LIfe "Masterpiece"

In the last unit of Food for Thought, our humanities course we were assigned to team up in four groups to demonstrate the understanding of our four units in pictures. The main points of the whole drawing are agricultural history, and to envision a sustainable future of food production. Each group had to have 3 topic points to demonstrate in the drawing. My group was assigned the first unit which was Life. This unit talked about the beginning of agriculture and ancient civilization and how different foods were found and domesticated. For inspiration the whole class looked at a very interesting piece of artwork done by "The Beehive Collective," called the "True Cost of Coal." The major challenge of this drawing was to connect all the units together through different styles of artwork. The other challenge was thinking about the future of food, with all the experiments that scientists do with food, is there really a bright looking food production ahead of us?

                                                   NVA "Life Masterpiece" 6-2-14, Chicago: GCE

NVA (2014) Food For Thought

This drawing is based on the first unit, called “Life.” The main focus of this unit is how and why humans transitioned from hunter-gatherers to agrarian societies, and how different ancient societies domesticated and found food. In my group, we decided to make a road timeline to connect all the units together. For our unit, we drew an assortment of different foods on the road. The reasoning for this is to symbolize how people grew crops to survive. There were no chemicals or fertilizers, so societies grew organic gardens. In 10,000 B.C.E, people were hunter-gatherers, which means they hunted animals and fish support their diet.

We drew trees and plants on one side of the road to represent life and peaceful times. We used keywords to guide our drawing. We used organic, domestication, and life. On the other side of the road we drew trees and plants to represent life. We also drew hunter-gatherers to show them hunting for food, and how they lived a natural lifestyle.  We showed the society by water and we showed the people farming and hunting.  

The beginning of agriculture is where the word “life” comes from. We wanted to show in our drawing, how our ancestors settled where they did and how they domesticated their foods. The importance of this unit is vast and it all comes together since this is the first of four units. Unit 2 revolves around monoculture, death, and colonization. Unit 3 revolves around this world’s food industry and the way that our food is made and treated today. Unit 4 revolves around the modification of the food industry and how life has transitioned through all 3 units, and imagines what the future of food might look like.

The GM Decision

In Unit 3 of my Food, math and science course, we mainly studied genetics and how different genetics work, and probability. We also studied GMOs, which are genetically modified organisms, and how the organisms have been genetically engineered. For this action project, we had to  make an argument through presentation explaining if we are anti GMO, or if we are pro GMO. The purpose of this action project was to convince a group of people if they should be pro or anti GMO. I am pro GMO, because GM crops are cheaper to maintain, GM foods have lots of nutrition that can save many lives, and the yields are higher. I learned more than I could imagine. Genetics can be very interesting and complicated which I liked. What I am most proud of is choosing a side. because its a hard decision. I learned how to take in the facts and then make an argument.

Did you know that 2 million children die each year from malnutrition? That is horrible, but a way that we can stop this is by growing GM crops, which are genetically modified crops.

I am pro GMO because I believe GM crops can feed more people, and as a result, save people from malnutrition and famine. Also GM crops are faster to grow than organic, making it faster to feed people with malnutrition. I will be sharing with you three arguments that help back up my thesis:

1. GM crop yields are higher

2. They have more nutrition and with that can save lives.

3. GM crops are cheaper for the farmer.

GM crops are cheaper than organic products, and have higher yields. According to Monsanto, GM crops of corn, cotton, and soybeans in the U.S. have increased between 5 and 8 percent. These figures are much higher than organic crops which increase from 1 and 2 percent. Since GM crop yields are higher, their prices are cheaper. This means that more families can afford food.

GM crops can increase the nutrition in crops. Scientist have genetically modified food fruits and vegetables to offer high levels of antioxidant vitamins that help ward off cancer and heart disease. Furthermore, the golden rice, which is a GM rice, can help our bodies generate Vitamin A, which fights off blindness. Vitamin A deficiency kills 2 million children each year.

GM farmers will benefit from biotechnology. Biotechnology means when scientists uses special techniques to improve or modify crops or animals. With genetically engineered crops that can resist pests, many farmers can avoid losing money and crops. Also with weeds, farmers have to spray different types of herbicides many times. With GM crops farmer only have to spray one type of herbicides once, saving them money.

