Text Wrestling Essay

Lauren Santos

English 11

Ms. Pappas

November 19, 2009

“Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch”

In “Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch”, Michael Pollan demonstrates the reasons for the decline of home cooking and the rise of processed foods, by taking the reader on a journey from the origins of cooking to it’s future. From the Stone Age to Julia Child, to ‘drive-thru supermarkets’, cooking and food in general has been a large part of not only American culture, but also a large part of our world’s culture.

In 1963, “The French Chef” starring Julia Child first appeared on the small screen. Julia brought cooking to life for viewers everywhere, taking the fear out of cooking culinary masterpieces. Child encouraged her audience to take chances and make mistakes because in the kitchen “Whooooo is going to see?” sings Child. “The French Chef” was taped live and broadcast un-edited and un-cut, unlike the shows seen on the Food Network today. On the Food Network, chefs such as Emeril, Rachael Ray, Sandra Lee, and Ina Garten bring cooking to nearly one-hundred million homes in America every day. Pollan wonders why people are so eager to watch someone glaze a ham on television, but not willing to do it themselves.

The Food Network means different things for different people. Some people like to watch for the dramatic competitions of “Iron Chef”, or how to stretch a chicken breast from now until Easter, or the inside hints on where the best BBQ in Tennessee is. For me, Food Network is all about creativity, watching the chefs cook and then doing it myself, unlike most American’s today. I like to add things to their recipes to make them my own. Not only do I make the recipes but I like to do the table setting, and tell others about fun food facts. Cooking is my hobby that I love to share with everyone. Maybe I’ll be the one to save home-cooking from its predicted demise.

The food companies persuade us to allow them to cook, so we can go do the ‘important’ things in life. The latest T.V. dinners such as Lean Cuisine© and Hungry Man©, are always advertised on the Food Network. “TV dinners plant us exactly where television always wants us: in front of the set, watching.” says Pollan. He then argues that watching the Food Network does not mean we are learning anything as viewers did with Child, and it certainly does not mean we are going to bounce up and make a five course dinner. “The skills celebrated on the Food Network in prime time are precisely the skills necessary to succeed on the Food Network in prime time.” Cooking shows only take the social anxiety out of ordering a fancy dish, when dining out at a fancy restaurant; the shows don’t give us tips on cooking it ourselves.

The average American spends twenty-seven minutes a day on meal preparation and cooking, and four minutes for clean up. That is less time then it takes to watch one episode of “The Next Food Network Star”. With the decline of home-cooking it is a surprise that the Food Network is one of the top-watched channels on television. Most people are happy to be rid of the monotonous rituals of cooking and favor having the task done for them. However, others are not ready to give up the emotional ties to cooking. So by talking about memories as we are watching a chicken roast on television, our emotional ties to the warmth of cooking fill the empty hole that the anti-cooking thoughts left in their destructive path through our lifestyle.

If you think hard enough, I bet you can remember at least one happy memory involving cooking or eating. Whether it was the family at Thanksgiving, or sneaking one of Santa’s cookies off the stove before you got caught, we all have happy memories in the kitchen. There is one memory that really sticks in my memory. Whenever I used to sleep over my Nana’s house, I was always greeted by the smell of eggs and toast early in the morning. The “fluffy-duffy” was a scrambled egg cooked in a circular mug in the microwave. Nana knew how to do it just right and when she passed, so did the recipe. No matter how hard I try, I can’t get my “fluffy-duffy” to taste like hers did. Maybe I’m missing butter?

But why has there been such a decline in home cooking? The rise of fast food, take out, processed foods, and TV dinners, along with our busy work-laden lifestyles, have greatly contributed to the steady decline of home cooked meals. The rise of women in the workforce has been a large factor in this process. After a long day at work, most women just want to relax and spend time with their families. So they turn to the built in ‘helpers’ in society, for Example, Chicken Pot Pie, a wonderful classic dish of Americana. In the early 1900’s the recipe was a little different then it is now. The chef would raise a chicken, kill said chicken, grow vegetables, milk cows, churn butter, and bake their own dough. Today, frozen pie crust, frozen vegetables, and frozen chicken, with jarred gravy are the main ingredients, with portion size and vegetable content lacking, all these pre-made and frozen meal helpers, not only are damaging to America’s current reputation for avoidance of home cooking but many times, are not the most nutritious offerings.

