Vaccination

Vaccination is a very serious topic that should not be taken lightly, especially in the case of the MMR vaccine. In days before the MMR vaccine, 1 in 3 children died before his or her fifth birthday. Presently, 1 in 150 children die before his or her fifth birthday in developed countries. According to Wilson (2009), this decrease in child’s death is not only a result of better sanitation, but also a result of vaccines. The MMR vaccine is a combination vaccine that protects against measles, mumps, and rubella, all of which used to be deadly diseases to small children.

Some benefits of vaccination are: to protect your child from MMR diseases, to decrease the chance and size of outbreaks, and to protect others through herd immunity. Although some people have questioned the safety of this vaccine after its alleged link to autism, many studies have been conducted and have yet to find a direct link between the MMR vaccine and autism.

In my opinion you can tell people to vaccinate their children until you run out of breath; however, sometimes when people are too set in their ways to conform, it is important to reiterate the importance of vaccinating to protect others through herd immunity. When a child has leukemia, he or she cannot be vaccinated because his or her body is too weak to handle even the smallest of immune challenges. In these circumstances, herd immunity may be the determining factor as to whether a child lives or dies. Through the concept of herd immunity, the majority of people get vaccinated so that there are fewer cases of the disease thus lessening the chance that the disease will spread and therefore protecting the minority who are physically incapable of being vaccinated.

In order to protect your child, decrease the chance and size of outbreaks, and provide immunities for those who cannot be vaccinated, you must make sure you and your family is vaccinated. If you would like to get vaccinated all you have to do is contact your local physician and make an appointment to go get your injection. So make that phone call and get yourself vaccinated!

Respond To A Classmate: Marne's Formula 50

After browsing some of my fellow student’s LSC 100 blogs, I came across an article on Marne Bruckner’s page that quickly caught my eye. At the top of the screen there was a large photo of 50 cent and his advertising campaign supporting his newly formulated vitamin water dubbed “Formula 50”. In her article, Marne discussed how big name rappers and other stars are paid an insane amount of money to indorse different products, in an attempt to get the consumers to buy their products.

I agree with Marne’s opinion on this idea, which is that in this situation, as in most others, 50 cent is not qualified to indorse vitamin water. I also liked how Marne drew attention to some of 50’s lyrics, “You can find me in the club, bottle full of bub, look mami I got the X if you into taken drugs…” With this clever use of 50’s words, Marne directly showed how 50 cent isn’t too terribly concerned about his health or about consuming products which are good for one’s health such as drinking the vitamin water that he endorses.

In the end, it usually turns up that the celebrity is unfit to endorse the product that he or she gets paid to advertise. Most actors, although I can’t say that I necessarily blame them, are in these commercials to make an easy buck. In return, the companies are profiting from their celebrity endorses because most people don’t stop to think about whether or not the person selling the product is qualified enough to know what he or she is talking about, or if they do, the consumer may not even care if he or she is a fan of the celebrity. In the end, however, I guess if companies are willing to hire good advertisers and people are willing to buy the product, then all the more power to the company for thinking of using that celebrity.

Kutcher's Camera

While watching the various football games over Thanksgiving break, I couldn’t help but notice Ashton Kutcher’s face gracing my television screen during EVERY commercial break. Kutcher would oh and ah, turn his head, move around, and dance with his little toy: the Nikon camera.

As many people know, Nikon has always been a brand that creates a fierce competition in the camera industry. With many professionals utilizing Nikon products everyday, people began to desire that same great quality in their everyday photographs. Nikon finally gave the public what they wanted and found a way to make the professional quality camera affordable for the amateur photographer, and some would say that Nikon’s new Coolpix camera does just that.

Although I do not own a Nikon Coolpix camera, I have read some positive reviews about it as well as heard positive feedback from some of my friends that own the camera. Like previously stated, Nikon never seems to disappoint, and always brings a great camera to market. The discrepancy, however, lies in Kutcher.

Does Kutcher, busy, super star actor, really have time to be snapping photos with his Nikon? Sure, most people want more photos capturing the greater moments in life, but how many people seriously carry a camera around with them 24/7? And even if they do, which percent of those people takes them time to break out the camera, make everyone freeze, and then pause for a photo?

Don’t get me wrong, I am a big Ashton Kutcher fan and believe that Nikon is a great camera company; however, I’m not so sure Kutcher should be the one to make this kind of judgment. Let’s face it, he spends the majority of his time in front of the camera, not behind it.

By bringing Kutcher into the commercial, I’m sure that the Nikon company has seen an increase in sales. After all, they caught my eye, as well as many others at my Thanksgiving, so what’s to say that they are not influencing the public.

I understand why companies use celebrities to sell their products; however, I think people need to look at quality of the actual product itself rather than the status of the person the company paid to endorse it.

