Wildman Trip

This was my first encounter with source of food in Central Park. Normally, I would have walked right past this, thinking it was a weed. However once I tasted this, my mind was suddenly opened. It had such a unique flavor of: lettuce-like, then minty, then spicy, that I was then looking out for whatever else could be ingested as food. I also noticed that there weren't much of this particular plant, which I would guess is why this is not as common as all the other vegetables we see in supermarkets. It was scattered around one plot of field, indicating that it does not have a high yield. Therefore it would not be as profitable for farmers to produce.



These were the leaves that could be used as tea leaves. Judging from first impressions, this plant seems like it is a tree. However Wildman Steve immediately clarified that it does have a truck. Therefore it was not a tree ("nor an elephant"). When I got home, I tried to make tea by using 10 of these leaves. It's flavor wasn't something that I was quite familiar with, and I would not necessarily crave for it. Now that I've become aware of this (after many years of predominately eating familiar foods), I was wondering whether or not corn has something to do with this. According to Michael Pollan, every complex food in our culture can be broken down to one ingredient: corn. So many all of the foods we purchase in supermarkets and restaurants are foods we like because it has that slight familiar taste of corn.


This was one of the plants that I did not want to be involved with, because next to it was another plant named "white snake," which was lethal to eat. I would say that this is the complete opposite of American food, simply because of its inconvenience. First, this plant needs to ripe at certain time of the year, otherwise it would not be tasty at all. Second, it was the next to the "white snake." A person would need to be well-educated about all sorts of plants, before they would attempt to walk around Central Park, picking out foods. Of course, this can be easily solved by reading a few books. Although that is the case, it is not quite easier than to just walk into a supermarket and reading the labels.


This was another plant that was dangerous. Wildman Steve told us that there are three ways you can die from this particular plant. And those are: if you eat the wrong part, if you cook it the wrong way, or if you pick it at the wrong time of the year. In a way, this plant demonstrates a benefit of industrialization. When people go to supermarkets to purchase their foods, they hardly have to worry about dying from the foods they are about to pay for. On the other hand, these foods are still killing us; just that it is not an immediate result.
This plant was also the plant that one of the other people climbed over the fence to pick. It just happened that a park ranger was driving by and saw her. The ranger then told her to discontinue this natural collection of food, because food can only be supplied by artificial buildings with artificial stuff in it.

Industrial Food

In the Obama's Agricultural Policy article, the author says, "some of us were hoping that Obama would push for a new economy built on widely accessible healthy and sustainable food." And that is what we've been and always will be doing, on the topic of food. Right now, we are hoping that Obama will do something that will improve America, more specifically how Americans eat and the types of food they spend their money on. We are waiting for someone to push a better lifestyle towards us, and someone to push food onto our plates. We are waiting for someone to enforce something that we, or at least some of us, know is better; rather than, making the change ourselves. Even now, this is shown by the way we eat. All three daily meals of a typical American involves someone presenting the food to the person, whether that be the mother, the waiter, or the big corporations that run every other aspect of life. The way we treat our food is similar to the way we treat any policy. And while, we are waiting for Obama to "push for a new economy built on widely accessible healthy and sustainable food," we will be waiting on line in the local supermarket, to pay for our synthetic food.

Michael Pollan appeared on the Colbert Report, talking about defending food from the food corporations. Food, the natural restoration for our bodies, is being converted into profit by corporations. And Colbert's response (most likely representing all of America's response) was to defend the food that we eat now because of "deliciousness." People do not know about the foods we eat, therefore we think that there's nothing wrong with it and do not believe that there is a need for change. The way that Colbert responded led me to connect him to Leo from "The Meatrix II: Revolting." Leo saw the dairy farm as this nice family farm, where the cows are in good living conditions. And similarly, that is how Americans see farms as well. This painted image in our minds tell us that there's nothing wrong and everything is just fine. However, just like The Meatrix has shown, the farms have been industrialized, and are actually revolving around profit rather than the cows or the food they provide. By not seeing this, everyone continues on living their current lifestyle and defending the corporations and foods that are doing us harm, as shown by Colbert.

