Everyday Problem.

11/20/12
Nicole Amaral
100257087

Media is a big part of our everyday lives, whether we realize that or we don’t, and the consumption of media is also a big part. As the textbook mentions “Media consumption is an integral part of our everyday lives.” This statement is true, it is a part of all our lives, but more so likely to young children and teenagers. The media is constantly putting images into our brains without us even knowing.  Food comes into play with media consumption on a regular basic daily. Some of the examples of this might be watching television in the morning and seeing a breakfast commercial or walking down to the cafeteria or stores in the mall for lunch and seeing various pictorial advertisements. We are being bombarded with subtle messages that we cannot even being to understand. 

Credit: Ron McArthur

While there are young girls around world being bombarded with pictures of models and celebrities showing them the “true” beauty in being skinny? There are also counter advertisements showing us pictures of fast food restaurants, hamburgers and greasy food which tend to influence the young children in America. This in turn could lead to obesity.

Credit: [x]

 Another big example of media consumption for children and teenagers are the television shows and movies they watch. According to the International Journal of Obesity, one third of G-rated movies, more than half of PG-rated movies and almost three quarters of PG-13-rated movies and television shows have had brand appearances. This would definitely include clothing, electronics and most importantly food. In the journal it also states that, “six companies accounted for almost half of all brand placements [in movies rated G, PG or PG-13] – Pepsi-Co, Coca-Cola, Nestle USA, McDonald’s, Dr. Pepper/Snapple Group and Burger King. These by my knowledge are all junk food and fast food.

Sure once in a while giving your children fast food or junk food is okay, and its normal. But if media consumption like this keeps on happening and we keep on ignoring it, child obesity in America and other parts of the world would not be a problem. But because children do not tend to think about what they want to put into their bodies and eat whatever they feel like, obesity is a main concern for the new generation. As I have mention in the beginning, media consumption is a humongous part of our daily lives, it’s everywhere we go, all around us, yet it is so subtle that we hardly realize we have been absorbing all these messages. 

Related Links

The Influence of the Media on Food Consumption and Body Image
Media and Disorders

Picture Perfect

11/20/12
Zephyrin Tsoi
100231347

picsofaznstakingpicsoffood

From the right, you see the crispy and crunchy nachos. From the left, you see the cheddar cheese, the guacamole and the jalapenos. From the bird’s view, you see it all; except for the way the cheese melts on the side and the little bits and pieces hiding at the bottom. But really, which side is the perfect side of the plate of nachos?

picsofaznstakingpicsoffood

In this generation, you don’t see the flashing lighters at concerts anymore or disposable cameras in the hands of little children. Now, you see the flash from iphones, htcs, samsungs, and all different kinds of technology. Since these devices were introduced, there are those functions that we once could not use right away, like capture a moment right in the palms of our hands without regretting that we forgot our digital camera laying at home. More importantly, in these days, there’s been something lurking in our social media that’s tempting everyone to start foodtography.

picsofaznstakingpicsoffood

 This has become a great hit among students, teachers, parents, and children and mostly in the Asian countries. This is only because Asia spends so much time creating the perfect picture of food that it has become a moment to commemorate. With the social media we currently use, like facebook, flick, tumblr, instagram, foursquare and a lot more, it’s easy to take a picture and post it. Whether it’s to show what you’re currently munching on or to show where you are having lunch or breakfast, it’s a way to share and remember the places that you’ve been.  “Researchers have recently completed a research study on the psychology of food” says Weiss. Weiss defined the psychology of food as a way to document and commemorate our everyday lives. As if every plate of food we devourer is a statement or page of our own personal book. Right before you stab your fork into that plate of nachos and destroy that perfect image that was once beautiful when it arrived at your table, you have the chance to capture it and put it into your own personal book.

The best part is, food looks good and it makes us feel good. If we ever have a bad day, you can still find a beautiful bowl of ramen or a green tea cheesecake. Even if everything isn’t going the way it should be, food can always go the way you want it to. It can still promise you that even when the day’s dark and nightfall is coming, something good will happen as long as you want it to. Something perfect can be a part of that day and every other day.

