Coca-Cola Suspends Advertising in the Philippines

Professor Henke asked us to think about food in the context of the holidays over this break, and I came across this article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/25/coke-ads-philippines-_n_4338746.html. Coca-Cola, the soft drink giant, has announced that they will stop all advertising in the Philippines, and instead donate the money to the typhoon-relief effort. Typhoon Haiyan has already claimed over 5,000 lives and thousands still are missing. Coke has already donated $2.5 million in cash and in-kind donations, but the damages are estimated to be around $5.8 billion. With the holiday season just beginning, Coke has chosen an integral time of year to put advertising on hold--an advertising move in and of itself some may argue. However, I still believe it is a selfless move on Coke's part. It just goes to show how a mammoth food company can use its power for good in our society where we tend to have such a cynical outlook toward large-scale companies.

Vegan Butternut Squash Soup

Happy black Friday everyone!! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving that was full of delicious food and merriment. So since I am recently vegetarian, I decided that I needed to make something for Thanksgiving myself that I could be sure had no traces of meat in it, so I decided to make butternut squash soup! This is one of my favorite soups if done right, and I really like the version Panera Bread has, only it's a bit too sweet for me. So I found this copycat vegan recipe online (link at the bottom) and I decided to try it out. I was skeptical at first, but it ended up being AMAZING and my entire family loved it (and they all are basically afraid to eat vegan things because they fear the taste so that says a lot). They loved it so much, that I forgot to take a picture of the finished product and went to do so later on, but it was all gone :( I can assure it looked great though.

http://www.hungryhealthygirl.com/2013/10/10/copycat-panera-breads-autumn-squash-soup-vegan-paleo-and-gluten-free/

The only changes I made to the recipe were that I added ~2 tbsp of honey to sweeten it a bit more, and I also used red curry powder specifically. So I encourage you all to try it out and enjoy!

Foodies

So in honor of my senior thesis- and a draft that is consuming my Thanksgiving break- I decided to write this post on the subject at hand: the world of the foodie. Yes, that’s right, I’m writing my senior thesis on foodies (how cool?!) and the information I’ve obtained on this culture is so interesting, especially when paired with our food class. First off, let me provide you all with a definition of a foodie (even though I can bet that all of you are foodies). A foodie is someone who loves anything from truck-stop chili to caviar. A foodie likes all classes and cuisines of foods, and is open to trying anything and everything (as long as it’s the best of its kind). In other words, foodies reject snobbery and opt for a culture of food inclusion. Unlike the dynamics of upper-class taste in the mid twentieth century, foodies are on a mission to experience all different types of food far beyond French cuisine. Further, French cuisine has been knocked off its pedestal and no longer defines upper class taste. Essentially, foodies are beginning to redefine the upper to middle class pallet of food, and the movement is evident on Colgate’s campus.

Foodies are, well, obsessed with food. That includes cooking food, blogging about food, taking pictures of food, farming food, and having an education on food. Professor Henke’s Food class is a prime example of the existence of foodie culture on Colgate’s campus. The farm internship alone would summon jealousy from any foodie. We were able to experience local food production at its purest, and gain a deeper understanding on the origin of the vegetables we eat everyday. My experience on the farm got me so interested in fresh vegetables, and enticed me to visit the farmer’s market in Hamilton for the first time since I’ve been a Colgate student (let me remind you, I’m a senior). Farming food and frequenting the farmer’s market resulted in a personal collection of beautiful fresh vegetables in my apartment, which ultimately led me to cook more than ever before. I couldn’t let such fresh produce go to waste, so I began calling my dad for recipes and checking out food blogs online for easy, tasty dinners. Because of the research I was conducting on foodies for my thesis, I recognized my new cooking and food interest behaviors as symptoms of a growing foodie. Even the few days I’ve been home for break have been consumed with foodie behaviors. I cooked a pasta primavera for my family on Sunday night, which I regrettably forgot to take a picture of but I did include the recipe I selected at the bottom of my post. I also notice my twelve-year-old sister is a foodie prodigy, along with many of her friends. She had a friend over today and the two of them baked mini chocolate lava cakes- from scratch. Thinking back to my childhood play dates certainly does not resurrect memories of gourmet desserts, so I found it amazing to see the rising foodie culture is influencing children today and that it’s presence is much stronger than it was even ten years ago when I was a kid.   

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/pasta-primavera-recipe/index.html

For all those meat lovers, I highly recommend adding slice sausage to the recipe- it's a great contrast to the taste of the vegetables!

