Food Diary
Day 1: Normal Day of Eating
The menu for today represents a fairly normal day of eating for me. As I payed more attention to the labels I realized how the majority of what I eat are fairly processed foods, even though I consider them decently "healthy". Also having now read Pandora's Lunchbox by Melanie Warner, the once bizarre sounding added ingredients on the back of food packages are starting to sound familiar, like the xanthan gum (a processed food stabilizer) in my breakfast shake. I also now understand that the "Natural and Artificial flavors" label on the back of instant oatmeal is most likely an umbrella term that covers lots of different flavor additives that have been intensely fine tuned.
Breakfast
- Chocolate meal shake with added PB2 powder (dehydrated peanut butter)
Lunch
- Two packets of Quaker Oats instant maple sugar oatmeal
- Meijer brand Colby jack cheese stick
- A bag of green grapes
- A Green tea lemonade from Starbucks (not pictured)
Snack
- Triple berry Kefir cultured milk
Dinner
- Ravioli and marinara sauce
- Sweet Corn
The menu for today represents a fairly normal day of eating for me. As I payed more attention to the labels I realized how the majority of what I eat are fairly processed foods, even though I consider them decently "healthy". Also having now read Pandora's Lunchbox by Melanie Warner, the once bizarre sounding added ingredients on the back of food packages are starting to sound familiar, like the xanthan gum (a processed food stabilizer) in my breakfast shake. I also now understand that the "Natural and Artificial flavors" label on the back of instant oatmeal is most likely an umbrella term that covers lots of different flavor additives that have been intensely fine tuned.
Breakfast
- Chocolate meal shake with added PB2 powder (dehydrated peanut butter)
Lunch
- Two packets of Quaker Oats instant maple sugar oatmeal
- Meijer brand Colby jack cheese stick
- A bag of green grapes
- A Green tea lemonade from Starbucks (not pictured)
Snack
- Triple berry Kefir cultured milk
Dinner
- Ravioli and marinara sauce
- Sweet Corn
Day 2: No processed foods allowed (if possible)!
It ended up being a lot harder trying to eat only non or minimally processed foods than I thought it would be. The majority of this stuff I did already have at home (except the black beans) but it was a little tough turning these minimal ingredients into meals. Dinner ended up being a hodge podge of different foods in an attempt to just fill up on something. The only food on the list that seems moderately processed was the Seeds of Change Whole Grain rice mix as on the back it says it does contain soy lectin and other additives. Bread was definitely out of the question as the back of my whole grain bread packaging listed upwards of 20 ingredients, many of which I didn't recognize. After actively trying to avoid processed foods it made me realize how prevalent soy based additives are in everyday staples, which is what Melanie Warner pointed out in her chapter "The Joy of Soy". My bread, pesto, peanut butter, and pasta all contained some version of soy which before reading Pandora's lunchbox would have surprised me. Now that I better understanding the highly subsidized and prevalent soy industry I think it would almost be harder to find a processed product that doesn't contain some soy derivative.
Breakfast
- Peanut butter paste made from PB2 and water
- A green apple
Lunch
- Eggs with salt and pepper
- grapes
Dinner
- Seeds of Change Seven Whole Grains rice and quinoa mix
- Steamed corn
- black beans
- shrimp
It ended up being a lot harder trying to eat only non or minimally processed foods than I thought it would be. The majority of this stuff I did already have at home (except the black beans) but it was a little tough turning these minimal ingredients into meals. Dinner ended up being a hodge podge of different foods in an attempt to just fill up on something. The only food on the list that seems moderately processed was the Seeds of Change Whole Grain rice mix as on the back it says it does contain soy lectin and other additives. Bread was definitely out of the question as the back of my whole grain bread packaging listed upwards of 20 ingredients, many of which I didn't recognize. After actively trying to avoid processed foods it made me realize how prevalent soy based additives are in everyday staples, which is what Melanie Warner pointed out in her chapter "The Joy of Soy". My bread, pesto, peanut butter, and pasta all contained some version of soy which before reading Pandora's lunchbox would have surprised me. Now that I better understanding the highly subsidized and prevalent soy industry I think it would almost be harder to find a processed product that doesn't contain some soy derivative.
