Wednesday, September 29, 2010

My Trip to Wendy's Edited Version

I open the door and politely wait for satisfied customers exit
before I enter. I walk in towards the long waiting line that 
curves around four times. I could hear some people ordering their
food and people having conversations about what they are going to 
order. Waiting for the line, look to my left and I notice the logo, 
a red headed girl with two pony tails on each side and freckles on 
her cheeks, and a colorful menu with pictures of food that helps me 
decide what I want to order. More and more steps closer till its my 
turn. "Next" is my cue. I say my order, hand a couple bucks and watch 
the young lady press buttons all over the machine. I hear the  sound 
of coins that falls right infront of me. I look below the cash register 
and my change is ready to be picked up and a hand before me with cash 
and a receipt. Wait for a minute or two and I receive a plastic 
black tray with food and a drink.
 
I sit down, grab the spongy sandwich, open the wrapper. I could 
smell the spiciness. I take a few bites and feel the sauce drip
on the corner of my mouth, I could taste the onions right off the 
back, I grab my drink and sip a few sips. I'm almost done, feel my 
tummy, know that I'm full. Stand up, pick up the tray and my stuff, 
head over to the garbage can, tilt the tray, watch the food fall 
into the rest of the garbage, stack the tray on the top, and be on 
my way. I feel satified and a little guilty.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Pepsi Throwback

Yesterday, I attended a church event near my house. They had a few activities like bingo and dancing. There was so much free food. I was eating a plate of spaghetti with meatballs, some pork, white rice, and come potato salad and drinking a cup of Pepsi soda. They had the sodas on the table and also Sunny Delight. I was speaking to my friend when she said that she was going to get a better pepsi because the one I was drinking was just a "bottle of fructose and corn syrup". She came back to the table with an unusual two liter Pepsi with a white background, still blue letters and a yellow banner part on the bottom of the Pepsi that wrote "Made with Real Sugar Limited Time Only" I don't know how long exactly this has been out for, but it's the first time I have ever seen this. I was very interesting in how it said "Limited Time Only" because the reason why they don't make this permanent is because real sugar apparently costs more money. I then took a regular pepsi and put them side to side to see the difference on the nutrition facts. If you look at the pictures below, you can see the difference yourselves:
 Please notice that the regular Pepsi is from a can and the Throwback is a bottle, but there are still some great differences even if they were both bottles or cans. What you can notice right off the back is the ingredients.

My Trip to Wendy's

I open the door and politely wait for satisfied customers exit
before I enter. I walk in towards the long waiting line that 
curves around four times. Waiting for the line, look to my left 
and I notice the logo, a red headed girl with two pony tails on 
each side and freckles on her cheeks, and a colorful menu with 
pictures of food that helps me decide what I want to order. More 
and more steps closer till its my turn. "Next" is my cue. I say 
my order, hand a couple bucks and watch the young lady press 
buttons all over the machine. I hear the  sound of coins that 
falls right infront of me. I look below the cash register and my 
change is ready to be picked up and a hand before me with cash 
and a receipt. Wait for a minute or two and I receive a plastic 
black tray with food and a drink. I sit down, grab and open the 
wrapped food, take a few bites, sip a few sips, feel my tummy, 
know that I'm full. Stand up, pick up the tray and my stuff, 
head over to the garbage can, tilt the tray, watch the food fall 
into the rest of the garbage, stack the tray on the top, and be on 
my way. I feel satified and a little guilty.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The History of Fanta

In my Enviromental Ethics class, we did a quick review of the history of Fanta. The only thing really said was that during WWII, Coca Cola wanted to sell their products and send them to Nazi Germany. Because of restrictions and the fact that the US and Germany were enemies, Coca Cola wanted to be sneaky; therefore, they created Fanta. Fanta was then shipped and sold in Germany.
I found this really interesting, how big companies would do almost anything to sell their products no matter the relation. But I guess its always really about the money. If anyone is interested more about the history, I read the information from the link below:
http://funky-facts.blogspot.com/2009/02/history-of-fanta.html

ENJOY!

Monday, September 20, 2010

When Chemicals in Plastic Attack

"The New York Times Log In." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. Web. 20 Sept. 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/science/07bpa.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&ref=science>.

This article talks about the chemical, bisphenol-A (BPA) is put into the plastic that are used to make bottles or other things to content foods or liquids. The research to find whether the chemical harms us, humans, has been going on for over 10 years. "It is considered an “endocrine disruptor,” a term applied to chemicals that can act like hormones. But whether it does any harm in people is unclear." Some states are taking action and completely banning BPA from their children, and it is said that people are trying to make a food safety bill to to copy the actions of these states and ban BPA. Some stores have taken action as well; for example, Whole Foods, CVS, Sears, and Wal-mart, say they are "BPA- free". From the looks of it, the food safety bill will not make such an effect since California, recently, rejected the bill.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Welcome to Katherine Pena's You Are What You Eat

My name is Katherine Pena, I am 17-years-old. I go to F.H. LaGuardia Community College and this is my blog. This blog is for my research paper class that covers The Ethics of Food.  

My eating habits are not necessarily healthy but they are not deadly either. I typically eat the food that my mother cooks, which is usually traditional Dominican food; like, chicken and rice. When she does not cook, I eat fast food. I would make my own food but turns out that if my mother did not cook, there are no ingredients at home; therefore, my options are to starve or to buy food ready to eat. But when I do cook, I make simple things for breakfast like omelets, pancakes, mashed potatoes, etc.

My family and I have a couple of different places we do groceries at. Key Food, the first choice, is where we buy the food/ingredients we absolutely need. Milk, cereal, juice, fruits, meats, and bread are on that list. It used to be very disappointed looking, but after the remodeling was done, the place looks expensive even though it really is not. The other option is Costco. My family and I go to Costco when we really need to go grocery shopping. Costco is a huge store that sells just about everything from food to electronics, to cosmetics, to things for the home. Also, Costco is very affordable and reliable. We buy things that are necessary and not so necessary like chips, cookies, breakfast bars, etc.

My favorite types of food would have to be my mother's cooking, I do not know what I would be without her variety. I love lasagna and the traditional white rice with chicken breast with a green salad on the side. Honestly, if I really tried and thought about where my food comes from, for example chicken, I could turn vegetarian. The reason I say this is because I have thought about it for a minute and just the thought disturbed me a little bit. But being vegetarian in my culture is practically insane. Maybe I'll try it for a while.