Response #2 Problem-Posing Assignment

In chapter three the issue of how dangerous working at a fast food restaurant actually is was brought to light. This troubles me deeply because most of the people that work at fast food restaurants are starting out their working careers in these restaurants. The dangers come in the forms of slips, falls, burns, strains, and in the worst case murders. In an industry that is filled with teenage workers and bright young minds this is clearly a problem. "In 1998, more restaurant workers were murdered on the job in the United States than police officers." A statistic like this doesn't make sense to me, how can people who work to flip burgers be more at risk than the people who put themselves directly in the line of fire? I can relate to this because I have worked in a fast food restaurant but I had never considered how many hidden dangerous were within the industry. Though most of the safety issues can be avoided by paying more attention the issues like having a gun put to your head and your life one in someone else's trigger finger have no easy solution. I can't imagine having to worry about my life everyday while going to work, as young adults we have enough problems as far as school and bills! Some places have tried to keep the amount of money in the cash register as low as possible but its clearly impossible for most places. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has attempted to set guidelines in the workplace but haven't made too much progress. Other measures taken to to reduce violent crime include spending millions on new security measures like video cameras, panic buttons, drop-safes, burglar alarms, and additional lighting. The reason this is such a big problem to me is because there are not many easy solutions. I feel that if a effective safety course was introduced to each worker could tackle the issue of injuries at the workplace. But as far as murders go I feel that greater security systems should be developed. I had in mind a type of floor system that is run by electricity, every restaurant should have a security room where someone controls this floor and can watch the cameras. When a robbery is occurring they should be able to divert many volts of electricity to the place in which the robber is standing in order to subdue them. This seems a little bit far fetched but if we have the technology to blow up our own planet numerous times I feel that its possible.

Meaty Sabrociousness

I'm not sure about the all of my classmates but I know this class has definitely changed the way a few of us are eating food outside our homes! Last night there was an event in Chelsea Market, where I work hosted by the food network called "Chelsea Market After Dark" I was asked to work from 5 until 12. I said yes because I needed the cash but had no idea about the event I was about to be part of! As soon as I arrived at work the market was closed off to the public and interior designers and caterers began to set up. I was pretty confused so I just sat in my store and began to catch on some of Professor Alexanders reading. About an hour later my boss arrives with florescent blue bracelets that labeled me as a staff member, I put mine on and I wont lie I felt pretty cool. My boss described how the night was going to go and I became extremely excited. The event was pretty much a highly exclusive 120 dollar per person charity event where participators went around the market getting completely wasted and stuffing their faces with all the delectable foods the market had to offer!

I began to set up our table and ended up finishing in about 20 minutes. The event started at 9 so I had a couple of hours to walk the market and see all the kegs and thousands of wine glasses being set up thinking that I would definitely see them again later in the night I stroll back to my post. When the event finally began people did indeed come in and get trashed and stuff their faces, it literally only took about an hour before the market was transformed to a calm get together to a full blow fiesta! I was frantically putting out samples for all the guests with the help of my boss but we eventually ran out, everyone loved our nuts! So now it was time for to go and start my weekend early, in the name of charity of course! After intensely sampling the wines, whiskeys and ales it was time for me to have dinner.

After traveling to the Chelsea Thai, Bon Italia, Jaques Torres Chocolate, and One Lucky Duck my nostrils were taken hostage by Dicksons Farmstand Meats and their bite sized pulled pork sandwiches. I grabbed one and began to walk to the whiskey bar without chomping down yet and as soon as I finally decided to take a bite, I walked straight back and waited for them to make another one. They were preparing the sandwiches on the spot taking the freshly cooked pork out of the heating pans and putting some vegetable, I believe pickles in between the buns and impaling them in the center with sharp wooden sticks. I fell in love. Now i'm here still thinking about this sandwich and I decided to look up what I had eaten because this was one of the first times I've eaten meat outside of my house aside from emergency lunches and BEC's(Bacon Egg & Cheese) at LaGuardia. I found the website for Dicksons and browsed threw it when I came across the "Our Farms" tab, before this class I wouldn't have even clicked it but now it seemed to be the most important part of the website to me. I was relieved when I came across these few facts at the bottom of the page.

• The entire supply chain (farm to slaughterhouse to point-of-sale) must be no more than 400 miles long.
• Animal based feeds, prophylactic antibiotics or added hormones are not administered at any point of the animal’s life.
• The animals from which our meat comes must spend their life on the farm – no CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) or feedlots.