Cooking from scratch is very different today then it was thirty years ago, “Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee” is a perfect example. This is one of the only people on Earth that gets paid to teach people how to open a box of brownie mix, add an egg, and stir. These kind of ‘dump and stir’ shows gives cooking a bad name. Until recently, even I didn’t realize that opening a jar of premade spaghetti sauce and boiling a box of spaghetti noodles wasn’t cooking. But there is one thing that absolutely has to be made from scratch- well, sort of. I am known in my family to have the absolute best apple pie. I know what you are thinking, “ok frozen pie crust, and apple pie filling.”Right? Wrong. I make the crust from scratch, cut the apples by hand, and flavor them too; this is definitely no store-bought pie!

Cooking helped advance human civilization and human evolution. The discovery of fire in the Stone Age helped humans with their nutrition, and their egos. The idea of cooking made man superior to animals, man could eat warm, cooked animals and somehow feel at the top of the food chain, using fire for light, heat, and power. On the topic of evolution, cooking enriched our brains and shrunk the guts of our ancestors via a loss of parasitic infection in raw meat. Soon after the discovery of cooking came the practice of eating together at a set time and place. Sharing, and the introduction of ‘table manners’ further separated us from animals; humans had become the “cooking animal”.

There are shows on television geared towards men like, “This Old House”, “Dirty Jobs”, and “Cops”. But one Food Network show is the show of all guy shows, “Boy Meets Grill”. From the age of homo-sapiens, we have been obsessed with fire. Cooking with fire, playing with fire, and hey, even eating fire! But macho men everywhere, are obsessed with the grill. At every family BBQ they are grilling up those hamburgers and hot dogs like a pro. In my family it’s tradition to have a New Year’s Day Grill Off, and guess who always volunteers? My Father. There is something about cooking over an open flame that gives people a thrill, and if they don’t own a grill, they can just watch it on TV!

Over the course of time, humans have started to become more like the animals we separated ourselves from. Grazing here and there, skipping meals, and eating alone are all practices we should try to overcome. One might wish that the rates of home-cooking could go up rapidly, but at the same time, may not want to cook for themselves. We have to accept the fact that cooking from scratch isn’t the same as it was 50 years ago. Sadly, our new cooking regimen severely cuts our nutritional content. Packaged and frozen foods can not have the same nutritional substance as freshly grown produce from your own garden.

Those who feel that home-cooking will only get worse from here include Vice President of The NPD group. In his opinion, Americans are “cheap and lazy”. We already have supermarkets that deliver, but in his eyes, the next step is a drive thru supermarket. His solution to the downfall of home cooked meals is simple. “Cook it yourself. That’s it. Eat anything you want-just as long as you’re willing to cook it yourself.” Cooking went from a luxury, to a task, to a necessity and for our grandchildren, possibly something that doesn’t exist.

I feel that as American’s we have been spoiled. There are new inventions everyday that somehow “help” us to make our lives “easier”. In my opinion they are making us lazy and bored. Whenever I don’t have anything to do I whip together some flour, eggs, and sugar and make cupcakes or cookies, or brownies. One thing Americans need to learn how to do again is cook, not how to use the new microwave; but to heat the oven or light the grill. Home cooking won’t be something of the past if we put a stop to it! We all need to stand up and take charge of our eating and cooking habits, because if we don’t who will?

Sources for Annotation Project

Neurodevelopment Center

Brainmaster Technologies

Mindflex Game

"Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch" Summary

In “Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch”, Michael Pollan demonstrates the reasons of the decline of home cooking and the rise of processed foods by taking the reader through recent culinary history from Julia Child to the Food Network. In 1963, “The French Chef” starring Julia Child first appeared on the small screen. Julia brought cooking to life for viewers everywhere, taking the fear out of cooking culinary masterpieces. Pollan reminisces over his memories of watching “The French Chef”, with his mother after school, then eating Julia’s recipes for dinner.

Pollan brings us to the Food Network where chefs such as: Emeril, Rachael Ray, Sandra Lee, and Ina Garten bring cooking to nearly one-hundred million homes in America every day. Pollan wonders why people are so eager to watch someone glaze a ham on television, but not willing to do it themselves. The rise of fast food, take out, and TV dinners have greatly contributed to the steady decline of home cooked meals.

The average American spends twenty-seven minutes a day on meal preparation and cooking, and four minutes for clean up. That is less time then it takes to watch one episode of “The Next Food Network Star”. But why has there been such a decline in home cooking? The food companies persuade us to allow them to cook, so we can go do the ‘important’ things in life. The latest T.V. dinners such as Lean Cuisine© and Hungry Man© are always advertised on the Food Network. “TV dinners plant us exactly where television always wants us: in front of the set, watching.” says Pollan.

