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After spending some time studying the culture and reading a few books about their diet, I have grown to admire the French's relationship with food and eating. There seems to be an appreciation for taste that outweighs (no pun intended) the stereotypical American desire to gorge - which can be quite evident when comparing portion sizes in the two countries.
It is imperative, though, that we consider more than just eating in this dichotomy, but too the difference in lifestyle. Americans have a reputation of being far busier than, per se, the French; thus, among other things, neglecting the need to be conscious of what we eat - not just in proportion, but also in content. Most nothing is eaten fresh in America - we consume a large amount of packaged products with a variety of contents that are foreign to our bodies and contain no nutritional value. But to be honest, I don't see Americans slowing down anytime soon. So what do we do?
After doing some research for my senior project, I came across this site where the author offers ways to fit the French diet into the American lifestyle.
Is this realistic or is this comparison just overrated?
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Online Story Analyzation - Class Assignment
After going to several sites searching for an internally written story – as opposed to stories channeled from such large news organizations as the Associated Press and Reuters, I finally stumbled across “Report: Rockets hit Israel after Gaza cease-fire deadline,” at cnn.com.
It was obvious that the organization has fashioned their website toward the online dabbler - in other words, the online news reader that skims the page only long enough to get the gist of the story and then, quickly jumps to the next page. I say this after noticing the “Story Highlights” box at the top of the article, which gives the reader a few important points that ultimately sum up the story.
I will say though, immediately after my delight for the fickle reader, I was unimpressed with the way the lead was worded.
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Palestinian militants in Gaza fired two rockets into Israel Sunday, according to Israeli Army Radio, hours after a total cease-fire in Gaza was agreed upon by the Israeli government and Palestinian factions.
In my opinion, it was very vague and somewhat misleading. For example, the phrase “Palestinian factions,” though I know which factions they are speaking of – Hamas and Fatah, I think the writer, Elaine Quijano, should not assume that this is common knowledge. I deem it misleading by the way Quijano groups the party’s involved. It makes it seem that the truce lies between Fatah and Hamas, as one entity working toward the same goal, and the Israeli government, when in fact, Fatah and Hamas are arch-rivals participating in two months of internal Palestinian bloodshed.
As I continued reading, I notice that the paragraphs are quite short and to the point, an essential part of online news writing. Also sticking true online journalistic guidelines is the link to a video interview from Miri Eisin, a government spokeswoman for Israel.
As far as objectivity, as I have found with many American reports on Palestine and Israel, biasness toward Israel resonates, whether it be through tone, selection of words, or sources included.
Over all, I think the piece covers the fundamentals of the story and also maintains the statutes of most online journalism guidelines.also maintains the statutes of most online journalism guidelines.
It was obvious that the organization has fashioned their website toward the online dabbler - in other words, the online news reader that skims the page only long enough to get the gist of the story and then, quickly jumps to the next page. I say this after noticing the “Story Highlights” box at the top of the article, which gives the reader a few important points that ultimately sum up the story.
I will say though, immediately after my delight for the fickle reader, I was unimpressed with the way the lead was worded.
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Palestinian militants in Gaza fired two rockets into Israel Sunday, according to Israeli Army Radio, hours after a total cease-fire in Gaza was agreed upon by the Israeli government and Palestinian factions.
In my opinion, it was very vague and somewhat misleading. For example, the phrase “Palestinian factions,” though I know which factions they are speaking of – Hamas and Fatah, I think the writer, Elaine Quijano, should not assume that this is common knowledge. I deem it misleading by the way Quijano groups the party’s involved. It makes it seem that the truce lies between Fatah and Hamas, as one entity working toward the same goal, and the Israeli government, when in fact, Fatah and Hamas are arch-rivals participating in two months of internal Palestinian bloodshed.
As I continued reading, I notice that the paragraphs are quite short and to the point, an essential part of online news writing. Also sticking true online journalistic guidelines is the link to a video interview from Miri Eisin, a government spokeswoman for Israel.
As far as objectivity, as I have found with many American reports on Palestine and Israel, biasness toward Israel resonates, whether it be through tone, selection of words, or sources included.