Recipe- [Edit: Picture&Response Added]

INGREDIENTS
* 4 cups plus 2 tablespoons half-and-half
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 4 large egg yolks
* 1 1/2 tablespoons tapioca starch or cornstarch
* 2 cups red bean paste
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Pour the 4 cups half-and-half into the top of a double boiler over medium heat.
2. Meanwhile, whisk together the sugar and egg yolks in a bowl until the yolks turn thick and pale. Temper the yolks by gradually adding the hot half-and-half mixture a cup at a time while whisking vigorously so as not to scramble the eggs.
3. Return the mixture to the top part of the double boiler and whisk over simmering water until slightly thickened and heated through, 10 to 15 minutes. Dilute the tapioca starch with the remaining 2 tablespoons half-and-half and add it to the mixture. Continue whisking to a custard consistency that coats the back of a spoon, about 2 minutes. Transfer the custard to a heatproof bowl and whisk in the red bean paste. Set over an ice bath and refrigerate overnight (or at least 12 hours).
4. The next day, pour the custard into an ice cream maker and process the custard according to the manufacturer’s instructions, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer the ice cream to a container and freeze until ready to serve. [Link]

Responses:

In order to follow this recipe, I had to go to the supermarket to specifically buy the ingredients. I did not have any cornstarch or half-and-half in my house, because my family hardly uses it. But I found it surprising that I needed all of these ingredients, since my mother makes a similar desert, but she only uses 2 of the 5 ingredients listed (red bean and sugar). Yet, I liked my mother's version a lot more. While I was making this, my mother was irritated by the fact that there was much ingredients and labor involved. She asked me why I had to take such exact measurements, and told me to go with my gut feeling. This recipe also required a double-boiler, which I had no clue to what it was. But I looked it up on Google, and found that it can be replaced by a dish on top of a regular pot. Overall, I think that this was far more complicated that it needs to be, and my mother would agree. There were added steps and ingredients that did not need to take place, and the same taste would have been accomplished.

Chapter 2: The Farm

In this chapter, I felt that there was one particular quote Pollan included, that articulated what I have recently began to think about the world. This quote, by Naylor goes: "They're messing with three billion years of evolution"(36). In here, Naylor was talking about planting GMOs, which are "genetically modified organisms." People are planting altered seeds to grow hybrid plants, so that they can maximize the amount of corn being produced. But I think that this quote also applies to many other aspects in life. Industrialization has taken over everything that is natural. Everything that has been provided by the Earth is being taken over by the businesses and their need to earn more green paper. (e.g. Two units ago, we saw that hospitals and normal births drew people away from natural births). It is as though people with money are taking property of all the natural resources, and are altering it into a form that eventually evolves into more money. As Naylor said, "they're messing with three billion years of evolution."

After reading this chapter, I take on a new perspective of farmers. I have always viewed farmers as the hardworking people that allows everyone to eat carelessly. I always saw them as those who are untouched by industrialization because they deal with the Earth. But now I learn that they aren't any different from any business owner. Following Pollan to a farm run by George Naylor, through his book, we see the commonalities between farms and big corporations, both of which control majority of how we live our lives. In a farm, having a "high yield" is significant to making maximum profit. "The higher yield of modern hybrids stems mainly from the fact that they can be planted so close together, thirty thousand to the acre instead of eight thousand in his father's days" (37). By having a higher yield, the farmer is able to take advantage of the land that he has, and is able to maximizing his profit off of something other than himself. So while the farmers abuse the Earth, everyone else abuses the workers to make more money for themselves. My previous thought of farmers being hardworking was also proven wrong, in that they don't do much besides sitting around spreading seeds through a vehicle ("the field George and I planted that day would produce 1.8 million pounds of corn. Not bad for a day's work sitting down..."(36)).