Stem-Cell Research

The two opposing articles I chose to read were on the topic of stem cell research. Stem cell research is currently a very controversial topic. The purpose of stem cell research is to take cells from an embryo that has not matured and manipulate those cells to be used anywhere in the body. For example, a popular stem cell research topic right now is taking the stem cells and injecting them into damaged heart tissue to see if those cells will take on the role of the heart cells, start to regenerate, and then repair the damaged heart tissue.

Those who are against stem cell research argue that by conducting stem cell research, the embryos from which the stem cells are derived are “killed” and cannot develop into a human being. Those who are in favor of stem cell research argue that by using these stem cells, one is saving a human’s life who is already developed and has experienced what it feels like to live; whereas, the embryo has not yet developed and is simply a bundle of cells at the time the stem cells are extracted.

I think the article that supported stem cell research was more convincing because it mentioned the facts and the opposing viewpoints of the topic. It also attempted to refute the opposing viewpoints with facts and knowledge, and not by simply stating that the opposing viewpoints were wrong just because they were wrong. My opinion of the topic has not changed because the articles against stem cell research have no solid backup for their point of view other than stem cell research is unethical, basically based on religion. While religion is great, and people are entitled to their own opinions, I believe people can be religious without following every guideline outlined for them by documents created hundreds or thousands of years ago when these topics of concern didn’t exist.

In my opinion, if you can save the life of someone living who has experienced life, you should, and that is the correct ethical decision.

How To Roll Out and Cut Out Sugar Cookies

For my how-to speech, I demonstrated how to roll out and cut out sugar cookies using the acronym C.P.R.: cover, press, remove.

In the beginning of my speech I was sprinting the 100 meter dash with my words; however, I do believe the content was good and appeared to be a captivating introduction for my audience. The order of my speech was very logical to the process of rolling out and cutting out sugar cookies, and as an audience member I would have been able to understand the process better because of its logical order.

By introducing the equipment in the beginning and actually completely the rolling out and cutting out process in class, I think the audience was provided with a very good visual aid that, once again, should have improved the learning process.

Throughout the speech, I kept good eye contact with the audience and tried to speak enthusiastically and use gestures to keep their attention. I also think using a male member of my audience helped to create a more active learning process and helped to grab and wake up some of my audience members who may have been about to drift away. Not only that, but after Ethan had cut out his cookie, the class was laughing, which is always a good sign that things are going well.

Towards the end of my speech I began to drag on a little because I was unsure of how much time I had left to before reaching the five minute mark due to the initial pace of my speech. However, in my ramblings I gave the audience members quite a few ways that this demonstration would be of use to them, and why they should attempt to make some sugar cookies on their own.

Overall, I think my speech went very well and seemed to be fitting and interesting for my audience as well as this assignment. For future speeches I will just have to remember to slow down my speaking so I will not have to impromptu information at the end.

Revision of Article on Class Blog

Smart Choices” Food Labeling Program Halts over FDA Concern is an article on the Huffington Post website that discusses the FDA cracking down on food labels that may mislead consumers into thinking they are getting more health benefits from products than what they truly are. The Smart Choices program, which was started in August and includes major food giants: Kellogg Co., Kraft Foods Inc., and General Mills Inc., was intended to highlight foods that meet certain nutritional standards so that consumers would be more likely to make healthier choices when purchasing food products. The boxes of these approved food products are marked with a green check mark.

The Smart Choices program had seemed like a good idea until some of the products marked with these labels went under investigation and were found to be highly processed and to contain large amounts of corn syrup. Until the FDA conducts their own investigations, the officials associated with Smart Choices have, according to Nick Sabloff, agreed to “postpone active operations and not to encourage wider use of the logo while the FDA investigates labeling issues.” Also according to Sabloff, “The FDA said it is working to define the criteria manufacturers must meet to make certain nutrition claims on product fronts and will design a standardized system to help consumers select healthy foods.”

After reviewing the Smart Choices website, and seeing some of the foods marked with this label in grocery stores, I agree that some greater restrictions should be enforced on what products can and cannot be labeled as smart choices. However, I do think that the idea of the program as a whole is great because in this day and age consumers need to be led in the correct direction as far as the consumption of healthy food is concerned. Seeing that the Smart Choices program displays such things as calories, I believe it is a step in the right direction. The journey to a healthier lifestyle has to start somewhere, and this could be it.

Fat-Free Ice Cream. Seriously?

