4 years of being a weirdo

Jessie Lazo (Señor Reflection)

Ezequiel Linares (Bad Days)

Allyssa diaz

https://youtu.be/BQ6TvK-XAqc

the time is now. (tristen m)

#3rd post Myles

Lissette Diaz (remember)

WE OUT THIS... chatper

Kyle Regaliza (Leap of Faith)

Alex Bonilla (Just the Beginning) Reflection Video

Reflection Video

Reflection.

Thank your peers, they're a part of your process.

WE OUT THIS... chapter

The Focused Chapter

Vivian Shepherd (Make Major Moves)

Senior Reflection Video

             

Rides You've Been, Rides You'll Go

Favian Real-Find Your Purpose

Ashlei armstead

Christy Sam (High School Reflection Video)

Walter Ramirez (Sauce)

Zoei Rojas (find ur light c/o 2017)

the squared videos aren't for the aesthetics, i'm just an anti-tech grandma :(

Tammara Flores Our Time

Brooke Di Paolo (Hold onto the Fun)

Brooklin Mize, This Adventure Only Just Begun!

Jazzminne Reyes (Light)

Adela Kaiser (Looking Back)

Melissa Ruvalcaba (senior reflection video)

Ashley Montes (Senior Reflection Video)

Breyonne Williams (High School Reflection Video)

Sigmund Perez (High School Life)

[KC]: How to post your senior reflection videos to the blog ...

Seniors, below are some YouTube videos that provide instruction on how to upload videos. The first video explains how to upload it to YouTube; the second from YouTube to Blogger (the class blog).

When you do upload your video, please make sure to title your post as follows:

Student first and last name (video title) 

Example:
Justin Turner (Swing for the Fence)

Here are the instructional videos:

If I Could Go Back In Time

If I could go back four years with the knowledge of the food industry, I would try to change my eating habits just a tad. The one thing I would want to change is the amount of healthy and unhealthy fast food I consume weekly. After researching about how the food industry produces their products it has showed me the possible ways bacteria and pesticides could be put in the foods we eat. Another thing is how the food we eat is not produced fresh as much anymore. Most of the animals are being pumped with hormones so they grow bigger and faster which results in younger kids growing faster than before. When I was a young gal there were smaller portions of food and most of the food was not pumped with pesticides or processed like how they are now.  Luckily my parents did not allow me to consume fast food all the time and they kept me busy in sports which kept me on my feet and healthy. Currently now young kids are eating fast food constantly and are not exercising as much, resulting to the obesity rate rising daily. This is what worries me because if foods are being processed and pumped with hormones now imagine what the food humans consume will be like years from now. All in all, I think the one thing i need to focus on is the amount of junk food I eat especially with sports and extra activities I do. Healthy food creates a happy and healthy body!

Food Aftermath

This was my first 6 pages essay that I had ever done.  And the fact that it was about food something I wasn't really familiar with, I happened to be a little nervous and uncomfortable but as I kept doing my research and drafts I learned how to walk. Things that I didn't know about food I know now. Was blind to the fact that the industries and the government didn't tell us the truth about the origins of food and that home cooked meals are more healthy for you...socially and mentally. Not having family can be an unhealthy diet itself and I was elated that I recognized that. Overall, I enjoyed this unit , for it was a huge stepping stone for me, and I believed I handled it successfully.

Eye-Opener

After doing all this research, I have learned a lot about how our food comes to be. This unit was an eye-opener because it taught how to economy and our food is tied together. Before this research report, I never asked myself where the food I eat comes from, nor did I care. My mindset has changed drastically; however, if I could go back 4 years, I probably would not have changed my ways of eating because in a way, it is normal. I still see myself eating fast food places, but I am more conscious about my eating. If I could change something about the food industry, I would change the way the food is made. It would be safer if animals were raised naturally and to lower the use of antibiotics. The process of how food comes to our table is not as simple as it seems. There is a lot to it and lot of decisions are made. Companies try to profit as much as they can from selling food, so they will always find ways to cheat the system and save time/save money. I think the way to avoid these "bad" foods will be to simply stop eating from fast food places and to start buying your own food from places like the farmers market. America is known to be full of fast food places so it will not be easy to get away from these modified foods, but it is not impossible.

What I've learned

Because of this research paper I've learned a lot more about our food than I knew before. Had I known a lot of this information beforehand I would have changed a lot of eating habits between then and now. I say this because I have already seen a lot of changes in my mindset about food. For example, before this paper I was completely fine with eating microwaveable food. But now I find it super uncomfortable and feel like I can almost taste the plastic and radioactivity. To add on, my paper was about food additives. The food additives I learned to fear most were artificial sweeteners and artificial food dyes. This has made my cereal habits more cautious. As I ate a bowl of fruity pebbles I began to think of all the effects the bowl could possibly have on my body. Because of this, I can say with certainty that I would have easily decided against the food additive lifestyle years ago. Knowing this information would have saved me years of unhealthy food

If I could go back

If I could go back four years and change something about my eating habits, I would chose to eat healthier and organic foods. I have learned a lot about the things we eat and how they are being produced. Seeing how our food is raised and processed sickens me, so that is why I would want to change what I eat. One thing I would try to avoid are foods with gmos or foods with ingredients I could not pronounce. I would search for the best quality items I could find at farmers market or the grocery store, for example grass fed beef. Eating organic foods can also be a way of eating healthier, so that mean I would have to search for an organic label on most of the things I eat. I think eating healthier and naturally raised foods would have a dramatic outcome on your health. I believe that not only would you feel healthier, you would also be less tired and even be happier. Since learning about our food system in America, I have made some changes to my diet, but I would still like to improve it little by little. My goal is to be in the best physical shape of my life in about 5 years, and one key way of reaching that is by eating cleaner and healthier foods. This is what I would do if I could go back four years, this would really change my life. But instead of going back in time, I'm going to start right now.

Last Post For This Unit !

With this unit, it has opened my eyes about how much control our country has over our food. The sad reality is that they don't control the food we consume to protect us or for our health, they do it for themselves. They do it for the money. They don't take in mind the lives of the animals or the environment providing us with the food. It really has made me aware of what I am putting inside my body, how it came here and how it was made. I have been eating less and less meat now that I reflect upon the time from before and after this unit. Also, with the topic I did for my research paper, it has been slowly convincing me to change my eating habits into starting a vegan diet.
If I had this knowledge four years before, I think I would have became a vegan sooner.
What I would do to influence the food industry is simply inform people about food politics. And inform then mmmmm about the benefits of buying local fruits and vegetables, cooking, and possibly becoming vegan. I would go to different locations and help spread awareness and enlighten people from all around.

Back to the Future?

All the things we thought we know about the food industry turned out different than it actually is. Now that I realize, food is more complex than I thought. I always think that food coming from groceries is none other than a basic process of marketing but there's a lot that's going on behind it. At first, when I saw that "food" is the topic we're discussing in class, I thought to myself that it sounds irrelevant & thinking how it will benefit us if we're only going to talk about is food which sounds to me that it's not a serious topic but I was wrong. I learned a lot about the politics of food than I imagine, well I never expected that it will fascinate me this much.

