My Connections With Food

Bill Schaff

Professor Leake

Writ 1133

March 31, 2013

Food and the Fire Department

Food for my family is much more than just food. It is a way for us all to get together when we normally don’t have time. It is a way for us the catch up on what is going on in each other’s lives. Mostly importantly, food serves as a way to feed my family. There are so many different types of foods that I associate with my family, weather it be Pop-tarts, my fathers fire alarm chicken, our my families steak sauce (Pop’s sauce). They all have very different meanings behind them but all of them associate to a specific experience with my family. Every time I see one of these foods the thought of my family making them appears in my head.

Starting off with Pop-tarts, this is not something I would think would have a connection with my family but ever since I was six there has been a specific event that always comes to mind. We were in Northport Michigan, where our lake house is, and it was just like any other morning. I had just got back from my day camp and was lying down on the sofa. Little did I know but my brother, who was 10 years old, was trying to cook his own Pop-tarts in the kitchen. I was only lying down for about 5 minutes when I smelled a scent of something burning. I could not figure out what it was and sure enough the fire alarm when off. Within 10 minutes there were two fire trucks outside responding to the fire alarm. After everything settled down I figured out that my brother had put a Pop-tart in the microwave for ten minutes and left the room. Then the fire department gave my brother, sister, and I a crash course in how to use the microwave so that this would not happen again. Now, every time I see or eat a Pop-tart I cannot help but think back to this event and laugh.

Next, my family has a secret steak sauce that we all love called Pop’s sauce. My grandfather, whom we called Pop, came up with this sauce but I’m convinced that the reason why it is secret is more because of how he made it rather than what is in it. My grandfather was always trying to invent new foods and sauces to call his own but many times he did not succeed and he did not succeed in an outstanding manner. When he was inventing this steak sauce, on the first try he actually managed to burn down his entire kitchen. Unfortunately for him this was not the only time he burned down the kitchen, it actually happened three times. Once was for the steak sauce, once was creating his own french fries, and once was developing his own stew recipe. Because of this, every time my father makes our family’s secret Pop’s sauce, my entire family thinks of how my grandfather burned down the kitchen developing it. The secret is more of how my grandfather made it rather than what is actually in it but never the less, we all love it because it tastes amazing and it brings back memories.

The last food that has a connection with me is my father’s fire alarm chicken. This chicken recipe got its name because of how it was made. Once again we were at my lake house in Northern Michigan and I was 14 years old. My father was making my family fried chicken but wanted to make it something special for us, which he definitely accomplished. The oven that my father was cooking the chicken in was brand new, my grandfather had just installed it earlier that week but apparently he forgot to connect the fan on the inside of the over. Without knowing this, my father put the chicken into the oven and let it cook. After about 15 minutes we checked on the chicken to see how it was coming along. Opening the oven door a plume of smoke poured out of the oven and set off the fire alarm that was directly above the oven. Every time we opened the oven, smoke poured out because the fan in the oven did not work. What I really remember from this was having to call the fire department every ten minutes and explain to them that we were cooking chicken and that the house was not on fire. Because of this the name fire alarm chicken stuck. Now, every time I eat or see chicken the thought of the fire alarm going off is all that comes into my mind. It reminds me of my family and how the chicken got its name.

For me, food is a way to connect with my family. Its not the food it self that I think of but rather how my family cooks the food. There are so many more ways that I can connect with food but when I think about it, Pop-tarts, Pop’s sauce, and fire alarm chicken are the main three that come to mind. The one thing that I have learned from my connections with food is that my family should not try to develop our own recipes. It seems like every time we do, in someway or another the fire department gets involved. All I know is that when I cooking for my family I’m going to stick to recipes that have already been made.  

