Korean New Years Tradition

On New Years Day, there are many traditional activities that occur within the Lee household.

For lunch, the ladies of our family cook a rice cake soup called 'Dduk Guk'.  The broth is made by boiling a type of beef (I forget what it's called) for several of hours.  Once the broth is good to go, you add the rice cake slices in it until it's soft enough to eat.  While that is cooking, the beef is getting sliced to put back in the soup.  Eggs are added along with chopped green onions.  When the soup is poured into the bowl, you top it with toasted seaweed lavers.

Before or after you eat, our family does a bow to our grandparents and parents which is called 'Saebae'.  This means that the elderly of our family sits on the floor and waits for our bow.  We usually bow to our grandparents and parents along with our cousins, aunts and uncles.  Guys and girls have a different style of bow and we do this twice in a row.  Once we bow, we sit and wish our grandparents great health for the new year and they tell us to do good in school and always love one another because we are family.  While we bow, there is a saying in Korean that states: Happy New Years. "Sae hae bokk man-ee bod uh sae yo".  Saebae is a sign of respect for our elderly that has been a tradition for a while.  We usually get quite a bit of cash in an envelope after we pay our respects!

After all of these festivities we then play a game called 'Yoot Nori'.  It's a game that has a board with 4 different teams.  You have to throw these four wooden sticks in the air and the way it lands on the floor is how many spots you can move.  We usually split up the teams by families and take turns playing. I don't understand the full instructions but I just throw the sticks and hope to get higher points. This is just a glimpse of some Korean Traditional festivities that happen in our family!

Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture

Before this presentation from Dr. Karowe, I had no knowledge of Global Warming.  I still lack knowledge of this topic and would like to know more about it.  I am summarizing his presentation as how I interpreted it and what I took away from the information.  So as we know, about 450 million of the world's poorest people depend on agriculture.  There are about 1.02 billion hungry people worldwide...that is a lot of hungry people.  It's sad to know that these hungry people depend on agriculture when sometimes these crops are ruined from the climate change.  Most of the crops vary from wheat, rice and corn which often has decreased yields due to many factors.
- Increased temperatures
- Increased droughts
- Increased flooding
- Decreased nutrition
- Decreased water for irrigation
- Increased pests.
These are all factors that decreases the amount of crops that are grown each year.  This effects farmers who can't grow their crops and will eventually lose money because they can't sell enough.

I feel like this is a huge cycle that comes full circle.  Each action affects the next action which can be good or bad.  There is so much we can do as students in our generation but I don't know where to start.  I wish I knew more about climate change and global warming.

Burger Shot & Cluckin' Bell Commercial

Burger Shot

The 6 pound heart stopper burger they sell at Burger Shot seems to be giving people heart problems.  Although this commercial is making fun of America and how much American's eat, this could be a warning commercial.  Because that man called 911 from eating too much, I think it shows that American's are eating too much fast food.  If people see this commercial, they can learn that fast food isn't the healthiest and too much can be very harmful to your body.  Also, this commercial is sending us a message that as long as you die happy, die from eating the most unhealthy food there is.

Cluckin' Bell

I found this commercial to be very stereotypical and racist against African American's.  A 90 piece bucket of deep fried chicken obviously makes a huge difference in your weight.  I just thought it was stereotypical because this commercial showed only the african american eating the chicken and gaining weight.  On top of that, there were three Caucasians pointing their fingers at him. I also feel like they don't care about animal cruelty because they were saying how small chicken brain's were and they wouldn't feel the pain at all. I think this topic relates to many food industries out there that uses animals but treats them so cruel before they are sold in the stores.

Edible Stories part 6-9

Part 6: The Icing On The Cake

This girl Maya is weirdly obsessed with icing.  It is Julia's birthday and she brings in cupcakes for her class.  Maya has her eye on the cupcake with the colorful icing and sprinkles.  Of course the birthday girl goes for that one and Maya gets stuck with the chocolate icing cupcake.  She manages to trade cupcakes with Charles, the chubby kid.  Then she trades with shy little Zoe to finally trade cupcakes with Julia, the birthday girl.  She saves her cupcake and puts it into her lunch box.  Maya goes to her room and only eats the icing off the cupcake.  She then tells her mom they got muffins at school and gives it to her.

