Novella Carpenter

I went to the book reading for Farm City. The book is about the urban farm. The talk was quite interesting. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the talk. Novella lives in Oakland, CA aka the ghetto. She started planting a garden on some land she was squatting on. Then she eventually started raising chickens, pigs, and bunnies. She was growing a lot of her own food and providing a lot of her own meat. I found her quite funny because she is really crass and honest about her thoughts. Her stories were funny and really strange. She said because feed was so expensive she started dumpster diving for leftover food. This provided most of her feed. Eventually she bought some pigs to give them the really gross stuff that she and her boyfriend would find. The pigs loved the slop and grew quite fat. She also started raising goats as an animal she didn't have to kill and could use them for milk. Overall, I thought she was very interesting. I have my own personal desires to grow my own food and even small livestock. I am not sure if I will be in the country or in the city when this happens but I look forward to finding out. Urban farming is on the rise apparently so I will not look like a complete weirdo.

Food Traditions

My family does not really have any food traditions. We do the ususal American family stuff like turkey on thanksgiving. My family make great candied sweet potato pie. We make Christmas cookies in December, although they should really just change the name to holiday cookies because they have nothing to do with Christ. My family does love food though. There is food at every family event we have. In fact there is a lot of food at every family event we have. As far as religious food traditions go we have none. To my knowledge there are no Christian food traditions. If anything we should celebrate pass over with our Jewish brothers and sisters. I think the only tradition relating to food in Christianity is communion but that is just crackers and grape juice. Overall, my family does not have any food traditions we just appreciate food and look for any excuse to eat it in excessive amount. 

Shawarma King

I went to Shawarma King for the first time and I must say I was quite pleased. If there is one thing I enjoy about this great country we live in, it is that there is almost any food imaginable. I have never had Lebanese food before so I did not know what to expect. In fact I know nothing about Lebanon. My only knowledge about the country is that I had a mean Lebanese English teacher in middle school and that there was a terrible attack on a Marine Corps barracks in the country a few decades ago. However, I must say the food is pretty good. I did not know what Falafal was but it tasted really good. When I hear chick peas I think hippie food, but they were good especially slathered in garlic sauce. I had the chicken sharma for dinner. It was a chicken wrap with some sort of special sauce. It was supposed to have pickles in it, but I requested there absence because pickles are gross. Overall the food was good and well priced. I will be back there some time I am sure. 

Climate Change

            I thought the professor who gave a presentation on climate change did a good job. I will be honest I am a big sceptic to global warming. That being said I learned a lot about climate change and it made sense to me. I think we are on the path to destroying our planet out of greed and apathy. Look at all the things we learned this semester about how horrible food is. If people will design products/food that will destroy human life slowly but surely than why would the planet be any different. I never really thought about it but the unraveling of our planet's climate makes perfect sense biblicaly. Revelation is very explicit in the warning about the end times and world phenomenons are often mentions. There will be draught, and earthquakes, and storms of great proportion. This was forecasted by the speaker and is forecasted by God as well. Sorry guys not trying to give you the Bible 411 just drawing some interesting parallels. Overall, I enjoyed the presentation and really learned a lot about climate change and clean energy. If we can make clean energy that provides equal to more jobs for the economy and replaces destructive means, I say sign me up. 

Pizza

http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/8o83j9/tower-record

The following clip is from Jon Stewart's The Daily Show. I think it is a funny clip making fun of Chicago style pizza. What i find interesting is that often we take pride in our food. Food is not just something that we eat but can sometimes be a part of our identity. In this case Jon Stewart is a New Yorker and believes that New York has the best pizza. Furthermore, he rips on Chicago style pizza calling it a bunch of crap. Food is not just sustenance in this country but some foods are a part of America, like pizza, or burgers, or other kinds of food that our country is know for. 

Jesse

Jesse is kind of a sad book. It is mainly about a Mexican boy named Jesse who lives with his brother in an apartment in Fresno. Both boys are real young still in their teens but they moved out really early together because of their alcoholic step father. The book is rather poetic as the author makes a lot of easy comparisons, metaphors and similes. The book is sad in that the boys are very poor. They live off of what they make in the fields on the weekend and their dead fathers social security check. The whole book has an environment of poor, dingy, dirty but with an odd sense of mild happiness. This book is far different than Stir It Up. The boys in this story lead a much less fortunate life than young Anjali. The book seemingly has no plot, or at least not one that is exciting enough to realize but is a very easy read and some how keeps the reader engages. I will be interested to see how the book ends. 