However, if I could go back 4 years knowing this knowledge, I think my perspective about food will not change because all I can think about is eating food pretty much. Although, if I had the chance, I would probably change the way I eat & my diet as well because knowing the truth about food, it makes me more careful on what I eat. Eating healthier is kinda what I'm setting myself to do to get my body in more physical shape.

On the contrary, I feel like food related problems mostly occurs in the U.S. with all the obesity & stuff & other countries seems to be just fine. Overall, food makes the world a better place :)

Changes

I feel as if my view on our country has definitely changed because of how our food changes everything and affects everything. Whether we like to face it or not food is what our world revolves around because it is a strong necessity in which we need to survive. I haven't really wanted to change how I eat because food is pretty darn good and well I feel like changing how I eat won't really make a difference.
If I could go back 4 years and I had this knowledge I don't think I would really change anything. I eat vegetables almost every day and well I don't really mind if they're organic or not. I mean anything can really affect our health whether they are organic or not, over consumption isn't healthy. The way I eat now isn't too bad and I won't change how I eat.
I think the only thing I would do to make a change would be to make junk food less available and more expensive rather than vegetables so more people could eat those products and eat less of the products that make our society obese and making them more expensive would mean they would be less available to teens and adults.

Clever Title To My Post

This unit has definitely been something.

I honestly enjoyed learning about everything in this unit. I was already aware that things were bad in the food industry but I did learn more information, which I don’t think is ever bad. The more knowledge, the better really.

My mindset on the country? I don’t know if it’s wavered that much. I wasn’t exactly surprised with everything we learned? It just angers that’s how things are. The monopoly in the industry that has spilled our government, which is the only way we could’ve gotten any kind of regulation.

The system is pretty freaking screwed up and it sucks. A lot.

I want to be a lot more aware of what I eat and I hope that I can. I don’t think it’s possible for me to go vegan though? Due to both the existence of In n Out and just the change. There’s a lot that goes into changing your diet like that. I have the most respect for people who have the conviction to do so. That is as long as they don’t judge me for enjoying a double double with grilled onions and a strawberry lemonade. Sorry, I read Christy’s title and now it’s on my mind.

Back to my actual blog post!

It’s going to be difficult to actually enforce my awareness in what I eat for the moment. I live with my mom, two younger sisters, grandpa, aunt, and cousin. All of which don’t really care about the quality of their food and where it comes from. Because of this, I won’t be able to make many changes in my diet now. I think I’m the only one that eats freaking salad in the house. And that’s not even cause it’s healthy. I just like salad.

This all kind of keeps me from doing anything now. A house full of picky eaters tend to do that. But, hey we’re seniors and we’ll all be leaving soon.

So if anyone out there is like me and cares about trying to be more aware in eating a bit healthier but faces these difficulties, then just remember opportunities will be preventing themselves soon for us to leave. We’’ leave and be free to do what we want and eat what we want. But, until then we have our research papers I guess.

I kind of want some In n Out right now

My mindset hasn't really changed on manufactured meats and dairy products. This research project has made me more open-minded and I'm more conscious of what's in my food, how it was made, and where it comes from (at least where I think it comes from). I just feel that in our country, we do whatever we have to in order to survive. If I went back 4 years with all this knowledge, I don't think I would change anything about my eating ways and habits. I just see it as a way of life. I choose to eat meat while the next person only eats vegetables. People pick and choose their own lifestyle and make their own decisions. That's just how it is and how it's been in my opinion. I would try to educate more people and make them aware of where and how their food is processed. People deserve the right to know where their poultry products or meat products come from. This research essay really opened my eyes and I'm more cautious of what I consume now.

VIEWS

My mindset on food after finally completing this unit has changed dramatically. Before starting this unit I didn't question where my food came from, I would eat whatever was put in front of me. If nobody mentions something then you will never know, that's why we have to "STAY WOKE" like Serenah said. I believe that our country's government doesn't want us to know how our food is made in order to profit off of us. Everything in our country is related to money. Do you think they want us to know how much money is made from all the processed foods that are produced? Most of the processed foods that we consume isn't very healthy. Personally, I don't consume a great amount of processed foods, I eat pretty healthy. Since the day we watched Food Inc in class I have been pretty grossed out while eating chicken or meat. I just start to think about the process it went through to get in front of me. Like did the chicken really deserve this life? Who knows, but I'm still going to eat it. Although, I would prefer if my chicken or meat came from a natural farm like the in Food Inc. There has to be better ways for our food to be produced. Why can't we pay thousands of farmers to the the same jobs that these big corporations do but in a natural way. I guess that wouldn't make enough money for the government. I don't know these are just my VIEWS.

GMO Proposal

       GMO 's are a big topic in the world of food and farming. They in my opinion have become a hindrance on farming and agriculture. A large issue that has come up is saving seeds,  farmer want to save seeds for farming to save money and grow more. But the companies they buy the seeds from have genetically modified the product and have received patents for them. My proposal to this would be to ban the ability to get a patent on any type of food, primarily seeds. This would benefit farmers and consumers health would be increased as there are health risks to having GMO's. It would allow farmers to buy seeds at a cheaper price again dn also save money by being allowed to once more save seeds. I think it is an outrageous overreach of our government to allow a business practically own a food because they changed some aspect about its nature. The business did not create the food nor the seed. It is a natural occurrence and should not be subject to ownership by a specific corporation due to a change in its genetics which in some cases just allows it to grow in a certain environment.

New Year New Meat

     In the beginning of this unit I didn't really feel like it was that relevant to me. I would eat what I wanted to eat and figured that I would just forget about the things I learned in a couple weeks like most people do however that turned out to not be the case. The more things I had learned about the food industry and the inner workings of it the more I would be conscious about my food. I still eat what I normally do although I always think of the story behind the meal. Now I do feel that it is worth it to pay a little more for organic foods or foods that have not been genetically modified whereas previously I did not ever think of buying those better treated foods. If could go back four years and carry the knowledge I have today I believe that I would have ate a lot less junk foods and prepare my own meals everyday from more organic sources. Meaning that I would buy chicken or beef that isn't from the big meat suppliers because of the way that they treat those animals and the quality of the meat. I also would have probably got into cooking a lot earlier because I would have seen the significance of making your own food and how important it really is. The food industry is a giant and there's not much one can do to really change it, but it doesn't hurt to try. Therefore I'll show my desire for non-GMO and organic products over conventional foods, if enough people switch the better and more natural foods then the industry will have to react to fit the consumer needs.

