Food Journal

Tuesday night, I ate rice, fish, pork, cauliflower, and crab. As usual, my mom did the cooking and I must add that she does the grocery shopping by herself. I got to the table late so I ate with my mom only. My mom was pretty unhappy about my getting to the table late but I think she would have been lonely if she ate alone. Dinner took about an hour an a half. Being Chinese, I believe that my mom trained us to use chopsticks. My mom and I ate with the TV on but we did not really pay attention to it; it was on so the silence would not make us feel awkward. At the dinner table, my mom continued the conversation about majoring in accounting. Before arriving at the dinner table, I was starving but the conversation made me want to get out of there. After eating, I tried to make myself feel better from making my younger sister wash the dishes by clearing the table for her.

Wednesday morning, I ate a pork bun and drank hot milk tea that my mom went out and bought at the bakery. This time, I was eating while I was standing up; I think one reason is because my mom did not start eating yet so there was no one else at the table. Breakfast took about ten minutes while watching NY1. My mom brought up a conversation and asked me why I was going to school so late today. I was pretty hungry when I woke up yesterday morning and I felt kinda anxious while eating breakfast because it was weird for me to go to school at 9:30. After finishing my pork bun, I took my milk tea and went out the door.

I skipped lunch on Wednesday. I guess one reason is because I am not used to the food around 23rd; it is different from the types of food in Chinatown. Another reason is that I feel bad spending money on lunch when I am being offered free lunch in school.

Food Cultures

My mom does all the cooking (unless my uncle comes to visit) and she cooks for about an hour everyday. The food my mom cooks does not really have any taste; I think that is just how Fujianese people cook. While my mom cooks, she would tell the kids to eat first, even though she values family eating together. She is not really that strict about eating together; she would never make any one of us wait if everyone is not at the table. What she does is force us to eat during family dinners or on special occasions like celebrating a holiday. My mom would disapprove my eating near my laptop because she believes that dinner is when you spend time with your family. So after my mom cooks the food, she would sit down to start eating and the older kids would join her. While we eat, we leave the TV on so we are not just staring off into space and the silence does not fill the air.

I feel that I follow more of my family’s foodways rather than American foodways. One reason is that I am currently living under her roof so I have to go by her rules. The other reason is that I grew up with my family’s foodways so I sort of inherited my family’s foodways. But, I do believe that I, someday, will start to order out instead of cook like my mom does. I also feel that most Americans do not know how to cook; so they order out. This is better for the economic and the rich people because they can make money off of people who do not have the skills to cook. I also believe that those who constantly order takeout are more likely to develop health problems because they are eating unhealthy foods most of the time. So since many people do not know how to cook, others (including descendants who values eating at home, like me) are not pressured into learning how to cook.

From what people said in class, corporate Americans order takeout most of the time and they do not eat leftovers after two days.

How does one's income affect the quality of the food one eats?

People with a higher income are not only able to purchase a lot of food, but they can also purchase expensive food. Inversely, people with a lower income are not able to eat expensive food and receive all the nutrients from them. Foster thinks that people with lower income are just not able to afford the expensive food, even though they know what they are missing out on.

What is in my 'fridge? [Edits]

• hot dogs
• cheese
• milk
• juice
• peaches
• chicken
• fish
• Chinese cabbage (Bok Choy)
• rice
• eggs
• apples
• wasabi
• preserved bean curd
• pepper
• ginger
• barbecue sauce

I do not really give food much thought; I do not even know what I eat half the time. It was also my mom telling me to eat something and she would say it is good for you so I would eat it. She sounds kind of manipulative but I guess she is doing it for my good so it does not really matter. I do not really look for food (unless I am really hungry, then I would skim through my 'fridge) so my mom usually goes through the 'fridge. She would go through the 'fridge to prepare for dinner so the fruits in the 'fridge just sits there until it grows mold and someone throws them away. I do not think that my 'fridge is a typical American 'fridge; my 'fridge has a lot of things that my family do not really use. On the other hand, I think that typical American 'fridges are more empty; my 'fridge is always packed with things I have no idea where they come from.

Analysis of HMOs, Single-Payers, and Socialized Healthcare Systems

Canadians have a single-payer healthcare system (A. Snyder, History lecture, April 6, 2009). In a single-payer healthcare system, everyone is covered by the same plan, which pays the private providers. This lowers costs because there is no competition, due to only one plan paying the private providers. There are no healthcare insurance companies who deny patients because the healthcare insurance companies cannot pay the medical bills. Single-payer healthcare systems ensure healthcare for all citizens and citizens are not denied due to their health history. Canadians do not have to choose one healthcare insurance company over the other or be limited to which doctors they are allowed to see. From 1985 to the year 2002, single-payers increased the cost of healthcare by only $1680 while the HMOs in the United States increased the cost of healthcare by $3508 (SB 840 Single Payer Advantages for Employers). Although the number for Canada is lower than the number for the United States, the cost of healthcare in both countries is still increasing. Healthcare insurance companies oppose the single-payer system because it prevents them from making profit off of denying patients.