Vermont Leads the Way in Farmers Markets & CSAs Per Capita

During my time in our "Food" class, I have started paying more attention to anything and everything food related. This trend is particularly noticeable in my Facebook activity. I never noticed how many of my friends are actively posting and thinking about the food they eat. Several of my friends from home in VT recently posted about blog post on Upworthy.com about how Vermont is leading the country in the number of farmers markets and CSAs per capita. Growing up in Vermont and my exposure to farming and the localvore mindset that is more common there is the main reason I took the Food class. It is nice to see some actual statistics about a phenomenon I was already somewhat aware of, but just didn't know the full extent of.
The blogger at Upworthy pointed out how NY and CA are falling behind in this per capita statistic, which is also an interesting point in the context of what we've recently been talking about in class. We've discussed how much of America's agriculture is moving to Southern California, so it is interesting to see that, while they do score the highest in sheer numbers of farmers markets and CSAs (which is understandable, it is an enormous and highly productive state), per capita they are falling behind.
This infographic was produced by Sustainable America, which has lots of great blog posts and I'd recommend checking their website out.

Grossest School Lunches in the U.S.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelzarrell/these-are-some-of-the-grossest-school-lunches-in-the-us

Here is a link to a buzzfeed article I happened upon today that horrified me to say the least. It's basically just a bunch of pictures of disgustingly unhealthy and gross looking school lunches. I cannot believe they allow children to be fed this kind of food and there is a serious lack of fruits and vegetables on each plate. Children will be socialized into thinking that chicken nuggets, nachos and other gross looking concoctions are standard food staples if this continues and school lunches are not revamped. Hopefully in the future, students will be provided with healthier, more balanced lunches in order to combat childhood obesity and increase their palettes for nutritious foods (and hopefully they will look a bit more appetizing as well). I read another article about bagged lunches in Canada and how parents that do not provide their children with a balanced lunch will be fined accordingly--maybe this is a practice that the U.S. could adopt, yet I don't see it being something that would be well-received at all...Yet I would much rather encourage bagged lunches as opposed to what children are being fed at school...

Martha Stewart's Food Pictures

Something we've talked about in class is how there is value placed on the appearance and presentation of food. Most people buying food choose which product or produce to purchase based on how it looks. People will pass over a bruised apple or any food that looks slightly different than the commodified versions we have created. There has been a lot of buzz recently about food pictures that Martha Stewart, someone who is known for her recipes and food ideas, tweeted. She shared pictures of food that simply don't look that appealing and the response has been very negative.

She tweeted this picture with the caption: "Best slow cooked onion soup with baguette croutons and gruyere and Comte cheese melted on top. Garden onions"

https://twitter.com/MarthaStewart/status/402162753772601344

This massive response to her recent tweets showcases the importance of appearance and presentation of food in our society. Furthermore, that a public figure that utilizes creativity and design for their lifestyle brand seemingly isn't aware that presentation is important is surprising. 

Here are some articles that have commented on her photos:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2013/11/18/martha-stewart-iceberg-wedge-photo-twitter/3630765/

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2013/11/19/martha-stewart-fails-at-food-porn/

http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-martha-stewart-takes-the-worst-food-photos-20131118,0,7530604.story#axzz2l8EkF9Qr

Baking For Charity!

Partners in Health Bake Sale!!

This past weekend, I helped out with preparations for a bake sale that took place in the Coop.  A friend of mine, Danielle Bynoe, organized the entire event in collaboration with a number of campus organizations to raise money for Partners In Health.  The organization aims to eradicate HIV/AIDS in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, so it was completely worth spending a few hours on Sunday to help out with the baking process.  

The result of the laborious work that went into the bake sale was a HUGE spread of cupcakes, cookies, and other treats.  I made cranberry-chocolate chip-oatmeal cookies which sold out in a flash!  It was really great to take even a small part in helping to raise money for the organization. 

