Our Final Days of the Semester

Posted on December 15, 2015 by LindaJeane Delfini

This semester has proven to be a very interesting one. After choosing a Microbiology LC as my first choice, and then being put into LC 13, I was extremely nervous for my first semester of college. I was not sure what to expect. Wanting to become a nurse, I’m not sure what the food history of New York City would provide me with. However, the semester has deemed itself very insightful. I am grateful for all of the interesting things that both the Psychology class, and the history class has taught me. I was fascinated to learn why we eat and drink the things we do, and how eating disorders come about. Being a native New Yorker, I was shocked to learn how vital oysters were in New York City’s food and goods exchange. If it was not for oysters, New York may not be as popular as it is today. I am extremely grateful for all of things I have learned this semester, and now I can learn ways to apply them to my everyday life. Thank you LC 13!

Garcinia Cambogia

Posted on December 15, 2015 by LindaJeane Delfini

Recently for a paper that I wrote in psychology class, I studied the plant, Garcinia Cambogia. I chose Garcinia Cambogia because of how popular the product is in the media, in health food stores, and how heavily promoted it is by celebrities. I thought that this product had to work due to its popularity or “hype” by the media, and brand names like GNC Health store, and the Dr. Oz Show. I even considered buying the product at some point to help me lose those extra five pounds I have been struggling with losing. So, I thought it would be a great product to research, potentially finding a resource to help me lose some weight!

So I began to search for some information and I what I found was very disappointing. Using Medline and PsychInfo databases, instantly several articles came up on Garcinia Cambogia’s ineffectiveness. it is astonishing how the media could portray this plant as a weight loss god meanwhile it may even have terrible side effects to your health. Although some research came up that Garcinia Cambogia may hinder obesity-promoting genes, it is not true as the media promotes that it will make you lose all of your excess fat.

After listening to the rest of the classes projects on “super foods” (for those of us who are trying to lose weight) I have come to the conclusion that no food, or diet plan will make all of the fat disappear! Rather, in order to lose weight we need to eat a balanced diet, and exercise daily.

Iron

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Shannon Bailey

As I mentioned in an earlier entry, I work at a camp that doesn’t offer a lot of variety in food. As a result sometimes I don’t get enough nutrients or make the best decisions when it comes to meal time. Sometimes this is a struggle medically. When I don’t eat right the regular blood tests that I go for typically show something as being out of whack. Because I’m a legal adult and they don’t leave messages on my mom’s answering machine anymore, they call my cell phone instead. This used to be convenient, but now it just seems as if my doctor is another parent. The most common issue that I have is that my iron levels are low. I’m normally pretty anemic, but when there’s a big jump in numbers they ask me to make changes in my daily routine. For one I take supplements, which help out a lot, but I often forget to take them. The other way to increase iron intake is to change your diet. This was something that I kept in mind while watching all of the food presentations in psychology. I normally eat spinach, almonds, and try to eat red meat, but sometimes it just isn’t available. So thank you to those of you that gave presentations which touched on your food’s iron content or lack there of. It was helpful!

Shannon

Hot Dog Carts in New York City

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Vincent Salerno

Two weeks ago, I did research on hot dog carts in New York City. Hot dog carts can be traced all the way back to the late 19^th century and early 20^th century. I discovered that in the 1870s, a man by the name of Charles Feltman opened up his Ocean pavilion beer garden located in Coney Island. Later on, a young employee of Charles named Nathan Handwerker opened up his own hot dog stand, and he sold his hot dogs at a cheaper price of 5 cents a hot dog. Nathan’s hot dog stand grew into a multimillion dollar business and his hot dog stand located in Coney Island continues to sell more than a million hot dogs a year. When I visit New York City, I always get a hot dog from these food carts. These boiled hot dogs are the most delicious hot dogs that I have ever eaten. Now, hot dog vendors have started to change; these vendors now sell new types of hot dogs and foods such as halal. The new type of hot dog that people in New York City are now raving about are grilled ones. Many people in New York are looking for healthier food options for themselves and their kids. This is why hot dog carts around the city are offering these new food items besides unhealthy pretzels and boiled hot dogs. The hot dog stand is a well suited symbol to represent the cuisine of New York City. The hot dog stand business has changed dramatically over the past twenty years and who knows how it will evolve and change in the near future.

