What We Eat
In this day and age I don’t think the majority of people (at least in the US) tend to give much thought as to where their food comes from, or how it has been processed. Obesity is becoming and epidemic affecting 33% of the adult population, not to mention the growing number of children who are obese or at least overweight. Today’s society is focused on weight loss by eating healthy and exercising, but the majority of advertising is for diet pills and diet programs that are cutting out essential nutrients (your body needs a certain amount of "healthy fats", carbohydrates, and proteins to perform everyday functions). Also surgical procedures have become increasingly popular as an easy fix to this problem.
One of the online links for this section show how most of our food travels thousands of miles before reaching the shelves. The majority of the US’s fresh fruit and vegetables come from California, Washington, and Florida. It can take up to 14 days for these products just to arrive on the supermarket shelves. In my opinion, fruits and vegetables are not so fresh after 2 to 3 weeks of being handled and shipped around. On the other hand, locally grown products arrive much sooner, usually in a time frame of 24 hrs after being harvested. If products can go straight from the farm to the shelf, then this means farmer’s can worry more about taste and freshness of the item, rather than how it is going to have to hold up for long distance shipping. Did you know that factories actually produce chickens?! From when they are eggs to when they are ready to go to market, thousands and thousands of chickens are literally produced in factories. Makes you start to think about the differences there might be from these chickens to farm raised ones. This site also has a link for you to find farmer’s markets in your area. There are quite a few in the southern part of the state, but it also says the Yavapai College actually holds one May through October.
As I was studying this section and looking through the links I realized that I have really never thought twice about the food I am buying in grocery stores, and I pretty much live on fast food of one kind or another when working on the ambulance 2-3 days a week. Now, when I am working and we are busy we are lucky to eat period, but fast food is the easiest, quickest option. After reading more on food, I want to try the farmer’s markets and start eating "real food".
For some reason all of this research made me start thinking about when we go to visit family in Vermont. Woodstock is a small town in the country. My grandmother and aunt both have gardens (varies vegetables, herbs, fruit, ect), and if they don’t grow it themselves most of the family stores carry truly fresh foods. There aren’t any large supermarket chains in Woodstock, only a few mom and pop stores. When we visit, depending on the season, we go with my grandmother to pick strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries from farms. She makes fresh jam from the berries. Food that is homegrown and home cooked just tastes so much better. I also think it is probably healthier as it has not been processed or engineered, just grown the good old fashioned way. There is some level of satisfaction when you can grow your own food and you appreciate what has gone into it. Also, when we are back east everyone helps cook the meals and then everyone sits down together and enjoys them. It is a nice change from always eating in a hurry or while on the run. Also, in Woodstock, people are much more active outdoors which, in my opinion, adds to a healthy lifestyle. People growing up in a city might not have this opportunity.
In conclusion, I feel that everybody can do something to make at least a small change towards eating and living healthier. I understand that where you live or work can have an effect on your choices or opportunities that are available to you, however you still decide what to eat and have an option of some physical activity during the week. (Cutting down on sodas and sweets, taking a walk, even if it is short, or finding healthier avenues in which to purchase food). Schools are trying to join in this healthy change by making sure their menu’s offer a variety of healthier foods and some are even getting rid of soda machines. Farm to School organizations are major players in this new change and education on healthier eating.
This was a beneficial topic for me, as it opened my eyes to what I have been eating and where it has come from and how the food has been treated in the process. Also there were many good resources to find fresher, healthier food, and what a true "balanced diet" might look like and why this is so important for our bodies.
One of the online links for this section show how most of our food travels thousands of miles before reaching the shelves. The majority of the US’s fresh fruit and vegetables come from California, Washington, and Florida. It can take up to 14 days for these products just to arrive on the supermarket shelves. In my opinion, fruits and vegetables are not so fresh after 2 to 3 weeks of being handled and shipped around. On the other hand, locally grown products arrive much sooner, usually in a time frame of 24 hrs after being harvested. If products can go straight from the farm to the shelf, then this means farmer’s can worry more about taste and freshness of the item, rather than how it is going to have to hold up for long distance shipping. Did you know that factories actually produce chickens?! From when they are eggs to when they are ready to go to market, thousands and thousands of chickens are literally produced in factories. Makes you start to think about the differences there might be from these chickens to farm raised ones. This site also has a link for you to find farmer’s markets in your area. There are quite a few in the southern part of the state, but it also says the Yavapai College actually holds one May through October.
