feeds 4-6 people. So per person it would be out 4$ per person, if there are about 5 people.

Making pasta at home takes a lot time, effort and precisions. I think that just buying a good brand of pasta is a lot more convenient. Especially since it takes so long for the pasta to go bad, so you buy a lot at a time.

Q2 Benchmark

Posted by Dylan Long in Science and Society - Best - E on Thursday, January 22, 2015 at 12:24 pm

Dylan Long

Science & Society Q2 Benchmark

Ingredients

(1 serving)

2 Fresh Avocados

1 Lime

1 Package of Cilantro

1 Onion

Garlic

Salt

Tools

1 cutting board

1 sharp cutting knife (large)

1 spoon (large)

2 bowls (1 large 1 small)

1 tupperware

Directions

Take your avocados and split them open by cutting the outer shell open in a 360 fashion around the entire shell. Once you have completed the cut, twist the avocado open into two halves. Take your knife and whack the center of it onto the pit so your knife is wedged in the pit, turn your knife 90 degrees and remove your knife; the pit will come with it!
Use your spoon to scoop out the avocado from each of the halves and empty it into your large bowl.
Once all your avocado is in your bowl, throw out the shells and pits and mix your avocados to a pasty texture.
Take out your cutting board, large knife, cilantro, onion and lime.
Chop up your cilantro and onion into small diced pieces and dump them into your large bowl.
Cut your lime into eighths and squeeze anywhere from 1-8 pieces of lime into your guacamole at your preference.
Use your spoon to stir your bowl thoroughly so that all of the ingredients mix together with the avocado.
At your own discretion/preference, add a couple sprinkles of salt to your guacamole.
Use your spoon to scoop your guacamole out of the bowl and into your tupperware.
Enjoy your fresh all-natural guacamole with some chips or tacos!

Analysis

The ingredients that I used in my recipe are simple, all-natural, healthy and can be found in the local grocery market or supermarket. All 100% of this food is whole food and not a single ingredient is processed; only vegetables, herbs and fruits! With my dish, there is no need to worry about any added sugars, fats, preservatives or artificial additives. Unless you have an allergic reaction with one of the ingredients, this is a healthy meal that will yield only good things for your body! In addition to being a great standalone dish, my guacamole is a fantastic way to increase both the flavor and nutrition of many common dinner meals! Going to a party and need to bring something along? My guacamole takes a quick ten minutes to concoct and tastes delicious. It can also be added onto tacos, enchiladas and more.

The ingredients that go into this guacamole (there are few) all come from the local grocery, which likely comes from all over the place. What I do know is that these fresh ingredients are not mass produced with artificial additives and preservatives. My ingredients come from real plantations and farms, and are transported to the local markets while retaining their fresh and authentic essence.

This meal does not cost much at all! With the finer ingredients, this meal falls under the $10 range. In comparison with fast food, guacamole and chips is far more healthy, filling and budget-friendly than fast food. In addition, you can make it in your own home! No need to make any side-tracked pit stops on the way home, guacamole is easy to make it under ten minutes! The thing that I enjoy the most which is another comparison that can be made between guac and fast food is that buying fast food supports massively corrupt corporations, and buying the ingredients for guacamole supports small, local businesses!

There are very few (if any at all) social ramifications of my guacamole. The economy prospers from the buying and selling of the ingredients, the one(s) consuming the guacamole are obviously extremely satisfied, and the ingredients are all natural! The avocados and cilantro come from the farmers market around my home, specifically in the 9th Street Market. Natural ingredients are sold there in the masses by Spanish families. The ingredients presumably come from all over the world! Avocados grow on trees, cilantro grows on farms, et cetera! Once all of these ingredients are combined, you are in for an absolute treat.

I learned a lot about nutrition this quarter! I learned about the various body parts and how many different ingredients and nutrients affect our body. I learned that sugar and fat are the leading cause for obesity, and that a LOT of America is obese. Even more of America is destined to become obese in the near future too! I learned that exercise is only half of staying in shape, you must have a healthy balanced diet on a consistent basis. The biggest problem for nutrition in America is the fact that we make consistently poor decisions about our nutrition and we feed ourselves pure garbage. I am very eager to continue making positive changes towards a better and healthier diet and lifestyle as time goes on.

