My Memorable food tradition Thursday, Jan 19 2012

For decades , in my family we have had what is called “grandma julie’s” stuffing. This was created in the early 1950′s wwhen my great great great grandmother decided to make her own unique type of stuffing. This stuffing included the usual recipe with her own added meat and seasoned bread. This special dish was a special part of are family for many thanksgiving holidays to come. i first tasted this amazing stuffing when i was 6 years old, which marked one of the most memorable moments of food tradition. I enjoyed it so much that all i ate after that was my gramma julies stuffing. She also made her baked beans with meat and bacon. This went very well with barbecued hotdogs whenever we had our family reunions. This food which has been passed down for decades has brought our family together throught the worse and good of times. This goes to show that food can bring together a group of people such a family that share  a liking for the same food. Our ancestors ate the same dish and we do the same to this day. I hope to someday learn the recipe to the stuffing and the bacon and meat baked beans so i can teach my own kids how to make them one day. This tradition will continue to stay alive in my family for future decades to come. Everytime one of us or a family member visits my grandmother’s house in alabama we always ask for a plate of baked beans or some turkey with a side of “grandma julies” stuffing. The taste of it just brings me home. I am in college far away from home but when my mom sends me a plate i always  feel at home when i take that first bite. I hope this tradition lives on for years to come.

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Week 8 Sunday, Oct 16 2011

Katherine Drexel would be happy but not too satisfied. Xavier University is a school of higher learning consisting of mostly African Americans. She would be happy because her dream has prospered. By her dream I mean the successes of Xavier University over the years. Katherine Drexel prayed a lot and had devoted and strong faith in God. Let’s just say not too many of the students here are so holy which would lead to the reason why I would think she would be dissatisfied with this school. There is an extreme amount of sin that goes on I and out of the dorms. So much sin that if Katherine Drexel were alive today to see it, it would disgrace her. Katherine Drexel wanted to do for the poor. This school is outstanding in their financial efforts to soak money out of students. Being an unfortunate financial student myself with very little money or tuition, it is hard to even picture myself being at Xavier for another year simply because of my worries of having to pay a fortune for an education that Katherine Drexel would want to give students for free. Out of the kindness of her heart, even while she was sick, she would give to anyone in need and not charge a fortune for education. She would be happy, yes, because of how far Xavier has come, but she would not be satisfied if she took a closer look at this school. No one is expected to be perfect, but this school ought to attempt to live up to Katherine Drexel’s legacy AND her beliefs, which was to help anyone in need. Xavier University today is better in appearance, leisure, and value. But if you look at this school more into depth, I’m sure you would agree that Katherine Drexel wouldn’t be too satisfied.

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Week 7 Sunday, Oct 16 2011

The author’s political agenda is not written in PLAIN text. Yet, some of schlosser’s political views are referenced to President Bush and some political leaders. How do you stop this fast food nation from increasing? He explains that we all as a nation need to stop buying it. This is a somewhat rise against the government because the fast food chains are all too large and expanding. In the opening of the book, the author talks about the nuclear hidden plants behind the mountains. This can be referred to government conspiracy. Maybe the author is trying to convey that the government is hiding a lot of the people. An example of this is when Schlosser describes the fast food chains as being manipulative. The chapter “Behind the counter” obviously lets the reader know that there are things going on behind the counter of a restaurant that they do not want their customers to know about. This digs deep into the truth of what really goes on behind closed doors. This easily ties into the notion that the government and political leaders are controlling and possibly manipulating the people and “feeding” the public lies. The political agenda of this book is to not only wake up the people but to also bring attention to the secrets. This is probably a wake-up call to hint people to take action against controlling politics. The government can relate to the fast food chain in many ways. These are ways that can both be toxic and harmful to our next generation. Schlosser also has a hidden message where he talks ill of e-coli which is, in my opinion, comparable to w popular widespread disease today call AIDS. This comparison shows the profound effect AIDS have on the United States. Fast Food Nation is self-explanatory in the title itself. It is a politically ruined nation led by a dangerous chain of fast foods.

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Week 6 Sunday, Oct 16 2011

Kenny Dobbins was a man with a hardships consisting of an abusive father , multiple injuries, and his inability to read. Only 13 years old, he left home, which was the start of his difficult life. He starting working at a slaughter house where he got hurt involving a conveyer belt piercing his lower back. He had to stay at the hospital for an entire month. After all of this he still went back to work. His muscular built gave him a great advantage, but he lacked knowledge in literacy. He was still hired because of his great potential. Benny encountered another problem working at the slaughter house. He was required to perform some tasks that involved him reaching into huge tanks of blood and gut bins to painstakingly unclog drains. Kenny was very loyal. Loyal enough to some in just his work clothes and help sterilize the salmonella problem when no other WORKER would. He used a chlorine spray to clean which was indeed very dangerous. Chlorine is a hazardous chemical that can cause a long line of health problems. Kenny occasionally used this chemical everyday and one day he came home from work and started feeling sick. He overcame this, but he was more vulnerable for catching colds and nasal issues. He was honored for being such a hard worker but with a paper certificate signed by his manager. Soon after he was let go. Kenny described this kind of action as them using him up for all he had and just threw him away because he wasn’t any good. I know a personal friend of mine who has been through some parallel struggles but this was not regarding a slaughterhouse or poisonous chemicals. This person worked at a jail for 15 years. Plenty of workers have been promoted to warden within two years of working there but he hasn’t. His name is Victorian. He does all the work and gets little money out of it. They call him in and wear him out. This eventually made him tired to where he wasn’t working like he used to. Therefore that caused the jail to let him go, all because he was slowing down. I wish that some employers and find another option other than firing a devoted hard worker such as Victorian and Kenny

