EE2 Snacker's Manifesto

Adam Clark EE2-Eater’s Manifesto Writ-1133 Eric Leake A Snacker’s Manifesto Snacking, everyone does it and it can lead to a healthier diet, but it does just the opposite for many Americans. Not enough time for a meal? Grab a snack. Not hungry enough for a meal? Snack. Friend has a snack? Why not join them. The causes for snacking are endless and often lead to continual snacking. This is where snacking goes wrong. Snacks are not a substitute for a meal and should be had minimally throughout a day, not continually. It is not just the frequency of snacks that have lead to them to become unhealthy, it is what we chose to snack on and what is presented as snacks that result in poor habits. Fruits and vegetables are not often thought as a go to snack, but they can be just as convenient as processed snacks and lead to healthier snacking. I know my snacking habits have fallen to these unhealthy ideals that many Americans have placed on snacking and need to change. Our snacking habit as Americans does not have to disappear, but we need to change our ideas and goals of snacking to healthier ones. Snacking is something that we get brain washed to do at an early age, so it is a hard habit to break. As children, out parents let us snack. In analysis done by Barry Popkin, a professor of nutation at the University of North Carolina, on four national studies done on US youth ages 2-18, the first was the Nationwide Food Consumption Survey done in 1977 and the latest being the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey done in 2006, snacking of kids aged 2-6 increased the most over this time period with an increase of about 1.4 more snacks per day (399). This shows our addiction to snacking starts at a young age when we rely on our parents to make choices with our food. With this increase in snacking at a young age, it is not shocking that overall snacking among all children has risen over the years. In the 1977-1978 study, 74 percent of children studied snacked, but by the 2003-2006 study that number had risen to 94 percent of kids polled (399). It has gotten to the point were almost every child in the US snacks on a daily basis. With processed foods becoming more prevalent and easily accessible, an increase snacking on those products was also observed. The consumption as fruit as a snack has fallen by almost half from 1977 to 2006 while salty snack consumption has almost doubled (401). In the same studies done on adults 19 and older, a similar increase in snacking was observed with 71 percent of adults snacking in 1977 to 97 percent of adults in 2006 (Piernes 325). Our snacking habit is taught to us before we can make our on choices on food, sticking with us for life and has shifted to become less health and more frequent, raising concern. Our snacking today is often not healthy, but that’s by our decisions, consciously or subconsciously on the foods we chose to snack on. Since 1977, both adults and kids have began to snack more on salty foods and shifted away from fruits (Piernes). In a study done by Pascalle Weijzen, a professor of human nutrition conducted a study on male and females in the workplace. The participants were surveyed on which snack they would chose out of two healthy options and two unhealthy options. At a later time the same participants were give then options between the two healthy and two unhealthy and a quarter of those who said they would chose a healthy snack, switched to an unhealthy one while less than 10 percent switched from an unhealthy choice to a healthy one. This shows that many times people intend to have a healthy snack, but when the options are placed in front of us, it can often be hard to resist the unhealthy option. It has been ingrained into us that processed foods are snacks, not fruit or vegetables through medias influence over us. Commercials and advertisement have gotten the idea of convenient processed food as the ideal snack. Inn an article in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Annie Anderson writes “Snack food marketing and advertising represents one of the most successful industry investments of the last decade. The sums of money involved have produced spectacular presentations of bright eye-catching posters and adverts, seen everywhere from vending machines to buses and glossy magazines. Health promotion marketing and advertising pales in comparison” (Anderson). Advertisement is mostly for processed food so healthy food is minimally in ones mind as snack food. The advertisements claim the “healthiness” of their product; and many Americans believe this without question. But we must step back and question how the snack was made with zero fat and can be healthy for us. Fruits and vegetables provide natural and balanced compositions while our snacks today are filled with artificial ingredients. What Americans desire to achieve from snacking has become very unbalanced. We desire a single food that is healthy, balanced in nutrients, and can act as a meal supplement or replacement as needed. Our snack food today though does none of this, though many people treat snacks like they do achieve this. Snacks were intended as small amounts of food between meals to tide one over until it is time for a meal. Snacks were intended to be eaten in moderation, but many Americans struggle with this concept. If we enjoy something we are going to have a lot of that thing, but with snacks, we have begun to eat a disproportional amount of them. It was also intended as a time to take in vital nutrients throughout the day. Snacking on fruits and vegetables provides a small item rich in nutrients. A small snack on healthy food allows for nutrients to be taken in throughout the day and not in mass quantities at a single meal, but also prevents from overeating at meals because people are never craving for a large meal. Denise Webb a nutrition professor at the University of Cambridge talks about the benefits of snacking. In her article she writes that snacking on nutrient rich basic foods can increase daily nutrient count and decrease calorie intake. Snacking can reduce daily calorie intake because people are less hungry at meals and cut back on their calories at those meals. (Webb). Snacking also keeps our blood sugar from spiking which is healthier for both diabetics and non-diabetics. Snacking should not be eliminated, it offers too many health benefits, but it cannot continue as we know it. What comes to mind when someone asks for a snack food? Carrots? Or maybe cookies or chips? Advertising has a large effect on how we view a product. When was the last time you saw a commercial advertising fruit or vegetables as a snack? Processed food? I know I cannot remember the last time I saw fruit or vegetables advertised as a snack. With all the advertising for unhealthy options, they are subconsciously in our mind as good snack food. People must understand with all advertising, the producer is going to make any product appealing hiding its negative effects. We must not just submit ourselves to believe all the advertising about healthy processed snacks. Like meals, we must look for balance in our snacks as well. I am a person who tries to eat fairly healthy. I do not over obsess with healthy food, but I do try to not over eat and watch the fatty foods I eat at meals. This though gets thrown out the door when I snack. I almost view snacks as something that is calorie-less simply because it is not a “meal”. Snacking is not something I think hard about. If I am hungry, I will go get a snack, almost always without question. The issue is more than just getting snacks; it is the quantity and choices of the snacks too. I have the option everyday to grab and apple or banana to go from the cafeteria, but I rarely do that. My snacking is mostly on chips or cookies because they are easily available and have been instilled in me as snack food. Chips are obviously not the healthiest option, but I never question that, nor do I ever question how many I eat. I can easily get a bag of chips and eat the whole bag, which has 5-8 servings in a single sitting. Not only did I pick an unhealthy option, I eat it in ridiculous quantities. If I eat that much as a snack, I will be inclined to skip a meal and snack again later. Though my snacking may be a little extreme, I feel like it is not far off from many other college students. I also feel many people know their snacking is unhealthy but have a minimal desire to change it either because they enjoy the snacking or struggle to find other options. I, like most Americans, need to place a higher value on snacks. I should no long ignore healthy snacking options available in place of what has now become typical snack food nor can I think of it as calorie-less food because it is not a meal. If I can change my snacking habits soon, I can change a negative habit into a beneficial one for the rest of my life. Snacking is a habit, though hard to get rid of; it can be modified. Snacking on more fruit and other healthy options will allow everyone to have healthier daily eating habits by not over snacking, eating small meals and cutting out the over processed, un-nutritional snacks. There are always new diet crazes that people change their diets for, so why not treat healthy snacking as a new diet craze, it could prove to be more beneficial than many diets by balancing nutrient intake and cutting down calories at meals. People go to processed food as snack because of convenience, but can fruit be just as convenient? An apple sitting on the counter is just as easy of a grab and go snack as a bag of chips so why must start to view it that way. Works Cited Anderson, Annie. "Snacking Habits in Adults." Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics 16.1 (2003): 1-2. University of Denver Penrose Library. Web. 1 June 2012. . Piernas, C., and B. M. Popkin. "Trends In Snacking Among U.S. Children." Health Affairs 29.3 (2010): 398-404. University of Denver Penrose Library. Web. 1 June 2012. . Piernes, Cameron, and Barry M. Popkin. "Journal of Nutrition." Journal of Nutrition 140.2 (2010): 325-32. University of Denver Penrose Library. Web. 02 June 2012. . Webb, Densie. "Regular Snacking Is Smart Snacking: Making It Happen." Environmental Nutrition 32.5 (2009): 2. University of Denver Penrose Library. Web. 1 June 2012. . Weijzen, P.l.g., C. De Graaf, and G.b. Dijksterhuis. "Predictors of the Consistency between Healthy Snack Choice Intentions and Actual Behaviour." Food Quality and Preference 20.2 (2009): 110-19.University of Denver Penrose Library. Web. 1 June 2012. .