Pollan argues watching the Food Network does not mean we are learning anything as viewers did with Child, and it certainly does not mean we are going to bounce up and make a five course dinner. “The skills celebrated on the Food Network in prime time are precisely the skills necessary to succeed on the Food Network in prime time.” Pollan then states that the cooking shows only take the social anxiety out of ordering a fancy dish, when dining out at a fancy restaurant, the shows don’t give us tips on cooking it ourselves.

Pollan interviewed Harry Balzar to discuss if Americans will repair the damage done to the reputation of home cooking and our diet of processed foods. Balzar was very pessimistic and stated not only that it will never go back, it will only get worse with “drive-thru supermarkets.” If people want Americans to eat healthier have them cook it. “Eat anything you want-as long as you’re willing to cook it yourself.”

With the lack of home-cooking is it any-wonder that America is one of the fattest countries on Earth? Every processed food is rationed. Whether you thought about it or not, we are eating microwavable garbage. The rations given to military men in World War II became a booming sensation in the ‘50’s. But with the mass produced ration food came a large decline in the quality of the food being consumed.

Since the Dark Ages, people have gathered together to cook and eat. Thanksgiving, Christmas, weddings; they all have one thing in common, family dinner. Cooking shaped human civilization, men cooked over fires to provide for their families. James Boswell called Homo Sapiens “the cooking animals.” Cooking has brought people together for centuries.

There are things about home cooked meals we miss when they’re gone. A student at college craves a taste of mom’s apple pie or dad’s great hamburgers. Food brings up deep emotional ties in every one of us. As children we watched our parents and grandparents cook Thanksgiving dinner and we all tried to sneak that warm cookie from the stove. Although, cooking a whole chicken over a fire pit isn’t very common now, home cooking isn’t dead. After all, 58% of American’s evening meals actually qualify as cooking. From cooking animals, to Julia, to housewives, to Emeril, to drive thru supermarkets; cooking always has and always will be a large part of American society.

Ethnography Rough Draft

What do you think about the structure of the essay? Should I change anything? Maybe help me with a stronger conclusion?? Any help would be greatly appreciated! :) <3>

Lauren Santos

English 11

Holly Pappas

October 15, 2009

UMass Dartmouth Theater Company

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Theater Company has been a part of me since I was six years old. I was apart of the ‘family’, not only a part of the Crachit family, in the production of ‘A Christmas Carol’, but a part of the Theater Company family. It has been such a part of me that I had never stopped to think about how the company worked. How each single member and their hobbies, interests, and habits, effect the workings of the group. After being assigned this essay, I thought that it would be the perfect time to find out. I walked into the field study with some questions I hope would be answered: “What does each member of the theater company bring to the table?”, “What does the group do when they aren’t performing/rehearsing?”, and “What is the member’s favorite part of being in the T-Co family?”

I walked towards the Theater Company office on a brisk fall evening to attend a rehearsal for their upcoming production of “You Can’t Take It With You”. The overwhelming smell of concrete and fried food filled my nose before I even entered the building. I put my hand on the silver doorknob, trying to hold down my dinner while the smell of old socks enthralled my nasal cavity. The office surprisingly only smelled mildly of the concrete/food/sock combination, partly because they sprayed air freshener. As I walk further into the vibrant red office with my sister, the laughter and talking seemed to escalate. Accents from all over the state, region, and country filled the room like steam from a big ‘melting pot’. I managed to find a seat on a lumpy blue chair that smelled like something died on it. The fluorescent lighting flickered above my head.

As rehearsal was about to begin, the twenty-five people in the room tried to get situated in place while finagling their way around objects in the room. It looked like a Native American rain dance when a few members tried to move around the large table in the center of the room. The left wall, was a mirrored wall with a few countertops and seats for getting ready before performances. On the back and right wall was a line of couches and storage units. The main wall had a few computer desks and a twelve-foot statue of Apollo. Poor Apollo, he had to be covered by a sheet because he “freaked out” the director. There were scripts and food containers strewn around the room, color everywhere, posters from past shows and office supplies that looked like they were never used.

I look at the T-Co members sitting down reading over their lines. Every member is aged between eighteen and twenty-three. They are all dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, pony tails and flip-flops for the majority of girls and sneakers for the boys. I wondered if the girls knew that it was forty-two degrees outside. When the director called for a ten-minute break the talking got even louder then when I had first arrived. Cell phones shot out of pockets to send the latest gossip across the room.

