Hwk 6

Wednesday, September 29th
Other than gulping down 6 ounces of orange juice (around 112 calories, 3/4 of a serving size) before I left my house, I didn't have any breakfast. My mornings usually go like this since I am always in a hurry to drop off my sister at her school and getting my self to school as well.
I usually pack lunch from home since I hate to waste my limited time choosing a place to eat for lunch. Today i had a sandwich, havarti on fasell. (im guessing around 300 calories, 1 serving)
While walking with a friend towards the train station, we spotted a fruit stand and treated ourselves to a red delicious apple. (80 calories, 1 serving).
I made a pot of tea for my mother and I after I got home, and drank one cup with milk and sugar. (18 calories, 1 serving)
After my father got home from work, my family sat down for dinner...



Daal gosht with chappati (350 calories estimated, 1 serving)
While eating Daal gosht with chappati (Lentils cooked in goat meat eaten with flat bread) I experienced a comforting feeling. This meal was warm off the stove, just the way I like to eat it. I garnished it with pieces of ginger and hot pepper to add some extra spice; then squeezed some lemon to balance it all out with a tangy flavor. It tasted pretty good, but nothing out of the ordinary since I am used to eating this type of food on a regular basis. The goat meat was tender, with soft lentils here and there. The chappati was a bit tough, but chewy. The meat was brown after being cooked in many spices, the lentils were yellow; the dried mint and hot pepper added some green color to the dish. This meal had a nice balance of dry and wet since the chapatti is dry, but after it is scooped used to scoop up the curry it becomes wet. I ate this meal because this is what my mother choose to cook for dinner; my family and i are used to eating the same meal together. In fact I can't recall a meal we had together in which everyone had their own type of food.

After dinner my mother always cuts up some fruit, today we had sliced pears and apples. (around 100 calories, 1/2 serving of each fruit)

Thursday, September 30th
I had some guava nectar (75 calories, 1/2 serving) with a side of...

Fried egg sunny side up with toast (approximatley 158 calories, 1/2 serving)
It is very rare for me to crave any form of egg, but my mother forces me to eat eggs once in a while; this morning for instance and to be honest it tasted good. I guess that's becuase I had not had eggs for awhile. While consuming the fried egg with toast I felt some bits of cracked pepper, while some sides were more saltier than the other. I used a slice of white bread for my toast; it had a slightly crunchy exterior while the inside was soft. The egg itself had a wet exterior with a mushy inside, there was some more wettness from the yolk. It smelled like an egg, nothing too exotic. The bread was white with a reddish/brown crust; the egg was yellow at the yolk, while the egg white turned white after it was cooked. Since it was topped with some salt and black pepper, the pepper added a bit of heat while bringing a layer of black crumbs on top. I ate this for breakfast because my mom usually sets up the kitchen counter with something to eat before I run off to school; today it was an egg.

For lunch I had...

Farfalle pasta cooked in garlic sauce (approximatley 250 calories, 1 serving)
I enjoy eating pasta, but I limit my pasta intake having it occasionaly. I noticed that whenever I consume pasta, I feel tired and really thirsty afterwards. The pasta I had for lunch today tasted a bit salty and garlicy. There was a hint of spice since there was some crushed red pepper added. The pasta felt soft in my mouth; while I chewed it up it turned mushy. It smelled like garlic infused with olive oil. This meal wasn't as colorful as my previous meals; it was mostly a light cream color with specks of green and red. I wouldn't say this meal was wet or dry, I would say it was moist. I didn't taste any tangness since the recipie didn't call for such an ingredient. I asked my mom to make me this dish for lunch since we had some cooked pasta in the fridge and all she had to do was cook it in the sauce. And I didn't want to be hungry throughout my busy day at internship.
After lunch my friend and I went out to the deli and bought ourselves a twinkie. (150 calories, 1 serving)
Later on in the day I had 2 slices of pineapple. (around 45 calories per slice, 2 servings)
I made a pot of tea with milk and sugar after I got home and drank one cup (18 calories) with a raisin and grain toast (100 calories, 1 serving)
My family waited for my father to come home, which is at 9 pm then we all enjoyed a dinner of chicken cooked in tomatoes, onions and spices; this was eaten with chappati. (300-400 calories, 1 serving)

My mom sliced up some more pears and apples for my family to eat.(around 100 calories, 1/2 serving of each fruit)

Thinking back to the meals I had the last few days I feel good for the most part. I didn't eat much of anything that lacked on nutritional value. Most of the meals I had were well rounded, especially my dinners. My main meals are already provided to me, so I don't have to choose what I have to eat next. But food eaten in between such as snacks were choosen by me. I picked out my snacks depending on many factors. For example yesterday I had an apple with a friend while I was outside. I picked to eat that food because my friend and I were walking by a fruit stand and I had a sudden urge to consume a piece of fruit. I wasn't particularly hungry at the time but after I saw some fruit I felt like having a piece of fruit. At home I don't have to choose the food I eat for my main meals because I grew up eating what my mother cooked without any questions or concerns.