Reflection Blog

This course made me see that food is marketed like any other product. Companies goals are to sell us food, not provide the healthiest product that is most beneficial to our health. Our desire for food has made us lose any control we once had over food. We allow companies to manufacture, control, and hide the truth about the food we are eating. I had never previously noticed how much I fall for companies advertisements without looking to the reasons/health consequences for eating the food I do eat and how little I actually knew about my food and eating habits. With this knowledge I hope to make healthier and less impulse based eating decisions, not simply falling for a new advertised product and being aware more aware of the changes in my eating habits to hopefully make positive changes.

Our diets issues today

The ideas of a perfect food and perfect diet have never been set on one thing. Society keeps changing what a perfect meals consists of based on current studies and it has done it for centuries. But as a study comes out with one conclusion a similar study can come out with a different one. Because of this our diets keep changing based on what science thinks is healthy. Since there can be studies to prove anything is healthy or not, it is hard to base new diets off a couple studies. These diets also change based on companies’ desires. A product can be marketed well to consumers as a new healthy food or good for ones diet, but this can be sparked because it is cheap for a company to produce. But our diets also come from our “right” to eat what we want. As Americans we do not want to be told we cannot eat something. If we like a food we are going to eat a lot of it even if it’s unhealthy because we can. With all these factors that play into creating a perfect diet, it will probably never be reached. There will always be stubborn people who will eat unhealthy because it tastes good and is what they like. There will always be a new product supported by one study and marketed as healthiest thing you can eat, but shortly after another study will attempt to disprove it. People have survived for thousands of years on our “unhealthy diets” so why must the healthiest diet be force on us.

Interesting food/health/nutrition facts

One interesting post was on snacking. It talks about how snack by itself is not unhealthy as it has been argued that eating 5 small meals a day is healthier than 3 large meals. But most everyone snack in the wrong manor. If you snack, the meals should be made smaller to account for the extra snacks, but this does not happen often. Because snacks are an addition and other meals are not adjusted, often our snacking is unhealthy. Another interesting fact was the amount of nutrion that we consume daily. The recommended daily consumption is 2400 mg or less, but a restaurant meal, like sodexo, can have between 2400-4600 mg of sodium per meal. having to eat there 2-3 meals a day, we cannot go without eat double or more of the recommended sodium per day.

SE5

Adam Clark Writ 1133 – Erik Leak 5/16/2012 A surprisingly Healthy Breakfast Eating breakfast is a dilemma for many college students. Eating breakfast requires getting up early for class and either making breakfast or stopping somewhere for it. Making breakfast can require a lot of time and having food available while the other, quicker option, stopping somewhere to get food, requires time and money. Neither time nor money is something many college kids have endless amounts of so breakfast is often skipped. This can have many negative effects on both school performance and health. Looking at our classes eating habits, it was clear that many people skipped breakfast on a daily basis. This is not shocking as the options offered in dinning halls are often not worth getting up early for. There is little debate against the benefits of eating breakfast, but new research has showed that eating certain things for breakfast can maximize the benefits. Cereal, a food always available in the cafeterias and an easy food for students to store and makes a quick meal form, is shown to large health benefits. The amount of daily nutrients consumed can vary greatly depending ones choice of breakfast. A study done by the British National Diet and Nutrition Surveys, which recorded all food eaten by participants for a 7-day period was analyzed to find correlations between breakfast and the daily nutrients consumed. The goal was to see if breakfast, or more specifically cereal for breakfast, had more health benefits than no breakfast. Non-breakfast eaters consumed on average fewer calories daily than those who ate non-cereal or cereal breakfasts, but eating breakfast was associated with a lower daily fat intake (Gibson 82). The analysis showed that skipping breakfast led to the lowest daily intake of micronutrients. The intake of micronutrients was 6-18% higher for non-cereal breakfast and 30-90% higher for cereal breakfast (82). Even though more calories were consumed daily when breakfast was eaten, these percentages still show that the food eaten was more nutrient dense, up to 14% more dense when cereal breakfasts were eaten (83). This analysis just offers some light into the benefits of cereal for breakfast, and is simply reporting on the data collected by the British NDNS, but the results do show significant nutritional benefits from consuming cereal for breakfast. Cereal is an easy food for a college kid to have for breakfast. There is no preparation needed and I can easily by made in a dorm room. A simple breakfast cannot only provide morning class performance benefits by providing energy for the mind; it can lead to the consumption of healthy food later in the day. Cereal is not always though of as the healthiest option as they are seen full of sugars and carbohydrates which may be why it was not common breakfast item in our classes eating habits. But all of today’s cereals are filled with numerous nutrients that cannot be provided by many other breakfasts. Starting the day with cereal can provide the body with vital nutrients early in the day and often leads to more nutrient rich food to be consumed later in the day as well. Cereal can provide the beneficial breakfast that all college students should have. This quick meal that is healthy and can be prepared and eaten in 5 minutes should have a large appeal to college students who focus on maximizing time and performance, but the negative assumptions that cereal is not that healthy limits cereals occurrence in breakfasts. Works Cited Gibson, S. A., and P. Gun. "What's for Breakfast? Nutritional Implications of Breakfast Habits: Insights from the NDNS Dietary Records." Nutrition Bulletin March 36.1 (2011): 78-86. Web. 16 May 2012. .

