Post 3: "Real" vs "Fake" Jam

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Response to: "Oatmeal: Then and Now"

In George Petire's blog about oatmeal, he discussed the differences between "real" oatmeal and the new "instant" packs that Quaker Oats now distributes. The original oats version's ingredients list is short: "100% NATURAL WHOLE GRAIN QUAKER QUALITY ROLLED OATS." The new instant packets, Petrie says, have a list that is much longer, touting almost twenty ingredients. While the instant version does have "a significant amount of essential vitamins and minerals," Petrie says, these vitamins and minerals are not naturally found in the food itself, but is sprayed on to the food. Most of these vitamins and minerals evaporate with the water when they are cooked, however, which means the cooked version of instant oatmeal actually contains less than half the nutritional value that's claimed on the nutritional facts.

While it seems that it's obvious to Petrie that the original rolled oats are much better than the new "instant" version (both in taste and nutrition content), he claims that he'll probably bite the bullet and keep on eating the instant version due to a lack of resources in the college dorms for cooking the original oats.

While I understand the problems often arise with trying to eat healthily while living in the dorms, I think I'd like to challenge him, on his statement that he can't cook the rolled oats in the in his dorms. I don't currently own a microwave (that's a story for another post), I have cooked old-fashioned oats in a microwave in the past. Although it takes a little longer, "Old Fashioned" oats can be cooked in the microwave, cooking the oats with milk, adding a few chopped nuts and dried fruit to the cooked product would "up" the nutritional value of the old-fashioned oats even more over the instant variety. Although it's sometimes more challenging to eat well in the dorms, it's not as impossible as it might seem.

*Photo taken from iowaavenue.ning.com

Demo Speech Self-Eval

For my demonstration, I decided to teach the class how to properly sew on a button. This topic is relevant to college students on a tight budget who might not be able to replace an item of clothing simply because a button has fallen off. Also, it's important to know how to sew a button on properly so that it stays on, and one doesn't have to keep replacing the same button.

The demonstration included sewing materials for each class member, and my speech included 5 steps: set, sew, swirl, stop and snip. As I talked through these steps, I used a large, make-shift button, needle, thread and fabric that were made out of (in order): the top of a coffee can, a crochet needle, yarn and a piece of cardboard. They seemed to work pretty well, but I wish that I'd been able to figure out another option because they were a little but cumbersome for me to work with, and I had to skip ahead a little (not sewing each side of the button on more than once) because I couldn't work quickly with the materials I had.

Although this topic isn't super thrilling, I felt that I delivered it with a fair amount of enthusiasm. I spoke in a loud and clear voice and I tried to use a lot of different level to keep things interesting rather than speaking in monotone. I had good eye contact with my peers, but as I mentioned before, the cumbersomeness of my visual aid made my body language a little awkward at times.

The main problem that I saw with my speech is that I didn't repeat the 5 steps again at the end of my speech. I think that had I remembered to have this in my conclusion, it would have helped those watching to remember them in the future.

* photo taken from ChrisGlass.com

Response to: "Finally, a positive role model for young women."

I agree that girls need strong role models to look up to, but I’m not completely sold on Serena William’s recent Nike advertisement being a totally positive format. First of all, I find the tagline for the ad to be fairly offensive. The advertisement reads “Are you looking at my titles?” Serena’s title, of course, is worn across her chest. Suddenly, “title” reads more like “titties.” While these ads are supposedly a response to Don Imus' sexits and racist comments toward the Rutger's basketball team, I'm not sure what the message is. Are we fighting fire with fire? The sexualization of William in this ad is frustrating to me. Can we just appreciate Williams for her amazing athletic prowess and leave her breasts out of the equation?

I think that it’s selling women short to say that they are incapable of performing at the same level as men in sport. Keeping on the tennis theme, the famous “Battle of the Sexes” match between tennis player Billie Jean King and Bobbie Riggs comes to mind. A woman also holds the world record for ski jumping, even though women were still not allowed to compete in this event in the 2010 winter Olympics.

While I love to see more athletic bodies embraced by advertising media, and while I prefer the strong, empowered woman to the starved, sulking images so often seen in high-fashion advertisement, I caution that replacing one ideal for another isn’t necessarily a good thing. Women come in all shapes and sizes and we should celebrate any body that is a healthy one. I hope that we can come to a place where we can get away from the sexualization of women in the media and appreciate women of all shapes and sizes just as they are.

**photo from: usa today

Post 4: Eat like an Olympian??

If you watched the 2010 Winter Olympics for more than a couple of minutes over the last couple of weeks, you’d have a hard time missing this McDonald’s commercial advertising their new sweet chili sauce made to use with chicken McNuggets. This sauce, says the commercial is the “very same sauce enjoyed at the Olympic Village.” Now that this product is available, says the commercial, “You don’t have to be an Olympic athlete to eat like one.” Wait. What? Are they really suggesting that these world-class, Olympic athletes chow down on Chicken McNuggets to fuel them during their grueling training and fierce competitions?

McDonald’s needs any kind of hint for a healthy lifestyle to be linked with their company. They try to accomplish this in the above commercial by suggesting that McDonald’s food is something an Olympian eats and also by mentioning that the McNuggets are make with 100% white meat.

NPR blogger Monika Evstatieva finds this commercial to be upsetting as well. She points out that a couple of days before the Olympic games began, contestants from the show “The Biggest Loser” visited the Olympic Training Center in Colorado. Not surprisingly, there was no fast food to be found at the center. Is it hypocritical that McDonald’s should sponsor the Olympics? Maybe.

While I agree with Evstatieva, I understand why athletes may participate in these kinds of misleading commercials. Many athletes, especially ones who participate in lesser-known sports, rely on these kinds of endorsements to bring in money to support their training efforts. I appreciate that they have to make money some how, but I wish they were choosier in the messages they may be spreading – especially to young children. In the words of Evstatieva: of you want to eat like an Olympian, eat like one, train like one, and for heaven’s sake, skip McDonald’s!

** video from youtube.com