Stir It Up

Stir It Up turned out to be a nice book. Anjali enters the Food Network competition. She is the youngest of the contestants and does really well. She ended up having to lie her parents for a while about the big test that she was supposed to take. Finally she admits that she did not take the test and that she entered into the contest. Her dad gets really mad at her and tells her that cooking turned her into a liar and grounds her from and special cooking aside from working in the restaurant. Much to Anjali's surprise her mom, dad, and grandma ease up on her and realize that they should have supported her passion all along. Anjali finds out that she has become a finalist in the contest. She goes with her grandma to the finale but does not win. She feels really sad about loosing but her family cheers her up. The book as a really good message of life being a journey and failure being the necessary stepping stones to success. 

Stir It Up

Stir it up is about a girl named Anjali from who is Indian. Her dad owns a restaurant and she cooks in the restaurant and helps out. She is only 13 years old. Anjali was born in America. She loves food and loves to cook. She gets to experiment with cooking all the time because she works/lives in an environment where she has access to those types of things. But, her family does not really support her cooking endeavours so there is a mild amount of frustration and secrecy. The only one who really encourages her in cooking is her grandmother. Her grandmother takes her to cooking classes and that is where she learns about a cooking contest for Food Network. She enters in the contest and is accepted to the next round. But the next round is on the same day as an important test that her dad wants her to take because he feels like her education is more important than her cooking. He is scared cooking wont take her far in life.

Hunger Games

The Hunger Games was a fantastic book. I was on the edge of my seat the whole way to the end. I don't even think we had to finish the book but I could not stop. I have seen the movie but the book was truly better. I thought the whole idea of the games was both disturbing and brilliant. The Capital used the games to punish the districts for their rebellion. There is no better way to punish people than to take their sons and daughters and force them to slaughter each other in the most cruel of ways while you are forced to watch on your TV at home unable to help or stop the danger. The whole thing is really quite sick but smart if your a sadistic government. I think the set up of the Hunger Games is similar to that of many countries. The government and rich live lavishly while the majority of their people live in poverty and destitution. The games were also very close in resemblance to the gladiatorial games from Roman history. The book ends kind of badly though. There is such a big cliff hanger. You find out the the games have only just began for Katinis and Peeta after they win the 74th Hunger Games. They embarrassed the Capital and where going to pay...

Ukraine Crisis, War, and America: A Rambling by Aaron

I have been intently watching this Ukraine fiasco unravel and I find it quite troubling. More troubling is the polls I see online, asking if we should put boots on the ground, and the secret rumblings and rumors coming from capital hill. I think this country has neither the will nor the continued resources to go to war with Russia in even the smallest of capacities. I look at the last three wars we have fought in--Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan. All three, in my opinion, saw no clear victory. While I did and still do support a majority of decisions made by the Bush administration after 911, I feel strongly that we do not fight wars the way we ought to. If we, as a country, are going to pick a fight with another country, we need to be all in and ready to win. I am tired of men in ties in D.C. making poor decisions or not having the moral fortitude to make the hard decisions necessary in war that ultimately results in the pointless loss of our sons and daughters overseas. I would very much appreciate if we did less world policing and a little more focusing on the internal war here at home. America is slowly decaying, and we will soon reach a point of no return if we don't focus on the issues and make real changes to the way we do things. Both parties have become childish in their political endeavors and care more about re-election than about the people they were elected to protect and serve. And the American people grow more apathetic each day as they sit, idle, while things fall apart. Russia is a formidable adversary; they have been since after WWII. We, as a country, need to take necessary steps to protect ourself from our enemies. If someone wants to do something militarily about Ukraine, let it be Europe. It is their back yard that Putin has decided to play in and will affect them before it affects us. Ukraine tried to join the EU some time ago and they were denied. Now sometime later Ukraine's people are divided and trying to latch on to someone to survive. Maybe if Ukraine had joined the EU, some of their people would not be so apt to join Russia. We should not pretend that we are friends with Russia, because we have not been for some time. Heck, two decades ago, we were training and arming Afghan soldiers to fight Russia. The same armed and trained Afghan soldiers we are currently fighting in the 21st century. Boy, isn't hindsight 20/20! 