Quarter 2 Benchmark

Posted by Jaime Christmas in Science and Society - Best - E on Thursday, January 22, 2015 at 12:00 pm

Zucchini Lasagna Recipe:

3 zucchinis sliced long
1 jar of tomato sauce
1 pound of ground turkey or beef (optional)
1 can of tomatoes
1 onion chopped
1 12oz container of ricotta cheese
16oz various shredded cheeses
1 bunch of basil
1 beaten egg
1 pinch of nutmeg

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
Sauté onions until golden over medium heat.
Then brown ground beef or turkey in the sautéed onions.
Then add the sauce and tomatoes and let that simmer.
Mix the ricotta, the beaten egg, nutmeg, 4oz mozzarella and parmesan cheese together.
Grab dish for lasagna.
Place the sauce at the bottom for first layer
Begin layering the zucchini layer (salting slices to draw out moisture if wanted), then ricotta mixture layer, sauce again, then the shredded cheese.
Repeat this process until you have completed 3-4 full layers.
Place basil on top.
Cover the dish with foil and bake for half an hour then let rest for 15 minuets and serve!

Analysis:

Although a lot of this meal has pre-packaged ingredients can easily be considered processed you can find organic non GMO versions of these ingredients. All of the packaged ingredients besides the meat are either vegetable based or dairy. You can also find organic meat that wasn’t injected with growth hormones. I’d say depending on your availability the meal could be partially processed or not at all.

This meal would not kill you if you attempted to eat it everyday. For many of the products including the cheeses and the tomato sauce the one problem that is seen is high sodium. But there are many other pros that come along with them such as low sugar, vitamins and no cholesterol. If you were to eat this meal everyday I would’t include the ground turkey or beef in it all the time because that is high in cholesterol which can lead to stroke and diabetes. Although cheese is a great source of protein if you are going to take the vegetarian route for this dish. The one thing that makes this dish healthy is by substituting the lasagna noodles for zucchini strips instead. It cuts down the carbs by a plentiful amount.

I think pretty much every ingredient was made in the United States. I think if you were to find organic zucchini that would have to come from somewhere that’s able to sustain it’s growth. I would be using Barilla pasta sauce in my dish. They advertise that it is imported from Italy. This means that there is an extensive process that goes into keeping it fresh and getting it here in a reasonable time.

I think this meal is especially economically friendly because many of the ingredients can be stored again to be used for another time and making lasagna comes with a lot of servings where you’ll have leftovers that you freeze or refrigerate for a later date. Compared to fast food it’s definitely a better choice, the preparation is quick and easy and it will go a longer way than fast food ever could.

If you were to chop tomatoes instead of buying them in a can surely that’s the way to go if you have the time to spare but a lot of families don’t which is why they’re already buying fast food they feel as if they already don’t have time or money on their hands. Depending on whether the tomatoes were organic or not they would be grown either in a field or industrially. While at home you have your Oprah Winfrey styled garden and the vegetables are as fresh as can be because they still don’t need to be packaged and shipped.

Personal Reflection

I've learned a lot about this unit that isn't just knowledge to harbor in my brain but is knowledge that can be applied to my everyday life. I liked it a lot because of this reason. My perception of what I think about food has changed dramatically from doing this unit especially when we relate it to certain diseases that can arise from eating poorly.

I think a lot of people are familiar with the typical diseases that come along with having an unhealthy diet like obesity and diabetes but suffering from strokes is never something that I even considered to be dietary related. I think the negative effects with eating poorly is something people so easily overlook. They say that they’ll change their habits constantly but the promise is never followed all the way through. I think my role in the larger food system would start with me promoting a healthy lifestyle and also following through with it. The fact that the way American’s eat has a specific name for it that has such a negative connotation is a huge wake up call for me. So I’m going to continue to try and eat as healthy as a I can and encourage others to do so as well.

I think some of the biggest problems with our food system is that they’re only priority is money and efficiency. They more stuff they shuffle out in a shorter amount of time means more money. This is all about the the means of production. The big businesses that control how most of the packaged food in America is produced are using such little expenses but making a huge profit from it. This is one of the problems with the systems; actual lives are not being accounted for.

There’s nothing necessarily wrong with my food choices but I could definitely benefit from eating less candy. If I made these changes I’d be sad but healthier I guess.

