On-Demand Writing Assignment
You will have 45 minutes to plan and
write an essay on the topic assigned below. Before you begin writing, read the
passage carefully and plan what you will say. Your essay should be as well
organized and carefully written as you can make it.
Create your essay response in a Word Doc then cut/paste it when you are ready to Post it.
Create your essay response in a Word Doc then cut/paste it when you are ready to Post it.
PROMPT:
Most of us are so busy that we seldom spend time learning to cook a healthy meal. Instead, we spend extra money eating out or having food delivered, or we pop frozen food into the microwave, or we open a soft drink and a bag of chips. We have no idea what is in most of the processed food that we eat, nor do we want to know. Often parents work, so they are no longer the ones responsible for making sure that their children have healthy food in the home or that they eat well. Since parents are too busy to teach their children how to shop for food or how to cook, perhaps it’s time that middle and high schools have required courses for students so that they learn the essential skills for maintaining health: how to shop and how to cook.
—Tom SmallMost of us are so busy that we seldom spend time learning to cook a healthy meal. Instead, we spend extra money eating out or having food delivered, or we pop frozen food into the microwave, or we open a soft drink and a bag of chips. We have no idea what is in most of the processed food that we eat, nor do we want to know. Often parents work, so they are no longer the ones responsible for making sure that their children have healthy food in the home or that they eat well. Since parents are too busy to teach their children how to shop for food or how to cook, perhaps it’s time that middle and high schools have required courses for students so that they learn the essential skills for maintaining health: how to shop and how to cook.
Explain Small’s argument and discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with his analysis. Support your position, providing reasons and examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.
Don't forget the basics of argumentation: Ethos, Pathos, Logos.
In this response you are analyzing Small's argument; yet you are also creating your own argument. So be persuasive! And remember: you are not looking at how he created his argument or what rhetorical features he uses. You are merely explaining his argument and then agreeing, disagreeing, or qualifying to what extent you agree with him.
Once you make your claim on how you feel about the topic (his argument), then use examples to support your claim. Show me logic and emotion with well-written sentences that are punctuated correctly in order to prove your credibility.
You can also include the counter argument--something we have not discussed yet. Here you would acknowledge the opposing viewpoint by either giving that viewpoint some concessions, (meaning to point out that parts of it may have merit) or you can discuss the opposing viewpoint by taking it apart and proving why it is wrong.
Good Luck and Begin--
Due at End of Class= 50 POINTS
Response to a Peer:
Due by Monday Night (NO EXCEPTIONS) = 20 POINTS
Respond to one peer by discussing how they incorporated elements of argumentation and evidence into their response and how it affected you as a reader.
Dear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteTom Small believes that it is important for people to eat healthy. He does realize that not everyone has the time, money or, in some cases, patience to purchase or make healthy food. Small argues that our country should be doing more to educate people about how to cook and shop for their health. I most definitely agree with his theories.
In America, obesity is an increasing problem, effecting citizens of all ages. One of the main causes of obesity is eating unhealthy. For a lot of people, eating “clean” is a bit of a challenge; whether it having to with not being able to afford healthy items, or simply not knowing exactly what to eat to be considered healthy. Small makes a good point in his argument by stating these issues. His solution is to educate people “so that they learn the essential skills for maintaining health”. By throwing knowledge at people, it will make them more aware of what is going on in their bodies when they consume these unhealthy, yet so easily accessible, foods. Shocking details involving this subject may be an eye opener to some people, causing them to change their unhealthy life styles, thus ripping them from the grasp of obesity. This is what I believe Small is trying to get across to most Americans.
Obesity isn’t the only health issue that comes with eating unhealthy, fast foods. Heart disease and type 2 diabetes are also affecting people who eat unhealthy regularly. Small suggests that just by doing simple things such as taking time to teach others about how to cook and shop for hearty, nutritious foods can make the biggest difference in America’s overall health.
Another issue as to why people don’t choose to eat healthy is because they can’t afford it. Being educated about the issues won’t help if you don’t have the money to do something about it. A Big Mac at McDonalds costs so much less than a healthy meal like salmon with a side of greens, which is why most people would choose the burger. In the long run, eating unhealthy will catch up to you, giving you health problems that will cost you more money in the future.
I agree with Tom Small’s argument. Maintaining good health is so critically important, that the idea can not be emphasized enough. With rapidly growing health issues increasing daily, it makes me think that people need to be doing something about it to fix this problem. I take time to eat healthy because my health is extremely important to me. I appreciate the fact that my family can afford to purchase nutritious foods, and that I have the knowledge of how to make healthy meals. Of course I’m not perfect, I do splurge every once in awhile on ice cream or chocolate, but I balance it out with eating healthy and exercising. People can do little things that will make a big difference in their health like choosing water instead of soda or getting a salad rather than a burger at McDonalds. These choices may determine the result of their health, and in some cases, result of their life line. Eating healthy can be a challenge some times, but in the end it saves lives, and Tom Small makes this clear.
Sincerely,
Lexy Stogner Pd. 1
Dear Lexy,
DeleteI agree with your argument on food and that eating healthy is incredibly important. The way you incorporated facts to support your argument on how people may not have knowledge on food and explaining different health effects flowed nicely. Also how you wrapped up your argument with a personal touch was nice showing that no one is perfect, that with an balanced diet and exercise will increase your years of life. As a reader this made me evaluate my eating habits and how maybe I should change a few things like you suggested eating the salad versus the burger.
Sincerely,
Taylor McGinnis Pd. 1
Dear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteTom Small argues that American people are too busy to prepare healthy meals. Instead they choose to take five-minutes-in-the-microwave ready food, leaving their children uneducated in cooking and shopping for healthier food. I agree with his theories because of the health risks and environmental risks.
Small makes a good point by saying, “We have no idea what is in most of the processed food that we eat.” By saying this, Small is displaying the lack of information we have on the food we consume everyday. Since corn is such a subsidized crop, it is used in lots of things. For instance food companies process it into corn syrup, which is now taking the place of sugar, in different foods and drinks. There are studies that show that corn syrup is a leading factor in type two diabetes, heart diseases, and obesity. Without looking at the label to see how much corn syrup, sugar, or other unhealthy ingredients are in the food, you are unknowingly feeding yourself and your children food that can result in serious health problems when eaten regularly.
Another factor that comes to play with unknown facts about food is the environmental risks. Corn, not only does it take vast amounts of land to grow, it also needs loads of pesticides to ward off bugs. All these pesticides and chemicals put on this one plant can easily get into our rivers, intoxicating our water system, and killing living creatures in the rivers. To process all of our foods takes lots of fossil fuels. It takes ten calories of fossil fuel to create one calorie of food. Then to add to the use of fossil fuels, it takes lots to transport the food all over the country to the different markets. With all the emissions of greenhouse gases, it doesn’t help the ozone one bit.
I thoroughly agree with Small with the need to educate our kids on food, instead of taking the easier or cheaper way out. Without educating the next generation about food and healthy habits, we are helping shave of years of their life due to the health and environmental risks due to frozen, processed food.
Sincerely,
Taylor McGinnis Pd. 1
Dear Taylor,
DeleteYour argument touches on all of the effects ignorance has on decisions relating to food- health, environmental, and financial risk. This response displays a well planned essay with different points spoken on in each paragraph. I agree with Small's theories as well because it is very important for the future generation to be cognizant of what they are consuming and putting into their bodies.
Respectfully,
Kekai Gonsalves, Period 2.
Dear Taylor,
DeleteYour augment does a good job of detailing what exactly is "unhealthy" about this fast and cheap food. I think that it is a key piece of knowledge that we should be educated on. Lots of people assume that 'hey they serve it to us, it looks normal, taste fine, must be good food', and they don't know how much that 'good food' has been manipulated and processed out of its natural state.
Sincerely,
Whitney Beck
pd 2
Dear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteIn Tom Smalls argument he is basically explaining the imortant things that us as the high school population face today. From always trying to rush to finish our everyday lunch and trying to beat the ending timer of our starting next period. I can agree with Smalls analysis greatly. We really don’t know what we are eating everyday. In the article that I have recently read “The pleasure of eating,” it explains that we just eat and don’t think. We always think that our processed food comes from farms. As a little girl I would always and have always known my food coming from barns or just factories in barns. But as I started to grow and atcuallty have the common knowledge on what the world is doing and how we are going don’t ecnomically it changed my point of view on things, and made me realize that “woah.. the decisions that these older adults make today will affect my future tommorrow.”
As a result I do dissagree on one comment that Smalls made withing his breif analysis. He states that parents now are too busy to teach us kids the logical aspects of the healthy food world or to busy to teach us how to cook. But I disagree just because even though parents are too busy with there jobs, personal life, and many other things they still have time to teach us about the main things in life such as: common sense, education, people skills, and how to live a good healthy life. Maybe some parents in other parts of America are like that because they are going from job, to job and can afford nannies and babysitters to take care of their children and don’t care as long as someone is watching there kid. But here in the islands most parents do teach kids about how to shop and how to cook. I can relate on a personal level because my parents want me to go and learn about things such as this, and learn how to provide for my own self and not be so dependent on others.
In comparison being dependent that’s what America is known for. Being dependent on fast foods: McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Subways, Pono Market. All this things are indeed very good places to just grab your food and go rather then just growing your own food in your backyard and trying to not have any GMO. But in natuallity all these well known palces that are so addicting to go to it is killing us slowly with the tastefulness, and the easy quick access. But in other words being so dependent on these places,how long will our society take its prohibited goodness. American is the #1 state that is up for heart attacks, obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes. What is so difficult though is that even though we kow all these harmful things, how do we stop such a big impact in out society.
In conclusion I do agree with Tom Smalls analysis but to an extent on what parents do on most states around the world. We as Americans should try and eat more healthy well as us “American children,” in general because we are at risk for many of the fatal things in America.
Sincerely & Much ALOHA.
Kelieann Nuesca PD.1
Dear Kelieann,
DeleteI agree with you and Tom Smalls that we really do not know what we are eating and where it really even comes from. This to me is a very sad fact of life that some of us barely even make our own food. It just shows how much life has changed since our grandparents were our age. But I do not agree that schools should not teach high school students how to cook. Although I know how to cook myself, I feel that there are kids out there that do not learn from their parents or their parents just don't have time for it. I feel like they could learn so much, as I believe it could be a fun class as well.
Respectfully,
Nikki Ramos Pd.1
In Tom Smalls argument he makes the claim that families today have very little time to spend on educating their kids on eating healthy, and how to shop and cook their own food. His solution to this problem ? requiring middle and high school students to take classes that would teach them this valuable information. I agree with Smalls argument, in a time when children are becoming more independent it is important to be able to know how to live a healthy life style. However, I believe that before we can teach classes in school on how to maintain health, we must all first agree on what being healthy really means.
ReplyDeleteKids today are becoming more and more tech savy then ever. There are 10 year olds with iPhones who are more kowledgeabel about iPhones than some 40 years old. So why is it that our society can be so developed with technology, but cant even lead a healthy life style. I believe that the media has a lot to do with this. Juice fasts, Master Cleanses, Fruit Diets, Vegeterians, Vegans, Military diets; there are so so many different fads that our culture goes through to lose weight or become “healthy” . Obviously these fads are not working, our nation continues to have soaring obesity, type two diabetes and heart failure rates. Media confuses us with so many messages on what is healthy, how to lose weight, what work outs to do, what not to eat. When the reality is, dieting and starving yourself wont make you healthy. Being healthy means eating balanced meals and excersicing. Humans have been doing it for millions of years, and for some reason now we seem to have forgotten how. Today we struggle to consume the heathiest most organic pure food we can. Food companies are putting us at a disadvantage when they mislead us as to what goes into what we are eating. Cause of this all of our efforts go to waste.
In order for us to educated students on what to eat and how to live healthy, we need to decide once and for all how to do this, and prevent the media from blindsiding us on what is put into our food.
Dear Sariah,
DeleteI agree how you were explaining about how kids now have more common knowledge on technology rather than more life things that we should be teaching our kids about. But i like how you analyzed the fact that the media has to blame because i agree. The fact that the media is so fascinated on always finding perfect people to put on television or just that fact to make our state and country look more presentable is ridiculous.
With much respect&ALOHA,
Kelieann Nuesca Period 1
Dear Ms. Carlson, I’d like to say that I, to an extent, agree with Small’s on his argument over food and how it’s effecting our youth, perhaps to the point that we make Home Ec and Economics required classes for them to learn. To me food is sacred, it’s that source of energy that keeps me going with the daily motions at school, and more importantly keeps me alive, such a resource I consider dear, but to most sadly, just another commodity, that is indeed killing us. Right now this new generation, born within the 2000’s, 1/3 of them are expected to have type 2 diabetes, and basically the majority is expecting not to outlive their parents or even ancestors. Through the mass production of corn we have a cheap replacement for sugar, corn sweetner, or aka fructose corn syrup; that yummy sweetner found in most of our soft drinks and snack food is the reason for the extended waistline America, and the epidemic of obesity is soaring not just here in America, but globally, because of this cheap fast food economy.
ReplyDeleteAnd another sad thing is kid’s don’t even get a nice old-fashion “home-cooked-meal”, most of the time we feed them trash from the frozen food section at safeway that is labeled “Fast home cooked meal”. The most cooking kids do today through pressing buttons on a microwave; as nice and convient as that may sound perhaps it’s time we gave them a pan and a stove, but wait mommy and daddy are at work, to be honest I learned how to cook from my Grandma. And perhaps Small’s is right about teaching kids to shop responsibly; not to buy what tastes good, but in generally IS GOOD. Personally a lot of the things I learned about food and shopping I actually had to generally learn on my own, what’s good what’s not good, and recently I had quit my soda addiction and drink straight water by the gallons now, because all that caffine and aspratame was screwing with my head. It took me years on my own to kick this nasty habit, but if i had folks that would teach and lead by example about not drinking such filth than perhaps i'd be in better health.
So in conclusion I’d like to say that I agree with Small’s on teaching kids how to cook and shop; however, I think that, at the same time, parents should take the time to teach their kids THEMSELVES as well; inspire your kids, they understand more than you think. Think of that warm feeling of joy and relief that young Jimmy knows how to fend for himself, he eats right, helps you buy groceries (that are HEALTHY), bonding through proper nutrition and responsibility, and who knows, Jimmy might have his own family, maybe even become president, and save America (and the western world really) from the fatty epidemic. It's not just the food, or the economy, it's the children, we're teaching god awful habits and ways of living, and through cheap food we're getting what we paid for, an unhealthy and uneducated generation that eats poorly to the point of death.