I love my country very much and would have given my life for her gladly. But, I am distressed about her current state. America needs her edge back. She needs her dignity and grace back, because somewhere along the way she has become beaten up, bruised, and weary. She walks in a lie, avoiding the truth and veiling her shortcomings. She needs to face the truth, reflect and reorganize, and commit to the road to recovery. This country needs a little rest and rejuvenation for a decade or two before we continue to play world police. 

http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/2014/03/07/bill-oreilly-america-decline
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/2014/03/04/bill-oreilly-how-handle-putin

A Sinking Ship

As I read chapters 14 through 20 I was intently focused. Chapter fourteen rather grossed me out when it spoke of all the horrible things the packers did to the meat. Using science to take old meat and make it look good. And science has only gotten better so who knows what they do to our food now. The book spoke of what they do with the bad meat and how it often gets turned into sausage. All I could think about while I read this chapter was the salami I have in my fridge and how I know nothing of what is in it or how it was made. The story really turned for the worst and kept me reading when Ona went missing and then we find out her boss is doing her dirty. I was greatly disapointed that Jurgis did not killer Conner! And then the readers former fears where realized when he is sent out of prison to indeed find out that the house they had purchased was a scam and they had been evicted. And THEN to find out his wife is dying and stumble upon that mean dutch lady who did not have an ounce of sensitivity in her. I am quite sure I would have ended up strangling her and going back to jail. Needless to say I will be finishing the book. I just have to know what becomes of the main character, as his life just seems to be a sinking ship bound for the depths of the perilous sea.

The Jungle

The Jungle, has been an interesting book so far. I am slowly getting pulled in and attached to the characters. I can not personally relate to being immersed into a culture of which I do not understand nor speak the language of but I can only imagine the fear and unease that would come with that. I can only imagine what it would have been like for Jurgis and his family if they did not run into there old friend who had been in America for a long time. Luckily for them he showed them the ropes and helped them settle in. I found the part where they were going to buy a house to be very interesting. They were so responsible with what little they had and gave great thought to their purchase before making it. I compare that to the housing collapse very recently in the early 2000s. It is quite common in America to buy a home but even today if things go south you can be financially ruined. With the recent recession many families lost a lot to include their home and almost six years later things are not getting better all that quick. So I really found this part of the story interesting and relevant to today. This book is slowly working the reader into how gross the meat packing industry is and I fear it will only get worse. In fact the whole town seems to be a slum all owned by a few wealthy people who probably live towns away in prosperity.

A Modest Proposal II

In this great country we have a Democracy. This form of government allows for the people to vote representatives into office to represent their interests. These elected officials then guide policy toward what their voters want. In the Congress their are Senators from each state who represent those states and hold a majority of the power. These senators go to Washington D.C. to vote on bills and pass legislature. Many of them have to travel often. This means that they have to stay in hotels or apartments or lofts that are most surely paid for with tax dollars. Being that America has come up on harder times financially we need to save a dollar every where we can. Furthermore we have the best elected officials in the world. Everyone elected into office is honest and true and only in it to serve the public the best they can. There is no one in Congress who has ties to big business that affects their decision making or who vote in a way that will profit themselves. Instead, they are always looking out for the voter. Because of this the American people adore their politicians and would do anything for them. This brings me back to the issue of tax funded housing arrangements for the politicians in D.C. What I propose is that we start an initiative to move many lower income families to Washington D.C. We would restructure Capital Hill and its surrounding area to provide homes for some of the poorest in our country. Being a country who has politicians who only care about the people and do not serve their own interests I am sure no one would object to an initiative that would house more of our poor and needy. Next I propose that the traveling politicians be housed by their constituents for the duration of their stay in D.C. Each time they come to Washington they would stay with a different family. The family housing them would be responsible for providing food and shelter to their politician This will cut down on the burden of spending money on food and housing for the hard working Senators and representative who do not live in the area. The families who are hosting the politicians will have no problem nor objections to this idea I assume because they adore the elected officials that are in our great and uncorrupted government. And would only want to give back to them what they have given in their service to our country. This initiative would allow the politicians to sleep where their voters sleep and eat what their voters eat and live like their voters live. As for the families housing the politicians they would consistently know how hard it is to do the work the politicians do and all the tough decisions they make in the very best interest of the people. Since our government is so transparent our elected officials will have nothing to hide from the hosting families and will only be treated with respect and hospitality because they are such honest and noble people. Thus, I see no reason that anyone should object to my room and board initiative. As it is a  way for the voters to give back a little to those public servants who give so much to them.

