Eating with Mike Teavee

In Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory there is much to poke fun at our society and food. Mike Teavee is an interesting character who represents the kid in the everyday American lifestyle. I think it is interesting because he is sitting on the couch watching TV and could not be bothered by anyone around him while his program was playing. Even though there were tons of reporters giving him all the attention anyone could want, he still chooses to sit there and focus on the TV. This leads to how he cannot even leave the TV to go have a family meal. His mother says she serves all his meals right in front of him while he watches TV. I think this foreshadows how Americans eat now. This movie was made in 1971 and yet we have seen a bigger change in how common it is to watch TV while eating any meal.

I grew up in a household where when we ate dinner the TV was turned off and we had family time. The only time when the TV was turned on during dinner was if it was a special occasion, but even then those were few and far between.  I think this concept is lost in most families in America these days. People are so busy they do not really have time to all sit down and eat together because their schedules all conflict. I miss the days when I could sit down at the end of the day and enjoy dinner with my family. When I was younger I would go to my friend house and they would eat dinner in front of the TV whenever they felt like it. It was nice sometimes because it was not like my house, but I could not imagine living that way all the time. Eating should be an experience with other people, not the moving pictures on a flat screen high definition television. 

My Visit to Kumo Hibachi & Steak

I went to Kumo Hibachi & Sushi last night. I have never had sushi in my life and did not particularly want to try it. My friend was craving sushi and I said my class is trying new foods around Kalamazoo so I thought it was perfect to go with her a try some sushi. I have been to Hibachi restaurants in the past and I love it, so it wasn’t hard to get me there. I decided to split a roll with my friend. We got an eel and cucumber roll. Now I’m typically a sea food lover, but the sound of eel was a little much for me. I still got the eel but ordered the hibachi grilled steak and shrimp to fill me up just in case I hated the sushi.

When I tried it I was expecting the worst, but I was actually surprised. It didn’t have much of a fishy taste like I was expecting. I honestly tasted the cucumber more than the eel. I think the texture of the seaweed that it was wrapped in and the sliminess of the eel was the thing that threw me off. I had one roll and in most cases that would have been it for me, but this time I ate a second roll just to try it again. I didn’t love it but I didn’t hate it. I think I am going to try other combinations to see if I can find one I actually like. I can now say I have tried sushi and can add it to the relatively short list of foods I like.

Midwestern Writers on Food: A Review

I know this is super late but…

A couple weeks ago (right before I started getting sick) I went to the reading at People’s Church about Midwestern Writers on Food. The author Peggy Wolff gave us a brief background on why she wanted to write the novel, Fried Walleye and Cheery Pie. Wolff asked 30 Midwestern writers to pick a certain food to focus on in their chapter they wrote. Wolff then combined all the different excerpts to create a book. I thought it was such an interesting idea to have so many different writings in one book.

Bonnie Jo Campbell then discussed her chapter on how her family made a special candy that was passed down in her family. It was so cool to hear an author read some of their own writing. There were points when she would stop ad give her own personal side notes, which I thought made it more special to hear. It gave a little more personality and background to the words on the page.

When I was there I felt like I was in the wrong generation. Most of them were older so it was hard to relate when they were discussing old recipes that were passed down to them from other generations. There was one lady who said she measured her grandmother’s hand because that is how her grandmother measured the ingredient. They didn’t always have a recipe they followed; they would just make it how they knew to make it. I felt like I could not contribute to the conversation because cooking is not as big a deal in my family, and I am a terrible cook. Overall it was a pretty interesting experience, and I am glad I attended this event.

Winter Girls: The Full Story

After finishing Winter Girls I now understand the meaning of the title. Lia believes herself to be a winter girl because she is not dead, but not truly alive. She is stuck somewhere in between in a frozen place...

