My participation grade in English 1B should be a nice solid C+ or B- depending on how generous you are. I usually helped lead discussion when we were paired in groups and also communicated often outside of class with fellow classmates. I emailed when I had questions about assignments or class policies. During class, I answered every time I was called upon to the best of my ability. I regularly read from all the sources provided including the Eater Reader, so I could be prepared for class. I also regularly took some fine notes in class and never disturbed the class atmosphere by being rude. A couple of problems I had that kept me from an A have been my inability to post all the blogs on time. Due to my own incompetence and poor scheduling habits, I just forgot to post some of the blogs on time. My blogs were usually long in ha some quality content when I actually got around to posting them though. The same could be said about turn-it as well. My time management skills need to be improved. On the bright side, I always met the deadlines for the stuff needed for the wiki, which includes the essays and bibliographies. Overall, I thought I did a fine to decent job in class participation.
Food Economics
Throughout the past couple of months I have written a couple essays and a few blog posts, but the one issue that interested me was the Locavore movement. It wasn’t because it brought the communities back together, as cynical as that sounds, nor was it the idea of freshly grown food, but it was the idea of economic opportunities brought forth by the movement that peaked my interest.
In my Locavore Essay I wrote for my english class, I went into detail of some of the benefits, economically of course, that the movement was providing such as internal money flow, increase in jobs, and less taxation on small businesses. These ideas and creations are what got my mind churning. Economics is like a science that the world runs on except its actually interesting.
Another topic that interested me was the food chef blog posts. I have a personal like of biographies (I even waited in line to get the Steve Jobs Biography) so this topic was really interesting. Just learning and figuring out what makes these chefs tick and succeed made me want to research my chef even more.
Overall, I found most of the topics I wrote about some what interesting, but by far these two were head and shoulders above the rest.
Sources on Ferran Adrià
- Davis, Mitchell. “A Time And A Place For A Peach: Taste Trends In Contemporary Cooking.” Senses & Society 7.2 (2012): 135-152. Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 Apr. 2013.
- “Ferran Adrià.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 04 Feb. 2013. Web. 02 Apr. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferran_Adrià>.
- Moore, Brett. “Ferran Adria.” About.com Gourmet Food. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2013. <http://gourmetfood.about.com/od/chefbiographi2/p/ferranadriabio.htm>.
Ferran Adrià: On of the Greats
Ferran Adrià is considered one of the greatest chefs on Earth. He began his culinary career as a dish washer at the Hotel Playafels. The main chef at the hotel taught Adrià the basics of spanish cuisine which would later influence his cooking style. After a short military career, in 1984 he joined El Bulli were he worked up in the ranks to become head chef. The rest has been history.
Ferran turned El Bulli into a 3 star restaurant according to Michelin and was widely considered one of the best restaurants ever. He accomplished this by using his famous “culinary foam” technique. Unlike traditional cooks who primarily use eggs and cream to enhance flavor, Farran uses air to help enhance the flavor. He applies this foam to just about everything including espressos and even meats. This air, enhanced by N2O cartridges, has been the staple of Farran’s cooking career.
As of 2010, El Bulli officially closed up shop and will be revitalized as “creativity center” in 2014. In the meantime, Ferran has moved on to other ventures such as teaching culinary physics at Harvard University.
Source: Wikipedia
Picture: Link
Food Professional Interview
Currently trying to upload a video to youtube of an interview I did. The lady I Interviewed was none other then my own mother, Ricki Flores. For now I’ll just put the interview in text format:
Af: Hello mother. I’m conducting a short interview and I’ll need your help. So… Where do you work?
Rf: Haha. I currently work at Wine and Roses in Lodi. I’m a Wine Consultant but sometimes will perform managerial duties as well as waiting on costumers.
Af: How long did you take you to learn your craft/trade?
Rf: Not very long at all. I have great communication skills and have worked in the restaurant business for most of life. I’ve been everything from a host to a regional manager.
Af: How do they feel when customer yells?
Rf: Its definitely annoying but I just have to do with it. I mostly work with business people though since I’m in charge of buying and distributing the wine.
Af: Do you care where the food comes from?
Rf: I’m a huge supporter for local grown organic food. You should know this!
Af: Where do you get your fresh produce?
Rf: Honestly, we leave that up to the head chef usually. He is the one who has a vision for what the food should taste like. Hurry up kid! I actually have a job.
Af: Okay! One last question before you go back to work! How do you feel when people send back their food?
Rf: Well clearly something was wrong with their dish. They have every right to return the food. It does get annoying for the cooks and the head chef. But there is nothing you can do about it.
Af: All right thanks! See you next weekend!
Rf: Later gator.
Divided We Eat
Argument: In “Divided We Eat” Lisa Miller argues that through disparity in income, people can learn to overcome the temptation to eat fast and cheap food by the way of food stamps and government incentives.