Part 7: The Soup

Mrs. Janie Powell Joseph was called "Light before Dawn" in her language.  She is cooking soup in a big pot and looking out her trailer window.  She gets a call from Dr. Krauss who is a professor that wants to speak her native language.  She is the last native speaker of Kish'da y'k, a town in Alaska.  She is making Salmon fish soup and doesn't offer any to Dr. Krauss because she thinks he won't like it.  

Part 8: Osetra

Sorry, I didn't pay attention to this chapter!

Part 9: Creme Brûlée

Emma is deathly afraid of Creme Brûlée and is paranoid that people are trying to poison her by feeding her that.  She hears of Robert Eggle and thinks he could help her.  Since he is a food critic and has cookbooks.  She goes to him and asks him try food for her before she eats it.  Robert Eggle is the man from the first part that got stuck in a hole. 

So far none of these stories have anything to do with each other except for the character in part 1 and 9.  The characters in these stories all have a relation to food and somehow it is supposed to connect at the end.  Im confused up to this part so I guess I have to keep reading to find out what happens.

Edible Stories & The Farming Life

Edible Stories

I am reading Edible Stories by Mark Kurlansky.  I haven't gotten too far but so far there is a man named Robert and he lost his memory along with his sense of taste and smell.  Aguesia is the loss of taste and Anosmia is the loss of sense of smell.  The book starts out with his leg stuck in a hole and a women who is supposedly his wife comes to get him.  He then starts to continue on with his life going to work and attending meetings.  We find out he is a food critic and has an important job by meeting up with business people from different restaurants.  I think he loses his job and starts distancing himself from Margaret.  I'm really confused of what is happening in this book because Robert is confused.  I think once I read more, I will find out more about his life and what happened.

The Farming Life

Today I attended the The Farming Life event at the Oshtemo Branch Library.  I didn't know what to expect at this little gathering but I left knowing more about the farming life.  There were three panelists that talked to us about their farming life and experiences.  Most of the people that attended this event seemed to be farmers.  There were also people that were interested in becoming a type of farmer and people that worked at the Food Co-op.  It ended up being a Q&A session with some interesting questions asked.  There were questions about the process of becoming organic certified for their crops.  I didn't know it was such a process because there has to be a third party certifier along with a list of guidelines from the certifier.  There are certain compost and organic sprays to use on your vegetables and fruits for it to be considered organic.  They talked about corporate farms using monocropping year after year which is different from the family farms.  Family farms try to rotate crops and build soil to nurture the crops and soil.  It is better to mix up what you plant each time because the soil is so used to growing the same plant.  

The panelists also talked about farms being passed down to family.  It is so much easier for families to keep their farm because the land is paid for and all they need to do is grow their crops.  These days there are many younger farmers who try to look for land and they are having a hard time because land is so expensive.  Local farms end up getting taken over by big corporate farms.  

There was a question that concerned inner-city kids and how kids can benefit from eating healthy.  It is so hard for low income families to eat healthy and get access to the fruits and vegetables they need.  there is something called CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) which helps low income single mothers get access to fruits and vegetables.  To help this, there is something called a Free Farm Stand which is free produce every sunday from May-August.  Another benefit is Snap Benefits which offers nutrition to low income families.  

I could go on and on about this because I wrote down so many notes but I will stop.  

The panelists farms':

- Blue Dog Family Farm

- Eaters Guild Farm

- Elder Fire Farm Arts

I would go onto their websites and browse around.  You might find some interesting facts!

SPRING BREAK

Spring Break is so soon and I can't wait! I'm not going anywhere special but the thought of having a week long break is very satisfying.  Although I wish I was in Florida, Jamaica or anywhere warm.  I actually have my whole spring break planned out starting from Friday.