Commonalities in our eating

There was more variety in foods and places people ate than i expected. It was common for people to skip breakfast a couple of the days. The days recorded were weekend days so many people often get up late, past the time for "normal" breakfast so it is not convenient for them to eat it. Some of the breakfast were instant meals or quick things grabbed from a dininng hall, not a full meal. Most people get up around lunch so either a small snack of just waiting till lunch makes the most sense. It was also a common theme to see snacking in peoples daily eating habits. For many people a couple quick snacks spread out during a day is easier than sitting down for a meal.

What I ate this weekend

Thursday night- 730-strawberries, salad, burger, milk 10-kettle chips, Friday- 9 am – 2 glass of cranrasberry juice 2 nutrigrain bars 11 am- chips and salsa and turkey, iced tea 3- turkey sandwich beef stick, iced tea 5:30- pizza(cheese and sausage) 3 side servings of sausage, 2 cans of orange crush 8- multiple servings of pretzels Saturday- 9:30 bacon and 2 glasses of apple juice 11- kettle chips and turkey 5- cheddar cheese and wheat thins, strawberries, blueberries, rasberries, root beer 630- salad with lemon dressing, bread and steak, water 10:30 2 cookies, can of orange crush Sunday morning 10- eggs benedict, bacon and apple juice 12-turkey and lemonade 5-5 piece chicken strip from BK

SE 4

Adam Clark Writ 1133-Professor Leake 5-9-12 Industrialized Chicken Poultry has always been a large part of Americans diets. In the early 1900’s it was common for farms, which were often less specialized, to have a flock of chickens for eggs and meat in addition to many other animals and crops. As society grew, though, these farms that produced a little bit of everything were not efficient enough to meet societies needs. Farms began to specialize in a single or closely related product to maximize efficiency. This cut down the numerous farms that once had a couple hundred chickens, to fewer super farms that can house hundreds of thousands of birds. With this now vastly available resource, society is changings its dependence on chicken away from mostly eggs, to more meat. Not only have these super farms becoming very efficient, chickens have been bred to grow ideally in certain conditions allowing for rapid growth of larger chickens. Chicken farming which was once common in local farms and houses has evolved into a very efficient industrialized process, maximized in every way possible, reflecting societies needs for efficiency. Early farming was not specialized farming; it was common for farms to grow a multitude of products. Having many products limited the farms to small flocks of chickens. Data collected by the UDSA Agricultural Resource Management Study shows that in 1910 roughly 88 percent of farms in the US raised chickens. The study showed though that by 1992 that number had fallen to 5.6 percent (Poultry Production 3). It is clear that farms needed to become specialized to a certain product, chicken, to stay competitive with societies demands for the product. The specialization also focused on chickens raised for laying eggs versus chicken for meat. The demand for chicken meat and eggs has increased as society has grown, but growth of chicken farms for meat has increased significantly more than chicken farms for eggs as the per capita consumption of meat has increased while the opposite is true for eggs. In an USDA study, during the 1940’s the per capita consumption of chicken meat was 24 pounds and 320 eggs per year, while by the 1990’’s meat consumption had risen to almost 50 pounds while eggs dropped to 236 per year (Poultry and Eggs 1-2). This jump in consumption of chicken meat is a result from it becoming much more affordable through specialized farming and genetically superior chickens. This new availability of chickens turned the public away from eggs because raising chickens had become as easy as collecting eggs. It was not only the farming process that got revamped to handle mass quantities of chickens. The chickens had been altered to grow faster, with bigger breasts, all while eating less food. In the 1940’s it took 12 weeks and 16 pounds of feed to grow a chicken 4-pound. By 2000 it took only 6 weeks to grown a bigger chicken that only took 6.4 pounds of feed to grow a 4-pound chicken (THIRUVENKADAN 310). This has allowed for double the production in the same time period with the same amount of food. These genetically superior chickens that grow faster with less food also have higher percentages of societies preferred meat, breast, through genetic modification and breeding. The mortality rate of raising chickens also fell by over half in the same time period from 10 percent to 3.6 percent (310). These high levels of efficiency have allowed society to consume more chicken meat as it has become significantly cheaper to produce. This industrialization of raising chickens has not had all positive results though. The percentage of chicken labeled as processed has risen significantly as more chickens are produced. 85 percent of chickens produced during the 1940’s were sold as whole carcass chickens while only 2 percent were sold labeled as processed. Shockingly by 1995 only 11 percent of chickens were sold as whole carcass, and there was an 18 times increase of processed chicken to 36 percent (Poultry and Eggs 1-2). This large change reflects societies desires though. Society craves for efficiency and speed, and the increase in processed chicken achieves this. Fast food restaurants have sprouted everywhere across the US and the desire for this and quick meals has increased the need for processed chicken. This adds to the ever-growing amount of processed food Americans unknowing or caringly consume. A once very localized natural farming of chickens in early America has developed into a multibillion-dollar industry. Farms have come to house hundreds of thousands of birds at a time to be more efficient. These super farms have eliminated all the small local chicken farms America once had. These super farms have been able though to develop a genetically superior chicken to maximize its efficiency. Chickens can now be raised in half the time with half the food allowing for chicken to be much more available to the public. This industrialization comes at a cost though like the industrialization of many foods. The amount of processed chicken has risen severely as part of efficiency. Processing chicken allows for more of the chicken to be used further raising the efficiency of the farms. This development of the chicken industry comes as a reflection of societies demands and needs to maximize a products’ availability. Works Cited THIRUVENKADAN, A.K. Broiler breeding strategies over the decades: an overview. World's poultry science journal 67.2 30 Jun 2011: 309-336. World's Poultry Science Association. 08 May 2012. < http://jc3th3db7e.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info:sid/summon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Broiler+breeding+strategies+over+the+decades%3A+an+overview&rft.jtitle=World%27s+Poultry+Science+Journal&rft.au=A+K+THIRUVENKADAN&rft.au=R+PRABAKARAN&rft.au=S+PANNEERSELVAM&rft.date=2011-06-30&rft.issn=0043-9339&rft.volume=67&rft.issue=2&rft.spage=309&rft_id=info:doi/10.1017%2FS0043933911000328&rft.externalDBID=WPSC&rft.externalDocID=2378963091> USA. US Department of Agriculture. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Poultry and Eggs. Web. 8 May 2012. . USA. US Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service. Poultry Production in the United States. Broiler Farms' Organization. Web. 8 May 2012. .

