Evaluation Project

The main project I participated was to be part of the global group. The best thing of being part of this group is that I was able to share my life stories with students from all over the world. I felt more connected because most of the students who became part of this group were international students. It was so interesting gleaning some of their stories and life of where they came from. At first, we were all excited to make a big impact in the world. However, we didn’t expect it was going to be so hard, but we tried our best. 

Hannah Roquemore had the great idea to help the organization World Hunger Relief. Their mission was to alleviate hunger around the world by developing sustainable farming techniques. One of the greatest things we had as a group was the great communication and all of us took the time and consideration to help this great cause. In addition, Elizabeth Ross who was the coordinator of the farm was so nice and helpful in all the things we needed and the organization overall. However, because the farm was in Waco, Texas and financial was our main concern, we couldn’t go. Hopefully in the future, we need to further research about traveling fees and other things, such as getting the permission from Honors College to go as a group.

The second project I was part of was the Food Bank and I had so much fun! Interacting with other fellow students and helping this great cause was so uplifting. I learned so much from this project. For instance, now I’m more concerned to check the dates on my food, something I never thought of. We were so pumped up, time went really fast! I was so impressed that the Food Bank is so organized and supportive. What they do as a company in changing people’s lives and their mission to fight hunger in Texas is astonishing…

The United States contributes incredibly in hunger issues. However, other countries like Mexico do not get the support from the government neither from the community to make big changes. Today in Mexico, there is extreme hunger in poor communities but what concerns me the most is the children. Every traffic light in Mexico City, you see children from the ages of three to fifteen years asking for money, doing acrobatic activities or even dressed as clowns to get 5 cents in their pocket to get something to eat.  It is devastating watching this every day, but the most horrible thing is that these kids are being watch by their parents or guardians to make money and these guardians spend it on drugs or alcohol. I believe they need to have new regulations and laws that can help these young children.

This class was one of the most satisfying classes I have ever taken. As a group we achieve many things locally and in UTSA. Though, it is difficult to make big changes globally. We might get ten people contributing, but ten people in the world is nothing. I believe the World Hunger Relief Farm was a great idea, but if we had more time implementing this project then it could’ve been more successful.  Some of the strengths are that we had strong communication and great diversity, which helped the group share ideas, skills and objectives. One of the weaknesses is that we were not sure how to contribute globally, as a result time consistency made it difficult to make our decisions in an efficiently time matter. Also, costs of the project slow down our objective and people from our global group loss hope. Expenses to travel to Waco Texas, for instant gasoline for only two people meant they had to pay 50 dollars each. It made it too expensive and difficult for everybody to achieve this goal.

It is hard to give a grade to our global group because we could not make our project come true. However, I believe our effort to contribute and help this cause was important. I felt really bad we could not go, so we made a letter apologizing to the Hunger Relief Farm. In addition, we made a small donation to their organization for any inconveniences we caused for not going and the entire members signed the letter.

I want to thank you for opening the doors to your home. It was so nice sharing food and having conversations with you and other students. I felt closer with everybody and it was so nice having reunions with other students. Your stories and traveling experiences made me desire more to go travel around the world! You are one of the most wonderful professors I have ever met. Keep doing this because the way you talk and care about the students will make a big impact in our lives not only in school but personally as well.

Thank you…

Takilicious!

            Being a proud Mexican, I love hot and spicy food and the hotter the better. One of my favorite snacks is Takis Fuego. “They are mini corn tortilla chips that are rolled up like a little taco.” But the taste is so addicting that it is almost like a drug.  You eat one, it’s hot, but you still want another one!  Some of my friends even call them Takilicious! The hot chilli pepper combined with the lime flavored makes your tongue burn for a few seconds and every time you take a bite you feel the real crunch.

            Takis chips have been in Mexico for a long time, I will say about 15 years, but it hit the United States until 2008. After all of these years, more people are becoming addicted to these snacks. Children, teenagers and even adults have change from Cheetos to Takis. Furthermore, the company made more than six types of chips. From Takis Fuego, Takis BBQ, Takis Nitro, Takis Guacamole, Takis Cruncy Fajita, and Takis Salsa Brava. It doesn’t matter which one is your favorite, you eat one and you will finish the bag in ten minutes!  Even people who have tried it for the first time have said, “Oh my gosh! I never tasted anything this yummy before.” 

       From the website TakisUsa.com, the corporation Barcel, “is an exciting, young and fast-growing, consumer packaged goods company based out of Coppell, Texas with presence in the U.S. largest markets. They manufacture, distribute and sell a great selection of innovative candy, cookies and snack, offering a mix of very original sweet and spicy products with varying degrees of intensity and sweetness. Just perfect for anyone wanting to amuse their sweet and salty taste buds with extraordinary experiences that break the rules!” With immense marketing on Facebook, they have reached more than 1.5 million likes.

