Response to Jenny Molenda's Blog Post

Jenny Molenda wrote a blog post about making a homemade meal with her friends. They decided as a group that they would make spaghetti. They would each make a separate part of the meal in order to split up costs in a fair way. Jenny was in charge of making the sauce and called her mom to get her recipe. Jenny and her friends used this time to hang out and forget about school for a while. It seemed to me like a really fun activity to do with a group of friends, and a nice way to get a home cooked meal at college.

Jenny agrees with what Pollen has to say about Americans not taking the time to really enjoy their meals and spend too much time concerned about the nutritional value of what they are eating. The meal that she made with her friends did not however influence her opinion on what Pollen has to say. She still agrees with him because her friends did in fact take time to enjoy this meal and have fun.

I think Jenny does a really good job of relating her meal making experience with what Pollen says. It was interesting to see that Jenny and her friends made their meal in a way that Pollen would suggest doing, or would approve of. The blog that Jenny links to really does a good job of backing up both her and Pollen’s ideas about how taking time to enjoy your food is important. According to the blog, your health can be improved just by taking time to eat, enjoying your eating experience, and by paying attention to when you are full. These things all lead you to eating healthier in general. I thought Jenny’s blog was interesting and she sounded like she really enjoyed being able to make a meal with her friends.

*Photo taken from diningin.com

"Real" Food vs. "Fake" Food

Michael Pollen warns us in his book that processed foods, which are major element of the Western diet, can be very unhealthy to our bodies. I have been guilty of eating many foods in their processed forms without even giving it a second thought. One of the foods that I used to eat in its natural form more in the past, and when I am away from school, is pear. When I want a pear now I usually end up eating it from a can, in its processed form.

Pears in a can, while still tasty, are simply not as good as eating a fresh pear. Usually they are cut up, skin pealed off, and floating around in sugary syrup. I know when eating pear out of a can that I am not getting all of the nutrients that I would be getting from a natural pear. I am also getting added sugar that I would not be getting with the whole fruit version. The article “Benefits of pears” explains the health benefits of pears and why they are good for you. This helps to reassure me that I should be avoiding processed pears as much as possible to guarantee that I am getting all of these health benefits without the added sugar.

The reason why I eat processed, canned pears more often now is because being in college limits my access to fresh fruit. It has become more convenient for me to go out and buy a few cans of pears when I want them. I think I will return to eating the fresh kind a lot more in the future, especially in the summer when I am home. When I am older I also hope to be able to eat pears in the real version as much as possible. Pears are after all one of my favorite fruits.

*Photo taken from cookingwithkimberly.com

Response to Kat Saltarelli's Blog Post

Kat Saltarelli wrote a blog post about a food that she sometimes eats in its natural form, but while in college tends to be eating in its processed form. She is talking about corn, about how in the summer her family loves to grill out and eat delicious corn on the cob. Kat seems like she is a little upset and discouraged about the corn that she is forced to eat in the dining halls since it clearly is straight from a can and doesn’t taste as good as fresh corn.

Kat provides good evidence on why corn on the cob is better for you than corn from a can. She links to two sites that provide nutritional information for both canned corn and natural corn on the cob, which really adds credibility to her argument. Kat then links to an article that goes into the reasons why natural, unprocessed foods are better for your body. She says that she completely agrees with the article and thinks it is important for us to eat food in its natural state.

I think that Kat’s blog is very convincing. Most of us in class can relate to her story of getting corn on the cob at home and then getting canned corn here at school. I totally agree with her arguments that we don’t really know what we are putting into our bodies all the time, especially here at school when we eat what is given to us and what is convenient. She also makes the reader think about what they eat when they walk into the cafeteria and if it is really healthy. Sometimes it is hard to get away from fortified foods in this fast paced society, but making an extra effort to eat natural foods might be a benefit to your body.

* Photo taken from blogcdn.com

Analysis of a Celebrity Endorsement

The current celebrity endorsement that I found is Drew Barrymore for Covergirl. This product is a makeup line that carries everything from eyeliner to lip-gloss. The endorsement is basically Drew in commercials and print ads looking all beautiful and made-up so she can promote the product. A lot of times the pictures and shots are very close up to her face so it can focus on the area of the body this product is targeting.