Over all, I think the piece covers the fundamentals of the story and also maintains the statutes of most online journalism guidelines.also maintains the statutes of most online journalism guidelines.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
What IS this??
So, if you are randomly perusing the internet and come across this blog, you are probably very confused as to why there are random stories that have nearly nothing to do with weight. Well, let me clear this up for you...
I originally created this website as an assignment for my Online Journalism course. Our professor asked us to find an interest and run with it. Well, I decided to incorporate a topic that I have been interested in for quite some time...and coincidentally enough, am working on a feature story for my senior project - Weight and Food in America.
I am looking to this blog to not only extend the parameters of my research - through your thoughts and opinions as well as my search to provide relevant information to you, but to also create an awareness and potentially begin a re-structuring of the American psyche concerning food and weight.
I would like to incorporate various biological, social, and even international factors that affect our diets. And while, I am looking to approach this in a way that the media and doctors have yet to do, I will also take the traditional turn and include certain alternatives to lead a healthy lifestyle.
I originally created this website as an assignment for my Online Journalism course. Our professor asked us to find an interest and run with it. Well, I decided to incorporate a topic that I have been interested in for quite some time...and coincidentally enough, am working on a feature story for my senior project - Weight and Food in America.
I am looking to this blog to not only extend the parameters of my research - through your thoughts and opinions as well as my search to provide relevant information to you, but to also create an awareness and potentially begin a re-structuring of the American psyche concerning food and weight.
I would like to incorporate various biological, social, and even international factors that affect our diets. And while, I am looking to approach this in a way that the media and doctors have yet to do, I will also take the traditional turn and include certain alternatives to lead a healthy lifestyle.
Concrete Angel
The product of a broken home and shattered dreams, 22-year-old Amy Lester remains as vibrant and good-humored as she did when we were kids.
Amy and I are first-cousins on my father’s side of the family. Being that we are so close in age – only 14 months apart – we were partners in crime from the day we were both able to talk. We always found ourselves in mischievous situations – putting dish liquid on the kitchen floor and spraying it with water for a homemade slip-and-slide, digging into her mom’s make-up bag in attempts to grow up a little faster, sharing a pair of roller skates, I with one and her with the other, to glide our way to the corner store almost every afternoon.
Two peas in a pod, mono y mono, cronies…best friends. Amy and I were unstoppable, or so it seemed.
It was 1996 and I had just started the sixth grade. I felt as if things could not get much better. I was meeting new people, gaining a sense of independence, and enjoying every second of it. So consumed with my new lifestyle, I began finding less and less time to spend with Amy. Little did I know, this was a point when Amy needed me the most.
Feeling somewhat lost in a world that had not always been kind, Amy struggled to find her place. As she searched, she eventually found herself walking down a path of drugs and alcohol.
“I was not very confident at that time in my life, so I was very easily influenced. I mostly wanted to fit in. I wanted to belong to something,” Amy said.
This was only the beginning of a long road to recovery. Amy found herself becoming dependent on the affects of drugs and alcohol. She developed so much of a dependency that she found herself resorting to stealing from friends and family members to fulfill her need.
“I didn’t know what I was doing. The only thing that mattered at that point was getting high. I had lost all inhibition,” she said.
Amy eventually suffered the consequences of her actions when a friend’s mother that she had stolen from decided to press charges. Amy was arrested and spent nearly four months in jail.
This though, was the wake up call she needed.
This March will mark the two year anniversary since Amy was arrested and she has since cleaned up her act – literally.
Amy has been sober since the day she was arrested and now helps her mother with her cleaning business.
“I’m so excited. I have saved enough money to buy a car of my own. That’s a huge accomplishment for me,” she said.
Despite the mistakes made and past opportunities ruined, Amy remains hopeful and feels very lucky to be alive. And though we may never go back to being the best friends we once were, there still exists a sense of nostalgia in each of our hearts when we look back to the days when the trouble we made was just for fun.