Dear Brandon,
DeleteYou have a very good argument. You balanced emotions and logic well. Beginning with the shocking fact about 1/3 of the children born in the 2000s ending up with type two diabetes, you arouse concern in your readers. Continuing on, you mix in personal anecdotes and the character of "young Jimmy." Jimmy especially pulls the readers' heartstrings as they realize this fat epidemic is affecting real children, with names, faces, lives. You point out that parents still should play an important role in their child's shopping and eating habits, broadening the topic to the child's being able to fend for himself in not just the areas of food but his entire life. Finally, you end with the dead-on statement, "through cheap food we're getting what we paid for, an unhealthy and uneducated generation that eats poorly to the point of death." Throughout your argument, the reader has become concerned, attached to a 'real' child, then shocked at the ugly truth of our unhealthy foods and its effect on us. Your argument easily showed me your view of the issue and I now wholeheartedly agree. Good job!
Sincerely,
Jessica Meek, P. 2
Dear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteTom Small argues that because of the busyness of our modern lives, we neglect to teach our children both how to cook and what they are eating. He says that we have no idea exactly what is in our processed, quick meals, and that we don’t want to know. He concludes his argument with the solution that because parents are too busy to do so, our middle and high schools should have required courses in which students can learn how to shop for and cook healthy food.
Small’s argument is true and false in parts. In the beginning, he groups what we can assume to be the American population into a category of people who don’t know how to cook a healthy meal and are more likely to eat out, get delivery, microwave dinner, or snack on unhealthy, processed foods. This sweeping generalization is unfair and untrue of the people, like my family, who cook at home six days of the week and eat out only occasionally. That most people do not eat out every day, whether out of health consciousness or the expensive price of premade food, is a fact.
Next, Small says that we have no idea what is in most of the processed food we eat, nor do we want to know. This is true. The majority of Americans probably have not seen Food Inc., nor read The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Living in Hawaii, I know enough that all of the food from McDonalds and Taco Bell is imported from at least 300 miles away, as the majority of our food does come from the continental United States. I do not know exactly what hormones and antibiotics and coloring have been added to my food - and I don’t want to. If I’m sitting in Mcdonalds eating lunch, the only thing I want to be doing is enjoying my cheeseburger. In a way, the American attitude towards knowing what is in their food is worse than what Small describes –what we are doing is willfully ignoring that fact that we are putting unknown substances into our bodies and blinding ourselves to the consequences.
He then goes on to talk about how because parents work, they somehow forfeit the responsibility to have healthy food at home or make sure their children eat well. This argument assumes that parents are so busy, they don’t pay to attention to feeding their children. That characterization should be insulting to parents, since he is insinuating that they have given up on one of the most basic conditions of parenting. It also assumes that if a parent works, they are exempt from the responsibility to have food in the house and make sure that their children eat well. Sure, parents work hard at the office, but that doesn’t mean they should neglect to go grocery shopping and make sure that their kids are eating.
Finally, Small suggests a solution to the problem. He says that middle and high schools should have required courses for students teaching them how to shop and cook for food. Parents are busy people, so while they should be providing food for their children, they may not be teaching the children how to do it for themselves. A health class designed around food is something that would add a different kind of awareness for students of my generation. I believe it would encourage students to eat healthier, or at the very least make us more aware of what exactly we are eating. With the obesity epidemic sweeping the nation and the rise of diabetes and other health-related diseases costing us billions of dollars in health care costs, preventive programs are the most cost-effective way to educate and protect the next generation.
The health of our nation is something that we can default on nor ignore for very long. What we put into our bodies and how it affects us is something that every child should learn from a young age, whether through classes at school or their parents and guardians. Tom Small’s argument highlights what must be discussed in the present future to insure that the next time young adults like me go into McDonalds and order a cheeseburger, I know exactly what I am eating.
Sincerely,
Casey Nakamura, Pd. 1
Dear Casey,
DeleteI really enjoyed reading your response. I thought that it was very insightful and was very well explained. I also like the set up in which you responded by breaking each of the parts up of Smalls argument. The use of evidence was also very well incorporated, and the use of personal examples, helped me as a reader to relate and really agree with what you were saying.
Sincerely,
Alanna Bauman Pd. 2
Dear Ms. Carslon,
ReplyDeleteAuthor Tom Small persuades his readers to be more aware of the importance of learning to shop correctly and cook healthfully in his article entitled, “Cook Smart, Eat Smart.” Small, gradually builds his argument by embedding numerous situations in which the general public has faltered in the struggle to stay healthy and informed.
Mr. Small begins his argument by simply saying that most people do not have time to go out and shop for food, bring it home and create a healthy meal for the entire family, but instead we pay even more money for unhealthy pre-made food. Now let’s think about this for a moment, most of us can agree that our mothers or fathers or even our lazy selves don’t cook dinner every night, I know I certainly don’t have a home cooked meal every night, but is not having enough time to cook a good enough excuse? I may not know how to cook a gourmet meal but that doesn’t mean I cant get on the phone with my parents and have them explain In detail how to make spaghetti. It’s true that people are becoming busier and busier but truly I believe that people are becoming lazier and lazier. Why spend an hour making dinner and washing the dishes afterwards if it only takes Pizza Hut twenty minutes to deliver a pizza to your house? Alternatives too cooking a healthy meal at home are easier but in the end they’re more costly.
In addition, the author goes on to claim that not only do people not know what’s in their food, they do not want to know what’s in their food, which for some people, is true. If you’re like my mother, you probably check the labels of almost everything you buy, which turns a quick stop at the store into a hour long shopping spree, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing just time consuming. Although, most people aren’t like my mother and they tend to grab whatever looks good or whatever is cheapest, without ever knowing the foods nutritional value, until they’re paying for it later in the form of diet related health issues, like type two diabetes and heart disease.
Lastly, author Tom Small suggests a solution to this problem which would require all middle school and high schools to offer a class to all their students in which they will learn how to shop smart and cook healthy meals. Personally I agree with his solution, I agree that school is a place in which students should be able to learn about every aspect of how to navigate their adult lives, since being healthy and saving money will become their responsibility once they graduate. I also strongly agree that schools should also work on improving the nutritional value of their school lunches. Right now the world is going through an age of diseases, mostly self inflicted, that are threatening to decrease the life expectancy of children due to all the sugars and oils that are in the food served at school or that perhaps health classes at school need to focus more on nutrition.
The health of America’s citizens, more importantly America’s children, is at risk if things do not begin to change. Although the change may be slow and gradual, maybe educating America’s teens of these health risks and simple ways to avoid them, will be enough to prolong their lives and the lives of their children.
Sincerely,
Amber Diaz
Dear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteIn our lives we are always in a rush. Everyone is always out and about, going through their daily lives, barely having any time for the essentials in life, such as cooking our own meals. Tom Small says that since parents are always too busy, maybe middle schools and high schools should start offering classes that teach kids how to cook and the basics for being healthy. He tells us through one paragraph how unhealthy our nation has become, and that learning how to cook is one of the major issues in this topic, but I believe that the government that sells us unhealthy, unsustainable food is more to blame than learning how to cook. Small’s argument is telling us the problem of our meals in the present day, why the problem is even occurring, and a solution to this fast growing issue.
Small begins his argument with stating the problem. He says that we are too busy to cook our own meals, never mind being healthy. Everyone works hard everyday and no one wants to come home after that long, hard day and slave over a hot stove and cook a meal that would probably take longer than buying something premade and just popping it into a oven or microwave. But how will the next generation ever learn to cook if no one is teaching them the basics. How can we even expect to be healthy when we barely know what is in the food that we are consuming or what goes into the food that is prepared for us.
Small then states that, we don’t even know or care to know what goes into the processed foods and products that we are digesting and feeding others. Half of the time people don’t even realize that our food takes more fossil fuels to make, than driving to work and school everyday and imagine how unhealthy that can get. The food that we eat mostly comes from monocultures that are sprayed with pesticides and the fertilizer drowned in oils. Michael Pollan, a well acclaimed author and editor, stated that schools are where most of the population of America is being fed and that it is the place where we also dispose of the most surplus food. The fact that students and children get the leftovers from food companies shows just how much the government cares about the next generation and their health.
Although some may say that we need processed food and that we don’t have time to make meals everyday and still have enough energy, how are we supposed to get out of this rut of unhealthiness and unsustainability. Parents may have responsibility over their kids, but who says students can’t learn to cook and have to time to do it at the end of the day. Small also states the solution he has to the problem of eating unhealthy and processed foods, that kids should learn to cook and that schools should offer them classes for that very purpose.
Learning to cook and how to buy food is very important in becoming healthier, but there is also the fact that there is barely any foods that do not have corn or soy in them that can also be a big issue in how healthy the food we are even buying is for us. Not only should people know how to cook and what to buy for the meals but maybe people should start to grow their own food and take pleasure in eating.
Sincerely,
Nikki Ramos Pd. 1
Dear Ms. Carlson
ReplyDeleteTom Smalls, “cook smart eat smart,” encourages youth to be more informed on the food they consume. Smalls argues on how kids/teenagers know very little about the pre-made, microwaveable ,and bagged food from production companies. Solutions smalls suggests is having class courses during school that youth are required to take on cooking and shopping for more healthful foods, due to the fact in modern times both parents are too busy at work to control and teach what their children consume. But will Smalls suggestions be the solution to our health and un-knowlegded problems of these fast and easy foods?
Smalls beginning sentences explains one of our major problems on why we decide to consume food that we do not cook. Most of us do not have the time on our hands to learn how to cook a healthful meal. We are a nation that is on the go, and one that also decides to take- to go. Parents who work until dark don’t have enough time to cook, or teach their kids to cook. Most middle class parents work from dawn till dusk just so that their children have a roof over their head and a warm bed to sleep in. In these economic times, people chose to eat fast food because they believe it is also cheaper than buying healthful meals that take time to prep and serve (which is untrue) because most consumers don’t realize that their tax dollars are what is paying the difference. Taking to go is understandable for parents who are running around trying to get everything accomplished before it gets dark, but why is rushing, and getting to go the best option? It’s not
Poor taxpayers, who are easily deceived that their money is being used for the greater good. TO GO IS NOT THE WAY TO GO. Have you ever walked into a burger king or mcdonalds to see nothing but over weight and sluggish people? How do you think those people became that way? That’s right, corn (one of Americas most used crop- fructose) which is in about everything companies manufacture and bag to the future of America increases the risk of type two diabetes and heart diseases which kills our loved ones every single day? If most parents knew this, I doubt that they would feed their children fast food very often. Well, it won’t matter much, because producing these foods from step one causes green house gases and increases global warming drastically A.K.A we are destroying our planet. And all these foods we take to go will probably kill us one way or another. So why spend the money on producing more corn, then spending money on adding a required course on healthful shopping and cooking? Looks like the USA has their priorities a little mixed up.
Smalls suggestions will bring knowledge to the children of the United States and its future if we were to act it. How can we be one of the most leading nations if we are to over-weight to even run the race, we will easily begin to fall behind until another country dominates us. Our future doesn’t look very bright if we don’t decide to change soon.
respectfully,
Shannon Delaney period 1
Dear Shannon,
DeleteI think your use of rhetorical questions was an effective way to strengthen your arguement, because the author, Tom Smalls, used that same strategy in his article. I agree that unless America, as a whole, changes the way we eat that we dont have a bright future ahead. I also enjoyed the way you listed multiple situations in or order to highlight the fact that, due to the economy parents must work longer and shop cheaper.
Sincerely,
Amber Diaz
Dear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteToday the average person spends much of their extra time in money to cop out and buy fast food rather than taking the more challenging, yet more beneficial, route of preparing their own, more healthy food. While having a school course that teaches how to maintain health and shop intelligently would be a good idea, I do not think that the course should be mandatory to take.
Many times people today will buy food that is readily made for them at the expense of the food being less healthy or more costly. This is something that society has become accustomed to doing. Though the government and food industries make the process of picking unhealthy choice a lot more simple and convenient, the responsibility falls upon the individual. Rather than make their own meals, people would rather do something simpler such as buy fast food. This can be seen as a form of procrastination, a habit which extends beyond just choosing what to eat. Throughout school, students can learn to make better habits about time management, which would in turn teach kids about taking the time and effort to learn and make better meals, without even having to take a class on it.
At the same time, the class itself does not seem worthy of being mandatory. While the “core” classes that students take is something that is to be argued with the upper brass of the Department of Education, a class on healthy living does not shine above other classes schools have to offer. There are many other electives that teach lessons that are very valuable to many aspects of life, and those classes could equally be argued to be mandatory. But the classes taken should ultimately be decided on by the student and his or her pursuit of knowledge. As it stands, a class would make for a helpful elective, but not a mandatory class.
While school is a place where you should learn things that are important in life, the choices in life should be decided by the individual. Whether they want to take the time to learn how to cook and prepare a healthy meal or cheat for a day or more is entirely up to them.
Sincerely,
Don Maddock Pd. 1
Dear Don,
DeleteThe way you use the word "procrastination" to describe the way people eat fast food completely nails it on the head. People would eat healthier but it is simply so much easier not to be cooking for ourselves and to just go out and get some Burger King. I also strongly support your idea that students should be given a choice if they want to take cooking classes or not because if you take choice out of the equation then it ultimately becomes an unenjoyable experience.
Sincerely,
Kailer Scopacasa
Dear Ms Carlson,
ReplyDeleteIn his argument, Tom Small examines the way we eat in the 21st century and makes a strong argument to help us change our eating ways. He primarily focuses on students in middle school and high school and the parents of those students. Small believes that the way eating is today needs to be changed, but I mostly disagree with Small’s argument .
Small, in his argument, states that “We have no idea what is in most of the processed food that we eat, nor do we want to know.”; And I agree with the statement but I also disagree with what Small thinks on the subject. I believe that it’s okay if we really don’t know what were eating on a daily basis. Of course cooking at home and making your own food is great because it tastes better and you know exactly what ingredients went into it but that’s not the point. The point is that it doesn’t really matter if we know what were eating. The food is still food and it’s keeping us alive. Now I do think that McDonalds everyday would probably kill you eventually but if you eat there on occasion, it’s fine. Honestly, I don’t know a lot of people that would cook at home every single time they eat, just to know what they’re eating; Actually, I don’t think I know anyone who does that.
