This makes me soooo aggravated.

At the beginning of the semester the caf food was some what good. I don't know if it was because it was new or it was the beginning of the year and no one was lazy enough to not take the time to make good food. Here lately though, the caf food has been awful!!!
I do not appreciate how we are suppose to depend on a caf that doesn't even have decent food have the time. College students are always given this image of gaining weight.. well you know what, if we could have decent meals every now and then maybe we would get full enough to where we wouldn't want to snack later in the night. It is also frustrating when you don't want to eat out all the time and would like a home cooked meal. That is hard to get if the caf doesn't even have anything edible.
Sure some day's they have some good foods to choose from and tastes alright. But when you're hungry and would like some pasta it is a little frustrating to recieve unseasoned noodles with runny marinara sauce that tastes awful.
I just believe that there should be a lot more attention to the food in the caf so we can depend on a good place to eat. Especially since we are paying to eat there!

So you want to eat healthy? But wait..

Many people really try to get on better diets and eat healthier. But what if they can't afford it? It is said that healthier food prices in supermarkets are increasing more and more throughout the years. Large families or even a small family may not be able to buy such expensive food. I mean think about all the expenses that families have to deal with.. these expenses may be the reason they just go to fast food places. The fast food places may simply be cheaper and have easier access.

If Americans want to help try to lower the obesity rates in America then all these healthier food choices should be easier to access and affortable. Salesmen need to try to consider families and other business issues within today's society.

What do you really know?

There are many food/nutrition issues in todays society. One really made me think and wouldn't surprise me if happened often but I believe it is a biggie that we all should be aware of..

When picking up items in a grocery store, I don't know about you, but I always look at the expiriation date and make sure I am purchasing the same thing. Well ranked number 2 out of 5 major nutrition problems in today's society is the fact that some of the foods we buy are not marked as the right expiration date and isn't really what we think we're buying. How disgusting!!!!

So broken down version.. you could be in a store buying some mashed potatoes (or anything) and there could be something else in that container or it could even be old.. how messed up is this??? Why be so lazy to the point that you don't know what you're putting out there for innocent consumers to purchase?! Of course the majority of people in America are so lazy that they do not care how the work is done or what conditions they just want it done quickly..

I know we can't worry about buying food items everytime we're in stores but it is very sad to know so little people care about how they're doing their jobs and what the harm or future outcome can be on a person.

Canned Foods

Do you know what IBS is? IBS stands for Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Also known as spastic colon. Irritable Bowel Syndrome can be caused by many foods but there is one type of food in particular that I believe is so popular, and happens to be the main cause of IBS.

Canned Foods is said to be the main cause of IBS. Think about how popular canned foods are in todays society. Whenever churchs or schools want to help out the poor they donate canned foods. Yes people are doing this for a good cause but in reality it could be hurting people. Their bodies may not be funtioning normally, now not only from being so hungry and not being able to eat but also from eating the wrong food. Also, not many people grow vegetables anymore it is just easier to buy the can and heat it up. The healthier choice of course would be to grow vegetables but who is going to take the time to do that?? Instead just be aware of problems with canned foods. It really isn't worth the risk of getting majorly sick in the long run.
Not to mention this type of disease can not be derived from an infection. It's very hard to pinpoint and find its exact location. I just want everyone to be aware of this and if excessive symptoms continue people are aware of this issue.

Red Bull + Vodka

Teenagers today love to mix energy drinks with alcohol, especially red bull with vodka. I don't know what it is but it is a very popular drink especially for highschool and college students. After thinking about it, is it really a good choice of beverage? Think for a second, alcohol with the mixtures of energy drinks.. does that really sound like a good combination? There are some negative effects on this beverage.

First off, when people drink these beverages they get a false sense of intoxication. The feeling for wanting to drink more and more increases and people are not aware of how intoxicated they really are. (The person may be a lot drunker than they really feel) With all of that being said, the risk for alacohol poising increases.

Not to mention, all of the caffeine that is mixed in these drinks. Red Bull alone has over 100 calories so take that and add it to the calories in vodka.. you get a lot of caffeine. All the caffeine eventually will add up too and cause harm to the body.

Our motor skills are directly harmed from these drinks and the bad thing is we don't even realize it because we get a sense of intoxication. So dangerous.. one of the most dangerous drinks a person can consume.
I can't say that I've never drank one of these mixed drinks but I can say after reading these dangers I will not consume a lot of this drink again. I do not want to lose my life from something that stupid.

Meat and Poultry Irradiation

Irradiation is a basic method of using radiation to destroy or inactivate microorganisms that cause other diseases that can cause food-borne illnesses or spoil food. It is said that this process still does not kill all microorganisms so is this a safe method that should really be used?
If a lot of irradiation is done then it begins affecting the taste, color, and smell of all meats. Would we enjoy that? Would you? You never know when something could go wrong with this process. Not to mention once this processed is done the meat loses some of its nutrional value. (Similar to the one's lost in canned food.) There is also the risk of increased levels of carcinogens and other toxins in foods after this process.
Many people are so controversial with this topic. The approval of doing this to foods was passed in February of 2000.
When this procedure is done it has to be done very specifically with proper training. So what if the training goes wrong? It's us who has to suffer from the bad food.
I feel like this could be a very dangerous procedure especially if it isn't done right. Then we are the one's suffering and it can turn into a life long injury.