It depends on my mood for what type of food I want to have at the moment. Sometimes I will want something sweet, which will cause me to walk to my freezer and eat some ice cream. Other times I would want something sweet, but more on the healthy side; so I will turn to the drawer in the refrigerator which contains fruit, and choose something from there such as a bunch of grapes or a peach. My main meals for instance dinner, are choosen by my parents. Each day they think of a certain meal that will be cooked, and we will have it at night unless if we ran out of a spice or an ingredient the recipe calls to cook the certain dish. This is when they come up with a backup plan.

There are days where I eat more, there are days where I eat less. On the first day I had around 960 calories, but most of the calories I counted were estimated I am pretty sure that I had at least 1,500 calories throughout the day. The second day I had an intake of 1141 calories. All the calories I counted are estimations, because the size and the amount varies. I am sure I consumed more calories than the numbers listed above. I know that my estimations don't match up with the required daily calorie intake of 2,000 calories, but I haven't had much time to eat lately since I am either too tired or busy with some sort of task such as homework. I am a pretty consistent person when it comes to doing work; if I take a break then I will have a hard time getting back to it. I picked out most of the food I ate because it was already provided to me, If it was not provided to me, then I chose it because I had a sudden craving when I saw it. There are some things in which I feel i shouldn't have consumed, but I am content about most of my diet. At the end of the day I am very thankful to God, for he is the one who provided me with all this food.

Hwk 5

"WHY are Americans getting fatter and fatter?" (Singer, Natasha). While reading articles discussing the topic of American eating habits, a clear trend can be seen. The issue of America's decisions regarding food has been going on for a while now, but it seems to become increasingly serious as time goes by. This is shown in dominant discourses concerning America's eating habits. A discourse is a discussion that is between multiple people, topics, themes, etc... There are a set of rules for what is acceptable to discuss in the discourse and who is allowed to be a part of the discourse. To sum it up a discourse is basically a discussion involving an argument. There are two types of discourses; a dominant discourse is one which has the majority's belief. A marginal discourse is one which the minority supports.

Referring to articles such as "Told to Eat Its Vegetables, America Orders Fries" by Kim Severson; evidence used in the article compares research done years ago to recent findings. "The number of dinners prepared at home that included a salad was 17 percent; in 1994, it was 22 percent...At restaurants, salads ordered as a main course at either lunch or dinner dropped by half since 1989, to a mere 5 percent" (Balzer, Harry) When data collected in the past is compared to recent data, a disturbing conclusion can be drawn: America's food choices have gotten worse throughout the recent years. While we try to digest this fact, we are always searching for different ways to turn this fact around. But obviously this is not an issue that can be solved over night, or be solved at all. It has worsened throughout the decades, in return asking many more decades for a chance of recovery.

While reading all these articles, it seemed like our past has experienced significant reforms regarding our food ways as Americans, but we continue to make more reforms. Our eating habits have been a concern for some time, but they keep worsening. In return we tend to search for a new solution to tackle the problem. Some individuals believe the cause of our bad food choices is because of fast food restaurants, others believe it's because there aren't enough advertisements going around for healthy organic foods. I think significant reforms of U.S. food ways occurred decades ago, but a reform reoccurs each time our alternate fix to the problem fails. While we are constantly bombarded with facts about different foods and their benefits (if any), the American community will never be able to follow a strict diet which will keep hypocritical doctors content. This is simply because we are not in kindergarten anymore; we can't be brainwashed as easily as youngsters are.

We tend to respond to America's poor diet by making an effort to making better choices with our food; also trying to raise awareness among other individuals. This is the outcome from comparing recent food ways to previous food ways. Each time we attempt a food way reform we are learning something new, and gathering more evidence. Such as providing pre cut veggies packed away in plastic bags which are ready to defrost at any time needed; or packaging pre made salads for one's convenience. Even though there are many efforts being made regarding our poor choices, we haven't come up with a single solution which will cause a drastic change. There are many individuals who don't show much interest with any topic in relation to this issue, but there are still many of us significantly making continuous efforts to reform America's food ways. We try to come up with different ways to fight back, but this issue is too big compared to the amount of individuals who have any care what so ever.