The production of our food today

These pieces trace the history of our food and us in a similar manor. The main point being there has been a disconnection between our food and us. Food is all about mass production and visual appeal to a consumer. Because of this, everything but the final product is hidden from a consumer. Very few people today could say where their food came from and the process it went through to get to them. Very few people think of how they have fresh strawberries all year round, when, especially for me being from Minnesota, it is clear to tell it is not a local strawberry season. All types of food are available all year round as that’s what the customer expects. Because of this want from the costumer, our food is now chemically altered, preserved and produced in the most efficient ways possible. Food once had a must more personal connection, this can more easily be seen with fruits and vegetables but can still be applied to meat products. It was once very common to have a small garden at home to grow some fresh vegetables when they were in season, this much more natural process allowed people to actually see what went into the product, and it was most chemical free. This has grown less common creating a loss of connection to the process of getting food. This commercialization of farming food is made clear through Cook's piece "fowl trouble." Animals are now raised in poor conditions, pumped full of chemicals that maximize growth with no concern for health. The processes of storing and transporting food have improved drastically to transport this commercialized food. One can find fresh Alaskan salmon or crab from Maine in a restaurant in Minnesota. No one questions how this is possible, they just expect this luxury. This transportation and processing of food has not only broken foods connections to regions and season, it has created chemically filled and genetically altered food to help with these processes. People only know the food by its name, and nothing about the process of getting it. The most troubling part of both pieces was to think no one cares or asks about what is truly in our food and how industrialization of our foods has effected them and us nutritionally.

Our National Eating Disorder

Our nations eating disorder comes from the massive amounts of food available and not ethnic identity to guide us to good food. The quantity of food available has brought back the omnivorous dilemma. Americans have lost their senses to pick good food from a lack of ethnic background and lack of use of the senses before. American’s are too health conscious. They only want to eat “healthy” products so companies cater to this. Whatever the latest health craze is, companies can manipulate their product to fit the needs. Low carbs, high omega-3’s all can be added to make Americans feel like their product is healthier. Americans pick food by the numbers not by taste or smell, which previously were used to pick out micronutrients and toxins. Visually appealing food is good food for Americans. Pollan’s most interesting analysis was that of the Americans and French. The French eat what Americans see as an unhealthy diet, yet the French are skinnier and healthier because they know how to eat the foods in moderation. This moderation is not based on numbers, just simple guidelines they have always had, no snacks, no seconds, eating together and small portions. Americans lack similar guidelines, as it is hard to identify with a specific ethnic group, which can help establish them. I chose what I eat mostly off convenience and what I have already eaten through out the day. If I had a large meal earlier, I try to make my next meal smaller to balance my eating. But the common American habit of snacking is hard to resist. Snacking I ignore everything I may have had that day and treat it too much like a meal, but snacking is always something I have remembered doing so it is hard to resist.

EE1 Final

Adam Clark Eric Leake Writ-1133 EE1 What can’t be added to meals today Eating has always been about more than just food. Meals traditionally have been times when a family or group of people can communally come around a common meal. These meals had a lot of structure, happening at the same time everyday. It allowed people to come together and form relationships with others. It was also a time to escape from day to day tasks and relax for a while. It showed that food was more of a means of forming and building relationships and not solely eating. These more traditional meals are beginning to disappear though, and are often replaced by fast-unstructured meals. With this shift in meals, food though has kept a meaning beyond just eating. People now gather to do group work with food instead of using food to escape work. These Fast meals are advertised to an audience by appealing to emotions; people like the conveniences and emotions brought on by these advertisements. Foods connections to time and family are fading; people now see meals as more individualistic and add new things to their meals, forming new connections. Traditionally, meals were very scheduled events. Morning breakfast before school or work with family members and a family dinner at the same time every night. Dinner often revolved when parents got off work, being the same time every day. The importance on family meals was high, so families made their schedules around them. A family breakfast allowed communication of each other’s daily plans and family interaction before the work and school day begin. Dinner, a more structured meal, would consist of everyone sitting around the same table for the meal. The daily events of the family members lives could be discussed so everyone knew what happened in each other’s day and it allowed for strong family relationships. It was a time everyone was guaranteed to get to talk with his or her family. Society now though has become much faster paced causing a disconnection with the importance of traditional meals. These traditional meals can be seen as to time consuming to do everyday so families are beginning to go without them. This has made foods connection to family and relationships weaker, but it has brought other connections to food. The connection with food and personal relationships can still be seen with foods new connection to working. Food is now a common place in bringing colleagues together in work places, small meetings and student work groups. Food has migrated to these working groups as people see it as effective multitasking along with a relationship builder. Society has become faster paced, so combining two required daily things together appeals to people as it saves time. Instead of “wasting” time by just talking to someone over a meal, work can now be accomplished. The growth of this trend can be seen by the large growth of restaurants that cater to this atmosphere. Caribou, Starbucks, Panera, and Brueggar’s are all places that offer smaller meals with large places to dine in. In additional to the ideal workspaces provided, most of them offer free Wi-Fi to customers. Scott Hughes a spokesman for Brueggar’s wrote about a shift in the company’s transition supporting the idea that people want the ability to add work to their food. “Hospitality is a major emphasis” of the changes happening at Brueggar’s in recent years (Hughes). This hospitality to costumers is providing a place where they can work while they eat. The convenience of both of this greatly appeals to people and the fast paced society of today who can now add anything to a meal on the go. Foods growing connection to something other than family and becoming individualistic in nature can even be seen in environments under extreme control. Prison spread is food that provides inmates with a way to break away from the scheduled meals and establish prison status. . In Sandra Cate’s piece in “Breaking Bread with a Spread” she describes spreads as foods created by inmates often around a base of ramen noodles (17). Outside prisons people are fading away from scheduled meals, getting food on the go and multi tasking when eating. Spread is the inmates’ way of breaking the scheduled meals of prison. Meals are served at the same time everyday in prison, starting at 5:30 AM. Cate articulates that “spread is eaten on the inmates’ own timetable” (20). This is often sometime after dinner at night, but the inmate can make it when he or she pleases. Spread gives the inmate power to be individualistic, escaping from their very structured lives. Spread has also become a means of expressing power and status for prisoners. Prisons have always had an internal hierarchy within the inmates. Prisoners now are displaying this hierarchy through their spreads. The spreads can become elaborate, requiring a variety of ingredients, so inmates can come together and share with each other forming friendships. These friendships are often radically defined though, another inmate Devon Gray notes (19). This defining of friendships often brings a status meaning to spreads. Spreads are a delicacy so the being able to have the food often brings an element of social and jail status to the food. An inmate Watkins strengthens this idea through stating “ if you and your contemporaries can spread together on a nightly basis, it shows that you have money enough on your books, as well as the strength in numbers” (qtd 19). This equivalent of a traditional meal for inmates is about much more than just building relationships, it saves them and is a passive way to establish their status in prison. Spread came as prisoners wanted to be more individualistic. As spread grew, inmates saw it as a means of displaying their status in the jail because it is a luxury and a means to escape the prison schedule. With foods growing individualistic nature, an emotional connection with food is developing as people can express their emotions through what they eat. With a traditional meal, an emotional connection may have been made, but it was an emotion connected to being happy with family. All emotions are being connected to food now, without a family connection. Products used to be advertised as “the number one…” or “Healthiest….”, but now an emotional connection to a product is often a better means of advertisement. This can be seen through how food products are now advertised to society. Advertising now often looks to appeal to emotions of a consumer rather than providing a product better than its competitors. Coca-Cola is a prime example of appealing to customers’ emotions. A major Coca-Cola campaign used the slogan “Open Happiness”. Its ads often displayed a bottle of coke with these words. The company does not say its product is a good product, its advertising happiness that comes with Coca-Cola. The idea of happiness is enough to attract buyers to a product. Two other advertisements for Goldfish and Cheez-Its were also analyzed with similar results. The goldfish ad featured animated goldfish crackers in a campout telling scary stories. Its audience, younger kids, relate this to having fun with friends in a similar situation. The name of the product in not stated until the end of the advertisement, but the goal is to get the consumers to believe buying the product will bring back more similar emotions that will please the buyer. Cheez-it similarly has a commercial designed to appeal to emotions of a buyer. The Cheese is being immature, cracking pointless jokes. Cheez-its appeal to a slightly old audience than goldfish can relate back to times where they cracked equally pointless jokes, thinking they were funny. Cheez-its then form a connection to enjoyable emotions in the buyers past, causing the buyer to want to purchase Cheez-its to relive those past emotions. This shows a strong growth in connection with food and emotion to express current and past feelings in an individualistic manor. Products are not always purchased because they are the best available, sometimes an emotional connection can cause a consumer to get a product to express a similar emotion it is advertised with. The transition from a traditional meal has brought a great change to how people perceive food. There no longer is a desire for food to be structured and a time away from work. Food has transformed to be just the opposite. People today can add anything to their meals, whether it is work, watching TV, or other multitasking. Today’s fast paced society has encouraged people to add anything to their meals to boost productivity. Food has also lost its once structured nature. Food is now an individualistic way to express oneself and to break other schedules society may make. Meals can now be things to eat on the go expressing food change in both structure and means of taking a break that it once had. People now eat different things to express and feel different emotions connected to a particular product that is advertised to them. These changes show how society has adapted food to tolerate anything to be added to it, allowing people to break a schedule and be individualistic with it. Works Cited Walkup, Carolyn. "Bagel Brands Seek Whole New Image with Fast-casual Makeovers." Nation's Restaurant News 41.16 (2007). ProQuest. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. . Cate, Sandra. "“Breaking Bread with a Spread” in a San Francisco County Jail." Gastronomica 8.3 (2008): 17-24. Print. Horwitz, Jamie. "Eating at the Edge." Gastronomica 9.3 (2009): 42-47. Print.

