blog conculsion

When this class started I thought that it would, well pretty much what it ended up being like. I enjoyed it because I was able to then relay the things I learned to both my mother and sister who work in restaurants. It was cool to talk about an issue in class then ask either my sister or mom about that issue and get their opinion on it. At first, I didn’t like the idea of writing a blog. Basically I thought it would be really boring. It turns out that I kind of liked blogging. I think it partially has to do with my group members. They made it more interesting because they had some very strong opinions and interesting comments to make. The only thing that got me a few times was blogging on time. Sometimes I have a lot going on and I just forgot to blog. One blog that I found while reading articles online was the blog on QSR magazines website. http://www.qsrmagazine.com/blog/ This blog talks about different issues in quick service and includes links to other websites relating to what they are talking about. The website has tons of information as well.

Blog Conclusion

When we began to blog in this class I thought that it might be boring and silly, but it actually ended up to be really interesting. I have never blogged before, so this was good experience for me. I also liked how it allowed our group to talk about other issues not necessarily concentrating on the project and get to know each other better. It was definitely fun finding out about Will's and Christie's opinions, as well as sharing mine and reading responses.
I learned how to use a blog and that it can be fun and easy to do. There are more educated and scholarly-oriented people with blogs than I thought there would be. For my portion of the presentation about the food service industry in nursing homes, one of my sources was a reputable food-writer's blog. I didn't realize before this that blogs could also be used for educational and not solely personal information. I feel like this knowledge will be extremely useful in my future career. A good way to find out insider information about businesses and notable people in the food service industry is to follow them on social networking sites like blogs.
Overall I began this experience thinking it was going to be a drag, but ended up having a lot of fun. It was a good way to break the ice with group members and learn more about their views. It also helped that we had to research an article every week. I ended up using a lot of the information I got from the articles in my project. A blog that I would like to begin to follow is Carolyn Jung's. I found her blog while researching for the project and she seems like a very interesting and educated woman. She is an award-winning food and wine writer based in Silicon Valley, California, and she has won many awards for her writing. She seems to keep the blog very up to date, posting entries about twice a week usually. She also has fantastic pictures to go with most of her posts(like the one on this post if it works.) She seems to be very knowledgeable, and I feel like it would be very beneficial to keep up with her blog.

LINK: http://www.foodgal.com/

Final Blog

I’ve learned from this blogging experience that I have a lot of built up rage and that can be effectively channeled out of me into a blog posting. And this was about topics a barely cared about. I enjoyed finding information on a subject, interpreting in, finding a passion for it then unleashing some rage into it, while keeping it clean and respectful. I enjoyed the process, and I enjoyed seeing what other people had to say about my opinion and I really liked to see a little debate happening.

I could use blogging in the future to establish voice in the market and an outlet for my rage at the social world around me, but other than that, it would be a good way to keep up on the trends, hear what the experts have to say and possibly get a word in myself. Here is the link to a blog posting I would follow in the future. It is a blog that has hundreds of recipes and offers some culinary in site from a family perspective, which is what a lot of establishments want, families to get out of the house and into their restaurants.

http://simplyrecipes.com/

California beef recall expanded

http://www.nrn.com/breakingNews.aspx?id=379548&menu_id=1368

What the hell is going on here? I think the discussion here is why is the company not following basic safety measures? How could they possibly think they would get away with this? Safety and sanitation is basic, I’ve seen restaurants cut corners and do some pretty shady stuff, and they suffer for it, if they realize it or not. But come on people, this is simple and when you do something that you know is wrong, it’s a conscious decision, there is no playing ignorant or blaming someone else. I’m glad the recall is being expanded and the company is losing money. If you aren’t going to produce your food safely then you don’t deserve to be in business, end of story. Yes I feel bad about the workers who might get hurt because of this, but they should have been vigilant and taken the initiative to be mindful of themselves and others. And if they were asked to do something they knew was wrong, then it’s time to start looking for a new job. Yes I know it’s not that simple, but we need to hold ourselves and others to a standard, and once we do, the world will be a better place for everyone. You have to draw the line when business and good ethics cross and set yourself on the side you know is best. And thank goodness that no one has been hurt yet. This all however is my opinion.