Friday- picking my brother up from East Lansing then going home to Grand Rapids
Saturday- going to Chicago with my family which will consist of eating, shopping and relaxing
Sunday- return to Grand Rapids
Monday-Wednesday- bring my car Hansen Collision to get it fixed until Wednesday because someone did a hit and run while I was in class (eff you to whoever it was)
Thursday- go back to Kalamazoo to work
Friday- work all day
Saturday- go to East Lansing to celebrate a friend's birthday at the Tin Can
Sunday- recuperate
Monday- back to English 1100

Nothing too exciting but I still get to relax with my family and friends.

During break I have many projects and assignments to work on so that's a bummer. I'm getting stressed because I have a huge portfolio due for my Special Education class.  Even though it's going to take a lot of time and effort, it will all be worth it at the end when I get a job!  I get to take a break from teaching my seventh graders next week!!!!!!! Middle school students can be a pain in the ASS, but I learned to love them. I hope everyone enjoys their spring break!

This is my Family. Can't wait to be reunited!! <3

The Jungle

After reading The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, I had many mixed emotions.  I was a little confused because I don't comprehend as well when I read text online.  But from what I read, every little thing was so disturbing.  In chapter 3, all of the job names were explained.  There were "cleaver men" who chopped the whole animal and needed two other men to assist him.  There was a "knocker" who killed with a sledge hammer.  There was a "floorsman" who made the first cut to the skin.  When I was reading this, an image was created in my mind that I didn't want to see.  I felt so bad for Jurgis because he had no clue what his job was going to be.  He was just excited that he got a job to start making money.  Another thing I found fascinating was that the workers used every part of the hog to make something.  With the leftover parts they couldn't use, they turned it into fertilizer.  I don't do well with guts and blood so I'm a little scared to go to the slaughterhouse on Friday.  But I want to see what it's like because i've been wondering all this time of what a slaughterhouse actually is.

Life of Migrant Workers

After reading And the Earth Did Not Devour Him by Tomas Rivera and Cajas de Carton by Francisco Jimenez, I couldn't imagine the harsh conditions these families went through.  Both stories were told by the authors but from a child's point of view.

In Tomas Rivera's story, it began by telling us that the dad suffered from a sunstroke.  He had glossy eyes, cramps and couldn't sleep.  Thinking about how hot the sun was while working in a field all day is unimaginable.  Shifting to Cajas de Carton, the family worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week.  I calculated this and in total, they worked 84 hours a week. I don't know about you but 84 hours is an insane amount of hours to be working in the hot sun, picking cotton or fruits.  Another idea these stories brought up was the children not attending school when they should be.  Yes, families are in need of money and they need the extra help from one child but they also need to attend school and receive their education.  Education is how students become successful in the future and start their crazy ideas.
As Francisco was getting used to his school and Mr. Lema, he had to move to a different area again.  It was time to pack up the boxes in his dad's Carcanchita.  Migrant workers had to move so many times to find work for the season.  If there was no work, they had to pack up and move again.  It's sad that they build a life in one area and have to pack it all away to drive to a different area.

Modest Proposal: Reduce Food Waste

My milkshake brings all the...college students to the drive-thru.

When we got into small groups exchanging information about ideas of a modest proposal, we all thought of ways to reduce food waste.  There is so much food being wasted around the world from homes to grocery stores to restaurants.  We aimed at restaurants targeting broke college students.  

When customers go into a restaurant and leave their unfinished food, the waiters/waitresses will take that food and save it.  If they pile up a certain amount of leftover food, they will create on-the-go milkshakes! Sounds so yummy, I know! College students are always in a hurry to get to class and most of the time we don't have time to eat.  So these milkshakes are ideal for students.  There will be a separate drive thru/walk thru for on-the-go milkshakes.  

These are indeed free but if students would like to leave a tip, they are more than welcome to.  The workers at the restaurants will pre make the milkshakes and store it inside a refrigerator so they will be ready to slurp down with a straw.  There is no room to be picky so the milkshakes will be made from appetizers, meals and desserts.  A three in one meal deal.  You don't even need a fork and knife, just a straw to slurp down leftover burgers, fries, salads, potatoes and much more.  Another special deal on these milkshakes are the flavorful "whip cream" flavors.  It ranges from mayo, ketchup, mustard and bbq sauce. 

Enjoy! 