Disease in fast food

So many people eat fast food, Taco bell, Mc Donalds, Burger King, Wendy's, etc. Is this food we all eat safe food? Is it all cooked thoroughly or are we eating raw or contamintated food?
A few months ago there was a salmonella outbreak in taco bell foods. As many as seventy five people were really sick by eating taco bell. Even though none of these outbreaks were in the state of Arkansas what if it does begin happening in Arkansas? What if that one person to get it is you?
Salmonella is a very bad disease. Specifically is a gastrointestinal disease that can also lead to dehydration. Salmonella can cause three specific illnesses.. gastroenteritis, typhoid fever, and bacteremia. Gastroenteritis examples would include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, fever, nausea, and/or vomiting. All of this just from a person eating taco bell. Is it worth it? Not to mention, typhoid fever can last 5 to 21 days! YES, that long!! Bacteremia can also harm a person's brain and spinal cord from infection in the blood.
Clearly, this is a very dangerous disease! Why would any fast food restaurant, or restaurant in general, want to have dirty foods that could infect people like this? It's just like if a restaurants health inspection got bad reviews then why continue to make food? That shouldn't be allowed in my opinion.
Not only could salmonella be a disease in fast food but e coli is also known to be one. E coli is commonly found in beef and vegetables. A helpful type of E Coli is known to live on our large intestines that is benefical for the break down of foods but there are also the "strains" of E Coli that are not beneficial and end up getting in our blood streams causing serious conditions to a person's health. Beef can contain E Coli because that bacteria often infects cattle. It can be in meat that comes from cattle and it's also in cows poop, also known as manure. Cow poop in our foods? Really, how does this happen??

The whole situation is very disturbing. We should be able to trust in the people that are making these foods and the producers. No one should have to be worried about recieving diseases from fast food places.

Expired Caf Food??

A few weeks ago, my roommate and I were in the caf getting a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich. She got hers first and started saying how hard her bread was not very happy about it. I was eating a salad but decided to go ahead and go get mine after hearing what she said. So I went up to prepare my sandwhich  and I looked at the expiration date, of the wheat bread. Come to find out.. it expired nearly a week and a half ago to that day!! Yes, there was molded bread in the caf available for students to use. Can you say gross?  I hardly doubt any student takes the time to look at expiration dates before eating foods in the caf. I mean shouldn't the cafeteria staff be checking that?
It worries me now about eating almost anything the caf serves. What about the foods that are taken out of the package and prepared? Are they expired, old foods also? I noticed one night how I wanted a salad and when I looked down in the tray of lettuce it had a light shade of brown. The next day it didn't thank goodness but this is very disturbing and we should have fresh and clean food to choose from, not old!
Just thinking about eating old food makes my stomach cringe. So many people could get really sick from this. The staff should take more initiative to make sure all of the food is healthy and up to date. I get the impression that they are just lazy and do not want to do their job when students like me find expired bread. Not just expired for a few days either, like a said a good week old! What about people who don't look at their food before eating it either? They would have no idea if they put a piece of mold or a bug in their mouth.
I also heard someone talk once about the pasta in the caf. They were saying how it is prepared at night and then sat out during the day. But if it is not all used at dinner one night that will be the next day's lunch. Really? To me that is not very sanitary, or am I the only person thinking that?
Students like us shouldn't have to worry about that! We should be able to have enough trust in the staff members of the cafeteria about what they are preparing and making available to us!
I am very cautious now and everything I eat in the caf. Although I can't worry at least I can have a heads up on the foods like bread and lettuce.

Why do we worry so much about soft drinks?!

Everyday we are bombarted with advertisements on Coke, Dr. Pepper, Diet Coke, Diet Dr. Pepper, etc. I can honestly say whenever I watch TV I see so many commercials on a soft drinks. They are appealing too these days because of the actress's or actors in them. (Movie Stars or Singers) Starting at the beginning of my senior year I made a promise to myself to stay on a good drinking diet. Lemonade, Water, and Tea, but tea and lemonade with little sugar. Of course I have an occasional soft drink but not an excessive amount. Right around the time I made this promise to myself I began to wonder, why exactly am I doing this?
I do this because it makes me feel better and it's the better choice for my body. You always here how we need to consume a lot of water and how healthy it is for us. Water really does make me feel a lot better and healthier feeling. Lemonade has been my transition for a Dr. Pepper. But it still makes my friends and  other people ask me why I worry so much about drinking soft drinks. What's the big deal? Why go through life worrying about consuming so many soft drinks a day, I mean that's why they were invented right??!
I believe once you hear this.. you'll begin to know why some people worry!

