I'm Lovin' It

This weeks post brought me to a very popular and common fast food restaurant..........McDonalds. It can't get any worse than this, health-wise that it. As for the money I still had in my pocket was a different story.
I had just gotten out of work Saturday afternoon at around 4 o'clock when my co-worker mentioned that she was hungry but didn't want to spent a lot of money or wait too long because she had to go work again at 5 o'clock. As you can see, a compromise was not at difficult to get to when it comes to choosing a location.

My order was a number 7 medium Angus Mushroom and Swiss meal that was accompanied by medium sized fries, a dollar worth of chicken mcnuggets, and a bottle of water. I always make sure to drink water with whatever meal I eat especially if the meal is already stuffed with a lot of calories, mostly because I want to minimize the potential calorie count if I were to get a cup of soda. I also had two sides each of ketchup and sweet and sour sauce along with my meal
I wonder what the next weekend may bring? ;-D

"Barbecue the Way it Oughta Be!"

For my first post of my blog project i decided to go a little out of my comfort zone when it comes to the things that I eat. This would definitely have to be my highlight of the weekend.

When I awoke at around 2:00pm on Sunday, October 17, and realized that it’s was hardly time for breakfast. Still, all I decided to have was a bowl of cereal. Froot Loops to be exact. I ate my cereal and went up to my room to get dressed and ready before I head to a dinner date. My date was set at 6:00pm, and I decided not to eat anymore until then, to preserve my appetite.

When I arrived at the place “Smokin’ Als” of Massapequa Park, NY, I was met with the sound of jazz music playing, and portraits of dancing pigs. “How ironic“, I thought. These are the very pigs that we read about in class, that don’t sound as happy as they seem in these murals. What was most confusing was the fact that we were at a steak/pork house with a motto that says, "Barbecue the Way it Oughta Be!".

I ordered a burger thinking it was just enough to fill me up until I can eat some of my date’s food, since she never finishes. However, when this burger arrived it definitely lived up to its name of the “Mile High Burger.” Packed with mushrooms, American cheese, and a 12oz. piece of steak, it was just enough food to make me nauseous from taking that one…last…bite. My date ordered the half rack of “Monster Ribs.” One thing I found out from this place is that they offer big portions, for a reasonable price. These ribs seemed to have belonged to a cow of some sort, and were paired with a mountain of mash potatoes, mac n’ cheese, and a square of corn bread. It was enough to fill us both up, plus a doggy bag that serves us both for the next day.

I paid no mind to what I was eating, and since this place had no calorie count on the menu it didn’t cross my mind. I would recommend this place to people if they are very hungry, and have a reasonable amount of money. I found it a bit embarrassing to take pictures of such a monstrous meal, but I stayed true to my report and snapped away.

Response #2: Problem-Posing Assignment

1.      The problem that caught my interest in this chapter was that in 1941, the working conditions of Disney’s factory was not all that great. Hundreds of Disney cartoonists went on strike because they wanted to express some support for the Screen Cartoonists Guild. The problem is that Disney’s response to the union betrayed the employee’s sensibility. He fired anyone who was compassionate with the union that only wanted better working conditions. Disney tried really hard to break apart the union in many ways. This problem soon reflects a larger social issue. Are employees allowed to make labor unions in order to demand better conditions without jeopardizing their jobs?

2.      This is a quote from Walt Disney during the height of the labor tensions at his studio, in which he provides a solution to the labor union’s problems, he says “Don’t forget this, it’s the law of the universe that the strong shall survive and the week shall fall by the way, and I don’t give a damn what idealistic plan is cooked up, nothing can change that”.(37) By the quotation Disney believes that those who work hard and don’t complain will get greatly rewarded as oppose to someone who doesn’t because they will just end up getting fired and losing everything. Disney states that the solution to the workers problems is not forming labor unions, but in “a good days work”.(37)

3.      I can personally relate to this problem because as a swimming instructor, my working conditions are not always fair. The reason I say this is because for my job I have to be inside a swimming pool for hours at a time, teaching several classes. Sometimes the water is unbearable cold and would make me shiver to the bone. When I would leave the facility, I would already be showing signs of catching a cold. My problem relates to the chapter because I don’t believe that I’m getting paid enough for what I do and in the conditions I’m willing to do it in.

4.      There are two different types of solutions made in the chapter. One from the workers point of view and one from the view of Walt Disney. The workers solution to better working conditions was simple forming labor unions to make their demands heard. The solution of Disney was to fire any employee that supported the unions, rough up workers on the picket line with private guards, impose a phony company union, bring in an organized crime figure from Chicago to rig a settlement, and also accuse the leaders of the Screen Cartoonist Guild of being Communists. Fortunately, all of Disney’s efforts failed and the solution made by the workers finally worked out when Disney acceded to the union’s demands.

5.      Seeing as how the solution of the labor unions worked, there is no need for me to make them another one, so I will be putting myself in the shoes of Walt Disney by inventing my own solution to his problem. If I were given unlimited resources and connections, my solution would be to try to pass a law that would prohibit any and all assembling of labor unions. That way if anyone opposed the law they would have to face getting arrested. I would try to work alongside the government so that my outcome would be having a content company that doesn’t complain about their working conditions.    

Food-ographs

            The beauty of music and art has intrigued me in many ways in my daily life. In recognizing the beauty of life I realized that beauty can be found in anything, in this case food. When I was told to pick out a subject for food ethics, I turned to the art of food by picking up my camera and a plate. The following is reasons why I chose my idea and what inspired me to do so.

            I am what some people might consider as a health nut. I aim to select the right foods and try my best to exercise regularly in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. My idea came from the suggestion of nutritionists and what they advise for their clients. Many nutritionists have advised people to write down what they eat daily. In doing so one might reconsider what they eat because writing it down helps the person realize how much they eat daily. My idea was to put a twist to this boring activity. I do not like writing, but I found that picking up a camera and simply clicking away at what I eat will be a helpful and simple tool. I will not be reading, but rather seeing my daily food choices. This will also allow me to exercise my visual memorization, because I am one of the people who can remember things by seeing them.

            I have tried this project personally before, but I hope to achieve different outcomes. I will be reviewing my “food-ographs” daily, and doing so will help me pick healthier foods that are also more appealing through the lens of a camera. I usually aim mostly for healthy foods, but I admit that there is always room for improvement. My focus will be expanding the visual art of my food journal. Good food makes good pictures, most of the time. In thinking about the journal as a whole, it will help me pick food-ographs that will compliment the journal (meaning if I begin with healthy foods, I won’t just throw in a picture of a pizza because not only will it throw off my diet, but my journal as well.)

            My plan is to start off a week of regular, “I-don’t-care” type of diet. I will take pictures of everything I eat. Then within the next week I will put in an effort to begin eating healthy. I am hoping that my choices prove to show that healthy foods are visually more appetizing as well. I aim to take beautiful pictures that will also show the ingredients of what makes the food healthy. I plan to use my father’s professional camera while executing this experiment.

            With this I hope to expand people’s ideas of what healthy foods are. I hope to inspire those who don’t eat healthy to begin to. I hope to captivate the eyes of the hungry and unhealthy people by taking appetizing pictures of healthy food. I will be sorting out the healthy foods with the unhealthy food in two different folders within the camera.

            The simplicity of simply taking pictures of foods will be easy to achieve. I hope to inspire many others to make a healthy turn in their eating habits, as well as turning them on to the visual arts. I hope to get used to eating healthy out of this project, and formulate an inspiring food journal as well.