The discussions that go on in the Theater Company family don’t really have intellectual substance. It’s usually who’s dating who, how to do the dance combination, what youtuber is copying Beyoncé’s Single Ladies dance now, etc. Also, the majority of the company is a big fan of cursing, it got a little annoying after a while. Yes, some conversations have to do with academia, but, its usually a discussion about what class they feel like skipping today.

You could say that the UMD T-Co had their own language. Most of the abbreviated text/instant message lingo translates into spoken word. For example, I overheard this conversation: “OMG! Didya hea about that girl who was wit that dude? OMG!” Very well spoken English, right? Nicknames are also a very big part of T-Co. Many are invented from a combination of a member’s first and last names. Some nicknames are completely random and make you scratch your head. I have a nickname in the Theatre Company, “Little Maureen”. My older sister, Maureen, is a big member of the T-Co, so when I’m around, I’m “Little Maureen”.

After rehearsal ended, I heard the group talking about their plans for the weekend. Many plans revolved around shopping, eating, partying, playing video games, and sleeping. I glanced over at the ‘grocery list’, if you could even call it that, for an upcoming party. “ Chips, coffee, ice cream, alcohol, chicken fingers, frozen pizza, soda, cookies, and in big words TAKE OUT.” Sounds healthy, right?

Over the course of this field study I got my questions answered. The UMass Dartmouth Theater Company member not only radiates talent, but a sense of togetherness. Together, they make one big; loud, dramatic, semi-conceited, funny, creative, cooperative, crazy, obnoxious family. It may sound weird and crazy and you must think to yourself, “That sounds awful!” But, you’re wrong. It’s a sense of family that can only be found during those late nights, long rehearsals, and double performance days. I am SO proud to be a part of the UMass Dartmouth Theater Company.

Four Tickets

Lauren Santos

Professor Pappas

English 11

October 5, 2009

Four Tickets

Ticketmaster is the enemy. No matter how early you are online or at the box office for the pre-sale, you will get bad tickets. Just face it, deal with it, and move on. Move your ticket buying needs to the over priced ticket scalpers of the world. If you work for Ticketmaster or know someone that does; sorry if I have insulted you, but it’s the truth.

February 9, 2008; Day one of Operation JONAS. Operation I need to see my favorite band in the entire world, I’ll never ask for anything ever again, please, please, please! Sitting in the back room of my mom’s office, I count down the minutes until 10 A.M. Eastern Standard Time. I set my phone alarm, twice, and check the three clocks in the room ready to hit the numbers on my phone at EXACTLY 10 A.M! Because, only at 10 A.M will tickets for the Jonas Brothers’ “Look Me in The Eyes Tour” go on sale. I need to get one of those tickets no matter what.

Dad stood in line at the box office, and two Ticketmaster retail spots; I called over and over, and over again; my mom, in between seeing patients, was online pressing ‘refresh’ over and over again. After thirty minutes and no tickets, I knew it was now or never. It was time to give up on Ticketmaster and pay $400 a ticket from some ticket resale website. How the scalpers get the good seats in the first place is beyond me. But nevertheless, after four hours of negotiating, buying and getting the payment to go through, my tickets were in the mail. Four wonderful pieces of paper that would give me access to the best night of my life.

“So if you multiply side A by side B you should get twice as much as Side D.”

Right about now, the only side I want is the cold side of my pillow at home in my bedroom, sleeping. But I’m in Pre-Algebra class 8 o’clock on a dreary Monday morning. All of a sudden someone nudges my arm and points to the other side of the room. My best friend, Gabriela is sitting there waving her practice dry-erase board around. I’m trying to read it as it flies through the air. I catch a glimpse of it as she pauses to answer a question.

“39 days,” It is February 11, 2008, exactly 39 days until March 20, 2008, the day of the concert. Every day up until March 20^th we counted down the days instead of counting the algebra problems we had to do. By day 19 I’m positive everyone in our class just wanted it to be March 21^st already.

Finally to my classmates and my delight, it was March 19^th. Tomorrow was the concert and then, we would have a three-day weekend! I told myself over and over that I would remain calm about the concert. Let’s just say that sleeping the night before seeing those three lovely boys in the flesh is close to impossible. Unfortunately, not sleeping equals one big headache the day of the concert. All those hair products didn’t help all that much either.