Card Board Boxes

I feel like this is the story of many immigrant workers in America. My best friend in the whole world Jorge grew up in Washington state. He is Mexican along with his whole family. All of them are legal US citizens. Jorge's dad is a hard working orchard farmer and his mom runs a small business. His parents work very hard. When Jorge would come back from leave (we were both in the Marines) he would say he had a good trip but he had to work a lot. Now I don't want to generalize but it seems to be a Latino norm for the whole family to work very hard and pitch in to help the family. That is what the story made me think of. It was unfortunate how little they all had. The family in the story had so little stuff it all fit into the car. I know that I have enough stuff just for me to fit into a large Uhaul truck and then some. I was very saddened that Jimenez finally was able to go to school only to have to move to another place. He could have done very well at his school with the help of the teacher. Who knows he could have finished his education and received a scholarship to college and then helped his family out of poverty. But instead he will have to continue to move place to place. This story makes me wonder how many immigrant families in America have to live similar life styles.

The Family

I found "The Family," to be a very sad story. I was very surprised that such tragedies would happen in a country so close to our own. I could not believe that the Indians worked in such horrible conditions and did nothing about it for a while. I was appalled at the fact that they were treated like slaves. The events of this story are not too long ago. The land owners and government of this country clearly had zero regard for human life. They only cared about the profit of what their land yielded. The government was corrupt and did not care about the people and in fact only tricked/forced them into voting in wealthy white politicians who would look our for the interests of the land owners. I was absolutely appalled at the story of the woman being chopped up because she would not cheat on her husband with an over privileged land owner who just wanted her as a sex slave. And then the mayor did not even have the body disposed of. I think what disturbs me the most is that the United States contributed to this corrupt government to protect the interests of the United Fruit Company. In America we like to view ourselves as these great champions of democracy. After 911 we had an axe to grind in the Middle East and I can say that I honestly supported the war, I was just not found of the where we went and how we fought. But what I am getting at is that we went in to set up a democracy in Iraq. We wanted to bring a stable form of government to the Iraqi people and save them from the atrocities of Saddam Husein. But here it is only a few decades prior to 2001 and there are horrible atrocities happening in a neighboring country.

A Modest Proposal

What the heck? Let me first just share my initial thoughts. I was reading along and thinking that a legitimate proposal was about to be made concerning the poor and starving people of Ireland. You can bet I was very surprised when Swift proposed the purchase and consumption of babies. Quite frankly just reading about his proposal made my stomach upset. I can not even wrap my brain around eating a person. And eating an infant is an even further stretch than an adult. As I read "A Modest Proposal," I pictured Swift as with the up most seriousness proposing his idea in all sincerity. I could here the calmness and seriousness of his voice in my mind. This is what gave me the creeps the most. The reading was hard to follow as it is several hundred years old and we do not talk that way. Also the math was hard to follow but I believe he was generous in his calculations. After some pontification over the ending of his proposal I think that Dr. Swift was not serious. I would like to think he was trying to be clever in an obscure way. It is possible that Jonathan is a true patriot for his country and was fed up with how impoverished Dublin/Ireland was becoming under the rule of England. For all I know he hoped the very idea of it would sicken the English and have them running scared. Overall I think there was some deeper point to this proposal in a sort of way that was pointing out just how bad things had gotten. Or maybe Dr. Swift was a loon but I don't think he was so I will stick with the former.

Loaves & Fishes

Loaves and Fishes of Kalamazoo is a charitable food distribution center. They were founded in 1982 and have been serving the needs of the county for over three decades. Loaves and fishes was started by a group of churches. Their mission is to feed the hungry of Kalamazoo and be accountable with what they have. I think Loaves and Fishes does a great service to the hungry families of Kalamazoo. Initially I assumed that this organization was still church sponsored. I was wrong and that is not the case. In addition to spreading the gospel the church has an obligation to help the poor and needy. So when I read the website I linked it to its founding and thought to myself "oh good churches doing what they are supposed to do, cool, check in box." Wrong! I was blown away to find out that Loaves and Fishes went nonprofit some time ago and operates off of the donations of the community. I am surprised at the local people and local business' generosity to their city. The facility that I visited was fairly new. While I am not an architect or engineer or even construction worker I assume this facility cost several million dollars. And it is just one of many facilities. That means that the people of Kalamazoo County collectively and despite their many different beliefs and experiences have a heart for the starving in our community. I was also impressed at what lengths Loaves and Fishes goes through to make their clients feel good and not ashamed. I am overall impressed and proud of my city from this experience. I am a relatively conservative man. That being said I am not a fan of government. Realistically I am slowly disliking both political parties more and more every day. I think our political system on all fronts is becoming corrupt and unsuitable. That being said I appreciate a community taking care of its own with little to no government assistance. I am not trying to demonize government welfare programs I am simply staying that in my limited knowledge I think when people pull together and do good for their common man that is the best form of welfare we can hope for. I would personally like to see or become more aware of more organizations such as this one. I did not realize the depth and magnitude of hunger in Kalamazoo. I am young and have a limited amount of wisdom. So, I struggle with where I stand on certain issues. I love my country and am a patriot. That being said it troubles me that one of the greatest countries in the world would have such a real struggle with hunger. That one of the richest countries in history cant seem to get it right. It is both reflective of our political system and our culture. To hear that many young children rely on schools for their meals upsets me and I don't even know who to be mad at about it. All that being said, there is a great deal of responsibility on us as individuals to do something with that information. I am not sure what, I am merely talking out loud. I could volunteer more than I already do of course that is always an option. This whole experience just reminds me why I want to become a teacher. Money comes and goes and obviously is not why people go into teaching. I want to be a teacher to serve my community and the children in it and all that that entails. So I guess for me that's a main goal and it is what I do from now until then and in the future. 