My mindset has changed a lot in this past month it has taught me that in this capitalistic home in which we call America is getting ridiculous. Its shown me that most Industries care about quantity over quality in the production they make. The greed is only growing and I believe that the government should step in to stop these big time corporations. Watching that chicken video where the chickens died from having injections placed inside of there bodies was very hard to watch. Forcing anything to grow faster than what mother nature wants it to grow is not normal and it shouldn’t be allowed to eaten as a source of nourishment. This month of learning has taught me that big time businesses would pretty much do whatever they have to do gained an extra buck. Also it has taught me that there are other health risks do from malnutrition and obesity. Before I believed that there  only several illnesses due to  obesity from malnutrition.I've learned that malnutrition can lead to illnesses that not many other people know such as sleep apnea where there are intervals of stopping or pause in breathing when sleeping. I never thought about sleep apena as a result from obesity. I also never thought about the lack of confidence that was found from victims of malnutrition. This has changed my consciousness a lot i’ve started to actually read food labels and evaluate whether or not should I be putting certain things into my body.

My Opinion of Meat Made in a Lab

When I was looking for a topic to base my research paper, I was about to give up searching for something I was interested in and was going to do some generic thing about GMO's, but before that I asked my sister for some ideas. She offered the topic of cultured meat, and told me it was basically meat made in a lab. Immediately, I was disgusted, and I thought "What are scientists doing with their time? What's the point of making meat in a lab?" I was thinking that they were creating synthetic meat in their labs, but I was wrong.

As I continued my research, I found out that the concept of cultured meat, while being extremely unheard of, could possibly change the world. I'm not even exaggerating. What I found out cultured meat and its possible effects on the world, my mindset from the beginning changed and I completely supported cultured meat.

I found out that if cultured meat becomes popular and if its used often, it could help our environment because of the amount of resources and land that raising livestock uses up. It could help us save water and we could use that land for something else. Also the process of making cultured meat requires no harm to any animals, so for those vegans/vegetarians who don't support the way animals are treated in the food industry now can eat beef that did not harm the cow.

My mindset made a complete 180 when I researched this topic. I feel like when most people think of "made in a lab" they think of terrible experiments, but after researching the topic, I came to the conclusion that I would support it when it comes in grocery stores.

MASK

Throughout this unit my view towards my country and government has changed drastically. It is unbelievable what our government conceals from us purposely, out of fear wed stop buying the product because of the process it goes through. Therefore their profits would plummet, but don't you believe its one of the government's jobs to protect and benefit the people. Not conceal the methods and practices they use when producing our foods and ensuring these processes are healthy and morally acceptable, and not solely to make a profit. Not only that but how these massive corporations basically control portions of our government, which makes it extremely difficult to put a stop to the horrible methods, practices, and manipulation they use throughout our country. Our government in ways is corrupt and it is scary because they do not see a problem with it and have done nothing to solve the issues in our food industry. I am more conscious about what I eat, but it is hard to escape the processed food industry because we have all grown up depending on it and being accustomed to it. I want to change the way I eat, by eating healthier organic foods but it's difficult when you still live with your family and you aren't the one buying the groceries. When I'm older living on my own I'm going to make a conscious effort to be aware of what I consume. My perspectives and consciousness have awaken and shifted to see what our world has really become.

My mindset

My mindset about the world has changed a little bit. I think after this chapter many people will be more aware of what they eat or want to eat; but junk food will still be higher in ratings over healthier foods. Majority of people will forever be more attracted to not so healthy foods. I will try not to consume many foods that I know will harm my body in the long run knowing what are in these foods that I have been eating all my life. Futhermore, I will let other people know what they are eating on a daily basis and what can be be the harmful effects of what it can do to your body like eating disorders and obesity. I wish that I had known all this information about the food industry a long time ago because if I had known then I believe I would be healthier mentally and physically overall. I would eat less of the junk because of what it has done to me now and had my mom push me more for eating and drinking healthy; for example, salads, fruit and vegetable smoothies and more fish than red meat. Knowing about all these food politics we had learned about know I will become stronger and push for it myself without anyone's help so I can feel better knowing that I am digesting good foods that have not been processed badly because of what the farmers had done to the animals. The way some farming individuals kill these animals and how everyone has no knowledge of it behind the scenes is sad.

[KC]: PoF Dear Reader and 3rd Quarter 3P Prompts

 Politics of Food Research Paper Self-Reflection

(This should be handwritten and put into your portfolio with all your drafts.)

Third Quarter 3P Self-Evaluation

(This should be completed and turned in on Friday, March 31st.)

Stay Woke

To be honest, I did have this knowledge about the food industry 4 years ago. I watched Food, Inc. freshman year in my human geography class, and even though it was still as disturbing as it is now, it really didn't make that big of an impact on my life. After about a week of not eating chicken, I went back to my regular diet.

But this year, after watching the same exact movie, I'm starting to reform the way I think about food and what I eat. Why is it that after being taught the same information twice, I'd only start learning now? And now I realize that it's not the time or the knowledge that is different, but it's me who has changed. I think that a lot of us would agree that as freshman, we couldn't really care less about the food industry. Yet now, we're actually taking in the information instead of pushing it aside. To me, that just shows how much we've grown as people, and how much we've grown to appreciate what's really important.

So basically, if I did go back 4 years ago to having this knowledge of the food industry, I would not have changed. It really only would have affected me right now, as a more thoughtful and a more woke person.

If I could go back...

If I could go back 4 years ago I would tell my younger self to stay away from the junk people sell. Almost everyday I spent money on junk food, because it was easy to get and cheap. That junk food didn't do anything but add weight to my body. Junk food is loaded with fat and sugar. I should have ate healthier foods and more fruits. I just wanted what I wanted because I saw all my friends eating it. As a freshman I had very little self control. Even when I knew I shouldn't have eaten something I did anyway. Looking back I'm much more cautious about what I eat because I don't want to gain weight the way I did my freshman year. The following summer after freshman year I changed my eating habits. I worked out more and cut calories. I ended up losing about 17 pounds that summer. I haven't entirely kept all of it off, but I haven't gained all of it back either. I know now that eating that junk everyday wasn't good and if I'm not careful about what I eat I will gain the weight back and then some. When you change a habit that you've had for years successfully you have a different outlook about it. I know that I don't want to go back to being that chunky girl, so I'm more conscience about what I eat. Four years ago I didn't care about my weight, but reaching that point of what I felt was no return made me realize that something had to change.

My mindset for my country is different. I see how low our country goes to provide food for everyone in the United States. How i feel about what i eat at times makes me feel bad because of how all these animals were miss treated just for my benefit. At times i even consider going semi-vegetarian, then i reconsider it because of the food that is around me. If i could go back 4 year ago with this knowledge about the food industry it really wouldn't of affected me. I was already eating a certain diet because of me running track. I ate mostly organic fruits and vegetables, lots of pasta only with chicken and shrimp, also lots of salad. On a good day i would be able to get a subway sandwich. Honestly if i could help the food industry be better i would want to make it illegal for any animals to be cruelly killed, take away all use of antibiotics for/on animals, make sure that all the animals are living in comfortable situations, and make sure that the animals are actually getting feed the foods they are supposed to consume. If any of these things are not followed the production company would be at risk of being such down and having all the animals taken away and the food that was being prepared to sell.