Small wants middle school and high school children to start cooking for themselves, but there are some problems to that. Small states that “perhaps it’s time that middle and high schools have required courses for students so that they learn the essential skills for maintaining health: how to shop and how to cook.” Actually Mr. Small they do have culinary in schools today but does that mean that students are going to go home and cook every night for their family? Of course not. The supplies you would have to buy at the store to create a healthy dinner every single night would take time out of a child’s day and the cost of said supplies would add up. The fact is, Children are children and they like to do children things. I highly doubt they would take time to cook the family meal every single night; and as for teenagers cooking, It’s a possibility, but are they really going to shop everyday for the supplies and then stay home every night with their families just to cook meals for them. Ok, maybe I’m being stereotypical but I know that Teenagers like to go out and drive around and hang out with friends; so I don’t think they’ll be at the family table every night ready to serve dinner.
Small uses very logical arguments in his argument but sadly in the end, If his arguments are picked apart, his ways just don’t work today. It is extremely unlikely for everyone on the face of the earth to just start cooking for themselves one day. Who knows maybe one day more people in the world will start cooking for themselves and that will be the cool hip new thing to do; except on that same day, I will be the one of the few still eating McDonalds.
Sincerely,
Kailer Scopacasa Period 1
Dear Kailer,
DeleteYour tone and your appreciation of the information throughout your response was very well presented, at least compared to my overly emotion garble. Reading your response was like a hot knife through butter, very smooth and well balanced. I did not feel like like any information was missing or information was being stuffed down my throat.
I do, as do you, disagree with Small's argument and I do agree with you "Who knows maybe one day more people in the world will start cooking for themselves and that will be the cool hip new thing to do" but I personally believe that the day that happens may be sooner then later. In the meantime let's enjoy our fast food, in moderation.
Sincerly,
Peter Sizelove Pd. 1
Dear Ms. Carlosn,
ReplyDeleteIn this modern age, we spend so much time working just to get by, that we often neglect other issues that are central to our lives. Parents are exhausted, children are hungry, and fast food is just a few dollars away. This is how we have come to face a healthcare epidemic in our country, as Tom Small briefly explains in his article. To a high extent I agree with his analysis because of many different reasons.
One reason I agree with Small is because purchasing fast food also contributes to a decline in overall health. Michael Pollan, a very agriculturally immersed advocate for “smart” (or environmentally conscious) eating, states “overabundant cheap and processed food leads to increased health risk such as type two diabetes, an increased risk of health disease, and obesity”. This statement holds true across America, and is reflected in our rising rates for healthcare and growing statistics of childhood obesity. Parents don’t mean to be harming their children, but sometimes their fatigue leaves them no alternative. Even if the federal government were to invest in healthier school lunches, in fact spend one dollar per child, the effects would be astounding. According to Pollan, children would perform better, be more conscious of what they were eating, and also benefit the community around the schools (such as the local farms where all the food was grown for the school lunches). This could not only help to educate the future on healthy consumption of food (as Small suggests), but it could also give an economic boost to local economies, which would in turn, benefit our entire country one area at a time.
Another factor which leads me to agree with Small’s argument is one he did not mention, but is still centrally correlated with the fast food industry, the environment. Each year, a portion of federal money is spent to attempt to clean up our country, but it is pointless when our agricultural industry simply dirties the progress we have made. It’s like a never ending cycle of waste in both money and recourses. For example, monocultures of corn (which is America’s king crop) that are subsidized by the government need vast quantities of fertilizer (made from natural gasses and some oils) as well as harmful pesticides. Not to mention they damage the fertility of the soil and the surrounding environment. These crops are processed to become corn syrup for beverage companies and also put into bread and meat of fast food chains in America. Many average American’s don’t realize how much corn they are actually consuming, which is why many are gaining health defects. If we educate children while they’re young to know all this (as Small suggests) we can save the environment, fossil fuels, money, and the health of our country.
In conclusion, it is not the fault of American’s for contributing so much to fast food, for most remain unaware that they are also contributing to numerous other detrimental factors. However, it is the fault of the government for not taking a stand to educate our youth on how to eat properly. It is a common truth that if we educate the future, as Small tells us in his article, we will not have to face the same problems we struggle with now.
Sincerely,
Maluhia Kinimaka
Period 1
Dear Ms.Carlson,
ReplyDeleteStudents these days don’t have time to do things as they have sports and other stuff. They ignore essential skills needed in life. To make life easier, people eat fast food or frozen food so they don’t have to waste time cooking. They fail to learn how to cook for themselves and neglect on eating healthy. In Tom’s small’s argument he argues that “healthy living classes” should be a required course in high school so they can learn how to do those things. I for one agree with the fact that we should have a healthy living class implemented in to schools.
In college, there are people a lot of people that can’t cook. Because they can’t cook they refer to on store campus goods and saimen to drive them though the day. Their heath gets neglected because of food like saimen. If the students took those “healthy living classes” they would probably more influenced with what they eat. Yet, because they never took the class they will continue to procrastinate on eating healthy and eat “special occasion food” only every day.
People need to know where their food comes from. Most of the processed food in the U.S. are made with machines and not by hands. Technically it is more efficient, but it does bring the risk of health problems and jobs. Most people in America do not know this. They do not “connect the dots” on where food comes from and how it is handled. If students were required to take this class then they would be able to make an educated choose in what they buy at the stores so they can’t eat healthy.
In Kappa High school, there is only two classes that really involve learning this stuff to an extent. If the teacher that’s teaching the class only teaches 5 classes with about 30 students in each then only 150 students out of about 1000 only learn about these facts. The rest of the students are oblivious to know how to really cook and how to live healthy.
We spend much of our time eating processed food thinking that it’s safe to eat because it tastes good. We continue to eat it without the knowledge or skills to know or make healthy food. If the processes food industry were to somehow go down and we were to rely on our “cooking skills”, what would we do?
Sincrely,
Kalani Murakami Period 1
Dear Kalani,
DeleteYour response was very detailed yet got right to the point about answering the prompt. I noticed that you even included examples from our very own high school! That was a very original touch which I felt made the writing exemplary. Also, the transition between topics was superb. Great job!
Sincerely,
Maluhia Kinimaka
Period 1
Dear Kalani,
DeleteYour response was terrific,very concise and well-supported. As Malu pointed out, I too, liked your use of examples from Kapa'a High, it made your piece seem more personal. I also like your use of a rhetorical question to end your essay, to make your readers think beyond. Overall, it was great! Good Job! (:
Sincerely,
Aveilana Saldana
Pd. 2
Dear Ms.Carlson,
ReplyDeleteWith the proceeding of time into the 21st century citizens of the United states have changed, whether it’s the general shift of political view or a child-proofing of our country, it is important realize another issue that has come to play, the increasingly dangerous epidemic of obesity related maladies. The solution to this problem may not be so far from home and according to Tom Small the answer is at school.
In recent years the obesity rates in the US have skyrocketed to an alarming 35.7%, and that’s in adults alone, but perhaps rather then dealing with the aftermath we should prevent the crisis. Childhood obesity has doubled in the past 30 years and it will not get better unless we do something about it. Children has a general rule don’t know much of anything that is why parents are their caretakers till the prime age of 18. It is completely in the parents hands exactly what their child eats and drinks, and it is only them that can help their children. Schools do contribute a bit in the equation but it is not there that the solution is rooted. Parents need to teach their children what to eat rather then taking the easy way out and eating fast food 5 times a week. There is an abundance of technology in our society and with it food can come faster but it does not mean its healthier. We are the architects of our own future.
Most children, at least the stereotypical statement agrees that, don’t like their schools lunches. They come to school, get their work down, go to recess and they’re served surplus food. Many schools offer one, if not several, culinary courses but yet the food that they are served is recycled or overproduced, that is not sending the right message. Small argues that the middle schools and high schools should require courses for learning healthy eating skills, the problem with Mr.Small’s argument is teaching would show them how to do it but watching their own cafeteria do another thing would serve as just a counter to the lessons that would learned. Food is our fuel, much like gas to automobiles, and like a car one wouldn't put just any old fuel into his or her brand new sports car because you care what goes into that engine. You’re stomach is your tank, don’t just throw any old fuel into it.
Small’s had a good idea, but United States parents need to take responsibility and teach their offspring what to do. We may not always have the time but if it’s truly important we shall always find a way to make it happen.
Sincerly,
Peter Sizelove Pd. 1
Dear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteIn the prompt, Small argues that we, the younger generation, are not being ably provided with the needed education on cooking and shopping for healthy food. In today’s day an age parents are too busy and no longer able to teach their children about healthy eating and the consequences of not. Small suggests that schools require courses in which students learn skills for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Based on my own personal experiences and observations, as well as reading, I have come to agree with Small’s argument.
Today, we Americans have become so busy that the need to get our food quickly and for cheap has increased drastically. With all of our focus on that, we have forgotten about the important things such as health and the impact in which the food has on our environment. Therefore we are no longer educating our youth of the impact in which this fast cheap food can have on their futures.
Today we have fast food chains which provide us with a double cheese burger, fries and soda all for the low price of around $5.00. But people do not know or would rather not know what about the makeup of the food in which they are eating. They have become passive to the food which they eat and do not realize that the burger they’re eating was made from a corn-fed cow that was raised in a confined warehouse, the fries they’re eating is made from potatoes fried in oil, potatoes which were sprayed with pesticides which have run off into our fresh water systems, and that the soda which you are drinking is filled with high amounts of high fructose corn syrup one of the leading causes for type 2 diabetes.
Respectfully,
Brooke Spencer, Pd.1
Dear Brooke,
DeleteI agree with your argument on how we are not ably provided the sufficient amount of education on healthy cooking and shopping. The way you incorporated your argument on how people would rather choose a $5 meal rather than a healthy, nutritional meal is horrible for the sake of our body. The one thing I really love about your argument was how you incorporated the use of high fructose corn syrup and how it relates to pretty much everything we eat, therefore leading it to be one of the top reasons of type 2 diabetes. Your response really affected me as a reader because I as a person dont want to be eating something that one was fed to a cow, potatoes fried in oil and fried in pesticides, it really makes me want to know what i`m eating and make sure its healthy and nutrional for my body.
Sincerely
Ashlie Overmyer Pd.3
Dear Brooke,
DeleteI totally agree with you when you say that the need to get our food quickly and for cheap has increased drastically. Today fast food restaurants like McDonalds and Burger King are so easy to go to. 24 hour drive through have made it that much more convenient for the food consumer. We as Americans have started to eat out at these “fat buffets”. The hamburgers and fries are fried and cooked in very fatty oils and greases that are harmful and bad for the human body. If we compare citizens of the US from 50 years ago to today’s people, we can see huge differences in cases of heart disease diabetes and many more heart diseases. And these fast food companies aren’t slowing down there push! They keep adding new things like “dollar menu” and “Big Mac Mondays”. I also agree on the topic of schools requiring courses for students to learn how to live a healthy lifestyle. This will allow the future generations of America to become more healthy and active.
Respectfully,
Jonathan Paleka
Griffin Madden · panera · 2 hr ago
ReplyDeletePosted by Ms. Carlson on Griffin's behalf because his response exceeded 4,096 characters. Note that I had to post his response in two parts.
Dear Ms. Carlson,
Part 1
Tom Small explains how our busy and industrialized lives have led us to live a lifestyle where we daily seek out quick, easy meals with little to no nutritional value, and how this is leading us and our children to know little about how to prepare a healthy meal or know anything about the food we eat. His argument puts forth a pressing issue about the way we eat, and how our lack of knowledge is leading to the decline of our health.
Smalls’ analysis of this issue is accurate, and represents a growing movement for concerns about the safety of our food. One who doubts that there is something wrong with the way we have essentially “industrialized” eating and now see food not as a basis for survival, but as an abstract idea, is certainly very misinformed. One needs only to look at the declining health of our nation to connect the dots and conclude that it is indeed the way we eat that is causing it.
I think the real issue is that most of us have grown up around this industrialized “fast food nation” concept so closely that we see nothing wrong with it. It’s always been there, right? It’s the way our parents ate, and probably the way our grandparents ate. But, in reality, it is decorated with inconsistencies. The days of a hearty, home-cooked meal are gone, according to Smalls, and I very much agree. 1/3 of our nation’s children visit a fast-food joint for a full meal daily. Our society is so centered around work that children are oftel left at home to fend for themselves, to which parents respond by providing them with quick, microwaveable meals that they can pull out of the freezer and into their mouths in less than 5 minutes. This explains why food has become an “abstract idea” to us. It is always there, is it not? The McDonalds, the Taco Bells, the Burger Kings, the frozen food section of your local supermarket – they are always filled with quick, easy food. Never a lack of stock selection, never an absence of meat, or dairy, or anything. The middle-man lives for us – the middle-man being the Tyson meat packing plant down the road, the ConAgra plant that controls the amount of pesticides and chemicals that go into your food, the Kraft packing plant that kicks out millions of pounds of flourescent bright-yellow cheese every year. They live to make money, and thus, they live for you, because you depend on them. Well, maybe not you, but most Americans.
One might venture to say that we have been brainwashed. It is obvious that this is not the way things have always been. Thousands of years ago, there was no option for quick, easy meals. Every day Dad would go out into the wilderness for some fresh-kill. Now he drives to the supermarket for some not-so-fresh frozen pizza. A thousand years ago, that meal had to be gutted, cleaned, and defurred before you could even begin the tedious process of preparing it. Tedious to us now, but back then, a fulfilling venture. One caveman truly knows what he is eating – from live animal to filet mignon. This is how it was meant to be – not flash-frozen Bagel Bites.
But the unique thing about this corporatization of food is that anyone can choose to avoid it – you don’t even have to go to a different supermarket. Even for the urban shopper, one can choose to avoid the frozen foods section and instead opt for the organic produce. Dash the bottled soda and opt for fresh fruits and veggies to make your own healthy smoothies. If you’re adventurous, you could even ditch the pesticide-filled regular fruits and veggies and go to your local farmers market, where fresh and local produce is abundant. It doesn’t even have to cost you extra, if you’re smart.
