Thinking about my childhood growing up and through present day I realized my family doesn't really have many traditions with food. There are not any religious (or non-religious) holidays that we celebrate in any particular way, except Thanksgiving. Even with Thanksgiving though, we do the typical feast that most people do like with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, graving, the works... But aside from that we do not have any specific foods for any other holidays. The only thing that I could really say is a tradition is just who we spend our holidays with, for example every Christmas Eve we go out to dinner with my aunt and uncle, we either meet somewhere near West Bloomfield, where they live, or we meet near my hometown. I have always really enjoyed going out on Christmas Eve because we always get really dressed up and have a grand time with the family. Christmas day is usually spent with a close family either at our house or theirs. I think I enjoy this time the most because this is my best friends family and her parents are my parents best friends so we always have a lot of fun! But regardless, no matter where we spend our holiday time, the food is always different. I do not mind this though, I actually enjoy not knowing what is going to be for dinner every holiday, it is nice to be able to decide with my parents what we would like to make each year or order at the different restaurant. Having Thanksgiving the only meal set in stone is enough for me because that one is definitely my favorite, I mean I'm already looking forward to this years feast!
One thing that is kind of a tradition, I suppose, is that my mom likes to always make corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day and we usually dye all of our drinks for the day green for fun! I love doing this because I enjoy my Irish heritage and like to celebrate it while I can on St. Patrick's Day!
Throughout my time here at Western Michigan University I have learned a lot about global climate change. My freshman year I took, what I thought was the generic version everyone took, a first year experience (FYE) course and its main objective was about climate change. At first I was slightly bummed to find out I enrolled for this course and not the typical one that everyone takes, however I ended up gaining a lot of knowledge from the semester. Our class split up into groups to work on separate semester long projects, mine was based on the wind turbine located at the engineering campus. I learned a lot through this course about global climate change and the effects it has on our planet. The biggest thing I took from this class was how important it is to be energy efficient, the actions of just one person can make a huge impact in the long run!
Currently, in my microbiology course, we have been learning about how the change in our climate can impact many microorganisms. For example, an increase in CO2 emissions causes the acidity of our oceans to increase, therefore causing shellfish to become more susceptible to attack by many microorganisms. The impact on shellfish can lead to many gastrointestinal infections when the shellfish is consumed, this will only get worse as CO2 emissions increase. Also, a 2ºC increase in global temperature will lead to a 20% increase in Malaria cases in certain regions of the world. These are just two of the many disturbances that can occur from an increase in global temperature.
The main thing about global climate change is that the future of it is in OUR hands, this sounds intimidating, however the truth is we can make change happen. Little things like being more efficient with heating our homes will help decrease CO2 emissions as well as other things like limiting unnecessary driving and recycling more often. Everyone can take part in the small aspects that will help as well as getting involved in researching ways to find more renewable resources!
On Friday 4/4/14, I visited El Inka for lunch, I went with a couple of my friends. A few days ago I was telling them about the assignment to go to a restaurant of another culture and one of my friends, Lucia, immediately recommended El Inka. El Inka is a Peruvian restaurant, the only one in Michigan actually. Lucia is from Peru and told me all about the cuisine before we went, it sounded really good so I was pretty excited! The restaurant was small inside and the atmosphere was cool, it definitely spoke Peru! I was slightly taken aback by the menu because all of the headings were in Spanish so I was confused but Lucia and the waitress were helpful. Unfortunately, with it being Lent and I went on a Friday, I could not eat anything that had meat in it, so this limited my choices even more... I ended up deciding to order the papa a la huancaina, which was sliced steamed potatoes topped with huancaina cream, egg and an olive. I love trying new foods and drinks, however I don't always enjoy what I try, that was the case at El Inka. The food was prepared great and the prices were reasonable, but I do not think Peruvian food is for me. I enjoy spice and the dish I ordered definitely had a kick which was nice, but it was also very salty which I didn't care for.
Overall, I did really enjoy my experience at El Inka, the owners have done a nice job with this restaurant. The owners ordered a rotisserie oven from Peru to specially cook their chicken, this ended up costing the family $18,000 because of shipping and delays!! Also, they offer Inka Kola, which is a banana cream soda, and I was excited to try this drink but they did not have any when I went... :( I might have to go back just to check that out!
We have learned a lot about the food industry in ENGL 1100 and how it influences our society in so many different ways. We have read about and discussed the meat packing industry, the fast food industry, the life of farmers and consumers, the cultural impact food can have, and the influence of food on our economy. The Kalamazoo Public Library event that I attended was about organic farmers and one of the main points to that event was about buying local produce and getting out to the farmers market. After this event I really felt the urge to go out to the first farmers market that opens this season and I cannot wait to do so. With this in mind while searching for satires about food I stumbled upon a great article called 27 Reasons to Avoid Farmers Markets by Valerie Comer. In this article she gives twenty-seven statements about food that, if agreed with, will make you never want to venture out to a farmers market. Thankfully, I do NOT agree with any of the statements she provides however I do find them to be quite entertaining!