Life of Guatemala

Rigoberta Menchus 'The Family' story put me in my place.  After reading her background and history, I realized that there is nothing for me to complain about.  I have everything compared to what her and her family had...which was not much.  When she was talking about her grandmother having to give away her father, it was SO heartbreaking! I'm sure her grandmother didn't want to give away her eldest son but that was the best choice for her whole family.  This whole situation reminded me of the Modest Proposal.  Giving away your children to make money or so your kids wouldn't go hungry.  I'm glad they rekindled and be together before her father had to go into the military.

Another thing to be thankful for is how much we get paid at minimum wage.  I looked up how much centavos were worth in dollars and I found out that 100 centavos= $1.  ladino families settled in their spots.

That is outrageous!!! Rigoberta was saying that her father used to work in a monastery and used to get paid thirty to forty centavos a day.  That means he didn't even get paid half a dollar to eat and live.  If you think of getting paid that much these days...I CAN'T EVEN.  The Guatemalans couldn't make the means to afford a house and stay there.  They were all pretty much in debt and was forced to leave town because

I have SO MUCH to be thankful for.  I have a roof over my head, more than enough to eat every day and extra luxurious things that I enjoy.  Im lucky enough to have parents that support me to live every day.  Guatemalans suffered and went through many hardships.  If I didn't take this class I honestly wouldn't have ever read about Guatemala and all the difficult times they went through.

Count your blessings!

A Modest Proposal

Yikes! While I was reading this proposal, it really freaked me out.  The thought of skinning and eating children just grosses me out.

But at the same time, thinking about this scenario kind of makes sense.  Not saying I agree with cannibalism but to save your country from starvation, it could be an idea.  But more so kids being malnourished because your country is so poor that parents don't have enough money to have access to food.  So instead of trying to feed your kids, you sell them when they reach a certain age.  That was a really messed up idea that anyone could have.

Although the proposal itself was outrageous, the idea and concept of it was great.  I really liked how Jonathan Swift put a lot of statistics and numbers in the proposal just to argue his point.  It put an image in my head especially when he was talking about the six advantages of his proposal.  When I read through the six advantages, I sort of agreed with the rankings of most important to the less important.  The first advantage was that there would be less Papists which is true.  The last advantage was an inducement to marriage.

 I didn't fully understand this one because of the way he phrased that whole paragraph.  All in all i'm glad this was only a proposal with ideas and not something that is actually happening.  At least I hope this isn't happening somewhere in the world.

Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes

"Promoting a Hunger-Free Community Since 1982"

While going through this website, I found many great resources for anyone that would visit this site including teachers and students. Before surfing through the different pages, I looked for their history and 'about us' just to get a little background of what they are about.  I think it is great that churches downtown organized this organization to help people out that are in need of help.  The congregations decided to expand the food organization to assist the county of Kalamazoo.  I love that they are about helping hunger and just having the whole community be apart of this movement.  Another thing that I saw under commitments were that they provide high-quality food.  Even though they are feeding families and citizens that are in poverty, they want to provide them with the best food.  

Something else that I thought was beneficial was the information for teachers under the education tab.  There are lessons from Primary to Intermediate to Secondary school students that teach them about hunger and poverty.  Getting the community involved in this process but also getting the community to help Loaves & Fishes.  

Something that I want to do to help my community is to volunteer.  I found a calendar of events and there are a few dates to volunteer.  I want to try to get my roommates and friends to come with me to experience what it's like to be around food and the community.  

The Dinner of Trimachio

It took me a while to read this story of Trimachio.  It was interesting but I didn't enjoy it that much because it was so long.  I felt really disgusted of how much food and wine they consumed.  Along with that, in chapter 49 when they talked about gutting the hog, I almost about puked.  The servants were treated so poorly by Trimachio and they were getting blamed for so many things.  Most of the time Trimachio was drunk so he would say bizarre things and wanted his servants to be tortured for ridiculous reasons.  It's sickening to think that people ate like him and i'm sure there are people now that binge eat but not as extreme.