Related Links: 

Pictures of Asians Taking Pics of Food

The Psychology of Foodtography

How to Mend a Broken Heart with an Empty Stomach

06/11/2012

Zephyrin Tsoi

100231347

There will always be that day, when someone you love walks away, that leaves. Everyone goes through a breakup whether it’s a family member, a friend or even a significant other. But most of all, it’s usually the one you loved that hurts the most. 

It’ll feel like nothing in the world will make things better. As if life had no meaning anymore. You start to think about what you did wrong that caused them to walk away. You start to wonder what it was that caused them to let go, to stop trying. What was the reason for walking away from something that you thought was so special, so right, so perfect? What became of ‘us’?

Breyers

While reminiscing through old photographs, therapeutic phone calls to friends and crying your heart out, it’s time for some serious comfort food. At that very moment, the best support to have is a gleaming metal spoon and a charming tub of Breyers' Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream to stop the tears. There’s no time to think about calories, bloating or weight gain but to become completely indulged in comforting yourself. Ice cream is always the first choice because of its sweetness and savory taste that melts in your mouth. It’s comforting to know that there is still something out there that can sweeten up your senses when everything just seems too bitter. 

After the first stage of the temporary frozen tears, it’s time to move on to the second choice, pasta. The feeling of carbs entering your stomach to fill all the emptiness that’s been filling up inside. The satisfaction of having a full stomach of protein and carbs feels incredibly great. Just like how McLuhan mentioned the theory of “the outering of our senses”, eating is like another way relieve the stress from our system. It's about the outering of our collective central nervous system that's overstimulated from the pace and intensity of the modern world. 

Zephyrin Tsoi

The last stage is the recovery stage. After eating all these sweets and carbs, it’s time to take a step down and proceed with the food that makes you feel and look good. This is the time to go look for food that regenerates you and help you take on the day without any troubles. At this stage, the list of comfort food is regularly large. It starts with vegetable soup, yogurts, protein shakes, oaks parfait, and fruit salads. Then as the day gets longer, it's good to have a nice cup of hot cocoa that's filled with "a soothing chocolate fix that provides protein and calcium," like Jenny mentioned in her article. 

Break-ups always require an intense recovery period, the one that requires friends and family to be there with a large selection of your favorite comfort foods. The best part is not about the different stages of food that you also get to enjoy but the fact that there are so many people standing by your side that want to see you smile again.

 It's not about the pain that you have to deal with, it's about the amount of time you want to spend feeling that pain reliving the past, or starting over with a new beginning to another chapter of your life. 

Related Links:

5 Breakup Foods

Foods That Cure a Broken Heart

Healing for a Broken Heart

Kraft or Craft: It it worth to censor food?

06/11/2012

Nerissa Magol

100215010

    Its the era of foodies, gluttons and young celebrities who cook, competition is at a high stake. Creativity is shared in different ways such as craft, art or food. A generation of young creators are drawn to food over art. They recognize the power that food has over us, it’s transgressed potential that we are compelled to eat, to feel guilty and then to go out and do it again. Creativity has taken many creators to an all-new level. There have been pictures, tutorials about being creative in the food industry. Sometimes boundaries for some have been crossed, where they think it's simply inappropriate to share vulgar ideas. What's the first emotion that you have when you see the picture below?

Credit: Hot food laid

   Would you call this image sexual or simply call it a plate of potato cake displayed creatively on a bed of lettuce leaves. Some might burst into laughter, whereas some might say very creative, yet naught and surely not appropriate for kids. When they say not appropriate for kids? What age are we specifically talking about? a ten year old or a twenty year old, who are still kids for their parents. Censoring images of food is not going to eliminate censorship from movies or media texts. True meaning of censorship according to Kay Vandergrift is  'the need to "protect" children from dangerous or disturbing ideas and information'.  How is this picture dangerous or disturbing? There are thousands of cake pictures used in celebrating various fun and exciting occasions today, that are much more vulgar and nude than it has been in the past.

