Syracuse

  When asked “what makes you who you are” James responds with how he thinks what he was born into and the experiences that came into the birth plays a big factor. He was born in America, but his parents were Chinese immigrants. He vividly remembers eating with his family and the cultural norms that come with it. How his family puts all the food in the middle of the table for anyone to get with as much as you want rather than everyone having their own fixed dishes already ready.  One of his favorite things to eat are the noodle soups his mom used to make, especially when he's feeling sick. When I asked him the question “How do you think food is connected to identity” he talked about his early childhood he would go to daycare with his cultural foods, and he felt a little embarrassed since the cuisines were a lot different from the traditional American food people ate around him. However, growing up he realized that his traditional foods are what, as he puts it, “was most comfor...

  My first article is called A Couple Cooks, and the whole basis of their blog is based off the fact that they are a couple. The people, Alex and Sonja, are as they call it: “the very real husband and wife writer and photographer” and they try to make their website as easy and accessible as possible. It shows throughout their blog as well, not only did they make a cookbook, but they also split their recipes into different sections. From vegan to vegetarian, they really wanted to make sure they had options for everyone. They didn’t want to make anyone feel left out. They want every other family like them to enjoy food like they do. My second article is very similar both by name and by purpose, which is called A Family Feast . The people, Jack and Martha Pesa, have the goals of showing “our love and care to our family and friends.” Throughout their blog, they have recipes that have stories and background behind them. They think that baking a great meal is one of the best ways to ...

  It’s important to not eat more than you can handle, because wasting food is one of the worst things you can do. There are hundreds of thousands of people who may not be able to quench their hunger, so only eat enough to get you by. One website that helped me a lot was Compassion.com/poverty where I got a handful of my facts from, like how One-Fifth of kids under five are undernourished, and forty-five percent of deaths under that age are linked to lack of nourishment. At first, the idea of making a video seemed daunting, I have never made one before, so it was definitely new to me. I also didn’t know whether or not my video would have been interesting or have grabbed people’s attention. However, once I got the hang of it I enjoyed recording and editing my video. My favorite part would definitely be my song choice. It’s slow enough to keep the tone of the video while not being sad enough to get you in a depressing mood. As for my speaking alone, I think I could have done a better...

  Video Link The Burger King commercial, popularized this year, advertises their signature Whopper in its many variations to convince the viewer to order from their menu. For one, they use a very catchy jingle throughout the advertisement. From just someone humming it you could recognize that It’s from Burger King, and they do that so the melody can get stuck inside your head. Imagine just hearing “Whopper Whopper Whopper Whopper” in your head when you're trying to do work, you're going to crave some Burger King eventually. Which is going to cause people to sing their song out loud, causing other people to want to remember the song and have some Burger King. Which is the restaurant’s plan at the end of the day: To get the song to spread causing everyone to want food from Burger King. Another visual signal that helps advertise Burger King’s menu is how they make the food look heavily appetizing. They make sure to have the patties be as juicy and savory as possible, while making ...

  The person I showed my comic really enjoyed it. One of the biggest things she thought was good was how I used Garfield as a medium for my graphic novel. I am also very proud of this idea. The idea was supposed to be food and culture related, and even though I could've done a story about myself, I would have much rather used a character that not only I but other people can relate to. Garfield, as a pop culture icon for his small yet entertaining panels, and his relatability with his dislike for waking up early and for Mondays, was the perfect character to base my comic off of. Especially since he has love for his homemade lasagna, something that many people, especially college students, can relate to. Everyone can't resist homemade food, especially compared for canned or even processed food, which was also something she pointed out being a good thing. Processed foods since they are made cheaply, fastly, and without any care, can cause many problems to your body. From heart dis...

The goal during the graphic novel process was to do something as relatable as possible. I enjoyed how people drew based off their cultures but I decided to draw about Garfield. Everyone knows who he his, the big fat orange cat. We also know what his favorite things are homemade lasagna and not traditional cat food. I think this is one of the more unique ideas I’ve had in a while because it fits so well between having to make a comic, it being food based, and how it needed to be fairly short. The comic specifically targeted college students, having to rely on food outside of home. People always say that fast food places get sick and tiring after a few months of eating nothing just that. College students say that if they could get some of their parents cooking that they would do it in a heartbeat they miss it that much. Similar to that, Garfield is someone who loves to sleep in when he can and eat food his owner Jon makes him, which sounds a lot like the average college student when ...

  Video Falling in love, Teddy Vaquez had a kid and started a family. However, after he got depressed things took a turn for the worst. After hitting rock bottom, he was approached by a friend, saying that if he needs work he can always cook with him. He soon fell in love with the food cooking process, and soon thought of making foods for his own business. Starting out, Teddy Vaquez didn’t want to be like his competition. Despite only having four items on his menu, he put a twist on them to make each dish unique. One food specifically, the red taco, is what he gets his food truck’s name from. The lack of variety at first repelled customers at first, but through his kindness, he gained more purchases with the offers of free samples. To him, all it takes to get a recurring restaurant is one taste of their food. Whatever you put out into the world is what you get back, and giving people free food will cause other customers to come. He also thinks the key to success is not only being k...

My “aha” moment was very much building up since I saw everyone's project. Seeing people make their assignment about their culture and foods that were very much tied with their identity really made me think about my own culture and identity. Despite my slides being about my life in a meaningful manner, it had nothing to do with the fact that I was black and / or Muslim . Which was something that I was inspired to do after seeing other’s blogs. I decided to get braids for the first time, since I always wanted to get them and I was influenced by everyone else’s connection to their culture. Despite how painful it was to endure the process, It ended up looking pretty good on me. Some of my friends here also agreed and I thought it was something that most people would be on board with. Sadly, it never was like that. I ended up with a lot of stares from not so friendly people. People who just so happen to be white, and most likely from more suburban areas. Places that wouldn’t usually hav...

Slide Presentation https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1SAnYdonKrTS-wjgZezBbxm4--M3CZ5GtmFFLvUpODoo/edit?usp=sharing

 Today I ate a combination of Pizza, Fries, and a mixture of Fanta and Mountain Dew. Pizza is an amazing dish. melted cheese on top of tomato sauce and bread is one of the most popular foods in the world. Which is why it's a shame that I can't enjoy it to what some people say is the fullest. A popular topping among pizza enjoyers is pepperoni, which is made from pork. Being Muslim, its heavily advised to not eat pepperoni, so I can only listen to people's descriptions of the taste. Despite the limitations I continue to try and enjoy one of my favorite foods. I have gotten a handful of people asking me why I would make such a concoction such as Fanta and Mountain Dew, and its because I wanted to make a uniquely tasting beverage. In fact, there have been plenty of times where I have made different combinations of foods just because. Trying to see which pair of drinks go nicely together is a great activity to get creativity flowing. The fries admittedly is the least interestin...