Response to Anne Marie's Blog

While surfing my fellow LSC 100 classmates blogs, one pretty in pink blog caught my eye, the blog of Anne Marie Jahnke. Her last post had the name Beyonce in the title, so of course I was drawn to this, being that I listen to Beyonce’s music regularly. Not to my surprise, Anne Marie had blogged on how Beyonce is endorsed by L’Oreal, the expansive hair product brand. In her blog she discussed how she though Beyonce was an appropriate choice for L’Oreal to pick as an endorsement to their product, because she is a beautiful woman and highly regarded celebrity.

I agree that Beyonce is a beautiful woman, whom being the diva stuck in the spot light as she is, was probably a smart business choice for L’Oreal as far as advertisement advancement. But last time I checked Beyonce’s long luscious hair that she uses to advertise this shampoo with in the commercial’s isn’t even hers. Now as Anne Marie states, Beyonce is no hair stylist or specialist in hair coloring, but whoever does her hair should probably be the one in the commercials, because her weaves are too realistic. Or maybe its not the weaves, maybe it’s the weaves plus all the computerized touch-ups that L’Oreal adds to the commercial after they film it, that makes the sales rise. Not that there is anything wrong with weaves, but its hard for me to believe that Beyonce actually washes her hair with that shampoo, considering she is a multimillionaire, and middle class white America is probably the ones buying the product.

On one of Beyonce’s webpages, once again the product is pushed and represented by just putting Beyonce’s beautiful face next to it. But come on Beyonce, as a beautiful black woman, why aren’t you promoting a brands that will benefit the community you came from such as Crown Royal or Dark & Lovely? She already has enough money, why not worry less about the 4.7 million L’Oreal gives you and push to get black hair products on the market and more accessible for the black community who can relate to you, but often not the products she pushes such as L’Oreal.

And guess what L’Oreal, Beyonce is cheating on you, as she is also endorsed by American Express, Blue chip brands, Pepsi and an array of any other commercials you have seen her in. So yes maybe as Anne Marie said she is just another pretty faced celeb fit to catch the eye of the channel surfer.

-But I guess beyonce is just a hustla getting money off of whatever endorsement she can as she said, "Diva is a female version of a hustla..."

Legalize It, It's time to recognize it: Medicinal Pot

The discussion of medicinal marijuana has been on the radar in America for almost a decade now, since the first state California, in 1996, gained medicinal legalization through state statue. The discussion of marijuana in this country is displayed through pop culture, in songs such as Seal Paul’s “Legalize It,” and through stereotyped jokes made on shows such as “That 70’s Show” which my parent’s generation laughs hysterically to, displaying relation to this substance.
The substance is a drug which has an ongoing familiarity within our melting pot culture, because it is the most frequently used illegal drug in America. Not to mention our countries long existing relationship with the drug, as it was still legal in the 1800s and wasn’t strictly monitored until the War on Drugs era.

Medicinal marijuana, although not being at the tips of our fingers on a legal basis for leisure purposes as many American’s would appreciate, it should legalized for medicinal purposes in all 50 states. The reason for this is it would not only help subside the large demand for it by patients, but it would allow doctors to prescribe it more freely without the possibility of their license being suspended by the federal government whom opposes the legalization of medicinal marijuana.

Sure, it’s understandable that the federal government doesn’t want people walking around the streets passing blunts, but for cancer patients whom claim marijuana to help ease the pain that chemotherapy causes, it could help if their was more access to the drug from legal cannabis dispensaries. It could serve as an alternative way of healing, and it would help to control the illegal distribution in the streets, which we pay for the criminalization of through over $872,720 of tax money on. When we could be taxing the buyers of the product and gaining over $200 million in revenue per state.

If you want to know more about these facts and figures, you can check out the opinion of the California medical marijuana cannabis clubs that exist, and are pushing to keep their business alive, amongst the constant grief from the DEA. But there are also many sources which would argue against the legalization of medicinal marijuana, for example the DEA which classified it as a narcotic, that is lethal although it is not as addictive or is equally if not less damaging as something such as alcohol which is on the legal market.