"Mr. Maring has developed a series of cooking classes that incorporate salient aspects of nutrition and clinical medicine. He named his scheme CHEF — for Cook Healthy, Eat Fresh." (Heron, Katrina) Because of previous food way reforms, we are becoming well aware about how serious this issue has become. In return, we attempt to make new ways to reform while experimenting with a certain idea. When it doesn't make a huge difference we attempt another reform. This has been going on for years and years, and I predict it will stay this way for many more years to come.

I don't believe that any individual has a "right way" of eating. In fact there are many pediatricians, medical students, and professors out there that are hypocritical when it comes to their personal food ways. They are supposed to be setting a "certain" example for us, but as heard from their close colleagues, we learn that they are not perfect when it comes to their own diet. I am fully aware that perfection is impossible, but coming from an environment that aware them constantly about the "right" eating habits, they should be more likely to follow it than average American citizens do. "Despite evidence that doctors have a greater life expectancy than average, they don’t necessarily look after their own dietary health...You’ll have a pretty hard time these days finding a doctor who smokes, but not nearly as hard a time finding one who eats terrible food... I came in a bit late and was struck by the surreal image of senior scientists feeding on junk while discussing solutions to national nutritional problems.“ (Willett, Dr. Walter) As a chairman of the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health, Dr. Walter witnesses many of the people he works with making poor choices with their food.

I think there are very few well-informed members in our society that follow a both strict and healthy diet. In my opinion he or she would probably have a diet that includes organic foods with well rounded out meals, which follow the daily requirements shown on the food pyramid. He or she will eat with their family at home, at a set time. In my mind they will strictly follow these rules because they are the masters when it comes to food; they will never encounter a problem while separating right from wrong. They will want to eat all natural foods, which will cause them to think that the consumption of food from fast food joints equal to committing a deadly sin. He or she will eat at home with their family so that they have no doubt about their family picking up on the poor American diet. This will aware their close ones about the "correct" eating habits; which in return will educate them to do the same with their families later on in their lives. They will eat at a set time because their life will be strictly organized, especially when it comes to food. He/she will think of food as an enemy, at the same time as a very important need; after all, food is a mandatory requirement for our survival.

Hwk 4

This picture was taken on Friday night while I was seated with my family at the dinner table. I am used to eating a well rounded meal; most of my dinners consist of some type of vegetable cooked with meat and spices and we eat this with chappati (a desi flat bread). We usually eat using our hands unless if we are having something with rice (which is when we turn to our forks). This particular dish is called "Alo ka salan" with chappati (potatoes and goat meat cooked in many different spices). This picture connects to my theories about my food ways since I have a home cooked meal on a daily basis; I don't rely on fast food restaurant to feed me. I am lucky to be from a family that has a set routine for most meals especially dinners. I am used to sharing my meals with my family, since this is usually the only chance we have to be seated together during the weekdays.

My previous generations have made a huge impact on my family's food ways. There have been some changes made after my parents immigrated from Pakistan to the United States, but I would say most food ways are kept the same. After discussing my mother's food ways when she was a young child growing up in Pakistan, I was able to make many connections with my family's current food ways while living in the U.S. But there were some differences noted as well. In my culture it is the female that has to prepare the meal for her family. Growing up I come from a long way watching my mother in the kitchen preparing our food daily. When my father comes home from work we all eat dinner at the dinner table with all the appropriate necessities.

When my mother was younger she had the same nightly routine as I do. She would wait for my grandfather to come home from work to eat dinner. Dinner was eaten at a set time and place which was at home with family surrounding the table. Before starting the meal everybody has to say "Bismi-llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm" and after the meal is complete they would all say "Allah ka shukar", this is all out of respect. My grandmother cooked every meal for her family with the help of all her daughters. My grandfather made monthly trips to the butcher on the weekends to bring home a variety of meat that is needed to prepare certain meals. In Pakistan instead of going to the grocery store, the grocery store comes to you; so there are always vendors in the streets who pass by a certain street at a certain time selling their goods (fruits, vegetables, bread, etc...) My grandmother would make daily purchases of fresh goods she needed in order to prepare the meal she had in mind that day.

Noting her past as a young child, my mother tells me she saw my grandmother in the kitchen early in the morning preparing a meal for the day. The food that was to be eaten the same day was prepared in the morning by 10 or 11 am; this would be served for both lunch and dinner. After talking to my mother about her food ways when she was younger, I was able to compare and contrast between her generations food ways with mine. There were many areas that over lapped, and there were a few that didn't. I think most of this has to do with the fact that my family does not live in Pakistan. If we lived in Pakistan, then all our food ways would be exactly the same; I don't think there would be any changes made at all. Because we live outside of our home country, my family and I have adapted into a few different food ways; not by choice but by force.