The United States has the HMOs who help lower costs and pays for the healthcare (A. Snyder, History lecture, April 6, 2009). The way the HMOs lower costs is by avoiding healthcare that cost more than it would be. For example, if someone needs to see an anesthesiologist, the HMOs would send that person to a physician who studies internal medicine. This would help the patient but it may not be enough help. Providers in this system feel that they do not get paid enough so they come up with strategies that will enable them to earn profit. As a consequence, approximately 28% of Americans under the age of 65 are uninsured in 2007 (Health Insurance Coverage). According to Michael Moore’s Sicko, 18,000 people die every year because they are unable to pay for insurance.

Healthcare in the United States is so horrible that the poorest people in England live longer than the wealthiest people in the United States. England has a socialized healthcare system where the healthcare is provided by the government, like how libraries and schools are provided by the government. This type of healthcare system, like single-payer in Canada, is universal; allowing everyone to receive treatment. Doctors in England work for the government and get paid more for healthier patients (Michael Moore). They keep track of the number of patients and their health status. On the other hand, employees of HMOs are paid based on how many people they have denied. Socialized healthcare give the people the power over their healthcare. In this case, the government is frightened by the people but in the United States, the people are afraid of the government. Even the poor people are defenseless against the rich people who bribe government officials into what the rich people want. As an English person stated in the movie, there are two techniques to control: frighten people and demoralize them.

There are pros and cons to the HMO, single-payer, and socialized healthcare systems. Both the HMOs and the single-payer system lower costs in their own ways but greed has motivated the HMOs to deny people for profit and causing over 45 million uninsured Americans. Single-payers and socialized healthcare systems provides healthcare for everyone so that even the poor people can get treated. Given these options, people hope that Americans will make the right choice that will lower healthcare costs and decrease mortality rates.

What is in my 'fridge?

• hot dogs
• cheese
• milk
• juice
• peaches
• chicken
• fish
• Chinese cabbage (Bok Choy)
• rice
• eggs
• apples
• wasabi
• preserved bean curd
• pepper
• ginger
• barbecue sauce
  

Healthcare

I have medicaid; it is for poor people and the people cannot be denied. This is somewhat like a safety net for poor people. I do not deal with the payments but I have not heard my sister complain about the bills. The things that the people in Sicko have to go through were catastrophic and cannot be compared to people with medicaid. People have died because of denials from their private insurance companies.

[Edit] 4/15
My sister is being accused by medicaid of fraud >_<
She kept avoiding the topic so I could not find further information

Chair Activities

The first time we played musical chairs, people were losing because there was not enough chairs for everyone. There was always one less chair than the number of people that were playing the game. Unlike the game, I think that there is enough wealth in the US but the rich people are just hogging up the wealth. The game also supports Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest; some people were able to stay in the game for a longer period of time because they elbowed and pushed people out of the way while others did not. This is similar to the social class system because the some of the rich people were born with money; allowing them to accumulate more wealth and expropriating from the poor. The second time we played musical chairs, it was unfair for the people who did not have a chair reserved for them so they had to fight for the limited chairs. Likewise, poor people have to live off of a limited resource, the government while the rich people have more than enough. The people who had chair reserved for them slowly walked to the seats, while the poor people fought for the free ones. This connects to how the rich people just sit back and collect the wealth while the poor have to compete against one another. Only a few people sat in chairs that were reserved for some people were kicked out by the "police". The others, like most people, have been trained to obey the authorities so they felt that they were not allowed to sit in the reserved chairs.

When we did the activity with the twenty chairs, I felt that if you looked at the top section (where the rich people are sprawled out), you wished that you could be just like them. Then, if you looked at the bottom section (where the poor people are crammed), you feel like the system is messed up. Because of the rich people, others think that they have a chance to be like the rich ones so no one starts a revolution. Wishing to be like the rich people and hating the system at the same time shows that people tend to have mixed feelings. I agree with Ali Jo, about the fact that it also follows the thesis and the antithesis concept; the thesis is the class system and the antithesis is the mixed feelings, all we have to do is wait for the higher synthesis.

Wealth & Poverty in the US

1. What will happen to the gap between the rich and the poor in the future?
As the income in the US increase, the income of the top 1 percent increase while the income of the bottom 90 percent decrease
2. Why are whites more wealthy than others?
One reason is that land was stolen and given to the whites so they can make money
3. What is the relationship between one's wealth and one's happiness?
More wealth does not necessarily mean the happier one becomes
4. What is happening to the gap between races?
The gap between races is also increasing
5. How many children in the world die each day from poverty?
25,000