LINK: http://www.nrn.com/breakingNews.aspx?id=379188&utm_source=MagnetMail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=julie7booth@yahoo.com&utm_content=NRN-News-NRNam%20Weekly%20Wrap-02/12/10&utm_campaign=Feb.%2012,%202010%20%E2%80%93%20Weekly%20Wrap#

I found this article pretty interesting. Its similar to one we have already discussed but It explained some new points I found relevant. It says that many restaurants are beginning to introduce lower-calorie items and advertise special fast-food diets. It seems recently many different fast food establishments have jumped on the diet-plan bandwagon along with Subway. Subway has been advertising Jared and his weight loss for years, and companies are beginning to see this is attracting a lot of customers. Now Taco Bell has a drive-thru diet. A study conducted shows that these types of advertisements and special menu items are attracting an entirely different demographic. Now, those who usually avoid fast food (often perceived as junk food) now see that eating at fast food restaurants can be healthy. Not only have these restaurants been attracting a new demographic, but by introducing healthy items they have also gained more positive opinion of their companies. In this recession, it is becoming more difficult for people to eat healthy, since many times it is more expensive. Now, with this new trend of healthier fast food, people are seeing a more affordable way to get quick, healthy and higher quality food.

Real Fruit Smoothie

McDonald’s has introduced a new menu item, real fruit smoothies. When I read this article I was kind of excited because I love smoothies. I make smoothies at my house at least 5 times a week. I love it because it’s a get way to include different fruits into my diet, but in more of a dessert form. When I read this article I started wondering what’s actually in the smoothie, because I know the McDonalds crew won’t be specially blending my smoothie from scratch like other places do. So I googled McDonalds real fruit smoothies and was able to find the nutrition facts. I think the term real fruit smoothie is misleading because I would assume that everything in it would be good for you. When I read what is in it, the smoothie had maltodextrin, maltodextrin, and vegetable gum in it. I don’t know what these things are but I know when I make real fruit smoothies at home it actually has real fruit and no strange extras. Here is the link for the nutrition facts: http://calorielab.com/restaurants/mcdonalds-au/real-fruit-smoothie/3009/38243

this is the article link:
http://www.nrn.com/breakingNews.aspx?id=379352&menu_id=1368

A Federal Effort to Push Junk Food Out of Schools

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/08/health/nutrition/08junk.html?pagewanted=1&ref=dining

It’s about freak’in time. I agree with the federal Government on this one, which is a rare thing. I usually stay out of political discussions for the pure fact I never agree with what any of the major parties have to say, because they are all pompous, self-righteous egotistical greed mongers who are the legislative puppets of their corporate masters. But, I think the Obama administration is on a good role here. The fact that children are getting fatter is evident, the fact that most of them eat 1-2 meals a day at school is evident. Therefore the schools must be held responsible to a certain degree. Now the parents can be blamed, because usually the overweight kids go home to their overweight parents. Therefore the government and the schools have a chance here to be better models for the future generations of this country than the people who birthed them. Parents pay taxes to schools so they can educate their children, to become upstanding citizens. How can they be upstanding if they can barely get out of a chair? Get the junk out of the schools, children are weak willed, more so than their parents and putting these choices in front of them is basically serving them heart disease and diabetes down the road. We have classes telling the children to not do drugs, because they will potentially kill you later in life, why not do the same for high fat, sugary foods in excess, which will potentially kill you later in life. It only makes logical sense. Blame can be tossed around all it wants, but the fact remains, people are getting fatter, younger and it’s about time the people we pay and elect did something to overrule the complacency Americans have shown when it comes to their health. It may also stimulate the economy a bit as a side effect because of how much money they say it will cost. This however is just my opinion.