Part 2 on next post.
Part 2 of Griffen's response:
ReplyDeleteBut the unique thing about this corporatization of food is that anyone can choose to avoid it – you don’t even have to go to a different supermarket. Even for the urban shopper, one can choose to avoid the frozen foods section and instead opt for the organic produce. Dash the bottled soda and opt for fresh fruits and veggies to make your own healthy smoothies. If you’re adventurous, you could even ditch the pesticide-filled regular fruits and veggies and go to your local farmers market, where fresh and local produce is abundant. It doesn’t even have to cost you extra, if you’re smart.
In the end, Tom Small’s analysis is accurate, but it leaves out the fact that any self-directed person can choose a different route in what they eat. So, is it really their fault? Are we really mentally incapable of discerning between what is healthy and what is not? Are those big, mean companies trying to bully you into eating their processed junk? If you, or any American is completely capable of cooking their own meals and buying food responsibly… isn’t it your own fault?
Dear Mrs. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteIn the passage by Tom Small, he adresses the fact and problem that people in our world today, are degrading in means of cooking and eating. He says that because we are all busy in our lives, that we just decide to eat out, order in, or heat up some kind of microwavable dinner. Like he said before, we are all so busy, so parents never have time to cook or shop for healthy, whole foods, neither do they have the time to take their children, the rising and upcoming generation, to the groccery store to buy food or show them how to cook food. Due to those reasons, Small suggests that middle school and migh schools should have classes that are required, that teach the kids and teens how to watch their health, shop, and cook.
I highly agree with Tom Small and the statements he made. In our society today people just run from place to place, everyday, all day and the last thing on their mind is “What shall I COOK for dinner?” There is just no time. That is the reason companies who sell processed foods are rejoycing and smiling at the fact that America is too busy to go into their kitchen and whip up something wholesome, healthy, and delicious. They make it so much easier and more convient to just pick up the phone and order food or throw frozen TV dinners into the microwave, than it is to cook a REAL meal.
When I was younger, my parents were so busy with work, 3 little daughters, money, bills, our school, activities, and more, that they would just buy us saimin, KFC on the way home from hula, or make some TV dinners in the mircowave. A few years later when we became a little older, but mom became an official personal trainer and at the same time found out she was allergic to wheat. These two things changed our lives forever and for the better. Being allergic to wheat it was hard for her to find ANYTHING to eat at all. I never realized how many things have wheat in them until our family looking into things for her to eat. Trying new things was hard and gross at first, but it later became easier and also better for us because we were eating for whole and healthy foods rather than just processed things everyday. My mom, being a personal trainer as well, became even more of a health “freak”. Eating healthier does take time, but it is time well worth it. Not only do we have healthier bodies on the out wards apprearance, but on the inside as well. My mom now cooks a healthy meal every night, no matter how long it takes, with her busy schedule, she finds a way to make us healthier and teach us how to cook as well so when we are older, we can have a healthy family as she is raising us.
Sincerely,
Maile Tuttle period 3
Dear Maile,
DeleteI am glad to have read how you agreed with small analysis and that you also put your own personal life into it. Your passage got me really engage to read, an to continue reading.
With much respect&ALOHA, Kelieann Nuesca Period.1
Dear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteTom Small argues that Americans today don’t have the time nor patience to purchase and supply healthy food, instead they are choosing an easy pop in the microwave 5 minute dinner or drive thru Mcdonald’s to bring home and eat. Not only does this affect them but there also affecting there kids, many people today work till very late into the evening, some don’t even make it home for dinner leaving there kids to fend for themselves, but what is the point of leaving your kids to fend for themselves if all they know is to make a frozen pizza or microwavable macaroni and cheese? What most people don’t see is the fact that there neglecting there kids of knowing how to shop and eat healthy, instead there putting all these junk, fatty foods that are potentially hazardous to there health in many different ways into there body because it’s easy and fast. Small addresses that middle and high school students should be required to take courses that show them how to maintain health: How to shop and How to cook, and I, myself, personally think that’s an amazing idea and should be idolized.
In our society today, more then 35.7% and 17% of children and adolecents suffer from obesity. Not only does there weight become a problem but there healthy ultimitly deteriorates rapidly, they then can suffer from heart problems, weak bones and joints and much more. The saddest part is the fact that we can change this and makes a difference.
When I was younger, my parents were pretty good about keeping our servings nutritous and healthy for us, we always had some sort of fish, meat, chicken that would provide us with protein and everything else along those lines. Although as we got older, I did find that my parents would often not be home on time for dinner and we would have to make dinner ourselves and I am one who can say yes, I like to make something quick and fast and no, its not the best thing for me. But we now have started eating a lot healthier and yeah it was weird and gross at first but I came to like it and I know that its making me stronger and healthier everyday and that’s what matters.
Sincerely,
Ashlie Overmyer Pd. 3
Dear Ashlie,
DeleteReading your response, I very much agreed on your views. Adding in your personal knowledge and understanding made you plausible for what you clarified. The startling fact that you stated: "In our society today, more then 35.7% and 17% of children and adolecents suffer from obesity" displays a sad and true impact.
Over all, the way you replied to the prompt was straight to the point, and you stood for what you believe and influenced me to see through new eyes.
Sincerely,
Jimmelle Parong
Pd. Two
Dear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteIt is obvious that America is a home of obiesity and diabetes. With McDonalds and other fast food industries reigning over our peoples diets it is a true statement to say we have poor health. In Tom Small’s argument he emphasizes the need to have a required course for healthy cooking and smart shopping. I too agree with his Idea.
It’s a fact that saving money and living healthy will indeed make you happier. Have you ever been lost in a store when you were little? Didn’t know what to do, or where to go. That is a similar feeling you’ll have when you’re on your own and you don’t know what to buy at the store. Cooking can save you, your money, and your health. Eating out can be a pain in your… wallet. Microwavable foods can have a truck load of chemicals. And don’t get me started about the “dollar menu”. It’s cheap but it’s the devil of fast food. If kids learned the value of healthy cooking it’ll not only affect them but our communities and country as well. It will help to create a healthier society.
Sincerely,
Keliikoa Baclayon Pd. 3
Dear Keliikoa
DeleteThe way how you presented your argument was strange. You took a flashback, of how we were lost in a grocery store, and referenced it and compared it to the future. Instead of wandering where our parents are, we are lost of what to buy to eat.
Sincerely AJ Cummings
Dear Mrs. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteIn Tom Small’s argument I agree with him that today many households do not spend much time cooking healthy meals and spend most of the money that we make on ordering food from fast food places that are bad for our health. I do agree that teens from 8th grade to 12th grade should be taught in school essential skills to maintain health, such as shopping and how to identify what types of things are good for you and how to cook.
On a personal level I know what it’s like to have to stay and take care for your younger siblings, to cook and clean etc. My father went back to school so he gets home late and he works early mornings, my mother works over night and she leaves before she can make dinner with that most of the time my father is too tiered to cook so we either order out or I would have to cook. My cooking skills are very limited. If I had a class that I could take to learn how to eat better and how to cook, and how to shop for the right foods, I would feel better knowing that at least I could help to keep my siblings healthy.
In the video that we watched in class they talk about how corn is becoming a bigger industry because it is so cheap. The nation is becoming so dependent on it in our food and other products that it’s everywhere. This is part of the problem that we are having. the way the corn is being processed and feed to almost all the live stock that go into making our food is creating more calories that we intake each day. Before this week I didn’t know that most products we eat were so heavily enriched with fructose.
The more fructose and calories we take the more this will affect our health. The nation will come across more chances of death to heart attacks, more cases of diabetes and more children that are overweight. Most children can recognize the jingle of fast food restraints faster than they can talk if that’s not the turning point for our nation then when will we all wake up and realize we need to change?
The production of the corn is also taking a toll on our agriculture and affecting our fossil fuels because it takes so much fossil fuel to make one kg of food. what happens when all the fossil fuels are used up? Then oil prices will raise which will affect our economy and it might cause people to become pour thus affecting us more. Our fields get poisoned by pesticides to keep of bugs but, can we really say that the poison is not affecting the plant therefore when we ingest it could be harmful. Look at livestock that we eat they get pumped with antibiotics because the corn they are fed causes E-coli which is harmful and can be deadly to people. We need to stop depending on corn so much and find healthier ways to treat our food sources before it’s too late.
Let’s start with the younger generation and teach them more sufficient ways to cook a health home meal and how to shop for foods that are good for them, and how to maintain essential skills for health.
Respectfully,
Kristen Yam
Dear Mrs. Carlson
ReplyDeleteTom Small’s argument on introducing healthy cooking and smart food shopping classes into our middle and high schools to promote healthy eating can only be seen as a crucial necessity. Small points out that parents now days are too caught up with work that their children have no guidance on eating or cooking healthy and thus are subjected to eating fast food, learning poor eating habits, and having to warm up frozen junk in the microwave for a bite to eat. I agree but let me just add that the main reason junk food is on the head of the dinner menu is because of the money that is made from it. Eating healthy is not only better for the body but it also is greater for the environment and the economy.
Now in today’s world if anybody picked up a nutritious salad over a cheeseburger the benefits would be countless. For starters the energy and nutrients gained from eating right would only initiate a snow ball effect. One day it might just be a salad, but then the next day you might see that person go for a jog or a swim in the local swimming pool. Because eating right not only keeps your body healthy but it also makes you feel morally right and inspired by yourself to do more good. So why can’t we all just pick up a salad one day and all live merrily? Because the state in which our economy lives on dictates that greasy junk food will always manage to taste better and made quicker at a cheaper price all because the profit that would be gained is enough to toss aside the concept of health and well being of the consumer.
The effect of the cheap junk food sold now days has lead to a tremendous rise in pollution and down fall for our economy. For instance the amount of genetic growth hormones and fertilizers used to produce today’s agriculture is taking a fat upper cut to our ozone layer as huge amounts of fossil fuels and natural gases are consumed in the process of making these pesticides and animal feed. Also the transportation needed to distribute across the nation also burns out even more emissions into our atmosphere. Unfortunately it does not end there, as the economy also takes a bomb. As more generic junk food is pumped out everywhere all the small producers and farms are bumped out of the picture as the bigger major suppliers for fast food buy and expand until there’s no room for the small guys.
If we could simply make a few drastic changes this country would be back on its feet, kicking again. It all starts with teaching the younger generations about healthy eating and cooking and from there they will teach their kids and so on. Next we need to start improving and promoting healthier foods and additives and detour any unhealthy junk food. If we could start eating carrots and veggies instead of cheeseburgers and fries then not only would the population be healthy as ever but we could also be more productive and stronger as a nation.
Sincerely, Shiloh Begley pd.3
In the little passage, Tom small is showing that America needs to make better and healthier decisions with eating the right foods. I disagree. In America we have a lot of junk food. McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s, etc, we can go there, just don’t go there every day. The reason why that the obesity rate is rising in America, is not only to the junk food, But the lack of exercise, lack of time, and the lack of knowing the consequences in the future. When we eat, we build up our calorie intake. Meaning we can lose track of how much food comes into our body system. Our bodies need food. But food isn’t just particles we eat just to eat it. Foods are things we eat so our body has energy to function. So when we eat, we should always find a way or a time to burn off most (or more) calories. Either by running, lifting weights, playing football, baseball, softball, or even basketball games. As we get older we need to make time so we can relax for a good hour and just play! But what are the excuses? “I DON’T HAVE TIME”. The reason why people don’t be active is because they don’t have time! Reality is that when parents have more than one child, they need to focus their energy equally on all of them. When their job requires them to be there longer, they have to attend. If they don’t, they don’t have any money.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, sometimes parents have to work overtime. And they don’t have time teach healthy habits. Instead what’s faster is to order out and BAM it’s there. Dinner is served. The reason why most families in America orders out is because, it saves them time and energy. While the food is being prepped and cooked, the adults can work on other important things. Such as paying the bills or balancing their checkbook. It’s faster and more relaxed to parents, including time energy and money. What people don’t know about “healthy” foods, it’s that it’s expensive and most of them lie. The fact is in order to be claimed “All natural” the farmers can’t use any fertilizers, or compost to help it grow faster. All natural means that the crop will grow and be ripe when it’s ready. And now in society, our motto is “we want it now!”
Some things that we argue with each other is should we eat healthy, I usually say, “Nah, as long you can burn as much you can eat”. But most problems are that we don’t have time.
Sincerely
AJ Cummings
PD.3
Dear AJ
DeletePersonally i can understand where your coming from, time is a very difficult time to manage, and so is calorie intake. I find it interesting that you disagree with Small's claim that America needs to educate people (especially the youth) about making healthy decisions, because you saw something i overlook, time. In a sense i can see what you mean, most parents are working overtime in this economy just to keep their house and family well, and with all this time on both the parents and kids side being limited, all they can do is go and get take out. And besides time i see you pointing out the flaws of "all natural" food, farmers need fertilizer to grow crops faster to keep up with demand, and honestly most of the organic @#$% is just labeled "organic" so the companies can make an extra buck on you, there's a difference between a homegrown tomato and an "organic" one at the supermarket.
Basically what i think you did in your response is disagree with Small's claim, and express views on how it isn't McDonald's fault for my 36" waistline, it's the lack of time, and the problems one could overlook in the future from eating such food, not to mention exercise, your argument i feel had a lot of logos and some ethos; you discuss the logic that of which there is in time and how "fast food" keeps up with America's "We want it now attitude", besides that discuss the ethics behind organic and "healthy food", and basically ending your argument with a mirroring of your mentality about how if you can burn the calories off, eat what you want. I feel like i have a better understanding from a new perspective via your comment. Also sorry for the long reply i just found your comment interesting.
Sincerely, Brandon J.
Dear Aj,
DeleteI agree with you that people need to focus more on exercise and that it is alright to eat out as long as you burn off the extra energy you intake. We are so focused on trying to change the way we eat but is not just what we eat but how we use our energy from the foods.
Its true that parents don’t have time most days when they come home they want to just relax after a hard day of work. There are nine people in our house and the reason we know how to cook is because we all had home economics, but none of us really know how to buy foods. Its also true that most foods we eat say thing that aren’t really true, just because it says organic and it gets grown with harmful chemicals does not mean that they are organic.