Amy and I are first-cousins on my father’s side of the family. Being that we are so close in age – only 14 months apart – we were partners in crime from the day we were both able to talk. We always found ourselves in mischievous situations – putting dish liquid on the kitchen floor and spraying it with water for a homemade slip-and-slide, digging into her mom’s make-up bag in attempts to grow up a little faster, sharing a pair of roller skates, I with one and her with the other, to glide our way to the corner store almost every afternoon.
Two peas in a pod, mono y mono, cronies…best friends. Amy and I were unstoppable, or so it seemed.
It was 1996 and I had just started the sixth grade. I felt as if things could not get much better. I was meeting new people, gaining a sense of independence, and enjoying every second of it. So consumed with my new lifestyle, I began finding less and less time to spend with Amy. Little did I know, this was a point when Amy needed me the most.
Feeling somewhat lost in a world that had not always been kind, Amy struggled to find her place. As she searched, she eventually found herself walking down a path of drugs and alcohol.
“I was not very confident at that time in my life, so I was very easily influenced. I mostly wanted to fit in. I wanted to belong to something,” Amy said.
This was only the beginning of a long road to recovery. Amy found herself becoming dependent on the affects of drugs and alcohol. She developed so much of a dependency that she found herself resorting to stealing from friends and family members to fulfill her need.
“I didn’t know what I was doing. The only thing that mattered at that point was getting high. I had lost all inhibition,” she said.
Amy eventually suffered the consequences of her actions when a friend’s mother that she had stolen from decided to press charges. Amy was arrested and spent nearly four months in jail.
This though, was the wake up call she needed.
This March will mark the two year anniversary since Amy was arrested and she has since cleaned up her act – literally.
Amy has been sober since the day she was arrested and now helps her mother with her cleaning business.
“I’m so excited. I have saved enough money to buy a car of my own. That’s a huge accomplishment for me,” she said.
Despite the mistakes made and past opportunities ruined, Amy remains hopeful and feels very lucky to be alive. And though we may never go back to being the best friends we once were, there still exists a sense of nostalgia in each of our hearts when we look back to the days when the trouble we made was just for fun.
Monday, January 22, 2007
The Governor 2002
Though nearly five years old, its condition remains the same as it did on graduation day – shiny on the outside and filled with years of memories on the inside, The Governor 2002 its cover read. It was the last yearbook I would ever buy from Goochland High School.
I made sure that every person meaning anything to me during high school had signed it, but there was just one signature missing. I searched over the sea of white and red caps and gowns to find the one person who was yet to autograph my yearbook.
Pen in hand and book securely tucked under my arm, I ran the moment I saw Jenny Harvell. I quickly handed her the book and waited anxiously for her to finish writing.
Suddenly, I felt a tug at my arm and realized it was my mother pointing in the direction of my family who had come to congratulate me.
Though Jenny had not yet finished, we were sure that we would be seeing a lot of each other that summer, so I left my book with her and followed the lead of my mother.
Unfortunately, that was the last I saw of my yearbook and one of the last times since graduation I saw Jenny.
Jenny was one of my best friends since fifth grade at Goochland Elementary School. We were both known as the athletic girls of our grade. We were always the first to finish the mile during physical fitness tests, we were the stars of the kick ball court, and we were the best infielders on the softball field our side of the James River. So, it is not very hard to see why we became such great friends.
We remained close throughout middle school and became even closer in high school after a tragic accident took the lives of my brother and boyfriend. It was a tragedy that hit her nearly as hard as it did me and, as a result, we were able to find comfort in one another. This comfort created a bond we were sure would stand to test time. I guess we were wrong.
In fact, it was not until I received an IM from an unfamiliar screen name nearly a month ago that Jenny and I reacquainted ourselves with one another.
A box popped up on my screen that read: “Hey Erica, it’s Jenny. I was at my mom’s house the other night and I found your yearbook in my closet. I am sure you’d like it back, so just give me a call.”
Pleasantly surprised, I replied immediately to what became an hour’s worth of talk about our ever-changing lives.
Jenny is now working at an office in Richmond, Virginia as a secretary. After two years of college, Jenny realized that school, at least at that time, was just not right for her. She enjoys her current job though and feels it was a good career move.