Unlike my mother, my grandmother did not have to make weekly trips to the grocery store. She prepared meals in the morning to serve her children for lunch and dinner. Other than these 2 areas my mother's generation and my generation have the same food ways. My dad makes monthly trips to the Halal butcher. My mother prepares dinner each and every night using fresh produce. My family eats at a set time and place every single night. The only meal I seem to focus on is dinner, I feel the reason for this is because dinner is my favorite meal of the day. No matter what is cooked I know I will most likely be having it at home surrounded with my family. The idea of dinner is something I am used to, breakfast and lunch aren't as big of a deal as dinner is for me.

Hwk 3

Looking at the atmosphere and people, there were many more differences than similarities between Wendy's and the Union Squrae Greenmarket. At Wendy's I noticed that majority of the customers were either Black or Hispanic. Most of the people seated seemed to be lost in their own world; staring away into space while consuming their food or poking away at buttons on their electronic devices. When I scanned around the whole seating area, I noticed that there were many people that would be considered overweight. Most of the customers had burgers, French fries or chicken nuggets with a side of an over sized drink. Even though there were advertisments near the checkout line for salads, I didn't see anyone eating a salad. However, when looking at the enviornment of the Union Square Greenmarket there were many customers purchasing organic food which was nowhere to be found at Wendy's. At the Greenmarket there were stalls for all sorts of organic foods such as cheese, fish, mushrooms, jellies, etc... I noticed that there were many more Whites and Asians unlike the customers at Wendy's.

I stopped at one stall where an aged couple were selling forest wild mushrooms which they collected from their farm upstate. They had a wide variety of wild mushrooms, and surprisingly there were many people interested in purchasing them. The lady behind the counter explained how she collected the wild mushrooms and cared for them. This couple was basically making their living off of their sales from wild mushrooms. When asked "Is food sacred?" the lady answered: "Of course food is sacred!"...can't live without it; only natural food is considered sacred to me, I don't consider Mcdonalds or Wendy's sacred at all" While walking around the Union Square Greenmarket I noticed that each stall was focused on one product, while at Wendy's they were selling many products without any background knowledge about them. When the lady behind the counter at Wendy's was asked: "What part of the chicken is a chicken nugget?" (Evan), she responded by questioning him saying: "Is there something wrong with you?" Because she ignored Evan's question, I am pretty sure that she had no knowledge about the products she was selling. This is different compared to what I experienced at the Greenmarket; each seller had their answer ready when they were questioned about the product they were selling.

Even though we are aware that Fast Food has no benefits, many of us still ignore this fact simply because we see everyone else ignoring it. I know many people that cannot go a week without consuming fast food. I feel the reason that fast food is so successful is because the option is always there for us. If you are not provided a home cooked meal every night, you can always go downstairs to select a meal of your liking from your favorite fast food restraunt. "I eat fast food once in a while when I don't have enough time to cook. Even though I know it's not healthy for me, it still tastes good...I prefer home cooked meals over fast food, but when I am in a hurry I always have fast food as an alterbnative to a home cooked meal." (Sasha) A home cooked meal is something that is considered much better than a fast food meal, but since many of us don't have enough time to prepare it we always end up purchasing our next meal from a fast food joint. A home cooked meal needs time and strength to be produced, while a fast food meal is just a simple walk away.

Even though I see many people eating fast food, I wasn't aware about how easy it is to get addicted to this stuff until now. I know some people who have fast food four or five times a week which shocks me. I come from a family that eats a home cooked meal every night. Occasionaly there are times where we go out to eat, but we never eat out at fast food restaurants. Recently a friend asked me "When is the last time you ate at a fast food joint?" I answered "I can't remember..." She was very surprised replying with a "Damnnn" since she is used to having fast food every so often. I rarely visit fast food restraunts as a customer, at most twice a year. My family usually shops at grocery stores for our necessities, but when there is a Greenmarket set up in the neighbohood my mom never misses it. I am very proud that my family does not consume fast food on a regular basis unlike many people I know do. I like to know where my food comes from and how it is prepared; I trust my parents preparing my meal since sanitation is no worry at all and it is made in front of me; unlike the meals that are given out at fast food restaurants. "When i used to work at Checkers in California, there was this lady who worked with me, and one day she dropped some fish while putting it in the fryer; I swear she put it back in the fryer....they didn't change the oil in the fryers unless there was a expection date arriving..." (Sasha) Hearing things like this makes me happy that I have a home cooked meal every night; I don't need to worry about my food being mistreated at all, I can enjoy my food at home without taking any risks.