Mindset About the Country, About the Food We Eat, and About My Conciosness

      As the years go by, many people put on a different perspective on food.  Their minds develop a change in their diet by eating more fruits or vegetables, or limiting their purchase of groceries or unhealthy goods from stores.  Some decide to keep their views the same way every time.  In my perspective, my mindset has changed the way I perceive the United States and the food we eat.  In our growing population, there are millions of people worldwide who suffer from health diseases relating to food, including heart disease or diabetes.  I feel that different types of food, especially ones that are high in cholesterol or high in sugar are being taken into consideration, as if the people are addicted to them every single day.  The problem is the more the people get addicted to those food, the more their life is in danger.  It seems as if they have reached paradise once it comes to food, and that it is all that has to be offered to them.  However, there is no balance involved, and people are taking the weighing scale down the wrong direction.  People are not thinking twice before they either eat something or buy something to eat, which means they are putting their own health and own money on the line between good and bad.  Whenever I hear stories like this, I always thought to myself about avoiding the unhealthy food once in a while.  I did not understand about it years ago, and I thought I was the only one.  Now, it has still become a growing trend to the US population.  I decided to consume fruits and vegetables for every meal on the table, in order to stabilize my diet, and buy junk food once a month.  In doing this, I hope that I will achieve my goals to become a better and healthier person.

My Mindset on Food Now - Vivian Shepherd

Honestly, I'm very glad to be done with this unit, it was very informational, just a lot of work in little time. My mindset of food now has definitely changed for the better, I'm much more aware of what's in my food and I enjoy sharing the knowledge. It's cool understand more of where our food comes from and how its processed and what things are used to modify our foods. In my own research project I found the connection between the food we eat and the cancer it causes which made me realize a lot of things. I began to understand that the Food Industry is predominately looked at as a business and not about what's best for consumers and so is the Hospital. I started to see, in a way that the Food industry and the hospitals work hand in hand , like a business and it's all designed to bring in money not really to help people. It amazed me through my research that the doctors and hospitals know what's in the food that's causing cancer and how they can tell the patients and help cure it but instead they leave patients in the dark letting them participate in "cures" that don't really help. Overall, I'm glad we had this unit and that we did the research project it opened my eyes to many new things.

to sum it up...

My mindset on food has changed in a positive way. I never really thought there would be so much behind food production. I was the typical girl who didn't bother to think about where my food was coming from or the process it took to get here. Now that I learned about our food system, I started to notice more things. For example when I would bring a tangerine to school, I would look at the sticker to see where it was coming from. Something I noticed was each tangerine I brought came from a different state. One day I had a tangerine from Nevada and the next day one from like Kentucky or Kansas. I thought that was pretty cool. I'm really taking into concern what I eat now. If i really want something, I'll make it myself because I'm really trying to decrease my consumption of unhealthy eating like fast food restaurants. I believe our country is in a constant battle of trying to decrease unhealthy eating and keeping profits high enough. However I feel like there still so much to do. Our school lunch programs have changed but aren't as good anymore. The new lunch guidelines are causing food to be wasted because nobody really likes what is being provided anymore. However limiting certain types of foods at school doesn't change the fact that there is still many unhealthy food places out there for us to go to. I believe as the years go by, our country will be in serious problems with health if something doesn't get done. The first step is to get involved with food production and learn how to to chose whats best for us.

[KC]: PoF Blog - Third Course

Due by Thursday, March 30th (6:00 pm)  - 1 post, 1 comment

Options:

• How has your mindset changed about our country? About what you eat? About your consciousness?

• If you could go back 4 years with this knowledge of the food industry, would you change anything about your life?
• Innovator: what would you do to change or influence the food industry in any way? Write a proposal.

Reminder: Posts should be around 250 words and comments should be several good sentences. (No more of that single sentence business.)

My research paper has been shaped around the question why are animal mistreated in the process of becoming food. I've been getting a lot of information from either vegetarians and meat lovers. I hope to find different farms and factories as well as butcher houses that don't treat animals horribly before they pass and find a way to give them a peaceful death. Animal farms and animal factories have a different way of giving animals a different way of life and that is what I hope to find throughout this research paper

The affect of pesticides

     My research project is about how pesticides affect the food we intake and if pesticides harm the environment. I don't really know how I decided to pick this topic, but I am glad I did. So far I have learned a lot about this subject; for example, pesticides can cause various types of cancer. By picking this question it has raised my awareness in the field of agriculture. It really concerns me because most of the food we eat contains or is grown with the use of pesticides. Traces of pesticides can be found just about everywhere from schools to farms, it can even be found in our drinking water. This is extremely bad because pesticides have been linked to nine different types of cancers and other health problems, such as infertility. Pesticides care even harmful to the environment, they kill beneficial insects and sometimes plants. Through my research I have found some alternatives for pesticides, instead of using toxic chemicals to prevent rodents and weeds we should use non-toxic methods. If we accomplish this, we can better our agriculture in many ways that will help us in the end.
     I believe my only issue with the research project is getting enough information to write five pages. I have a lot of data and facts, but I am about a page away from completing the five page requirement. The only way to make that requirement might be to do more research, but I am beginning to repeat facts and other information.

Vegetarian diet Research Paper

My topic for the research paper is, “What affect does a vegetarian diet have on the risk of illnesses and fatal diseases? Should a vegetarian diet be encouraged for Americans? And how would the world be affected with a world wide vegetarian diet?”. My paper is focusing on these three topics and in order to adequately answer all three I needed a source that covered the history of vegetarianism, what it is, and what benefit it brings us. I have many sources about what a vegetarian is and what types there are, and I have found a great source for the history as well as the benefits. I think my paper is lacking a source that talks about how the world would be affected. If the whole world was vegetarian there would be benefits but of course there would also be issues. I can imagine it being hard for some people in lower class areas to become vegetarian because of the cost but I haven’t been able to find a good source on this topic that can be easily worked into my research paper. My paper is set up in sections pertaining to each separate question of my thesis so I would be able to either make a new section for this source or work in in among the ones that already exist. In my paper I have already covered the different types of vegetarians, the history, and the benefits, so it would probably be easiest for me to make a new section about how the world would be affected. I could talk about what it would do to the economy, animal population, and overall health of the world.

Antibiotics

My research topic is about the use of antibiotics in our food animals, and if it affects our health. Antibiotics are commonly used in our food animals to aid their diseases due to the mass growing of them in small areas. In other words, they are a way to keep as many animals alive to save money. They are mass producing these food animals, and keeping them alive in these harsh conditions because of antibiotics; however, do these antibiotics bring any harm to us? The answer is yes. What I want to find out is if it is safe to use them. Research has found out that using antibiotics can lead to bacterial resistance, which means it would be harder for the animals to fight against sickness. This can spread to us humans if we eat animals that were grown with antibiotics. I want to find out if companies are still using antibiotics, and what they would do if they got banned from being used in our food creation process. The main goal of these food companies is to profit as much as they can as fast as they can, and without these antibiotics to help, it would take longer. I want to spread my research to other areas such as GMOs, because they also pose risks to our health. I will change my research paper question and try to find the risks of growth produced animals in all areas, not just antibiotics.