As I was studying this section and looking through the links I realized that I have really never thought twice about the food I am buying in grocery stores, and I pretty much live on fast food of one kind or another when working on the ambulance 2-3 days a week. Now, when I am working and we are busy we are lucky to eat period, but fast food is the easiest, quickest option. After reading more on food, I want to try the farmer’s markets and start eating "real food".
For some reason all of this research made me start thinking about when we go to visit family in Vermont. Woodstock is a small town in the country. My grandmother and aunt both have gardens (varies vegetables, herbs, fruit, ect), and if they don’t grow it themselves most of the family stores carry truly fresh foods. There aren’t any large supermarket chains in Woodstock, only a few mom and pop stores. When we visit, depending on the season, we go with my grandmother to pick strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries from farms. She makes fresh jam from the berries. Food that is homegrown and home cooked just tastes so much better. I also think it is probably healthier as it has not been processed or engineered, just grown the good old fashioned way. There is some level of satisfaction when you can grow your own food and you appreciate what has gone into it. Also, when we are back east everyone helps cook the meals and then everyone sits down together and enjoys them. It is a nice change from always eating in a hurry or while on the run. Also, in Woodstock, people are much more active outdoors which, in my opinion, adds to a healthy lifestyle. People growing up in a city might not have this opportunity.
In conclusion, I feel that everybody can do something to make at least a small change towards eating and living healthier. I understand that where you live or work can have an effect on your choices or opportunities that are available to you, however you still decide what to eat and have an option of some physical activity during the week. (Cutting down on sodas and sweets, taking a walk, even if it is short, or finding healthier avenues in which to purchase food). Schools are trying to join in this healthy change by making sure their menu’s offer a variety of healthier foods and some are even getting rid of soda machines. Farm to School organizations are major players in this new change and education on healthier eating.
This was a beneficial topic for me, as it opened my eyes to what I have been eating and where it has come from and how the food has been treated in the process. Also there were many good resources to find fresher, healthier food, and what a true "balanced diet" might look like and why this is so important for our bodies.
Works Cited
1. Mader, Sylvia. Human Biology 10th ed
2.Farm to School www.farmtoschool.org
3.Food Routes- Where Does Your Food Come From www.foodroutes.org/
1. Mader, Sylvia. Human Biology 10th ed
2.Farm to School www.farmtoschool.org
3.Food Routes- Where Does Your Food Come From www.foodroutes.org/
2 comments:
1. What are the 2 best features of the essay? I like your personal experience about visiting your family in Woodstock. I grew up in MI, and we used to pick berries and make jam: it was basically an outdoor life! Your essay is effective, interesting, and easy to read.
2. What are the 2 things that could most be improved? It may make the essay flow better if the introduction was summarized to the main topics you discussed.
3. What is something new that the essay made you think about? When you mentioned surgical procedures as a popular choice, its true. I guess it didn't come to my mind when talking about nutrition, but it definately is part of our society.
4. what most surprised you in the essay? That chickens are raised in FACTORIES!! I didn't know that, how interesting and scary.
1. What are the 2 best features of the essay? I liked how you brought in your experiences back east. I used to live in Ohio and moving out to Arizona was a dramatic change, especially in food. Your essay was also very easy to follow.
2. What are the 2 things that could most be improved? I enjoyed your introduction but it would have been more effective if you had mentioned your key components of the essay. Also, at the beginning a couple of your sentences seemed to jump around, like a list of statements.
3. What is something new that the essay made you think about? I liked the entire essay. Parts about the fad diets, farmers, work, eastern culture, everything was interesting.
4. what most surprised you in the essay? The way factories seem to run our lives sure did surprise me. It's vital for us to eat and what we choose to eat isn't always what we would like, but in our society we take what is available and processed foods are what seem to be always available.
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