Caffeine is known today to be bad for our bodies. A little bit will not hurt but an excess amount in one day can cause some problems. Caffeine can seriously wear us down even though it is said to give us a sense of energy. It may at the time but when it is all said and done the caffeine consumer will be left with a low feeling of exhaustion. When we get this tired feeling the caffeine is also taking an affect on our GABA system, therefore many get stressed. (Which we all know stress is so bad on a person, leading to many other health risks.)
One common example of the energized feeling turning into a tired feeling would be the use of energy drinks. I know I am even a craver for red bulls but they are so bad for us! At the time you and I do not think about how bad they are but they really are. Red bull contains a total of 80 milligrams of caffeine. Not only does an energy drink consume a lot but look.. Coke has 34.5 milligrams and Dr. Pepper has 41 milligrams of caffeine. WOW!!
Caffeine in these three drinks alone can cause a lot of damage to a person even death!!! There is seriously a website,on line, that you can go too that detects when you can die from a certain amount!! First, put in you soft drink or energy drink you consume the most then put in your weight. After doing all of this you click the "kill me" button and it will tell you how many cans will kill you!
http://www.energyfiend.com/death-by-caffeine This link will take you to this site. It is very astonishing!
Of course everyone is always going to have their own opinions and no one is going to be able to change their minds, but I feel like people should at least take this information in consideration. I know I have a friend from home who's motto for life is "live hard die young", for me it's pretty much the exact opposite! I have so many goals for my future to where I really think about health risks with consuming too much caffeine. I am not saying to not consume any at all because that would be too hard but too much can lead to a life long road of disappoints from poor choices.

Poison to our mouths..

What are we always told before eating some kind of produce? To rinse it off right?! Therefore, it's cleaned off and there's less of a chance for us getting sick or digesting something gross that was on the food. Did you know.. that even if you have rinsed off, lets say some grapes, there still can be pesticides on your grapes??! Yes, pesticides! Can you say gross!!! Pesticides are used to kill pest so it's a chemical. When we eat fruit or any other produce we are eating those chemicals and they are being put into our bodies harming a lot of vital organs we need to live.
A lot of children across seas are more likely to die or be sick with pesticides due to the chemicals that are sprayed on their farms. (It still occurs in the U.S though.) A story once talked about elementary children playing out at recess and some workers had just sprayed some crops with pesticide killer. The children instantly were affected by the aroma. Some simply fainted while others were choking. It is horrible how humans are affected so greatly by pesticides. So it leaves us asking what do we do about it? So many farmers use pesticide killer especially for bigger farms, what can an alternative be?
Honestly, I do not what an alternative could be for the larger farm areas because the only alternative of pesticide killer I can think for smaller crops would be using something with less chemicals, such as a pesticide known as a wasp pesticide. This wasp doesn't sting humans they just eat up pests that want to destroy the crops. There are a lot of other different pest killers too that don't require all of those damaging chemicals.
The side effects and illnesses from these chemicals can be life threatening. Why don't people who use these pest killers think about how the chemicals are harming humans. Humans lungs, brain, liver, pretty much anything can be damaged for the rest of their lives by not only inhaling the fumes but my eating on food that had/has pesticides on it.
Then we go into talking about the foods out in the supermarkets that are sold with pesticides in/on them. Why does this happen?? That's not right to sale a consumer something like that, that can harm them. I simply think it's wrong. Isn't food suppose to go through some type of special food expection before being sold? If it has pesticides with it how is that passing a test? I love fruit and I'm always buying it in produce section at the store. I don't know what I would do if I was sold some fruit that had pesticides on it and I ate them. Obviously, I would be very sick but I'm pretty sure my mom would be very mad at the food expectors for letting that fruit go through the test and not help back due to the pesticides in it.

Get This!!!

One issue in today's society that strongly upsets me is the fact that a lot of us are buying fast food that isn't what it really say's it is! Mc Donald's is a prime example with this issue. So many people eat Mc Donald's in today's society. Question is .. do they really know what they are eating? Or I could say do we really know what we are eating? I have never been a huge Mc Donald's eater. If I did eat there the main thing I would eat would be their breakfast food but if it was during the day I would eat a chicken wrap or french fries. Other than that, Mc Donald's has not been a big choice for me.

A few weeks ago, I found out something very shocking about what Mc Donald's does with some of their foods. When cooking their french fries they put the packaged french fries in the fryer and then add a drop of flavoring to them that actually gives the french fries their taste that we all desire so much. Basically, they are giving the french fries the taste, not what they actually taste like. So what are we eating??? Like I said previously, french fries were one of the only things I would eat at Mc Donalds and now I find out I haven't really been eating a french fry?!! (Or at least that's what it sounds like to me.) This infurates me in all kinds of ways. It makes me wonder.. if the french fries have to have flavor added what do they do to everything else they make? What are the burgers, really?

I also heard that Mc Donalds new fruit smoothies are not really made with fruit. (Like they say they are) It's simply a fruit flavoring. Is this right how they false advertise their products? In my opinion no!!
Mc Donald's is best known for a place for little kids to get "happy meals" why in the world would people be selling false tasting foods to parents that have children and the makers of these foods just sit around knowing these people are eating it?! The kids along with adults eating Mc Donalds food don't know if they're eating "real" food, the eating could cause them to have an allergic reaction or get highly ill. How is this right? Something should be done about this, people should know what they are really eating!!