Eat This, Not That!!!!

Agenda Setting Theory:
The media is not always successful at telling us what to think, but they are quite successful at telling us what to think about.

I just asked the girl sitting next to me: what do you think the biggest national issue is right now? She answered without hesitation, health care. Now, if you go to the main page of USA Today or New York Times, the health care headline will be linked to an article, videos, pictures, a discussion board etc. We as consumers take the multiple forms and high amount of coverage and think, “okay, health care is important”.

How does agenda setting apply to food? I believe it presents insight into consumer behavior and why we make the decisions when purchasing and eating food.

Before coming to college, I bought a book called, “Eat This, Not That! Supermarket Survival Guide”. The book basically provides suggestions for piecing through the hell they call “Meijer”. My favorite part of the book is an index at the end telling you what various ingredients on a label are, such as:

-Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil: a.k.a. manufactured fat or trans fat)
-Aspartame: near-zero-calorie artificial sweetener…think Equal…that has been reported to cause neurological symptoms
-High-Fructose Corn Syrup: corn-derived sweetener. The increased use of HFCS has been linked to a steady increase in obesity since its introduction in 1980.

But I am guessing you have already heard about the controversy surrounding these ingredients.

So, okay, we know from media reports not to eat HFCS or PHVO. But, the other day I faced a dilemma when deciding to buy regular chocolate ice cream versus low-fat chocolate ice cream by the same company; I first chose the low fat because it had less trans-fat. But then, I realized the low-fat ice cream has corn syrup and dextrose the regular ice cream did not.

The more I read labels and compare them to claims on the box, the more it becomes apparent that marketing is manipulating the news we receive about eating healthy to sell more products. Yes, fiber is good for you, but are we really trying to sell Fruit Loops as healthy cereal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXwsXtRqTY4

But it seems the more news about fiber, the more products are saying they have it.

And who can forget the Atkins diet. When the Atkins book hit the New York Times Best-sellers list, suddenly low-carb beer was on the market and even low-carb bread. And suddenly, eating steak 7 nights a week was better than eating a bowl of spaghetti… I feel there is a correlation between the Atkins diet telling us to eat meat, which can clog our arteries, and marketers using the all the recent news about the benefits of fiber to get mothers to feed their children Fruit Loops.

The Food Issue of the Sunday New York Times Magazine was a much-needed relief to this marketing mess. The articles discussed meat, benefits of eating less, how to enjoy food for what it is (ice cream is ice cream and it is not good for you, but that’s okay in moderation) and the social issues that are linked to our dietary habits.

Just as you are told what to think about national issues by our media, our marketers tell us what to think about food. The best advice I have read for buying food is to read the labels. If there is too many ingredients that sound like a chemical lab and really high percentages in the nutritional information, don’t buy it.

New York Times Sunday Magazine- 2009 Food Edition!

Today's New York Times Sunday Magazine is the 2009 Food Issue. The magazine has some really interesting articles addressing dietary concerns, national eating habits, being vegetarian, and calorie counting. The articles are very relevant and informative so anyone interested should check it out.

The online version has interactive features as well, including: Food Do's and Dont's sent in by Times readers and compiled by Michael Pollan (author of The Omnivore's Dilemma and guest author to this edition of the magazine); recipes; a pod-cast about eating in the office; and an archive from the 2008 Food edition of New York Times Magazine.

Here is a link to the main page: http://www.nytimes.com/pages/magazine/index.html

One Question I Would Have Asked Vincent Duffy, But Did Not

Do you think that the shift in the structure of journalism due to new media, for example the ability to connect with audience, will change the role of the journalist as an agenda setter? Do you think the news will start to be more about deviant and socially significant topics as opposed to what journalists believe should be read?

Live Blog- Round 2

Vincent Duffy's presentation has shifted to discussing the positives and negatives of new media. As mentioned in my previous post, a large downfall of new media is the overworking of journalists and raised expectations to work in multiple mediums and produce almost twice the work.
The positives of new media, on the other hand, are things such everything being archived and ability to connect with the audience. I noticed that the positives of new media are largely based on benefits for the consumer and increased audience demand and control.