My essay has to do the geographical location of where people live and how that affects their eating habits. There are many people who want to eat healthier but can't afford to because healthier food is expensive. Some families don't make enough to support their family they barely make enough to get by . Since they make barely enough to get by, the dollar burger sounds better to their wallets then the 8 dollar veggies. They probably choose the unhealthier food because it's more convenient . When you buy fast food you don't have to go home and cook it because it's already made when you buy healthier food you have to go home and cook it .http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/4383633 I feel like this website is great because it explains why people choose unhealthy food rather than healthy food . They tell you the price differences and how much more healthier food cost on average. It also gives you a graph on the American family income and how many people eat fast food . When people are hungry they normally think if fast food . It also explains to you have our obesity has dramatically increased. Since there are more fast food places around and less farmer markets or other healthier places , obesity has improved. People are not going to drive super far to get expensive vegetables when they can just drive 1 minute down the street to the next Mcdonalds or jack n the box or some sort of fast food place.

Well, I decided to do my research topic on how we can help low income families in California prevent childhood obesity and help with the children that already have obesity. I honestly don't know how I decided to choose the topic of childhood obesity. Now that I have learned more about my topic, it concerns me that a great amount of children in the United States are obese. According to one of my articles, one in five children in the United States is overweight. One of the main reasons why so many kids are obese is because healthy foods are expensive. It upsets me to see that healthy foods like fruits and vegetables are more expensive than junk foods like a cheeseburger. In most cases, families can only afford cheeseburgers or other unhealthy foods because of the prices of healthy foods. It's quite simple, if we all come together and press the government about this issue then it will be resolved because it's an important problem that only keeps growing. Through my research, I hope to find organizations that are trying to prevent or help kids with childhood obesity. If you think about it, we rarely see any commercials or billboards relating to obesity. The question I would like to ask my classmates is how can someone start an organization to help children that are obese? Maybe someday in the future I can start one of these organizations. Hopefully this blog made you more aware of the obesity affecting a great number of children.

For the better...

My research topic focuses on the effects of fast-food consumption which is linked to the risk of having obesity. I think this is one of the main problems in today's society because many children's diet are being affected. I feel like the government are forcing us to eat un-healthy food by reducing the price of junk food instead of reducing the price of vegetables or fruits which makes no sense. My goal for this topic is to further extend enough information & evidence on why this is a bad thing & how this will effect our future lives, or I should say our "children's lives." It always depends on money because if you don't have enough, you'll be forced to eat less-expensive food which a lot of them are un-healthy. Just imagine how different the world would be if fast-food will be taken down.



My only problem on doing this research is making sure how it all stands out because I put things out of place. I was going to do the effects GMO's have on the environment but I changed my mind. One thing I have on my mind right now is how should I organize my topic into different sections on the paragraphs? What else do I need to talk about to prove my point?


- Kyle Regaliza

My topic is a question asking whether or not should the government make healthy food more attractive by regulating the cost of them. Also should the government be able to regulate disease by placing higher taxes on unhealthy foods to reduce the healthy foods for the mass that can’t or won’t pay for higher priced healthy foods. I hope to find more illness and cancers that are a link to unhealthy foods. I also want to find some research that would help me to connect social class to healthy. I think for the most part in life the economic class is connected hand to hang to more life and healthy decisions that are able to be purchased. Today is one of my few days left on this research and I still need to find some more articles to help me write this all out. Today i’m going to really to try to make my little 2 pages turn into a healthy 5 pages. I hope to explore other economic food related topics to my report. My report is falling short in many ways I need to still find some more articles. When I do that imma need to learn how to write a bibliograpghy. I completely forgot from class today. I’m going to go on his website to try to get it right. Also i’ve talked about my idea and everything I pretty much wanted in my report already so I believe imma have to talk around it for some more page. What other stuff can I can talk about in my report that relates to economics of foods and how it ties with poverty?

Families and their decisions

My topic for my food research project is "why do families choose to eat fast food instead of home cooked meals?" Now my topic is basically going to talk about the individual battle of every member in the household. And also what's holding the interaction of each other back from eating together, cooking together, etc. Also, explaining facts about illnesses and calorie comparisons, and how fast food isn't good but how home cooked meals can be as well. My question that I wanted to know is should I talk about not interacting with family being the unhealthy diet? Or what else could I elaborate on? To make sure the point gets across.

Food and Mental Health

I ended up developing my research question into it being “How does a vegan diet vs eating animals/ animal products affect our mental health?” My original question was “How does food affect our mood?” but I decided to make it more specific and throw in some vegan vs non vegan discussion. But I think I am still going to include some of the research I found about the effects of food and our mood because I found some pretty interesting resources. Plus it is still a part of the topic because mood is under mental health.
Personally, I am not vegan but some of my family members are and so that had an influence in changing my research question. I have thought about trying a vegan diet due to environmental concerns and how poorly animals are treated by food manufacturers. So this research paper is giving me reasons as to why being vegan is very beneficial.
Not only does being vegan give you physical benefits but also mental.
What my research is falling short is trying to look for credible sources. There are plenty of “.com” websites that seem to have pretty good facts but no proof to back them up.
I'm also not sure about how I can further improve my research. What else would fit in?
So far I have looked up the nutrients found in vegan friendly foods that benefit our mental health; moreover, I found a video that talks about a study finding that people on a vegan were less depressed and stressed, more productive, and overall felt better than those who consume animals and animal products.
I'm still in process of trying to reach that page minimum. I hope it isn't hard trying to end it.

GMOs and Infertility: Can This Be Stopped?

My essay is going to be about the negative effects of genetically modified organisms and how they can cause infertility both in men and women. Some may blame it on their genes and assume it's hereditary but little do they know the actual cause of some cases of infertility is due to too much intake of genetically modified foods. GMOs are basically fake products made to look normal and real so the consumer can't tell the difference. In the United States, almost every grocery store carries products that are genetically modified. It's in our everyday lives so there is really no getting away from it, unless you grow your own vegetables and all of that good stuff. Growing your own products in my opinion is the more safer solution because you know exactly where your produce comes from and you know what you are going to be putting in your body. GMOs can contain unknown toxins, which may be very harmful to your body. We should start being more mindful of what we put in our bodies!