Breakfast
- Peanut butter paste made from PB2 and water
- A green apple
Lunch
- Eggs with salt and pepper
- grapes
Dinner
- Seeds of Change Seven Whole Grains rice and quinoa mix
- Steamed corn
- black beans
- shrimp
What can we infer from the fridge?
Not gonna lie, it wasn't the most comfortable situation walking around trying to find someone who would let me photograph their fridge. I went back to my hometown for the remainder of the week and I decided to scope out the neighborhoods across the street from my own. I felt fairly uneasy as I approached the porch, trying to figure out the least awkward way to break the ice. Despite my worries, I lucked out. The first door I knocked on belonged to a friendly and welcoming older couple who after some brief explanation were more than willing to take part in this assignment. However, the woman was a bit embarrassed when I told her they wouldn't be allowed to tidy anything up before I took the picture. Nevertheless she complied with a smile. We made small talk, I took the photo, thanked them, then said goodbye.
It is fairly easy to make assumptions about someone after a brief interaction like the one we shared. However, I am going to try and maintain objectivity and try to make assumptions more based on what I see in the photos than what we discussed in person. The large quantity of opened and half used dressings in the bottom shelf of the fridge reminded me of my own collection. I wonder how many of them have "expired" as I know I am not the best when it comes to checking labels. I wonder how many of them contain "natural and artificial flavors" like the ones Warner mentions in Pandora's lunchbox. There are quite a few frozen dishes in the freezer, like sweet potato fries and salmon, which leads me to believe they might not spend the most time preparing their meals. Maybe they are now accustomed to these quick dishes, which have become more popular overtime which Shapiro notes in Something From the Oven. However, I didn't glance in their pantry or cupboard which my be chock full of fresh ingredients. Also, who knows, maybe they are expecting company and grabbed some easy dishes that they knew lots of people would enjoy.
I look at this fridge and freezer and I get the impression that they try to eat fairly healthy. There are a lot of frozen veggies and fruits, eggs, yogurt, carrots, etc. They also have cage free eggs and natural peanut butter; perhaps they are trying to be more aware of what kinds of foods they buy. I also notice the Brita filter, which I know can be decently pricey. This makes me think they might live comfortably which would impact their grocery shopping habits from an economic standpoint.
It's honestly fairly difficult to try and make assumptions about someone based on their fridge as there are so many factors that could impact what food they happen to have they day. Are they busier than usual? Did they just have friends over? Did they just start a new diet?
I wonder what my fridge says about me.
It is fairly easy to make assumptions about someone after a brief interaction like the one we shared. However, I am going to try and maintain objectivity and try to make assumptions more based on what I see in the photos than what we discussed in person. The large quantity of opened and half used dressings in the bottom shelf of the fridge reminded me of my own collection. I wonder how many of them have "expired" as I know I am not the best when it comes to checking labels. I wonder how many of them contain "natural and artificial flavors" like the ones Warner mentions in Pandora's lunchbox. There are quite a few frozen dishes in the freezer, like sweet potato fries and salmon, which leads me to believe they might not spend the most time preparing their meals. Maybe they are now accustomed to these quick dishes, which have become more popular overtime which Shapiro notes in Something From the Oven. However, I didn't glance in their pantry or cupboard which my be chock full of fresh ingredients. Also, who knows, maybe they are expecting company and grabbed some easy dishes that they knew lots of people would enjoy.
I look at this fridge and freezer and I get the impression that they try to eat fairly healthy. There are a lot of frozen veggies and fruits, eggs, yogurt, carrots, etc. They also have cage free eggs and natural peanut butter; perhaps they are trying to be more aware of what kinds of foods they buy. I also notice the Brita filter, which I know can be decently pricey. This makes me think they might live comfortably which would impact their grocery shopping habits from an economic standpoint.
It's honestly fairly difficult to try and make assumptions about someone based on their fridge as there are so many factors that could impact what food they happen to have they day. Are they busier than usual? Did they just have friends over? Did they just start a new diet?
I wonder what my fridge says about me.