Respectfully,
Kristen Yam
Dear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteTom Small is trying to keep america from fast fooding itself to death.
It is without a doubt that the people of this country have forgotten the true value of a home cooked meal. Small gives a good point by saying that instead of cooking ourselves healthy meals, we spend money to have food delivered or cooked for us. He also explains that we don’t even know whats in most of the processed food we eat. This being very true, we don’t care whats in it. We just like to eat. Why spend 30 minutes cooking, if its only gonna take 10 minutes to eat?
I agree with small on every level. People need to learn how to cook and to shop. People these days are too lazy to do half the things that our granparents did back in their days. My grandmother cooks meals everyday. She wakes up in the mornings, makes her cup of coffee, then begins preparing her breakfast. At lunch she makes her self a sandwich and then for dinner she usually cooks spaghetti or some type of pasta (she’s 100% italian). My grandma is healthier at 65 than most 25 year olds today. If people could understand the risks of eating so much fast food or microavable goods then maybe it would motivate them to cook meals.
It is time for home cooked meals to be back on the top of everyones priority list! We need to stop eating out, stop buying microavable products, and start making healthy choices! Sure a bacon burger sounds good, but its nothing like fresh enchiladas or steaks right off the grill. Taking the time to cook meals not only helps your health but it helps your wallet. Costco is a home cookers heaven. Spend a few hundred in there and your set for a month! If people continue to spend money on food that they don’t even know what its made of then we are gonna eat ourelves to death.
If you care about your health, you need to start cooking healthy meals. Fast food will put you into the ground.
sincerely,
Kaikea Sonoda
As Tom Small states, knowing how to properly shop for healthy food and cook them in such a way that they maintain their nutritional values is definitely a skill everyone should have, though it is one most do not possess. Though perhaps a more important one to be taught, that would achieve the same end goal, is how to lead a horticulturalistic lifestyle. To grow your own food and eat what you grow is cheaper in the long term, just as healthy, if not healthier, and leaves less room for deviation.
ReplyDeleteSmall argues that we should learn to shop for ourselves in order to save money from buying frozen dinners or paying someone to bring the food to your door, though it would be even better to grow the food yourself. Growing one’s own food can save large amounts of money over time, by reducing trips to the store, taxes paid, and the various other fees that may add on to the price of a head of lettuce at your nearest store of choice, be it supermarket or farmer’s market. Knowing how to shop for produce and knowing what to buy are certainly important, though they should not be the be-all and end-all.
The health benefits of fresh produce are without a doubt real, and buying the proper and healthy food is one step closer to achieving these, though there still may be problems solved by growing your own food. By growing your own food, you, and only you, know what has been put into it, be it a pesticide, the fertilizer, any added growth hormones. Growing it by yourself yields the healthiest of all food, as it is free of any added things and is nutritionally full.
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ReplyDeleteDear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteTom Small argues that most of us are too busy to learn how to make healthy meals. He states that because most people neglect to spend time learning how to cook, they turn to frozen food and takeout.
I disagree with Smalls argument.
There is no excuse for an unhealthy diet. The food that you put into your body is your fuel, its what you run on. We may say theres not enough time in the day for us to whip up some huevos rancheros and some fruit salad, but taking 30 minutes to make a healthy meal is better than taking away 30 minutes from your life by popping in a frozen corn syrup filled toaster strudel in the microwave.
Small mentions that parents are often at work and too busy to teach their children how to cook; that they are no longer responsible for ensuring their kids have healthy food. WRONG. When they go the store its just as easy for them to buy fruit, veggies, nuts, whole grain bread, and greek yogurt as it is to get 2 frozen extra large supreme meatlovers pizza and a 12 pack of Coke, mind me, DIET Coke...(we want to keep a nice figure now dont we?!)
Its the parents that influence children most. If they see their mother making a smoothie or their father making a quick salad, natrually children are curious and adapt to the habits that their parents have. So if adults are to busy to take the time to TEACH them how to cook, then why start buying unhealthy, over processed, chemical drenched foods? why not just make fast healthy meals for themselves, and the children will learn just from familiarity of watching their parents do it!
Small supports the idea of having 'how to shop' and 'how to cook' classes required in high schools. This sugestions seems rather hypocritical to me. Schools suply some of the most disgusting, processed, unedible food around. Most of it is frozen, canned, and filled with empty calories, it may have all the necasary food groups to crate a meal, but trust me its defiantly not a healthy one. It IS a good idea for school to get their students involved in a healthy lifestyle, but if they are indeed going to take that step, they really need to up their game and start with their own cafeteria first.
All in all, small makes good points, but they are viewed in a way that assumes their is abosolutly no time for any healthy eating and that EVERYONE is turning to these artificial fake foods. But in reality, small healthy habits dont take time, they take practice and self control.
Respectfully,
Podma Phillips
Pd:3
Dear Ms.Carlson,
ReplyDeleteSmalls argument is to alert the readers that children all over the nation as well as adults are choosing to eat poorly. I would definetly have to agree with this argument. Since most parents work full time jobs and some have more jobs than others, there is no time for cooking a healthy or decent meal for their children , by this cause the effect of it is causing young americans to get diabetes and also causing obesity.
With the economy going down money is a big problem, many parents all over America are struggling to even put a meal on the table for their families. This is a big effect in our nation because not many people can afford healthy food and can only afford fast foods or like small said “pop frozen food into a microwave , or we just open a soft drink and a bag of chips”. Another problem is laziness, laziness leads into obesity by eating fast foods/unhealthy food and sitting on the couch not exercising or lying around is a huge cause of become obest and overweight.
In the article that we read The Pleasure of Eating it says that we are being tricked into eating food without even knowing what’s really inside of it or how the food was processed. We are being persuaded into pre made food and the food that we consume isn’t natural nor is it healthy for our bodies. If everyone was aware of what we eat then it would have a big impact on many people. Companies that process these unhealthy food products could care less of what the food consists of and what it does to us, all they care about is how much they make from it.
Peple should start caring about what theiy put into their bodies and to start changing their bad habits.
Sincerely,
Kanani Colburn
Dear Ms.Carlson,
ReplyDeleteIn Tom Smalls argument “cook smart, eat smart” he argues about how our nation has gone from sitting down eating a healthy home cooked meal to eating out just to get a few extra minutes to relax at the end of a hard day? In my personal opinion i agree with small one hundred percent! Our society has changed drastically since the mass production and uprising of fast food industries. Nowadays a mother will go buy some greasy, fat filled burger rather than go home and spend a little extra time making a meal her family will love. Also, its not just all “our” generations fault? The adults today are just as bad as the children growing up in this kind of environment! Sure the adults of today might have been brought up different? But, that is no excuse for running by Mcdonalds instead of maybe going to the supermarket and buying some fresh fruits and vegetables?
However, the foods today would be a lot healthier if factories and farmers did not involve the use of products that will increase the size or quality of the produce. Small describes how the parents today are so “busy” that they can't find an extra half hour to prepare a healthy meal? Instead they will pop a T.V. dinner into the microwave and sit in front of the “boob tube” and kill brain cells and their diet all at once. He also explains how our economy is so bad because the major billionaires aren't the business corporations it places like Mcdonalds, Burger King, and Taco Bell! All the americans of todays society complain about how much everything costs, and how they never have any money. But most of them don't realize its their own faults that the corporate leaders of today are “Ronald McDonald”, and “The Burger King”. Also they don't know that half the CEO’s of these corporations don't even eat their own supply! They refuse to eat the junk they deliver that kills millions of people each year.
Lastly, i myself am no stranger to getting the “quick buck” when i am tired and don’t feel like making something healthy. But, over the years i've learned of these horrible things these fast food corporations have done. Even the salads have as much calories as the burgers at these “fat” food places,THE SALADS!! These so called health changes to the menus still deliver nearly three times as much calories as a nice homemade meal? If americans could just spend a little extra time cooking instead of driving to get food then stuffing their faces with fat and grease, our obesity rate would be at an all time low not skyrocketing. Smalls idea of making required courses on how to eat right is genius! I understand the parents are busy and may not always have time, but they also should not supply the fat foods for their children.
In conclusion, I agree with Mr.Smalls on his major premise, he is dead on with his argument. The blame should not be getting passed around from generation to generation.
Respectfully, Triston Edmonds
Pd.3
Dear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteTom Small’s argument on Cook Smart Eat Smart is very persuasive and I highly agree. He is right on how people are becoming less dependent on homecook healthy meals and are now relying on processed foods. Maybe that is the reason why we have obese and diabetic people, because of proccesed foods. If people continue eating processed foods then they may face serious health problems such as diabeties, obesity, or even heart disease. Small states “ We have no idea whats in most of the processed foods that we eat”, maybe that is the reason why people have so many health problems. I think that it is healthy to know what is inside the foods we eat, for example: many don’t realize that corn is being fed to most of the animals we eat because it’s the cheapest thing that we could feed them. Like for cows that eat corn, they typically are higher in saturated fat than those of grass eating cows. Basically eating industrial farm raised animals is unhealthier than consuming locally or self raised animals.
Changing our act is a good, healthy thing to do because we don’t know what’s really going on in idustrial farms, like how they make our food etc. Growing your own crops is a excellent way to start because you growed it, you know what kind of fertilizer you used etc. Or raising your own animals, because think about the chemicles farms use on the animals. I agree on why teenagers should be required taking an essetial class such as culinary because so that they know how to make their own meals rather than going to unhealthy processed fast food restraunts. Growing own crops, or raising your own animals etc. is also much more economic than that of premade foods because industries creates many pollution. It is also much more fresh. making our foods for our own is much more nutritious, healthy, and economic. never go back to processed foods again
sincerely, Jeric Manzano pd.2
Dear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Small’s argument as he is focusing on the unhealthy eating diets across America. There is an obesity crisis and illness caused from unhealthy marketing foods. I believe that students for our next generation and on learn healthy ways on eating to make our daily lifestyles easier and more efficient.
I’ve noticed the vast incline of families ordering take out from Panda Express or the famous McDonald’s. From my own experience, my parents aren’t home often in time to cook us a good meal for dinner which leads to fast food stops so that we have something to eat before bed. I agree with Small that we do not have an idea to what is in most of the processed foods we consume each day. Most kids will go home, and sit on the couch and eat while they watch their favorite TV show, and just keep snacking on chips before dinner time; which could lead to eating a frozen pizza.
I think that kids should learn how to cook with the right safety techniques so that they can fend for themselves and make a delicious home cooked meal from scratch instead of pre cooked and unhealthy processed foods. Schools should make culinary a required course so students are able to learn the ways of the kitchen. I am currently taking a culinary class and we learn how to use safety techniques in the kitchen and how to deal with an emergency if it happens, along with converting measurements for the recipes at hand. By opening more of these culinary classes’ students can learn more about what goes in their bodies and also learn safety procedures.
Everyday kids are eating some kind of unhealthy food product, whether its potato chips or candy. Schools provide lunch for the students, but not a very healthy and appetizing meal. There are many ways that contribute to America’s obesity problem and illness. Without the proper teachings our next generation will flourish in the hands of fast food companies.
There are also many ways we can avoid this unhealthy burden by making smart choices on what we eat and do with our lives. Stay away from fast food companies and microwavable products. Eat salads and proportioned foods, and keep active. By staying away from fast food you also save more money that can be used for other expenses. We always complain that we don’t have enough money or we are broke when really we just spend it on junk food because we are so addicted to the taste that it hurts our economics as well.
Factors that relate to obesity are death, which is the worst result over an innocent being. Small’s argument isn’t trying to pick on the people that like these foods, but to try and help our economy by making people aware of the products we consume every day to make better choices and to better our living. I agree to his argument and believe that this can be avoided.
Sincerely,
DeleteKendra Vega Pd. 3
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteTom Small’s argument is very simple. Small goes on arguing that parents are busy to provide their children with healthy food and teach healthy eating habits.
It is much faster to speed dial an already prepared meal from somewhere else other than cooking something out of your own kitchen. For example, most people who are busy would rather settle for a hamburger at McDonalds rather than going home to cook a healthy meal because it’s cheaper, faster, and convenient. Since most people are always busy with work or anything else, going to McDonalds for a meal will become an everyday habit and that will affect our health. An interesting fact is that we are consuming 300 more calories than our average caloric intake because we are eating fast and junk food.
Small’s later comes to conclusion that there should be required courses for students to learn about maintaining their health. I agree with Small’s analysis. Our parents come home from a busy day at work and don’t have the energy to cook something healthy for themselves and their family.
Although, if students were taught how to cook and shop for healthy food (instead of buying over processed pink-slime ground beef), then they would achieve healthy eating habits (such as portioning meals, using the food pyramid) and be able to make their own lunches instead of eating cafeteria food at school. Eating cafeteria food is not only distasteful but it also encourages unhealthy eating habits such as rushing through your food to get to class, but also an ugly habit of eating school lunch every day and thinking it is healthy for you. Required courses discussing eating healthy, shopping smart, and cooking health-friendly meals also creates a student to be more aware and intelligent of their food. A student who is more aware because of their classes in school have the ability to encourage their parents what to buy when grocery shopping, instead of agreeing to buy chips and dip for their snacks in the food pantry.
In conclusion, I agree with Small about required classes in middle and high school because the youth is the source to the future, and creating aware students in the early years will benefit every one’s health and awareness towards where our food comes from, and how it affects our health and environment.
Sincerely,
Jenny Paleracio
Period 2
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ReplyDeleteDear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteTom Small makes the assertion that because of the way society views and gets food today, schools should start requiring that students take courses on how to shop and how to cook. He says that people are too busy now days to learn how to cook. Besides, it is a lot easier to buy fast food or have it delivered to your house. Some may think that having schools require this type of course be taken by students is too much, but Small’s assertion is a point to which I agree with.
The first thing that Small says is that most people are too busy to learn how to cook. Most people can relate to this. Personally, I go to school, go to sports practices, and by the time I get home all I have time for is homework, a shower, and dinner. Where exactly would I find time to prep and learn how to cook a meal?
Recently, the economy has been slow. This means that many parents are out trying to find jobs or work more than one job. They don’t have the time to be teaching their children about how to cook, and what types of food they should and shouldn’t be eating. With the economy being bad, parents also don’t have the money to be buying their kids nutritious and healthy meals.
