Norman Borlaug Lecture--"Life's a marathon not a sprint"--Jo luck

On Monday, David Beckmann and Jo Luck came to Iowa State University and spoke to make people more aware on the fight against Global Hunger. I thought this presentation was very interesting and I actually enjoyed watching it. David Beckmann is the president for Bread for the World which is an organization that influences political leaders to end hunger here and also other countries. Beckmann said that it's VERY possible to achieve large impacts on global hunger if we just got the funds from the government and people to help.  They have already convinced the government to increase funding for global hunger and develop more policies and long-term solutions. Since they've started, the membership has almost doubled and the government has almost tripled their assistance. Now 30 million more African children are in schools. I think that this is insane all that one man has accomplished. Some of the things he said were really sad, it made you realize how much people really are in need of food. He said a statistic that really surprised me, "1 in 4 children live in households that run out of food." I think this is really sad and I never realized it before he said it.

Jo Luck was another very inspiring person to listen to. Luck is the president for Heifer International. This organization helps people who are struggling to become self sufficient. They provide families with food and animals to develop their income. Jo Luck said "Passing on a gift to another in need." I think this idea is very cool because there entire organization is based off helping people and doing things for others. Luck told us a lot of her different adventures and crazy things she has had to deal with during her years working for Heifer International and it shows you that she really must have a heart for what she does because most people would just end it after so much. One of the things she shared with us that was interesting was when she asked the people she's helping their top 10 most important things people living like us would probably say material things but the people she was with said things like family, love, peace, spirituality and heath, etc. This shows you how much they are in need because we already are fortunate to have a lot of those things. One of the questions asked in the lecture was what do they do about all the different cultures and environments with the animals because certain animals cannot survive in certain environments. How do they decide who gets what kind of animal. Luck's response was that they have 30 different kind of species so they will put whatever kind works best for that society. 

Overall, I am really glad that I went to this because I learned a lot. 

Blog Critiques

http://blog.ifoodufood.com/

This is the blog that I critiqued. I thought that over all it was very good. I thought that the blog was very organized and her descriptions of the food made it seem like it was in your mouth. One thing I really liked about it was that she took pictures and had them all up on each blog of the food she was critiquing. I thought this just made it very visual and more interesting to read. Another thing I liked was that she had a rating system key on the side. So you knew exactly what she meant by 8-9 or so on because it said exactly what that meant later. The one thing i would have liked to see change is that almost all the reviews were in one city and it might have been kind of cool if she branched out a little.

Waging a Living

Last week we watched the movie, waging a living. I thought this movie was really interesting and I learned a lot about people that are not as lucky as we are with our living situation. It was sad watching the families with kids that had to deal with the poverty because no child should have to live like that. It made me feel really bad for the families and it wasn't always their fault for getting into poverty. I thought the situation of Barbara Brooks was really sad because she was trying so hard to do everything she could for her kids but she couldn't find a better paying job without more education. She gave up all the time she had to go to school and work so that she could give more to her kids. I think that is very inspiring because you don't always see the parent working that hard for their kids in that kind of situation. 

It was really hard to watch the movie because it's hard to believe people actually live like that. I actually thoroughly enjoyed watching this movie because it fascinated me and I never got bored of it.  

Beauty Perception

I found these videos to be very inspirational. I thought this because I found it really cool how a business so involved in the popular media made it apparent that there's a problem with how the media influences individuals. They pointed out how it wasn't alright to fake beauty like that because it can have a very negative affect on the people that look up to media. I think the influence the media has over the public is crazy. People are always comparing themselves to how a person in a magazine looks, a celebrity, or movies.

I think that these videos are a really good thing for the public to see. They show a whole different aspect of the media that I think is really important for people to see. It makes you realize how big of an affect it has on people. It's starting out younger that people are starting to feel the pressure of the media. They make it look like you have to be the perfect size, have the perfect face and hair and that's not a true reality, people can't just be like that. This pressure that it puts on people can change their whole world especially if they obsess on getting that "perfect" body. Some people would do anything to get that, even put themselves at risk. When you reach that point of obsession it can be close to impossible to get yourself to see your body the same again.

As most people know that having an eating disorder is a very serious disease. I find that a lot of the people with this disorder could have been highly prevented without the media's pressures. I think that it's sick how much it can affect people. Not only are eating disorders hard for the person who has one they're hard for every one around them to deal with too. It's hard to watch some one so close do that to themselves and have no control over it. So this is why i think the concept of Dove making videos like this is so cool because it makes people realize that no one actually looks like that and you shouldn't let those fake images affect you.

10 Pieces of advice for the Freshman about the food at ISU

1. Try the salad bar in Seasons its a lot better for you than all the other food and there's a lot of topping choices (meats, dressings, and veggies) to make it the way you like it.

2. Don't get all unhealthy food everyday try to get atleast one piece of fruit or something healthy once a day. It makes you feel a lot better about yourself.

3.Try the Ice cream at seasons they have both ice cream and frozen yogurt. It's really good and there's a lot of topping choices. For example, hot fudge, sprinkles, granola (my favorite), m & m, oreos, cherries, caramel, and many more.

4. Try to actually make your meal plan the amount of meals you will eat per week. You waste a lot of money if you dont use all the meals you have payed for.

5.Switch up the dining centers you eat at a couple times a week. You'll get a lot more sick of the food if you eat at the same place everyday.

6. Buy smaller snacks for inbetween your classes because you wont always be able to get breakfast, lunch and dinner. You'll get hungry between meals also so it's nice to have a little snack with you.

7. Try the fruit containers at the Memorial Union's cafeteria. It usually tastes really fresh and you can eat it with your meal bundle.

8. Don't always drink pop all the time try something healthier especially if you're trying not to gain the freshman 15.

9. Even though the ice cream and deserts are really good try not to eat it at every meal it will only contribute to gaining weight.

10.Try Jeff's pizza atleast once it's a really good midnight snack but it's not good to get in the habit of eating it everynight.

Seasons

Picture from: http://www.iastate.edu/

I live in the Linden residence hall so therefore i eat at Seasons most of the time. My first week I thought that I was in heaven with all the food. There was everything you could think of from sandwiches, salads, pizza, tacos, chicken and of course the immense amount of deserts. I could never decide which to get because they all looked good. Now that i've been here for four weeks I already feel like i need to branch out. I've slowly started to get sick of having close to the same meal every couple of days and now I feel like I have the same or close to the same thing everyday. I get excited to go anywhere but Seasons because i've gotten so sick of it. I have found that if I expand my dining centers I will not be so sick of Seasons all the time and actually want to eat there.

Humorous Essay

One day, Timmy was feeling a little extra mischievous. He decided that it would be funny to play a little prank on the teacher, Mrs. Dopple. He knew the teacher wouldn't like but he wanted a little extra attention from the ladies. He thought he had the most fabulous plan, he would bring his whoopie cushion he had just won at the school carnival. Before class had started he set the whoopie cushion under the cushion of her seat. Everyone in the class stopped giggling when they saw that the teacher was about to enter the classroom. Every one except for little Dotty in the back. Dotty could not stop giggling so the teacher knew that something was up. She instantly turned towards Timmy and said, "What did you do this time Timmy?" Timmy responded, "I didn't do anything". Mrs. Dopple knew not to believe him so she told the class, "I'm going to sit down and we'll sit in silence until someone tells me what's going on". So Mrs. Dopple sat on her seat and all everyone hear was a huge, loud, fart. Everyone laughed including Mrs. Dopple until Timmy was immediately sent to the principals office.