industrial food journal
Day 1
Breakfast: Onion Bagel, 2% milk
Lunch: Apple, "Sweet and Salty" Almond granola bar, bag of Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies
Snack: Apple, pretzels with peanut butter, 2% milk
Dinner: 2X fried hamburgers with Ranch seasoning, cheddar cheese, onions; salt and pepper chips, 2% milk
Breakfast: Onion Bagel, 2% milk
Lunch: Apple, "Sweet and Salty" Almond granola bar, bag of Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies
Snack: Apple, pretzels with peanut butter, 2% milk
Dinner: 2X fried hamburgers with Ranch seasoning, cheddar cheese, onions; salt and pepper chips, 2% milk
Day 2
Breakfast: Banana, 2X scrambled eggs with shredded cheddar cheese, orange juice
Lunch: 10X traditional chicken wings from Buffalo Wild Wings (lemon pepper seasoning)
Dinner: Chicken breast marinaded in Teriyaki sauce, rice with soy sauce
Breakfast: Banana, 2X scrambled eggs with shredded cheddar cheese, orange juice
Lunch: 10X traditional chicken wings from Buffalo Wild Wings (lemon pepper seasoning)
Dinner: Chicken breast marinaded in Teriyaki sauce, rice with soy sauce
Analysis
The goal of this assignment was to track the many food items I put into my body in a two day span. On the first day, I was supposed to eat foods comparable to what I normally eat. On the second day, the idea was that I would try to avoid processed foods as much as possible. It turns out that, in my case, the small sample size was not very representative of how I feel about my eating habits. I consider myself to be a healthy eater, but these two days don’t showcase that healthy lifestyle. Both days were very different from what I consider an everyday diet. Day 2 was particularly strange, especially since I was supposed to try to eat less processed foods. As a young active man, I typically eat a lot of food, but I try my best to eat the healthiest foods possible.
After a weekend away from responsibilities at a tournament for my club Ultimate Frisbee team, I returned home Sunday night to a very busy week. I had a bunch of homework that I had to finish, as well as a big quiz in one of my classes on Monday. This led to a very hectic Monday morning, as I was devoting more time to preparing for my courses than caring for myself and my food intake. For breakfast, I ate a plain onion bagel, whereas I usually eat my bagels with cream cheese. I also usually pack a lunch on Mondays because I don’t have time to return to my apartment between classes. However, since I was busy, I completely forgot to pack a lunch. I happened to have a couple of snack items in my backpack, for a situation like this. Unfortunately, I’m sure the granola bar and bag of cookies had a very large number of food additives. After reading Pandora’s Lunchbox: How Processed Food Took Over the American Meal by Melanie Warner, I understood just how big this problem was. Many of the food additives in everyday food items are very dangerous chemicals (page 97-123). These chemicals are often in trace amounts in our processed food, but that begs the question of why they’re in our foods in the first place. When I got back to my apartment after class around 5, I was starving. As a result, I ate a large snack. I usually just eat a piece of fruit, but on Monday, I also added a bowl of pretzels and a spoonful of peanut butter. For dinner, I ate two hamburgers. These were seasoned with a packet of Ranch prior to cooking. After frying the burgers, I put cheddar cheese and onions on top.
Day 2 was also an atypical day, especially for someone who is trying to avoid processed foods. For breakfast, I ate two scrambled eggs, an option which I think is healthier than most breakfast foods. My parents just returned from a big trip overseas and they were driving through East Lansing on the way back home. My mom’s favorite restaurant is Buffalo Wild Wings, so we met there for lunch. I ordered 10 traditional chicken wings. I usually order boneless wings, but I figured the traditional ones were probably less processed. In Pandora's Lunchbox, Warner discussed the many negatives of the flavoring industry. One point she made was the difference between a cheap, average chicken from the supermarket, a mass-produced frozen processed chicken, and a “happy” chicken, which spent its life outside (page 173). She concluded that the “happy chicken” had the best flavor. I don’t know what kind of chickens Buffalo Wild Wings uses, but I would guess it is from the mass produced variety, which means it has added flavor. That means it is heavily processed and not very fresh. I always have dry rub seasonings on my wings, which are probably less processed than the sauces. After classes and Ultimate Frisbee practice, I returned to my apartment. I have a roommate who likes to cook, so he made dinner on Tuesday night. He made chicken breasts with a Teriyaki marinade.
The goal of this assignment was to track the many food items I put into my body in a two day span. On the first day, I was supposed to eat foods comparable to what I normally eat. On the second day, the idea was that I would try to avoid processed foods as much as possible. It turns out that, in my case, the small sample size was not very representative of how I feel about my eating habits. I consider myself to be a healthy eater, but these two days don’t showcase that healthy lifestyle. Both days were very different from what I consider an everyday diet. Day 2 was particularly strange, especially since I was supposed to try to eat less processed foods. As a young active man, I typically eat a lot of food, but I try my best to eat the healthiest foods possible.
After a weekend away from responsibilities at a tournament for my club Ultimate Frisbee team, I returned home Sunday night to a very busy week. I had a bunch of homework that I had to finish, as well as a big quiz in one of my classes on Monday. This led to a very hectic Monday morning, as I was devoting more time to preparing for my courses than caring for myself and my food intake. For breakfast, I ate a plain onion bagel, whereas I usually eat my bagels with cream cheese. I also usually pack a lunch on Mondays because I don’t have time to return to my apartment between classes. However, since I was busy, I completely forgot to pack a lunch. I happened to have a couple of snack items in my backpack, for a situation like this. Unfortunately, I’m sure the granola bar and bag of cookies had a very large number of food additives. After reading Pandora’s Lunchbox: How Processed Food Took Over the American Meal by Melanie Warner, I understood just how big this problem was. Many of the food additives in everyday food items are very dangerous chemicals (page 97-123). These chemicals are often in trace amounts in our processed food, but that begs the question of why they’re in our foods in the first place. When I got back to my apartment after class around 5, I was starving. As a result, I ate a large snack. I usually just eat a piece of fruit, but on Monday, I also added a bowl of pretzels and a spoonful of peanut butter. For dinner, I ate two hamburgers. These were seasoned with a packet of Ranch prior to cooking. After frying the burgers, I put cheddar cheese and onions on top.
Day 2 was also an atypical day, especially for someone who is trying to avoid processed foods. For breakfast, I ate two scrambled eggs, an option which I think is healthier than most breakfast foods. My parents just returned from a big trip overseas and they were driving through East Lansing on the way back home. My mom’s favorite restaurant is Buffalo Wild Wings, so we met there for lunch. I ordered 10 traditional chicken wings. I usually order boneless wings, but I figured the traditional ones were probably less processed. In Pandora's Lunchbox, Warner discussed the many negatives of the flavoring industry. One point she made was the difference between a cheap, average chicken from the supermarket, a mass-produced frozen processed chicken, and a “happy” chicken, which spent its life outside (page 173). She concluded that the “happy chicken” had the best flavor. I don’t know what kind of chickens Buffalo Wild Wings uses, but I would guess it is from the mass produced variety, which means it has added flavor. That means it is heavily processed and not very fresh. I always have dry rub seasonings on my wings, which are probably less processed than the sauces. After classes and Ultimate Frisbee practice, I returned to my apartment. I have a roommate who likes to cook, so he made dinner on Tuesday night. He made chicken breasts with a Teriyaki marinade.