Throughout the rest of the novel Lia struggles with seeing the ghost of her best friend Cassie. She tries not to see her and get her to go away. Lia also struggles with her internal battle between her and food. She struggles with only eating minimal amounts of food, enough to fool the world around her. She believes herself to be stronger than other because she does not eat. She constantly strives for a lower weight. Her 3rd goal is to be 90 pounds. Later she says she doesn't know if she could ever quit wanting to be less weight until she reaches zero.
Her family life feels like a war zone with constant battles going on between all the parental figures in her life. Her sister Emma is the only one who she deeply cares for. Emma is her stepsister that she treats like her own sister. Her relationship is vital to success of Lia's life.
Lia struggles in a motel room towards the end of the book. She recently almost died from cutting herself. Her sister Emma found her on the bathroom floor and was so upset by the sight. Lia was sent to the hospital and her parents kept  a much more watchful eye on her. This caused Lia to want to run away so she goes to a motel room and almost dies. Cassie is trying to pull her into crossing over with her, but Lia finds some inner strength and finally wants to get better for Emma. After that Lia is put into psychiatric care and treated the way she needs to be treated. This time is different because Lia is actually compliant with all the treatments versus fighting them.

...At the end the last line says "I am thawing." This signifies that she is no longer a winter girl and slowly becoming more alive than she was as a winter girl.

This was a great read and I recommend picking it up if you ever get the chance!

Winter Girls: Continued..

This author is very skilled in how she portrays the main character's vulnerability in dealing with such grave issues.  She crafts her work in a way that you can see what Lia wants to do and what she actually does. The author writes Lia’s wants but then crosses them out like this and then writes what Lia really does and correct herself. This especially deals with what she thinks about food. The food she actually wants to eat is crossed out and the stuff she truly eats is what happens.  Lia also faces a lot of personal conflict with herself. She struggles with her view of herself and society’s view of herself.  She thinks society’s view is wrong and tries to make it seem as though she is conforming to that image; however, she secretly pushes herself to not eat so she can stay at her ideal body type.

In addition to dealing with her battle with anorexia, she also deals with the grief of her best friend dying. She recently dissolved her friendship with Cassie. The guilt of her not picking up any one of her 33 calls from Cassie the night she died is eating her up. This guilt is slowly creeping more into her and making her think she is seeing Cassie and everyday life. I think this happens partly because she is so upset that her former best friend is dead, but she is also malnourished so her body is reacting to that.

Lia also has a very complicated family home life. She refers to her mom and stepmom as their first name. She does not like the family dynamic. Her mom and dad split when she was born and fight often. Her dad remarried pretty quickly after he was divorced and she does not like the new wife. She feels very alone when it comes to her family. Strangely enough she cares for her younger step-sister. She is the only one she cares for in the family.  Lia leads a very complicated life.

Winter Girls: 50 pages in..

After reading the first fifty pages of Winter Girls I am left slightly confused. The author has a way of revealing information through the main character’s point of view. It seems to have a slight scatter-brain quality to it. Lia is trying to avoid thinking about her friend who just recently died, but her mind keeps going back to Cassie.  In addition, she is struggling to keep up a persona of someone who is not ill, but is in fact dealing with anorexia nervosa.  She tries to show the rest of the world that she does not need to be put back in rehab. Secretly she will take certain measures to hide how she is not eating and losing but not gaining weight.

So far we as the readers have received a brief background on her interactions with her best friend, but she is continually trying to repress the memories of Cassie. They have an interesting relationship because it seems as though they have had a rough friendship. Unfortunately, six months before Cassie died she stopped being friends with Lia. Lia was very upset by this and did not answer Cassie’s 33 calls to her. The next morning she received the news that her former best friend was dead and had tried to talk to her before she did. It puts a lot of guilt on Lia. Right now she is currently trying to come to terms with the emotions she is feeling about Cassie and her own life.

Can’t wait to see what comes up next…

All is Fair in Love and War

Katniss is seen as a strong female character in this novel who prevails in the face of danger. She tackles every challenge that is thrown her way… except when it comes to her personal, romantic feelings. Peeta has strong feelings for her and has loved her since they were young, but Katniss has been ignorant to his affections until he let the world know on national television. And even at that point Katniss convinces herself that it is all an act that Haymitch set up so they could pull off the “star-crossed” lovers act. Every time she is confronted with the idea that Peeta might actually love her she just thinks it is so they can be convincing in their roles and gain more sponsors. 

For the first half of the games she suspects he is against her because he teamed up with the Careers. She sees him as just doing his job of trying to survive. She later discovers that in reality every move he made as a player of the games he did to help Katniss ultimately succeed. He put her needs above his own proving his love for her; however, she is too ignorant and unaware to notice the full meaning of his gestures. And poor Peeta is blissfully unaware of how Katniss really feels. He finds out at the very end on their way back to their district. My heart goes out to him.