Hwk 2

Food has a huge meaning to all of our lives; without food we wouldn't be where we are now, in fact we would be no where. Now there are many people out their who devote their whole life to food, but there are also those who eat to meet survial needs. I usually enjoy eating food, but only when it is needed. For me food is an art, I like to create my own meals often or learn the process of creating a certain meal. There are so many different cultures with different cuisines out there, in return creating a task for all of us, which is to figure out what we want for our next meal. Food is something we can all relate to and it happens to bring us all together.

My mom makes weekly trips to the grocery store which is usually Key Food or Associated, and both my parents purchase groceries from Jackson Heights, Queens every so often. As a Muslim family our diet consists of Halal meat and NO PORK AT ALL. So this is a big factor that determines my food choices in general, especially when I go out to eat. I usually have to order something without meat when I eat out or find a restaurant that serves Halal meat. Because Halal meat is not provided in all grocery stores, my dad goes to the Halal butcher in Queens to buy our meat. This is also where we buy all our spices which are needed to prepare Pakistani cuisine.

My priorities for food depend on the time and place I am in and how hungry I am at the time. If I am not very hungry than I like to prepare my own food from scratch. Since I am usually patient with my food, I like go into the kitchen when hunger strikes. If I find something I like in the refrgerator or cabinet I will eat it right then. But If I can't find anything that is likely to satisfy my hunger I will search up a recipe to my liking (savory or sweet), then I will return to the kitchen with a recipe in mind and prepare it. After I am done preparing it, I eat it myself and share it with the rest of my family if there is enough. If I am hungry when I am outside I wait until I get home to eat something, because I know that I have food at home so why waste money on food outside? But if I am REALLY hungry I will buy myself a snack. I always try to eat something that will benefit my body, only rarely do I get something which comes with no good affects. Depending on how hungry I am my priorities vary, but it's pretty simple for me; I want something that tastes good but at the same time has some benefits.

My ideal meal would most definitely have to be when I am in Pakistan either at my aunt's house or my grandmother's house. We all get together with my aunts, uncles and cousins in a house and enjoy a delicious meal that consists of many dishes. The room is filled with mouth watering aromas, smiles and laughter with everyone in conversation; it's like a feast. All the females are in the kitchen preparing the meal and getting the table ready. When I am in Pakistan the ideal meal consists of family and fun. When I am at home in the city, my ideal meal is again with my family, but around the dinner table at a set time. I feel that food has to be eaten properly at a right time and place. Personally I hate to see people buy food outside at a random timing and eat when they are walking around or sitting on a subway for instance. I think that this way of eating is unorganized and there is no respect at all; it makes me feel as if they take food for granted. If we all eat at a certain place and time everyday than it would be considered a ritual, like it should be.

Eating is a ritual for me. It is usually done at a set time many times throughout the day. For example, every night before dinner I have to set up the dinner table with plates, glasses, napkins, and other utensils depending on what we are having that night. My mother cooks dinner every night, unless if we are going out or we have take out. While having dinner we keep conversation to a minimum, occasionaly discussing our day or something out of the ordinary. After everybody has gotten up from the dinner table, it is my job to clean up the table and put all the dishes in the kitchen. My mom does the dishes on a regular basis, but there are times where I sub in for this task. I would have to say dinner is the most ideal meal I have compared to all my other meals throughout the day. Dinner is the only meal I have at a setting I am used to and with the people I love most. My other meals fail to meet the requirments for an ideal meal since I am usually outside or in a time crunch.

For every living creature food plays a big purpose in life, this is why I feel that food is sacred. I have been raised by my family to respect my food and be thankful for it; this is why we try not to waste any food at all. There are times when we are not able to finish something, but this doesn't mean that we have to throw it out. We usually have someone else have it or feed it to the birds. When food goes bad that's the only time we throw it out. When I am not able to finish my meal I save it, or give it to someone needy because if I throw it out I feel guilty afterwards. I would rather have someone make a purpose out of my food than have it wasted. When I see someone else's food on the floor I try to move it to the side or pick it up and throw it out. When I am the one that drops my food, I have to say sorry to my God because that is baizbi (disrespect) towards food. So for instance, if I dropped some bread I have to pick it up and kiss it since I mistreated my food, and ask for forgiveness from God afterwards. I have been taught that food should never be mistreated and when it is I should always ask for forgivness. My family and I believe food to be something that is provided to us by God, because of this we have to respect it. This is the reason why we have to say "Bismi-llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm" at the start of every meal, which means "In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful". And after ending a meal we say "Allah ka shukar" which translates into "Thank God". Food is considered very sacred for us.