I am pro GMO because GM crop yields are much higher, making the food cheaper. When the food is cheaper, more families can afford the food. Also the food can saves lives by giving people who are malnourished the nutrients they need to survive. 2 million people die each year from a lack of vitamin A. Giving them the food they need at that affordable price can save many lives in the long run. It doesn't just benefit the public. It also helps the farmer save money, because they don’t need to buy all the herbicides to keep the crops safe from weeds. We need GM crops. Are you ready to save lives? Vote pro GM seeds today!

REFERENCES:

“GMOs are a key tool to addressing global hunger.” The Boston Globe. May 23, 2014. Retrieved 5-26-14

“Genetically Modified Organism.” Wikipedia. May 21, 2014. Retrieved 5-26-14

“Reasons We Do Need GM Foods: It Is About Improving Nutrition.” Monsanto, Beyond The Rows. April 1, 2009. Retrieved 5-27-26

“Ending World Hunger. The Promise of Biotechnology and Threat of Anti Science Zealotry.” Norman Borlaug. Plant Physiology. 2000. Retrieved 5-27-14

“Can GMOs Help End World Hunger.” John Robbins, Huffington Post. Oct 1, 2011. Retrieved 5-27-14

“Should We Grow GM Crops?” PBS. 2001. Retrieved 5-29-14

Egg Lemon Soup Review

In unit 3 called Birth of my Food For Thought class, we learned about about the process that some food has to go through to get to your plate and if the process is industrial or organic. We also learned about the Industrial Revolution. The most important thing we talked about was Michael Pollan’s 5 diet transformations and how people have changed their diet so drastically that we don't get the correct amount of nutrients today. The 5 transformations were:  Whole food to Refined foods, Complexity to Simplicity, Quality to Quantity, Leaves to Seeds, and Food culture to Food science. For the action project each student in my class picked a different food that they liked. Then they had to go out and buy it from a restaurant and write notes about the taste smell, and most important tell if he/she thought it was Fresh, Organic, or Industrial. Then go home and make our own homemade version, listing the same notes. After we took the notes we had tp make a food review and which I prefered and why. The food I picked is a well known Greek dish, Egg Lemon Soup, it is mainly an appetizer. For a restaurant I picked a local place near my house called Psistaria, which has very good egg lemon soup. Going there with my parents I was happy when the food came, and then I thought if it actually looked fresh or not, the answer is my food review. When I went home to go cook it, my mom helping understand what the descriptions of the process meant in the recipe, I knew that all my ingredients were organic and didn't have chemicals and if they did they were good chemicals that added vitamins. This has greatly impacted the way that I eat, it makes it hard for me to trust the restaurants that I’m eating from. Now I will try my best to cook my own dishes using organic or fresh ingredients.

NVA, "Egg Lemon Soup at Psistaria" 5/20/14, Chicago

Egg Lemon Soup is one of the biggest Greek appetizers, which might seem weird but actually it is one of the most sweet, sour, and bold that isn't a pastry. Everyone I know has liked it and never has said anything bad about it.

I have always loved something that is sweet and has a bold taste, once it is put in the mouth it gives an amazing variety of tastes to your tongue. I was very excited to go to one of my favorite Greek restaurants, Psistaria. Like most Greek restaurants it was filled with Greek people and the lighting was always the same, a light sunny yellow with white walls with paintings of different islands or churches in Greece. I mainly picked the soup because it is an appetizer used at any Greek event, from the fanciest places to the most local restaurant.

Once the soup was brought to my table I was instantly hit by the sweet but sour smell. The soup looked a sweet pale yellow, and I could see the rice and chicken slowly floating up to the top. Even with it looking very nice, it looked industrial because of the thickness of the food and the poor texture of the chicken. Once I put a spoonful in my mouth I got a sweet zesty taste with the rice calming the the strong lemon. I could feel the soft squishy rice while I chewed and the smooth chicken run against my teeth.