Here is a couple of my favorite statements:
#3. I love factory-farmed meat, dairy, and eggs. All animals belong in little boxes.
#4. I love eating chemicals and pesticides. After all, if this stuff preserves food, it will preserve me, too. Won't it?
#8. I like being ignored by my growers. Why would I want better service and people paying attention to my needs? Someone trying to understand makes me uncomfortable.
#10. I love paying the middleman. Why should farmers get actual wages when we could support commodity traders instead?
#13. I adore excessive packaging. If I didn't have so much plastic to get rid of, how would I ever fill my garbage bins?
#18. I love being at the mercy of chain supermarkets, because I know they have my best interests at heart.
#25. I want to suffer from fun things like cancer, heart disease or diabetes. Maybe I'll get to die young.
and finally,
#27. I don't approve of seasons. Food is dumb if it can't figure out how to be grown 12 months of the year on all 6 continents. And in Antarctica, come to think of it.
HA! Well as you can see I found quite a few of the statements quite enjoyable....! Honestly, I really hope no one would agree with anything in this article, it would be seriously ignorant, but I would not be surprised if some people do. I mean, in reality, even though the way these statements are written in a way to make them sound ridiculous they make a great point, by choosing processed and factory produced food over organic and locally grown food we are kind of agreeing with the absurdity of these statements, right?
The overall ethical standpoint on how large companies produce food is never positive, it is horrible to think of innocent animals being locked up in cages just to get fat and then butchered so we can eat them, #3 in the article makes that point clearly.
#4 and #25 go hand in hand, of course food with preservatives will not preserve us, in fact they do the opposite. Always eating preservatives in food is terrible for our bodies.
The best part about having local farmers and an interactive community is that everyones interests are taken into account. Just like the farmers need our support, they are here to support us! I mean why would someone put all of their time and money into producing delicious and healthy food for their community if they did not care about the people buying their products, it just doesn't make sense. On the other hand, these large, food producing companies do not have the consumer in mind, it is all about money. #8 and #18 make this point pretty clear.
The final statement, #27, is just hilarious to me! The world is not meant to work perfectly, nothing is, but some people really do believe that they should be able to have whatever they want whenever they want it and this is just simple ignorance.
I believe, the whole point of this article is to snap people back into reality. So many people are so consumed by their daily lives and lifestyles that it doesn't occur to them that little things, like frequenting Walmart, can impact our world in such a drastic way. It is easy to do things the quick and simple way, save money, and make a quick meal, when in the long run it can severely damage our environment, economy, and overall societal values.
On Tuesday March 18, 2014 I attended the Oshtemo Branch Library for the discussion The Farming Life a farmers perspective with Sarah Lee. I found this to be extremely interesting given everything we have discussed in this course to date. The discussion was with three female organic farmers from the area. The first woman was Heather Colburn who owns Elderfire Farm in Dowling Michigan. Heather explained that she was inspired by her grandmother, whom had grown up on a farm. Her inspiration continues with her children who, as she explained, started enjoying healthy organic food at a young age.
The second woman was Laurie Arboreal who owns Eaters Guild Farm in Bangor, Michigan. Laurie's inspiration started at a young age when she realized how much she loved to cook, her mother did not care for cooking rather she would clean, so they made a great team in the kitchen! Laurie met her husband and joined him on an internship in agriculture which finally led them to starting their farm. Laurie grew up with a nice garden and continues that lifestyle now with her large vegetable farm, including a large herd of goats. She realizes the importance of raising a family with healthy eating habits ands would like to continue that for her daughter!
The third woman was Shauna, owner of Blue Dog Family Farm located in Bangor, Michigan. Shauna grew up on a dairy farm, which is much different from her current vegetable farm, and has kept the lifestyle going. Shaunas job on the farm includes preserving the food, the business work, keeping the children busy, and so much more that goes into being a farm wife.
All three of the farms offer CSA, community supported agriculture, shares which allow the community to help the farm. These shares are bought before the season in which they are wanted for and the money goes to the local farm, meanwhile the share holders receive a box of produce every week that is hand picked from the farm. This is a great opportunity for the community to get involved while helping out the local farmers!
One really interesting topic during the evening was about how organic farmers become certified. I personally had no previous knowledge about organic farming aside from the bits that were discussed earlier in ENGL 1100. I learned that a third party certifier comes in for inspection and grants the certification. Inspections take place once a year to ensure that the farm is still following the organic guidelines. As far as following the guidelines for chemical usage is concerned, a lot of record keeping must be done by the organic farmers, it is all about tracking such as back to the plants origin, when it was planted, transplanted, harvested, etc. Luckily, most organic farms do not need chemically enhanced soil or sprays because their soil is so rich in nutrients already!
Another interesting concept, trailing certification, was about how organic farmers nurture their soil. The three farmers explained that crop rotation is key, don't plant a leafy green plant after planting a different leafy green plant, there must be changes in what's planted in order to ensure the soils nutrients aren't becoming over used. Also, they explained that compost is hard to come by however it is necessary to keep the organic matter high, soil testing must be done to ensure the right compost is used.