Trends With College Students Meals

As I read through individuals blog posts about what their first meal of the day was one thing really stuck out at me: there truly is no way to have a satisfying meal at Sodexo. All of the blog posts were done on Monday which makes things worse because Sodexo is know for having meatless Mondays. Some of the only food that looks appetizing is the meet so on Mondays when that is gone there is really no way to have a good meal. Every post that I read that involved Sodexo had nothing good to say. It did not matter if it was breakfast, lunch, or dinner from the previous night. Everyone seemed to dread going down to eat in the dining halls. The other common trend with college students breakfast is that they never have a full meal. Because sleep is such a valuable thing in college, students will sleep as long as they can which means sacrificing a full breakfast. I believe that this is a common trend for all college students across the country. I have never heard of a food service that has great food and college students value sleep over food.

Connections Through Food

           In the reading for Ahn and Nicholson, both of the authors made connections with family and culture through food but both did it in a different way. For Ahn, his connection with food was more about a cultural sense where as Nicholson’s connection with food related mainly to his mother. Nicholson explains in his article how eating the kind of food that his mother did, he is honoring her memory. Nicholson notes, “Every once in a while I feel the need to replicate the kind of lunch she and I ate together many times.” It is a way for him to connect with his mother who has passed away. Ahn connected with food more as a way to connect with his Korean heritage. Ahn explains. “All I can say for sure is that something sublime happened in that mecca of Korean cuisine—the Rockies—where I rediscovered my native food heritage.” By cooking in a Korean style he was bale to connect with his Korean roots like his parents always wanted him to. Both Ahn and Nicholson connected with food as a way to connect with something that they had lost many years before.

            Reading these articles did remind me of a connection that I have with food. In Ahn’s article he talks about how his mother taught him how to cook and he still bases how he cooks on what his mother taught him, “I created dishes based on my recollections of watching her cook, imagining her in that café kitchen with me, telling me to add a few more red-pepper flakes or dial down the sesame oil.” This is very similar to me, I do not have a personal or cultural connection with food like Ahn and Nicholson did but rather my connection with food is through cooking. My father is an excellent cook and would always teach me tricks for cooking when I was young. To this day I find myself unknowingly using his advice in all of the things that I cook. My connection with food is more on a family level.

My First Meal Today

The most recent meal that I have had was breakfast this morning. Everyday is exciting in the Sodexo dining hall because it is always a scavenge for real food. Most days, only a few options from Sodexo actually look eatable so there are rarely many options to pick from. Luckily, breakfast is very hard to mess up so every morning I start with scrambled eggs, hash browns, and cereal. I had this very average meal at the Halls dining hall at the University of Denver. To get to the dining hall for me is no hard task because I live 3 floors above it. It’s only a short walk down the stairs for me to get food. I went down to eat alone but ended up seeing some friends down there so I ate with them. There were three of us and we all live on the same floor in Halls. As far as the meal went, it was extremely… below average. Sodexo is not what I would call a five star dining experience. In fact on most days it would qualify as a half a star experience for me. At best the food is eatable but most days I have to order in because I cannot figure out what the food is. I would have to say that it was a remarkably average breakfast. 

What I have learned

What I learned about writings in the news is basically how different they all all and how they change but every news article, story, and blog are all trying to convey their message in a manner to connect with the reader. The whole purpose of all of these are to inform people but most importantly stay in business. To do this the stories must be excited and gripping and this is what I noticed all news outlets were trying to accomplish. Over the quarter I developed a habit to read the news at least once a week. I really enjoyed reading the news every week in class. This is definitely one of my favorite parts of the class. I really like to read the news weekly now because it is very nice to know what is happening in the country and world. I would really like to try to read the news more often but so far I have not been able to motivate myself to do so. The biggest change in my writing is I am much more aware of using tenses. Before this class I would use both in my papers but I have learned how to edit it into only one tense. Applying this class to the future will be very easy for me. I feel like my writing has progressed which will definitely stay with me. Also is reading the news, without this class I would still not be reading the news ever.

Extended Essay 2

Bill Schaff

Professor Leake

Writ 1120

3/9/13

Is Torture Accepted?