Everyone that is Greek knows this soup very well, but I have never heard of anyone talking about it - if what they’re eating is actually nutritional or if they just don’t care. It isn't homemade by lots of families today, and I thought I would try to make my own that came from someone with a cooking background and related to a strong Greek culture. After flipping through many Greek cookbooks I found a recipe that was by a priest. I thought if I made something from scratch it could give me more nutrition and taste better, plus add more culture to what I’m eating.

The result was a soup that wasn't thick, it was watery, and was a weird yellow color with white strands made by the eggs. It didn't look as good as the restaurant’s. I didn't care about the look though,I wanted it taste good and have the nutritional value. The smell of it was the same as the restaurant’s, because of the same ingredients used. Once I ate the soup I was amazed at the sweet and pungent taste that came from it. I wasn't disappointed at all, it felt like it was a lot healthier. I could taste the tangy lemons mixing with the rice and smooth chicken. The egg added a sticky feeling to the soup that helped with the watery feeling making it thicker. Now the rice was the same as used in the restaurant, converted, which meant that it was refined but had chemicals added to get back the vitamins.

NVA, "Homemade Egg Lemon Soup" 5/21/14, Chicago

The best way to show the difference between the two is using Michael Pollan’s five food diet transformations, where he talks about how much our diets have changed and in what ways, listing five different ones. For this taste test it would be quantity over quality, which talks about how someone today will buy a food that has a lot of ingredients in it but barely has any nutrition, where quality you get the nutritional value of the dish, but not have has much.

The reason I say that is it quantity over quality, is because when I bought the food I got a lot of the soup for a low price.  Once I made it myself I got the nutrition from the eggs, chicken, and lemons. Except for the rice because it was refined and had chemicals added to it to give back the vitamins. One of the chemicals was Thamin, which adds B vitamins to the rice. The B vitamin had to be added back, because the rice was refined, so the company had to add it back. Overall, the quality of it was so much better than what the restaurant gave me.

Something that I like better about what I made was that I made and I saw and knew everything was being put in it. In a restaurant they could put something in it that the consumer would think is gross.

Overall, I prefer the homemade version because it had a simple taste and smooth feel when in my mouth. It really didn't hit my senses as much as the restaurant, but I felt better after eating it, I was very energized. Since it was homemade I had a control over what is being put in it, such as the rice, which is refined, but it does have chemicals that give it a B vitamin complex. Meaning it isn't perfect, but it does have some nutrition to it, making it better than the restaurant’s soup. The dish is a lot better when put in the fridge and eaten the next day because it has a thick texture that I like but others may not not. Homemade is the way to cook and eat your food, because you can trust what you are eating.

Acid - Base Cupcakes

In Unit 2 of Food, we studied cooking and the chemical reactions that take place, the 5 essential ingredients used in cooking, and converting measurements of the ingredients from US system to metric. We also watched King Of Pastry, which talks about how France has a competition every year for the best pastry chef. For the action project we had to submit a cupcake recipe to a magazine. In the action project we baked a control group of cupcake where we followed the recipe, and an experimental group where we created our own leavening agents using the pH levels  and an acid base reaction. How an acid base reaction works is that when they react, they neutralize each other, and release CO2, creating air pockets in the dough making the cupcakes rise. The purpose of this was to see how we could make our own leavening agent using ingredients that would make an acid base reaction. What I learned was that it helps to know what an acid base reaction is as it can help determine if what you're cooking will rise.

 The New Leavening Agent:

Introduction:

In this experiment, my group made 6 cupcake following the normal recipe. Then we  baked 6 cupcakes without baking powder which is the leavening agent.  We substituted baking powder for an acid base ingredient that could substitute the baking powder.The reason why we need to create an acid base reaction is that the air pockets that are created when they react, release the CO2. In the control group uses baking powder which has a pH of 8.5. In the experimental group I will be using Lemon juice which as a pH of 2.2 and egg whites which has a pH of 9.This means the average pH is about 5.5. The way I determined the height was by putting a tooth pick in the center of the cupcake and marking it where the top was at.

Research Question:

Will using lemon juice and egg whites work as a leavening agent?