Researchers are saying that this generation of children is the first generation of people who will not outlive their parents. Why? Because of the health situations that are taking place in society today. When children are not taught how to properly eat and take care of themselves, they grow up to be ignorant adults who don’t know how to feed and take care of themselves. If children were taught these skills in school they would be a lot more informed and could grow up to be healthy, long- living adults.
Right now in schools, there are courses that students can take in which they learn how to cook and they learn about nutrition and healthy foods. But these classes are for those who want to take them, they are not required. By having these classes required for students, not only would it be interesting and fun for the students, it would also be very beneficial for them as young adults and future parents.
In these classes, not only would the students learn how to cook. But they would learn how to shop for food. They would learn how to get the best deals at the supermarket, and how to read nutritional labels. Not only would these classes be beneficial, but students would also be intrigued by them. Who wouldn’t like a class that involves food?
Small makes a very relatable and accurate argument. Not only does he give this argument, but he also gives a very plausible and reasonable solution. I completely agree with Small and think that his solution is one that could actually be put into action, and produce very favorable results. We need to start teaching the new generations about how to take care of themselves, by watching how they eat, so that they, like those generations before them, can outlive their parents and lead happy healthy lives.
Sincerely,
Cassie Wilson Pd. 2
Dear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDelete“We’re eating oil and spewing out greenhouse gasses”. Tom Smalls would probably agree with this statement considering his argument about how students should be learning about food at an earlier age so that they can start to make correct food choices that they will live by for a long time. I agree and disagree with his argument.
When Smalls explains about how learning about food should be a required course at schools that schools need to encourage kids to eat healthier because they sometimes are the ones feeding themselves. However, schools are one of those things that are trying to save money, and so the meals that they provide for students are actually not the healthiest meals out there- with mysterious pink fillers- and they are implying that this food is good and teaching them that this is the kind of food to eat. So, if a school is requiring them to take a course about, but they are not presented with the opportunity of healthier lunches, wouldn’t that just defeat the purpose?
On the other hand, if students were actually paying attention to the class and were deciding that they should just bring their own healthier lunches, that would mean that the class actually helped them a lot. Studies have shown that healthier kids who have a good lunch actually perform better in the afternoon probably due to the fact that they are not eating as much calories and sugars.
Smalls makes a very valid argument that students need the knowledge on how to make better decisions about what to buy. Some students may not have the money they need to buy the healthier foods but plenty of fridge space for the ninety-nine cent fried T.V. dinners. They could learn about healthy alternatives that would not put a hole in their (or their parents) wallet.
Tom Smalls makes a very valid argument that students need to learn more about food to make healthier decisions. However, if schools are required to make students learn about healthy decisions they should provide them an opportunity to make those decisions with better lunches.
Sincerely,
Alanna Bauman Pd. 2
Dear Alanna,
DeleteI like how you brought up the point about the schools being hypocrites for teaching about healthy meals when they can't even serve them themselves. It shows that you're not afraid to disagree with the author's argument. You also have facts/studies that so students do better with good meals. This greatly improves your argument and makes you more credible.
Sincerely,
Cassie Wilson
Dear Alanna,
DeleteI like the way you examined the points of Tom Small's argument from both the positive and negative side. By acknowledging the shortcomings of the idea of classes about food in school, it gives your final conclusion more weight. I also agree with Cassie that having the outside facts incorporated into your response makes you seem very knowledgeable and helps to strengthen your argument.
Sincerely,
Casey Nakamura, PD1
Dear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteTom Small’s argues that we should have classes in middle school and high school to educate our children on the essential needs to eat healthy and cook healthy. He claims that we no longer care about what is in our foods, and that we do not take the time to cook healthy meals for ourselves. Personally, I love food and I love to eat, but after reading Small’s argument, I strongly agree with the fact that we should be more informed on what we are eating. Not many people realize it, but we are slowly killing ourselves by the food we are eating.
Small’s makes the claim that we spend our money on fast food and frozen foods because it is the easy way out. Nobody has time for good old fashioned home cooked meals anymore. Parents are too busy and kids are too lazy. But in the world today, the United States has the highest obesity rate. There are many contributing factors to this such as lack of exercise and laziness, but the main one is our unhealthy food choices. The more we make bad food choices, the more we will be affected by it. It is easier and much quicker to go through McDonalds or Burger King and grab a quick meal, but the more we do it the bigger the consequences. As stated by Michael Pollan, the generation born after the year 2000 will have shorter life spans than their parents, all because of the unhealthy food choices we are making.
Recently, I read an article that explained how high fructose corn syrup is being used in everything we eat even if we don’t realize it. The government is subsidizing corn and putting it in things you wouldn’t even think would have it. Now that I am informed on this, it has made me realize how unhealthy I am eating, even if it seems like I am not. If we could educate middle school kids and high school kids on this, it could prevent a lot of deaths in the future. The number one cause for death is heart disease, which is caused by high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, etc. For this reason, I strongly agree with Small’s argument on educating our children.
Sincerely,
Burgandi Williams
Pd. 2
Dear Burgandi,
DeleteI really enjoyed reading your response. There were various things that I too also stated in my response. I also talked about that obesity is a major problem in the United States and heart disease in the number one cause of deaths. There were a few things I liked in your response. The first thing was I liked was that you incorporated information from the video of Michael Pollan. Secondly, I really liked how you also stated about the artible we read about corn and high fructose corn syrup because it really fits well in this blog posting.
Respectfully,
Angelika Questin
Pd.2
Dear Mrs.Carlson
ReplyDeleteIn Tom Smalls prompt he talks about how processed food is taking over. People don’t relize it either. He even refers how it will effect our children if we make these bad eating choices.
Small explains in his promt that no one cares to take the time out of there busy day to cook a healthy meal. Most people resort to frozen food that you pop in the microwave for five minutes, or even spend extra money to go out to eat. Most of these people are not aware of the dangers that come along with these processed foods. The rest just don’t care. With all this processed food it can drive humanity to the ground and we don’t even know it. Its not only affecting humanity but our enviornment as well. People don’t relize that by eating this junk, it can kill each and every one of us. The number one killer in the United States infact is heart disease. Everytime you get take out or even buy none local foods it brings you a step closer to diabetes and heart disease.
Generation after generation it will get worse. Kids wont learn how to cook there own food or know what not to buy because there parents are to busy to teach them and they just go to there last resort of fast food. Small suggests that middle school students and high school students should have a required class to learn skills on maintaining there health.Schools should consider that now a days because most students don’t know how bad it really is. Even our school lunches contain these fillers and high frutcose corn syrup. Its not good for these kids. We cant even read a label of what school lunches contain. The can be feeding us anything and we don’t even know it.
Is this ever going to stop? With all these careless people and companies who don’t care if its hurting people they just want more money. Companies have found a way to make a bigger profit off of all this corn and it will destroy us, but they don’t care. Maybe if people realize that they can stop this madness and go eat locally grown foods and read all the labels to make sure they are not getting huge amounts of this unhealthy stuff and prove to these companies that they cant do this to us.
Sincerely,
Carli Haddock
Period: 2
Dear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteTom Small’s argument in “Cook Smart Eat Smart” is a very persuasive but arguable topic to not just parents but to children in Middle School and High School. I mostly agree with Small on his topic of teaching children how to cook and buy healthy foods.
In Small’s argument, he uses Logos to get his point across to his audience. He is trying to persuade his audience that they should take more time in teaching children how to cook healthy foods, and buying more healthy foods. I think parents that can’t take an hour out of their whole day just to show their children how to cook a simple healthy meal for themselves is kind of selfish. It’s like they want their children to become unhealthy earlier in life or even at all.
He is also trying to persuade the schools in having a required course on “how to shop and how to cook”, that’s where I agree the most because every child needs to know how to shop and cook a healthy meal for themselves or to even teach their parents how to live a better life by eating healthy. If schools have a culinary class that just focuses on cooking healthy foods then students won’t have to eat gross and greasy school lunches. Schools can help this situation too, by not serving such greasy and “fast” foods. Children that eat a healthy lunch during the day will most likely to have more energy after school to do after school activities like sports. But not all children have the money to bring lunch from home, so the school should step up and try and serve more healthy lunches to students.
Most frozen foods or microwavable foods are processed foods… If you think about it most of our foods are processed but you can limit that down by not eating out so much or eating the frozen pop in the microwave type of foods. We are just hurting out bodies inside and out. Children that eat unhealthy from young are bound to die young; it shouldn’t have to be this way. It shouldn’t have to come down to death in order for the people to realize that we have to do something about it, we should start from now so it won’t get down to that.
Small doesn’t really mention this in his passage but I think it’s a really important thing to remember, that all these unhealthy foods can cause heart diseases or other types of problems. From experience having a close family member in the hospital because of a heart disease is not a good feeling. So we should all prevent that from happening by taking an act toward learning how to eat healthier as families.
Having a lesson or two about how to cook or buy healthy foods won’t hurt anyone, but ignoring the facts and not taking a step may be critical to your life.
Sincerely,
Kayla Tokuda Period 2
Dear Mrs. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteSmall’s argument is very persuasive, it got me to think that I’m too one of the victims of unhealthy eating. Well at times my parents get to lazy to cook so my dad would just give me money to drive down and get us dinner. It’s not really our fault, but sometimes people just don’t have the time and effort to cook a home meal every day. Some parents work night shifts, or all day shifts and just can’t teach their children to buy right foods and how to cook.
“1 in 3 Americans born in 2000 will have type 2 diabetes,” if they claim this, we should be able to make a change. As Small said Middle and high schools should have that opportunity to choose if they would want to learn how to shop and cook. Teaching students to be active, to cook right, and to eat well would not give them an opportunity to be healthy but maybe they will be able to help others around them with their knowledge of being healthy. The only thing that would stop us from eating processed foods is seeing and learning what it’s actually made of.
Society itself needs to help stop this epidemic. We need to all help and work with one another to stop feeding on unhealthy foods. Instead of always advertising fast foods give people ideas on fast, cheap, and healthy meals. If we are all concerned of each other’s well being, and the sake of our futures health, everyone should contribute. Stop making unhealthy choices seem the better one just because it is cheaper.
Teaching students how to maintain health by, shopping, cooking, and exercise you haven’t only taught them for the year but you also taught them a new lifestyle.
Thank you,
Alexis Vicente pd.2
Dear Mrs. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteAccording to the prompt, Small argues that since parents are too busy with work, they’re not really able to prepare healthy foods for their children or even teach them the proper way to shop for healthy foods. Small suggests that middle and high school kids should be taught the requisite skills for being healthy.
One out of three Americans born in the year 2000 will acquire type two diabetes because of all the subsidized foods the companies sell for less and less money. Those subsidized foods are Rice, Corn, Wheat, and Soy. Sometimes we don’t even know we’re eating subsidized foods. Inexpensive foods actually cost more money because it requires billions of dollars to be subsidized just so companies can sell them for cheap. You’ll know it’s subsidized if a whole meal costs less than the minimum wage.
I would have to agree with Small’s idea. If high school students were to take a class where they were taught the needed skills to maintain being healthy, they’d be able to cook healthy meals for themselves or their siblings. They wouldn't have to eat out at a fast food restaurant. They’d be more aware of what they eat and what they’re putting in their bodies. Parents would feel more comfortable knowing that their kids are eating healthy and they wouldn't have to worry about their kids accidentally getting food poisoned by a frozen microwaveable food maybe.
Respectfully,
Precious Custodio
Pd.2
Dear Mrs. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteTom Small is telling us how in todays society people would rather spend the money to buy cheap, unhealthy food instead, of taking the time to make a healthy meal that is more benefical for you. I feel that having a class in school that would teach kids how to maintain their health and shop intelligently is a good idea, but I don’t think they should force kids into taking this class.
Today people will go out and buy premade foods without thinking twice about the health issues that could hurt them or the people that they are feeding the food to, this is something society has been accustomed of doing. The people today have to be responsible for how they eat and what they eat, because of how easy it is to just buy the premade unhealthy shit that the stores and fastfood restraunts are selling you have to make a choice for youself. In schools I feel that the food they feed us is just as bad or even worse than the food that you can buy at fastfood places. Having bad food at school is causing the students to eat more and more unhealthy food, which means the rates for childhood obesity is going up. But I feel that having a manditory class for kids to learn more about their health isnt a great idea. They have other classes that are more important then that. Why make the kids sit through a class when the food throughout the schools isnt doing them any good itself?
The choice is up to the kids and adults to choose what they eat. If they want to take the time to prepare a healthy meal then great. But if they just want to be lazy and buy premade food that isnt healthy then let them. No one can force these people to change they need to change for themselves.
Sincerely,
Gavin Bryan Pd.2
Dear Gavin,
DeleteI disagree with your assertion that classes about living healthily are unnecessary. Really, what is more important than making sure your body has the nutrients it needs to function? Learning how to solve an inverse function won't be of much use to you when you're getting dialysis treatments three times a week. I agree that you can't force people to change, but in this situation, the implementation of force isn't even the issue. The issue is teaching people about what goes into their body and how it affects them. Once they learn these things, they can make the healthy choices for themselves.
Sincerely,
Casey Nakamura, PD 1.
Dear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteA drive through any town in the US proves that fast food has spread like a disease all across America. Any trip to the store can demonstrate just how simple it is to get access to it, and now you don’t even need to get up to have greasy, high calorie food delivered right to your house. It is an easy, cheap alternative to filling up on the gasoline that runs your body. Tom Small argues that we don’t know, and we don’t want to know what exactly makes up the food we eat, and he’s right.
As someone who cares a great deal about their physical well being I think it should be one of our top priorities to analyze the components of our food and to be as informed as possible when making decisions that could alter our state of health, simple decisions like, what am I going to have for dinner? I spend my free time learning about many of the things I eat, and can then make and educated decision on whether or not I’d like to eat it. Consequently I make most of the food I eat myself. That is, I don’t consume fast food nearly as much as the average American does.
Unlike me, most families don’t have the time or money to spend at home making beneficial food that would support the growth of their children who eventually, will grow up with the same habits, due to lack of knowledge and of influence. Go to the nearest school playground and you will see children bloated up like balloons, sitting down, watching the other students as they jump rope and play hopscotch. These overweight children will grow up to be overweight adults who will then in turn have overweight children in a cycle that could be so easily overcome.