The Dinner of Trimachio

The Dinner of Trimachio is a reading about a dinner party. Trimachio is a Roman citizen and the host of a dinner party. The party is set during the reign of Nero. As I read the story I found it really weird. The writer made note of the wealth that the host was obviously trying to display at his home and on his person. I was very confused about the nature of the party. It would seem to me that the guests were not close friends of Trimachio. There were a few points were he was rude to his guests and they were rude to him. When I host a dinner at my house it is with friends and family. I like the people I am serving. The dinner seemed to never end. There was a gross amount of food. If I recount right there was like three rounds of appetizers, three beasts of various forms, mainly pig. And then like two desserts. That is way to much food to eat. Also if Rome's wealthy ate like they did in this story and ate like that often they probably did not live long. The meal seemed to be heavy on meat, wine, and pastries. I was just kind of put out by the whole story. The people at the dinner party seemed of poor quality. They were all very proud and egocentrically snobs. Overall the story was an interesting look into a different time and culture and how they ate.

Food Inc

Food Inc. was a really good movie. I thought it would be kind of slow going and lame, but it definitely kept my interest all the way to the very end. I was already being extra cautious with the meat I by in the store but now I feel as if the grocery store cannot be trusted. I had a general idea of how bad the meat industry was but I did not think it was as bad as it is. I was completely blown away when they said that since the 1950s the number of slaughter houses went from over a thousand to just 13 currently. 13 what the heck!!!! Eventually what little choices there are in the store will all be gone if we as consumers do not make a conscious effort to change the food industry. Also I was very upset about the soy bean company who now dominates 90 percent of the market and then those greedy no good fools put that poor old man out of business. I would really like to see more farms like the one who did everything the way God intended. And then the USDA had the nerve to try an tell him he was unsanitary. Yes meat out of a factory is so much better. Just for the record factory and food should not be near each other in a sentences. I would like my food to come from the place that it is grown. Overall Food Inc was a great movie and does a very superb job of informing the people and lifting the veil on our food industry here in America. 

Food Mafia

To summarize a majority of "Food Politics," I would say that the food industry runs their businesses at times like the mafia. They wine and dine with the politicians, creating friendships through gifts, frequent social encounters, united interests, bribes, and pretty much what ever it takes. But, if these friendly tactics do not work they will turn to more abrasive tactics such as suing your pants off. Like many things in the world the food industry looks so harmless at first, but if you find yourself past the veil you have entered a den of wolves. Money drives these companies to do what ever they must to continue to make it. To them it is just business. The food industry mainly uses lobbying to influence the government. They do this in three ways: promoting the views of special interest groups, attempting to influence government laws and policies affecting them, and communicating with the government on laws and policies of interest. The last two seem the same but one is more for laws that are coming out and the other is for doctoring up laws to benefit the industry and government. The government does little to limit lobbying because they benefit from the research and technical advise that is offered through these well funded companies. There is a lot of money exchange between the government and lobby groups who work for the food companies. There is hard money and soft money. In a nut shell there are a lot of rules dictating hard money which is normally in the form of a donation. Soft money is less documented and in larger amounts. There is also what is called a "revolving door," which is the transfer of jobs between lobbyists and government officials. Pretty much one day you are a lobbyist the next day you have made it on the inside to benefit the company you where working for. Or, one day you are a government official who works with lobbyists and realized they make more money than you and are less restricted so you use your "friendship" with certain interest groups to get a job and then use your former government contacts to help you achieve that job. Oh politics at its finest. Overall the facts in this book are appalling but surly not limited to the food industry.