To change the laws you can reach out to the cannabis clubs in the legal states and state legislature to see how the law was passed and under what circumstances and push to pass the same in you home state. Or reach out and participate in grassroots organizations whom are already pushing for the action of legalization such as this org. NORML!

& remember it will exist always, but we have the power to make it exist in a benefical way

(By the way check out the link in the title of this article, read on marijuana in the university!)

Celebrity Endorsements: The Lie for the Buy

Did the last L’oreal ad you watched, make you want to go to your nearest Drug store and buy the product, just so you could rinse and repeat as sexy as Beyonce did in the commercial? What about seeing your favorite basketball player on your box of frosted flakes every morning; did you think you would be able to dunk just like them if you ate it daily? HmMm maybe not, but wait, I bet seeing your favorite rapper, with no shirt on, sweat beads dripping down him and tattooed arms made you want believe your favorite drink was that much cooler!

Unfortunately, I’m not sure if any of these things actually ever happen; but for the price that the advertisement campaigns of these companies pay, at superlative budgets of over $400 million, they must believe this will benefit the sales of their products. Rapper and hip hop entrepreneur, 50 cent, is one of those fine examples of celebrity endorsement for brands. 50 cent, whom is the face of advertisement for Vitamin Water, is that rapper with tattooed covered arms and an attitude that is supposed to make you want to drink more of this product! After designing his own drink, “formula 50,” in its unique grape flavor, 50 cent seems to be the face of this label.

I don’t think that this rapper, whom has lost much popularity in the hip hop community due to the transition and evolution of style, will gain any popularity by endorsing this beverage. As 50 cent said “You can find me in the club, bottle full of bub, look mami I got the X if you into taken drugs…” I don’t think he means Vitamin Water when he says bottle full of bub, I don’t imagine they sell that in the club next to Lil’ Wayne’s ‘Lollipops’, and the array of drugs like “X” or ecstasy as 50 Cent speaks of in these lyrics. I’m sorry Vitamin Water, but unless formula 50 is served in red cups at parties on college campus’ it’s a little hard to believe that it is giving me any type of benefit—let alone vitamins.

& remember hip hop heads & health drinks shouldn't be under the same label

Against Gay marraige? Never!

In the age of a new presidency, a fresh face, Obama, whom in itself shifts the social landscape of America; one would think that the civil liberties of LGBTQ’s would be a high priority for our generation. Too bad we have old farts with wrinkled ethics still in the majority of power.

One article I recently read in the New York Times, Some Democrats Back Off Bid to Legalize Gay Marriage in New Jersey, discussed how the usual supporters of gay-marriage issues, the democrats, continue their fight. But have backed down in the state of New Jersey since the election of Christopher Christie, a Republican who opposes gay marriage. Being that I am from the East Coast, it surprised me that such a liberal and socially involved state as NJ would drop the fight. Luckily efforts are still being pushed by civil liberty unions as the article states, “Gay-rights groups have been campaigning extensively for years to win legalization of same-sex marriage and announced Monday that they would release two new radio ads highlighting the stories of gay couples who have been denied health care coverage and other legal and social benefits granted to married couples.” So tell me that gay marriage isn’t important to society, from health care to legality to the economy, we live in a relevant world.

Another article, Foe of Gay Marriage in New York Says It’s Nothing Personal , which opposed some of the democratic fights for pro-gay marriage issues, was an article on New York state senator Ruben Diaz Sr. Once again, where is my noble East Coast, a man in my own state opposing gay marriage, pshh, NEVER! Mr. Diaz who admits he had two brothers who identified as gay, said “The people of the nation don’t want gay marriage…” The article goes on to discuss how he believes there are other more important issues to attend to.

I guess the value system of our current politicians caters to a prehistoric social face, and not the over 700,000 admitted same sex couples that exist in America today. Hopefully the efforts of of the civil liberties unions in the first article will continue; Obama, East Coast, NYCLU, somebody, stand up and HELP!

& remember the pot of gold is at the end of the rainbow.

