Food journal

Starting on Tuesday night I had dinner with my mom and we where watching TV. I was hungry and after eating quesidillas with yellow rice that my mom made I was still a little hungry and so I had an orange after. After the orange I felt satisfied and was a little drowsy when watching TV. But before dinner I had raspberries and i drank iced tea. Then the next day I had breakfast by myself while watching the news. I was tired and did not feel like being awake and was not really hungry but I ate anyway. I had 2 bagels with butter and 1 egg and drank berry juice. I also had a pear and vitamins. Even after I ate I was still tired although I was more aware then before I ate. Then during the day I had a piece of gum before lunch. Then during lunch me and Sandy shared a chicken roll and we both had Snapple's. Lunch was alright. There was a discussion going on about the senior trip and so things were a little loud but that was alright. Then during dinner I was hungry but I did not enjoy the meal. I was to stressed out with completing my exhibition that I quickly ate my dinner which was Chicken and broccoli and iced tea and ran quickly back to work. I was not very happy that I could not relax and eat. My mom cooks all my meals except for the meals during lunch.

food cultures

For big dinner's its usually just my mom and I unless you count the holiday dinners where the whole family gets together and eats. But since it is just me and my mom our dinner is very informal. We usually have take out or my mom cooks a meal and we sit down and watch TV together. We used to sit at the table and have dinner and talk about our days but recently dinner has consisted of sitting in front of the TV, which I think she does not mind cause we like to watch shows together. Our meals are pretty much the same with little variety, chicken cooked in different ways, sometimes rice with the chicken, my mom has me eating more broccoli, and there is always the pasta. Then sometimes we call for Chinese take out. Then after dinner we are always seeming to be eating snacks, like chips or candy.
The U.S mainstream version of eating family meals is that the women usually cooks while if the man were to cook it would be something more "manly" like barbecuing in the backyard making hamburgers. The wife would cook one meal a week and during that time the family had to stay at the table for 15- 20 minutes talking about their days. The rest of the time the kids would make their own dinner consisting of "white" products like ham, white bread and mayonnaise. Then occasionally they would go out to dinner like a fast food restaurant.
My food ways I would say are different then my family's only to the degree where I need to eat at least three meals a day and then snacks in between those meals. I do not eat a lot during a meal and so I am hungry when the next one comes around and I am always eating snacks. Now my family can go with out one meal because when they have a meal they are usually so full that they could not eat anything later. I am also a picky eater and in my opinion sometimes do not get enough things that are good for my body. I would also say my family is in between the mainstream eating and our own personal ways. My grandpa always used to cook the meals and my Grandma was never good in the kitchen. He always made the best stuff and I couldn't wait until we got to eat, knowing I'm picky he always made my favorite even if nobody else would eat it. I guess then my mom is a better baker then chef which is stereotypical but she does alright. Then the other males in my family also love to barbecue and rarely step into the kitchen otherwise but they would if asked.

Answers to food

How much food do we waste?
There are some problems that the cost of food does not match the production price and so a lot of food is just rotting. I wonder why they do not give the extra food to kids who need it. "The result is a 1.5 million of tons wasted every year and 4 billion of Euro frittered away". (http://ecoworldly.com/2008/06/26/how-much-food-do-we-waste/)

"As it turns out, Americans waste an astounding amount of food — an estimated 27 percent of the food available for consumption, according to a government study" This waste of food tends to happen at restaurants, at home, at supermarkets and at cafeterias. People usually get more then they can eat and wind up throwing it all away when they could get a lot of small portions if those portions are finished and the person is still hungry. "It works out to about a pound of food every day for every American". 

"The Nation’s Food Bank Network, a group of more than 200 food banks, reports that donations of food are down 9 percent, but the number of people showing up for food has increased 20 percent. The group distributes more than two billion pounds of donated and recovered food and consumer products each year."(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/weekinreview/18martin.html)