Obesity , Fast Food, and the Government

My paper is about why fast food companies targeting low income families and why doesn't the government fund programs to help low income families eat healthier. Obesity is growing in this country at a rapid rate, and before we can blame it on lack of exercise and fast food we have to first understand why. I'm exploring that why and what drives people to constantly want fast food. The part I'm sort of struggling with is how can we solve this problem. There's no real solution to ending obesity unless we get rid of fast food places period. I don't see that happening for a number of reasons. Fast food corporations have grown to be so big and they control part of the economy. Second, people have become so robotic when it comes to eating fast food. Third, there aren't enough people who see the problem and want to fix it. The government isn't going to fix the problem if the people don't complain. These low income families are stuck in the fast food cycle, because they can't afford to buy fruits and vegetables. Obesity is high amongst minorities and will continue to rise if we don't do something about it.

GMOs Causing Cancer

Okay guys so my research paper is primarily on gmos causing cancer. I'll be talking about what gmos actually are and how the chemicals and stuff cause cancer. When I was looking for articles and stuff I found a lot on rats having tumors caused by gmos, and basically a lot of rat studies. It was a lot of rats studies because those are the closes things to humans to use when doing research. It't weird though, it took forever to find articles on humans. I found some here and there but they didn't seem like creditable sources or they were just really short. There's really nothing more to say about my paper. It's like 3:44 and I need to get ready for work, not really trying to go though :/ , But yeah guys if you find any resources dealing with gmo food and causing cancer in human go ahead and link it. (:
-Vivian Shepherd

What's in our food and whyyyyy ://

My research paper's goal is to explore the additives that are being put in our food, what those foods are, why companies are basing their production off of those additives, and what those additives are doing to our bodies. So to put it in more simple terms, my research paper is about additives. What I hope to learn through this is how much of our food economy is dependent on additives and why... is it because it's cheaper or because it's what's making us go back and buy those products again, and besides the monetary value, what are those products costing our health? I also want to know how much of what we think is "healthy food" has been injected with chemicals we can't even identify. So far, I've found it fairly easy to identify sources that show the effects of additives and the proposed reasons why food corporations use them. However, I've found it more difficult to find a source that states when the additive movement began, why it began, and what "processed food" really means (because I've recently found sources labeling vegetables under that category so I'm not sure if I should take preservatives off of the additive category for my paper). I also thought it'd be interesting to see what the cost difference is between adding additives in our food versus not having them at all, if that type of source is available.
Should I stick to the health and food corporation angle or would effect on consumer budget also be a useful statistic?

Adverstiments and Eating disorders

My topic is about the effects that the image of people in advertisements influence the growth of eating disorders in the US. So far I've been able to come with a lot of factual information about the eating disorders and using them to show the significance of them. Ive been able to clarify the causes and some effects of eating disorders. I feel as if I am blunt and tell things how they are in my research report so far and I feel like that helps to give a rather serious and address the issue of eating disorders with a real emotion and in a way where I feel as if the reader will be able to understand my topic.
I do feel as if I'm not doing too good with structuring my report I feel like I keep moving certain sentences or even paragraphs from place to place to try to make things flow and it sort of stresses me out. I like what I've mentioned in my report so far but I feel like I could add more facts about ads and if I could get some help with that if anyone has a link that I could look at regarding facts on the effects on people from being shown these ads that make us want to be like other people.

GM Oh My Goodness

The topic that I choose for my research paper is what are the negative effects of GMO's on both the environment and human body and how can we stray away from using them. We know that GMO's are used profoundly in commercial agriculture although we do not really know what can happen from using them too much. Through my research I hope to find out exactly what the negative side-effects of GMO's are and if the benefits are really worth it. I would say that my research is falling short as of now because there is a lot to cover when talking about GMO's, there is no clear answer if good or bad to use them since there are many factors that you have to take into consideration. Some of those factors would be things such as pesticide and herbicide use as well as the final product of genetically modified versus non modified crops. It is difficult to find research on this topic and what I want to specifically write about because many of the articles I find go on to talk about information that wasn't what I really wanted. A question that I would like to open up to the class is what kind of information would be useful for the reader to know when on the topic of GMO's. Thanks buddies ;)

So my research project is basically on how vegetarianism affects the production of food in America.Through this project i'm trying to find out if the future of vegetarians will help end the production of meat based products.Well in my project i'm falling short in my introduction mainly because i was to focused on my thesis, which turned out to be super easy. I'm also falling short on my main topics. For example , " what does it mean for 'meat to be commercially farmed'? I basically skipped the main topics i felt would take the most research and the most explanation for. I am also stuck on trying to get the numbers for how much money a meat production company lose for 1 person a month.

What would be a good way to find the financial stats on a meat production company?

Should i just find the stats off of one meat production company? If so which one?

Help with the Corn

My topic is about how the government subsidizing crops specifically corn is leading to obesity and other health problems throughout the population. The US government pours billions of dollars into producing crops, which leads to an already overwhelming surplus of the crop. You can find traces of corn in most of the food you consume from most sweets that contain some kind of sweetener derived from corn. The meats you eat are basically made from corn, because that's what they feed to livestock even though their body's weren't made to eat corn. The oil you cook with is also derived from corn, it's really hard to escape this subsidized crop. What I hope to find through the research is how all this corn is affecting us humans that consume enormous amounts of it without really being conscious of it. What our body does to break down the corn and how it uses it throughout our body or maybe it doesn't. My research is falling short on things about how the body reacts to consuming corn and how it digests it and what it does with it does it store it as a fat things along those lines. I need help finding honestly just more articles, videos, or reports about subsidizing corn and how corn affects people, I'm willing to use anything that may help. Have you ever read the back of a something you eat and look at the ingredients in it? If you have, read the back and find which ingredient has originated from corn. Most of the snacks, sweets, beverages, meats, breads, and much more have something that came from corn.

my work in progress

I'm doing my research project on animals right for a better quality of life in the farm lot during their life span. Many animals are not getting an adequate quality of life. They are treated poorly and their living conditions are horrible.  I feel like they need a better life which is why i'm  doing this research. I hope to find more information on what a farm lot life is really like during this research. I want to know more about the effects caused by the living conditions of animals. I also want to learn whats best to eat when choosing food options. I feel like i'm falling short on the effects of low quality conditions. I need more articles on the topic of how not only are animals are affected, but us humans too. I'm gonna give information on what animals go through, but I feel like i need to seek further. I think I should also get more information on how quality of life for animals does make a difference in food production quality. If any of you guys have a topic similar to mine or have any articles that would help me out, just let me know. thanks. overall i'm still gathering information to add to my research. My struggle is going to be putting all my work together in the right place. ugh.

About my topic

My research topic is about how the economic class has an effect on obesity and how does the food industry play on this through marketing. For example, all social media apps like Snapchat, Twitter, Instragram, Pinterest and etc. Throughout my food research project I am explaining how many toddlers to adolescents are starting to get many eating disorders and obesity because of many myths that are thrown out there that if both parents were or are obese then statistics show that the percentages of the young child getting obese or have any other type of eating disorder is very high. Next I am starting to question why are so many stores advertising high prices of foods on healthy foods instead of the junk food if the country is so big on " Staying fit and always working out." I also feel where I am falling short is that I need more research and fall deeper in what I am doing for my topic. Like pinpointing more examples instead of making it a broad example. Also, what I am struggling with is that I do not want to constantly keep repeating myself throughout my five to six pages of my research paper. Because if I tend to do that and not catch myself then it will be harder for me to get that far throughout my paper. I need help showing comparison of prices of how much healthy products are so expensive than really bad food and how that has played an effect on our economy.