                I have a love-hate relationship with Haymitch. He manipulated the situation by telling Katniss she needed to play the role of “star-crossed lovers,” but not Peeta because he actually felt that way with no need to act. Of course Haymitch did not tell Peeta he was having Katniss put on an act because then Peeta would be that much more believable. This ultimately helped in their survival of the games… together. Unfortunately, the price of their victory was Peeta’s heart that was crushed when he found out the truth behind Katniss’s actions in the games.

Make the Odds Ever in Your Favor

   

  I watched the Hunger Games when it first came out and thought it was a pretty good movie. Now, after reading the book, I have a new perspective of the story. Let's dig into the meaning behind the title, which is exactly as it states, a Hunger Game. It's all about how well one survives in such an environment without easy access to food. Besides the supplies given at the beginning, which not every tribute got a hold of, they have to find other sources of food. How can one survive without food? It isn't focused on the killing but the survival through the games. Katniss has only killed one person so far. Most of the book is focused on how she survives through the woods and uses her environment to her advantage. It's about finding food to help her survive. If anything, she avoids all types of killing unless absolutely necessary. That's true in the case of her killing the one man in return of him killing her friend and ally Rue.
      Katniss and Rue discover this concept and use this to their advantage. They come up with the idea to eliminate the most powerful group's supplies because they are not used to having to find food in the wild. This strategy is smart and are what the Hunger Games are all about. It also exemplifies how people need to survive and fight while they are at their weakest point. If they are hungry, like Katniss is occasionally, then they are weaker and have to find their inner strength to move forward. I think this encompasses the main underlying theme of The Hunger Games.

Slaughterhouse visit to JBS

Walking out of the slaughterhouse I could not even begin to process everything I saw behind those high security walls. I was expecting it to be much worse than it actually was, but even still it was a hard sight to process. I will never forget everything I saw inside as the images of the plant are permanently embedded in my brain.

I am still disturbed from the experience. I still can’t get the setting of walking through the moving meat hanging from a ceiling conveyor belt. I couldn’t get the mixed look of shock and disgust off my face, and all the workers did was smirk and laugh. I guess if they work there every day their job can get a little monotonous, making me their entertainment for the day; however, I didn’t like their smirks at my distaste for the surroundings.

When actually watching the cows get knocked, my heart broke for these poor things literally walking to their death. Then after they got knocked, they would hang and twitch from the ceiling. Even though they were brain dead, they still have leftover energy so that is why they twitched. It was so freaky. I couldn’t bear to watch for too long.

Even though I hate what is done to these animals, I am so glad I can say I think JBS has one of the better plants in the slaughterhouse business. They have officials all over the plant and follow the rules more than one would expect. Even with us they were strict in making us follow all their rules and dress code policies. Although possibly annoying at the time, it definitely makes me feel better about the precautions taken when processing the meat. I am also more at ease knowing that cows are now classified as a food animal. That does not justify killing them completely, but it makes it a little easier to process.

Even though it was tough to see everything in the plant, I am definitely glad I went. It was a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget.

Chapters 14-20: The Jungle

After going to a slaughterhouse myself, I greatly sympathize with all that Jurgis must see and deal with every day. It is absolutely brutal and I honestly could never work there myself. I am not surprised he beat up his wife's boss with such force and anger because he sees animals senselessly killed every day. How does that not affect one's mindset?

The beating of his boss leads to his imprisionment and deterioration of his family. He is not able to be with his family or provide for them as he so desperately desires. All he was searching for was the American Dream when he moved, unfortunately that does not happen. Sinclair displays the negative effects of capitalism through the tribulations Jurgis and his family face in The Jungle. All of Jurgis's hard work cannot even come close to the advancement in pursuit of the American Dream. It is extremely apparent to me that the more Jurgis tries to progress with success, the lower he drops emotionally and financially. His family is slowly broken event by event and he drowns his sorrows at the bar. Sinclair proves the hidden destruction of the American Dream as everything seems to fall apart as one pursues such an ideal.