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Week #4 Thursday, Sep 15 2011

The main theme of The Jungle is the evil of capitalism. Fast food nation explains how fast food chains target consumers through this method in many ways. They target children and feed children fat foods and label it as “fun” when really it is toxic in the long run. Every event, especially in the first twenty-seven chapters of The Jungle, is chosen deliberately to portray a particular failure of capitalism, which is, in Sinclair’s view, inhuman, destructive, unjust, brutal, and violent. The slow annihilation of Jurgis’s immigrant family at the hands of a cruel and prejudiced economic and social system demonstrates the effect of capitalism on the working class as a whole. As the immigrants, who initially possess an idealistic faith in the American Dream of hard work leading to material success, are slowly used up, tortured, and destroyed, the novel relentlessly illustrates that capitalism is to blame for their plight and emphasizes that the characters’ individual stories are the stories of millions of people. The Jungle is not a complicated novel. Capitalism is simply portrayed as a total evil, from its greedy destruction of children to its cynical willingness to sell diseased meat to an unsuspecting public. Sinclair opts not to explore the psychology of capitalism; instead, he simply presents a long litany of the ugly effects of capitalism on the world. Fast Food nation has this “greedy destruction of children” by how the book described how corrupt they were to draw kids into their company. This is knowingly unhealthy, but bright colors and a toy with every happy meal is all it takes to draw in the youth. This is one of many crooked ways the fast food chains can attract their consumers

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Week#3 Thursday, Sep 15 2011

Small farms are subseptible to anything nowadays. The weather is a contributing factor and can unexpectedly ruin crops and years of business. This is an unfortunate situation that happens all too often. The production rate causes the demand of french fries( regarding fast food resturants) incline. Farmers work hard to recieve a decent profit and can’t even get that because all of their money goes to complete waste. Drought, soil conditions and financial obligations can affect how a business is run. Family farmers have people within their family circle to support. They rely heavily on crops and production as a way in income, which is not steady. It is hard for farmers to get money simply because nowadays crops and goods come from overseas and can be processed by machinery. Farms require lots of physical work and dedication of a lot of time.  Fast food franchises do not pay any mind to the hard work that small farmers put into their crops for it all to be taken for granted.

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Week #2 Thursday, Sep 15 2011

Employee franchises target young/inexperienced workers for the simple fact that there are so many that need to make that quick buck. Some do not have a college degree nor high school diploma so they result to working at a minimum wage ressturaunt or other business to make money. Teenagers are a great example of this. They are young and vulnerable in many ways psychologically. Working at a fast food restaurant can give a teenager for a sense of importance and value. They have a whole lot more confidence and self worth. Theres a purpose for them. These reasons alone expresses why getting a job at  afast food restaraunt can be benificial. The hourly wage attracts desperate people that are in dire need of money to support their family and keep food on the table. People like this do not care what job they have; they just need the money. A fast food resturant or other minimun wage jobs are what most people settle for when the economy is bad. Xavier University strives to encourage their students NOT to settle, but to be the best and  rise above. Employee franchises want eager and energetic young workers just as Xavier Universtity wants eager and energetic students ready to learn.

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Why Xavier University?/? Wednesday, Aug 31 2011

Let me correct myself…Xavier University chose me. . less than 6 months ago I was panicing trying to figure out what i wanted to do with my life. “What next?” Issues regarding me getting into tons of trouble with the law nearly ruined my chances of being able to attend school here. After days and eventually months of pull I am now here. It would be foolish of be to take advantage of such an amazing opportunity. I am proud to say I am an Xavierite. This school’s reputation is astonishing and continues to impress the media every day. I toured this school and it was automatically my first choice because the environment fitted my lifestyle perfectly. I did not expect to be accepted here being that this school is VERY particular about who they pick. Iv’e worked extremely hard to get here and I will not turn back. Xavier University is a school of VARIETY….the teachers were wise. The staff are dedicated to help YOU. May I add that the tutoring programs here is a great advantage. This is my second week of school and I’m already overwelmed with work. It is good to know that there is always someone here at Xavier to help you. They want YOU to succeed. It is way too difficult to fail.

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