Demonstration Speech: Participaiting In a Poetry Slam

My demonstration speech was very effective in displaying both the culture and essence of what a poetry slam consists of. At the beginning of the speech I introduced myself and the topic with enthusiasm; engaging the audience with an introduction and hook. One thing that I noticed that I could work on throughout the speech was my body language, although I gave eye contact and had high energy, I let that energy escape into moving my hands too much which may have distracted from the words coming out of my mouth.

When you are standing in front of an entire class and you have to talk often this can lead to the excessive use of habit.My habits were hard to hide within my speech, such as talking with my eyes closed sometimes and moving my hands a lot. As a poet though this is something I should get away with, because poets are always deep in thought, JUST KIDDING. Another flaw in my speech was the length of time, I definitely exceeded the 5-6 min. assignment, although I do think within the 5-6 minutes I conveyed the important information; the extra time was spent on actually spittin' my poem, which I believe was necessary only for the class to get the full affect. I think I did a good job of capturing the attention of both types of learners, those that can listen and those that need visuals, as I was active with my body but also had a picture which I referenced as my visual, and involved the class in several parts. The speech was a good way for me to witness my behavior, I don't mind public speaking, but I know that I am definitely long winded; as when writing essays, my favorite thing is semi-colons. I think I need to work on being able to articulate myself without over-thinking what I am going to say. Although I planned my speech a head of time, it was very challenging for me to minimize my thought process, but for the convenience of the audience I think this is something I will keep in mind for next time.

Overall I think I did a good job of taking a complicated topic and sizing it down; I should have done only a min. long poem for sake of time, but I am happy that I was able to keep the class engaged for 9 min. as well.

-Toy guns shoot further than real ones when you are speaking to juvenile adults

Smart Choices or just Sneaky Business?

A major part of writing a blog is sifting through the topics and interests of other blogs to see what the hot topic is bombarding the web. After looking at the LSC Comm. class blog, I found one article which interested me in relation to my previous blog on health claims. This article, “Smart Choices,” talks about the troubles that the FDA has with the “Smart Choices” health labeling company. Although this may not sound familiar, I’m sure all of us have seen this companies little bright green checks on the boxes of our favorite Kellogg’s cereal, and other select products. This company is supposed to insure nutritional benefit from the products in which its label is upon, but the FDA negates to think this the case. The criteria for Smart Choices seems to reflect a vague rubric of federal dietary guidelines, which even I question, I mean come on, do you really think that something as sweet and artificially flavored as Fruit-Loops is a smart choice, over something like Honey Bunches of Oats? I think the FDA is testing the waters for the benefit of us as eaters and consumers; Yes! Finally, an association/company that isn’t trying to sell us false information. With further investigation, I found that many other bloggers have made the “smart choice,” of writing about this hot topic. One posted article I found on the subject, Smart Choices Label fails Industry Consumers, agreed with the FDA and me on the matter. This article spoke on how this supposed “Smart Choice,” company ran as soon as the FDA began reviewing health claims, could they make their falsehood any more obvious?! There is much hopes that the FDA will revise this system that Smart Choices set up and create their own health labeling system across the board; with no favored connections to specific brands or money takers. Although I can’t lie, I will probably still be eating some sugary Kellogg’s Cereals, at least my spoon won’t be flooded by false advertisement along with the already sugar coated food!

& as always lets not be so Sweet and Sour

Debunking Health Claims: SpaghettiOs

In the generation of recipe-less minds and tradition converted into easy bake ovens, many young people whose parents work late nights, or college students who don’t have the time or resources; products such as Campbell’s Spaghetti-O’s is the idea of a full meal. I recently purchased a can of Spaghetti-O’s original at the local university food housing store; which I have failed to eat due to the fact that I don’t have a can opener, hence lack in resources. When actually looking beyond the classic Campbell’s label and the exciting cartoon like image of the product, one may also see on the label a decoration of health claims. This canned food product, which can be ready in just three minutes, claims to have a “full serving of veggies” as it reads in bold blue letters on the front of the label. It also claims to have 6 essential vitamins and minerals within it, although that is hard to believe amongst its ingredients of citric acid, spice extract and high fructose corn syrup, what is that doing in there?!

