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.

Fad Diets

LINK: http://women.webmd.com/fad-diets

I was recently talking to a friend of mine who is one of those people that is perpetually trying to lose weight. She always likes to try the newest fad diet out there, but surprisingly enough, they never work. I looked up an article on fad diets and found out some interesting stuff about which kinds of diets to avoid and how they can affect you. The article said that diets that make you lose weight fast are not actually making you lose only fat; but water weight and muscle. Also, when you greatly restrict your diet and then gain the weight back, it is mostly just fat gained, not the muscle you may have lost. Fad diets are always in advertisements and trying to give people what they want in the typical American way: faster. It is alarming how many people will try a clearly unhealthy diet, and basically starve their bodies of essential nutrients, just to lose weight quickly. Another thing the article explained is that another reason fad diets don't work is that they may help you lose weight, but they don't teach how to eat better. Consequently, the majority of those on the diets gain the weight back, usually much faster than they lost it. It seems like every fad diet I have ever seen can fit into the guidelines to avoid in the article. People are always trying to find a quicker, easier way to lose weight for good, but in reality the only way to lose weight and keep it off is to make a lifestyle change.

Carbon Foodprint

Here's the Link- http://newsbusters.org/blogs/carolyn-plocher/2009/10/23/gma-worries-about-carbon-footprint-food

I found this week's article topic to be pretty interesting so I did a little more research and found an interesting article. People, as well as some businesses are beginning to become more aware of their affect on the environment. However, I think that businesses have a larger responsibility than people because of their size and the amount of resources they use. Luckily, from our discussion in class I learned that some restaurants are beginning to choose more recyclable products because they are concerned about how they are affecting the environment. In Sweden, along with a few other countries, have announced that they will begin to create a labeling process that will help consumers in making better choices concerning their carbon emission. The development of this plan is still in its early stages, most labels being made currently hold no comprehensible information for those without education in how to read and understand them. The example it gave in the article of a label looks wierd and un readable. I know that if I were to see that on a favorite food of mine, I would have no idea what to make of it or understand how it affects me. This is a big issue in the formulation of the plan to cut carbon footprints, and I'm not certain how they will fix it. I think that people need to be more informed about labels if governments are choosing to use them more frequently. I feel like it may not happen very soon, but that this will definitely affect us dramatically in the future.

IHOP partners up with Miss America

http://www.nrn.com/breakingNews.aspx?id=378916&menu_id=1368

Caution, this blog post contains several strong opinions of the blogger. IHOP has settled for doing more than what the beer industry has been doing for years. Not only are they using sex to sell, they are now doing what politicians use, hiding their greed behind children. Miss America, a woman who most likely hasn't seen the likes of a pancake even more so a breakfast sausage in eons is now teaming up with the International House of Fattening America, One Breakfast at a Time to save the lives of the children the house of pancakes helped to put into the hospital for their adult onset diabetes. I find this laughable. The goal of the Miss America name is to help with charities and I give their barely dignified ways credit for that. To be honest it all sounds like one big oxymoron. IHOP will be hosting a promotional deal with 170 children hospitals across the country and will give out 5 dollar coupons for a 5 dollar purchase of a charity balloon. So the IHOFAOBAAT is using the sex appeal of Miss America, the sad, delusional puppet of a corporation encouraging the young girls of this country to be spiritless, mindless sex slaves for their chauvinistic counterparts, the show of doing something "for a good cause" to increase it's sales of buttermilk pancakes to market of people who don't need their product to begin with. I've never been to an IHOP, pancakes are best homemade, I find this to be another spineless, shameless act of ruthless ethically questionable corporate greed for sales. You want good pancakes go to a mom and pop joint, and not when you are under the influence of narcotics at four in the morning. You go for Sunday brunch, with your family, like a dignified person, where the waitress is older than your grandma, and isn't trying to use your hormones to get you in the door. BUT, the big but, is...this does make great sense from a management and sales point of view, so props to IHOP for making a brilliant play to raise sales in this economically difficult time to the weak willed people of this country. There is always two sides to the coin. This is all my onion though. Thank you.