 Credit:Sexy Birthday by Cake decor

   This is a surprise birthday cake for a friend who turned 21. She is overweight due to an illness in our friend’s circle. She loves wearing clothes that slimmer girls than her wear. This cake was designed for to her to make her feel beautiful and tell her she could still make her wish come true, no matter of the weight issue. At first when she saw the cake she was surprised and loved it. She was not ready to cut the cake because of the effort put in it. The creativity and hard work kept in this cake was outstanding.  Friends like to be naughty but nice. Close friends like to be creative and share their love in various ways for a new couple, or a new mum or helping guy friends to propose to their girlfriends by a cake. Sometimes it is difficult to express love by words, but a cake can surely pass on the message.

Credit: Icing-on-the-cake

   If parents feel pictures like these on the internet are going to rot their children's thinking than, parents have the right to limit the use of internet for their children. Not only pictures of cake or other food pictures have nudity in them but there are thousands of ponography in movies, books and music videos that children have access to today. 

Credit: In the Raw

Bottom line, it is how one perceives an image. Do u treat a cherry cupcake as a cupcake with caramel on top or a sexual image? As adults, we need to understand intellectual freedom that conflict with values. There is no objective "right" or "wrong". It all depends on how individuals overlook some times at times for fun, entertainment and excitement. 



Related Links:

Kraft or Craft: In the Raw
Kraft or Craft : Icing on the cake
Kraft or Craft : Cake decor
Kraft or Craft : Hot food laid

Speed shopping.

11/06/2012

Nicole Amaral

100257087

Credit: [x]

Speed has become one of the main factors in almost everything we do in modern day life today. In societies throughout North America, and other parts of the world, the acceleration of communication has shaped the society. With communication devices and tools such as the internet and cellphones, we instantly and unknowingly demand of everything to be at our fingertips, and within our reach, in the blink of an eye.  The society today has been shaped in such a way that we can virtually do anything with our handheld devices, cellphones, computers, laptops, tablets, anything that can connect us to others, may it be someone who is 5 meters away from you, or 5000 kilometers away.

So how would the topic of speed relate to food one would wonder? Well, while I was away on my trip to the United Kingdom, London to be more specific, I came to a realization that everybody there shops online. Not only do they shop online for clothing or electronics, but also for their groceries. Almost every well know grocery store there had an option where customers could do some online grocery shopping.

 I then proceeded to ask both my aunties and my cousins that live there if they shopped online for their groceries. 3 out of 4 of them said that they do, only because the amount of time it took them to go on the internet and order for the food hardly took 10 minutes, as compared to going to the grocery store and shopping around. Even the delivery of the groceries comes right to the doorstep and it arrives within 4-6 hours of your placed order.

Credit: David Pearson/Alamy

This is a play on the cycle of production, distribution and consumption. As mentioned in the textbook, “businesses manufacture a product or a service [in this instance]; the product or service is made available to consumers; consumers purchase the product or service; and the profits from that sale are directed back to the business owner.” So the faster there is a sale made, the faster profits are delivered to business owners.  

Credit: Super Delivery

Credit Super Delivery

Like I mentioned previously, speed is becoming a main factor in the way we live life in this society today. There are various stores in Vancouver itself that have an online grocery shopping option; technology is advancing at a high speed level, no pun intended, and there is hardly anything we can do to stop it from integrating itself in our everyday lives.

Related Links: 604 anytime ; The new age of online grocery shopping

The Brightest Night of the Moon

10/2/2012
Zephyrin Tsoi
100231347

There is one day of the year where every family comes together to celebrate the moon at its fullest and brightest night. Some people see it as a reason to give and share, to others it may seem like a remembrance of how china revolutionized during their different dynasties. But to me, it’s a day to remember why families are united, why it is so important to create these days to just remind yourself how important it is to be together.

Credit: Zephyrin Tsoi

Mid-Autumn Festival, or as most Asians would call it the Lunar Festival, is celebrated every year on the 15^th day of the 8^th month according to the lunar calendar. This may be just another day of the year, but to some people, this day is more then just another festival. But of course, everyone sees this festival differently according to his or her religion, vision, and mostly, family traditions.

Even though everyone sees this festival differently, there is one thing that will always be the same, moon cakes.