Questions
1. On page 44 Pollan wrote, "Haber's story embodies the paradoxes of science: the double edge to our manipulation of nature, the good and evil that can flow not only from the same man but the same knowledge. Haber brought a vital new source of fertility and an awful new weapon into the world..."
Do you think that the usages of nitrogen and fossil fuel on crops are more beneficial than harmful, or vice-versa? Does the convenience outweigh the damage?

2. Naylor "has a gut distrust of the technology" (36), but aren't the seeds that he use, Pioneer Hi-Bred's 34H31 GMOs as well? Are the seeds, in any way, modified or altered before he bought them?

Comments on Other People's Blogs
John's "The omnivore's Dilemma Chapter 2"
In your second paragraph, you asked why we, the outnumbering "regular citizens," do not overthrow the farmers. The problem with this is that we need suppliers. If we overthrew all of the farmers, the whole system would collapse, which most people cannot handle or accept. Without corn, there will be less beef, and we all know we can't live without beef. Without corn, our soda will not be sweet, and we all know that we can't live without soda. The thing about "overthrowing" is that it will cause instability and nobody wants to contribute to it. We may be the group with the larger number, but only a small percentage will actually take action. If we can actually have everyone devote themselves to accomplishing one goal, farmers wouldn't be the only thing being overthrown.

Vincent's "optional assignment on Omnivore's Dilemma"
One thing that stood out to me was when you said, "Because of the break through of fertilizers and technology, it allows a farmer to produce a lot of corn and keep using the same land over and over again." The way that I interpreted, and possibly the way you meant it, was that you are assuming the land cannot reproduce crops on its own, without fertilizers and technology. The use of fertilizer and technology only began in the early 1900's when Fritz Haber discovered fossil fuels as a replacement for solar energy. I am pretty sure that the same land can be used over and over, even without the technology and fossil fuels, since it's been producing corn and other crops for billions of years, long before Haber was even born.

Blog Responses

Russell's "Pollan Reponce"
I definitely agree with what you said about the "people before us." I feel like we make things a lot more complicated than they need to be. And if the people in the past generations did not need all of this "stuff" and still maintained a good, if not better, lifestyle, then why do we need it?
Also, the comic that you included may seem like a joke, but it definitely says something about our lifestyles. People think that by eating less, or none at all, then they will lose weight. Bringing back to the people before, I know that my parents or any other older relatives from China have ever said that they were purposely going to skip a meal to lose weight. Yet, none of them are extremely fat. So maybe, there is alternative to not eating and losing weight. Who knows?

Maggie's "Response to Quote"
I would reconsider stating that this quote does not apply to you, because it is not necessarily saying that you eat according to what is healthy. Rather Pollan is saying that our diets depend on expert help, whether that be someone telling us what foods are nutritious and what are not, or what is flavorful. It may seem that you eat based on what you want to eat, but there must have been some sort of past influence from expert help. (You wouldn't go around drinking a gallon of oil, at once, because you know that it's bad for you. And you know that based on what you hear from others. Eventually those "others" will be somehow connected to some sort of expert).

Ben's "Exhibition week homework"
Very simple recipe. Hopefully most people can follow this as well, if they already haven't. I especially like that it is a recipe that gives you options. Nowadays, everything else requires precision.

Karl's "What's In My Fridge"
Does your family not eat after dinner because of the 2-hour rule*? I also found it interesting when you wrote "shrimp with pasta." I probably would have said "pasta with shrimp," if I would actually find pasta in my refrigerator to begin with.

*Anything you eat within 2 hours before sleeping will not be digested and remain in your system.

Respond pl0x

What ELSE would you do for a Klondike bar?

The Omnivore's Dilemma

"Whatever native wisdom we may once have possessed about eating has been replaced by confusion and anxiety. Somehow this most elemental of activities- figuring out what to eat- has come to require a remarkable amount of expert help" (Michael Pollan, 1)

I believe that this statement is correct and would apply to many people in this people in country, including myself. People are constantly reading and researching about the types of foods they should and should not eat. Most people eat according to what the experts say, and what they say is beneficial for us, which may not always be true. The words of the experts completely dominate the foods found in our refrigerators. I would also add that, in some cases, the objective of researching is not to shape the our diets, rather it acts as a green light for people to eat the things that we know is bad. If the experts say that eating certain foods would be beneficial (or at least, not as bad), then people will go ahead and eat it. Our diets are completely dependent on what strangers tell us.