LC13

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Genesis Rivas

For my last post on our Citizen Appetites blog, I decided to write about my experiences in LC13 here at Wagner College. When I chose this LC I had no idea what to expect from the classes I would be taking. All I knew was that I was a food lover and anything related to food interested me. It was interesting once I got into my classes how much knowledge could be gained from looking at the world through a food lens. The history of food and food ways has been used to uncover the history of New York City. I learned about New York City history dating back to the Lenape Indians. I particularly enjoyed my psychology class because I like knowing about why humans and animals do what they do. Within our psych class we learned about food and nutrition and the interactions these things have with humans. After our lessons in our psychology class, I would leave and apply lessons I learned to my own eating habits and friends eating habits. Most recently my friend decided to tell me that I should not be eating so many potatoes because carbs are “bad for you”. However, I learned that this idea that carbs are bad for you is false. What really matters is how much you consume of that food. The lessons I learned in my LC are ones that I am grateful for learning and knowing about because it knowledge that can be applied to everyone’s lives. As humans, we all need food to survive. It was interesting learning in depth about food and its connections with history and psychology.

Here’s a picture from orientation weekend at Wagner with some of us in LC13. Happy Holidays to everyone, this semester has been a fun ride! 🙂

The Halal Guys

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Genesis Rivas

Being a native New Yorker, I have always heard about the famous Halal Guys and how great their food was. However, I never actually experienced or tasted their food. After recently having a history paper where we had to look into the changing food ways of New York City, I looked into the history of the Halal Guys and realized that they have truly influenced and changed the food industry not just in New York, but nationwide. A New York Times article, states that these three Egyptian immigrants who started the Halal Guys initially started their food cart as a hot dog stand. Yet once they discovered the demand for good halal food from the immigrant cab drivers, they began a new revolutionary business. These three men created a small food cart and have turned it into a huge franchise that is going to be available in parts all around America and even in European countries. What most amazed me the most about the history of the Halal Guys was the role of immigration and how much it impacted this business. The migration of all the Egyptian, Bangladeshi, and Afghan people into New York can be seen as an influential factor in the success of these food carts. The Halal Guys cater to this specific group of people because of the way they cook their food. Another New York times article says that they use halal cooking methods which means that they cook their food in mannerisms that follow the Muslim Koran. Although, when this business began they initially targeted those immigrant cab drivers, it became something that was desired by all kinds of people. These halal food carts are infamous for having their longest lines late at night serving all those young people who spent their nights partying in New York City clubs. Their huge success depicts a change in New York City food ways. We embrace a more ethnic food culture and that is something that I find truly great about living in New York. In my opinion I love living in a place that is a known as a huge melting pot that allows for any one and everyone to make something of themselves no matter where they come from.

Yogurt

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Shannon Bailey

I’ve been on the search for a yogurt that I like. It’s a strange mission, but I’ve found that the only time I’ve ever enjoyed it was when it wasn’t sweet. I’ve had yogurt in Europe that I’ve liked, but I don’t know any of the names, nor where I could even find them in the US! Because I live here and not in Europe, I’ve tried many yogurts in an attempt to find one that I would replace the product that I had come to love. The problem is that after years

5f5f9e4e-61f0-4413-8200-4b6224f033bb of searching, I still haven’t found one. The sweetness that is prevalent in many brand name yogurts in our supermarkets is just too much for me to enjoy them. In my hunt, I had believed I had found an alternative. The most important factor was that I wasn’t disgusted by the amount of sugar in the
product. I would rather eat something bitter, than something overly sweet. I prefer dark chocolate as well, which may not come as a surprise. When I was lookingI came across Siggi’s. It is marketed as being an Icelandic yogurt with less sugar. The creator of this yogurt, who’s name I assume is Siggi, claims to have started making their own yogurt because they missed the 4dc239da-c335-4d72-bf7f-25c1dd37e0a7 yogurt that they had enjoyed from home. Created on the principle that yogurt should have subtle flavor and less sugar, the yogurt was soon being marketed in the United States. This yogurt is actually called skyr and has a traditional part of an Icelandic diet for more than 1,000 years.

When I tried the yogurt, I was pleased to find that it was much closer to the yogurt I had wanted. It wasn’t too sweet, and there wasn’t overwhelming flavor. But, one thing that I didn’t like was the consistency. Since it is skyr and is made by straining away the water that is in many other yogurts, it has four times the regular amount of milk in a cup of yogurt. This means that it is much thicker. Unlike the dining hall yogurt that many of you may know, this yogurt is closer to a mix between that yogurt, and cream cheese. This was deterring to me. I like the taste of the yogurt? But why couldn’t I enjoy eating it? The thickness was just too much. It reminded me of when dairy products go bad. It almost made me nervous. This type of response is similar to our discussion in psychology about mechanisms that our body uses in order to keep us safe from spoiled food. Unlike other times, this smelled okay and was pleasant, but I just couldn’t get over it. Once again I am kept from enjoying yogurt!