Personal Essay Ideas

I've thought about what I wanted to incorporate in my paper.  I think it will look a little like my first blog post.  Some ideas I had in mind:

- Growing up and eating with family

- Healthier choices i've made to lose weight and get in shape

- The positive aspects of eating healthy

- Food that I eat while i'm in college

- The reason of trying to live a healthier lifestyle 

I feel like I could write about all of these topics in my paper because it just has to be about how food relates to me.  I haven't really thought about the style or format that i'm going to use.  I guess i'll just start writing then I can format it after I have all my thoughts down.  

Inside: McDonalds

Did you know that McDonalds buys:
- 43 million pounds of tomatoes?
- 102 million pounds of lettuce?
- 231million pounds of cheese?
- 60 million pounds of apples?

a year.

While watching this documentary, I found it fascinating that there are more McDonald's employees than the amount of soldiers in the the Army, Marines and US Air Forces combined.  27 pounds in the past year by eating McDonalds every day.  I don't know why but I find that hard to believe.  He had a hard time listing the foods he ate and said he exercised with it.  I mean if it worked, then it worked.

The CEO, Don Thompson says that he hires employees because "we're about providing opportunity and can rise to the system to gain greater wealth"...whatever that means.  The journalist asked the CEO many questions about America's obesity problem and blaming it on McDonald's.  Don simply answered by saying that it's not the fault of fast food restaurant's but the choice of food that the customers pick to eat.  He said he lost

Don Thompson stated that he visits every company that produces the products that McDonald's uses.  He makes sure the products are fresh which include 100% ground beef and 100% white breast meat.  Hearing this and watching Super Size Me a few years ago seems to contradict my thoughts about the meat of McDonald's.  I saw that the Chicken McNuggets are made from processed, and different parts of the chicken and in this documentary they said the McNuggets were made from 100% white breast meat.  Even when I eat the nuggets from McDonald's, I can tell that it's not white breast meat.  The whole time the journalist was asking him questions about McDonald's, he was trying to make his fast food restaurant sound better than it actually is.

The documentary shows a scene at Hamburger University where the professors train student's to become successful CEO'S, managers and employees.  The student's that attend this university can get college credit for taking classes there.  They train on customer service, in and out restaurant training and situational  to prepare employees to work at fast food restaurants.  Over 300,00 students' have graduated from Hamburger University.

Even though this documentary was quite short, it was helpful and I found out a lot of information about McDonald's.  I still question the things that the CEO said about his restaurant.  Either way, comparing facts from this documentary and Fast Food Nation doesn't match up.  Fast food restaurants will always find a way to buy food for cheap to sell for cheap but use ingredients that aren't the healthiest for people.

Injuries & Potatoes

Injuries

Something that I didn't mention in the previous blog post was the amount of injury that happens to teenage workers in the United States.  These injuries doesn't just happen at fast food restaurants, but all jobs that teenagers work at.  "Teenagers are far more likely to be untrained, and every year, about 200,000 are injured on the job" (83).  The high incidence injuries are from slipping, falling, strains and burns.  These weren't the only ways that teenagers would get hurt.  A lot of male workers would bring a handgun to work if they had to work the later shifts in case they got robbed or someone broke in after hours.

Robberies would occur either early in the morning or close to closing time.  Since the automobile industry boomed in the 1940's, more highways were built resulting in fast food restaurants being open near the highways.  Thus, a higher rate of robberies which made it dangerous for teenage workers to work late at night and during the day.  It is crazy to think that you have to protect yourself at work when you're trying to make a living.

Potatoes

Why do you think the french fries taste so good at McDonalds? Well, there is a whole process involved starting with the Idaho potato industry to the dehydrating company.  

J.R Simplot started his career by working at a potato warehouse then later became a potato farmer.  He started leasing acres of land to grow potatoes.  On the side, he also shipped onions and wondered why the company was buying so many onions.  He soon found out that they have been using a prune dryer to dehydrate the onions.  Simplot bought one of these machines and started drying potatoes.