So what are the secret ingredients of these chips? Takis Fuego “are made from corn, palm oil, seasoning that includes salt sugar, natural flavors citric acid soy protein, yeast extract, monosodium glutamate, maltodextrin, dodium diacetate, vegetal oil, artificial flavors, onion powder, and extractive of chilli.” However, I noticed something very peculiar, it says it contains Silicon Dioxide which is “an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula of SIO₂ and it is commonly found in sand or quartz.” In addition, this chemical compound is primarily used for the production of glass for windows, drinking glasses, and beverage bottles. First it didn't sound like a kind of food I would like to eat, but after doing more research I was amazed that I totally confused silicon with silicone. When I first read the word, I was thinking more of rubber than food, but silicon is a very important form of food, for the reason that it helps the development of bones and it keeps maintain a healthier skin, hair and nails. Furthermore, you can find silicon in oranges, apples, cherries, cucumber, lettuce and even raisins.

Another ingredient is Sodium Bicarbonate and it was added to the chips to relieve heartburn, maybe because these chips are so spicy it might be very tough to digest. Sodium Guanylate is a flavor enhancer that causes the food to taste in the whole mouth. Sodium Inosinate and Silicon Dioxide are just a common additive in the production of foods, primarily in powdered foods.  Maybe the words of the ingredients sounded too complicated that I didn’t think it as “food”, rather I was thinking they were just chemicals. However I guess the chips need these types of ingredients so they can taste amazingly good!

Tender at the Bone

            Since the beginning of the book, Ruth had a very complicated relationship with her delusional mother, known as the Queen of Mold. Her mother brought chaos to the family and her culinary disasters of poisoning the entire guest in her son’s engagement party from was unbelievable. All of her journey with her family was dysfunctional, but it helped Ruth find comfort wherever you are.

            With her notorious family Ruth felt lonely. As a result, she had insecurities throughout her life and constantly trying to discover her identity. Fortunately, it helped Ruth find love and affection through food preparation with other people.

Feeding her friends was her primary joy. When she was in high school, she made the devil’s food cake for a boy. In this way the temptation to try new things and connecting food with affection helped her to be a stronger girl. Later on in college, she learned to make coconut bread with her roommate’s Caribbean mother. Each of the food descriptions are mouthwateringly defined and all of her recipes helped me understand her personal adventure. Her sweetness to get along with everybody and expressing herself creatively in the kitchen was marvelous.

Building her education and traveling to North Africa and Europe, she got the freedom to let go and have some fun! Finally, when she attended the University of Michigan, she found the love of her life, Douglas Hollis, who helped her in her adventures and astonishing meals.

Moving to Berkeley, California and working in a restaurant, in which the whole entire staff cooked, this is when her journey and passion for food became more solid. Serving vintage ‘70s dishes, is when she became part of the Culinary Revolution movement. Most of the experts believe the Culinary Revolution started with Alice Waters, who is the owner of Chez Panisse a restaurant in this city. The values of food changed and also her ideas. Consequently, “the mantra of using fresh, local, and seasonal ingredients,” helped Ruth change the meals she served throughout her life. Having a better understanding about food, she achieved a deeper level of emotion and maturity.

Her joy and pleasure to cook amazing dishes and discovering new products is something humans usually find comfort.  I remember two years ago, I gained 25 pounds. I didn’t know how, but it was incredibly fast that I didn’t notice I was overweight! After this incredible shock, I started finding simple and quick ways to help in my diet. A few days later, I drove by Stone Oak and I looked at a store named My Fit Food, so I decided to go in. This store was build with 5 refrigerators that contained packed foods. Eventually, one of the employees explained that they are high quality nutritious meals that are 90% gluten free. Most of the time, people buy the plates (packages) each week, but everything sounded too good to be true.  Having thousand of options for people who had pressed schedules was a perfect idea. I asked the guy that if I choose to eat only My Fit Food for one month, how much weight I was going to lose, including exercise. As he replied, “mmm.. maybe like 3 pounds…” WHAT! That means each of the plate costs around $9.25 times 21 meal containers that I will eat for a week will cost me around $300 dollars! Times four weeks will come to a total of $1,200. Okay… let’s go to plan B. I decided to buy my own food at the grocery market and started making my own meals. After a few months, I was so happy because I found comfort with food in healthy and simple ways. I learned 10 different ways to eat and prepare tuna, and just like Ruth, I began a new journey with food.  

Later on, Ruth becomes a cook in a community in California, where she makes an unforgettable Thanksgiving dinner entirely from supermarket discards. However, this is when her fear comes back. She was worried that the same thing will happen, poisoning a meal like her mother did. Thankfully, everything turned out just right.

It was so fascinating to see how many people she met and cared for influenced the way she felt about food. With all the relationships and fears she overcome, it shaped her future to be one of the most famous restaurant critics in the world. One of her most famous quotes is, “The cook doesn't want to be locked away in the kitchen anymore. He or she wants to be around the guests ... That means that kitchen appliances suddenly become like a sofa and table ? Things that everybody is going to look at, I think it's a real indication of where we are in food culture today.” (Ruth Reichl). 

Angelica Romero