EE1

Adam Clark Note on the Essay: THERE IS NO CONCLUSION. I know the citations are not currently formatted correctly, and I will be adding an additional source Eating has always been about more than just food. Meals traditionally have been times when a family or group of people can communally come around a common meal. These meals had a lot of structure, happening at the same time everyday. It allowed people to come together and form relationships with others. It was also a time to escape from day to day tasks and relax for a while. It showed that food was more of a means of forming and building relationships and not solely eating. These more traditional meals are beginning to disappear though, and are often replaced by fast meals. With this shift in meals, food though has kept a meaning beyond just eating. People now gather to do group work, but this gathering typically has a food component to it. Fast meals are advertised to populaces by appealing to emotions, people like the conveniences and emotions brought on by these advertisements. Food is always changing, but it will always represent more than just what it is. Traditionally, meals were very scheduled events. Morning breakfast before school or work with family members and a family dinner at the same time every night. Dinner often revolved when parents got off work, being the same time every day. The importance on family meals was high, so families made their schedules around them. A family breakfast allowed communication of each other’s daily plans and family interaction before the work and school day begin. Dinner, a more structured meal, would consist of everyone sitting around the same table for the meal. The daily events of the family members lives could be discussed so everyone knew what happened in each other’s day and it allowed for strong family relationships. It was a time everyone was guaranteed to get to talk with his or her family. Society now though has become much faster paced causing a disconnection with the importance of traditional meals. These traditional meals can be seen as to time consuming to do everyday so families are beginning to go without them. This has made foods connection to family and relationships weaker, but it has brought other connections to food. The connection with food and personal relationships can still be seen with foods new connection to working. Food is now a common place in bring colleagues together in work places, more individual meetings and student work groups. Food has migrated to these working groups as people see it as effective multitasking along with a relationship builder. Society has become faster paced, so combining two required daily things together appeals to people as it saves time. Instead of “wasting” time by just talking to someone over a meal, work can now be accomplished. The growth of this trend can be seen by the large growth of restaurants that cater to this atmosphere. Caribou, Starbucks, Panera, and Brueggar’s are all places that offer smaller meals with large places to dine in. In additional to the ideal workspaces provided, most of them offer free Wi-Fi to customers. Everything needed to be productive for school or business work is provided in addition to food. The convenience of both of these greatly appeals to people and the fast paced society of today. Prison spread is food that provides inmates with a way to break away from the scheduled meals, establish prison status, and a way to form relationships like traditional meals. Due to circumstances, this food for them has become much more than a relationship builder similar to traditional meals. In Sandra Cate’s piece in “Breaking Bread with a Spread” she describes spreads as foods created by inmates often around a base of ramen noodles (17). These spreads are often a social activity and Kermit Saunders, an inmate, says, “it’s like we bonding in here when we break bread with spread” (qtd, 19). The spreads can become elaborate, requiring a variety of ingredients, so inmates can come together and share with each other forming friendships. These friendships are often radically defined though, another inmate Devon Gray notes (19). This defining of friendships often brings a status meaning to spreads. Spreads are a delicacy so the being able to have the food often brings an element of social and jail status to the food. An inmate Watkins strengthens this idea through stating “ if you and your contemporaries can spread together on a nightly basis, it shows that you have money enough on your books, as well as the strength in numbers” (qtd 19). This equivalent of a traditional meal for inmates is about much more than just building relationships, it saves them and establishes their status in prison. The break from strict timetables and scheduled meals can be seen in prisons through the expansion of spread. Outside prision people are fading away from scheduled meals, getting food on the go and multi tasking when eating. Spread is the inmates’ way of breaking the scheduled meals of prison. Meals are served at the same time everyday in prison, starting at 5:30 AM. Cate articulates that “spread is eaten on the inmates’ own timetable” (20). This is often sometime after dinner at night, but the inmate can make it when he or she pleases. This desire to break from the strict meals is reflected by both inmates and those outside prison. This shows a clear change in society attempting to be more individual and fast paced. An emotional connection to food is also growing. With a traditional meal, an emotional connection may have been made, but it was an emotion connected to being happy with family. All emotions are being connected to food now, without a family connection. Also products used to be advertised as “the number one…” or “Healthiest….”, but now an emotional connection to a product is often a better means of advertisement. This can be seen through how food products are now advertised to society. Advertising now often looks to appeal to emotions of a consumer rather than providing a product better than its competitors. Coca-Cola is a prime example of appealing to customers’ emotions. A major Coca-Cola campaign used the slogan “Open Happiness”. Its ads often displayed a bottle of coke with these words. The company does not say its product is a good product, its advertising happiness that comes with Coca-Cola. The idea of happiness is enough to attract buyers to a product. Two other advertisements for Goldfish and Cheez-Its were also analyzed with similar results. The goldfish ad featured animated goldfish crackers in a campout telling scary stories. Its audience, younger kids, relate this to having fun with friends in a similar situation. The name of the product in not stated until the end of the advertisement, but the goal is to get the consumers to believe buying the product will bring back more similar emotions that will please the buyer. Cheez-it similarly has a commercial designed to appeal to emotions of a buyer. The Cheese is being immature, cracking pointless jokes. Cheez-its appeal to a slightly old audience than goldfish can relate back to times where they cracked equally pointless jokes, thinking they were funny. Cheez-its then form a connection to enjoyable emotions in the buyers past, causing the buyer to want to purchase Cheez-its to relive those past emotions. This shows a strong growth in connection with food and emotion. Products are not always purchased because they are the best available, sometimes an emotional connection can cause a consumer to get a product that brings them a happier feeling.