As mid-autumn festival arrives, the sight of moon cakes become more and more visible everywhere you go. Moon cakes is a traditional chinese pastry made out of lotus paste with a salty egg yolk right in centre with a golden brown crust that is shaped in symbols of the festival. The taste of moon cakes was so sweet that people could barely finish one on their own. Families usually come together to open one moon cake, split in 4 or 8 pieces, and matching it with a strong herbal tea. If good weather, some families would even have a barbeque or hotpot outside under the moon to celebrate this festival as if they were celebrating with everyone else under the same bright moon.

Credit: Amy Yeong

As years went by, chefs became so creative and even made different types of moon cakes for the festival. Some became green tea flavored, red bean paste, peanuts, beef bits and even the taste of xo sauce.  Some even lost the lotus paste and filled it in with a creamy paste that required moonc akes to be kept in the fridge.

Sweetness has already pampered people’s mind that sweet is happy. Despite the many calories that each moon cake carries, just having the opportunity to be there with family, watching every single smiling face, enjoying that tiny piece of moon cake is already brightening the night before it ends. Being together really helps relationships grow stronger and help understand one another. Despite all the differences that people might have, festivals are ways to bring people together to just brush the little things off and appreciate the things that you have at that very moment. 

It would only be right to indulge a bit and enjoy the sweet taste of moon cake during this mid-autumn festival under the brightest night of the year.

Related Links:

Mid-Autumn Festival

Traditional Moon Cake Recipe

Nourouz- The Spring Festival

10/02/2012
Nerissa Magol
100215010

"

Welcoming spring with warmth by saying goodbyes to cold breezy winters is what majority of us look after. Goodbyes to gloves and mufflers and hellos to shorts and tank tops is my favourite slogan. Along with the spring season we welcome the Naurouz festival which is a spring festival, celebrated in Persia and Middle Eastern countries.  Nourouz is made up of two Persian words, Nou meaning New and Rouz meaning Day, Says a Persian Philosopher, Fariborz Rahnamoon. Naurouz falls on the 21^st of March each year and is celebrated by Zoroastrians and other Persians around the world. Nourouz heralds the beginning of Spring, the day of Spring Equinox, when day and night stands equal in length, space and time as the Sun shines directly over the Equator, entering the Zodiac Sign of ‘Aries’ Says, Fariborz Rahnamoon. Customs and traditions have been an important aspect for the Zoroastrians, right from the heart of Iran’s ancestral history and spreading as a gift for the entire humanity. Spring is the time when Nature blooms into a festive season, a fusion orchestrated to Natural endeavours. It’s also the time for grooming our body, life and soul with humanitarian values and morals. It’s an opportunity and the right time to better ourselves and our surroundings, to revive, re-grow and re-start so that we can live with positivity, happiness and success.



Credit:  Fatemeh Keshavarz



            Nourouz is well known for laying food ‘Tables’. Seven items are laid on the table, starting with the letter ‘S’ or ‘SH’ in Persian dialect. Why seven? This is because it represents the seven Archangels of Zoroastrianism. The tables have Sabzeh (wheat sprouts, signifying rebirth), Samanu (a wheat germ pudding, signifying affluence), Senjed (dried fruit, signifying love), Sir (garlic, signifying medicine), Sib (apples, signifying beauty and health), Somaq (berries, signifying sunrise) and Serkeh (vinegar signifying, age and patience).  Today, along with the food on the table, some other important elements are also kept on a Haft sheen table are Sheeshah (mirror), Sharab (wine), Shilooneh (jujube), Shiir (milk), Shirini (sweets such as white and pink fondants), Sharbat (juice) and Shaanin (candles).  It is said to believe that at the exact time of the vernal equinox, the pomegranate that is placed on the table moves and the mirror catches its movement. It is also believed that if you look into the mirror which has already reflected Nouroze, you will have good vibrations throughout the year!



Credit:  Sedreh Pushi



            In Zoroastrianism, it is taught from a child is born until death to be united within the community, offer help to the needy people in form of charity and follow on the path of ‘Good thoughts’, ‘Good words’ and ‘Good deeds’. Celebrating the Nourouz festival every year brings togetherness within families and relatives. The day starts of by family visiting the fire temple together, where offerings are made for our wellness and later the family visits at home to see the decor of the table followed by lunch and exchanging of gifts. The layout of the table is arranged four days prior to Nourouz start and kept until three days later, which adds up to seven days of offering which signifies offerings for seven days to the angels on Earth and the Archangels around us.