My Truong- Summer Rolls

Posted by My Truong in Science and Society - Best - E on Thursday, January 22, 2015 at 9:29 am

Ingredients: 6 summer rolls

4 ounces rice vermicelli noodles
12 rices paper
medium fresh shrimp - 1 pound
Chicken breast - 1 pound
1 cup Thai basil leaves (or Italian basil leaves)

Instruction:

Boil the water in the pan then place rice vermicelli noodles inside while the head still for 5 min or until the water reboil
Boil the chicken breast then cut them until small pieces
Boil the shrimp then peel off the skin.
Wash the basil leaves then cut them to small pieces
Cucumber cutting straight

Fill up large bowl with warm water

Tap the warm paper on the rice paper and spread it around then wait for about 10 second for the rice paper to soak in ( this help the rice paper soft and easy to roll later)

Place 2 piece of shrimps + 2 pieces of chickens in a straight row
Place basil leaves on top of the meet
Add rice vermicelli noodles on top of basil leaves add cucumber
Carefully lift edge of summer roll skin nearest you up and over filling. Fold sides over filling and continue to roll away from you until edges are sealed.
Continue building the rest of the rolls. You should make around 12 rolls depend on how much ingredients that are being put inside the rolls

Sauces:

2/3 cup hoisin sauce
1/3 cup water
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

If you like peanut you can add 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter if you like. I’m not putting it in because some people might be allergic to peanut.

Whisk together sauce ingredients in a bowl until smooth

Food analyze

Summer rolls are made out of fresh ingredients, since most of the ingredients are being boil. The only food being processed are the hoisin sauce. The rest of the ingredients are whole food. Hoisin sauce are made out of lot of different ingredients such as sweet potato, wheat or rice, water, sugar, soybeans, sesame seeds, white distilled vinegar, salt, garlic, red chili peppers, and sometimes preservatives or coloring agents. These ingredients are being process. But other than the sauces the rest of the ingredients are made out of whole foods. Summer rolls are very healthy, it is not greasy nor very butter. It cover a lot of nutrient that we need daily, and it also fill you up. One summer rolls are around 117 calories. However it only contain .9g sugar from sugar, and .5g total fat. Most of the calories come from the noodles. So it also depend on how much noodle you put into each rolls. Summer rolls contain a great amount of Vitamins A and iron. However eating too much of summer rolls are not good for your health. You can get high blood pressure if eating too much shrimp. Normal servicing summer rolls should be around 3 to 4 rolls.

Most of the ingredient in summer rolls can be produce in the US farmer. However the only ingredient that might need to travel is the sauces, but summer rolls can eat with different sauces that are made in the US. There is no restrict to one sauces for summer rolls. Most summer rolls are being serve with this type of sauces because it was easy to found. I spend around 20$ for 25 summer rolls. Compare to fast food, home made meal are alway chipper. But with summer rolls it cost about 1.35$ per rolls. Spending around 5.40$ for a full serving of 4 rolls with only about 468 calories. That contain less than 5g of sugar and fat. Summer rolls are way more nutrition. During the summer time most of the vegetable use in summer rolls can be growth at home which make it cheaper to make summer rolls.

Self-Reflection

I really enjoy this food unit. I learn to read what I should eat, thing that I think is healthy in up being very unhealthy. I also learn that America depend a lot on process food. That had so many chemical that affect their health in a long term. I was so lucky to growth up in family, where they make not only good but healthy food. My mom cook everyday and the food she cook are not come from process food. It actually whole food that she make to a meal. Instead of putting it in a microwave and call it a meal. I also an big fan of vegetable. When my mom doesn't make vegetable I usually make it myself. Most of the time I pan fried whatever I had in the refrigerator. Sugar are also a big issue in America. Since I live in Vietnam for a long time before I moved over here, it was hard for me to adapt to eating American food. I don't like butter, however I love sweet, I realize that it is so easy to access with food that are load sugar and/or butter. Which is also the reason why diabetes and obesity become a major issue in America. When it come to eating I’m really picky. I like Asian taste and I refuse to try other food. If I could change my food choices I would like to try more other foods then the one I normally eat , try to eat less sugar, become the habit to read the ingredients.

SCISOC-009

Term: 2014-15.S1

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Q2 Sci & Soc Food Benchmark

Liza's Food Project - Q2 BM

Q2 FOOD PROJECT

Q2 Benchmark- Julian Makarechi & (Andre Gallagher)

Q2 Benchmark

Quarter 2 Benchmark

My Truong- Summer Rolls

SCISOC-009

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