Later on, frozen foods became popular to America, so Simplot created a way to make frozen fries that would taste just as fresh as freshly fried french fries.  World War I veterans enjoyed french fries while they were stationed in Europe then started becoming popular in the states.  Simplot built a new factory to make his french fries to be sold at McDonald's because that was the number one place where people ate their fries.  He created a system that made frozen fries and the employees would just have to deep fry the potatoes a few times to become the yummy, golden-crispy fry.  While the success for J.R Simplot was going up, half of the potato farmers in Idaho lost their farms.  The corporate potato farms were taking over land and took jobs from many farmers in Idaho.  Hearing about this and reading about it are totally two different things.  When you hear about it, it's not a big deal.  But when you read about this, it's very sad to know that farmers are losing their jobs to big companies.  This is their life and how they make a living to support their family.  When companies take away jobs, they are taking away so much more than just a job.  

Reading this book reveals all the dirty little secrets about fast food restaurants.  Fast food employees and customers will never know how these restaurants came to be.  How the food is processed and which families are suffering because of the selfish business owners.  

Can I get a side of fries with that?

Started From the Bottom

I chose to read Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser.

The title pretty much gives away what the book is about.  So far it is really interesting to see all these people become so successful in the fast food business.  People like William Rosenberg (Dunkin' Donuts), Glen W. Bell, Jr. (Taco Bell), Keith G. Cramer (Burger King), Dave Thomas (Wendy's), Thomas S. Monaghan (Domino's), Harland Sanders (Kentucky Fried Chicken) either dropped out of school, never made it to high school or used to be in the army, marines.  They founded these fast food restaurants by getting ideas from each Mcdonald's, which was founded by the McDonald Brother's.

Now each of these men are successful along with their fast food restaurant's.

Drive-Thrus

The key component that made fast food restaurants successful were the cars.  In the city of Los Angeles in 1940, there was an estimate of one million cars.  This meant that people got lazier and didn't want to get out of there cars to get food so they went through drive-thrus.  The owners of these restaurants thought of ways to make their food known so they built chain restaurants right next to the highways.  This way the cars passing by would see the signs and stop by to grab a burger.  The creation of cars and highways in this era was such an important factor for fast food restaurants.  

The fast food restaurant owners tried to make more money by advertising to children.  They also tried to get the cheapest ingredients and supplies to save money.  After reading 100 pages of this book, it changed my mind about fast food.  I usually don't eat a lot of fast food, but next time I crave it, I will choose a different option.  Im looking forward to reading the rest of this book because I want to know more about the secrets behind fast food.  

Sriracha saves the day. (Food and You)

I come from a big, traditional, asian family.

Food was always something that brought my family together at holidays and many family gatherings.  Our  meals consisted of hot white rice, kimchi, a huge pot of spicy soup, A LOT of veggie side dishes, fish, and different meats.  Whoever made the meal for the night would make sure to make more than enough food to feed my family, plus an army.  Everything was also spicy, if it wasn't spicy enough, it was too bland.  If we were sweaty and panting for air by the end of the meal, the amount of spiciness was perfect!

When my siblings and I were younger, we always set the table with a pair of chopsticks and a spoon.

 We always ate lunch and dinner together as a family.  My mom would almost always prepare a Korean meal but sometimes we got lucky with American dishes.  Eating American food was a treat to my siblings and I.  Then that so called treat turned into dread when I started college.  Living in the dorms caused me to eat dorm food.  It was exciting at first but slowly I started dreading the food.  It wasn't spicy enough and everything was just so bland!  I craved Korean food more and more so when I went home for the weekends, my mom would send me back with Korean food.

Once I moved out of the dorms and into my own house, I discovered Sriracha.  This hot sauce saved my life because I put it on EVERYTHING!

 Which includes: pasta, rice, soup, popcorn, quinoa, stir fry, salad, chicken and just about anything that you can think of.  I got my roommates and friends to start using Sriracha.  They can only handle a little bit though because it's too spicy for them.  From the five months that we've been living in our house, we went through about 8 bottles.  This means we bought two bottles every month. About a month ago, I heard some devastating news about the Sriracha factory closing down for the harsh odors.  After watching and reading the news, I thought about stocking up on bottles of Sriracha to hold me over for the year.  Luckily, I heard the factory was going to re-open in a different location.  I'm crossing my fingers for the factory to be located in Kalamazoo! Because I can not live without spice in my life.

(Some of my Sriracha obsessions: water bottle, cookbook, and halloween costume)