The page also contained a lot of other information which can be related to our class but these seemed to stand out to me the most. There is also a "Meat Facts" tab which I found interesting and pretty informative. Though they are on the pricey side I feel that it is definitely worth the extra couple of bucks and I'm glad to say I have a new place to go for my lunch break. I strongly encourage you to visit their website(http://dicksonsfarmstand.com/) and browse through it and if your interested in going its located in very chill and inviting atmosphere so don't be afraid to make the trip to Chelsea. 

Crunchy Wings (descriptive writing revised)

As I dashed out of my apartment without any sort of subtlety and complete disregard for my neighbors who were probably counting sheep. I decided I should relax, slow my role, and take a deep breath for I needed it because of the extreme amount of anticipation for what I was about to devour. I headed down the street full of gum chewed up and spit out forever becoming part of the cement, a smile on my face and my head held high. I was a block away from the restaurant I couldn’t even how to pronounce but I could already recognize the scent of my chicken wings being dipped in scolding dark yellow oil that’s probably been boiling for days. I wasn’t in the mood for general tso’s this afternoon because every time it comes with a couple pieces of chicken that are as hot as an iceberg. By the time my wings were ready to be inhaled, I still had to wait for my rice to finish being fried, as I watched the small Asian lady toss and turn my rice and vegetables with such precision and ferocity I began to salivate and get startled at the same time. I had never seen someone make my food with so much emotion. A tear dropped from my eye but before it hit the floor, I heard a high pitched DING! My order is ready and now I must mutilate these wings with my bear hands for I am a savage hear me roar!

Descriptive Writing

As I dashed out of my apartment without any sort of subtlety and complete disregard for my neighbors whom were probably counting sheep. I decided I should relax, slow my role, and take a deep breath for I needed it because of the extreme amount of anticipation for what I was about to devour. I headed down the street full of gum chewed up and spit out forever becoming part of the cement, a smile on my face and my head held sky high. I was a block away from the restaurant I didn’t even know how to pronounce but I could already recognize the scent of my chicken wings being dipped in scolding dark yellow oil that’s probably been boiling for hours. I wasn’t in the mood for general tso’s this afternoon because every time it comes with a couple pieces of chicken that are as hot as an iceberg. By the time my wings were ready to be inhaled, I still had to wait for my fried rice to finish being fried, as I watched the small Asian lady toss and turn my rice and vegetables with such precision and ferocity I beg to salivate and get startled at the same time. I had never seen someone make my food with so much emotion. A tear dropped from my eye but before it hit the floor, I heard a high pitched DING! My order is ready and now I must mutilate these wings with my bear hands for I am a savage hear me roar!

Annotation

Grady, Denise. "In Feast of Data on BPA Plastic, No Final Answer." New York Times. New York Times, 6 Sept. 2010. Web. 20 Sept. 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/science/07bpa.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&ref=science>.

In this article Grady is discussing whether or not BPA is safe according to the latest research and experiments conducted. She also discusses the various amounts of groups and bills that feel that BPA is unsafe and should not be used. (not finished)

Como Estas

Hey all you blog reading peoples! You can't say that you're not a blog reader if you're reading this because it's a blog! This blog is dedicated to my Food Ethics class. My name is Hassan Malik and I am a freshman at LaGuardia Community College. I've just recently moved into the city from North Carolina where I've lived for most of my life. Now I reside in Spanish Harlem with my father and his family, where there's always something good cooking.

I'm Pakistani and Puerto Rican but I live in a Pakistani household so most if not all of the food we cook is Pakistani, luckily I'm surrounded by my fellow Puerto Ricans as soon as I step outside if I ever need my fix (spanish food). Most of our meals consist of rice, lentils, chicken, lamb, goat, and lots of vegetables. For the most part it is always spicy. My favorite dish to eat at home is chicken briyani, it consist of rice with chicken but has a distinct taste that I haven't been able to find anywhere else.

As far as food shopping stands my father goes to Jackson Heights once or twice a week to get our groceries, he's been buying it there ever since I can remember. Not only is most of the food cheaper over there but in order to follow his religion (Islam) he and the rest of the household must eat halal meats. I however was raised by my Puerto Rican mother so pretty much everything is fair game for me, but I do respect the household by not bringing outside meats home. But when im not in the house you can usually find me eating pizza, I personally think pizza is the greatest thing ever created by people, sometimes I think that aliens might have come down and taught humans how to make something so great! 

Since this is a blog I think I'm supposed to say whatever I'm feeling, and since the blog is about food and ethics and I feel that I must bring up something that came to my mind during environmental ethics this morning. Why have those little brats in the Trix cereal commercial never shared their cereal with the rabbit. They are selfish and it makes no sense...

end.