Eggplant Parmigiana

I was craving a really good home cooked meal so I decided to try making eggplant parmigiana. I found this easy recipe from The Food Network that called for:

Olive oil
Eggplant
Salt and pepper
Tomato sauce
Basil
Mozzarella
Grated parmesan cheese
Bread crumbs

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees
2. Oil a baking sheet with olive oil
3. Slice the eggplant into pieces that are about an inch thick and lightly season each slice with salt and pepper and place on the oiled baking sheet

4. Place in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the tops become brown
5. Take the eggplant out of the oven and place on a plate to cool
6. In a brownie pan evenly space the pieces of eggplant and spread tomato sauce on each slice. Then place a slice of mozzarella, sprinkle parmesan cheese, and sprinkle basil on top. Place the other slices of eggplant on top and repeat this layering, adding roasted bread crumbs on the top

7. Put the pan in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted
8. Enjoy!

Summarized Delicious Description

It is an enriching experience to be part of the Living Writers Program. Before every author’s visit, there is a massive spread of gourmet food, half an hour, before the author’s talk. I have been amazed at the quality of food provided. I  want to describe and give a detailed description of the most recent spread, and the delicious variety of foods presented. I want to re-live that again.

On two massive tables, on a clean white table cloth, there are orange, red, golden striped mini paper plates with matching napkins set on the sides of the tables. On the first table there is a small wooden board that has 4 types of cheeses surrounded with a lettuce garnish. There are 4 rows of the 4 different cheeses. Next to the board is another box of three different types of crackers. Two different varieties of multi-grain and one row of plain.

Next to this is a round plastic bowl of grapes: red and green. As you go along further, one can see another bowl, but this time contained of big oranges. Next to this lies a glass bowl containing pita bread triangles filled with hummus. Next to it is a basket with pumpkin bread squares on red cloth. Around these dishes are plastic cups, covered in plastic wrap, containing carrot, celery, red capsicum, and cucumber sticks sticking out from a  spread of red-pepper hummus. In another set of plastic cups, covered in plastic wrap, is  yogurt parfait covered in a layer of granola.

On the next table there are two huge silver cookie sheets, one that has pumpkin pie slab and the other one that has some sort apple-cinnamon crumble pie. In the middle of the cookie sheets, set on the white table-cloth is a medium size Reddi whip. At the far edge of the table, there are cans of diet-coke,bottles of Ocean Spray cranberry juice, and mini-bottles of Poland Spring water. Towards the end of the table there is medium size, thick, grey plastic tray. Placed on this tray are white, thickly frosted carrot cake square pieces. At the end is a silver bucket of sweet,spiced cider.

I tried everything, except the carrot cake, only because it had raisins. The pumpkin pie slab was creamy and sweet. The filling inside of the two toffee-colored crumble layers was a delicious thick pumpkin spread. The other tray containing the other kind of pie, had no name card placed next to it, so I am not entirely sure, but I am fairly positive that it was some sort of apple pie. It had an apple cinnamon spread within the crumbled layers. It was delicious. I want to learn how to make pie after eating this. I am going back home in a month, hopefully my mum can figure out some recipe and teach me. She is a good baker. I asked my friend how the carrot cake tasted. He described it as “dry, but the raisins break in the texture, so overall good”

By the time I got to the cider bucket, the cider was nearly gone, so I got to try just a little bit of it, but the bit that I tasted was divine. I am going to try to learn to make that too. Perfect for the cold weather.

Cultural Barrier and Understanding Sauces

Before taking this course, I’ve never really thought about the food that I eat and the properties that those foods contain. A while ago in class, we were discussing staple foods and how it varies from culture to culture. Staple foods are, loosely defined, food products that are eaten regularly such that it becomes a major component of one’s diet. A type of staple food that is commonly found in a lot of cultures is sauce. For me, when I think of a sauce, maybe it’s a direst result of my acclimatization to the conglomerate American culture, I think of a sort of topping that is served with the main dish; more often than not, that “sauce” is not healthy for you.

Barbecue sauce and other condiments, though they add more flavor to otherwise bland food, are chockfull of fats, calories, and other unhealthy substances; this is the part I have a problem with in which my language and cultural barrier comes in: sauces are generally not good for you. In my Sierra Leonean culture, the same can be said about the West African culture in general, the use of “sauces” is prominent in our diets. This sauce is not the same, health wise, as the typical Western sauce. In my family, various sauces are served on top of rice; rice is the number one staple food in my family. The main ingredient in the sauces are spinach, cassava leaf, and okra to name a few; spices and vegetables are added to give more flavors to the dish. One would think that having the aforementioned key ingredients in the sauce would make it healthy. Aren’t we supposed to eat more of green leafy vegetables in order to sustain a healthy lifestyle? From the American perspective, the topping that my family adds to rice is considered a sauce, but from my cultural perspective it is more than a sauce. Sauces theoretically should be used sparingly because of their unhealthy makeup, but we, my household, consume it extensively on a daily basis, most often at least two times a day. Similar to the sauces here in the United States, it is never eaten alone and always accompanied by something; either with rice or sometimes with another grain substituent such as couscous.