Upon first sighting fat-free ice cream in the grocery store, I was a little excited. Ice cream, one of my favorite guilty treats, had now become fat-free. As I opened the door of the freezer section and began to reach for this new fat-free ice cream, common sense finally took over and made me wonder what the catch to this seemingly healthy ice cream was. My first instinct was to compare the nutritional labels between the original chocolate ice cream and this new fat-free chocolate ice cream. In comparison of calories, the fat free ice cream had 90 compared to the original 140, and the fat calories were reduced from 60 in the original to 0 in the fat-free. Next I compared grams of sugar because a lot of fat free foods jack up sugar content to compensate for taste after removing fat: 16 grams in the original and a surprising 13 grams in the fat-free. After a moment’s thought, I decided to compare the ingredients. Busted.

The original chocolate ice cream contained seven ingredients: milk, cream, sugar, cocoa (processed with alkali), whey, natural tara gum, and natural flavor. The fat-free alternative however contained 16 ingredients: skim milk, sugar, poly-dextrose, corn syrup, maltodextrin, cocoa (processed with Alkali), propylene glycol, monoesters, mono & diglycerides, cellulose gum, natural flavor, carob bean gum, guar gum, carrageenan, annatto (for color), vitamin A palmitate, and ice structuring protein; of which 4 of the top 5 were some variation of sugar. Not only that, but the fat-free version is made up of so many different types of gums and additives that it makes me wonder if this supposed fat-free ice cream is even ice cream at all, not to mention wondering what color ice cream makers were trying to cover up by adding the annatto.

I would definitely not recommend this product to anyone because the only resemblances it makes to ice cream are that it is in a container labeled ice cream, and it contains milk and sugar. Clearly the best alternative to this product would be to abstain from ice cream; however, when one’s sweet tooth becomes too much to handle, it’s simply better to stick to real ice cream and enjoy it in moderation.

Sugar Cookie Recipe

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. lard or shortening
2 c. sugar
2 Eggs (Extra Large or Jumbo)
1 c. sour cream
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 t. vanilla
1/4 t. salt
4 c. flour

Mix together, until smooth. Chill 4-6 Hours. Roll and Bake @ 375 degrees for 10-12 min.

Frostening:

4 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. real butter
2 t. white vanilla
1 t. almond extract
2 T. milk

Dilute frostening with milk as necessary to obtain desired consistency.

This is the recipe I used for my How-To project on how to roll out and cut out sugar cookies.

My Adventure With Pasta

For this blog assignment, I chose to prepare whole wheat pasta with tomato sauce. The first thing I did in preparing for this meal was to ride my moped to the grocery store where I purchased the following ingredients: whole wheat pasta, bottled garlic and basil flavored tomato sauce, and some shredded parmesan cheese. After paying for my items, I placed them in my backpack and rode back to my dorm. Once I arrived at my dorm, I checked out a large pot with a lid, a small saucepan, and a large spoon from the main desk. Next I ventured to the kitchen on my floor and washed all of my checked out dishes, trying to avoid any previous germs left on them that may make my fellow eaters or me sick. Now, dishes clean, and food at hand, I was ready to begin preparing my meal.

First I filled my large pot with water and allowed that to come to a rolling boil before adding some salt to the water. It is always best to season your food in layers. Once the water returned to a boil, I carefully dumped the box of pasta in the water. By following the directions on the box, the pasta needed to cook for 11-13 minutes for al dente pasta, which is what I like to eat. After about 6 minutes in of cooking my pasta, I emptied the contents of the tomato sauce into the small sauce pan to heat up, stirring both occasionally for the remaining of their cooking times.

After the eleven minutes, the cooking was finished, I drained the water off the pasta, plated it, topped it with the hot tomato sauce and shredded cheese, and served it to my roommate and a couple of other friends.

I I had fun going to the grocery store as well as making the meal because I enjoy cooking. I also enjoyed eating the pasta more because I made it, and I appreciated the time that I spent making it. I agree with Michael Pollen that eating has become more of a nutrionalism concern; however, I don’t think it takes part in the majority of my meal eating, but rather the small portion of time when I have to grab food on the go. Obviously pasta and tomato sauce is not the healthiest food in the world, but I made it because I enjoy the taste of pasta and the company of those who I can enjoy a sit down meal with.

Chicken or Chicken?!

As a child growing up in a small community where my grandmother owned a farm, every fall we would butcher chickens, so I always had plenty of fresh chicken to eat at home.

After turning five and entering the school system, my real chicken eating patterns began to decay. It was here were I got my first tastes of chicken nuggets, chicken patties, chicken strips and so on. Anything with white meat on the inside and a coat of brown seasoning on the outside could be made out as something chicken. Although the fake chicken smells similar to real chicken, it doesn’t quite taste the same. The fake chicken has a lot more salt and seasonings, along with that slight bit of greasiness that we all enjoy, which makes it taste better. Perhaps its better taste is also a subconscious positive association made from the social environment of numerous new friends while first enjoying the fake food.