As Doctor Zimney says in his article, Improving the environment and your Health,“We need to eat more food and fewer food products. What then is this thing I’m calling food? It’s fresh food that your great-grandmother would recognize as food. It’s not Go-Gurt. It’s not Vitamin Water. It’s not Slim-Jims, Snickers or Spaghetti-O’s.” Spaghetti-O’s is not a legitimate food, it is as he said simply a product; so what are we doing eating it? We don’t eat our clothes and those are products too, but of course Spaghetti-O’s is an American favorite right along with those snickers and Slim-Jims, (which might I add, aren’t making us any thinner!) On the actual Campbell’s webpage,they rebute arguments against them not being a food with the proud facts such as containing “a good source” of Vitamin A, Iron and Fiber.

So who could deny one of America’s “mMm MmM Good” favorite products for the our mouth watering , fast paced lifestyles? Well after looking at the fine print on the back of the label, underneath the rather small table of nutrition facts, it says that those claims on the front of the label of a “Full serving of veggies,” is really only a ½ cup of vegetables and 1 ounce equivalent of grain! Yet non-the less I couldn’t seem to find what vegetables this can may be talking about, unless of course those are just assimilated through that spice extract they put in it?! This product makes me say HmMm more than MmMm after debunking these stretches for health claims. Maybe I won’t hunt down a can opener and crack open this can after all, it is a true "Uh Oh" for buying these Spaghetti-O’s!

Remember get some real grains and veggies,
beef & asparagus

College Students can be Chef's too!

Has America lost it’s interest in cooking and enjoying a meal?, Would we rather jump from McDonalds to the eloquently proportioned, and separated into sections, microwavable TV dinners? Well, at least we can watch “Top Chef” while we eat those TV dinners, right?! No, no, no, we have it all wrong. The preparation and fostering of ones own meal, makes for a more healthy eating ritual and an accomplished belly. While reading Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food, I realized that in the United States of America, we are minimalists, and often do anything to eat less, but this doesn’t mean we should forget about a good home cooked meal. I think Pollan makes a point that scientific eating through diets and the “less is more” theory, has taken away from the tradition of benefiting from a full meal, as food is the key to culture. In an article called 10 Affordable Meal Ideas for College Students, I was reading, I realized we are almost designed to eat unhealthy, due to the pressure of money and lack of time. Many of the foods they listed in this article, were both unhealthy, and something I admit I’ve eaten since I’ve been in college. Both This article and Pollan’s words inspired me to challenge my college-student habits, and prepare and eat my own meal.
As a college student, I suffer from a hectic schedule, which usually can only fit in a “To-Go” pizza from our campus dining areas. But I was inspired to set up a date with a friend of mine to go to his house and utilize the kitchen! Who would have thought to use the stove over the microwave? My friend and I decided to make breakfast, so he went to the store and bought eggs, bread cheese and a pack of assorted deli meat, I brought a frying pan, and we were ready to cook! First we cut holes into the middle of 4 slices of bread, I put butter on the pan, and turned the stove on medium heat. I placed one slice of bread on the pan, and cracked an egg in the middle of the hole. I fried the egg on that side until it was almost plastered to the bread, then flipped the bread over to allow the yolk from the other side to fry. Then I added cheese on top, and fried some turkey slices on the side and added it on top, then took that slice off the pan and made the others. After all four slices where done, he had two and I had two, making an fried egg, cheese and turkey, toasted breakfast sandwich. We took the time out of our busy day, me utilizing my free time between my two classes, to sit down to a homemade meal. We were so inspired that we even started seasoning some chicken breasts for later that night. So call me Chef-girl Marne, and forget the Easy Mac and Chef-Boyardee!



Until next time make Popeye Proud!