I think this is sad that Jurgis cannot seem to catch a break. All he wants is to provide a nice life for him and his family, but everything that could go wrong does. I don’t know if I could even get past the idea of working his job, and then on top of that all the other factors in his life that are not going well either.

World View: Human Life> Animal Life

As I reflect on the reading of The Jungle, I am deeply disturbed. The details and descriptions in this book are sickening. It took so much will power to actually push myself to keep reading. The thing that just

made my heart break was the treatment of the animals. They didn't even care how they heartlessly killed the animals or the shrieking of the hogs as their throats were slit. I was in complete shock at how unaffected the workers were to such horror.

The treatment of these animals is horrendous. I have this image in my head of when I used to read Laura Ingalls Wilder books as a child and they only killed animals at certain times of the year and never more than they needed. They rationed their food so it never went to waste, and they always used every part of the animal that they could. That is not the case anymore, and especially not the case in The Jungle. Since when do we get to treat animals with no respect as if their life means nothing? This thought really hit home when the book talked about, “Is there no Hog-God?” Animals are not treated as a life, but more a body of meat held together by skin. It’s as if they grow the animal as if it were a fruit growing on a tree, and when it just ripe they pick the fruit similarly killing the animal. I can only imagine what my thoughts will be as I read more of this eye opening book.

Tough Times for Migrant Workers

After reading And the Earth Did Not Devour Him and Casa de Carton my heart broke for these main characters. With each reading assigned for this class I learn so much about the world outside my bubble I live in.  

Casa de carton stuck out to me the most. I could not even begin to understand the pain of having to move all the time and never be able to set down roots. The main character just wanted to go to school and learn and live normally, but his family forced him to leave so they could find work. While I understand the need for work, I still feel terrible for the boy who wants so badly to be educated and feel a part of something.  I wish that he could go to school so he would be able to be educated and get a job other than working in the field to help his family survive. Unfortunately, they need him to work to increase the profits for the family. It’s just a difficult situation all around, but should not have to be a problem because of the mistreatment of the workers in the first place.

And the Earth Did Not Devour Him exemplified the mistreatment of workers as well, but to an

extreme. The workers were getting diseases from the sun and overwork. They were forced to push themselves to work through the blaring hot sun with little food and water intake. It is not surprising that they are getting sick because their bodies are even more prone to catching a disease. The main character persisted in making sure he was able to keep working and survive all the difficulties he faced. This is the main theme in my opinion. He was able to beat all the odds stacked up against him and “the earth did not devour him.” That title is so powerful proving he was supreme over the tribulations he faced.

These two selections go well together because they both discuss the idea of the sacrifices made to work the fields as they try to survive and earn a living. I cannot begin to imagine the amount of inner strength it took to face these challenges, and do so successfully. 

My Modest Proposal

The amount of obese people living in America is astounding.  Obesity has increased across all demographic groups from 2012 to 2013. I can only imagine it will continue to increase as the years progress if we do not take action and do something about it. It is obvious people are not going to help themselves from this terrible habit; therefore, I have come up with a proposal that should fix this increasing problem.

I propose that every time someone goes to a grocery store they must step on a scale and record their weight and body mass index (BMI). These results then determine what an individual can purchase at a grocery store. The people who are considered obese must only purchase foods that are healthy and natural. There would be certain sections of the store they could buy from. Based on the person’s results they would get a certain colored sticker. Red would be the worst where they could only purchase food from the red section. Orange would be second worst, but they could purchase food from the red and orange section. Yellow could purchase from yellow, orange, and red. You get the drift. The goal is for people to be forced to eat healthy and then as they become a healthier weight they stay eating healthy versus eating fattening foods. This would also give the healthiest a chance to splurge on eating healthy because sometimes we just need it. It can be considered a reward for being healthy. Children would not even have to be tested they would only be allowed to eat from the two lowest sections of healthy foods. This is so their body does not want or crave the unhealthy food and they can train their body to run on only healthy foods. This would create a generation of healthy people. The person at the checkout would make sure they purchased from the correct section. They would check to make sure everyone was buying the correct items.

In addition to helping Americans become healthier, this proposal would hurt the companies

producing food that is unnatural or unhealthy. Because not many people would be allowed to purchase the unhealthy foods greedy companies put on the shelves, they would go out of business or seek ways to make their product healthier so it could be sold on the shelves as a healthy item. It becomes a win-win situation all around.