The only ingredient that immediately comes to mind that can make the topping unhealthy is shrimp flavored bouillon cube. One serving of this seasoning contains an alarming 42% daily value of sodium. However, the salty cubes are used in moderation. There is a significant noticeable difference in taste for the topping that is the cornerstone of a Sierra Leonean’s diet versus the topping that is used for “businesses”, which is the Sierra Leonean term for family gatherings and parties. The party toppings fit more into the sauce category as they taste saltier and are only eaten during those types of events; therefore they are (intended to be) consumed in moderation. The more that I think about, the closest thing to the Sierra Leonean topping is a stew instead of a sauce. The toppings are known colloquially in the hybrid broken English and native language as “plasas”, also known as “palaver” sauce. The varieties of dishes are aptly named so because of the way that they are prepared. Usually a green leafy vegetable, such as the ones mentioned earlier, boiled and cooked with oil, hot chilies/peppers, onions, goat meat and or fish, some types of seasonings such as nutmeg, and Maggi (shrimp flavored bouillon cubes).

I guess that plasas is neither a sauce nor just a stew, but it is a combination of both. My attempts in trying to characterize my cultural cuisine has made me hungry and craving for rice; it is ironic that I dislike eating rice while I’m at home, but I crave it intensely when I’m away from home. Until I have the available means of transportation in getting the ingredients I need and acquiring the skills I need to cook it, calling my mother to send me home cooked food will have to suffice for now. The picture below is a generic cassava leaf plasas on rice.

  

A Food Resolution

I had lunch in the Frank dining hall today. I have to admit I surely become a gastronomic pig every time I enter that dining hall. Way too much food; and with my uncontrollable appetite for variety, I end up eating everything.

I started off with a cheese, bacon and broccoli omelette. Consider that an appetizer. I next pursue a Clam Linguine with a garlic sauce. I run back to the buffet and of course-- there in eye’s view lies the chocolate-chip cookies and chocolate cupcakes. I must have one of each! So that goes on my plate. Topped with sweet chocolate fantasies, I take one more round of the buffet spread. I see soup. Carrot soup. Pour one bowl of that. I scuttle back to my table, which is already piled with two empty plates. I finish the soup, which is delicious. Baby carrots, tomatoes and thyme in a creamy broth. Warm, cozy and comfort--just right for a cold, snowy depressing day. Gobble down the chocolate cupcake and chocolate-chip cookie. YUM. But can you believe, I still want more food?

One more round of the Frank Dining hall. They have two dishes that I am hesitant to try. A dark chocolate mole chicken. The description on the card says something about a chocolate sauce poured over a chicken thigh.  Chocolate sauce over chicken? Should I risk it? Haha why not? Pick it up. And right next to it, a pecan crust wheat berry french toast. The toast is fully covered in crunchy wheat with strawberries on top. It looks unique. What is Frank doing with its innovative food recipes? Oh well. I pick that up too. Loaded with the chocolate chicken and the crunchy white wheat toast, off I march, back again, to my table, which already has a stack of five empty plates. Not to mention the Orange juice, Apple juice and the carbonated water. What is with my appetite?

I take my fork and and poke at the chicken. One bite. I taste masala. I take another bite, this time more masala but with a sweet aftertaste. The sauce poured over the chicken is definitely chocolatey but not the sweetest. I am assuming it is made with dark chocolate. But who knows? Masala with sweet? Is this fusion? Spicy, Indian marinade with a chocolate sweet after taste? I would call that innovative, but I did not think it went well together. At least not with the chicken. Way too much flavor happening in one bite. The chicken was on top of a bed of brown rice with almond slices and raisins. I have never liked raisins. That chewy, soft texture with an extremely sweet taste does not agree with my palate. Next stop: the white, crumbly looking  toast. I am wishing I had taken a picture to share with you folks. It looked so interesting. Oh well, you will just have to rely on my poor descriptive skills to get a feel of it. I cut a piece of the toast. It is dry;crunchy,tasteless and oh god: I taste a raisin in my mouth. Why do both dishes have so many raisins?

It’s funny. Me and my friend last weekend were discussing about trying new gourmet foods. I brought up an argument that my freshman roommate once asked me: “why should I eat something just because it is has a high class status, e.g., caviar. Even though it tastes bad, why would I try something just because of the status? I want to eat food that tastes good, not bad”

My friend responds to that explaining, with high class foods, one has to acquire a taste for it, and once you do acquire a taste for it, you can enjoy the multitude varieties of that specific high class food that the market has to offer, e.g., sushi, caviar or truffles.