Fastfood v. Sit-Down Restaurant

This article is about a survey from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. James K. Brinkley of Purdue University used the data in the survey to analyze the nutritional information of fast food, table service restaurant meals and meals prepared at home. Binkley found that the average sit down restaurant meal has more calories than fast food meals. I found this really interesting because for me I know that when I go out to eat at a sit down restaurant I don’t think about the calories of what I’m eating, like I do when I eat at a fast food restaurant. I’m not sure why this is. I guess, in my mind I just feel like many sit down restaurants would have healthier ingredients and fresher items on their menu. The article also talked about people reducing their food intake for the rest of the day when they eat at a sit down restaurant verses a fast food restaurant. The article says it could be because of the difference in energy density of the food. I think it also has to do with the fact that at a sit- down restaurant the portion sizes are bigger and people actually take more time to eat. I feel like people eat at a fast food restaurant when they are in a hurry and they just gobble up their food and continue to eat because they have not given themselves enough time to feel full.

Domino's Comes Clean With New Pizza Ads

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wirestory?id=9535136&page=3

I appreciate brutal honesty in my life, so when Domino’s Pizza decided to finally take the hint that their product was garbage I was filled with warm feelings. I have always hated Domino’s Pizza, and to be honest now after seeing they are revamping I will be willing to try their product again. Me and my family have never been picky where we get pizza, but the one place we won’t go is Domino’s yes it will be there fast, but once it gets to the house I would stick up my nose. I would wonder “who eats this?” Their market must be people who are intoxicated by flavorless beer and under the influence of other narcotics needing a munchy fix, basically people who don’t demand an iota of quality in their culinary lives. But this is my opinion. The fact that this company has hung their head in shame, and decided to admit their mistakes speaks highly of their character. I admire their drive and willingness to be honest. There isn’t enough of that in companies. Sell, sell, sell, regardless if it’s garbage or not, just make the dollar. Domino’s has changed my view of them and they might get my business in the future, which is their goal with this new campaign. Hopefully other companies will be inspired to rethink their products. I think this is a brilliant play by them, and shows great character, respect and ethical standing in Domino’s CEOs.

Nursing Home Food

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/4246311/detail.html

I was looking up articles to choose one to post, and figured I may as well use the topic I'm planning on speaking about for the project. There are a lot of snip-its on the web about nursing home food and how bad it is, as well as what people at certain nursing homes are doing to make the food better. The article I found was through a local news channel in Pittsburgh, and it was really surprising to me how awful businesses can be to people when trying to save themselves money. The article wrote about Kane nursing homes and how they have been losing money over the past few years. To rectify this, they have cut their food costs by offering lower quality dishes and giving less beef to their residents. However, what I found really backwards, was that the home still offered free food to all of their employees every day, and did not cut those costs! My grandmother is in a nursing home and reading this article made me very angry. Instead of taking care of those who need it, they are providing unnecessary free food, of better quality, to their employees. On top of these injustices, the article later goes on to write that the Kane nursing homes, though 'trying' to save money, spent more than $11,000 on special functions (not for residents) in one month. It is really surprising to me to see how some nursing homes are going above and beyond to make dining a more enjoyable experience for the residents, yet some still turn a blind eye and stand behind their cost-cutting decisions, denying the residents are suffering because of them.

restaurants look for a place in customers' diet plans

http://www.nrn.com/breakingNews.aspx?id=377992&utm_source=MagnetMail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=clg071@jwu.edu&utm_content=NRN-News-NRNam-1-11-10&utm_campaign=Jan.%2011,%202010%20-%20Restaurants%20look%20for%20a%20place%20in%20customers


I think its great that restaurants are trying to improve their menus and add healthier menu items. Places like subway have had healthier menu items form the start, but it’s nice to see other chains venture in that area. For me personally I like knowing how many calories I consume daily and with restaurants telling us these are your lower calorie choices it makes it easier for me to make a healthier choice. This is important to me because I work two jobs and go to school full time and can’t always have a meal at home. It might also influence people who normally don’t watch what they eat to change it up a little and eat healthier. However this article warns us, we still have to be careful what we chose to eat on these lower calorie menus because U.S. Food and Drug Administration allows restaurants to have up to a 20 % margin of error when posting calories for their menu items. 20 % is huge, let’s pretend that you are eating a 500 calorie meal but it is actually 20% higher than reported that is an extra 100 calories you ate without even knowing it. Now you might be saying who cares it’s only 100 extra calories but for someone trying to lose weight that is 100 more calories they have to burn. And for those who don’t know 1 lb is equals to 3500 calories.