Would you eat Plastic Food?: "Real" v. "Fake" Diets

Tofurky freaks out there, why are you eating imitation turkey—a type of meat, if you chose not to eat meat in the first place?! Okay, sure, it’s supposed to be more healthy, as says the vegetarians out there, who understand that majority of the turkey and other meat in the United States today is filled with millions of hormones, processed, and genetically modified, making it far from natural. I have never been too fond of Tofurky or turkey, unless it’s Thanksgiving of course; but my diet has definitely changed with the shift in American dietary, and within the food industry.
One item I am guilty of possessing in its “fake” form rather than in its original and more “real” form is more frequently is, cheese. Although cheese may be argued to be a processed food because it is often pasteurized to kill excess bacteria, I have had cheese in so many “fake” overly processed ways then I can think of. The “fake” form of cheese that I have eaten in the past few days is both Keebler cheese sandwich crackers, and Goldfish. Although, some of these products claim to have been “baked with real cheese,” this usually just means a high sodium count, and ingredients of cultured milk and salt enzymes, as stated on the nutritional facts. These two products seem to be more sodium and calories, than nutrition; but not all processed food are unhealthy like these. Both containing 0% vitamin A and C, they both have calcium and iron—I wonder if this is from the acclaimed “real cheese?”
These products are often snacks during a busy day, when one doesn’t have time to slice real cheese on to their crackers, or to eat a full sandwich. But the “real” cheeses are always more enjoyable in my opinion; just as I’m sure turkey is more fulFILLING than tofurky! For more information on the American diet and the harmful ingredieants that you may be eating in packaged food check out this article called 4 Harmful Ingrediants in Packaged Food from Reader’s Digest, enjoy and remember don’t eat plastic, its hard to digest!

Toodles & Homemade snicker doodles

Will Michael Pollan be the American diets savour?

If you didn’t already know that food in America is more of a commodity and scientific proposal than a pleasure and practice, Michael Pollan’s book In Defense of Food, establishes this point. While reading through Pollan’s thoughtful and conversational style introduction and first four chapters of this “Go BIG READ” book (a UW campus wide suggested read), I was introduced to a flamboyant argument against the western diet. Pollan argues that we live in an age of nutritionalism, which has converged our eating habits down to pure nutrients and scientifically modified foods. He speaks on the idea of taking food back to its original purpose, which is not only to survive, but to know what exactly one is eating, and to maintain a healthy diet through the development of self-grown food and as Pollan puts it “common sense.”

Our culture clashing society has resulted to either fast food frenzies, or nutrition/ vitamin based diets, which lack the essential idea of enjoyment and importance in actually sitting down to a home cooked meal. I agree with Pollan’s argument to escape the industry of food base, because this is what has created habitual obesity and/or dietary downfall. Food needs to stay out of the lab and make way back to the garden and then the kitchen. We were once hunters and gatherers, now we are TV surfers and shopping cart criminals walking through frozen food and canned food isles like zombies.

CHECK THESE GREEN GUTS OUT!

One resource i foudn on a website, which agrees with Michael Pollans arguments as well, is an interview with Julie Guthman, in "Globalization, neoliberalism, obesity, local food and education", which speaks on the production and commercial strategies of food in America, which ultimately has resulted in making food a commodity and reduced it to a material need rather than a bodily necessity.

EXCERPT: Julie Guthman is an Associate Professor in the Community Studies Department at UC Santa Cruz. Her pressing and rigorous work has dealt with the ways in which organic farming movements and reform in California strain the boundaries that obtain between nature and capital and between the local and the global (Agrarian Dreams: The Paradox of Organic Farming in California), with governmentality, embodiment and resistance in the age of neoliberalism (“The Polanyian Way? Voluntary Food Labels as Neoliberal Governance,” “Embodying neoliberalism: economy, culture, and the politics of fat” [with Melanie DuPuis]), and the racial assumptions that impinge community projects for the distribution of local, organic food in African-American neighborhoods (“Bringing good food to others: investigating the subjects of alternative food practice”). Her developing research examines the biopolitics of obesity in terms of race, embodiment and the evolution of alternative food practices. Among other difficult questions, in this interview Dr. Guthman offers critical perspectives on the intersection of alternative food and political subjectivity, the social, cultural and bodily impact of neoliberalism, and the possibility of responsible food criticism and radical food pedagogy in a time of crisis.

- Until later with another dose of beef & aspargus

Sincerely,

Marne Bruckner