             December 14, 2012. Andrew Sullivan posted the first article about the torture scene in the movie “Zero Dark Thirty”. The story starts with Sullivan talking about how the scene provides proof that torture was actually used to find Osama Bin Laden. In Sullivan’s article, he talks about how the government uses the term “enhanced interrogation” and up until this point, we had no idea what that meant. Sullivan explains that this movie actually proves to us that torture was used and this occasion was an exception to the law against torture. In the early stages of this story, there is actually no controversy over the torture scene itself. The story starts out with Sullivan trying to explain that torture was used to find Bin Laden contrary to what the government previously revealed. The second thing that Sullivan explains is how in trying to capture Bin Laden, we actually became like him. Not in the sense of mass killings but rather through the methods used to find and kill Bin Laden. Sullivan explains how our government during the time of Bush/Cheney was terribly run. Sullivan notes, “And the truth is that this country was run by war criminals who have yet to be brought to justice in the way their underlings have been,” (Sullivan). He is not upset over the scene in the movie but rather the reality of what our government did. This story started as a way to relate the movie to real life. People reading this article would be convinced that torture was actually used. As much as people already thought that torture was used, reading this article would prove to them that it actually was. Also, the story started out as a way to accuse government officials of what they did. Before this movie was released, there was no proof that torture was used but an individual reading this article would now understand what our government actually did.

            February 4, 2013. Fordham University made the next change in this story. This article was posted in the Fordham University’s school newspaper and was written by a student named Patrick Verel. The story is now taking a turn to the controversy over the actual torture scene in the movie. This article is talking about how the movie is misleading. In the opening scene of the movie, the first screen is one that says, “This film is based on first hand accounts”, and then goes into the torture scene (Verel). A man named Ali Soufan, who was a FBI special agent, talks about how torture was never actually used in finding Bin Laden. This story is now taking a turn from accusing people for what happened to expert’s opinions on the topic. People are now more concerned whether or not the torture actually happened rather than what is shown in a movie. This change in focus happens for a couple reasons but the main one is the source that published the article. Instead of being published on a blog where it is fill with personal opinions, this article is posted on a school website where a persons title matter. The author wants opinions from people who are actually knowledgeable in the field instead of a blogger with no background in torture. The story is now turning into how people disapprove of the torture scene.

            February 7, 2013. Reuters.com takes this story to its next stage, a fact based article. The author Hermon Schwartz talks about in his article how there was actually no torture in real life. Schwartz explains, “The Senate Intelligence Committee has completed a 6,000-page report, based on a three-year investigation and 6 million pages of CIA records, that flatly declares that “enhanced interrogation techniques” played no role in the bin Laden killing and are of no value,” (Schwartz). The facts that are being published proclaim that torture was actually never even used in finding Bin Laden. Now in the progression of this story, people are interested in the facts. Before now, there were no facts found about the torture scene so people could only rely on personal accounts. Now that facts are coming out, individuals are much more concerned with that facts of the event because they are more reliable. A person reading this article would believe what it is saying more than previous articles because of the facts provided.

            Another thing that Schwartz brings up in his article is the history of torture in shows. Schwartz talks about how the TV show “24” made individuals actually think torture is a good thing. The show portrays torture as a positive and reliable way to get information but this is wrong. Torture is brutal, nasty, and provides as much false information as it does true information (Schwartz). This is one reason why the controversy started in the first place. When people saw the movie, they went into with a perceived image of what torture is and when they saw how “Zero Dark Thirty” portrayed it; it clashed with what they originally thought. People are now looking for facts to come out of this story to prove what they originally thought or to disprove it.

            February 19, 2013. The Los Angeles Times posted an article on this story but with a completely different view on the topic. Now the focus has changed from the torture scene controversy to how the movie will be affected at the up coming Oscars. When the movie was being reviewed, it was rated incredibly high. Reviewers actually said, “Zero Dark Thirty will win best picture” (Zeitchik). They had no doubt that this movie would win best picture but also numerous other awards. After it opened in theaters and people started questioning the torture scene, that all changed. “The film's road to awards-season glory then took one of the sharpest turns in recent Oscar memory. Its wild ride offers a telling portrait of the 21st-century news cycle and how it can play havoc with a studio's carefully laid campaign,” (Zeitchik). The author of this article explains how all of the criticism that the movie received killed its chances of winning an Oscar award. This story has now jumped from a demand for opinions and facts to how it relates with current events. A person reading this article would actually be playing into what it is saying. Most people had not thought of how this movie would do at the Oscars but now that they have read this article, they will not vote for it to win an award. This is a perfect example of how a news story can influence people’s opinions. The story is now turning into how it relates to current events.