Horwitz's Eating on the Edge

Horwitz sees eating on the edge as how food has become an additive to different situations in a positive manor. Food used to be very related to time and space in which it was consumed. Family meals happened at the same time every day and people schedules worked around the meal (42). Horwitz states though that now "taking time to share food, as a part of daily routine, is becoming less common in the u.s. as unstructured eating patterns become more familiar and varied" (45). People now get snacks to go, skip meals and eat by themselves. These snacks can replace meals, and people now expect to eat at convenient times for themselves, and do not worry about eating with family and friends. Everything is so fast paced now that people will not take time to slow down and eat a full meal with others because they expect everything to fit their schedule. Eating now happens when some one is on the computer, working alone or watching tv as it an easy thing to be multitasking. Sitting in Brueggar’s is a good example of how eating has turned into eating on the edge. A majority of the people there were doing work with a group. They chose Brueggar’s as it got them “off campus” and is a convenient place to work. They did not go there for the food, but since it is served there they added it to the working. The food served also relates to peoples expectation of eating on the edge. Everything was in smaller portions, more snack like, and it was easy food for someone on the go.

SE 3

Adam Clark
Writ 1133
Erik Leake
SE3
Bruegger’s
For my observations of peoples’ interaction with food, I went to Bruegger’s. The Bruegger’s is located off South University Boulevard towards the north end of campus. It serves mostly bagels and bagel sandwiches, but also has soups, coffee, and salads. It is a convenient spot close to campus that allows students to escape Sodexo’s food or a different place to study. I went on a Sunday afternoon starting at around 2:00 O’clock PM. It was a cold and cloudy day, and started raining while I was there.
Once inside it was clear as to its appeal to customers. The tables and booths inside were set up for 2 to 4 person groups and a majority of them were full. The booths were big with comfortable padded benches; all of these were taken when I arrived. The groups were all doing work; no one was solely eating. The table set up works well for this and Bruegger’s offers free WIFI connections, which makes it a prime location to group work as you can still connect to the web. Every there had some sort of drink or food, which can be seen as “buying” the space they were using to work in. There was soft music playing, mostly current poplar songs, which offered a calming effect as it was loud enough to block other people’s conversations without being to distracting. The store also had wall-to-wall windows to naturally lighten the atmosphere, which makes it more suitable to work, as the customers do not feel they are in a work place filled with industrial light.
Bruegger’s menu is an affordable one with bagels for a couple dollars, sandwiches just over 5 and salads about 7 dollars. This is to cater to a younger audience who wants cheap easy food to go or eat while studying. The portions were fairly small, typically a single bagel. They also served hot drinks, which were especially popular as it was a cold day. Customers placed their order at the counter and could see it prepared before them. The food was ready to be picked up by the time they walked down to the register. The speed of service appeals to a fast paced crowd that does not want to waste time on meals. All sandwiches were wrapped the same to go, giving the customer the option to stay or go. Those who at Bruegger’s were expected to clear their trash and leave the table presentable to the next customer. The two people working were one college aged person and one older gentleman.
The demographic of people working in Bruegger’s was broader than I anticipated. It was a 50/50 split on college kids doing working inside and a younger business crowd. The college students were more likely to have food in addition to a drink from Bruegger’s. The older people working, though, all had a Starbuck’s coffee instead of Bruegger’s coffee. I saw this more of a status symbol of them being older and above the generic Bruegger’s coffee. No one that was working when I arrived got more food while I was there. Around 2:30 a lot more people began to come and get take away sandwiches. Most of them were groups of 2-6 college students. They seemed to be getting bagels with cream cheese or bagel sandwiches. At this time there were a couple tables that were people just eating now with larger groups. An older college student also came in with an older gentleman and discussed a resume for a job.
Restaurants similar to Brueggar’s are popular around the country. A convenient place to work with groups that offers Internet and reasonably affordable food appeals to a large demographic. Today is a fast paced society so there is a large demand for quick food. Brueggar’s saw this and in 2003 publically stated it would make changes accordingly. Scott Hughes a spokesman for Brueggar’s said “ We have made the transition from just a bagel bakery into fast-casual positioning” (Walkup). This is aimed at both college aged and a younger business crowd. To do this, Bruegger’s added new items to their menu aimed at a mid afternoon crowd (Walkup). This was sandwiches, salads, and specialty drinks like iced coffee and teas. These changes which began in 2003, could clearly been seen as appealing to the crowd that was at Brueggar’s. Most people had one of these specialty drinks and got sandwiches to go. These sandwiches were ready to go in minutes allowing the customer to come and go quickly. In addition to changing the menu, “hospitality is a major emphasis” of the changes to the company (Walkup). The restaurant was very much set up to suit the customers. People enjoy going there for the environment it offers and will buy food in exchange for the space. A key element to the space is that it is causal. This appeals to quick business meetings that do not need to be formal, and to students who want a unique place to study. People today are looking for a work friendly environment as much as a good place to eat. Bruegger’s noticed this and changed its menu and ideal to suit this.
Works Cited
Walkup, Carolyn. "Bagel Brands Seek Whole New Image with Fast-casual Makeovers." Nation's Restaurant News 41.16 (2007). ProQuest. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. .

