Entry #10: Where is the Love?

During the Superbowl of 2014, a beautiful video aired by the advertisers of Coca-Cola. It consists of people from many different ethnicities singing America the Beautiful in their native tongue. It itself is beautiful. You can watch the video here:

Doesn't this beautiful song make you want to cry because of its magnificence? I loved this video because it showed how much diversity there is in America and how people of all types have joined together. There are people young and old singing this song and everyone is united.

SO why was this controversial? Some people thought it was offensive that the people in the video were not all singing in English. These people who were offended forgot that the United States is a melting pot of different cultures, and that it is not required to be an English speaker to be an American or to be proud to be an American.

The comments that the offended people made were racist and rude. They turned something very beautiful into something that has a ruined meaning for all. The video is about love and unity, not hate and prejudice.

I hope that we will be able to look back at this someday and appreciate the video for it's true meaning and for the great work it took to show the togetherness of all types of people from all over the world.

Entry #9: "Beef" That's Not Exactly Beef

I was introduced to yet another lovely video about the delicious food that we eat. Please, fell free to watch the video below to get caught up to speed.

 

Doesn't this process of food separation sound sooo delicious? No? You're right! This is disgusting! I feel violated learning what I have been eating for so long. Don't you? They use this product in 70% of beef sold in supermarkets across the country. If I had known this was in my food, I would have definitely not signed up for this. Who decided that it was okay to rinse meat with ammonia and feed it to humans anyway? It is outrageous that we are not informed about what is in our food, but what is even more outrageous than that is that they serve this in schools! I can almost say that I should have known better than to trust any of the food that is mass produced, but how can you expect a child to know any better about their food choices? How is this okay? I most certainly believe that it is not!

This "pink slime" has been used in dog food for ages, because dogs have stronger stomachs to fight against diseases, but why are we feeding any kind of diseases to our animals? It's no wonder why people and animals have unknown diseases coming out of "nowhere."

Learning more and more about the food we eat makes me more and more terrified to eat anything! Thank goodness there are organic farms that we can trust to get safe products from! The procedures and hoops they have to go through ensure the highest quality and standards are met. Eat healthy. Eat Organic.

Entry #8: Looking on the Bright Side

"Oh, I just work at Burger King, but I want to be a teacher, so it's just a temporary job," I responded defensively to someone new that I met. I was astonished by his reply, "Don't you dare try to justify yourself because you think that I would judge you." We immediately connected and I learned a lot from him this night. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has been in the situation where the fear of being judged was present. Now, I'm here to tell you that what others think is irrelevant. Always keep in mind the following:

-Accept yourself for who you are. Not a single person is perfect, but we each have our unique qualities that make us who we are, and these qualities should be embraced.

-Be proud of yourself. If you aren't yet proud of yourself, think of your accomplishments in life and continue pushing yourself to accomplish more.

-Don't compare your success to another person's success. You are the only one who has lived your life and been through your obstacles. Success is a figure of your imagination, so you alone can determine your success or failure.

-Do what makes you happy. If what makes you happy is working at a fast food restaurant, then don't let anyone tell you that you should do something differently.

-Forget the people who judge you. Those who judge are unworthy of your presence.

-Always be positive. Even in the worst of situations, a bit of positivity will begin to rectify the issue.

-Surround yourself with people who support you and your goals. Being around people who support you will help you strive further than you've ever imagined.

-Always work toward being the best you that you can be. Be honest to yourself and others and help others whenever you can.

-Money is not the key to happiness. You alone are your own key to happiness, and your happiness is found by pursuing what you love.

Some of this information may be new to you and some of it may be a reminder to help you re-visit the way you think about your life. I know that these words of encouragement have really helped me prosper and keep track of what is important to me, so I can only ask that you pass the knowledge on to someone who could use the words of wisdom to benefit their life.

Entry 7: What the Bleep Did I Just Watch?

Have you ever watched a documentary that changed your life and opened your eyes to things you've never thought of before? Food, Inc. was this movie for me. This movie opened my eyes and made me really think about where we get the food we eat. Have you thought about it? If not, I highly recommend that you watch the video.

In the video, you learn that the animals that make the majority of the meat that we eat are abused and left in overcrowded areas for most of their lives. They are hung by hooks and slaughtered in unsanitary conditions. This is disgusting!

The FDA is led by many government officials who really don't care about our health, but instead care about us supporting their organizations in which they are closely entwined. The businesses don't care about selling a quality or sanitary product to us. Their only concern is that they sell as much product to the consumer at the highest price for the lowest production cost. When people get sick or die from the unsanitary product, the businesses only care about keeping themselves in business and try to brush the illness and deaths "under the rug." Is this how we want businesses run? Isn't it wrong for government officials to work so closely with the big-businesses?

Beside keeping the animals in overcrowded and unsanitary environments, feeding all of the animals corn is another way that the majority of meat industries save money while producing the meat. Corn is a vegetable that has been genetically engineered and is mass-produced and used in many different forms. Did you know that corn is used in almost everything you eat?

Ascorbic Acid, Baking Powder, Brown Sugar, Caramel, Cellulose, Citric Acid, Corn, Corn Meal, Corn Starch, Corn Syrup, Decyl Glucoside, Dextrin, Maltodextrin, Dextrose, Flavoring, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP), Iodized Salt, Magnesium Stearate, Malt, Malt Flavoring, Maltodextrin, Maltose, Mannitol , Modified Food Starch, Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), Polydextrose, Powdered Sugar, Saccharin, Sodium Erythorbate, Sodium Starch Glycolate, Sorbitan, Sorbitol, Starch, Sucralose, Sweet’N Low, Tocopherol, Vanilla Extract, Vinegar, Distilled White, Vitamins, Xanthan Gum, Xylitol, Zein Follow the link to this website for more information.

Some of these ingredients that include corn are very familiar, but over half of them are almost unrecognizable and difficult to pronounce. Doesn't that seem scary? The reason that corn is so widely used is that it has been crossed with a bacteria fighting organism that allows it to be mass produced at the cheapest price possible because it withstands both bacteria and the pesticides used on it.

Pesticides used on corn soak into the vegetable itself, so even if you wash your produce multiple times, you will still be ingesting the pesticides that have made it into the core of the plant. This is one of the reasons why it is very important to eat organic foods.

Going organic helps ensure that people are eating safe products that have not had hard chemicals used on them. If you buy organic meat, you are sure to have meat that has been treated properly without the ammonia baths that the conventional meat companies use. It allows ensures that the animals from which the meat is derived have been allowed a natural organic diet and have been allowed outside environment for the majority of their lives. Going organic is a very important change that anyone with the means to, should do.

Watching this video really changed how I viewed food, and I believe that it is a necessary video for everyone to see. Although the video was disgusting, it was rightfully so.  But the reality is that the video depicted real stories, real events, and showed real "farmhouses" from where we get our food products. If it weren't disgusting, I wouldn't be encouraging myself and others to seek the necessary change in the products we eat. I urge you to watch the video, if you haven't already, and make the change to eating organically!