            February 26, 2013. The story yet again takes another turn in what people are writing about it. On Real Clear Politics, Debra Saunders explains how it’s interesting that the torture scene brings up controversy but not the actual killing of Bin Laden. She finds it very interesting that people didn’t comment about the killing in the movie. Both the torture scene and the actual killing of Bin Laden are dealing with some of the most wanted people in this country and most people would agree that we needed to do something about them. When something was actually done to find Bin Laden, people got upset about it but did not even think twice about killing a man. This change was prompted by the fact that the Oscars were now over. People are now interested in the morals of the movie. Instead of just analyzing one scene, individuals are now picking apart the entire movie. A person who would read this article would now question more than just the torture scene. Because the initial hype of the scene is gone, people are stepping back to check the morality of the entire movie.

            February 27, 2013. The Atlantic published an article that would finally lay this story to rest. Joshua Phillip talks about how this movie will be remembered. Phillip explains when people bring up “Zero Dark Thirty” in the future, the first thing that will come into their mind is the torture scene, people are going to focus solely on this one scene rather than the entire movie. While yes the movie is about the killing of Bin Laden, that is not what the press covered so that is not what people will remember about it. The article has now taken its final turn to how it will be remembered. Again, a person reading this article would actually help what the article is saying. By reading this article and seeing what they predict it will be remembered by will actually make the reader remember the movie by that.

            The movie “Zero Dark Thirty” was reviewed to be the best movie of the year but this was not the case when it opened to the public. Public outrage about a scene in the movie, the torture scene, crippled the movies chances of winning an award at the Oscars and that is what it is going to be remembered by. This all has to do with the way the story traveled through the press. In just a couple of months, this story made a rollercoaster ride on what people were writing about it. Starting with Sullivan on December 14 talking about how this movie proves what the term “enhanced interrogation” really means. Then on February 4, Fordham University gets an X-FBI agent to talk about what he thought about it and how he claims that no torture was used. Next, on February 7, Schwartz finds facts to back up what he is saying rather than just what people thought about it. On February 19, the article takes a huge turn to how it will do at the up coming Oscars. People are not interested anymore on the scene itself but rather how it will affect the awards it will receive. Then on February 26, Saunders looks at the movie as a whole and questions why only the torture scene is in question and not the entire movie. Lastly, on February 27, the story is coming to an end when Philip talks about what it will be remembered by. As stories pass through time and the press, everything changes and there is no way to know what will happen next with stories. Current events and new facts will always keep articles changing through the press.

Works Cited

Phillip, Joshua E. The Atlantic. 27 Feb. 2013. Web. 1 Mar. 2013. <http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/02/the-real-legacy-of-zero-dark-thirty-will-be-in-interrogation-rooms/273576/>.

Saunders, Debra. Real Clear Politics. 26 Feb. 2013. Web. 1 Mar. 2013. <http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/02/26/in_denial_over_zero_dark_thirty_117164.html>.

Schwartz, Herman. Reuters. 7 Feb. 2013. Web. 1 Mar. 2013. <http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2013/02/07/brennan-zero-dark-thirty-and-the-torture-firestorm/>.

Sullivan, Andrew. The Dish. 14 Dec. 2012. Web. 1 Mar. 2013. <http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2012/12/14/the-torture-narrative/>.

Verel, Patrick. Fordham University. 4 Feb. 2013. Web. 1 Mar. 2013. <http://www.fordham.edu/campus_resources/enewsroom/inside_fordham/february_4_2013/news/two_thumbs_down_for__90176.asp>.

Zeitchik, Steven, and Nicole Sperling. Los Angeles Times. 19 Feb. 2013. Web. 1 Mar. 2013. <http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-zero-dark-oscar-20130219,0,2300597.story>.