I definitely did agree to that. So even though raisin is not exactly a high status food, it seems to be in a lot of the Indian sweets, and other savory breakfast dishes too. 
So my next resolution--  develop a taste for raisins, so I can enjoy the raisin filled dishes that restaurants have to offer.

Industrialized Food Production

I saw this clip on Buzzfeed and thought that it greatly applied to what we've been discussing in class about industrial food production. This clip is taken from the film Samsara, a documentary that was shot over nearly five years in twenty-five countries on five continents. This documentary aims to introduce various worlds of sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial complexes, and natural wonders. This 6 minute clip showcases the industrial production of meat. We see the inhumane treatment of the animals in order to mass produce meat in factories. It really makes you think about how this form of production isn't right. Another aspect of this clip that is powerful is at the end when we see images of obesity. Clearly, this form of meat production in addition to being harmful to animals, is being harmful to humans and our health. This practice of industrial meat production needs to be changed or moved away from. 

Nostalgia

At the end of October my laptop started giving me problems: in either the middle of me listening to music or writing a paper or me watching a television show; it would--at random--start to loudly beep; freeze; and refuse to work again, unless I switched it off, waited a minimum of thirty minutes(if I was lucky, only thirty minutes!)  to have it back on and running.

After delivering it to the bookstore, which took another week to fix, my Macbook Pro-- today-- was ready for pick-up. So after my Living Writers class, I took the 4.12pm cruiser downtown. Excited to finally, after more than two weeks, bring my laptop home. At the cash counter, my credit card declines. After three swipes, it still declines. I am positive I have money. I am so sure. But the machine refuses to accept it.

I walk out, angry,sad; into the cold snow, without a laptop. As I trudge back home, I remember a joke my dad use to say --No money No honey.

Upset, and with only twenty dollars in my wallet, I decide to stop at the Hamilton Whole foods. I now can only afford a sandwich. I was actually craving a medium spicy lamb biryani with Indian raita and a garden salad at the Indian Grill but that would have costed 15 dollars, not including tip.

At the Hamilton Whole Foods, I look at their selections of salads, wraps, sandwiches and homemade soups. I order a Cheeky Monkey wrap that contains chic-pea salad, tabouli, peanuts, raisins, cheese, and a cheeky monkey sauce. I was missing UAE: Arabic food. What better way to drive the nostalgia away by eating tabouli? As I was waiting for them to grill my Cheeky Monkey wrap, I browsed around the store. I was surprised at the variety they have. They had different Chinese sauces; nori wrappers; pre-made, packaged Indian food, variety of cheeses, different selection of organic pasta, and so many types of lentils to choose from. They were selling organic squash, potatoes, and onions as well. I saw a selection of organic jams, and ginger spreads, it all looked so delicious.

No Money No Honey.

I usually eat at the Frank dining hall. It is where I have my lunch and dinner. They usually do a good job of trying to change the menu everyday, but you can expect the basic: burgers, pizzas,pastas, meat, rice, vegetables and the salad bar. Il confess, with so much variety, I tend to overeat, sending me on a soporific high at Case Library, which is where I reside after Frank--such a bad idea: studying with a food-baby. Problems I guess of a foodie who just loves to eat and wishes for a bigger appetite and maybe stomach?Maybe.

When my wrap does come on the table. I am surprised how tiny it looks. I was expecting something longer. But oh well, I guess I should not expect much for 5 dollars and 99 cents. I bit into it and was amazed how good it was. The chic-pea salad was delicious, and it went well with the tabouli salad. The melted cheese and peanuts were doing a fine job with every morsel. The combination worked well together. The whole meal made me miss home more. It had such an Arabic flavor. It was definitely a nice change from Frank. And surprisingly I was completely full after the short, small looking wrap.

I have another month till I go back home. Till then I am hoping to drive away the nostalgia and memories by eating Arabic related foods. So my next stop, again at the Hamilton Whole foods, this time for the Hummus and Grape Leaves Wrap. The Description: Hummus, Stuffed Grape Leaves, Tomato, Red Onions and Yoghurt Sauce--grilled. Now that is “home” all wrapped up in a tiny wrap. Can’t wait.