I think this proposal is a great way to reduce obesity in America and will help start a generation of healthy people.

On a side note, this is a super cool website I found that ranks the states in order of obesity in children and adults. Go check it out! https://www.healthiergeneration.org/about_childhood_obesity/in_your_state/  

Eight Going on Thirty

This selection of reading about Rigoberta Menchu makes me so sad for her life growing up, and what she had to face at such an early age. There is so much she did not have to experience, but people are greedy and do not care how they treat people they see as below them in worth. At a young age she brought it upon herself to work the fields to help her mother get more money to keep the family afloat financially and physically. In what world would we imagine ourselves helping our parents bring home the money that puts food on the table? I know I wouldn't have been able to at her age; however, it makes you think of how quickly she had to mature versus people, like me, who grew up blissfully unaware of what it took to live life without worry. A child should not have to grow up so quickly or know what it feels like to carry the weight of your family’s burden on your shoulders. It makes me so grateful for what I have in my life.

After reading this I also feel hatred towards the people inflicting such cruelty on these workers. I mean, I know America had slaves and the cruelty experienced was similar if not worse, but this particular selection is different because they are not considered slaves who can never leave. They are forced to work because they have no other option. The people in charge know that and take advantage of that. Who does that? How do they sleep at night knowing that so many people are suffering because of their immense greed for making the most profit possible by ripping off the workers? My personality is pretty independent not really wanting to others who command me unfairly, so I cannot imagine my current self working in the fields and just taking the abuse they received. The entire time I was reading I wanted to fight back for them because I found it so unfair.. and unfair doesn't even come close to describe the treatment they received. 

300 Years Later and Still Hungry...

I remember reading “A Modest Proposal” for the first time in high school and was deeply disturbed by the material. Later I found out this piece was a satire and was dramatically used to get a point across. When I found this out, I was better able to understand the depth of the material and how he crafted his argument in a startling way.

I love finding how literature written so long ago can still apply in some way to our modern culture. I believe Swift is accurate his depiction of how people in poverty might have no choice in the options they have to survive. It is interesting because Swift’s “modest” proposal is quite the opposite. It would be a drastic measure for people living in poverty to survive; however, it brings light to the situation of something drastic must be done so they do not have to live in poverty. He sends out the message of a change is needed in order to progress in their country. The same situation is applicable today. How many people are hungry and struggling to survive not only in our country but also the world as a whole? It begs the question what are we actively doing to reduce said hunger? I mean I know there are many organizations doing their part, such as Kalamazoo Fishes and Loaves, but that’s not enough to alleviate the amount of suffering people. Maybe Swift’s “modest proposal” needs to be redistributed to the public to make people realize what an issue world hunger is in our society. Obviously people who read this without its background find it revolting to read, yet they do nothing to help the problem Swift is trying to shed light upon.  World hunger is a problem in this society and community, and we need to actively be a part of the change.

Here is an interesting article that takes thoughts from Jonathan Swift and applies it to modern day culture: http://cornellsun.com/blog/2008/01/24/a-modest-proposal-mixs-solution-to-world-hunger/

Kalamazoo Fishes & Loaves

Kalamazoo Fishes & Loves is a great organization in my opinion. Researching this organization before going has given me a little bit of insight about what they do for the community. I especially like their Grocery Pantry Program. This program helps individuals by providing them with groceries when they call a number linked to
KFL. They distribute to around 300 households a day. That really makes you think about how many people are hurting in this community alone. I admire what this organization is doing to help.

In addition, I love what other companies are dong to fund KFL, such as Panera bread. They donated money to KFL so they could better help the community end hunger, especially in the summer. Kids cannot get as much food as most rely on school lunches and/or breakfasts to fuel their bodies for the day. Some kids can't get as much food as they need at home, so they look forward to eating at school. This is crazy for me to think about as I hated school lunches growing up. I always brought my lunch thinking it was better for me, but some kids needed that school lunch because it was that or nothing at all. I really appreciate what I have, and will try to help in the near future.