Hypothesis:

If I use lemon juice and egg whites as a leavening agent, then the acid base reaction should help the cupcakes rise just as high as if I were to use baking powder 

 

Materials:

½ cups of Sugar

¼ cups of butter

1 eggs

1 tsp of vanilla

¾ cups of flour

¼ cups of milk

⅞ cups of baking powder

lemon juice

egg whites.

Procedure

For Control Group:

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees F

2. Grease the pan

3. In a medium bowl, cream together the ½ cups of sugar and ¼ cups of butter

4. Beat in the 1 egg, one at a time, then stir in 1 tsp of vanilla

5. Combine ¾ cups of flour and ⅞ cups of baking powder

6. Mix everything and mix well

7. Add ¼ cups of milk and stir until batter is smooth

8. Pour batter in the pan

9. Bake cupcakes for 20 mins in oven

For Experimental Group:

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees F

2. Grease the pan

3. In a medium bowl, cream together the ½ cups of sugar and ¼ cups of butter

4. Beat in the 1 egg, one at a time, then stir in 1 tsp. of vanilla

5. Combine ¾ cups of flour

6. Mix well

7. Add ¼ cups of milk and stir until batter is smooth

8. Pour batter in the pan

9. Add the needed amount of lemon juice and egg whites into each cupcake batter

10. Bake cupcakes for 20 mins in oven

 

 

Data

Cupcakes	Amount of Lemon Juice (TSP)	Amount of Egg Whites (TSP)	Height of Cupcakes
1	1/8	0	3.9 cm
2	0	1/8	3.5 cm
3	1/32	1/32	3.5 cm
4	1/16	1/16	4 cm
5	1/64	7/64	3.1 cm
6	7/64	1/64	3 cm
Average of Control group			Control: 4.7 cm
Average of Experimental group			Experimental: 3.5 cm

 

 

 Graph:

This graph shows the heights of all 6 cupcakes in the experimental group and the average of the control group.

 

NVA, "Experimental vs. Controlled Heights" 2014, Chicago: GCE

 

Ingredient	Amount in Cups/Tsp.	Amount in mL
Sugar	1/12 cups	20 mL
Butter	1/24 cups	10 mL
Egg	⅙ tsp.	1/6
Vanilla Extract	⅙ tsp.	0.81 mL
Flour	3/24 cups	30 mL
Milk	1/24	10 mL
Lemon Juice	1/16 tsp.	0.30 mL
Egg White	1/16 tsp.	0.30 mL

 

 

 

In conclusion, my hypothesis was proven incorrect because the average height of the controlled group cupcakes is 4.7 cm and the average height of the experimental group cupcakes is 3.5 cm.  I think the main reason the cupcakes in the experimental group didn’t rise as high is because the pH of baking powder is 8.5, while the average pH of lemon juice and egg whites is 5.5. This means that the reaction wasn’t strong enough to release all the CO2 in the dough. What I could improve next time is using larger amounts of the lemon juice and the egg whites. Also what I could try is using different ingredients were the average pH is closer to 8.5. The cupcake I would submit, would be the 4th cupcake trail, because that one tasted very sweet and like normal cupcake, even better than the control group. Also besides the taste the outside wasn’t too rough and the inside was very soft. I feel that many people would love the 4th cupcake.

 

 

      

                                                                         

 

GS," Experimental Cupcakes" 2014. Chicago: GCE

 

 

 

 



The Olive's Path

In unit 2 of my Food For Thought class we studied, the geography of different continents, the process foods have to go through, and the impacts of the process. For the action project we had to pick a vegetable or fruit and then research the process/steps in which it takes to get to our plates. We also had to research the impacts of the different steps, human and environmental. The food I chose was, olives. I picked this, because olives are used in many dishes and no one really talks about them, such as, how and where they are grown. Many say Greece but Spain is the actually, "Mother Land". Something that was really surprising that I read while my doing my research was that, olive oil actually when consumed many times can help reduce the chances of getting cancer. One environmental impact that I found surprising was that, the waste water that was produced when the olives are being processed is that, it can't be safely transported to a waste water treatment facility. This affected how I view lots of different foods, because know I that it could take a long time and a lot of hardship to be made. This project will make me think more about people and the environment when growing different types of vegetables and fruits.