Another interesting point during this discussion of positive and negative consequences of new media, was the question of who is the news media? An example Vincent gave was the death of Michael Jackson and how TMZ was the first "news" outlet to report on this. Is TMZ news or a gossip website? I also thought it was interesting that as News Director, Vincent said he would post a story after CNN has becuase he believs it is a credible source without double checking the source.

Live Blog

Vincent Duffy, from Michigan Radio, is in class today speaking about changes going on in the world of journalism.

He began class by showing us a video by Chris Rawlinson called "Did You Know?". This video laid out over 5 minutes of shocking facts concerning the internet, increased population, amount of information circulating throughout society and changes in our lifestyle due to the internet.

After the video, which certainly got me thinking about what the future of journalism, Vincent broke down some statistics even further. One statistic was in the past year, from September 2008- September 2009, 350,885 journalist positions have been lost in the US.

While Vincent works for Michigan Radio, an National Public Radio, affiliate, he explained how journalists are increasingly using multiple mediums to present stories. A typical process for a journalist now includes going on cite, getting audio, taking pictures (soon they will start taking videos), going back to the station, editing the text, editing the audio, editing the video.

Vegetarian Recipes

Since I started this blog, I have been trying to keep vegetarian. To be honest, I have had two slip-ups so far, but both were free food and eaten in a very small portions. What I have found is that you have to think a little bit harder about your next meal and try to incorporate protein. Some good sources of protein are beans, peanut butter and soy products.
Here are some good vegetarian recipes that I would like to share:

Vegetarian Black Beans

-1/2- 1 medium onion (depending on preference), chopped
-2 tbsp. olive oil
-3 tbsp. tomato paste
-16 oz. canned black beans (2 regular size cans)
-2 tbsp. cumin

1. Heat the olive oil and onions in a saucepan until the onions slightly brown.
2. Add the tomato paste and saute for 3 minutes.
3. Add the cumin and stir.
4. Drain 2/3 of the liquid from the black beans and place aside. Mix the beans in with onions.
5. Let sit for 30 minutes, occasionally adding bean liquid if the sauce becomes too thick.


This recipe is very cheap to make and can be done while you are doing some other task around the house. I have been eating it with brown rice, salsa, hot sauce and chips in a bowl. It has a lot of protein, which is good if you are trying to eat vegetarian. Try to buy low-sodium beans to avoid having too much salt. This recipe serves about 5 people if mixed with rice, or you can save it for a few days and eat it throughout the week.


Vegan "Bolognese" Tomato Sauce

-1/2 cup crumbled soy meat
-1/2 jar tomato sauce, any flavor
-1 pepper, any color, chopped
-1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped
-2 tbsp. olive oil

1. Put olive oil and soy meat (defrosted) into a medium sauce pan. Stir for 3 minutes, until hot.
2. Add tomato sauce, pepper, and mushrooms.
3. Let stew for 25 minutes.

This sauce is really easy to make and tastes just like real meat sauce. This is a really simple recipe and you can add other ingredients to your liking, but I have found these flavors work really well together. While this recipe is not very inventive, it shows how easy it is to make alternatives to meat if you are craving it. You can also make large batches of it and freeze so that you can eat it over time.

To get hold of soy meat, I have found that Trader Joes has the best and least expensive options. They sell Soy Chorizo that is very good for making chili and spaghetti sauce with. They have all types of frozen alternatives and specialized ingredients, but check the labels. A lot of the frozen vegetarian entrees and ingredients are very high in sodium and some have a pretty high amount of saturated fat. Trader Joes is located on East Stadium, right off of Washtenaw Ave.

Both of these recipes are meant to be easy, pretty foolproof and flavorful. If you have any additions please comment!

Code of Ethics

Code of Ethics

1. To be objective when reporting and present stories that are well researched and take time to understand the multiple layers and opinions that effect a story.

2. To report on issues that I believe are of interest and more importantly issues that effect my readers, to further their understanding of issues surrounding their lives. When choosing what information I present, think about journalism as a key in democracy.

3. To be mindful and delicate when reporting to minimize harm to both readers and people involved in the story.

4. To not skew the truth to appeal to my own interests or the interests of others.