Food Deserts

The topic I chose for my research paper was to detect if health issues and poor nutrition, which affect mostly minorities, were caused from food deserts. Food deserts are places where the area where a family with low income, does not live within a mile of a grocery store or any healthy nutrients. People of color have shown to be the ones to live in food deserts and also demonstrate having the most health issues. Black people demonstrate having the highest obesity rates and Latino's coming second. These people of color also have low incomes and live nowhere near any healthy grocery store. Instead, what can be found near their homes is fast food restaurants and small convenience stores which only sell junk foods. It is shown that white people who do have high income do not suffer from any type of health issues and do not lack any grocery stores in their area which provide healthy, affordable foods. What I hope to find is how we can change these food deserts, which affect minorities, and see why they are affected in the first place. I hope to find ways to change these demographics and also see how their health would change once there is a change in their environment. It is hard to find recent journals of food deserts, however. The resources I find are either too short, or out of date. I have found some interesting articles which could help me, but they are science journals I would need to buy ( I do not have money at the moment). I would need to keep digging or browsing through the internet in order to find information about local food deserts in L.A County as well. What websites could I go to that can give me dated papers, with out having to buy them? Not only that but also local papers about L.A county?

My Food Research Topic

     The topic on my food research is based on the health concerns, relating to the food chemicals, additives, and bacteria left on animals that have been manufactured for meat.  These days, people have been enjoying their meals on the table, regardless of how it has been cooked.  The toppings or seasoning used to put in the food make it so attracting to the people that it becomes their favorite.  However, do they really know if what they are eating has been manufactured improperly, like vegetables not washed thoroughly, and maybe partially contaminated?  I hope to find in this research the process of food manufacturing and the different types of methods producers use to make food the best that it can be for the consumers.  It will include the history of food making, and people's opinions on the food that they taste, so that there would be a better understanding of how people feel about what they eat, and to provide a logical sequence, and maybe an evolution to the production phase to give off evidence in the production.  However, I really need to find out more about people's responses on their taste on food, and what they think producers are doing wrong about the food process affecting people's health.  I mean, there are many positives posted on blogs or interviews quoted on news articles, but I need to find the more controversial side of it.  Does anyone know any blogs or forums to show discussions based on concerns on food taste because of uncooked meat, or food that has been easily contaminated once the container has been open......or anything similar to these.  Thanks.

How's it going to end?

Basically, my paper is about the economic side of the food industry. Because pretty much everything that occurs in the food system (meat production/consumption, farming, advertising, obesity, etc) affects the American economy, I was wondering if the country could thrive financially if we did reform the way we ate. So could we continue to survive economically if we decreased our consumerism from corrupt factories and increased our organic food consumption?

There are a ton of facts saying that we'd actually make more money as an economy if we only bought from local farms and served less meat in cafeterias, but if big food conglomerates shut down, the economic flow would be even more affected. These conglomerates provide jobs, provide food for low income households, and provide food bought by almost everyone. Without this, where would we be? In my paper, I plan to address all the pros and cons of the idea.

But to be honest, I'm not really sure how to end the paper. After I compare all the positives and negatives, do I make a guess on whether or not we would survive economically? Am I supposed to say my personal opinion?... because there really is no way of knowing a true answer because it's all just a theoretical "if" question...

I feel like maybe I'm on the wrong track. Would there be a better way to put my information together or a better way to end it? I'm opened to any perspectives or suggestions because I'm stuck :) thanks

My Paper is Slowly Progressing

My topic focuses on why school lunch programs are failing and how can the government change it for more positive benefits? So far I have to focus my research on students wasting food, how the U.S. creates the cafeteria food in a cheap way and the health costs rising because of the food the students are consuming on a daily basis. I feel like I need to research more on how the school lunches are made and find the costs of the U.S. spend on making school lunches compared to other countries around the world. I’m having a hard time trying to fit all this research into a paper in the correct way, it’s just a tad confusing for me. One question I have is how to properly format this paper with all the information I have collected because I feel like there is so much that needs to go into this paper and I don't want to leave anything out. Eventually it will all come together, one last thing I feel that will make my paper stronger is finding the benefits the United States would receive if we ended up stopping school lunch programs all together. I think if I give three benefits and describe them in three different paragraphs, it will be easier and give more information, rather than putting it all in one paragraph. All in all with just a little more research my paper will keep progressing. If any of you have any other suggestions on what to research, please feel free to comment below!

Help with Cultured Meat

My topic is about cultured meat, which in itself is a fairly new topic that has recently arisen, and that's basically the source of my problems right now. Cultured meat is essentially meat grown in a lab from cells taken from a cow that are given nutrients that make the cells rapidly multiply until a hamburger patty is formed.

What I hope to find from my research is the effects on the environment that would occur if cultured meat was perfected. I'd also like to know how many more animals would be saved from the that goes on in meat packing industries and such, and how many people would actually be willing to eat cultured meat when it finally appears in grocery stores since it appears to be a controversial topic, and many of the people I've asked in person have said they wouldn't eat this kind of meat. Even when I first came across the topic, I wouldn't have hesitated to say no if asked to try cultured meat.

My research is basically falling short of everything involving cultured meat. It's such a new topic and most of the articles are from February 2017, and that's just last month. I would like anything and everything to do with cultured meat or in vitro meat; articles, videos, TED talks, if there are any involving cultured meat.

Actually, something I could add in to my research paper is a survey of how many of you guys would be willing to eat cultured meat when it comes out, or if you aren't willing to eat cultured meat and why? So a comment down below answering that question would be extremely beneficial!!

     My topic is related to the effects that food advertisements play on the general population. I have found a lot on childhood obesity thanks to a couple others who have that topic. I've made much ground on researching for this topic, so if anyone would like help and has anything related to mine, I would be more than happy to shoot you a share to a master page of all my sources and quotes, they might point you in the right direction for your paper.
 So far in my research I have gathered quite a ton of information on the physical health such as obesity, diseases, and BMI's of the average child, teen, and adult; however, I am now looking in to the mental health conditions to food advertising, so if anyone is doing their research paper on mental health and food, maybe you could help me? I feel as if there should be a lot on women's mental health regarding advertisements, but not necessarily food advertisements? I don't know, maybe I just need to rephrase the way I am typing it into Google. Also, my research on childhood obesity seems to be getting repetitive and even conflicting, is anyone else encountering that research from different sources seem to conflict? I'm sure that the most recent statistics should be the most accurate, but I suppose it would be helpful to compare with other sources.
     In conclusion, (before I ramble on and confuse myself further), I need help finding some solid resources on mental health and food, as well as other links to childhood obesity statistics.