Dinner with Trimalcheo

After reading “Dinner with Trimalcheo,” I see a resemblance between the king and slaves when it comes to our food system. Trimalcheo can be compared to our high end food companies who pretty much rule the industry. The slaves are the little guys who are under the power of those corporations and are pretty much forced to do as the companies want. The salves in this excerpt are treated kindly if they do as they are asked, but feel the wrath if they do not. Similarly, farmers feel the wrath because they have no profits or support from the government if they try to do it their own way. The power struggle between the two scenarios are parallel in nature, and prove things have not really changed in some respects.

In addition, the amount of food that is consumed at this feast is extremely decadent. It seems as though they never stop eating. Courses are endless and rich in content. Trimalcheo insists on guests drinking wine instead of water only to show off his exquisite and expensive taste. The type of food that is served is ostentatious in content and presentation. The way he presents the food that is tied to the Zodiac symbols tries to show off his knowledge and ability to have such a variety of food. All this food the guests are being exposed to seems like too much. It is more than a feast! Some people consume way too much food in the present day and age. This is another way this excerpt parallels our world. Many consume food that is lavish with fat and unhealthy for them. Similarly, in the excerpt where the guests never stop eating the exotic foods that they do not normally eat. America’s problem is they eat the fattening foods on a daily basis. You could look at it as a progression of the two. It might have started where they would eat lavishly once in a while, but now it has turned into a more common habit.

Corn Rules All

After watching King Corn, I want to call it quits and become a vegetarian. To think about how much of our food has corn in it is mind boggling to me. The worst part is there is not really a way to avoid it because there is corn or high fructose corn syrup in almost everything we eat.

 The researchers in this documentary went to a specialist to have their hair sampled to see what traces of food have been in their diet. They found interesting results concluding most of their diet consisted of corn! It's not like they sat at the dinner table and chowed down on ears of corn, but more so corn disguised as food. Most of the corn grown either goes into ethanol production, cow feed, or is turned into high fructose corn syrup. It's hard to find a food label of ingredients that does not include high fructose corn syrup. Lately I have been checking the foods I eat and it is pretty accurate. If my hair were to be tested there would probably be a high amount of corn as well.

 In addition to people having high amounts of corn in their system so do the cattle that feed us. (Click link to find out more info about this: link) Ranchers feed their cattle food that has high levels of corn. The cattle "put on weight faster if you don't let them move," so they are kept in confined spaces while they eat. Back in the day, ranchers let the cattle graze and roam in the fields. This was more natural and healthier for the cattle. Ranchers try to speed up the process so they can make more money by not having to wait as long for the cattle to reach their full growth. This unfortunately makes the cattle grow more fat than lean muscle. So not only is the meat we eat corn infused, but it also has more “fat disguised as meat.” In addition to hurting us as consumers, the corn feed makes the cattle unhealthy as well. The cattle are overfed so they bulk up just to be killed and consumed by humans… what a life!

This documentary was incredibly enlightening and will definitely make me think twice next time I’m shopping at the grocery store. I will be checking the ingredients of my food from now on.

Money Makes the World Go 'Round

As I continue to read Stuffed and Starved by Raj Patel, I grow more astonished with every turning page. Many things stick out to me from this book, but there seems to be an underlying theme to almost every situation: money. We all know food fuels our bodies to help us stay alive, but with the way society acts one would think money is essential to our survival. I have always known there have been greedy people in the world; however, I always pictured them as corporate lawyers or financial managers of some sort. I never pictured executives of food companies as greedy or abusive. “Corporations are the first to admit that they’re in business not for any wider social goal, but for profit” (Patel, 114). There it is right from the text, in black and white stating all they want is money! How can people be so blind to their own detrimental fixation with money?

 If you want to get down to it, greed is the leading cause of people being stuffed and starved. The people who are rich and wealthy have plenty to eat because they abuse their power over the weak or starved. In addition, the obese people of the world are ignorant or oblivious to the way their food is being improperly made with shortcuts to save the food companies a couple million here or there. Basically food corporations’ greed is causing the world to become progressively more unhealthy and poor as the years progress.