“My greenness (spring) to you, my yellowness (fall) to me,” which means “I wish the best for you in Persian.”

Related Links:

 Nourouz- The Spring Festival: Fariborz Rahnamoon.

 Nourouz- The Spring Festival: Fatemeh Keshavarz 

Nourouz- The Spring Festival: Sedreh Pushi

 

Tradition and Cultures around Christmas

Winter is coming, soon enough, and with winter comes Christmas, well for those who celebrate it. Christmas means different things to different people. For some people it means celebrating the birth of Christ with family or loved ones and for others it’s an opportunity to bank in on presents, this is a great example of parole. Dr. Richard P. Bucher says that, “the word “Christmas” refers to the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, the most important part of the celebration of Christ’s birth.” 

Credit: x

Christmas is a traditional celebration among Christians and Catholics. And while I myself am Catholic and do celebrate Christmas, one thing I can’t get away from at that time of year is food. Everywhere I go, every house I visit, every party I go to, even when I go shopping, there is always a variety and abundance food. Cookies, candy, hot chocolate drinks, traditional Christmas sweets, cakes, traditional drinks, lunches and dinners, the list goes on. It’s quite overwhelming at times but every year on Christmas Day, my whole family sits down at the dining table and we have a traditional Christmas dinner.

Credit: Ronaldo F Cabuhat

Credit: Shutterstock

What makes a Christmas meal successful? Women in Kentucky who participated in a study by the Department of Occupational Therapy say that is “is just having family all together and sharing.”  I agree with this statement because I definitely think that the ideology behind Christmas is community and family. Working together with family and friends to make meals, shop for others or just spend time together is a big part of the tradition and culture of people who celebrate Christmas. That time of year is very important to people who value tradition.


However, these days tradition at Christmas time is changing. The world is changing how we see Christmas. For example, the economy during the week before Christmas is booming due to the fact of people buying presents. This is because to a certain extent many people these days don’t think about Christmas in a traditional way.  They don’t think about celebrating the birth of Christ and what that means, or going to church. They think about it as giving gifts and receiving even better ones in return. This could be a cultural discourse because we are shaping the way we will think about Christmas in the future. Eventually tradition might even die down because of how the generations today are thinking about cultural events. 

Related Links: What does"Christmas" mean?

Psychological Impressions on Food

9/24/2012
Nerissa Magol
100215010

Hungry? Thinking about food?

Credit: Nerissa Magol

Out of 24hrs in a day, how many times a day do you think of food? It is a hunger/ urge about thinking what your next meal is going to be or is it a negative psychological thought that others think is an undesirable trait in you? For me, when I think about the word food, a delicious chocolate cupcake appears in front of my eyes. What about you, it could be a roast chicken with mashed potatoes and veggies, or a platter of sushi that draws an image in your mind.



Credit: Maggie 

       What does food mean to you? Isn’t food just food? Or is food a fuel for our bodies? When did food become more than just nutrition’s? Doesn't healthy eating mean eating the essential food groups in an enjoyable way to keep a normal, maintained weight? People with healthy eating habits use food for energy, and sometimes as a source of pleasure. They may be motivated by health and beauty, or their desires for weight loss or keeping it maintained, and live a life that replicates Hippocrates' advice "Let food be thy medicine, and medicine shall be thy food." Spoken By an ancient Greek physician.

 

Credit: Nerissa Magol, at Chillis Restaurant.

Psychologically healthy eating means, "eating without meaning."  It is important to remember that what we eat affects how we feel, and how we feel and think affects how and what we eat. Unfortunately in today's world, what and how we eat is influenced by various dynamics, such as the culture we are brought up in, the environment around us, social stresses in our daily lives, and family issues. This causes us to irrationally see food as a coping tool, while the truth is that using food to deal with stress, hopelessness, boredom, anger, or anxiety will only make us feel worse in our future. Many of us have forgotten the meaning of nutritional food intake. Fast food chains are competing with their psychological pricing to “up-size” their “value meals”. Common slogans such as “just $1 for any size”, are seen everywhere around us today.  It’s a way of fooling us into believing that bigger is better, and not only better, but normal since majority of the people are following this daily so why don’t you. Think you can resist the "Buy one, Get a Two Free" offer? You can't, and in fact, you'll probably buy more than you would normally buy. This is all a prank or a myth as some say towards psychologically arrangements in supermarket’s or restaurants that try to confuse our minds.