Cooking for 400 people, 9 miles out to sea

I've spent my past two summers living and working on Star Island, located 9 miles of the coast of New Hampshire. Over the summer, Star Island plays host to over 20 conferences of varying nature and size, but that all have at least one thing in common: they all need to eat. Conferences on star island eat three family style meals a day in the dining hall located in the Oceanic Hotel (pictured below). Star Island staff, endearingly called "Pelicans" perform all of the transportation from the main land, storage, preparation, and service of food on star island.

Star Island has always made sustainability and self-sufficiency one of its top priorities. It is no secret that food transportation, preparation, and disposal is one of the top inhibitors of this goal. It is extremely work and fuel intensive to transport enough food to feed over 400 people out to the island every few days. Most everything on Star island is done with minimal technological help. To get a sense of what I mean, take the transportation of food to the island as an example. Every three or four days, a few pelicans take a boat over to the main land where they manually haul all of the food (roughly enough to fill a large box truck) onto the boat. Once they arrive on the island, they must transfer all of that food from the boat to a truck. The pelican community always helps with this step, forming a "food line", essentially a hot potato chain of people snaking from the boat to the truck. Once they are done loading food onto the truck, everyone shouts "halfway!" and round two of food line is performed after the truck is driven up to the kitchen loading dock.

I would like to highlight one feature of Star Island that is a relatively new and very exciting development in the realm of food and sustainability on island: 

1) The Pelican Garden

                      

The Pelicans have worked tirelessly over the last 4 summers to create a garden on the island. Prior to this past summer, the garden was maintained using purely volunteer labor. All structural components of the garden (garden beds, greenhouse structure, plot borders) There is a garden bed made from an actual old bed frame, tomato vines grow on old pieces of scrap metal, and there are flower planted in old toilet bowls. The walkways are bordered with old glass bottles (they are not hard to come by, especially after a staff party). The Pelican garden is both beautiful and resourceful. All compost from non-cooked food on island is saved and use as fertilizer in the garden although compost from cooked food is still sent off island to be disposed of. 

I have spent many afternoons in the garden, whether I was digging in the dirt or just enjoying the scenery, and I was not alone. The image above shows Pelicans gathered in the garden during one of the two garden parties of the summer in which we ate food made strictly from plants harvested in the garden and enjoyed the beauty of our garden by the sea. 

Pesticides and Unforeseen Consequences

A topic commonly discussed through class readings and discussion proves to be advancements in the agriculture industry, and the pesticides that are used to make food production more efficient. Further, the documentary we watched in class entitled King Corn revealed the effects of using pesticides; farmers are now able to produce more corn crop than ever before. I did a quick Internet search on pesticides and found two disturbing articles from both CNN and The New York Times.

            CNN recently did a write-up on a study revealing the health effects of certain pesticides that were used through the 1940’s and 1960’s. Though the pesticides were banned in the 1960’s, they are still circulating through our food system today- and the effects are horrible. Pesticides known as beta-HCH and Mirex are now being linked to increasing the likelihood of developing the endometriosis, a chronic disease affecting women. Endometriosis can cause pelvic pain and may result in infertility. The reported study revealed, “women in the upper 50% for beta-HCH levels were 2.5 times more likely to have ovarian endometriosis”(CNN). This is a direct result of unlucky females digesting contaminated foods containing pesticides that were once used in food production. During the time of its use, farmers were completely unaware of the dangerous effects of these pesticides, which makes one wonder- what if were are currently ingesting dangerous pesticides and their negative effects are just yet to be discovered? After all, there are currently more than 865 pesticides that are approved for use (NYtimes).

            A New York Times article written by Mark Bittman exposes the many dangers of pesticides today, an age in which farmers use more pesticides than ever before. Bittman references a study that revealed the potential results of pregnant women exposed to the wrong pesticides: such exposure may result in their children becoming more susceptible to obesity. More concerning, Bittman elaborates, stating, “many pesticides have been shown to be endocrine disrupters, changing gene expression patterns and causing unforeseen harm to health”(Bittman: 2012). I find the keyword in this disturbing statement to be unforeseen, as in we are completely oblivious to the future results of pesticides.

            Such information reveals the need to reform our agriculture industry. It is important that the public become more conscious of the foods they are eating, and the manner in which they were produced- otherwise we could end up eating ourselves into a chronic disease or affecting the health of future children. 

Below I have pasted both of the articles referenced in my post:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/11/pesticides-now-more-than-ever/

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2013/11/05/banned-pesticides-linked-to-endometriosis/