She is dating Ryan Haskell, also a graduate of Goochland High School, and says
they have been together for three years.
When I asked if she thought he was ‘the one,’ she said, “We haven’t really talked about that. We know we love each other, but right now we have a lot of things we want to accomplish before that point.”
Though she is happy with her life, she also said that, by nature of our hometown, her life is pretty uneventful. She spends her free time at the gym and occasionally goes out with her friends.
“Other than that, Ryan and I hang out at home and relax,” she said.
As we continued to talk, I realized our lives could not be much more different. I go to school five hours from home and live a pretty vicarious lifestyle with not much room for routine, where as she is settled with a job and a home.
In just five years, one of my closest childhood friends became a face from the past. Jenny and I were always so much alike, but it seems now that the only thing linking us together, other than a few dying memories, is my yearbook that Jenny never finished signing.
I made sure that every person meaning anything to me during high school had signed it, but there was just one signature missing. I searched over the sea of white and red caps and gowns to find the one person who was yet to autograph my yearbook.
Pen in hand and book securely tucked under my arm, I ran the moment I saw Jenny Harvell. I quickly handed her the book and waited anxiously for her to finish writing.
Suddenly, I felt a tug at my arm and realized it was my mother pointing in the direction of my family who had come to congratulate me.
Though Jenny had not yet finished, we were sure that we would be seeing a lot of each other that summer, so I left my book with her and followed the lead of my mother.
Unfortunately, that was the last I saw of my yearbook and one of the last times since graduation I saw Jenny.
Jenny was one of my best friends since fifth grade at Goochland Elementary School. We were both known as the athletic girls of our grade. We were always the first to finish the mile during physical fitness tests, we were the stars of the kick ball court, and we were the best infielders on the softball field our side of the James River. So, it is not very hard to see why we became such great friends.
We remained close throughout middle school and became even closer in high school after a tragic accident took the lives of my brother and boyfriend. It was a tragedy that hit her nearly as hard as it did me and, as a result, we were able to find comfort in one another. This comfort created a bond we were sure would stand to test time. I guess we were wrong.
In fact, it was not until I received an IM from an unfamiliar screen name nearly a month ago that Jenny and I reacquainted ourselves with one another.
A box popped up on my screen that read: “Hey Erica, it’s Jenny. I was at my mom’s house the other night and I found your yearbook in my closet. I am sure you’d like it back, so just give me a call.”
Pleasantly surprised, I replied immediately to what became an hour’s worth of talk about our ever-changing lives.
Jenny is now working at an office in Richmond, Virginia as a secretary. After two years of college, Jenny realized that school, at least at that time, was just not right for her. She enjoys her current job though and feels it was a good career move.
She is dating Ryan Haskell, also a graduate of Goochland High School, and says
they have been together for three years.
When I asked if she thought he was ‘the one,’ she said, “We haven’t really talked about that. We know we love each other, but right now we have a lot of things we want to accomplish before that point.”
Though she is happy with her life, she also said that, by nature of our hometown, her life is pretty uneventful. She spends her free time at the gym and occasionally goes out with her friends.
“Other than that, Ryan and I hang out at home and relax,” she said.
As we continued to talk, I realized our lives could not be much more different. I go to school five hours from home and live a pretty vicarious lifestyle with not much room for routine, where as she is settled with a job and a home.
In just five years, one of my closest childhood friends became a face from the past. Jenny and I were always so much alike, but it seems now that the only thing linking us together, other than a few dying memories, is my yearbook that Jenny never finished signing.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
I'm new at this...
Disclaimer:
I will be the first to admit that this is as much of a learning experience for me as it may be for you. Not only am I just a college kid with not much more than curiosity on the topic of obesity in a America, but I am also slightly behind when it comes to this thing they call "the Internet".
I will be the first to admit that this is as much of a learning experience for me as it may be for you. Not only am I just a college kid with not much more than curiosity on the topic of obesity in a America, but I am also slightly behind when it comes to this thing they call "the Internet".
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