Moral Health

Through out the years there have been many issues presented to America that test its morality. Everyone has different views on what’s moral and what is not but when living with a culture like America there will be an over all moral definition. Moral health deals with personal values and what in the person’s opinion is right and wrong. In my opinion our morals are very unhealthy. Most Americans put themselves first before others and hold materialistic objects very high. In our daily lives it seems we cannot live with out electronics and other things we would not necessarily need to function. Things such as ipods and phones are luxuries and we should learn to appreciate them. And yet when something newer and better comes around we are ready to throw them away even though they can still be used. Other luxuries such as TV’s go the same way. Everyone is always trying to go out and buy the new plasma TV and flat screen TV’s just to look better in the eyes of our friends and neighbors. We seem to think money is expendable and are ready to buy unnecessary things and even during hard times people still try to buy the material objects. But with the money wasted on these luxuries could be used to better the lives of other people.
According to the United Nations children’s fund 30,000- 35,000 kids die a day. Yet with a donation of $200 one kid can be saved. Most people are so consumed with themselves that they cannot even be bothered with considering what other people are going through. Then there is also the problem with the amount of organizations that are available to offer help to those in need. There are so many that some people do not know who to give their money to and if the money is actually going to the people who need it. The people that consider this are in the lowest percent out of the whole population. This makes us morally unhealthy. I also think it has to do with our government. If the people saw that the government cared about what’s going on with the well being of others then maybe they would learn to take a step up and do something. Rather then the government sending money for the Iraq war for 2 days and not buying some weapons could save children for a year. But our morals tell us that we need to put ourselves before others.
This unit has taught me a lot about people's morals. When given a situation that tests our morals we have been seen to discuss it before we ever make a decision. I wonder is it is because we want others to hear what we have to say and change their opinion or because we want to seem right in the eyes of others. I think it could be a little of both. Maybe this is the other reason people seem to have the same relative view on different things. And when you have no clue of what an answer could be you look to other people to give you an answer and later forming it as your own.

Food in the refrigerator

- orange
- Grapes
- Berry Juice
- Iced Tea
- water
- yogurt
- Strawberries
- raspberries
- Corn
- Potatoes
- Bagels
- Eggs
- Chicken
- Broccoli
- Cheese
- Tomatoes
- Lettuce
- Butter
- steak
- Rice

Looking at all the things in my fridge it seems to me that my mom and I have a routine eating habit. We either have what ever is in the house which would consist of pasta, chicken and rice and sometimes quesadilla's. The other times we just order out and get Chinese or pizza. I also noticed that we have a lot of fruit and some vegetables. The more healthier things are eaten by my mom and I'm more the unhealthy picky eater although I do eat the yogurt and the fruit. It seems to me we need to expand what food we eat but besides that I think we have a pretty decent eating lifestyle.

Spring Break

During my break I noticed that my emotions and moods were connected with the people that were around me and the activities that we did. I also noticed the weather effected by mood. On the Friday after break started my friends and I went to the movies. I was happy because I would spend a day with my friends and relax. We planned to go to the at 2 and meet at 1 but after I arrived and so did one of my friends another one called and told us she was going to be late. So instead of seeing the 2:00 movie we saw the 3:30 one. I was kinda annoyed by this because she is always late and we are always planning for this but it still annoys me each time. Because we knew she would be late we decided to meet at 1 so that we wouldn't be late for the movie but then she winds being even later and everyone winds up having to find something to do. Another thing that annoys me is that she always says its not her fault cause she lives the farthest but in my opinion if you know this then you would leave earlier so that she would be on time. But after she arrived at 3:20 we had a fun time. It was all a matter of how to deal with my feelings. I knew that there was no point to stay annoyed cause then I would ruin my mood and have no fun so I decided to just forget about it but it was also good to talk about it with my other friend cause while we were waiting we decided to talk about it and go over how we feel, which made me feel better. Then me and my mom went to Baltimore and we spent quality time together. The only bad thing was that it was raining most of the time and I have noticed that when it rains all I want to do is just relax and be lazy. It kinda puts my mood down. But we figured that since we were there we would make the most of it. We decided to go to the aquarium and we wound up having the best time. Through out all the break I noticed how i deal with my emotions and feelings in my everyday life. If something is bad or upsets me I usually dwell on it but realize that it doesn't do me any good so I decide to push it in the back of my mind and try to focus on the positive things. Although in my day to day life I am usually calm and relaxed.

In my opinion I feel that being emotionally healthy is not the same as "constantly happy". In fact I think it might be the opposite. No one can possibly be happy all the time. In order to be positively sane they need to experience a range of different emotions. Emotionally healthy is when someone experiences a wide range of emotions and moods but knows how to deal with it all so that it does not effect them in their daily lives. Based on the therapies that we researched and talked about in class it seems that there are many views on how to deal with and help emotional issues. Many people in order to remain emotionally healthy they go to other people in which they can share their feelings and troubles and sort out things in their mind. Although I agree with Vincent that therapy can sometimes be a fake way to actually help people with their problems. Therapists create direct problems and make it seem that that it is the core problem in which everything is based on that, Then they come up with a solution usually lasting a couple of weeks. I feel that its a way to fool the patient that the is one specific things wrong and that one its solved everything else will go away. And when it does not the person comes back and finds out there is a whole other thing wrong that may not be connected to the first thing.

Therapy

Humanistic Therapy:
This theory believes that an individual is influenced by the things that surround them. The therapy focuses on the present things that go on in the persons life and do not dwell on the past. The therapy helps the individual to be independent and self aware.
http://www.helium.com/items/823474-humanistic-therapy-examining-person-centered-therapy