My sister and I spent all day getting ready: perfect hair, perfect makeup, perfect, outfit, and of course the perfect pair of plaid Converse All Stars. We packed our bags because we were staying at a hotel in Boston that night. Maureen and I sat in the car bouncing up and down waiting for our parents to get in the car.

T- minus two hours until Operation JONAS. Too bad traffic went as far as the eye could see. That’s Boston rush hour traffic for you! After hoping and praying, the traffic let up and it was smooth sailing to the Agganis Arena. Thankfully we had bought parking passes so we didn’t have to walk six plus blocks. Pulling into the driveway leading to the parking garage underneath the arena something caught my eye. Tour Buses! Not just any tour bus, but the Jonas tour bus! And wait, what’s that? Or should I say, who’s that? The Jonas Brothers’ opening act Rooney and the Jonas Brother’s drummer, Jack Lawless, were a few feet from my car door! I knew immediately that the night would be amazing.

Entering the arena, I followed the signs to section ‘Floor 9’. My sister turned to me to ask if I wanted to go to the bathroom with her. I have to say it was the best trip to the bathroom ever. We walked to the closest security worker and he pointed us to the makeshift “Ladies Room” sign that was covering the sign for “Men’s Locker Room”. The ladies room was inside the men’s Boston University Hockey Team’s locker room! Maureen and I walked past a security guard standing in front of a blue curtain. All of a sudden three people walked behind the curtain followed by a smaller person and a big beefy guy. Hmmm, I think Joe, Nick, Kevin, Frankie, and Big Rob just walked by! Maureen and I couldn’t tell if it was them because we could only see people’s hair and shoes around the curtain. We were so excited that we were 3 feet away from who may have been the Jonas Brothers! To this day, I still don’t know if it was them or not.

After the opening acts Valoura and Rooney performed, there was an extremely long break. But finally after an hour of waiting, the lights dimmed and the opening bars of “Year 3000” started up. The crowd roared to life screaming, screeching, crying, and chanting, “JONAS! JONAS! JONAS! JONAS!”

The crowd danced and sang and the flashing of the cameras never stopped. The music controlled the audience. It made us dance to the upbeat songs such as “Australia” and “That’s Just the Way We Roll”. It made us calm down during slow songs such as, “Hello Beautiful” and “When You Look Me in The Eyes”. It made us listen to new songs like, “Burnin’ Up” and “Shelf”. But for one song, the music touched our hearts and made us cry. Three quarters through the concert, everyone left the stage. We looked around confused as the stadium lights came up. Then, a single spotlight shone on the top of a staircase onstage. The stadium lights went back down as Nick Jonas descended the staircase to the white grand piano waiting for him. He started to play the soft melody of a new song and stopped. He pulled the microphone closer and told us his story of being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

“Sometimes, life brings all its complications, throws you an unexpected curve ball. That’s what happened to me about two and a half years ago, I was diagnosed with diabetes, we were in the middle of touring, it turned my whole world upside down. On the way to the hospital, I made a commitment to myself that I wouldn’t let it slow me down. And I’m here to tell you that it hasn’t slowed me down. And I know that there are some of you out there tonight that just need a little help, somebody who just needs a friend. Disappointment after disappointment you’ve finally had enough. I had one of those days about six months ago so I sat down and wrote this song, but let me tell you something. Tonight, tonight this song is for you. This song is for every broken heart, for every lost dream, for every high, and for every low. Boston, Massachusetts this song is for you. Now what I want you to do right now is I want you to sing this out with all your heart and with all your soul.”

As I looked around at the crying audience, I said something to myself. “A little bit longer and I’ll be fine.” I have had my own personal struggles with anxiety and I think to myself every day, if Nick can, I can. Anxiety brings its highs and lows, but it’s not nearly as bad as what Nick goes through with diabetes. He is my role model for not letting diabetes get him down. I am trying to not let anxiety slow me down, and have life pass me by. All because of that one concert, that one night, that one song, that one speech, that one boy, I am stronger.

The day that I bought those four tickets, I knew it was going to be a fun night. But one thing I didn’t know was how that one night was going to change my life. Not only did it change my life because of the wonderful memories and the chance of a lifetime to see my favorite band live. But the concert changed the way I live and the way I think about life. The memories remind me everyday to stay strong for Nick. I feel so lucky to have been able to see my three favorite boys, Joe ♥ Nick ♥ and Kevin ♥.

Nick’s Speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7nCG-osWqk&feature=related