We, especially those who read The Omnivore's Dilemma, learned a lot about the large commercial farms throughout the world. One big question for the local, organic farmers was how do they get around the commercial farmers who spray a lot of chemicals that cannot contaminate their land. They explained that there are buffer zones around the organic farms that cannot be farmed, however these zones ensure that the land they encompass is free from contamination. Also, they explained that if a farmer wants to switch to organic there is a three year transition period.
For the upcoming season the women explained what they are most looking forward to growing, Heather said she was really excited to grow melons however she is reconsidering now because of the lack of warm weather. Laurie is going to try a hot house approach to growing a tropical strain of mushrooms! Shauna said that she would really like to put together a baby kale salad mix.
The whole discussion that took place was really interesting, above I have just listed some of the topics that I found personally interesting, especially for this course. I definitely want to check out the farmers market around here this summer and try to find produce from the three local farms. I have never been big on organic foods, mostly because of the price, however I learned a lot about organic farming from this experience and I think I would like to try to incorporate more organic foods into my grocery list and diet!
One final note about the evening, a woman from the audience spoke up at one point to tell everyone about her farm, Tabitha Farm off of South Burdick street, because from May to November they provide a free farm stand with foods from local farms!
Well, the book Five Quarters of the Orange has really begun to twist around a lot! I have been so intrigued by this novel! I cannot seem to want to put it down, although I have had to discipline myself due to having a lot of other homework... Anyway, I would like to begin with the discussing the title of the book. Mirabelle Dartigen, Framboise's mother, was a very stern woman and did not show very much love toward her three children. Mirabelle suffered from very intense migraines throughout her adulthood and they worsened after her husband was killed in the war. These migraines seemed to stem from out of nowhere except she always smelled oranges before they came on... This was a strange occurrence for there were never any oranges around when she seemed to smell them! However, this worked to Framboise's advantage one day when she longed to venture into town with her siblings. Framboise really wanted to explore town and see a cinema and just have some fun with the siblings she had become so distant with over the past few years of them venturing off to college. She did not like that they had separate lives that she was not apart of, so when the opportunity to go to town with them arose she did everything she could to make it happen. Framboise had taken an orange and put it under the oven so its scent would fill the house and give her mother the feeling that a migraine was coming on. This had worked and Mirabelle had gone to bed early and slept into the day they wanted to go to town.
Now, the reason why Framboise had to change her name when she was an elderly woman going back to live in her hometown was because she was associated with the murder of a German soldier. This soldiers name was, Tomas Leibniz. His role in this book was as a soldier stationed in the town of Les Laveuses who had seen Framboise steal the orange that she used against her mother. After this had happened Tomas seeked out Framboise and had begun to get to know her. He used his manipulation skills to get information of out Framboise and her two siblings about the different people living in the town. Tomas would trade little items of value with the kids for information. However, this did not end well... Although his agenda did not have to do with that of the other stationed soldiers it still caused havoc among the town.
Overall, this book was really great and had my interest the whole time! I would really like to read other books written by Joanne Harris!! Also, if I didn't already mention in class, this book made me really hungry while I read it because there is so much written about food! Everything within the album that Mirabelle left for Framboise sounded delicious and I would really enjoy trying out some of the recipes that were described throughout the book!
So as you can see I switched books... I didn't initially want to because I had made it so far into The Physiology of Taste, however I now am very glad with my decision because although the other book was interesting, Five Quarters of the Orange is definitely a better choice for, not only the pace of this course but, keeping my interest for a long period of time.
Anyway, Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris is, so far, about a woman who has begun a new life back in her hometown owing a Crepe shop. She is hiding her identity from the townspeople because she does not want them to realize her relation to her deceased mother. The book hasn't gotten into much detail as of why except that her mothers reputation had been ruined. I know, from research, that her mother was to blame for the death of a German soldier, Tomas Leibniz, and this caused a lot of havoc among the town.
So as the main character, Framboise, aged she decided, especially after losing her husband, that she would return home and rebuild the house she once lived in. This took a lot of time because it had been abandoned however she made it work and eventually started the crepe shop.
When Framboise's mother passed away she was left with her album, which was basically a cookbook/diary. This album was full of her mothers recipes along with random tidbits of information about the recipes as well as very random pieces of information about her mother and her life. There were poems, words describing her current thoughts and atmosphere she was in, as well as thoughts about her family and previous life before kids.
Framboise was thought to be the favorite child of her mothers, she had one sister and a brother. Both her sister and brother had moved away after the death of their mother and the three siblings have very little contact, at least where I am in the book thus far. Except, however, Framboise's brother, Cassis, has recently spent time with her because his son and daughter in law are very keen on obtaining recipes from Framboise for their restaurant in Paris. Framboise is not a fan of this idea, only because she does not want the publicity, seeing as how she is hiding her identity and all.
The book just started to bring the title into it where I have recently stopped reading. I am very curious to continue to read because I would like to find out more about the background of the title, for it seems quite intriguing from what I just recently read. I will save that information, however, for my next blog when I, myself, have a better understanding of what is going on!