In my opinion I think Drew Barrymore is an appropriate choice for Covergirl to use to endorse their products. I think this because it makes a whole lot more sense than to have a man endorsing it or a young child. By picking a young, hip actress who would be someone that would use a lot of makeup every day, the company is trying to get girls like her to relate to the product. Because of this reason I do believe that this is a successful campaign, and probably has been successful for both parties involved since Drew is getting her face out to the public more and more by doing this.

Even though I think the endorsement is appropriate I do not think that Drew Barrymore has any more knowledge about makeup than any other woman. So in this sense they are just using her status as a celebrity to sell their makeup, not her status as someone who would be considered a makeup expert.

Even though I believe that so far this celebrity endorsement is successful, an article called “Celebrity endorsements gone bad” from forbes.com reminds us that there have been many times when celebrity endorsements seem good and then all of the sudden fail, usually because of something the celebrity does or says. So you never know, maybe someday hiring Drew Barrymore as a Covergirl might backfire on the company when least expected.

* Photo taken from dawnofanewera.com

Preparing a Meal

When I was home recently I prepared a meal for my family. First I had to plan what I wanted to make. I decided to do something fun and make homemade pizzas, raspberry jell-o salad, and brownies for desert (not very healthy, but fun). I had to go to the store to find all of the ingredients I needed for my meal. Making the meal itself was fun but also a lot of work. It ended up being delicious and I felt proud that I made a meal everyone enjoyed that night. I think each step was important to my feeling accomplished because everything had to be thought out in advance.

After reading the section of In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan I do agree with what he is saying. It seems that America has turned food into something that needs to be processed and changed in order for us to get what we want out of it, even though this is obviously not true because we can get all the nutrients we need out of natural foods. According to Pollan eating and preparing food has become a matter of “sound nutrition and good sanitation”. I also agree when Pollan says that Americans have always had a problem with taking pleasure in eating and the article I found defends this point by saying that French women have less weight problems because, to quote the article, "French women take pleasure in eating well, while American women see it as a conflict and obsess over it."

I don’t think that the meal I created affects my opinion when it comes to this topic as a whole, but looking back on it I did find myself trying to make my food look neat and sanitary, reflecting the matter of good sanitation that Pollen mentions in his book.

* Photo taken from www.apartmenttherapy.com

Response to Frank Behling's Blog Post

Frank Behling wrote a blog post about Lance Armstrong and his celebrity endorsement of Michelob Ultra Light beer. The specific ad that Frank is talking about is a commercial in which the thing that stood out to him most was the song in the commercial. He also finds it odd that Lance Armstrong is promoting an alcoholic drink at all since he is an athlete and alcohol most likely does not relate to his success as an athlete. Frank says that he thinks the creator of the commercial is trying to portray people who drink Michelob Light as “cool”. He also thinks the commercial was well put together but that they could have picked someone else other than an athlete to connected to their particular product.

Frank provides a link to the actual commercial that was very helpful to me, especially since I had never seen it before. The picture he provides is also very relevant to his post and adds to the post as a whole.

I think that Frank makes some excellent points in his analysis of Lance Armstrong’s celebrity endorsement of beer. I agree that at first it does seem odd that a very successful athlete is endorsing an alcoholic beverage. Then after watching the commercial and thinking it over a bit I also think that they commercial is convincing and makes you feel like if you drink Michelob Ultra Light beer you will be fitting in with the “cool” crowd, even though that alone would not make you “cool”. The one thing that I think Frank could have done in his post is expand on why the song in the commercial caught his attention and stood out to him. Other than that I thought the post was interesting and I agree with a lot of Frank’s ideas.

* Photo taken from blogspot.com

Self Evaluation of Demonstration Speech

In class I gave a demonstration speech on how to make three-dimensional paper snowflakes. I think I did a good job of giving an example in the introduction of why the topic is relevant and why my audience should want to learn how to make 3D paper snowflakes. Throughout the speech I think that my steps were organized and appropriately broken down, but the topic I picked made that easy since it required very specific steps to be done one after the other.

I believe that I had appropriate energy and enthusiasm. I tried to be as excited as you could be about a paper snowflake. The volume I think was good. I think it might have been a bit difficult, especially for those in the back, to see the smaller details of my product. In this aspect the physical demonstration of my topic could have been improved. I could have done much better with my eye contact. I was constantly looking down at my product and failed to make much eye contact because of this. I also talked way too fast.