Food Politics

Food Politics by Marion Nestle is a very informational book so far. It is a very dry book however. So far it is confirming simple world truths. Money corrupts. The government likes money and capitalism and botches at least half of everything they do. So far it would seem as I read that the USDA is not doing what it was intended to do. In my opinion the United States Department of Agriculture was created to regulate the market and to inform the average American of what is going on with their food. Instead, like many things they have become to political and are secretly in bed with many huge food business. Because the USDA is a government agency they are sustained through elected officials. So, the elected officials cannot rock the boat to much as to anger large corporations that have huge amounts of money behind them. If you upset big business to much when you are in the government those business more often then not help you out the door, or at the very least make you job much more difficult. Nestle gives the reader her book in a nutshell and I will try to do the same in my own words. The food industry creates massive amounts of food. In fact they create to much food, however, there are only so many people to eat it. Wall Street demands they continue to grow fiscally so the industries process food to maximize profit by adding more fluff to raw materials to make the raw materials go further. In turn the food becomes less healthy. Then the food industry markets in the most genius of ways all their food to us. They promote an "Eat more mentality." Then they use all their money to lobby the government and shut them up about the scary truths to the food they sell. Another point that Marion makes that I really like is that the food industry puts all the blame of obesity on the consumer. The industry says that consumers should exercise  self control. I think every one would agree that obesity in part is blamed on self control. However, it were just self control than fixing the problem would be rather easy. But, in reality the food environment makes it very difficult to eat healthy. We have reached an age where you have to of a degree in science to really understand what is in your food. We need a food environment that makes healthy eating through self control easy because there are so many truly healthy alternatives out there.

Me and Food

Growing up, my mom always tried to make me eat vegetables and fruits to maintain some semblance of a healthy, balanced diet. I suppose some of that sank in. I am young and in my mid-twenties; needles to say, my body needs to last for a lot longer. I try my best to eat healthy and make good food choices. I have always been skinny--please don't hate me--so I can eat whatever I want without consequence. Yes, I know some of you are spitefully thinking, "Ha! Wait until you are older. It won't last forever."

Anyway, I digress. Aside from my love for pasta and sweets, I thought I was doing an all right job of eating healthy--enter my fiance. Victoria showed me, against my will, a grim world filled with "healthy food that is not healthy." Since then, I have looked at food differently. I buy whole grain noodles and organic milk. I shop at farmers' markets when possible to get locally-grown, fresh fruits and vegetables. I look for meat in the grocery store that is not filled with growth hormones and other nonsense. I buy fruit snacks that don't contain red dye in them and stay away from soda. I even buy special applesauce. Yes, even applesauce can be unhealthy when you look at the nutritional information, and it is filled with a ton of corn syrup to make it sweeter. I shop with tact and vigilance. As if it were not hard enough to stay on budget already, add trying to buy better and healthier food into the mix. I stay away from fast food as much as possible. It just seems so difficult to find the time to eat healthy and exercise on top of everything else. 

Family Table

I love food! My favorite food is Italian: pizza, spaghetti, lasagna, fettuccine, the list goes on. Growing up we almost always sat down for dinner. My mom would make a full meal consisting of some kind of meat, with a vegetable, and additional side. Usually there was some sort of bread to go with the meal. We all drank milk with our meal as well. Sitting down with my family for dinner is one of my favorite traditions growing up. No television, no cell phones, no distractions really. We all sat down at the table and where forced to fellowship and share with each other. My mom was seldom happy if we all sat silently and ate dinner in an aura of awkward antisocial behavior. I look forward to starting my own family and carrying on this good mannered practice of breaking bread and sharing our day with one another. When you look at the family model in modern America it seems broken and disconnected. Eating a meal together and loving on each other is a great way to strengthen families and maintain relationships.

The 21st century is a scary place when it comes to food. Our food is no longer transparent or simply grown. What you see is not always what you get, and America is the number one offender. Gone are the days of natural, home-grown goods. Farmers' markets are a dying breed. Grocery stores are full of distorted, manipulated, manufactured goods that are the equivalent of wolves in sheep's clothing. Carrots are dyed a brighter, more appealing orange. Chickens are injected with hormones to increase their rate of growth. Entire meals are placed in boxes and filled with enough salt to melt an ice burg. And if you think the grocery store is scary, you'll cringe at what fast food restaurants have been doing for the last two decades. Overall, it is a war out there and only the knowledgeable can win.