Shannon

Oxfam American Hunger Banquet

Posted on December 13, 2015 by Vincent Salerno

Last week, my classmates and I attended the Oxfam American Hunger Banquet that was held at Wagner College. When my class walked into the teachers’ dining hall, we were all assigned to different seats. Some students were assigned to a table that had salads, pitchers of soda, and glass plates. Other students were told to sit in the corner on the floor, while a few other students such as myself were assigned to sit at a table that had nothing on it. I began to become curious as to what was going on. When the banquet began, I found out that my table represented the middle class in society, and the students who were sitting on the floor represented the lower class in society. A couple of minutes later, it was revealed that the students who were sitting at the table that had many items represented the upper class in society. That night, I learned that people in the lower class have a genuine struggle to acquire food. Many of these people do not even know when their next meal is going to be. In fact, many people in the lower class have an entire family to feed. Not having money or a plentiful amount of food resources makes it a constant struggle for these people to feed their families and themselves on a consistent basis. Throughout the banquet, some students either moved up or down the social class ladder. I learned that these changes in social class can happen at any moment in a person’s life. Just because people have wealth the majority of their lives does not mean that they will be rich for the remainder of their lives. That night, I learned that peoples’ lives can ultimately change in a matter of a day. People may be rich one day, but the next day, they could lose all of their money. As a result, these people will now struggle to feed themselves and their families. At the end of the banquet’s presentation, the students who still represented the middle class ate plain pasta and drank water from a plastic cup. The students who remained in the lower class had to eat rice and beans out of a plastic cup. The students who remained in the upper class at the end of the banquet had a feast; they ate chicken, pasta with sauce, salad, and they drank soda and water out of glass cups. The Oxfam American Hunger Banquet was truly a wonderful experience for me. I went home informed about how much people in the lower class struggle to provide food for themselves and their families, and I also went home in awe that a person could be rich or poor one day, but the next day their life can either change for better or worse.

This was the card given to me when I arrived to the banquet.

Thanksgiving

Posted on December 13, 2015 by Vincent Salerno

Two weeks ago, my family and I celebrated Thanksgiving with each other. Every year my family all heads over to my aunt’s house in Brooklyn to enjoy our Thanksgiving meal. Each year my family plays football at the local high school across the street from where my aunt lives. This year, my team won (just as we have done the previous two years), but I was not the most valuable player and instead my cousin received that accolade. After the game, my family all went back to my aunts house to get cleaned up. Later, while the men where downstairs, my aunt and mother would were in the kitchen preparing the Thanksgiving feast that my whole family was about to enjoy. When dinner was ready, my whole family gathered in the living room upstairs and we were all told where we would sit. Even though I am 18 years old, I still had to sit at the folding table otherwise known as the dreaded “kiddie table”. That night my aunt and mother prepared all types of food including turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and corn bread. This year I decided to join my cousin and grab a turkey leg that was almost the size of my head. I did not show any table manners that night and I ate that turkey leg with my hands the way people during the Medieval Period would have. After eating, I went downstairs with the rest of the men in my family and we watched football together. We were all slouched on the couch and we were so tired after eating all of that delicious food. My family later went upstairs for dessert, which included a birthday cake for my cousin, as well as a strawberry cheesecake. The only part of that night that I did not enjoy was that I had to go to work later that night and I didn’t even get out of work until 3 o’clock in the morning. I am definitely looking forward to next years Thanksgiving feast with my family and hopefully I am not working that night as I did this year.

This was my dish on Thanksgiving

Holiday Market in the Garment District

Posted on December 10, 2015 by Cheryl Manole

On Wednesday, Anna and I went into Manhattan. We went to go visit Macy’s and do some Christmas shopping. However, as we were leaving Macy’s we stumbled upon a small street market. Two blocks had a line of small booths that contained clothes and also a variety of foods. The different foods included were empanadas, macroons, and wine. In fact, there was a separate wine section that was a part of the second block. The whole market was not that busy, but the wi 917 ne sections definitely had some business.

This mo 916 dern day market reminded me of the markets we learned about in Dr.Smith’s class. Even though they do not feature the same format or foods, they are definitely a place for vendors to share their goods.

All in all, even though Anna and I just skimmed the market, the spontaneity of the market made it really fun to look through. The entirety of the market showcased the variety of New York City and how it is truly a melting pot.