Everyone day has different views about what is good and what is not good. Chocolates are supposed to be bad; but recent studies have shown, having chocolate in moderate amounts could be beneficial. For example, dark chocolate lowers blood pressure, says Dr. Dirk Taubert, MD, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Cologne, Germany. Having a balanced diet by including all the food groups satisfies our body needs as well as our psychological wants. I personally believe, one should eat for the taste and not just because they have to. Enjoying the first three bites of your cupcake or your roast chicken with mashed potatoes, brings the satisfaction in our minds and on our pallets; which further decides if we want to continue eating for its tastes or for the sake of finishing our food.

Want to end with a small story that I would like to share with my readers, that I heard couple of months ago regarding a seventy-five year old man, who loves having sweet dumplings daily. He eats at least one kilogram of sweet dumplings and does not gain weight. I was wondering how is it possible to not gain weight with a food that contains tons and tons of sugar and cooked in litres and litres of oil. Later, I was told to guess what could be a possible reason for this gentleman not to gain weight by eating something greasy and fattening every day. Finally the answer was revealed that he does not swallow the sweet dumplings he eats daily. He simply, chews the dumplings, enjoys the taste of the dumplings and spits out the substance of the sweet dumplings. He experimented this ideology by himself and found himself not gaining weight. He asked his doctor, and the doctor said, " You are just swallowing the juices of the sweet dumplings, not the actual mass of the product. Therefore, liquids are easy to digest, compared to the mass substances we swallow".

                             So who's up for a weight maintaining food challenge? 

Misleading Labels.

9/24/2012
Nicole Amaral
100257087

Video credit [x] ; Gif Credit: Nicole Amaral

Grocery shopping is one of those things that are done weekly or more than that for some peoples. But have you ever chosen a certain food item over another simply because of what the labels look like? Well, it might just be time to reconsider some choices made. That’s because terms like “fat free”, “trans-fat free” and “all natural” that we usually tend to see in abundance on food labels these days, might not be healthy at all.

Credit: Nicole Amaral

Annoyed? Bothered? Frustrated? Well I kind of am. Not because I’m being deceived by certain products that I thought were good for me but also because these are actually some of the food items that I love to eat! One of my favourite things to snack on during class or throughout the day are granola bars, or Nutri-Grain bars to be more specific. Even though on the box and label it says “more of the whole grain your body needs” and “made with real fruits/ fruit filling” it’s not true. These types of statement are put on labels in order to grab customer’s attention and it’s done this way on purpose. I found this out by reading the nutritional facts that are on the back of the box, which some people don’t tend to read. There are about 13 grams of sugars and 100 milligrams of sodium in every bar, that doesn’t seem as much when written down on paper, but it does add up.

Credit: Nicole Amaral

I am certainly not trying to bash on any food items but this is just an example of why people should definitely check out the nutritional facts and ingredient lists on all the food products they buy. Buying food based on just packaging and labels could potentially be harmful, and in order to cut down on that checking the ingredients and nutritional facts are a great start.  According to a Nielsen Survey and Health.com nearly 59% of consumers have a hard time understanding nutrition labels.

Food labels like this mislead the public into thinking they are getting an organic and healthy product, when in reality they are getting an opposite of what they want.  Miscommunication like this between companies and customers could be harmful not only to the customers’ health, but also towards the company.

There is a common saying “don’t believe everything you see and read” this statement factors into the essence of grocery shopping. Customers buying various food products often get deceived or have the wrong information on what they put into their body on a daily basis.  That’s why miscommunication between what people think they are eating and what they are actually eating isn’t a big surprise. Therefore people should definitely not believe all the labels they read on food products, that is, if they want to have a healthier life.

Related Links: Healthy or Hype? , Theory of Food Labels