Possible Article to use with SE2

http://0-search.proquest.com.bianca.penlib.du.edu/docview/229342909

This article talks about how Bruegger's changed its menu to accommodate a more fast-casual person.

Cate and O'Donnell

In O’Donnell’s study, food defined economic status and region of the country you were from. The northern part of the country was considered “dumber” because they simply raised cows and chickens, which were easy to raise and kill, so they would always have food. This lead to a more socialist society. The southern part of the country was considered wiser as they had to be more cunning to successfully catch fish. The more fish one caught the better off they were, a more capitalist society. By simply looking at the food someone ate, his or her economic status could be determined. As china industrialized, the government rationed food to those who promoted economic growth. This lead to larger growth as the more you contributed the more food you received. Those in rural farms though received no rations, they were expected to grown grain for the government and eat off the extra they produced. As it became more industrialized, traditional foods of different groups continued to be sold at new restaurants and people went to the restaurants they traditionally identified with. Cate looked at inmates and their food. Inmate’s created spread to relate to meals they once had. The spreads each inmate made was very much based off their ethnic background. The spreads were to provide a tasty meal that normal jail food does not. The inmates took pride in creating a new spread that tastes like a meal they remember. The spreads were also a social meal as inmates would collaborate to make them and enjoy them together. The spreads were treats they could make off little food they could buy or save from meals. It was their highlight to have a couple times a week. Its amazing how creative they can get with the little resources they have. No one outside jail would ever consider mixing the ingredients in a spread, but to an inmate the spread is a delicacy, and not something they can eat everyday. Both these communities came together around the food they had and related their food to the past they once had.

Comparisons to Scott's SE2

Scot's commercails about the Panda Cheese and Chic-Fil-A were similar to the ads I analyzed as they focused mostly on entertainment and almost nothing about the actual product being advertised. Neither of the commercials we looked at were for healthier food's, so the companies must sell their product in a different manor, entertainment. My commercials had quick couple second comments on the product while Scot said nothing about his products were mentioned. The commercials all picked a demographic they commonly appeal to and aimed their commercials to these people. By entertaining an audience the commercial gains the audiences trust, and an audience wants it because I believes it will bring them more enjoyment.

SE 2

Adam Clark
Prof. Leake
SE 2
04/04/2012
Cheesy Crackers Duel
The two food advertisements I chose to look at were TV commercials for Goldfish and Cheez-Its. They are both marketed to a similar audience, as they are competing products, and they both play off and negate each other in their commercials. The two commercials take very different approaches in their presentation; one being a more serious setting while the other is animated.
The Goldfish commercial is clearly aimed towards a younger audience. It is animated which appeals to younger people, and the goldfish are telling scary stories while they are “camping” in a Goldfish bag. A younger audience can easily related to this and it is something they will find interesting. Similarly, the Cheez-it is partially aimed at a younger audience, but also an older audience as well. The maturing cheese makes a bad joke, which would appeal to a younger audience as it is funny to them and gets them interested in the commercial. The commercial is not animated though, so it will also appeal to an older audience as well. Also an older audience can related to the immature argument the man and the cheese get into. The Cheez-it uses mature cheese so it can be seen as acceptable for a mature or older audience as well, where the animated goldfish may not appeal to an older demographic.
The selling point on both crackers is the same. They both start off by appealing to a particular audience to get their attention and finish by quickly talking a little bit about their cracker. Both crackers are baked and made with real cheese. This is important for both crackers to mention as it is trying to show them as real and not bad for you. Baking is considered a healthier method of cooking and they both use real cheese, thus are not an artificial snack. The goldfish say that they are “fun shaped” a major selling point on them over competing crackers like Cheez-it to a younger audience, while the Cheez-it commercial reminds its audience that it uses mature cheese appealing to its older audience. Since they both mention the same points it is clear that some values our culture wants in a cracker are real incredients and a snack that is not bad for you. Neither mentions the cracker as a healthy snack, but the baking method can be interpreted as not bad for you.
The Goldfish commercial uses distinction in a couple different manors. Firstly, when the camera view goes into the bag, the gold fish can be seen by their sleeping bags. These sleeping bags though are ribbons that Goldfish had won. One of them can clearly be read and it says “ 1st Best in Show.” This is noticeably their selling feature that sets them apart from competitors. This similar idea of their unique shape being the best is shown through the scary story one goldfish is telling the group. “When the woman opened the package there were crackers alright, but they were flat! And square!” as this is told the other goldfish gasp at the fact that there are square and flat crackers. This is a scary concept to them and by seeing this the goldfish are portrayed as the best cracker because they are not square and flat like every other cracker.
The Cheez-it commercial can also be seen using distinction over goldfish and other crackers. Cheez-it lets its cheese mature and this can be seen as negation towards Goldfish. The talking Goldfish are not mature, but the Cheez-it is mature because it is tested repeatedly to make sure. Being mature cheese, or better cheese is how the Cheez-it is better than a goldfish or other competitors.
Since both adds have parts that are aimed towards a younger audience, it can be seen that these snacks are mostly for them. Their selling points though are things that would appeal to the younger audience’s parents as it is likely they would be buying the snack for their child. The Cheez-it though does present it as a mature snack that is ok for an older audience as well. Both the commercials though talk about the prodeuct for only a fraction of the commercial time. This can be seen in countless other commercials as well. We are impulsive buyers and will buy a product that interests us, not one we know a ton about. It is about appearance not the composition of the food. Both these commercials focus on getting attention, not about how good the product is. Food advertising today is all about negation of competing products and visual appeal as both these commercials show.