If school had a required class that taught kids how to eat right, I predict that the high percentage of obese children and adults would decrease dramatically. As someone who comes from a family where every weekend we go out to Micky D’s and eat pork chops or something equally as unhealthy, I would probably be in the obese percentage if it were not for the internet and my natural interest in food. Since then I have become somewhat strict in my diet and dedicated to exercise and I think that it’s possible for many other students to change as well. All it could take is a teacher with a background in health and nutrition; to teach kids what their parents don’t have time to, how to eat right. If schools made it a required course children would have a higher initiative to learn the material, which would hopefully change the way they look at food, and their lifestyle.
Respectfully,
Amanda Althouse
Period 2
Dear Amanda,
DeleteI admire your introduction statement, how you used the comparison of a rapid spreading disease to the over population of fast food restaurants, it really draws the reader into your response and helps develops a bold tone. Tho i disagreed with Tom Smalls argument, your response makes me second guess my choice. I agree our prediction that the percentage of obese children would decrease if health education was provided in schools; giving children the education they need to live a healthy life style is defiantly what modern day Americans need to change their views on what they are putting into their bodys.
sincerely,
Podma Phillips
pd:3
with your*
DeleteDear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteTom Small argues that middle and high schools should have required classes that teach shopping and cooking skills. He claims that parents are now often too busy to be responsible of their children’s, and even their own, health. This hurried eating, Small says, results in unhealthy choices and more money being spent eating out or ordering food. Healthy meals are far from many people’s first priority.
I disagree with Small. Yes, many parents no longer take the time and effort to prepare a healthy meal, but mandatory classes teaching the skills of shopping and cooking would never be adequate. First of all, many schools, like our own Kapa’a High, have such a varied group of people that it would be impossible to represent all the different cultures and their way of cooking. Forcing students to only learn how to make generic healthy meals with no regard to their own customs would be suppressing individuality. In a way, it would almost be promoting a certain type of school approved “healthy” food.
Second, children have learned from their parents to eat quickly and never, ever, look at the ingredients. By middle and high school age, many students will simply not care about eating healthy. Those who are concerned with their health will have already taken matters into their own hands and learned what they need to know. A mandatory shopping and cooking class will be to many students just another stupid, irrelevant, required class.
Finally, each student comes from a different financial background. Some well-off students may look at the middle-class “healthy” food and laugh at its inferior quality, while others may not be able to afford the “healthy” food or not have a kitchen with the necessary appliances to make this “healthy” food. Even worse, less wealthy students may learn about all the unhealthy things they are eating and be unable to afford to change. With each bite of each fast-food meal, they would know that they were harming themselves, and be completely powerless to make things better.
What we eat is an important issue that many of us ignore, and it is true that most preteens and teenagers don’t know how to cook—healthy or otherwise, but mandatory classes teaching us how to shop and cook is not the solution. Each person’s meals are unique to themselves depending on their culture, their financial situation, and their willingness to acknowledge the issue. Instead of creating a whole new mandatory class, eating healthily should be a thorough unit in the already required Health class.
*Sincerely,
DeleteJessica Meek, P.2
Dear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteIn Tom Small’s debate, he explains the importance of the children of today and their relationship with health. I stand for the same thing. It’s crucial that kids in this future generation are aware with the benefits of wellness, and the disadvantages of poor choices in health. What Small stresses about it the most, is that middle and high school students need to learn how to “shop” and how to “cook”. With obesity on the rise, the only way to stop this disease in its tracks, is to prevent it!
Between busy schedules of both parents and their kids, there is still time to make healthy decisions. Instead of yearning for the drive-thru, take a quick trip to the grocery store. Most don’t grasp the idea of a balanced, wholesome diet. But additionally, the amount of unnecessary calories and harmful ingredients put into fast food.
Also, the idea of required courses for students maintaining and learning about healthy food options would be convenient and conventional. If that’s not being taught at home, it definitely should be taught at school. Informing the youth will slowly, but surely help. One way or another, you may know someone who is overweight or just doesn’t put in the effort into eating nutritiously. There’s always room for improvement in anyone, it’s likely that everyone can participate in this valuable lesson.
Ultimately, spending less money on the quick and easily accessible food, and putting the time and energy into healthy food is worth it. America has been caught up into the web of laziness, and just quitting that habit; it can favor us all.
Sincerely,
Jimmelle Parong
Period Two
Dear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteI was excited to get on the topic of our food culture, due to personal experience, I feel very strongly on this subject. I agree 110% with Tom Smalls argument of how our society is growing and moving so fast, we are loosing our common knowledge and culture of food. Like He said, “We have no idea what is in most of the processed food that we eat”, so if we show our middle and high school students STD infected genitals and have them get beamed by a doge ball in order to educate them of a healthy life style, it seems ideal that they be taught how to fuel their bodies right.
I was lucky to have parents that frowned on the idea of processed and pre-cooked foods, and tried to feed my siblings and I sugar free cookies falsely labeled as a ‘treat’. Like most teenagers I went through a phase of eating cup of noodles 3 meals a day and dessert more than actual dinner, but in the end I was brought up with the knowledge to fend for myself and sustain a healthy diet. Smalls argues that not all children were as lucky as I, because “ Parents work, so they are no longer the ones responsible for making sure their child has healthy food.”. We need to educate them before their permanent idea of a healthy meal is a Mcdonalds Salad, where the fatty dressing and 200 cal a serving croutons far out way the over processed greens that make a salad, a salad. And here is why.
What Smalls doesn’t comment on is the effects of a bad diet. Its is common knowledge that physical effects include heart disease, diabetes and the feared obesity. Clogging arteries and all that fun stuff. But what I find even more scary are the mental effects, which in itself is a rising concern in America and not much people even know they are there. A unhealthy diet is linked to depression, anxiety and eating disorders. Hell I feel like crap even after eating one unhealthy meal, I cant imagine living off that stuff passed of as “food” with my bad diet sticking to my thighs.
America is growing and moving fast. And with it new problems and issues that target young people, and the best solution is prevention. Middle and high schools need to educate students on how to fuel their bodies and live a happy healthy life.
Sincerely,
Whitney Beck
Pd. 2
Dear Whitney,
DeleteYour response took me by surprise. Your argumentation on the mental effects of a bad diet was something I actually have heard of but it didn't come to mind when I was reading Smalls statement.I think by taking your knowledge on this subject it gave your response a very compelling argument on something that Small failed to dwell on.You also took his evidence and gave a personal example which always makes for a good argument.By using a counter argument it gave your response a different approach rather than just agreeing or disagreeing.
Your argument affected me by opening my eyes to a different point of view as to why living a healthier life style will not only benefit our physical health but our mental health as well!
Sincerely,
Maria Fish Pd: 2
Dear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteTom Small is giving a compelling argument on the very controversial topic of food. Small is suggesting that in today’s modern society, we do not have time to eat healthy meals and we choose to eat foods that are fast and easy to get but not beneficial towards our health. I found myself agreeing and disagreeing with Small’s argument.
Small begins his argument with a generalized claim that people are just too busy to cook their own healthy meals. I find this claim misleading and untrue. If there are families such as mine-which I know there are- eating out is more of a luxury than a go to meal.My parents like many others also frowned upon the idea of eating all those fast food meals. And a lot of the world does not live close enough to be able to purchase these fast food meals.
I do agree with his claim that we don’t know what’s in the processed food we eat and we don’t want to know. About a year ago I found myself wanting to know what was in all those delicious fast food meals. When I researched it I found that my favorite burger from McDonalds was no longer as appealing. But no one wants to know all the bad things they are eating, they just want to enjoy their meal without a second thought and I think that’s where Americas health issues start to show.
The last part of Smalls passage leaves me at a counter argument. I completely agree that middle school and high school students should have the chance to learn how to shop and cook healthy food. It is something I would gladly take part of. But one thing that I question is what is the possibility of getting the money to purchase healthy food to cook in the schools? We find America in an epidemic of obesity and diabetes. But why? Because fast food is the cheapest thing around! We are now being told to eat healthy but they make healthy products the most expensive thing to buy. With our still suffering economy people don’t have the money to make healthy meals. And before schools could even start thinking about bringing in that kind of program, the schools lunch meals are going to have to change its course.
Sincerely,
Maria Fish Pd: 2
Dear Maria,
DeleteI appreciate your fiscal approach to Small’s argument. It is important to address the root of the problem in situations like this, and economic woes are certainly a valid culprit in the declining quality of our food.
However, while recent economic crisis have contributed to the decline of our school lunch system, I think that many public school students have been brainwashed and can no longer discern between what is right and wrong to eat, despite recent improvements. I think it is all psychological. The reality is, a multitude of healthy options are offered at most schools now. A lot of buffet style school kitchens offer plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit for kids, but they aren't touched - the entree is usually the only thing most kids will put their hands on simply because it tastes good. I do realize that the issue is much bigger than the school lunch system, but it is a good example of how a lot of Americans are psychologically inclined to choose whatever they think is going to taste good.
Economic effects on food are a reality, but shiny billboards with the words ”EAT MORE CHICKEN” and television ads depicting 30oz steaks as ”good for you” suggest that it is much more of a psychological issue.
Respectfully,
Griffin Madden, pd. 1
Dear Maria,
DeleteI agree with the points you made involving how America shoves cheap, unhealthy fast food in our faces, and sells healthy food at ridiculously expensive prices, making it difficult for people to eat nutritious. Although, I think contrary to your idea of eating out to fast food places as being a "luxury". For the most part, people that do eat fast food are people who can only afford that. In the long run, constantly eating these bad foods will catch up to them, causing them obesity and other health issues.
Sincerely,
Lexy Stogner Pd 1
Dear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteFood is one of the most impactful variables in the way of human life. Meals should be thoughtfully planned out and executed to ensure healthful living and responsibility must be taken by each consumer, young or old, skilled or unskilled in the art of cooking. Tom Small’s passage argues for middle and high school students to take an active role in knowing how to shop and cook. Knowledge of these essential skills will enable children to maintain health. Taking the time to learn about what we, as consumers, put into our bodies will expand our capabilities and perhaps even our lives. If parents are unable to teach their children, then schools and educational institutions must step up to the plate: to put good, satisfactory, and beneficial food on the plate.
Schools, however, must first make a major change in what they put on the lunch plates in the cafeteria before they can teach their students how to do it on their own. The surplus of unsatisfactory meats and other goods cannot be disposed through the American students’ digestive systems. Cheap food is actually expensive; schools should spend the money to allow students a better educational experience. They must be fed the cream-of-the-crop in order to perform at their best in class, reach a higher level of thinking, and most importantly be active and healthy. If an hour in school can be dedicated to making this realization a reality, lives can ultimately saved.
After the school lunch system is adjusted, schools can begin to offer courses that teach the skills of the greatest necessity of life. These courses should be required in order to demonstrate its significance and emphasize its importance. “Most of us are so busy that we seldom spend time learning to cook a healthy meal.” Priorities must be in line so that this statement by Smalls can be deemed false. Processed foods like frozen pizzas or a bag of chips will negatively affect the body’s performance. Good food will magnify it. If an hour in school can be dedicated to making this realization a reality, lives can be ultimately saved.
In present times, middle and high school students are faced with many challenges and decisions. Students are forced to make choices that will impact their lives forever. Decisions about what they put into their bodies are well at the top of these choices. If properly taught about what to put on their plates, students can probably make better decisions in all aspects of life. If an hour in school is dedicated to making this realization a reality, lives can be ultimately saved.
The school campus is supposed to be an environment in which the learning process can be fully utilized. Food and health is of utmost importance, therefore, healthy ways must be taught.
Respectfully,
Kekai Gonsalves
Dear Kekai,
DeleteYou make an excellent point that before a school can teach its students on how to cook and shop properly they, themselves, must do so when it comes to the food they serve us in the cafeteria. However did you ever come to worry about the precious time these required classes may take from you? I myself, know I will not give up an elective, such as my ceramics class, to learn things I should already know.
Sincerely,
Shania Weiss, Period 3
Dear Ms.Carlson,
ReplyDeleteTom Smalls argues that Americans are too busy to take the time to prepare a healthy meal. He states that parents are at fault that their children don’t have the right foods they’re consuming. Small believes that we should teach us, younger generation, how to shop and cook to have healthy meals. Personally, I most definitely agree with his theories.
Eating healthy is a bit of a challenge for teens. Most of us don’t work, which means we can’t afford to buy healthy items in order to create a healthy meal for us. We have school 5 days a week. Most teachers give us homework every day, even on Fridays! We have to study for tests and make sure we actually understand what we’re learning in class. If you think about it, we barely have time to cook a healthy meal. I agree with Small when he states that middle and high schools should have required courses for students to learn about the right foods for our body and how to keep us healthy.
Heart disease is the number one cause of deaths in America. One of the main causes in heart diseases is not eating healthy. Obesity for example, its affecting every one of all ages. Children, teens, young adults, adults, and the older generation. Sure, it’s fine eating McDonalds, Taco Bell, and Burger King once in a great while. But you need to realize how much calories, sodium, and sugars there are every time you consume fast food. I know it’s cheap and fast, but isn’t a couple more bucks and time worth it for your health?
Small states we have no idea what is in most of the processed food that we eat. This is true. But there are people in the world who check the labels in everything they buy; I personally think this is time consuming. I am one of those people who just grabs whatever is the cheapest and whatever looks good without knowing what is in that food or if it’s even healthy for me.
The health of us Americans, especially the children and teens are at great risk if things don’t change. It may take a while to see it, but educating the American teens on how to eat healthy will be enough to longer their lives.
Respectfully,
Angelika Questin
Dear Angelika,
DeleteI like how you made personal connections within your 1st paragraph on what a schedule for a teen consists of. Some teens also have jobs on top of school (as do I) making us just as busy as parents can be. your beginning sentence for your 2nd paragraph startling fact was a great introduction and caught my attention quickly. I agree with your views on fast food and the time consumption for healthy meals, GREAT JOB (:!
respectfully,
shannon delaney
pd1
Dear Ms. Carlson
ReplyDeleteThe additives in our foods have become increasingly harmful to us over the years as more and more of them are created and used. Other countries have banned chemical food additives such as aspartame, MSG, sodium nitrate, food colorings and many more. Everyday I see people, including myself, stuffing themselves with the hidden poisons in our food. The school systems food is no different, I haven’t eaten food from school for a good two years just for that fact that I know that our daily meal has less nutritional value than an MRI. We are simply agricultural dumpsters.