On the bigger picture, the foods that I eat are influenced by experts. Most of the time I eat whatever I choose to eat, but I know that subconsciously that choice is affected by things I have heard in the past. I never purposely read about or look up what experts have to say about eating different types of food, but they still have an impact of what I eat. The decisions I make about the foods I eat, are affected by the nutrition and ingredients of food, both of which have been established by experts. Every time I eat, I am concerned about how this will affect me after the meal, whether it be beneficiary or something I would have to work off.

I personally do not follow any food experts, but my mom does. She reads Chinese magazines that come with the weekend newspaper. And within those magazines, there are various writers talking about different foods having hidden benefits. They provide many tips about eating certain foods to have a certain effect (e.g. skin care, digestion, etc.), and of course my mom listens to it. Every other week, she is trying something that the magazines said. She is currently following the cucumber-fad. Other than that, my family doesn't really anything else, in terms of food experts.

AWOF- Andy's(family) Way of (eating) Food

In terms of vegetables, roots and grains, my family consumes massive amounts of it. Every meal that I have with my family would have these two things incorporated in it. The vegetables would often be bok choy, celery, carrots, Chinese cabbage, and a lot more stuff that I just eat and not know the name of. The roots are mainly just ginger and potatoes. And the grains would just be rice, or noodle...or rice noodle. My mom have always liked cooking different things everyday, and hardly ever cooks the same thing two days in a row. But I think it's mostly because of the flavor rather than the nutrition factor. Regardless, I've always had a well-balanced diet, as far as my dinner is concerned. However, dinner is only one of the two meals that I have per day. Lunch, for me, would seem less balance since I eat school lunch. There seems to be a lack of vegetables and fruits. And as of roots and grains, it's in the form of heated-up, pre-frozen burger and "fries." Even though the food does not taste as good, or is also nutritious for me, I do not mind it too much. It fills me up when I am hungry, and I can go upstairs, where I can play Chinese poker everyday. (However, if the people upstairs weren't playing Chinese poker, I think diet for lunch would be something completely different).

For my family, our meals and food do not seem as dramatically affected as the typical American. I think that is because, we mainly buy our food from Mott Street, Chinatown, where it is not the typical supermarket. There isn't one big market (well, there are two but we choose not to shop there) where you can get everything you want. Instead, we go to many different stores and look for the things that my mom plans on cooking for us throughout the week. During the car ride there, I would hear her and my dad discussing about things that need to be bought, so I don't think the markets "push" everything into our refrigerator, but it does have some effect. By that I mean, if there is food that we eat on occasions, and that is cheap, my mom would buy it; thus creating the occasions. Even so, I think that my family eats in a style that seems a bit more flexible. We do eat rice every night, but there has never been a set of food that we eat. In my family, my mom just cooks what she has or what she wants, and we just eat it. And it just so happens that it has a lot of variety, compared to other people in the class.

May Day

I will admit that, I have never understood nor attempted to understand May Day or why it is a holiday until Friday's class. I also believe that no one in my family knows what that is as well, which kind of shows that this holiday isn't acknowledged enough to be spread around. Then again, you can just blame it on my ignorance. However, the fact that very few people know or care about this holiday is very surprising to me, especially when majority of America is working class. This is one of the few(if not, the only) holidays that actually works towards one goal, and better working conditions. But regardless, people still choose to only celebrate the holidays that their beliefs and imagination lead them to celebrate.

The compromise created as a result of the May day protests connects to the whole health care system in America. I previously stated in my health care paper that, people will settle down for less out of fear for losing everything. So in this case, the workers settle down for a few days off , and forgot about the better working conditions throughout the whole year. It almost seems like the bosses and the "upper-class" are baiting the workers with something that is of much smaller proportions.