Cheez-it commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGkXTsxJvd0
Goldfish Commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHwLgwBd6k0

Potato chip advertising

Differences in our language culture and economic status can be easily seen through the food we eat. Different foods are advertised to different groups of people. For every kind of food there are different brand/types advertised and marketed to different economic classes. Freedman and Jurafsky looked at something as simple as potato chips. They noticed that something as simple as a potato chip could change in its appearance and language based on the audience it was marketed towards. Weird to think there is actually a “high-class” potato chip. Those most interesting part was how clear the differences were in expensive and inexpensive potato chip advertising. When looking at the word choice on the two groups, the expensive brands were written at around an 11th grade level while the inexpensive were at about an 8th grade level. It is interesting to note how the more expensive chips are written at a higher reading level, and more education is often associated with upper classes. The more expensive chips also used distinction almost five times more, saying how they were better, healthier, or different (in a good way) from other chips. The upper class often wants a “better” product because they think since they have the money they should not settle for “normal” items. I found the difference in authenticity quiet interesting. The more expensive chips talked about being all natural and made form better ingredients. Upper class often want to buy what they are told is the healthier option. The inexpensive chips talked about tradition, and being around for a long time. This kind of shows the hard work or possible struggles the company has worked through appealing to the working class more. I think similar results would come when looking at any other foods and food advertising. Upper class, typically, looks for the healthier options even if that means smaller quantities at a higher price; health is something they are willing to pay for. Lower class though wants quantity, to feel like they are getting the most for their money. Advertising then is going to target one of these groups. This type of food advertising is not limited to food at a grocery store but restaurants as well depending on their catered audience.

SE 1

Adam Clark
Professor Leake
Writ 1133 4-6pm MW
My family has always lived in Minnesota going back at least four or five generations. With this, many of our traditional family meals consist of the boring foods Minnesota is known for. Even with the already bland food; this does not mean it is bad, it can just get dull, I was an especially picky eater until sophomore or junior year in high school. Because of this I am often the center of some family jokes about branching out and trying new food. Having large roots in Minnesota has brought me to not expect “wild” meals that have a potential of being very bad; a dinner at home always means a solid meal because I know it will be something we have had countless times that may be bland to most but still good to my family and I.
When I was younger I was a very picky eater. Picky meant that all the food on my plate was separated as to not “contaminate” other foods with an unwanted flavor. 85% of what I ate was white food, with 10% of the non-white food being meat, and every meal had a side of buttered noodles. So for at least the first 10-12 years of my life I have almost no desire to try new foods. So even in the land of bland food I found a way to make it even “blander” by rarely eating mixed foods and sticking to only what I knew I liked. Because of this, almost every meal with my extended family results in jokes, and some serious questions, about me previously being extremely picky and only eating white foods. These questions are now getting old as I have, for many years, been eating just about anything that is served to me as to expand my once very small group of foods I like. Also now with the dinning halls it would be near impossible to survive as a picky eater. Having an auntie ask at every family meal, “is there enough food you like to eat here?” gets quiet annoying when the most “out-there” food on the table is a toss up between a new vinaigrette on the salad or using a different recipe for the potato salad. But I did bring these questions on myself by being picky so now I have to play with the jokes dished at me.
Extended family meals almost always consist of the same side dishes with a small variety in the meat served. Most everything is a stereotypical food associated with Minnesota and the mid-West. At every meal one can expect at least one potato dish, generally mashed potato with the potential for an additional potato salad. There is always rolls and when possible corn or asparagus and another vegetable dish. Our appetizers are both very traditional Minnesota foods. We always have deviled eggs and lefse. Lefse is prime example of the blandness of Minnesotan food; it is like a tortilla made out of potatoes and is eaten with butter and if adventurous brown sugar as well. Another possible appetizer is spam. Yes, spam. My dad’s family grew up in Austin Minnesota, the spam home and capital of the USA so everyone in my family eats it. I doubt many people can say they have been to the spam museum, yes there is one, but that is to be expected from everyone in my family. I do not understand my family’s strange obsession with a food meant to last for years made for war times, but it is has become normal to see it served at our family events and meals.
Minnesota many be the land of bland food, but its what I am accustomed too. Though I do often want more unique meals, my mother fits just about all Minnesota stereotypes with food therefore that will not happen. She is one who finds ketchup to be a little spicy, yes she is very Minnesotan, and also wont eat a spicier BBQ sauce than Famous Dave’s rich and saucy. So compared to a lot of people outside the mid-West, our food may seem bland, repetitive and boring, but it is good to me and now coming home to a freshly prepared meal after eating Sodexo for months reminds me of how much I miss home cooked meals everyday even if most consider it bland food. Just thinking oh how all our family meals fit so many stereotypes of Minnesotans makes me laugh and remember all my extended family at these meals.

Ahn and Nicholson Takes on the significance of food

Both authors tied food to remembering their parents. Both authors’ parents were deceased and eating foods they once ate with their parents brought back fond memories. Food for Ahn brought back him back to his Korean roots and cooking with his mother. He moved to the US at a young age and as he grew up he became much more “Americanized” than his parents drifting away from many traditional Korean foods when with friends. He still though learned to cook with his mother and ate traditional meals with his parents. When his parents died he drifted further from Korean traditions but as he began to cook at another job he began to see Korean styles work into his cooking habits putting Korean twists on many meals. He also has a son who he wants to experience many Korean traditions. He sees food as a major experience of this like his parents saw for him. He is now going back to more traditional ways so that his son can experience it as well. Nicholson used food to remember his mother. Recreating meals they once ate together in England brought enjoyment to him. Nicholson, now living in the United States, struggled to find the exact food they ate in England as much of the “traditional English food” here was not the same. he also recalled meals he ate with both his parents before his father passed away. he remembered these as boring meals per his fathers liking. His mother though made these because of her husband’s request and her diet drastically changed when he passed away. His mother began to eat only white foods, which Nicholson saw possibly as his mother trying to portray purity through the color white. Nicholson though wanted more variety in his food and suggested the same to his mother. Both these authors look at food as reminding them of traditions and reminding them of their parents. Eating traditional meals comforts them.

My Lunch

For lunch I had a meal swipe taco from Salsa Rico in Nelson Hall. It was a steak taco with cheese and tomatoes. It also came with chips and rice on the side. To drink I had a glass of water. There was no salsa for the chips, which was a bit disappointing, but this was because it had just opened and not everything was out yet. I ate at Nelson Hall because I had an hour break between classes in JGH and did not want to walk back to halls. I ate with a friend and some of her friends I had not previously met. I had not planned on eating with her but ran into her there and did not have anyone to eat with. I ate my taco fairly quickly because I was hungry, but slowly munched on my chips which, unfortunately had no salsa I also slowly ate the rice as I talked with the people I was eating with, but did not eat much of it because it was quiet plain and boring. I ate there because it was convenient and the only good time I could get lunch during the day.