From personal research I know that many government officials have their hands in the pockets of the companies that produce such harmful chemicals for years. Scientists have proved that food coloring, aspartame, and MSG do immense harm to our bodies. In labs where they need to test fat rats they inject the babies with MSG to make them as fat as possible. Studies show that aspartame damages brain cells and sodium nitrate increases the risk of heart disease.
The food in the school system is simply surplus food or food that is not fit for the normal market. You would atleast think that they would give adolescents, in the midst of growing into adults, food that would help sustain our brain activity and growth. Instead food is thrown together under loose guidelines made by who knows who.
The epidemic of what we eat is an epidemic that needs to be addressed immediately, it isn’t a hard thing. It’s something that we can all tackle individually on a daily basis by simply learning what’s in our foods and avoiding the food additives that fuel the diseases that are killing us.
Minh Hai C. Pd.2
Dear Minh Hai,
DeleteI agree with you on that we should stop poisoning our country but start trying to grow it and build stronger. I appreciate the background research you brought into your essay about the harmful chemicals, it made the essay stronger.
Sincerely,
Cody Palmer
Dear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteThis statement made by Tom Small aims to argue that a change needs to be made for the good of health and wellness in America. I, for one, could not agree more. I believe that people, not just children, should be educated about what they eat, and taught to make healthier, smarter, decisions.
As a child I was always taught what was acceptable and not acceptable to eat, not only by dietary standards, but also by ethics and quality. My father was not the average doctor, the overweight kind who snacked on chips and coffee in the break room and thought that antibiotics were the only solution. He despised the hypocrisy of the medical system and taught us what he thought to be sound doctrine, healthy whole foods, fruits and vegetables straight from the garden, and homeopathic remedies for our sicknesses. My mother still orders from a Co-op to this day, free range meats, free of preservatives, sulfites, nitrites, hydrogenated oils, and sweets made from tofu and cane sugar. Ethically it was better to buy products from places that didn’t hurt and drug their animals or from large industries who employed sweatshops in Malaysia. My parents never hid their reasoning from me, and always took the opportunity to educate my siblings and I about eating right. I learned to love and appreciate all the things my parents had taught me, things that I believe all children should have the opportunity to be taught.
Decisions that you make when you are young can affect the entire rest of your life. You aren’t going to have a fast metabolism and massive amounts of energy for the rest of your life. A childhood of eating fast food, fried food, and drinking pure sugar will show later on in life, if not earlier. Clogged arteries, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, are more common than you would think, all because of poor food choices. How can you enjoy life if you can’t even walk down the street without wheezing every hundred meters. Like my dad always told me, “Chips, Cheese, and Chocolate, will make you Ch-Ch-Ch-Chubby”.
Fast food is not cheap food. It may be cheap in the moment, but a life of eating unhealthy will lead to piles of medical bills, which are by no means inexpensive. As Michael Pollan stated, “Eating too much junk food is worse than eating not enough food.” Families who only have enough money to buy junk foods, would be better off if they saved their money and bought much healthier food, and a little less of it, in the long run they would save money. Their healthier diet would cost less in medical bills and they wouldn’t have to suffer the after effects of unhealthy eating later on in life.
If people were educated on where their food comes from and what goes into their food, it would be most beneficial to everyone. I agree completely with Small, that something needs to be done in order to educate America’s citizens about eating right.
Respectfully,
Aveilana Saldana (Pd.2)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIn Tom Smalls prompt on needing to cook and eat healthy, he brings up not only adults, but also what the future generation is needing to worry about in the food we put into our bodies. By Michael Pollan's knowledge and statements along with Tom Smalls prompt, you're informed of all the problems in today's food. By the food that we eat today, we don't realize the problems food is extremely effecting in our environment, our lives, and our future! I agree with the statements and that there should be something fixed and we should take action and learn more.
ReplyDeleteThe production of food already takes up a lot of space in our land, which makes sense in the amount of people we have. Though the quality of this land being taken over is quite sad. Today the food we have is being treated as quantity over quality. Farmers and producers making as much as they can without focusing on the way it is being made. And sadly the food is also being produced unwillingly also. The government is taking dominion over thousands of acres of land then forcing farmers to make what they want them to make even if the farmers are spending more to make it then they are making off of it. And because so much is being made, the prices of it to be sold is wanted for less and less so they need more and more. Causing again, quantity over quality. Therefore farmers and producers are spraying whatever possible chemicals they can to make each product last as long as possible so they can use as much as they can and send it as far as they need to. Also, because so much of these products are being made, they want to produce it as fast as possible. Again, spraying more chemicals into it or feeding the animals whatever poisons that help speed up the process, along with the environment the food is being put into, whether the animal is in a confined space or packaging and sending the products from place to place. And the more its sent, the longer its needed to last, meaning the more "stuff" being put into it. Our environment is falling apart! We have poisons and chemicals in the air and water, land being taken over, and gases and fuels being used A LOT!
Today we are fatter and unhealthier, with a lot less knowledge. We are becoming sick because of what we eat and the lifestyle we are now living. We don't know anything anymore and we aren't even doing anything. We are just buying what is convenient and leaving it at that. Not thinking about what we are eating, what it is doing to our bodies, and the way the food was made in the first place. We are basically eating oil and sugar and causing our life to shorten!
Because we are getting more and more ignorant with less and less knowledge, we are also getting lazier and lazier. Who knows what our future generation will even look like! Our future generation is learning less and less and getting fatter and more obese. And by the amount of food produced, we are essentially feeding kids fast food and teaching them how to eat it fast. Also making it worse parents are buying more food and not teaching their kids how to cook or what is right from wrong because they are busy and just needing a quick meal.
We need to do something about the food in our environment, we need to do something about the food we're putting into our bodies, and we need to do something about the lives of our future generations. I really do think we need to stop being ignorant and do something.
Dear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteTom Small argues that most people don’t know how to sustain themselves with a healthy diet; that we’re all far too dependent on “easy” food. The kind we can pick up at a fast food restaurant or pop in the microwave. I agree with Small on the fact that this is a problem, however, I disagree with the idea that this problem can be resolved through requiring schools to offer courses that address the proper way to approach food.
In the past few centuries, our perspective of food has evolved drastically. In the past, people were dependent on their hunting and gathering skills to bring food to their tables. Nowadays, industrialists and manufacturers have made it almost shamefully easy for us to obtain food. It’s grown, harvested, processed, cooked, packaged, and sent straight to our local grocery stores. As a result, our prospective of food has shifted from our main concern to an indulgence. Of, course we still have a strong reliance on food, but people continue to treat eating as a recreational activity; something to do when they’re bored. The major food industries have warped and twisted our idea of food.
Small argues in his statement that parents are “too busy” to provide their children with healthy food and ensure that they’re eating well. In many cases this is true. In our current economy, many parents have to take on extra hours to help sustain their families. However, their children are not the ones buying the groceries. If these “busy” parents simply commit to buying all healthy foods at the grocery store, then they limit their children’s options. In most cases, children will eat just about anything when they’re hungry. Why not at least provide them with food that won’t give them diabities or heart disease?
I don’t believe that these issues can be resolved with extra courses on food. More than any other reason, it’s because our attitudes are the main ingredient on our prespective towards food. It’s easy to teach children how to prepar food properly, but to insure that they’ll actually execute these skills outside of school? Impossible. Our country suffers from chronic laziness when it comes to food. Given the option to cook a healthy meal, presenting all members of the ffood pyramid, or sticking a hot pocket in the microwave, most would go with the later.
In order to change our habits of eating pretty much anything big industrys spoon feed us, we need to first change our prespective on food. We can start by questioning; being thoroughly critical of all thes major food producers. The first step to a healthier nation starts with the industries that supply us with our food.
Sincerely,
Madisson Hinkel
Dear Madi,
DeleteI really enjoyed reading your response. I like how you disagreed with Smalls about putting educational classes about food in our school, and I like the evidence you used to back your arguement up. In my response, I agreed with Smalls, but after reading your response I could also understand why it would be useless to offer courses on how to eat better. Good job.
Dear Ms. Carlson
ReplyDeleteI agree with Smalls that people don’t have the time to aquire these skills it takes to eat and cook healthy but although I think it would help to teach kids in schools how to cook healthy for themselves I do not think that would all together fix the problem of unhealthy eating. Our food sources, and how our food is made along with lack of knowledge on how to eat is the problem for our unhealthy life styles.
Little people care about where our food comes from, they care little of the carbon footprint it took to ship or make the food they are eating, they care little about the people who make it or why it is presented infront of them. Instead of teaching our children how to cook right we first need to teach them how to eat right. Everyday school lunch is made for our kids but the lunch so many times is what factories have left over of, such as cheese or corn or even meat, so they send it to our kids. Freezing it over again for it to be recooked in a different manner and use our kids as there disposal for their over aboundance by feeding it to them. We must teach our kids that although food is given to you does not mean you should eat it. The carbon foot print on the food our schools give our children are huge, fossil fule to make and send the food around over and over is destroying our economy while the food is destroying our kids. Instead of teaching our children to cook we should teach them to eat localy, from near by farmers so that way our economy is not suffering, and our kids are eating grown not prossesed food.
Once our kids know how to eat the next step is teaching them how to shop but not for just the “right” kind of food. We could teach our children to get an apple instead of a candy bar, but how was that apple made? Along with the carelessnes of where our food came from people care little on how its made. An apple, which would likely seem a much more healthy snack than a candy bar may have more harmful pestisides or may have undergo a very unhealthy growth as being a geneticly modified organism(GMO). We must teach our kids between what looks like healthy and what is. GMOs are made to grow in any types of weather all year long and not be bothered by any insects. But if a insect wont eat it why should we. And the pestisides that are sprayed on GMOs are very harmful, when sprayed the person must wear a full body suit and gas mask to make sure not to inhale any of the pestiside. If the prosses is harmful why would the product wont be any different. There are websites you can go to to discover what buisnesses and factories are using GMO. This is what we must teach our children how to determine from “healthy” and safe.
Teaching our kids to shop and cook is essential, but teaching them how to determine what they should eat and what they should shop for is much more important. We need to teach our kids to be aware of the dangers they are being fed or the dangers of what they are buying.
Sincerely,
Abi Rae Stine period 2
Dear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteSmalls delivers an argument in which he describes what he believes to be the common situation of the modern day family. He states that due to fatigue and ignorance America turns to fast food. To solve this problem, Smalls believes middle and high schools should have required courses for students to take that will educate them on how to cook and eat well. I agree with smalls to some extent.
I agree that much of America is ignorant and they do not care much at all what enters their body as long as it is yummy and easy on their wallets. Also, it is true that something needs to be done to change this. For this is a problem of grave proportions, considering that for the first time in history children are expected not to out-live their parents. However, in Smalls’ argument he casts a shadow like generalization across America, disregarding those like myself who do not fall into this “common American” group.
I do not agree with Smalls when he says that required classes on how to shop and cook for one’s self should be set into place for all schools across America. There are numerous amounts of people who were able to learn how to feed themselves properly, without the help of school. It is no secret that America is far from the top of the education latter, and so time in school should not be wasted learning information that is readily available for those eager to learn it. Ignorance is America’s problem, not lack of education (when referring to this topic).
I understand the government, as Pollen says, walks a fine line of balancing the concerns of public health and agricultural crisis. However as a unique individual I refuse to go along with a “solution” in which disregards the needs of those like myself.
Respectfully,
Shania Weiss, Period 3
Dear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteThe United States is the leading country in obesity, especially for teens and children, and Tom Small writes that he knows why and how to stop it. Small says most Americans are too busy to spend time to cook or learn and that we found fast food and junk food to act as a substitute because it’s fast and easy. Small states that parents are busy working and don’t have the time to prepare a home cooked meal for their children or even teach their children how to buy and cook food. I agree that theses statements are true but his solution I believe is flawed. Small says perhaps it’s time that kids and teens should have required courses in how to shop and how to cook.
This may seem like a reasonable idea, teach them how to do it and they’ll do it, problem solved right? No, the problem still exists, what this does is force it upon the children and teens without their consent. They should be informed or even encouraged to learn more on the essentials of cooking on your own but not forced upon them. Having it being enforced on kids will make them resent it and though they would have this class doesn’t mean the kids would start cooking healthy foods all of a sudden, its impractical. Kids would be taking a class they don’t need but have to; this class would replace a course that is essential to the kid’s education. I’m not saying there is nothing to fix but I am saying this isn’t the way to fix it.
Sincerely,
Cody Palmer pd. 2
Dear Cody Palmer,
DeleteI feel that in your first paragraph you simply restated what Small said in his short paragraph and didn't elaborate much on to the extent on which you agree with it but simply that you like the idea. I also felt that your second paragraph was you rambling on the crazy idea that you'll be forced to a class that makes food. Personally I wouldn't think anyone would argue with the idea of a class devoted to food.
Sincerely,
Kulia Blalock PD3
Dear Ms. Carlson,
ReplyDeleteWith McDonalds' Happy Meal a social normality for a nutrient filled dinner envisioned to feed children as small as 16 months. Despite the fact of nutritional value that this meal lacks, many parents don't have any other choices to feed their children. I disagree with some of Tom Smalls views.
Smalls claims that often parents work, so they aren't the ones responsible for making sure what their children are eating. I feel quite the contrary. My parents work so we are afforded healthy nutrient-rich food. But sometimes by the end of the month, expenses aren't met to what we hoped. My parents thus feed us such frozen and processed food simply because its cheaper. The frozen food lasts much longer then fresh produce and can be cheaper that preparing a whole meal.
Although we do eat processed foods occasionally, my mother still finds time to learn about cooking, despite Smalls claim. I know she isn't the only parental guardian who constantly has the food network channel on taunting their children after her long work day.
Even though Smalls reasoning's are disagreeable his overall goal to achieve from this argument is perceivable. His idea to install health maintenance classes is brilliant. Learning essential skills as shopping and cooking are things that are much more valuable skills to becoming an adult. I think to alter this is to teach not only those skills but many other 'street' skills that are useful to know. Such things as scams, religious cults, drugs, and real sex education, not just diagrams that essentially help us get ready for the real world today.
Sincerely,
Kulia Blalock Pd. 3