[KC]: PoF Blog - Second Course

Due by Monday March 20th (6:00 pm)  

1 post, 1 comment

Complete at least one post where you seek out further information needed surrounding your topic. Write a 250-300-word post explaining your topic, what you hope to find through the research, and detailing where your research is falling short. What are you needing help finding? Pose a question to your classmates in order to get help. Also, complete at least one comment on someone else’s post.

gmo

thelugarcenter.org

this website is about what gmo stand out for and how will genetic modification of organism will affect our environment. I believe that gmo are not safe because i dont believe we should enhance any type of food i think it work like steroids because it is not natural. i believe that we should eat things that are natural because if change it our way of eating can change and even the way we look can affect us .  gmo has the potential of bringing sickness to our environment because messing with nature can have after affect and even though we havent heard of anyone getting sick it will happen soon once they keep enhancing plants and animals.

I just woke up from a 4 hour nap, I'm a little lost and a little late :/

http://www.yourdailyvegan.com/environment/

This link (what's the right term?? article??) is all about veganism and the change in the environment that could come from switching to a vegan diet. I'm eating INO while typing this, yikes. Basically, meat and dairy industries have horrible affects on the environment, in some ways I had no idea of. This articles touches base on 4 issues indulging in animal products causes: resource depletion, habitat loss, global hunger, and climate change. As the meat and dairy industry grow, the need for more land to raise these anamals is in higher demand. This causes a lack on land and the destruction of the Amazon to provide for these needs. We also lose more water and fossil fuels as these industries grow. The even crazier problem animal agriculture has is the affect on climate change. Whenever the causes of climate change are discussed, fossil fuels are the main issue. Methane is 25 to 100 times more destructive than CO2 and cows are producing 150 billion gallons of methane per day. Methane also has a global warming power of 86 times that of CO2. I really like this article because despite there being the same information you'll find anywhere on this topic, it's broke down pretty nicely (and there's a picture). Sorry this was 2 hours late, I have a problem with time management and incorporating my napping into good times. 

Eat Organic

https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/organic-foods.htm

As we continue to work on this unit of Food, we have learned that foods can come from many places and can change depending on how they are grown/treated. The question is: Are all of these modified foods healthy for us? As Americans, we tend to eat out a lot, from burgers to Chinese food. These places are located everywhere and aren't expensive, so why wouldn't we eat them. Sometimes, these foods are cheaper than healthy organic foods. Step One is to eat more fruits and vegetables, but find out how they were grown and where. Eating organic fruits and meats is much better than eating food grown with pesticides and chemicals. Eat foods that are grown naturally and don't cheat the system to produce more at a quicker time. The reason companies do this is because of money, and they don't care about anything other than the money. This article helps us learn why organic foods are better than conventionally-grown produce and animals. Organic foods bring us more benefits; for example, they contain all the nutritional values that they should contain unlike foods grown with pesticides, chemicals, or GMOs. Local foods are also better because it costs less to get to your refrigerator. They won't have to be transported long distances which costs more money, and the foods are fresher. A good way to buy local foods is to go to a farmer's market. If you buy food here, all the money goes directly to the farmer instead of things like marketing and distribution. Also, farmer's markets tend to have fruits and vegetables that taste better than the ones found in stores.

Internet Based Farming?

Researchers at MIT have changed the way that we traditionally see farming by creating Food Computers. Food computers are indoor, isolated containers that use blue LED lighting to grow crops and use sensors to monitor the plants. These sensors can detect and change a multitude of growing variables such as the light exposure, temperature, humidity, carbon-dioxide level, water cycle, and nutrient exposure.
The plants these food computers grow do not need soil either, they simply have the nutrients needed injected into the water that surrounds the roots or misted into the air. The algorithms used to grow the crops along with the software and data needed to run is freely shared so that users can improve on the Food Computer.
This type of technology leads to the question of what does this mean for the future of farming. In the future it might be possible for massive systems of food computers to grow our food and every plant come out similar if not the same because of the same procedure used for every crop. While the number of foods computers around the world is still few there are certainly plans to increase the numbers and size.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/embedded-systems/mits-food-computer-the-future-of-urban-agriculture

Childhood Obesity

http://www.obesity.org/resources/facts-about-obesity/childhood-overweight

One of the articles that I chose talks about the increase of childhood obesity in the past 30 years. Childhood obesity is something that should be taken seriously, the numbers are only getting higher and higher. One in five children in the United States has childhood obesity. A larger number of children that have childhood obesity are Hispanic and African American. As it is starting to affect a larger number of children, the children that already have it are now starting to get bigger. There are a great number of reasons why children are obese, for instance maybe their parents can't afford healthier foods, maybe the kid has poor body image, or maybe the kid have behavior or learning problems. The article list many more reasons on why kids may have childhood obesity. Having childhood obesity can lead to health complications later in life like Type 2 diabetes, asthma, or high cholesterol. Childhood obesity is a huge problem in the United States, we need to start fighting this problem. Some steps we can start to take in order to decrease childhood obesity numbers include having our children exercise more often, watching what are children eat, and force the government to lower the prices of fruits and vegetables. A big reason why children are obese is because families can't afford to buy fruits and vegetables, so instead they buy fast food for their children. We can change the prices of fruits and vegetables buy forcing the government lower the prices. If we take it one step at a time, I believe that we can defeat childhood obesity.

Why Not Eat Insects?

     We all know that eating insects can be really disgusting & pathetic. However, 2 billion people consume insects on a regular basis. Yes, in fact, it is highly suggested that the other 5 billion people should convert to being insect-eaters because it has a lot of benefits, surprisingly.

     As it turns out, insects are mostly eaten in Southeast Asia while  people over there seems perfectly fine eating insects, the remaining five billion are mostly on the opposite end of the "like spectrum." That's completely normal, we just aren't used to the idea of it. In fact, looking at population growth alone, the global population will reach 9 billion people in 2050 and according to this, we will need to produce twice as much food than we do today & this is when we'll realize that the food production will be declining, in the future I should say. At this point, I thought to myself,"Are insects really the future of food?" Are we able to adapt in this new tradition that is entirely different to us than normal?  Are we ready for this? How will this affect our diet & routine? Well, I kind of believe this will happen because how have we not ran out of food supplies to feed the whole world? Only time will tell because nature might be the answer. 

     A lot of you might not know that insects are "a highly nutritious and healthy food source with high fat, protein, vitamin, fiber and mineral content." That is considered to be a balanced diet for us. Also, "insects can feed on organic by-products such as human and animal waste, which may help reduce environmental contamination." That is something to think about. The risk of having infections are unlikely. Knowing that it can help the environment, consolidate your diet & pull people out of poverty, would you eat it?    

http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/labcoat-life/why_should_we_eat_insects


- Kyle Regaliza