Evidence: Lisa Miller explains how New York City is making it easier for low-income families to obtain healthy food by means of incentives. If low-income families shop at farmer’s markets, then they will receive additional cash-credit for food stamps. This goes a long way in getting more people to eat healthy.
Newsweek: Divided We Eat Argument
This article by Newsweek magazine is a very opinionated piece on how a person’s social class complements the food they eat. The author, Lisa Miller, provides examples and statistics that act as “evidence” to support how low-income families can’t afford healthy diets compared to high-income families. She uses the locavore movement as a solution to this problem. For example, Miller describes how in New York, they provide and incentive program that gives food-stamp recipients extra credit if they buy their food from famer’s markets. Overall, Miller makes a strong argument on social class and its correlation to food, but you can tell the bias in the article as she calls supermarket food “rotten”. A little bit of a hyperbole but to each their own. Here is a link to the article if any of you wish to read it.
Review: Farmer’s Market in Modesto
Fresh, local, and delicious are all the right words to describe this farmer’s market. The market is vastly superior to other farmer’s markets in the region yet its prices remain consistent and aren’t overinflated or outrageous. They also seemed to offer the most bang for your buck and have a much wider variety than other smaller farmer’s markets scattered throughout Modesto. The salesman, or farmers, were relatively friendly and answered questions to the best of their abilities. The market consisted of several street vendors selling items such as kettle corn or shaved ice for those that brought children or became hungry. The only real downside for some, is the location. Downtown Modesto is not the greatest place in the world but it shouldn’t hinder the welcomeness of the market or affect the great experience. Overall, this market is a great place to buy local food at a reasonable price.
Interview of the Walnut Grower
I recently took a trip to one of the local farmer’s markets in hope of getting an interview. It was relatively empty with few vendors but I managed to get an interview with one of my good friends of mine, Alfred Spina. His family owns a walnut farm stretching a couple acres so they regularly join the other vendors in the selling of their goods. His parents were busy watching over their products, and that’s the main reason why I interviewed him instead. You can read the interview below.
(Sorry for not having a video interview. My camera device aka iPhone was dead all weekend.)
Blog: How’s it going Alfred?
AS*: It’s going. It’s been relatively busy. A couple of vendors have left all ready.
Blog: Starting to slowdown. Well let’s get this interview underway. First question, what type of crops do you grow?
AS: My family primarily grows Walnuts… Actually we only grow walnuts. Once in a while we sell grapes. We are good friends with the Gallos so we get tons of them.
Blog: Interesting. What price do you typically sell your walnuts for?
AS: According to my dad, shelled walnuts can cost anywhere from $6-$8 a pound. We try to undercut those prices but it usually just depends on demand.
Blog: Your dad is putting that Business degree to work! Anyways, How did your family get involved in the walnut business?
AS: Well my dad worked as a CFO for Tri-Valley Growers so he knew what it took to grow food. We ended up buying this house and all this land. So we just kinda inherited the walnuts.
Blog: Do you even eat walnuts?
AS: Not really, unless they are in candy.
Blog: Ha, Well Alfred you addressed most of my questions. So thanks I guess.
AS: No problem. Anytime.
Blog: What are you gonna do with all your leftovers?
AS: Probably keep them for cooking. Or give them away to family. Want some?
Blog: I’m good. Not a fan of walnuts. Never understood the appeal. Anyways, I’ll catch you later. Don’t forget the party at 8.
AS: Haha all right. Later.
*Alfred Spina
Value of the Farmer’s Markets
Farmer’s Markets are valuable assets to any given community. For one, they keep the money flowing in a community instead of outsourcing the money to large international corporations such as Dole Food Company. In a sense, they help promote a communities economic values and traits especially if they are primarily agricultural. Secondly, these farmer’s markets create a better overall experience for both the consumer and the provider (in this case its the farmer). We get fresher food and are able to chat with our neighbors or other community folk, while the providers get to transport are food at a lessened distance with less refrigeration. And lastly, price. Food is typically cheaper at a farmer’s market as there is no over head costs for transportation, refrigeration, tax, etc. And even if the product is more expensive, the consumer knows that its staying within the community and is going entirely to the farmer. These are some of the benefits to a farmer’s market.
There is also ethical qualms in eating food as well. In a book I read, there was a section titled,”Ethics: Eating Locally/Thinking Globally”. This section argued over our thought process on eating. We usually take for granted the food in front of us, according to the piece, but rarely do we think behind the scenes. The piece argues that we rarely think about who picked the food, how the animals were treated, how social constructs such as veganism affect us, or even the thoughts and feelings of waiters and waitresses who served us. The author ends the argument by saying that maybe we could learn to appreciate every aspect of food, not just the taste but also the ethics behind it all.
aflores1bfoodie 