What is even worse is how the government is involved in the situation. Companies will “buy[] government goodwill” in order to make their careers more successful (Patel, 116). These executives will donate to political officers’ careers in order to receive good favor with their business at a later date. Nothing is safe if the government officials can be bought. This statistic alone is appalling, “the top four companies in many sectors of the food system are responsible for more than half the political contributions” (116). That is a lot of money to put into politics! In addition, the companies would not have that money if they did not find the cheapest (link to video giving insight to possible future of our world) way to produce the most amount of food with little regard for anyone else it might affect. I am not saying the government is being outright deceitful. They are merely persuaded to “shape the rules” in the food corporations’ favor (115).

Our food system seems to be even more corrupt and discriminating than I originally thought. As I get further into the book I can only hope greed will become less evident in the people’s lives…. one can only hope.

Where Are All the Farmers?

After reading Stuffed and Starved by Raj Patel, I look at my life through fresh eyes. I am so lucky to have the life I do where I don’t have to worry about whether or not I will eat dinner when I get home or if my dad’s job will be able to provide for our family. I have neither the problem of being starved nor the burden of being stuffed. I am one of the few healthy individuals who does not suffer from the worldwide epidemic of obesity. I am truly grateful for my health.

In Stuffed and Starved, Patel discusses how corporate greed affects lowly farmers in a negative way. Farmers are unable to make a substantial profit anymore because companies know they can pay less and sell for higher to make a bigger profit for themselves. This causes farmers to take out bigger loans to stay afloat in their own business; however, they are not always able to survive this economic downfall. “82 per cent of farmers are in debt” Patel states. This debt causes much unrest for not just the farmer, but the family as well. They are forced to make their children help where they can to make ends meet. They fight back by “working themselves to

exhaustion and scraping together whatever they can to be able to maintain some sort of standard of living.” Often farmers’ land is taken from them if their business is too unsuccessful causing the farmer and family pure devastation. Many times this causes some farmers to commit suicide for failing not only their family but the generations of their family before them.  Most of the time the farms have been passed down through the generations, so the burden of losing the family farm can be too much to bear for just one man.

Unfortunately, “farmer suicides cease to be full stops at the end of a life.” After the male dies, the woman bears the burden of raising the family and trying to stay afloat financially and physically. Sometimes they are driven to alternative methods of making money. In addition to the people who do have land, “the landless families systematically face the threat of starvation.”  Essentially, a farmer can start with land only to have it ripped from his family. This then causes them to be landless and more likely to starve for lack of money and means to buy food.

In this section of the book Patel focuses mainly on different parts of India where this economic crisis takes place. I am horrified at these events that are currently occurring worldwide. I had no idea such desperation was so prevalent in a rural society. It is ironic that the people who grow the food to stuff the wealthy are currently starving living in poverty. Patel captures this concept perfectly through his enlightening title. Change needs to happen to minimize both the stuffed and starved.

 

Picky Eater Blues

I am one of the pickiest eaters you will ever meet. Growing up I hated trying new foods. My parents would have to bribe me with desert for me to try just one bite of everything on my plate. This was typically followed by a dramatic scene where I gag and prove to my parents I didn’t like what they forced me to eat. Dinner was always a match to see who would win: me or the food? Typically I got out of eating the stuff I didn’t like; however, there were occasions where I was forced to eat more than a bite of everything before I was allowed to leave the table. This process grew tiresome to my parents and eventually wore them out to the point where I could get away with just eating a PB&J for dinner.

I’d like to say my diet has changed over the years, but that would be a lie. I eat more carbs than any other food group, most of which is pasta (minus the sauce). I love fruits and vegetables for the most part (except any vegetable that would usually show up in a salad). When my mom used to make chicken for dinner, she would make me a separate breast with absolutely no seasoning or dressing because I wouldn’t eat it otherwise. I still to this day dislike seasoning or spice of any kind. I hate any type of peanut butter mixed with chocolate, which apparently seems to be a strange combination to dislike. The list goes on and on and only makes cooking even more difficult for this college kid.

Not only am I a picky eater, but I cannot cook to save my life. This pretty much rules out me cooking any type of meat that can’t be heated up in the microwave for dinner.  I once tried to make hard boiled eggs, which shouldn’t be too difficult, and managed to screw that up. I left the room while they were boiling and came back because I heard a cracking sound. One of the eggs was on the floor from exploding out of the pot. I looked in the pot and no water was left and burn marks on the bottom. It’s safe to say I won’t be making those again.

 

I love food, I really do; however, the spread of food I like is small and limited.