If I knew more, I would make this statement: Settling down never works out. In the end, the benefits still go towards the people who are already sitting there, collecting money. But people need to realize that they would not be sitting there if the workers were not busting their asses working. They need to realize that the boss needs the workers more than the workers need the boss.

Food Journal

Tuesday Dinner (~9:30)Two Bowls of Rice, Pork with Cauliflower, Soup
During this night, I came home later than usual and found that my parents had already eaten dinner without me. However they did leave me with a lot of food, which I did not get to finish and sealed up to put into the refrigerator. Just like every other night, I had soup first and for that night it potato/carrot/pork bone soup. After I was done with that, I went to get a bowl of rice and ate that with the pork with cauliflower, using chopsticks like always. After I was done with that first bowl, I went to get a second bowl, because that night I was especially hungry. As I got the second bowl, I felt a slight sense of boredom so I went to play with my cat, which lasted about 2 minutes before I continued my second bowl of rice. Once again, I ate solely from the dish of pork with cauliflower, and completely neglected the fish that was also there, because I felt that it would have been too troublesome to spit out all the bones. Throughout the whole time, I felt kind of rushed because I wanted to get ready to go to bed since I came home so late. I also did not have the normal discussions that I had with my parents. I think it was partially due to the fact that they were already warped into their Chinese drama. As I was getting ready to sleep, I was thinking about the food staying in my system. I've heard previously that if you sleep within 2 hours after eating, you will not be able to digest the food more effectively which got me conscious for a while until I just said "Oh well."

Wednesday Breakfast (Never)Nothing
I usually do not eat breakfast because I think I've conditioned myself long enough that my body feels as though I do not eat it, because obviously I'm not hungry in the morning. So if I did eat breakfast, I feel like I am force-feeding myself and get full within the first two bites. And even though I do not normally eat breakfast, my mother insisted that I ate some bread, which I just ignored. But before I left school, I did take a bottle of Poland Spring water with me to school, so that I had something to drink whenever my mouth was dry or I was bored.

Wednesday Lunch (12:30~1:20)School Lunch: Meatballs, Milk, Fries
Like always, I get extremely hungry around 10 or 11 o'clock. And like always I look forward to lunch. But as I was eating lunch, I wasn't really paying attention to the food. I was just poking at my food with a plastic fork, hoping to get something on it, as I was working on my exhibition. But that soon ended, when Daniel, Dinorah and Quinn decided to take out the cards and play Chinese Poker. At that point, I was eating in between rounds. After lunch ended, I had no thought about lunch, rather I was wishing that we would have played one or two more rounds of Chinese Poker.

Wednesday Snack (~5:00pm)Ice Cream Bar
During this time, I was working on my exhibition and became extremely bored of typing. So I walked around my apartment, and once I passed by the refrigerator I opened it and took a look (this is a habit that I've developed before I even started going to school; the different colors found inside the refrigerator seems to brighten me up even when I'm not getting anything to eat). I found a few ice cream bars that my mom had bought, and took one to eat. I wasn't particularly hungry, just bored. So I took the ice cream bar into my room and ate it. As I was eating it, I was thinking about all the damage that the sugar and the coldness of the ice cream was doing to my teeth. I, then, looked at the label, and I saw that it had 1 gram of fiber, and thought "sweet, I'm getting my fibers." After I was done with it, I put the wrapper in a cup and felt very disappointed that it was already finished. I was thinking about getting another one, but then I thought, "it's going make me fat."

Wednesday Dinner (~Never)Nothing
This was one of the extremely rare occasions where I missed dinner. On this night, I feel asleep at around 8 o'clock. My mom made several attempts to wake me up, but I decided that I was more tired than hungry, so I continued to sleep for the next 11 hours. In the morning, I wasn't hungry and did not crave any food. But I did feel extremely tired, even after 11 hours of sleeping. And now that I think about it, it's been two nights in a row, where I did not have those endless discussions with my parents, which I miss. But surprisingly, I do not miss the feeling of properly sitting down and enjoying the food (if it was there to begin with).