When the nutrition facts from a typical chicken patty are compared to a serving of the real chicken, one can realize that the real chicken is definitely a better option. The chicken patty has 29% fat whereas the chicken only has 8%. Chicken patties contain 9 grams of protein in relationship to the same calorie amount of real chicken that has 43 grams of protein.

I would love to go back to eating real chicken all of the time, simply due to its nutritional values; however, in our current society real chicken is rarely an option. It is so much easier to access fake chicken via fast food restaurants or our local commons, than to actually go to the grocery store, pick out a chicken breast and prepare it. After I have a kitchen and the time needed to prepare chicken, I will no doubt go back to eating real chicken, but until then, Chicken products will have to do.

Michael Pollen Lecture

On September 24, Michael Pollen, author of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Go Big Read book choice for this year In Defense of Food, spoke at the Kohl Center. Although only half of the Kohl Center’s seating was designated for this event, there was not an open chair in the house. To open the evening, UW-Madison’s chancellor Biddy Martin spoke of the Go Big Read program, and what a great success it was this year. Martin was also pleasantly surprised by community’s participation in the Go Big Read program, as well as the turn out for the event at the Kohl Center. After Martin’s introduction, came two more introductions by people who were well educated about this program and the author himself. Finally, after thirty minutes, Pollen approached the podium in his jeans, grey tee, and green overcoat.

Pollen began his speech with a response to the members of the audience wearing green shirts reading “In Defense of Farmers”. These green shirts were meant to inform Pollen that the farmers have to look out for themselves too, saying that it is hard to grow all organic food and abide by other things Pollen speaks of living by in his book. Pollens response to this however, sided with farmers by saying, “I’d wear that t-shirt”. From an uninvolved spectator’s point of view, one could say that his comment lessened some of the tension in the atmosphere and further aided in Pollen’s speech being a success as well as showcasing Pollen’s ability to know his audience and interact with them in the appropriate manor.

Throughout Pollen’s speech, he discussed various topics, and I would like to expand on two of them: nutritionalism and deciding what we should and should not eat.

Nutrionalism, in Pollen’s terms, is the key to understanding any food by looking at what nutrients the food contains. Pollen believes that nutritionalism is not a good thing, because by looking solely at the good nutrients a food contains, and trying to isolate them, food manufactures can sell whatever they want and make it appear to be healthy. I agree with Pollen on this point. In this day and age, food scientists can fortify any food they want with these good nutrients, put a label on it stating that it has these nutrients, and sell it to innocent people whose mindset is that the food they are getting is good for them. This would be wonderful if the scientists were fortifying solely genuinely healthy foods, but they are not. In exchange for these new supposedly healthier foods, our population is becoming more and more overweight and having more health problems.

With such things as nutritionalism effecting foods, it becomes harder and harder for Americans to decide what is good for them and what is not. On top of that, nutritionalists’ opinions for what we should be eating are constantly changing and it’s hard for the average person to keep up. Personally, I agree with Pollen in the fact that we need to go back to basics, sticking to the whole, natural foods, and avoiding all of the processed foods our society has created.

Although I don’t agree completely, one-hundred percent with everything Pollen says, I do believe he makes a lot of valid points in his arguments, even though they are not based on distinct scientific research. After reading Pollen’s book, I have been impacted to look at more food labels, and question the food on my plate before I put it in my body and potentially cause further damage.

“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” These are the opening lines of Michael Pollan’s newest book, In Defense of Food. During the introduction of the book, Pollen displays his disgust with the way our current society consumes food. He believes our society has broken away from its traditional eating habits of home cooked meals, made from such things as homegrown garden vegetables, and transformed into a society whose diet is made up of processed garbage and imitations of the real foods that we used to enjoy.

I would have to agree with Michael Pollan when he says that we are breaking away from the aspects of homegrown foods and homemade meals. Take a second to think. What was the last thing you ate? My guess is that it wasn’t something grown out of a garden, or even something that could be put together from the outer aisles of the grocery store. Our current society thrives on fast food and other foods that we can grab and eat on the go, creating a much more unhealthy population than ever.

Next we have the dilemma of nutrients. In our current age of food engineering, scientists can transform the foods we once knew into imitations with the same nutritional values as the real deal. However, as proved by the margarine, the imitation for butter using partially-hydrogenated oils, these processed foods are often far more unhealthy in the long run than their in their natural form. Sally Fallon also discusses these problems in her article “Dirty Secrets of the Food Processing Industry,” helping us to further understand why we need to change.

To undo the damage we have caused ourselves, Pollan believes that we must go back to our old ways of growing our own real, unprocessed food, free of all of these new nutrient additives, or our population as a whole is going to suffer physical and health consequences far worse than it has ever seen.