I believe that my visual aid was essential to my topic so it obviously was effective. One thing I could have done to increase the effectiveness of my visual aid would be to have everyone in class making snowflakes along with me, but that would have been difficult because I don’t have nearly enough staplers, tape, scissors, and it would have taken too long.

I would probably choose the same topic again but I would find some way to incorporate class participation. That is also the change that I would make to my visual aid. A couple things that I would improve include more eye contact, I would talk much slower, and would make it at least five minutes.

* Image taken from www.hipretty.com

Comparing Online Articles: Should Smoking Be Banned in Public Places?

I found two articles online discussing their opposing viewpoints on the controversial topic of whether cigarette smoking should be banned in public places.

In the first article, “Why smoking in public places should be banned”, the author tells the story of her cousin who died from cancer due to secondhand smoke at her workplace. She explains that smoking is not critical to survival of the people who smoke and it is not fair that they put other people in harm’s way because of their bad habits. She wants smoking to be banned.

In the opposing article, “Why ban smoking in public?: Arguments against”, the author offers three reasons why smoking should not be banned. His first reason is that there are already set aside areas in most public places for people to smoke. Another reason is that many people have stressful jobs and need smoking to relive stress. His final reason is that smokers have rights too and should be able to keep their designated smoke areas.

After reading both articles I think that the article supporting banning smoking in public places was more convincing because the author was able to portray smoking as a very evil-like thing that threatens people’s lives. She used specific stories and examples that really made me think. The other article was also convincing because of the three distinct reasons the author presented, but did not have that relatable aspect.

My opinion has not changed on the topic after reading the articles; I don’t think one or the other was convincing enough to change someone’s mind altogether on the topic. I understand where both sides are coming from, but I personally believe that people should not have to suffer because of other people’s choices, so I think I relate more to the first article.

* Picture taken from autopartsnews.blogspot.com

Response to Mike Sorenson's Blog Post

Mike Sorenson makes the point in his blog about Michael Pollen’s book In Defense of Food that Pollen thinks nutrition experts may not really be experts at all. Mike explains some of Pollen’s other ideas: processed foods are bad for you, people should be concerned about how much they eat and not eating for bodily health, and that people should eat for enjoyment. Mike links to a blog about processed foods being unhealthy. I think this was an excellent article to link to because it gets right at the point that Pollen is trying to make.

Mike then goes into why he agrees with Pollen’s argument. I think Mike does an excellent job of backing up his opinions. He provides good examples, such as bringing up William Prout and the fact that he made a big discovery about food when it was thought that everything was already known, making a reference to the fact that this could happen again. Mike thinks that the government needs to stop companies from making unhealthy foods. He thinks that it is not beneficial for companies to make foods that were once considered healthy into what we would consider unhealthy foods just to make them taste better so more people will buy them.

I also agree with what Mike is saying in the second half of his blog post. He mentioned at the very end that he agrees “America has a problem with being obsessed with eating healthy.” All of Mike’s ideas are clear and he does a good job of linking Pollen’s opinions with his own. His ideas also seemed very convincing to me and he seemed like he had done the reading and knew what he was talking about.

Response to "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan

Michael Pollen makes a few arguments in the first forty pages of the book. He points out that people in America are no longer eating “whole foods” but rather foods modified to provide us with the basic nutrients we need. He argues that even though Americans are more focused on eating “right”, it is not showing improvements on their health, but actually making people unhealthy.

One point that Pollen makes that I agree with is that manufacturers of the processed foods we consume are benefiting tremendously from the “nutritionism” state of mind, the focus on nutrients not whole foods. Processed foods are molded and created to supply us with the nutrients that we are being told every day that we need in order to be healthy. The article “Processed foods trade benefits U.S. agriculture and consumers” shows us how huge the food processing industry is. American companies alone provide about $119.2 billion of processed foods to countries all over the world. This industry also reflects the point that people don’t often grow their own food anymore and rely on these industries to provide them with food.

Another point I will defend is that information about food and its affects on health is changing all the time, making it hard for us as consumers to know what to believe and whose advice we should act upon. The article “Should you trust health advice from the web?” reflects this question of what advice we should trust. The article explains that many people turn to the internet for health advice, but the truth is that much of the advice found online is unreliable, making this growing trend worrisome.

The beginning of the book was very interesting and Pollen suggested some intriguing lines of thought about food and the way it is consumed today.

*Photo taken from www.betterschoolfood.org